CURRENT AFFAIRS SNIPPETS 9TH MARCH 2022

 

CURRENT AFFAIRS SNIPPETS

 

09th March 2022

National News

Sanctions on Russia unlikely to affect our defence sector: NITI Aayog member

short by Ashley Paul / 04:21 pm on 09 Mar 2022,Wednesday

Sanctions imposed on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine are unlikely to affect India's defence imports, NITI Aayog member VK Saraswat said on Wednesday. He added that Russia possesses inherent military strength and is self-sufficient in military equipment manufacturing. "The reserve is very high. These kinds of short-term sanctions are not likely to create any problems for India," he said.

Ex-PM Raijv Gandhi’s assassination convict gets bail after 32 years in jail

short by Saurabh Sinha / 04:47 pm on 09 Mar 2022,Wednesday

The Supreme Court on Wednesday granted bail to one of the convicts of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi's assassination. AG Perarivalan, who was sentenced to life imprisonment, has spent 32 years in jail. The court took into account Perarivalan's conduct in jail, his health and that he has spent more than 30 years in prison.

Ex-NSE official Anand Subramanian sent to 14-day judicial custody

short by Ashley Paul / 05:12 pm on 09 Mar 2022,Wednesday

Former NSE Group Operating Officer Anand Subramanian has been sent to 14-day judicial custody by a CBI court in connection with the NSE co-location case. Subramanian is the "yogi" who guided the actions of former NSE CEO Chitra Ramakrishna, reports said quoting CBI sources. A Delhi court on Monday also granted seven-day custodial interrogation of Ramakrishna to the CBI.

Upper age limit for appearing in NEET-UG examination removed

short by Arshiya Chopra / 08:13 pm on 09 Mar 2022,Wednesday

Upper age limit for appearing in the undergraduate medical entrance exam, NEET-UG, has been removed for all candidates, the National Medical Commission has said. Earlier, the age limit was 25 years for General category candidates and 30 years for Reserved category candidates. The decision was taken in the fourth NMC meeting held in October last year, the commission's secretary said.

Part of bridge collapses in Odisha; 2 killed & many feared trapped

short by Deepika Bhatt / 10:21 pm on 09 Mar 2022,Wednesday

Two persons were killed and one was injured after a portion of a bridge collapsed at Chhatra Bazar in Odisha's Cuttack on Wednesday evening. Many people are feared trapped on the spot. An investigation will be done and action will be taken against those found responsible for the incident, District Magistrate Bhabani Shankar Chayani said.

Ministry of Culture organise PAN-India programme “Jharokha" 

Ministry of Culture and Ministry of Textiles are organising a programme called “Jharokha-Compendium of Indian handicraft/ handloom, art and culture” to celebrate the traditional Indian handicrafts, handlooms, and art & culture.  To begin with, the first event under this celebration has been organized in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh at Rani Kamlapati Railway Station, on March 08, 2022, which also marks International Women’s Day.  Jharokha is a PAN India programme that will be held at 16 locations in 13 states and UTs, as part of the Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav.  The event in Bhopal will celebrate womanhood and the contribution of women in the field of art, craft and culture.  Kamlapati Railway Station is named after the brave and fearless Queen Kamlapati of the Gond kingdom of Madhya Pradesh.

Haryana govt announced Matrushakti Udaymita Scheme 

Haryana government has announced Matrushakti Udaymita Scheme to provide support to women entrepreneurs, on International Women’s Day.  Under the scheme, the women whose family annual income is less than 5 lakh rupees based on Parivar Pehchan Patra (PPP) verified data, will be provided access to soft loans by financial institutions to the extent of 3 lakh rupees.  Subsequently, the interest subvention of 7% will also be provided for three years through the Haryana Women Development Corporation.

Sikkim State Government will launch Aama Yojna & Bahini Scheme 

Chief Minister of Sikkim, Prem Singh Tamang has announced that the State Government will soon implement ‘Aama Yojana, a scheme for helping non-working mothers & ‘Bahini Scheme’ benefitting girl students of the state. The complete details of the Aama Yojna and Bahini Yojana are given below.  Aama Yojna scheme aims to inculcate the habit of saving among non-working mothers in the state and hence the Government will provide them Rs. 20,000 each in their bank accounts annually. The scheme covers only those whose names are enrolled in the electoral roll of the state and a sum of Rs. 100 crores have been allocated for it in the budget.  Bahini Scheme is to reduce the dropout rate of girl students due to the lack of accessibility/availability of Sanitary Napkins & also to ensure menstrual health and hygiene. Under this scheme, over 18,000 girl students who study in class 9 and above are provided with free sanitary napkins in the state.

