CURRENT AFFAIRS SNIPPETS APRIL 24 2022

 

CURRENT AFFAIRS SNIPPETS

APRIL 24 2022

NATIONAL NEWS

BJP-AGP alliance wins 58 of 60 seats in Guwahati civic body polls; PM thanks voters

The BJP along with its ally Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) won 58 out of the total 60 seats in Assam's Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC) elections. While the BJP won in 52 wards, the AGP secured six wards. BJP had already won in three wards unopposed. PM Narendra Modi thanked voters of Guwahati for giving a "resounding mandate" to the party.

Anurag Thakur inaugurates Khelo India University Games in B'luru

Union Youth Affairs and Sports Minister Anurag Thakur on Sunday inaugurated the first edition of the Khelo India University Games 2021 in Bengaluru. "I'm confident that you'll see a lot of the participants of Khelo India University Games 2021 representing India at the international level," Thakur said. A light and sound show was also organised at the ceremony.

 

President Ram Nath Kovind Gives Assent To Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order (Amendment) Bill, 2022

President, Ram Nath Kovind gives assent to Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order (Amendment) Bill, 2022. Hereon the bill will be termed as Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order (Amendment) Act, 2022.

The Act provides “Darlongs” a small community of around 11,000 people in Tripura to officially get included in the list of Scheduled Tribes (ST).

• The Darlong community is a sub-tribe of the Kuki tribe in the list of STs in Tripura.

• The Act amended the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order, 1950. Darlong Community: i.The community excels in education, public service, music, art and culture. ii.Thanga Darlong of Darlong Community has received Padma Shri Award in 2019 in the category of art, music, flute by the Government of India. iii.Darlong were handed their tribal certificates as members of ‘Kuki’ community. iv.Requisition – The excluded Darlongs, sub-tribe of Kuki in the excluded ST list should be included with the Darlong community. Tripura’s Tribal Communities: Tripura consists of 19 tribal communities which includes Tripuri or Debbarma, Reangs or Brus, Jamatia, Noatia, Uchoi, Chakma, Mog, Lushai, Kuki, Munda, Kour, Oram, Santhal, Bhil, Bhutia, Chaimar or Sermai, Garo, Khasi, Lepcha and Halam.

About Tripura: Chief Minister – Biplab Kumar Deb

President of Darlong Hnam Inzom (DHI) – SK Darlong

GoI Appoints C Muhammed Faizi as a member of the Haj Committee of India

In the exercise of the powers conferred by Section 3, 4, 5 and 6 read with Section 15 (1) of the Haj Committee Act 2002(35 of 2002), The Government of India (GoI) has appointed C Muhammed Faizi as a member of the Haj Committee of India (HCoI), a statutory body under the Ministry of Minority Affairs, under sub-section (11), of Section 4 of Haj Committee Act 2022, for a period of 3 years up to 31st March 2025 with effect from 21st April 2022.

• Ministry of Minority Affairs is the nodal ministry to conduct the Haj pilgrimage in India.

• Haj pilgrimage for the Indian pilgrims is conducted either through HCoI or the Haj Group Organisers (HGOs) approved by the Ministry.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

World's top palm oil producer Indonesia bans exports

Indonesia, which is the world's top palm oil producer, announced plans to ban palm oil exports from April 28 amid a record rise in global food inflation. President Joko Widodo said he wanted to ensure that the availability of cooking oil was "abundant" and "affordable" in Indonesia. As per Solvent Extractors' Association Of India (SEA), this will hurt Indian consumers.

UN chief Guterres to visit Turkey ahead of Moscow, Kyiv trips

UN chief Antonio Guterres will visit Turkey's capital Ankara on Monday before heading onward to Moscow and Kyiv next week for talks, a UN statement said on Saturday. Guterres' visit to Turkey comes as the country seeks to mediate the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict. Notably, a negotiation meeting between Russian and Ukrainian delegations was also held in Turkey last month.

