12th August, 2022 Current Affairs
NATIONAL
India’s GDP Growth to be fastest in Asia in FY23: Morgan Stanley
- According to analysts at Morgan Stanley, India’s GDP growth will average 7% during this time, which is the strongest among the largest economies, and India will contribute 28% and 22% to both Asian and global growth, respectively. This makes India the fastest-growing Asian economy in the Asian region in 2022–2023. They claimed that due to the release of dormant demand, the Indian economy is poised for its strongest performance in more than a decade.
- The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has increased policy rates by a total of 140 basis points (bps) in fast succession since May 2022, bringing them to 5.4 percent, just a little higher than pre-pandemic levels of 5.1 percent. Along with the decline in commodity prices, the economy’s reopening earlier this year has also contributed to the recovery of India’s GDP growth. According to Morgan Stanley, demand has recently surged as a result of rising mobility and sustained levels above pre-Covid levels.
Centre approves Corbevax as 'booster dose' for adults vaccinated with Covaxin or Covishield
- The Centre has said that the option of heterologous precaution dose with Corbevax will be available to all people above 18 years of age.
- Corbevax will be available as precaution dose after the completion of six months from the date of administration of the second dose of either Covaxin or Covishield vaccines for a population above 18 years.
- All necessary changes in regard to administration of heterologous precaution doses have been made on the Cowin Portal from tomorrow. There will be no change in existing guidelines for heterologous precaution dose administration of Covaccine and Covishield Vaccine.
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INTERNATIONAL
India and Bangladesh review defence cooperation, agree to elevate engagements
- India and Bangladesh have agreed to further elevate the engagement between the two armed forces. The decision was taken during the 4th India-Bangladesh Annual Defence Dialogue held in Delhi on Thursday. The meeting was co-chaired by Defence Secretary Dr Ajay Kumar and Principal Staff Officer of Armed Forces Division of Bangladesh Lt Gen Waker-Uz-Zaman.
- The existing bilateral exercises and training and agreed to increase the complexity of these exercises. Both the sides reviewed the progress on various bilateral defence cooperation. Various aspects of defence industrial and capability building cooperation came up for detailed discussions. Both sides emphasised the need to work closely to implement the USD 500 million Line of Credit (LOC) extended from India for defence items, said an official press release.
- The Indian side commended Bangladesh for their efforts in UN peacekeeping.
China assures visiting Nepal Foreign Minister Khadka of supporting the feasibility study of China-Nepal cross-border railway under BRI
- China assured the visiting Nepalese Foreign Minister Narayan Khadka of giving financial aid to Nepal to support the feasibility study of the China-Nepal cross-border railway which was facing uncertainty due to internal political instability in Nepal and COVID-19.
- Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi announced that surveyors would be sent to Nepal to examine the feasibility of a line linking Kathmandu and the southern Tibetan city of Gyirong.
- The two sides signed an agreement to cooperate on a possible railway line under China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in 2018, but there are long-standing concerns about the cost and technical difficulty of building the line and little concrete progress has been made since then.
China shields Pak based global terrorist from United Nations sanctions despite incontrovertible evidence
- China has once again shielded a Pakistan based global terrorist - Abdul RaufAzhar from United Nations sanctions despite incontrovertible evidence under the garb of procedures as it has put a hold on a US-India joint proposal at the U.N. Security Council (UNSC) to list Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) commander as a UN designated international terrorist.
- In June this year, China similarly put technical hold on the US-India joint proposal to sanction Abdul RehmanMakki - a known Pakistan-based terrorist who is the deputy head of UN proscribed Pakistan based terrorist entity Lashkar-e-Tayyiba. Both RaufAzhar and RahmanMakki are involved in a number of terror attacks in India, including the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack, attack on Indian Parliament and hijacking of Indian Airlines flight 814 in 1999.
- Abdul RaufAzhar is the younger brother of MasoodAzhar and is one of the most wanted persons in India. Experts with the knowledge of UNSC functioning said it has put a question mark on China's sincerity in dealing with the issues related to global terrorism and efforts by UNSC as it has put hold technical holds on UN resolutions twice in last 2 months and China is abdicating its responsibility as a permanent member of UN Security Council.
- While all 14 other UNSC member countries agreed, only China stood out in placing the hold on Abdul RaufAzhar being declared a UN designated international terrorist.
ECONOMY
RBI issues detailed set of guidelines for digital lending
- Reserve Bank of India has said that digital loans must be credited directly to the bank accounts of borrowers and not through any third party. RBI also said that digital lending entities and not the borrowers should pay fees or charges payable to Lending Service Providers in the credit intermediation process.
- Issuing a detailed set of guidelines for digital lending, the RBI mentioned concerns primarily related to unbridled engagement of third parties, mis-selling, breach of data privacy, unfair business conduct, charging of exorbitant interest rates, and unethical recovery practices.
- RBI had constituted a Working Group on ‘digital lending including lending through online platforms and mobile apps’ - WGDL on January 13, 2021. The report submitted by the WGDL was placed on the RBI website, inviting comments of stakeholders and members of the public. Taking into account the inputs received from a diverse set of stakeholders, a regulatory framework to support orderly growth of credit delivery through digital lending methods while mitigating the regulatory concerns has been firmed up.
