IBPS RRB PO IBPS PO SBI PO FEDERAL BANK CURRENT AFFAIRS SNIPPETS 15102022

 

CURRENT AFFAIRS SNIPPETS

15th October 2022

 

 

National News

 

K Vijay Kumar resigns as security advisor of MHA citing personal reasons

Decorated police officer K Vijay Kumar, who was credited for eliminating forest brigand Veerappan, has resigned as the senior security advisor in the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).

Kumar, who put in his papers sometimes ago due to personal reasons, has vacated his accommodation in Delhi and relocated to Chennai.

"I am now based in Chennai after I decided to end my stint with the MHA due to personal reasons," he told PTI over the phone.

Kumar expressed his gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval, MHA officials and the chiefs of police forces of all the states for extending cooperation throughout his tenure.

PM Modi to Dedicate 75 Digital Banking Units to the Nation

Prime Minister Narendra Modi to dedicate 75 Digital Banking Units (DBUs) to the nation on 16th October. He will address the occasion via video conferencing. The Finance Minister has announced the setting up of the 75 DBUs in 75 districts of the country to commemorate the 75 years of Independence of India as part of the Union budget speech for 2022-2023.  Digital Banking Units (DBUs) are being set up to increase the reach of Digital Banking.  The DBUs will help Digital Banking to reach every corner of the country and will cover all states and Union Territory.  11 public sector banks, 12 private sector banks, and one small finance bank are participating in the endeavor.  DBUs will be mortal outlets that will provide a variety of digital banking facilities to people such as opening a savings account, balance-check, print passbook, transfer of funds, investment in fixed deposits, loan applications, stop-payment instructions for cheques issued, applying for credit, etc.  DBUs will enable customers to have cost-effective, convenient access and enhanced digital experience of banking products and services all around the year.

17th Pravasi Bhartiya Divas to be held at Indore in January 2023

The 17th Pravasi Bhartiya Divas Convention is to be held in Indore, Madhya Pradesh in January 2023.  External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar launched the website of the 17th Pravasi Bhartiya Divas Convention with Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan and Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan.  Dr. Jaishankar highlighted the construction industry of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the government for giving the highest priority to the Indian Diaspora.  Government engagement is founded in the 4Cs: Care, Connect, Celebrate, and Contribute.  During the occasion, Secretary in Consular, Passport, visa, and Overseas Indian Affairs Division of the Ministry of External Affairs Ausaf Sayeed was also present on the occasion.  The Pravasi Bhartiya Divas is celebrated every year on the 9th of January to mark the contribution of the overseas Indian community to the development of India.  It also commemorates the return of Mahatma Gandhi from South Africa to India on 9th January 1951.

International News

Immediately starting work on gas hub proposed by Russia: Turkey

Turkish and Russian officials have been told to immediately start technical work on a proposed natural gas hub in Turkey, President Recep Erdogan has said. Russian President Vladimir Putin had earlier proposed that this hub could sell gas "to third countries, especially in Europe". The proposal aims to export more gas through the TurkStream gas pipeline.

Mistakes were made: New UK Finance Minister on recent tax cuts

UK's new Finance Minister Jeremy Hunt on Saturday said his predecessor had made some "mistakes", referring to the tax cuts announced last month. "We will have some very difficult decisions ahead," Hunt said. His predecessor Kwasi Kwarteng was sacked by Prime Minister Liz Truss on Friday, after less than six weeks on the job.

 

Abdul Latif Rashid elected as President of Iraq 

The Iraqi Parliament chose Kurdish politician, Abdul Latif Rashid to lead the country. Rashid won more than 160 votes against 99 for the incumbent Saleh. Rashid, 78, is a British-educated engineer and was the Iraqi minister of water resources from 2003-2010. Outgoing President Saleh reportedly walked out of the parliament building as the votes were tallied.  Rashid was born in 1944 in the northeastern Sulaymaniyah region of Iraq. He graduated as a civil engineer from the University of Liverpool in 1968. He went on to complete his engineering doctorate in 1976 from the University of Manchester.

India Opposes G7’s Just Energy Transition Plan

The G7 nations’ plan of persuading India to start negotiations on a Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP), an initiative of the rich nations to accelerate phasing out of coal and reducing emissions has hit a road-block.  JETP makes various funding options available for this purpose in identified developing countries. The Power Ministry has refused to give its consent to the negotiations so far, as it argues that coal cannot be singled out as a polluting fuel, and energy transition talks need to take place on equal terms.

