Daily Current Affairs 21st April, 2022

Daily Current Affairs 21 April 2022 for Banking/Insurance/SSC and other related exams.

NATIONAL NEWS

Insurance scheme for health workers fighting covid-19 extended for 180 days: Health ministry
The Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Package (PMGKP) — insurance scheme for healthcare workers fighting COVID-19, has been extended for a further period of 180 days from April 19.

• Since the launch of the scheme, 1905 claims of health workers who died while being deployed for COVID-19 related duties have been settled.
• The PMGKP was launched on March, 30, 2020 to provide comprehensive personal accident cover of ₹50 Lakh to 22.12 lakh healthcare providers, including community health workers and private health workers who may have been in direct contact and care of COVID-19 patients and may be at risk of being impacted by this.

Himachal Pradesh will have the world’s longest and highest tunnel by 2025
India will soon be home to the world’s longest highway tunnel beneath the 16,580 ft high Shinku-La Pass, between Zanskar Valley in Ladakh and Lahaul Valley in Himachal Pradesh.

• As per the reports, the tunnel will be ready by 2025, and will provide all-weather connectivity between Ladakh and Himachal.
• The Shinku-La tunnel will be 4.25km in length, and will be the world’s longest and highest tunnel at this altitude. The work on the tunnel will start in July or August this year.

Defence Secretary inaugurates National Level Pollution Response Exercise of Indian Coast Guard
Union Defence Secretary Ajay Kumar inaugurated the eighth edition of National Level Pollution Response Exercise NATPOLREX being conducted by the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) off Mormugao harbour in Goa.

• The objective of NATPOLREX-VIII is to enhance the preparedness and response capability of all the stakeholders in combating marine spills.
• The event is being attended by more than 85 participants from 50 agencies, including 29 observers from 22 friendly foreign countries and International Organisations, and two Coast Guard ships from Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

Supreme Court reconstitutes expert committee for Delhi-Dehradun expressway project
The Supreme Court (SC) reconstituted the oversight committee for the Delhi-Dehradun expressway project. The committee previously consisted of 12 experts appointed by the National Green Tribunal (NGT).The Court ordered a new head of the committee and also added two new members to it.

• CP Goyal, the Director-General of the Ministry of Environment and Forests, will now head the expert committee which was previously headed by Uttarakhand’s Chief Secretary, Sukhbir Singh Sandhu.
• Two new members who have been added to the committee are – Anil Prakash Joshi, founder of Himalayan Environmental Studies and Conservation Organisation, and Vijay Dhasmana, an environmentalist.

PM Modi lays foundation stone for WHO Global Center for traditional medicines in Jamnagar
The World Health Organization launched its Global Centre for Traditional Medicine in Jamnagar, India, aimed at unlocking its potential by blending ancient practices with modern science. During the event, the WHO chief Tedros Ghebreyesus spoke in Hindi which surprised all.

• The Global Centre for Traditional Medicine (WHO GCTM) has been set up by Ministry of Ayush and the WHO.
• Through this center India will be able to take its knowledge of traditional medicine to the world and similarly world will come to India.

India’s first portable solar rooftop system unveiled in Gandhinagar
The country’s first portable solar rooftop system was inaugurated at Swaminarayan Akshardham temple complex in Gandhinagar.

• The installation of 10 PV Port systems in the temple complex has been supported by the German development agency Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ).
• The systems have been installed under the Union Ministry of New and Renewable Energy’s initiative to develop renewable energy cities across India.

BANKING & FINANCE

SBI raises $500 million through IFSC Gift City branch 
The country’s largest lender State Bank of India (SBI) said it has raised $500 million (over Rs 3,800 crore) through its IFSC Gift City branch.

• This is the first offshore USD Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR) linked syndicated loan raised by SBI through its Gift City branch.The facility is for $400 million plus $100 million as a green shoe option.
• With this, SBI has taken another major step in promoting IFSC Gift City as an international financial hub, with its Gift City branch becoming the largest in the IFSC.

Russian Central Bank registers new payment system HELLO
Russian Central Bank has included a new payment system called HELLO into the national register of credit institutions.

• Russian commercial bank TransKapitalBank, which includes a share of foreign financial institutions, such as European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, German Investment Corporation DEG and International Finance Corporation, will be the operator of the system’s payment infrastructure services.
• Payment system HELLO is a set of payment services and institutions that facilitates money transfer transactions.

Sebi reorganises advisory panel on leveraging regulatory and technology solutions
Market regulator Sebi has reconstituted its advisory committee on leveraging regulatory and technology solutions (ALeRTS). The seven-member panel will now be headed by Sunil Bajpai.

• Other members of the committee are – Puneet Narang, head of corporate banking technology India at Deutsche Bank, Girish Keshav Palshikar, Principal Scientist at TCS Research and Innovation, Ratnakar Pandey Senior Data Scientist at Amazon, Rohan Rao Senior Data Scientist at H2O.ai, Subir Saha, Head of Compliance at ICICI Group and Harini Balaji CGM, ISD.
• The terms of the committee is to recommend future roadmaps and improvements in the various on-going technology projects. While they are also to guide SEBI in designing and framing requirements for the various in-house systems.

BUSINESS & ECONOMY

IMF cuts India’s FY23 growth forecast to 8.2% from 9%
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has also slashed India’s economic growth forecast to 8.2% for FY23 from 9% estimated in January, citing the impact of high oil prices on consumer demand and private investments.

