Weekly Current Affairs 9th - 15th May 2022

RBI, Banking and Economy

• RBI's gold reserves up over 100 tonnes in the last two years
  • The RBI’s gold reserves started increasing from the 2017-18 financial year, and in the last two years it went up over 100 tonnes.
  • As at end-March 2022, the Reserve Bank held 760.42 tonnes of gold, including gold deposits of 11.08 tonnes.

• RBI opens banks credit for NBFCs to on-lend continuously to priority sector
  • Reserve Bank of India decided to allow banks to lend to NBFCs for on-lending to priority sectors on an on-going basis to ensure continuation of the synergies that have been developed between banks and NBFCs in delivering credit to the specified priority sectors.
  • The same holds true for small finance banks who are on-lending to NBFC-MFIs. This facility was earlier allowed till March 31, 2022.

• RBI appoints Sitikantha Pattanaik and Rajiv Ranjan as executive directors
  • RBI appoint Sitikantha Pattanaik and Rajiv Ranjan as executive directors with effect from May 1, 2022.
  • Rajiv Ranjan will also serve as an ex-officio member of the rate-setting panel Monetary Policy Committee (MPC).

SEBI & Financial Awareness

• Relief for brokers as SEBI relaxes norms for calculating peak margins
  • Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has relaxed the norms for calculating peak margins by brokers.
  • In a circular, the market regulator has allowed margins to be fixed at the beginning of the day (BoD), doing away with the earlier requirement changing them frequently on an intra-day basis.

• SEBI issues norms to calculate margin requirements for intra-day snapshots
  • Capital markets regulator SEBI issued a frame work for calculating margin requirements to be consid ered for the intraday snap shots in the derivatives segments.
  • The new frame work will come into effect from August 1,2022.
  • It has been decided that the margin requirements to be consid ered for the intra-day snapshots, in derivatives segments, shall be calculated based on the fixed Beginning of Day (BoD) margin parameters.

• India, Oman agree to have joint feasibility study on limited trade deal
  • India and Oman agreed to undertake a joint feasibility study, before going ahead with a preferential trade deal on limited goods.
  • The development is taking place at a time when India is set to begin deeper engagements with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries towards inking a free trade agreement (FTA).

NATIONAL

• Severe Cyclonic storm “Asani”
  • Severe cyclonic storm ‘Asani’, moving towards the east coast, packing winds above 105 kmph and setting off heavy rain, is likely to recurve in a northeast ward direction and weaken gradually into a cyclonic storm.
  • The storm, lying over west central and adjoining South Bay of Bengal, moved nearly north-westwards with a speed of 16 kmph in six hours and lay centred over westcentral Bay of Bengal.

• New appointments as Judge in Supreme Court
  • Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia and Justice Jamshed Burjor Pardiwala took oath as Supreme Court judges.
  • Chief Justice of India N.V. Ramana read out the oath of the constitutional office to the two new.
  • They would be judges 33 and 34, completing the sanctioned judicial strength of the court.

INTERNATIONAL

• Indian embassy to reopen in Kyiv
  • The Indian embassy in Ukraine, which was “temporarily” working out of Polish capital Warsaw since March 13, will return to Kyiv from May 17.
  • The embassy which played a leading role in evacuation of Indian students from Ukraine during February and March, was shifted to Warsaw on March 13.
  • India is one of the several leading nations that have ordered their diplomatic teams to return to Kyiv.

• India-nepal talks on hydropower, connectivity
  • Prime Minister Narendra Modi traveling to Lumbini to attend Buddha Purnima celebrations will hold talks with his Nepal counterpart, Sher Bahadur Deuba, and focussed on connectivity and electricity projects during their bilateral talks.

• UAE’s President Sheikh Khalifa dies
  • The United Arab Emirates’ President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al-Nahyan died aged 73 after battling illness for several years.
  • The President of the oil-rich Gulf state is likely to be replaced by his half-brother, Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed.

STATES

• Delhi govt. launches new film policy
  • The Delhi government launched the ‘Delhi Film Policy 2022’ aiming to make Delhi a global destination for film production and promote tourism, Speaking on the occasion, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said the policy “will create massive employment and economic development opportunities in Delhi along with attracting tourists to the Capital.”