- This regulatory framework is based on the principle that lending business can be carried out only by entities that are either regulated by the Reserve Bank or entities permitted to do so under any other law.
India, UK to conclude talk on Free Trade Agreement by October end
- India and the United Kingdom are working intensively to conclude talks on a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) by the end of October this year. Ministry of Commerce and Industry said, India and the UK concluded the fifth round of talks for an FTA on the 29th of last month. In the fifth round of negotiations, technical experts from both sides came together to discuss 15 policy areas.
- Presently, India is engaged in FTA negotiations with some of its trading partners, including the European Union, Canada, and Israel.
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Langyahenipavirus found in China
- In China’s Shandong and Henan provinces, 35 persons are thought to have contracted a novel virus called Langyahenipavirus. Langyahenipavirus shares a connection with viruses that harm people, the Hendra and Nipah viruses.
- It is not yet known much about the new virus, also known as LayV, particularly whether it spreads from person to person. The novel Langyahenipavirus was initially discovered by Chinese researchers who were doing routine surveillance on individuals with fevers who had recently reported interaction with animals. After identifying the virus, the researchers searched for it in additional persons.
New zoonotic virus infects thirty-five persons in eastern provinces of China
- As the world is recovering from the novel coronavirus pandemic, a zoonotic virus has been discovered in two eastern provinces of China. The new type of Henipavirus is also called LangyaHenipavirus or the LayV. As per media reports, it has infected thirty-five persons in Shandong and Henan provinces of China, so far. Many had symptoms such as fever, fatigue, and a cough.
- There was no close contact or common exposure history among the infected patients. The infections may be sporadic in the human population.
- The studies found that the new virus has jumped from animals to humans. The RNA of LangyaHenipavirus has been predominantly found in shrews. The mole-like mammals may be natural reservoirs for the virus. About Five percent of dogs and Two percent of goats also tested positive for it.
- Researchers said that there is 'no need to panic because the cases of LayV found so far have not been fatal or very serious. However, they suggested there is still a need to be alert as many viruses that exist in nature have unpredictable results when they infect humans.
ENVIRONMENT
Govt plans to restore population of extinct Cheetahs in the country
- The government has planed to restore the population of Cheetah that has become extinct in the country. It aims at establishing viable cheetah metapopulation in the country that allows the cheetah to perform its functional role as a top predator and contributing to its global conservation efforts.
- The introduction of the cheetah in the country is not only a species recovery program but an effort to restore ecosystems with a lost element that has played a significant role in the evolutionary history. It will allow ecosystem to provide services to their full potential, and use Cheetah as an umbrella species for conserving the biodiversity of grasslands, savanna and open forest systems.
SPORTS
44th Chess Olympiad: Uzbekistan win gold in Open section, Ukrainian women triumph
- The team Uzbekistan has won the gold medal in the Open section of the 44th Chess Olympiad which concluded. Team Armenia won silver while the India-2 team settled for bronze in Open Section.
- In the women’s section, Ukraine won the gold medal. Team Georgia won the silver, while the India-1 team won the bronze medal.
44th Chess Olympiad: HarikaDronavalli bags medal while being 9 months pregnant
- Indian grandmaster HarikaDronavalli achieved the ultimate dream following the conclusion of the 44th Chess Olympiad as she bagged a medal while being nine months pregnant.
- India 'A' women's team comprising HarikaDronavalli, Vaishali, KoneruHumphy, Tania Sachdev, and Bhakti Kulkarni won the bronze medal in the women's section.
- On the other hand, India 'B' team also won a bronze medal in the open section. The young team comprising three 16-year-olds (D Gukesh, R Praggnanandhaa, and RaunakSadhwani) and 18-year-old NihalSarin not only clinched the bronze medal but also beat the senior India 'A' team, that finished fourth.
Tamara Walcott lifts 737.5 kg to break powerlifting Guinness World Record
- Tamara Walcott, a female powerlifter from Maryland in the United States broke according to sources in the investigating agency for the heaviest cumulative lift for bench/squat and press in competition (female) after lifting a total of 737.5 kg across three compound lifts - the squat, the bench press, and the deadlift.
- She was honoured at the 2022 World Raw Powerlifting Federation American Pro in Manassas, Virginia last month. GWR compared the weight she lifted with a female adult giraffe that weighs about 680.3 kg.
- The record-keeping agency said that Ms Walcott, mother of two, weighed 188.2 kg.
Andhra Pradesh: AP CM Jaganlaunched VidyaDeevena at Bapatla on August 11
- Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, at a public meeting in Bapatla, released ₹694 crore into accounts of the mothers of 11.02 lakh students belonging to BC, SC and ST communities under the JaganannaVidyaDeevena scheme.
- Students pursuing higher education in junior, vocational, and professional colleges will get their quarterly fee reimbursed.
- With this, the government will be paying a total of ₹11,715 crore under the VidyaDeevena and VasatiDeevena schemes, including arrears of ₹1,778 crore kept pending by the previous government.
- The YSRCP government has been releasing the quarterly tranche under the VidyaDeevena scheme since 2019 to ensure students have money to pay the college fee. Under VasatiDeevana, the students get ₹20,000 every year to meet thir board and lodging expenses.
- Of the 11.02 lakh students, there are 2.17 lakh SCs, 45,450 STs, 5.30 lakh BCs, 1.02 lakh Kapus, and 70,984 minorities.