Current Affairs for BANK, IBPS Exams - 15 July 2022

::National::

India's free booster 75-day drive starts today, Govt urges for ‘ambitious push’

India Covid vaccination drive: Only about 8 per cent of eligible adult population has taken their 3rd vaccine dose against Covid.
All adults - in the 18-75 age group - will be able to get a free booster or precautionary dose at government Covid vaccine centres. India’s push for the third dose of Covid vaccine comes as about 92 per cent of the eligible population - or 594 million adults - is late in getting their booster shots, according to an HT report.
union health secretary Rajesh Bhushan - at a virtual meeting with top health officials from states and union territories - “urged to give an intensive and ambitious push towards full Covid vaccination coverage by vaccinating all eligible beneficiaries and covering them with precaution dose,” a government statement read.
So far, the precautionary doses were available for free only for adults above 60 years of age. India expanded the vaccination drive for giving booster doses to health and frontline workers and those above 60 earlier this year. This was further expanded to cover all adults in April.
However, only 8 per cent of adults - above 18 years of age - and 27 per cent of adults above 60 years of age have taken the precautionary dose, which is a matter of “concern”, the central government highlighted at the key meeting.
The free doses are being given as a part of 75 days - ‘COVID Vaccination AmritMahotsava’, which will continue till September 30. The AmritMahotsava marks 75 years of independent India.
Health officials from states and union territories have been urged to implement the 75-day long drive with a massive mass mobilization, through a camp approach. “Those eligible for the precaution dose include all persons of ≥18 years who have completed 6 months (or 26 weeks) from the date of administration of 2nd dose,” reads a government statement.

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::International::

Why a US ski resort changed its name from 'Suicide Six'

A popular ski resort in Vermont in the United States - originally known as ‘Suicide Six’ - was urged for a name change rethink last month. Why? The resort admitted that there were "growing concerns about the insensitive nature of the historical name."
Now called ‘Saskadena Six’, the resort is located in the town of South Pomfret. In a statement posted in late June, it said that it “embrace(s) the increasing awareness surrounding mental health”.
"Our resort team embraces the increasing awareness surrounding mental health and shares the growing concerns about the insensitive nature of the historical name," the resort said in a post on its website last month. “The feelings that the word 'suicide' evokes can have a significant impact on many in our community,” it said in the statement.
The new name- ‘Saskadena Six Ski Resort’ - was chosen in order to honour the “original inhabitants of the land and the mountain’s multi-generational legacy and values of community, inclusion, adventure, discovery, and fun”. It added that the name sends a “powerful message of connection both to the deeper history of the mountain with the Abenaki nation and to the present-day community at large."
"Much time, care, and thought has been invested in the process to choose a name more representative of our values, one that celebrates its 86-year history, honors the Abenaki tradition, and will welcome future generations," president of the Woodstock Inn & Resort Courtney Lowe said in a statement. The resort owns and operates Saskadena Six Ski Resort.

::Economy::

G-20 meet: FM Sitharaman for info sharing on crypto, immovable assets

Finance minister NirmalaSitharaman called on the G-20 nations to examine the feasibility of bringing non-financial assets such as crypto and immovable properties under the purview of automatic exchange of information among countries. The move is meant to enhance tax transparency.
“Our investigations have shown that numerous layers of entities are often set up by tax evaders to conceal their unaccounted assets even though the automatic exchange of information framework provides for financial account information to various jurisdictions,’’ the FM said during the G-20 Ministerial Symposium on Tax and Development in Bali.
Tax evaders explore other avenues to shift their unaccounted wealth through investment in non-financial assets, Sitharaman pointed out.
Rasing concern over tax transparency issues, the FM said that those jurisdictions which are not yet part of the automatic exchange framework will have to be brought in. ‘’For that, G20 must play the role of a catalyst.’’
More than 100 countries have committed to exchanging financial account information under the mechanism.
The FM also highlighted administrative issues because of variations between countries.
Since such issues could affect the implementation, there’s a strong need for broad-based capacity building and guidance on the novel changes being brought in through two-pillar solutions, according to Sitharaman.
She also said that the concerns of developing nations should also be addressed while formulating rules for the proposed two-pillar tax deal to bring about a fairer and inclusive tax system.

Customs dept puts gold, 8 more items under controlled delivery regulation

The customs department has issued controlled delivery regulations authorising officers to track suspicious consignments of items, including gold, precious stones, drugs and cigarettes.
The move, an official said, is aimed at checking smuggling and to trace the real culprit.
As per the Controlled Delivery (Customs) Regulations, 2022, a customs officer at the ports can earmark both export and import consignments for controlled delivery on "reasonable belief" that it is "suspect".
The list of items under the regulation are narcotic drug and psychotropic substances; gold, silver in all forms, precious and semi-precious stones, liquor; currency; cigarettes, tobacco; wildlife products and antiques.
As per the regulations, the customs officer can, if needed, install tracking devices to monitor the movement of suspect consignment.
He further said this notification will in no way impact or affect the trade and businesses.
This is also being done now because gold imports are rising and there are chances of increase in smuggling, the expert added.

::Science and tech::

China launches global naming program for its latest solar observatory

The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) has initiated a global name collection for the country's newest solar observatory, which will be launched into a sun-synchronous orbit in October.
The 888-kilogram observatory has a half-tonne precursor, "Xihe," a Chinese H-alpha Solar Explorer (CHASE), named after the sun goddess in ancient Chinese mythology and launched last October to study the violent and sudden physical processes behind solar flares.
The newest Chinese solar observation satellite, the Advanced Space-Based Solar Observatory (ASO-S), is to help solar physicists study the relationships between the solar magnetic field, solar flares and coronal mass ejections (CMEs).
For the first time ever, ASO-S has three payloads on a single platform: the Full-disk vector MagnetoGraph (FMG), the Lyman-α Solar Telescope (LST) and the Hard X-ray Imager (HXI).
It will circle the Earth once every 90 minutes in a sun-synchronous orbit at an altitude of 720 km. Meanwhile, "Xihe" is in a low Earth orbit at an altitude of about 517 km.
ASO-S has a design life of more than four years, one year longer than "Xihe," and will make follow-up observations for the latter for the upcoming solar maximum in 2025.
Together with other such observatories, it will help provide a fuller picture of solar activity and dynamics for studies on the sun and benefit all human beings.
China usually names its space probes and programs from ancient Chinese mythology or classical literature.

::Sports::

Abhishek Verma and Jyothi SurekhaVennam win mixed team bronze in World Games 2022

Asian Games gold medalist AbhishekVerma and JyothiSurekhaVennam won bronze in the compound mixed team archery event at the World Games 2022 in Birmingham, Alabama, USA. In the bronze medal match, the Indian archery duo beat Andrea Becerra and Miguel Becerra of Mexico 157-156.
At the end of the first set, AbhishekVerma and JyothiSurekhaVennam led 40-39. However, Andrea Becerra, a bronze medalist at the World Championships, and Miguel Becerra staged a comeback to tie the match 78-78 in the second set. The Indian team stormed ahead again in the third set and hit four tens in the final set to secure a close victory.
Earlier, AbhishekVerma and JyothiSurekhaVennam defeated New Zealand 156-155 in the round of 8 before losing 159-157 to Colombia's Daniel Munoz and women's world No. 1 Sara Lopez. Last month, AbhishekVerma and JyothiSurekhaVennam won gold in the Archery World Cup in Paris.
This is India's first World Games medal in archery and its fifth overall since the event's start in 1981. India has previously won medals in snooker, powerlifting, and badminton. Individually, AbhishekVerma's campaign was cut short due to a lack of medals.