Current Affairs for BANK, IBPS Exams - 29 June 2022

::National::

ICG chief flies ALH Mark 3 helicopter, lands on warship in Arabian Sea

Indian Coast Guard director-general VS Pathania on Tuesday flew the recently-commissioned Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) Dhruv Mk III helicopter and landed it on a ship located in the Arabian Sea. These helicopters will 'enhance the range and capability of the ship', he said.
"It is a made-in-India helicopter that has strengthened our reach and capability. These helicopters are force multipliers when they mark on ships, they enhance the range and capability of the ship multifold because of their speed and endurance," Pathania explained to news agency ANI.
On Tuesday, he commissioned a squadron (the third) of the made-in-India Dhruv Mk III choppers at Porbandar in Gujarat in a bid to strengthen the Coast Guard's operations in the northwest.
According to officials, the choppers can fulfil both reconnaissance and offensive roles as they have 12.7 mm heavy machine guns that can hit targets at a range of 1,800 metres. The induction boosts the Coast Guard's maritime surveillance and recon capabilities, officials said yesterday.
The ALH Dhruv Mk III is an 'indigenously designed and developed, twin-engine, multi-role, multi-mission new generation helicopter' made by Bengaluru-based Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and boosts the Indian government's 'Aatmnirbhardefence' philosophy.
It also has weapon systems and mission sensors that include a turret gun, air-to-air and air-to-ground missiles, a helmet-pointing system, an infra-red jammer and an obstacle avoidance system.

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::International::

TTP says no breakthrough in talks with Pak General

The chief of the outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has said there won’t be a dissolution of or surrender by the group even if the peace talks with the Pakistan government succeeds.
The anti-Pakistan insurgent group has been holding secret peace talks with Pakistan military officials in Kabul after months of intense fighting. In a video released by TTP, its chief, Mufti Noor WaliMehsud, who has been leading the peace talks for the group, revealed that former Director-General of ISI and Core Commander Peshawar (Gen) FaizHameed has been representing the Pakistan government.
This comes amid claims by Pakistani lawmakers that they were unaware when the negotiations began and between whom were they taking place. Last week, a Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) member said a negotiation session with the TTP took place at the PM's Office in which representatives of some political parties were present.
Mehsud further asserted that TTP won’t back down from its demand for reversal of the merger of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) with neighbouring province Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
“Our demands are clear and especially the end of FATA merger (into KP) is our primary demand, which we cannot back down from,” he said.
The TTP emir also said that the Afghan Taliban is not merely a facilitator of the peace talks but also a mediator.
While Mehsud didn’t explicitly acknowledged that the Pakistani government has been asking its fighters to surrender, he said negotiations “brings out different demands” and “the demands that undermine the credibility and status of the TTP are unacceptable to us.”
It is a fact, he said, that some of the TTP prisoners have been released but the arrest of its fighters is also underway at the same time.
He warned that “this non-serious attitude of theirs can affect the negotiation process.”

::Economy::

Share of Casa in total bank deposits rose to 44.8% in March 2022: RBI data

The share of current and savings accounts (Casa) deposits of commercial banks has increased to 44.8 per cent as of March 2022-end, from 41.7 per cent three years ago, latest data released by Reserve Bank of India (RBI) showed.
Casa are low-cost deposits of banks, which are margin accretive. Casa deposits accounted for 60.9 per cent and 55.6 per cent of incremental deposits during 2020-21 and 2021-22, respectively.
Interest rates on fixed deposits, which have begun rising recently, were quite low during the past few years as RBI followed an ultra loose monetary policy since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Consistent with the monetary and liquidity conditions, interest rates on term deposits moderated further during 2021-22; the share of term deposits bearing over six per cent interest rate came down to 14.4 per cent in March 2022 (31.0 per cent a year ago; 78.7 per cent two years ago),” RBI said.
Overall deposit growth moderated to 10.0 per cent year on year in March 2022, from 11.9 per cent a year ago. “Current, savings and term deposits increased by 10.9 per cent, 13.3 per cent and 7.9 per cent, respectively, during 2021-22,” RBI said.
Female depositors accounted for 19.8 per cent of total deposits in March 2022; their share in incremental bank deposits during 2021-22 rose to 34.3 per cent from 15.2 per cent in the previous year, the data showed.
General Government and financial corporations together accounted for over a fourth of the incremental deposits during 2021-22, up from 5.8 per cent the previous year. Large deposits (Rs 1 crore and above) have a near 40 per cent share in total term deposits.

Visa creates 100 mn card-on-file tokens following RBI norms last week

Visa, the global payments company, said it has created 100 million card-on-file tokens in India.
“This landmark has been achieved in line with RBI’s guidelines on CoFtokenisation, focusing on two key benefits--consumer & ecosystem security and an enhanced checkout experience,” said Visa, referring to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
The RBI last week extended the deadline for tokenization to September 30 after which no entity in the card transaction / payment chain, other than the card issuers and/ or card networks, can store the CoF data, and any such data stored previously has to be purged.
“In recent months, Visa has worked closely with our banking partners and merchants to drive consumer awareness as well as technology enablement for seamless adoption of card tokenization,” said SandeepGhosh, group country manager India & South Asia, Visa.
Ghosh said tokenised transactions have seen significant adoption across merchants, clocking 4.5X growth over the past two months.
“We expect this momentum to continue in the coming months as the ecosystem migrates to tokenised payments,” he added.

::Science and tech::

Role of single gene linked to epilepsy, autism identified: Study

A single gene that was previously found to be the driving force in a rare syndrome linked to epilepsy, autism and developmental disability has been identified as a linchpin in the formation of healthy neurons.
Researchers say the gene, DDX3X, forms a cellular machine called a helicase, whose job is to split open the hairpins and cul-de-sacs of RNA so that its code can be read by the protein-making machinery of the cell.
Duke researchers say the gene, DDX3X, forms a cellular machine called a helicase, whose job it is to split open the hairpins and cul-de-sacs of RNA so that its code can be read by the protein-making machinery of the cell. This gene is carried on the X chromosome, so females have two copies of the gene and males have only one.
"If you remove both copies of the gene in a female mouse, that results in a massive microcephaly where the brains are severely reduced in size," said Debra Silver, PhD, an associate professor of molecular genetics and microbiology in the Duke School of Medicine who led the research team. "But the removal of a single copy is probably more closely mimicking what's happening in human patients," Silver said.
When DDX3X is altered by a mutation in early development, "you don't get as many neurons over time because this gene is required for the production of neurons from progenitor cells," Silver said. "And it is also helping the progenitors to divide properly."
If it normally takes a nerve precursor cell 15 hours or so to divide, a mutated DDX3X may make that process take even longer, Silver said. "And what that means over time, if these neural precursors are taking too long to divide, is you fall behind, and the brain doesn't develop properly."

::Sports::

Eoin Morgan retires, draws curtains on glorious international career

Eoin Morgan confirmed his retirement from international cricket and stepped down as England's white-ball captain after more than seven years on Tuesday.
After England's dismal failure at the 2015 Cricket World Cup, Morgan spearheaded the team's white-ball transformation to a bold, attacking approach and unprecedented heights.
He led England's to its first global 50-over title at the 2019 World Cup, and the No. 1 ranking in one-day internationals and Twenty20s. They enjoyed series victories against every major team and 60% success on his watch.
As with all great players and leaders, he has changed the way the game has been played, and he has changed the way an entire generation and generations to come will play this form of the game, Rob Key, the managing director of England men's cricket, said. His legacy within the game will be felt for many years to come.
Morgan's teams have the three highest ODI totals; last week in the Netherlands they raised the world record to 498-4.