Current Affairs for BANK, IBPS Exams - 07 July 2022

::National::

Deadline for comments on policy for persons with disabilities extended

The Centre has extended the deadline for submission of comments on the draft National Policy for Persons with Disabilities, which was made public in June and among other things proposes a dedicated job portal, from July 9 to July 15 after activists sought more time for it. A social justice and empowerment ministry official said the deadline is likely to be extended further.
Disability rights activist and University College of Medical Sciences (Delhi) professor Satendra Singh said despite the demand for converting the draft policy into an accessible document and to extend the deadline for comments, it has been extended just by a week. “A month is not enough to hold public consultations and submit the responses.”
Activists say the draft has many good provisions such as those related to ensuring that people with disability do not have to make multiple trips to get certifications. They underline that chapters related to skill development, education, and disaster management need some more work. The policy also proposes a network of Cross Disability Early Intervention Centres in every district.
TD Dhariyal, a former commissioner with Delhi’s Office of the Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities, said instead of one centre in each district, the number should be decided on as per the geographical spread. “In hilly areas, it will be difficult for parents to take their children to the centre if it is located far away.”
Anjalee Agarwal, an access auditor who has been involved in conducting accessibility audits of government buildings, called for the need to have a detailed strategy for disaster management. “During the pandemic, getting access to information in an accessible format was a big challenge for people with disabilities. The policy should clearly state that people with disabilities should be on priority and should have access to information.”

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::International::

‘Ukraine heading for tragedy…’: Putin's warning to the West amid war

Vladimir Putin accused the West of decades of aggression towards Moscow and warned that if it wanted to attempt to beat Russia on the battlefield it was welcome to try, but this would bring tragedy for Ukraine.
His remarks came as Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov prepared for a closed-door foreign minister's meeting at a G20 gathering in Indonesia on Friday which will be the first time Putin's top diplomat comes face-to-face with the most vocal opponents of the invasion of Ukraine in February.
In Ukraine, the regional governor of the northeastern city of Kharkiv said late on Thursday that three people had been killed and another five wounded after Russian forces shelled the city.
Russian forces also shelled other potential conquests in eastern Ukraine ahead of an expected new offensive.
Earlier, Kyiv lost one of its main international supporters after British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he would step down. Ukraine said it expected Britain's support to continue and thanked Johnson for defending Ukraine's interests, while Moscow did not conceal its delight at the political demise of a leader whom it has long criticised for arming Kyiv so energetically.
In a phone call, Johnson told Ukraine's President VolodymyrZelenskiy "You're a hero, everybody loves you," a spokesman for Johnson said.
The day began with Ukraine's defiant flag-raising ceremony on its recaptured Snake Island in the Black Sea, located about 140 km (90 miles) south of the Ukrainian port of Odesa.

::Economy::

HDFC Bank hikes MCLR by 0.2% in third consecutive increase in rates

The country's largest private sector lender HDFC Bank announced a 0.20 per cent hike in its marginal cost of funding based lending rate across all tenors.
This is the third such move by the lender in as many months since May, and takes the overall quantum of the rate hikes to 0.80 per cent.
The RBI has hiked rates by a cumulative 0.90 per cent since shifting to rate tightening in the first week of May as it saw its core objective of inflation management getting under trouble. Analysts have been expecting more rate hikes from the central bank in the days ahead as price rise pressures are expected to continue.
HDFC Bank said the one year MCLR, to which many consumer loans are pegged, will now be 8.05 per cent as against 7.85 per cent earlier.
The overnight MCLR will be 7.70 per cent as against 7.50 per cent, while the three-year MCLR will be 8.25 per cent, as per the bank's website.

MoD says 3 pvt banks can provide financial services in overseas procurement

The defence ministry allowed three private sector banks to provide financial services to it for overseas procurement of military hardware.
The banks are HDFC Bank Ltd, ICICI Bank and Axis Bank.
Till now, only authorised public sector banks were utilised to provide services like issuance of letter of credit and direct bank transfers to the ministry for overseas procurement.
In line with further opening of allocation of government business to private sector banks by the department of financial services, the ministry has assigned three private sector banks to provide the LoC and direct bank transfer business for overseas procurement, an official release said.

::Science and tech::

No evidence of life on Venus found yet: Study

According to a new study, the unusual behaviour of sulphur in Venus' atmosphere cannot be explained by an 'aerial' form of extra-terrestrial life.
Researchers from the University of Cambridge used a combination of biochemistry and atmospheric chemistry to test the 'life in the clouds' hypothesis, which astronomers have speculated about for decades, and found that life cannot explain the composition of the Venusian atmosphere.
Any life form in sufficient abundance is expected to leave chemical fingerprints on a planet's atmosphere as it consumes food and expels waste. However, the Cambridge researchers found no evidence of these fingerprints on Venus.
Even if Venus is devoid of life, the researchers say their results, reported in the journal Nature Communications, could be useful for studying the atmospheres of similar planets throughout the galaxy, and the eventual detection of life outside our Solar System.
"We've spent the past two years trying to explain the weird sulphur chemistry we see in the clouds of Venus," said co-author Dr Paul Rimmer from Cambridge's Department of Earth Sciences. "Life is pretty good at weird chemistry, so we've been studying whether there's a way to make life a potential explanation for what we see."

::Sports::

215-member Indian squad for the Commonwealth Games

A 215-member Indian squad will be heading to the Commonwealth Games, to be held in Birmingham from July 28 to August 8, comprising 108 male and 107 female athletes.
While some athletes are either already in the United Kingdom for acclimatisation, training or competition, others are engaged in professional assignments in other parts of the world and will reach Birmingham directly. The rest will depart from India in the next couple of weeks.
The overall strength of the contingent will be 322, including 72 team officials, 26 extra officials, nine contingent staff, including three general managers. Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra will likely be named the flag-bearer at the opening ceremony. Indian athletes will be competing across 16 disciplines.