International News

 

Canada will send Ukraine another shipment of military equipment: Trudeau

short by Athira Sasidharan / 05:10 pm on 09 Mar 2022,Wednesday

Canadian PM Justin Trudeau on Wednesday said that he told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a phone call that Canada will "send Ukraine another shipment of highly-specialized military equipment". Both leaders also discussed "sanctions against Russia and humanitarian assistance for Ukraine" during the call. Trudeau said that he has also invited Zelenskyy to address the Canadian Parliament.

My computer shut down while I was responding to client: Better.com worker on layoff

short by Daisy Mowke / 05:11 pm on 09 Mar 2022,Wednesday

A Better.com employee named Amanda Bullard, speaking about the layoff wherein roughly 4,000 workers including her were sacked on Tuesday, shared her experience on LinkedIn. "I didn't find out through...payroll system, my bank account showing a severance check, or a phone call from HR. My computer just shut down in the middle of me responding to [a client]," she stated.

East coast floods to be declared a national emergency in Australia

short by Veer Badani / 06:20 pm on 09 Mar 2022,Wednesday

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Wednesday said the floods across Australia's east coast that have killed 22 people due to heavy rains will be declared a national emergency. Morrison said the declaration will "ensure all our emergency powers are available and that we cut through any red tape we might face in delivering services and support on the ground".

Ukraine bans exports of food staples to prevent 'humanitarian crisis'

short by Dharini Mudgal / 07:31 pm on 09 Mar 2022,Wednesday

Ukraine's government has banned the export of wheat and other food staples to prevent a "humanitarian crisis" in the country amid the Russian invasion, a report stated. It has also prohibited the export of buckwheat, meat and other "byproducts" from cattle. Ukraine's minister Roman Leshchenko said the export ban is needed to "meet the population's need in critical food products".

UN World Food Programme aims to help over 3 mn Ukrainians: Director

short by Disha Jana / 10:32 pm on 09 Mar 2022,Wednesday

United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) aims to help over 3 million Ukrainians with food donations, Director General David Beasley said on Wednesday. Beasley made the remark in Poland's Warsaw at a news conference on efforts to support refugees from Ukraine. Over 2 million people have fled Ukraine since the Russian invasion with Poland hosting about 1.2 million of them.

 

Iran successfully test-fire second military satellite Noor-2 

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) successfully launched a military satellite, Noor-2, into orbit at an altitude of 500 kilometres (311 miles) from the earth.  This is the second military satellite launched by the Islamic Republic. The first military satellite, Noor, was launched in April 2020 at an orbit of 425km (265 miles) above the earth’s surface. Noor means light in the Persian language.  Putting the second satellite in space would be a major advance for Iran’s military, raising concerns about the country's nuclear and missile programs. The three-stage Qased, or "Messenger", the carrier launched the Noor 2, from the Shahroud spaceport.

Russia is now world's most sanctioned country 2022

Russia has become the most sanctioned country in the world, due to its invasion on Ukraine, according to a New York-based sanctions watchlist site Castellum.AI.  Russia faced 2,778 new sanctions since February 22, 2022, led by the US and European nations, bringing the total sanctions to 5,530. The country already had 2,754 sanctions in place before February 22.  Countries across the world are putting sanctions on Russia to stop its invasion of Ukraine. Russia has now surpassed countries like Iran and North Korea in terms of a number of sanctions. Before this, Iran was the most sanctioned country, facing 3,616 sanctions against it over the last decade, while Syria and North Korea have 2,608 and 2,077 sanctions, respectively.

Banking , Business and Economy News

Google Cloud and Flipkart enters a strategic partnership 2022 

Flipkart and Google Cloud have formed a multi-year strategic agreement to assist Flipkart  accelerate its innovation and cloud strategy. Flipkart's next phase of expansion will be aided by this alliance, which will help it achieve its goal of enrolling India's next 200 million buyers and lakhs of vendors. The deal value was kept opaque by the companies.  Flipkart will be able to provide robust app access and performance even during peak purchasing seasons with increased traffic by leveraging Google Cloud's secure and scalable global infrastructure and powerful networking technologies.  Flipkart will also use Google Cloud to accelerate the creation of new products, boosting its expansion into India's Tier 2 and Tier 3 markets.  Flipkart will use Google Cloud's superior data analytics and machine learning capabilities to improve the efficiency of its data platform.  This will allow the organisation to better evaluate traffic and transactional data, as well as gain valuable real-time insights into client purchasing and shopping patterns.  This would also aid in the identification of trends and patterns associated with growing demand, as well as the creation of more personalised recommendations to improve the customer experience.