• In its World Economic Outlook report, the multilateral agency recommended monetary tightening by central banks to keep inflationary expectations in check amid global supply disruptions caused by the war in Ukraine. The IMF warned that the war would “severely set back the global recovery,” slow growth and stoke inflation.
• The Fund also cut India’s FY24 growth forecast to 6.9% from 7.2% estimated earlier.

World Bank cuts global growth forecast to 3.2% 
The World Bank is reducing its global growth forecast for 2022 by nearly a full percentage point, to 3.2% from 4.1%, due to the impacts from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, World Bank President David Malpass said.

• Malpass told reporters on a conference call that the World Bank was responding to the added economic stresses from the war by proposing a new, 15-month crisis financing target of $170 billion, with a goal to commit about $50 billion of this financing over the next three months.
• the biggest component of the bank’s growth forecast reduction was a 4.1% contraction in the Europe and Central Asia region — comprising Ukraine, Russia and surrounding countries.

Telangana to get world’s largest 3-wheeler EV making plant 
In a major boost to the State, California-based Biliti Electric Inc (Biliti) has announced that it would be establishing the world’s largest electric three-wheeler factory, with a production capacity of 240,000 EVs per year, in Telangana. The new plant is estimated to bring an investment of US$ 150 million and generate over 3,000 jobs while aligning with the State’s policy to become a global hub for EV and energy storage manufacturing.

• The facilities will be built in two phases over an area of 200 acres. Phase I will be developed over 13.5 acres with the capability to produce 18,000 vehicles per year and is expected to be operational by early 2023.
• The larger facility spread across 200 acres will be operational in 2024 and have the capability to produce 240,000 vehicles per year.

SPORTS

Gukesh wins La Roda International Open chess title
The country’s youngest Grandmaster D. Gukesh, 15, improved upon his two runner-up finishes in March with a resounding title-triumph in the 48th La Roda International Open chess tournament in Castile-La Mancha, in Spain.

• In the ninth and final round, joint overnight leader Gukesh stopped Israel’s Victor Mikhalevski in just 26 moves to finish with eight points.
• With a gain of 11 rating points, Gukesh, rated 2637, is poised to enter the World’s top-100 ranking list when the new list is released on May 1.

APPOINTMENTS

Wipro appoints Satya Easwaran as Country Head of India
IT major Wipro announced the appointment of Satya Easwaran as the Country Head for India.

• Wipro said in a regulatory filing that Easwaran will be in charge of strengthening Wipro’s business in India across segments through strategic consulting, transformation and modernisation engagements.
• Prior to joining Wipro, Easwaran was the head of business consulting and telecom, Media & technology sector leader at KPMG India.

Patrick Achi re-appointed as PM of Ivory Coast
Patrick Achi has been re-appointed as Prime Minister of Ivory Coast by President Alassane Ouattara.

• He was appointed prime minister in March 2021. He was the third prime minister in the West African state (Ivory Coast) in the last three years after Amadou Gon Coulibaly (who died in 2020) and Hamed Bakayoko (who died in 2021).

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

IAF test fires BrahMos missile from Su-30 MKI with ‘pinpoint accuracy’ on a naval target
The Indian Air Force (IAF), in coordination with the Indian Navy, successfully tested a BrahMos missile from a Su30-MkI aircraft on the Eastern seaboard.  The missile achieved a direct hit on the target, a decommissioned Indian Navy ship.

• The BrahMos missile provides the IAF with a much-desired capability to strike from large stand-off ranges on any target at sea or land with pinpoint accuracy by day or night and in all weather conditions.
• The capability of the missile coupled with the high performance of the Su-30MKI aircraft gives the IAF a strategic reach and allows it to dominate the battlefields over land and sea.

India’s First Pure Green Hydrogen Pilot Plant Commissioned in Assam
Exploration and production major Oil India Limited (OIL) has commissioned “India’s first 99.999% pure” green hydrogen plant in Assam.

• Green hydrogen, which has the potential to replace fossil fuels, is the name given to hydrogen gas produced using renewable energy such as wind or solar power that do not entail greenhouse gas emissions.
• The green hydrogen pilot plant set up in central Assam’s Jorhat has an installed capacity for producing 10 kg of hydrogen per day. The plant was commissioned within three months.

INS Vagsheer, the sixth Scorpene Submarine of Project-75, launched in Mumbai
India’s naval fleet is set to receive more firepower as INS Vagsheer was launched under Project-75, a venture aimed at building six Scorpene class submarines at Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Ltd paving the way for the vessel to undergo a series of rigorous trials before getting commissioned.

• INS Vagsheer, the sixth and the last submarine constructed under Project-75, was launched by Defence Secretary Ajay Kumar.
• Four submarines built under Project-75 — INS Kalvari, INS Khanderi and INS Karang and INS Vela — have already been commissioned in the Indian Navy. The fifth submarine of the series, INS Vagir – is undergoing sea trails and is likely to be commissioned this year.The project is being executed with French technical assistance.

IMPORTANT DAYS

Siddalinga Swami’s birth anniversary to be ‘Integration Day’ in Karnataka
Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai announced that the birth anniversary of Sri Siddalinga Swami of Tontadarya Mutt in Gadag will be celebrated as ‘Integration Day’ and a government order in this regard would be soon.

• This was announced after the Chief Minister inaugurated the Aikya Mantapa.
• The Mantapa is a structure built around the location where the seer’s mortal remains were buried on the Tontadarya Mutt grounds in Gadag.

Click here to read Daily Current Affairs