• Rajasthan leading on MGNREGA parameters
  • Rajasthan has been rated as the leading State on various parameters of MGNREGA.
  • The State government recently had a decision to give employment for an additional 25 days to the eligible rural families completing the stipulated 100 days in a year.

• Andaman to get Gas based Power Plant
  • Gas powered plants are to be set up on the Andaman and Nicobar islands.
  • It is being done to meet the energy requirement of the islanders while reducing the dependence on highly polluting energy sources such as conventional diesel generator (DG) sets.

DEFENCE

• IAF test-fires extended-range BrahMos from Sukhoi-30 fighter
  • Two months after the extended-range BrahMos missile was tested from a naval ship, the missile was air-launched from a Su-30 MKI aircraft.
  • BrahMos is an indigenously manufactured supersonic cruise missile, jointly developed with Russia.
  • The range of BrahMos was earlier around 290 km, which, with the new version, has reached around 350 km.

AWARDS AND REWARDS

• Award for making drug to treat fungal infection
  • Lily Verma, founder and medical director of Lifecare Innovations, received the 2022 National Technology Excellence Award for Women Entrepreneur on National Technology Day.
  • The award was given by Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology Jitendra Singh.

• Royal Gold Medal awarded to architect Balkrishna Doshi
  • Acclaimed architect Balkrishna Doshi was conferred the prestigious Royal Gold Medal 2022, one of the world’s highest honours for architecture, by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA).
  • Doshi, 94, is the only one from India and to have been awarded both the Royal Gold Medal and the Pritzker Architecture Prize, often referred to as the Nobel Prize of architecture.
  • He is credited with designing some of the most iconic structures in Ahmedabad.

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

• CCMB develops Indian mRNA vaccine platform
  • The Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) has established the “proof of principle” of the first indigenous mRNA vaccine technology coming from a scientific institution in India.
  • It is based on the Moderna model, but has been built with the information available in the open and our own technology and materials.

• ISRO tests booster for Gaganyaan
  • The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has successfully carried out the static test of the HS200 solid rocket booster, taking the space agency one more step closer to the Gaganyaan human spaceflight mission.
  • The test was held at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota.

• Astronomers reveal first image of black hole at the heart of Milky Way galaxy
  • Scientists from the Event Horizon Telescope(EHT) facility revealed the first image of the black hole at the centre of the Milky Way.
  • This image of the black hole referred to as Sagittarius A* (SgrA*) gave further support to the idea that the compact object at the centre of our galaxy is indeed a black hole.This strengthens Einstein’s general theory of relativity.

NABARD & Agriculture

• Govt plans wheat export push in nine countries amid rising global demand
  • Centre will send trade delegations to nine countries to explore possibilities of boosting the grain’s export.
  • Delegations will be sent to Morocco, Tunisia, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, Turkey, Algeria and Lebanon.
  • India has set a target of a record 10 million tonnes of wheat export in 2022-23, amid rising global demand for the grain globally due to the crisis in Ukraine.

EVENTS

• China, Russia, Pak. to attend SCO anti-terror meet in Delhi
  • Counterterrorism teams from Russia, China, Pakistan and Central Asian countries will gather in Delhi ahead of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation’s Regional Anti-Terror Structure (SCO-RATS) meeting hosted by India from May 16 to 19.
  • These are the first such official discussions to be held in India since the stand-off along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) where Chinese PLA troops transgressed in 2020.

SPORTS

• India teams win four gold medals
  • India beat Spain, Korea, Uzbekistan, and Georgia in the finals to bag gold medals in rifle and pistol for men and women at the junior World Cup in Suhl, Germany.
  • India is on top of the medals table with eight gold and six silver. Two more medals were assured as the Indian trap teams made the gold medal match in both the sections.

• Amir Khan hangs up his gloves
  • Former World champion Amir Khan announced his retirement from boxing after a 17-year professional career.
  • The 35-year-old British fighter, who became the unified World champion in the light-welterweight category, retires with a record of 34 wins from 40 fights.
  • The 2004 Olympic silver medallist won the first 18 contests of his pro career, becoming one of the finest British boxers of his era.

• Shuttler Jerlin, golfer Diksha clinch gold
  • Indian golfer Diksha Dagar defeated American Ashlyn Grace Johnson in the final to bag the gold medal at the Deaflympics.
  • Dagar is now the only golfer with two Deaflympics medals. She had won a silver in 2017 in Turkey.