BANKING, BUSINESS AND ECONOMY

Centre hikes windfall tax on domestic crude oil, jet fuel and diesel export

The Centre has increased the Special Additional Excise Duty, commonly known as windfall tax, on domestically produced crude oil and export of aviation turbine fuel and diesel following the recent decision by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies' (OPEC+) to cut their oil production. The new rates will be effective October 16.

OPEC+'s move has pulled global prices, showing an average price of over $90 per barrel.

According to the government notification on Saturday, it has hiked tax on domestically produced crude oil to Rs 11,000 per tonne from Rs 8,000 per tonne.

It has also hiked the tax on the export of aviation turbine fuel (ATF) to Rs 3.50 per litre from nil.
Indian economy projected to grow at 7% in FY23 despite global headwinds: FM

Indian economy is projected to grow at 7% in the current fiscal despite global headwinds, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said. This is an outcome of the conducive domestic policy environment and the government's focus on key structural reforms, she said. "India is leading the world in terms of digital payments innovations with our transaction cost being the lowest," she stated.

RBI and SEBI Issue Standard Operating Procedure for Inter-Operable Regulatory Sandbox (IoRS) 

SEBI came out with a standard operating procedure for inter-operable regulatory sandbox in a bid to facilitate testing of innovative products falling within the regulatory ambit of more than one financial sector regulators.  Financial products or service providers whose business models fall within the remit of more than one financial sector regulator such as Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Sebi, IRDAI (Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India), PFRDA (Pension Fund Regulatory & Development Authority) and IFSCA (International Financial Services Centres Authority) will be considered for the testing under Inter operable Regulatory Sandbox (IoRS).

Index of Industrial Production (IIP) Witnessed Contraction of 0.8% in August 2022

India's industrial production slipped to an 18-month low, contracting by 0.8 per cent in August, mainly due to a decline in output of the manufacturing and mining sectors, according to official data.  The data showed that the previous low in industrial output growth was a contraction of 3.2 per cent in February 2021. Index of Industrial Production (IIP) is an index which details out the growth of various sectors in the economy. The Eight Core Industries comprise more than 40 percent of the weight of items included in IIP. These are Electricity, steel, refinery products, crude oil, coal, cement, natural gas and fertilisers.

 

SPORTS
Who is the highest run-getter and highest wicket-taker in T20 World Cup history?

Ex-Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardena is the highest run-scorer in T20 World Cup history. He scored 1,016 runs in 31 T20 World Cup innings. He's followed by Chris Gayle (965 runs) and Tillakaratne Dilshan (897 runs). Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan is the highest wicket-taker in the tournament history with 41 scalps. He is followed by Shahid Afridi (39 wickets)

 

Ranks and Reports News

Times Higher Education Rankings 2023: IISc tops among Indian Universities

Times Higher Education Rankings 2023 has been announced. This year, the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore has secured the top place among Indian universities. Five Indian universities made it into the world's top 500 varsities. IISc has been placed under the 251-300 bracket.  The complete list of the top 10 Indian Universities is enlisted below. Globally, the University of Oxford continued to retain the top spot for the seventh consecutive year, while the University of Cambridge jumped to joint third from joint fifth last year. The US is the most-represented country overall with 177 institutions in the overall ranking list.

Global Hunger Index 2022: India ranks 107th out of 121 countries

India ranks 107 out of 121 countries on the Global Hunger Index in which it fares worse than all countries in South Asia barring war-torn Afghanistan.  India’s score of 29.1 places it in the ‘serious’ category. India also ranks below Sri Lanka (64), Nepal (81), Bangladesh (84), and Pakistan (99). Afghanistan (109) is the only country in South Asia that performs worse than India on the index.  China is among the countries collectively ranked between 1 and 17 having a score of less than five. India’s child wasting rate (low weight for height), at 19.3%, is worse than the levels recorded in 2014 (15.1%) and even 2000 (17.15%), and is the highest for any country in the world and drives up the region’s average owing to India’s large population.  The Global Hunger Index is a peer-reviewed annual report, jointly published by Concern Worldwide and Welthungerhilfe, designed to comprehensively measure and track hunger at the global, regional, and country levels.