HDFC Mutual Fund Launches #LaxmiForLaxmi

HDFC Mutual Fund has launched a women-led financial empowerment initiative ‘LaxmiForLaxmi’ which will connect women investors to a woman financial expert near them through a unique missed call service.  The female financial expert will guide and address the queries of the woman investor. Through this initiative, HDFC Mutual Fund aims to support women investors in their journey to become financially independent while making mutual fund investments accessible to them.  The initiative is based on the fact that it is easier for a person to understand a concept when it is taught by someone who comprehends them and is like-minded. This is a financial empowerment campaign for women through which the fund house aims to support women investors in becoming financially independent while making mutual fund investments more accessible to them.

 

ED attaches assets worth ₹1,984 crore in Karvy Stock Broking scam

short by Ashley Paul / 09:53 pm on 09 Mar 2022,Wednesday

Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday said it has attached immovable and movable properties worth ₹1,984 crore belonging to Karvy Stock Broking, its Chairman Comandur Parthasarathy and others in a money laundering case. Attached properties include landed properties worth ₹213.6 crore, tangible/intangible assets worth ₹1,280 crore and Parthasarathy's shareholding worth ₹438.7 crore, ED said.

 

RBI launches UPI123pay for feature phones and DigiSaathi 2022 

Reserve Bank of India has launched two initiatives related to digital payments. One is UPI123pay- which provides a UPI payment facility on feature phones and the second is “DigiSaathi” which is a 24×7 Helpline for Digital Payments.  The UPI123pay will provide the users of feature phones the option to use Unified Interface Payments (UPI) for making payments. For this, UPI123 pay presently offers four mediums/options to the users of feature phones to make UPI payments.  “DigiSaathi”- 24×7 Helpline for Digital Payments: This service will provide users with automated responses on information related to digital payment products and services. Presently it is available in English and Hindi language.

RBI releases booklet on modus operandi of financial frauds

Reserve Bank of India has launched a booklet named “BE(A)WARE” which features common modus operandi used by fraudsters and precautions to be taken while carrying out various financial transactions.  The booklet aims to enhance public awareness about various types of financial frauds perpetrated on gullible customers while carrying out digital payments and other financial transactions.  Booklet: provides safeguards against commonly used fraudulent techniques like SIM swaps, vishing/phishing links, lottery, fake loan websites and digital apps etc.  The booklet emphasises the need for keeping one's personal information confidential at all times, being mindful of unknown calls/emails/messages, etc., and also outlines the due diligence measures to be followed while undertaking financial transactions.  According to the Ombudsman Offices & Consumer Education and Protection Cells (CEPCs) of RBI, sharing of confidential information by the customers knowingly or unknowingly is one of the major causes leading to financial frauds in India.

Zeta partnered with Mastercard to power bank’s s credit processing

Mastercard and Zeta, a financial tech startup that provides next-generation credit card processing to banks and fintechs, established a 5-year worldwide agreement today. As part of the deal, the companies will work together to create credit cards with issuers all around the world using Zeta's modern, cloud-native, and API-ready credit processing stack.  According to a statement released by Zeta, Mastercard has bolstered the alliance by making a financial investment in the company.  Zeta hopes to move the credit card processing industry from fragmented, multi-vendor systems to nimble, composable, single-vendor systems that are truly responsive to changing cardholder needs and preferences with Mastercard's support and integration of its capabilities in digital issuance, fraud and risk, loyalty solutions, and more.  Issuers will be able to launch cards significantly faster now that both partners have pre-configured essential features behind the scenes, making it easier than ever to quickly create and deploy flexible, highly customised card programmes, according to the banking tech unicorn.

Freedom of the World 2022 report: India ranked ‘partly free’

For the second consecutive year, India has been termed as ‘partly free’ country in terms of democracy and free society, according to the annual report.  The report titled “Freedom in the World 2022 – The Global Expansion of Authoritarian Rule” by Freedom House, a US-based NGO that ‘assesses political rights and civil liberties. India scored 66 out of 100 in 2022.  The country had scored 67 in 2021. India was a free country till 2020 when its score was 71.

Key points of the reports

In 2022, 85 countries were termed as free, 56 as partly free and 69 as not free.  The Freedom in the World 2022 evaluated the state of freedom in 195 countries and 15 territories during the calendar year 2021.

