Current Affairs for BANK, IBPS Exams - 16 July 2022

::National::

NIRF India Rankings 2022: ‘IIT-M becoming institute of global recognition'

Retaining No. 1 rank in the ‘Overall’ category for the fourth consecutive year, Indian Institute of Technology-Madras has cemented its position in the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) – India Rankings 2022, the results for which were announced on Friday. IIT-M director professor V Kamakoti, spoke to DivyaChandrababu on how the institute is moving to become locally relevant while being globally recognised.
There are three important reasons. First, is our dedicated set of faculty and students? They have been supportive, especially during the Covid-19 period, so we have been able to perform. Secondly, since our research has been transitioning, we have started addressing local problems.
Now, we are becoming an institution which is of local relevance and is globally recognized. For the past 20 years, we have been driving this change, moving from research to research and to product... Thirdly, we are good at outreach.
Our rural outreach programmes have helped in keeping our perception high not only among the elites but in rural places also... We have performed under multiple parameters, including entrepreneurship, innovation, research grants, citations, scholarship and social relevance.
We are number two in research; we will work to be number one. To reach 80-90 out of a score of 100 is easy but to jump after 90 is difficult.
When you get 40 out of 100, you get a macro picture. When you reach 90-95, you get a micro picture where you see if you could have gone higher. We will aspire to go towards 100. But we are not looking at the mark; we are looking at the implication of the mark. No institute can be perfect. But we will aim towards that.

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::International::

Rishi Sunak and four remaining candidates clash in first TV debate

The five remaining Conservative candidates to become Britain's next prime minister clashed Friday night over tax and honesty in politics in their first TV debate, as they fight to make an eventual two-person run-off.
The 90-minute debate -- the first chance in the days-old contest for both the frontrunners and lesser-known contenders to pitch their credentials to a national television audience -- saw relatively few direct confrontations between them.
But when they did erupt, it came largely over taxation, with former finance minister Rishi Sunak, one of the frontrunners, forced to defend plans to keep rates at some of the highest levels in decades.
Sunak, who has topped the first two rounds of voting by Tory MPs this week as the race narrows towards a final pair next week, is up against several contenders vowing to cut various taxes immediately.
The wealthy and polished media performer, whose political fortunes have been damaged by his family's own tax affairs, urged both caution and patience as the UK grapples with the worst inflation in 40 years.
Truss -- battling to unite the ruling party's right wing behind her so-far lagging campaign after twice finishing third in votes -- has positioned herself as a low-tax free marketeer.
She has backing from prominent Johnson loyalists, despite wanting to reverse his government's recent tax rise earmarked for healthcare.
"You cannot tax your way to growth," Truss said. "I think it is wrong to put taxes up."

::Economy::

Irdai says no decision on mandatory disclosure of insurance commissions

The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai) said it has not decided on a proposal for mandatory disclosure of commissions on policy documents.
“It has come to the notice of the authority that concerns are being expressed in some quarters regarding mandatory disclosure of commissions on the policy documents. The concerns emanate from certain recommendations made by working groups constituted by the insurance councils,” said the insurance regulator,
“It is hereby clarified that the Authority has not taken any decision on this matter,” Irdai said it regulator intends to hold discussions on the matter before a decision.
Committees on distribution and penetration had purportedly suggested that insurance companies should disclose the commissions they pay on each policy. Consequently, various distribution channels such as agents, online aggregators, corporate agents, and others would also have to disclose the commissions they are paid.
This stems from the fact that some insurance companies pay high commissions for the sale of insurance policies which invariably leads to miss-selling. The idea is to improve transparency in the system and build trust among consumers and also to reign in insurers that tend to pay higher commissions.

Judgment on plea challenging PMLA provisions 'almost ready', says SC

The Supreme Court said that the judgment on the plea challenging the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act(PMLA) is ‘almost ready’.
Justice AM Khanwilkar said this while hearing the petition filed challenging certain provisions of the 2013 Companies Act.
The Companies Act petition contends that some provisions in the Act are unconstitutional, put a reverse burden on the accused, give inspectors wide powers to arrest, and take away the right to silence.
“List this (Companies Act petition) after the PMLA judgment is delivered. It is almost ready,” the judge said.
Raising concerns that the Act is inconsistent with the provisions of the Criminal Procedure Code(CrPC), the petitioners argued that the accused does not have access to the Enforcement Case Information Report(ECIR) which encroaches upon the fundamental rights. In such cases, even the magisterial oversight is absent, the petitioners had argued.
Unlike police confessions, statements of the accused are admissible under the Act, the petitioners submitted.
And this is just scratching the surface of the problems associated with the Act, the petitioners said.
The investigation procedure, questioning of the accused, seizure of assets, and the presumption of guilt is far different from the objective of the Act to check illegal drug trafficking, it was argued.
Senior Advocate Menaka Guruswamy, appearing for one of the petitioners in February this year, had argued that out of the 1,700 raids and 1569 specific investigations by the ED, there have been only 9 convictions so far. However, this has not stopped the ED from making arrests and seizing assets, she submitted.

::Sports::

Jasprit Bumrah back to No.1 in ICC ODI Player Rankings after Oval wins

Fast bowler JaspritBumrah has regained the top spot in the ICC men's ODI Player Rankings after fashioning India's 10-wicket win over England with a career-best haul of six for 19 in the first game at The Oval.
Bumrah had lost the top spot to New Zealand's Trent Boult in February 2020 after being No. 1 for most of the preceding two years. He has been at the top for a total of 730 days, more than any other Indian and the ninth-most in history.
Bumrah, who has been No. 1 in T20Is in the past and is currently at a career-best third position in Tests, is only the second Indian fast bowler after KapilDev to be No. 1 in the ODI rankings.