Current Affairs for BANK, IBPS Exams - 05 August 2022

::National::

Delhi Assembly passes bill to increase the salary and allowances of its members by over 66%

The Delhi Assembly on Monday passed bills pertaining to over 66 per cent hike in salaries and allowances of its members, the first raise in last 11 years for the legislators who are considered the lowest-paid lawmakers in the country.
Five different bills were tabled for the hike in salaries of ministers, MLAs, chief whip, Speaker and Deputy Speaker, and Leader of Opposition in the Assembly, which were passed by the members. These bills will now be sent for president's approval.
"Today, @DelhiAssembly passed five bills to increase the salary & allowances of Ministers, MLAs, Chief Whip, Speaker & Dy. Speaker and Leader of Opposition after 11 long years since the last increase. These bills will come into force after approval of President of India," Law Minister KailashGahlot tweeted after tabling the bills in the House.
Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, who also holds the finance portfolio, termed the hike a "good" one in the current context and said the salaries should be a little more than required so the MLAs could effectively discharge their duties.
"The MLAs are paid a monthly salary of Rs 12,000 and they are expected to work honestly. To invite talented people into politics, there has to be rewards. The corporates get talented pool of people because of the salaries," he said in a discussion over the bills.
Commenting over the bills during the discussion, Speaker Ram NiwasGoel said the salaries and allowances of Delhi MLAs were raised five times on an average once every three-and-a-half years, from 1993 to 2011. However, the latest hike has come after 11 years.
BJP MLA and Leader of Opposition in the Delhi Assembly, Ramvir Singh Bidhuri also supported the pay hike.
Many MLAs, including those of the ruling AAP and the opposition BJP, also demanded interest free vehicle loans and other benefits, including increasing four data entry operators instead of two provided to them for legislative work.
In Delhi, a member of legislative assembly (MLA) gets Rs 54,000 per month as salary and allowances, which will be hiked to Rs 90,000 after the bills get the president's nod.
According to official figures, an MLA currently draws a monthly salary of Rs 12,000 which will go up to Rs 30,000 after the bills get approved by the president. The constituency allowance will go up to Rs 25,000 from Rs 18,000, while the conveyance allowance will be hiked to Rs 10,000 from Rs 6,000.
The telephone allowance will see a hike of Rs 2,000 from Rs 8,000 to Rs 10,000, while the secretarial allowance will from Rs 10,000 to Rs 15,000.
The salaries of the ministers, Speaker and Deputy Speaker, chief whip and leader of opposition are similar. Their monthly salaries will be raised from current Rs 20,000 to Rs 60,000.
The constituency allowance will be raised to Rs 30,000 from existing Rs18,000, sumptuary allowance will be Rs 10,000 from the current Rs 4,000, secretariat assistance allowance of Rs 25,000, and daily allowance of Rs 1,500 from the existing Rs 1,000.

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::International::

On 10th anniversary of Wisconsin gurdwara attack, Biden reaches out to Sikh-Americans

On the 10th anniversary of the attack on a gurdwara in Wisconsin, US President Joe Biden condemned the deadliest attack so far on Sikh-Americans, expressed solidarity with the community, categorically blamed it on White Supremacists, and called for more steps to reduce gun violence, protect places of worship, and combat domestic hate and terrorism in all its forms.
On August 5, 2012, in a mass shooting at a gurdwara in Oak Creek in Wisconsin, Wade Michael Page, 40, an army veteran, shot several people, killing six. A seventh person, who was left partially paralysed, died in 2020. After being shot by the police, Page killed himself at the spot. The incident sparked outrage both in the US and India, with the then First Lady Michelle Obama visiting the gurdwara a week later to express the administration’s support to the community.
In a statement, Biden said that when generations of Sikh-Americans in Oak Creek had constructed their own place of worship after years of renting local halls, it was a sacred place of their own and a connection shared with the broader community. “That sense of peace and belonging was shattered on the morning of August 5, 2012, when a white supremacist wielding a semi-automatic handgun arrived at the gurdwara and began shooting.”
Referring to First Lady Jill Biden, the president said that both of them knew that days like these bring back the pain like it happened yesterday, and mourned with the victims’ families, the survivors, and the community devastated by the heinous act.
Placing the attack within a wider context of increasing hate crimes in the US, the president said that the Oak Creek shooting was the deadliest attack on Sikh-Americans in our nation’s history. “Tragically, attacks on our nation’s houses of worship have only become more common over the past decade. It is up to all of us to deny this hate safe harbour. No one should fear for their life when they bow their head in prayer or go about their lives in America.”