About the report:

The report used 25 indicators, grouped into the categories of political rights and civil liberties to determine whether the country or territory has an overall status of Free, Partly Free, or Not Free. The report is published every year since 1973 to assess the political rights and civil liberties of a country through a series of surveys and analyses.

Summits and Conferences News

Germany to host G7 agriculture ministers virtual meeting

The German government has stated that it will hold a virtual meeting of G7 agriculture ministers to explore the implications of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine on global food security. The meeting, according to Cem zdemir, Germany's Minister of Agriculture and Food, will also focus on ways to stabilise food markets.  According to the government, Germany will hold a virtual meeting of G7 agricultural ministers to address the impact of Russia's invasion of Ukraine on global food security and how to best stabilise food markets.  Food security in Germany and the European Union is assured, but bigger shortages are likely in some countries outside the EU, particularly where scarcity already exists due to concerns such as drought.  Price increases for agricultural items cannot be ruled out in developed countries."  This year, Germany is the rotating president of the Group of Seven advanced economies.  Russia refers to its efforts in Ukraine as a "special operation," claiming that they are not intended to take territory but rather to damage Ukraine's military capabilities and catch those it considers to be dangerous nationalists.

Science and Technology News

C-DAC installed “PARAM Ganga” Supercomputer at IIT Roorkee

The Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) has designed and installed a supercomputer named “PARAM Ganga”, at IIT Roorkee, under Phase II of National Supercomputing Mission (NSM). PARAM Ganga has a supercomputing capacity of 1.66 Petaflops.  NSM is a joint initiative of the Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeiTY) and the Department of Science and Technology (DST).  The mission is implemented by the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) and the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore.  The NSM Mission aims to build and deploy 24 facilities with cumulative compute power of more than 64 Petaflops.  Till date 11 systems have been deployed by C-DAC at IISc, IITs, IISER Pune, JNCASR, NABI-Mohali and C-DAC under NSM Phase-1 and Phase-2 with a cumulative computing power of more than 20 Petaflops.

Awards News

President Kovind Presents ‘Nari Shakti Puraskar’ for 2020 and 2021

The President of India, Ram Nath Kovind has conferred the ‘Nari Shakti Puraskar’ for the years 2020 and 2021, on the occasion of International Women’s Day on March 08, 2022, at Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Delhi.  Overall 29 women have been conferred the award for the years 2020 and 2021 in recognition of their outstanding and exceptional work towards the empowerment of women, especially the vulnerable and marginalised. There were a total of 28 awards which included 14 awards each for the years 2020 and 2021. The award ceremony for the year 2020 could not be held in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Miscellaneous News

Aarushi Verma named to represent India at Climate Force Antarctica Expedition

A national-level shooter and an environmentalist hailing from Delhi, Aarushi Verma has been selected to represent India at the 2041 Climate Force Antarctica Expedition which is set to be held in March 2022.  She is a national-level shooter in Pistol and trap shooting and a State & Northern India Champion & National medalist, and an active environmentalist. She will be fully supported and sponsored by The Hans Foundation.  2041 Climate Force Antarctica Expedition is a global initiative to train and develop the next generation of sustainability champions and to help corporations with their sustainability solutions. This carbon negative’ expedition also aims to inspire, develop and train the next generation of leaders to promote a more sustainable future. This also includes the ‘Leadership on the edge’ program.  2041 Climate Force is derived from the year which marks the Madrid Protocol protecting Antarctica from exploitation would come up for debate, revision, and/ or possible cancellation. The participants of the expedition will graduate as ‘Ambassadors for the Antarctic’. 

 

SPORTS
Really happy that 'mankad' dismissal has been changed to 'run out': Sachin

short by Anmol Sharma / 10:53 pm on 09 Mar 2022,Wednesday

Talking about the new cricket rules being introduced by MCC, Sachin Tendulkar said that he is supportive of the 'mankaded' dismissal being changed to 'run-out' category. "I was always uncomfortable with that particular dismissal being called mankaded. I am really happy that it has been changed to run out. It always should have been run out," Sachin added.

Sreesanth retires from all forms of Indian domestic cricket

short by Anmol Sharma / 08:10 pm on 09 Mar 2022,Wednesday

Cricketer Sreesanth announced his retirement from all forms of Indian domestic cricket aged 39. In a video posted on Twitter, Sreesanth said he's looking forward to be a part of a coaching setup and also expressed his interest in playing leagues across the globe once BCCI allows. Sreesanth's seven-year ban over IPL 2013 spot-fixing scandal had ended in September 2020.

 

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