Living Planet Report 2022: Wildlife Populations decline by 69% in 50 years

There has been a 69 per cent decline in the wildlife populations of mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles and fish, across the globe in the last 50 years, according to the latest Living Planet Report by World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).  The highest decline (94 per cent) was in the Latin America and the Caribbean region, the report released October 13, 2022 showed.  Africa recorded a 66 per cent fall in its wildlife populations from 1970-2018 and the Asia Pacific 55 per cent, according to the WWF report.

Summits and Conferences News

Cabinet approved PM-DevINE scheme for development of Northeast states

Prime Minister's development initiative for North East region (PM-DevINE), was approved by the Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.  The PM-DevINE is a Rs 6,600 crore scheme to support infrastructure, industries, and other Livelihood projects in northeastern states of India.  The PM-DevINE is a 100 percent Central Government funded plan and will be administered by the Ministry of Development of the North Eastern Region (DoNER).  This scheme is going to be implemented during the remaining four years of the 15th Financial Commission from 2022-2023 to 2025-2026.  The PM-DevINE is aimed to be completed by the year 2025-2026 so that there are no committed liabilities beyond this year.

Science and Technology News

IIT Guwahati: President Droupadi Murmu inaugurates ‘PARAM KAMRUPA’ Supercomputer facility

President of India, Droupadi Murmu has inaugurated a supercomputer facility at the Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati and launched several other projects during her maiden visit to Assam since assuming office.  This supercomputer facility called "Param-Kamrupa", the facility will be able to conduct advanced research in various scientific fields. She also inaugurated a high-power active and passive component laboratory called SAMEER at the institute.  The President was accompanied by Assam Governor Jagdish Mukhi, chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, Union minister of state for health and family welfare Bharati Pravin Pawar and Assam health minister Keshab Mahanta.

PM inaugurates Indian Institute of Information Technology in Una

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIIT) in Una, Himachal Pradesh.  During the occasion, Himachal Pradesh Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar, Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur, Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav, and Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Singh Thakur were present. PM Modi also inaugurated the fourth Vande Bharat Express Train of India at the event.  Prime Minister Narendra Modi highlighted the need for skill and innovation institutions across the country.  Himachal Pradesh has been valued less on its strength and more based on the number of its parliamentary seats, and long pending demands of educational institutions.

Important Days

World Student’s Day 2022 celebrates on15 October

October 15 is celebrated as World Students’ Day to commemorate the birth anniversary of Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, a celebrated Aerospace scientist and former President of India. The day is marked to acknowledge his efforts toward students and education. Dr Kalam was born on October 15, 1931.  He served as an inspiration to many students to achieve and do something remarkable. After his tenure as the President came to an end, he became a visiting faculty at the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) in Shillong, IIM-Indore and IIM- Ahmedabad.

International Day of Rural Women 2022 observed on 15 October

October 15 is celebrated as the International Day of Rural women across the world. The day focuses to promote gender quality and highlight the important role played by women in rural areas.  The International Day of Rural Women is a time to celebrate the important role that rural women play in society. It is also an opportunity to raise awareness about the challenges faced by rural women and to call for action to address these issues. We hope that this day will help empower rural women and give them the recognition they deserve.  The theme for the International Day of Rural Women (15 October), “Rural Women Cultivating Good Food for All”, highlights the essential role that rural women and girls play in the food systems of the world.

Obituaries News

Harry Potter Actor Robbie Coltrane Dead at the age of 72

Robbie Coltrane, the veteran comic and actor known for his star turns in the British crime series Cracker and the Harry Potter movie franchise, passed away at the age of 72.  Coltrane was born Anthony Robert McMillan on March 30, 1950, in Glasgow, Scotland, as the son of a doctor and a teacher. After graduating from Glasgow Art School, he continued his studies in art at Moray House College of Education in Edinburgh.

'Mirzapur' fame actor Jitendra Shastri passes away

Actor Jitendra Shastri, who was known for playing the role of Usmaan in the Ali Fazal and Pankaj Tripathi-led web series 'Mirzapur', has passed away. Actor Sanjay Mishra took to social media to share the news. Actor Rajesh Tailang, while mourning his demise, tweeted "Can't believe Jitu Bhai is no more, what an amazing actor, what a wonderful human being."

15102022

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