::Economy::

Gujarat and Karnataka Best States for Startup Ecosystem: DPIIT (Department of Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade) Ranking

Gujarat and Karnataka have been ranked as the best performers in developing startup ecosystem for budding entrepreneurs, according to the ranking of states and Union territories by the department for promotion of industry and internal trade (DPIIT). Among smaller states having population of less than one crore, Meghalaya has been adjudged as the best performer.
The rankings are based on the initiatives taken to develop the startup ecosystem for promoting budding entrepreneurs. For the third time in a row, Gujarat was ranked as the best performer.
The exercise is aimed at supporting states and Union territories (UTs) in developing their startup ecosystem and learning from each other’s best practices. A total of 24 states and 7 UTs participated in the exercise, which ranked them under five categories — best performers, top performers, leaders, aspiring leaders and emerging startup ecosystems.
The states and UTs were also ranked under these five categories based on the population of less than one crore. Kerala, Maharashtra, Odisha, Telangana and Jammu and Kashmir were categorised as the top performers. Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Arunachal Pradesh, and Goa are in the leaders category.
They were evaluated across seven reform areas consisting of 26 action points, ranging from institutional support, fostering innovation, access to market, incubation and funding support. DPIIT Secretary Anurag Jain said that the exercise plays a crucial role in easing the business environment for startups in the country. The states’ startup ranking 2021 was released by Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal here.
Goyal suggested all the stakeholders to aspire for becoming the number one start-up ecosystem in the world from the third position at present. “Can we look at some district-level competition also," he asked.
He also asked the states to share best practices and handhold each other in further improving the ecosystem. The government, he said, has acted as a catalyst for startups rather than a controller through initiatives like Fund of Funds, Seed Fund Scheme, income tax exemption for three years and resolving the issue of Angel Tax.

::Science and tech::

Three colonial-era burials found in 1000-year-old pre-Hispanic Peru sanctuary

A team of Peruvian archaeologists uncovered three burials from the Spanish colonial period on top of a pre-Hispanic temple, which may be up to 500 years old, a researcher said.
Peru was under Spanish rule for nearly 300 years, from 1532 when they invaded and defeated the Inca empire until 1821 when popular uprisings led to independence.
"We are working with the hypothesis that the remains belong to a colonial cemetery," Lucenida Carrion, head of the Archaeology Directorate of the Park of Legends in the Peruvian capital, told AFP.
The park's 54 archeological monuments and sanctuaries have been the subject of study for decades.
"In this summit, we have discovered the burials of two adults and a child who were wrapped in cotton cloth," the archaeologist added.
The temple, or pre-Hispanic sanctuary known as "Tres Palos" where the burial site is located, is more than 1,000 years old and is located on land adjacent to the park.
After the pre-Hispanic era, the site was inhabited by settlers from colonial Lima.
"We are considering whether the remains are from the colonial era," Carrion said, pointing to the clothes, hair and a Christian crucifix found on one of the remains.
"This finding is important because it will help us determine if there has been a continuous occupation at this site since pre-Hispanic times."
During the 15th and 16th centuries, the "Tres Palos" sanctuary was used by the Incas as a tambo (food deposit) and during the colonial era, adobe (mud and straw) houses were built.

::Sports::

CWG 2022: 'We lost momentum after the clock howler' - India women's hockey coach

The Hockeyroos set up the gold medal clash against England after a controversial 3-0 win over India on penalties.
During the shootout, Australia's Rosie Malone missed her shot but to the dismay of the Indian team and fans, the forward was given a second chance as a technical official, B Morgan of England, had failed to start the clock on time.
Each player gets eight seconds to put the ball into the net in the shootout.
Given a second chance, Malone scored and that set the tone for the shootout as the Indians failed their first three attempts, while Australia converted all their chances.
"After that, we lost a little bit of our momentum. Then it did go in, and everyone is deflated," Schopman, a double Olympic medallist said.