 

BANKING, BUSINESS AND ECONOMY

FPIs, net sellers since Oct, withdraw ₹12,286 cr between Apr 1-22

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) withdrew net ₹12,286 crore between April 1-22, data with depositories showed. FPIs had withdrawn ₹1.48 lakh crore between October 2021 and March 2022 and became net investors between April 1-8, for the first time in six months, by investing net ₹7,707 crore. They have been net sellers since then, withdrawing ₹4,500 crore between April 11-13.

RBI mandates Borrowers with Exposure of Rs 5cr and above to obtain LEI;  UCBs to Eliminate Honorary Positions within 1 year

 

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) mandates non-individual borrowers with aggregate exposure of Rs 5 crore and above from Banks and Financial Institutions (FIs) should obtain Legal Entity Identifier (LEI) codes.

• These directions are issued under sections 21, 35A and 56 of the Banking Regulation (BR) Act, 1949, sections 45JA and 45L of the RBI Act, 1934, section 30A of the National Housing Bank (NHB) Act, 1987 and section 6 of the Factoring Regulation Act, 2011.

• Here term ‘Exposure’ include all fund based and non-fund based (credit as well as investment) worth.

What is LEI?

It is 20-digit unique code to identify parties to financial transactions worldwide. It improves the quality and accuracy of financial data systems for better risk management.

 

Timeline for obtaining LEI by borrowers Total Exposure LEI to be obtained on or before

 Above Rs 25 crore April 30, 2023

Above Rs 10 crore, up to Rs 25 crore April 30, 2024

Rs 5 crore and above, up to Rs 10 crore April 30, 2025

Key Points: i.Borrowers who fail to obtain LEI codes from an authorized Local Operating Unit (LOU) will not be sanctioned any new exposure. They will also not get renewal/enhancement of any existing exposure. ii.Exempted entities from LEI: Departments/Agencies of Central and State Governments (not Public Sector Undertakings registered under Companies Act or established as Corporation under the relevant statute) are exempted from this provision. RBI directs UCBs to eliminate honorary positions within one year RBI in exercise of its powers conferred under Section 35A and Section 36(1)(d) of the BR ACT, 1949 barred Urban Cooperative Banks (UCBs) from creating honorary position or title such Chairman Emeritus and Group Chairman at the board level.

The RBI has directed these banks to eliminate such positions within one year. Reason behind this: Such positions create conflicts of interest as well as creation of a shadow authority impeding effective and independent functioning of the legally constituted board.

Recent Related News: As per RBI’s data on ‘Sectoral Deployment of Bank Credit – December 2021’ the bank’s non-food credit registered a growth of 9.3 percent (on a year-on-year (y-o-y) basis) in December 2021 as compared to 6.6 percent in December 2020.

About Reserve Bank of India (RBI):

 i.The Reserve Bank of India was established on April 1, 1935, in accordance with the provisions of the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934. ii.The Central Office of the Reserve Bank was initially established in Calcutta but was permanently moved to Mumbai in 1937.

 iii. Though originally privately owned, since nationalization in 1949, the Reserve Bank is fully owned by the Government of India

 

SEBI Issued Rs 2.06 Crore Recovery Notice to Former NSE Chief Ravi Narain

The Securities and Exchange Board of India(SEBI) issued a fine of Rs 2.06 crore on Ravi Narain, former Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive Officer(CEO) of National Stock Exchange (NSE) in a case related to governance issues over the appointment of the chief strategic officer at NSE in 2013.

• In two separate orders, SEBI imposed a fine of Rs 5 lakh each on Rexon Strips Ltd and Ritika Enclave Pvt Ltd for non-genuine trades in illiquid stock options on BSE.

 

Apple Inc Announced Partnerships to Protect Mangroves in Raigad, Maharashtra

Apple Inc has partnered with Applied Environmental Research Foundation (AERF) and the Conservation International to protect the crucial mangrove ecosystem and the livelihoods that depend on it in Raigad district of Maharashtra.

• This is a part of Apple’s ongoing work to support communities most affected by climate change.

• This project is also a part of Apple’s USD 200 million Restore Fund launched in 2021 with Conservation International and Goldman Sachs. Objective:

• To help the transition the local economy to one that relies on keeping mangroves intact and healthy.

• To help protect the mangrove ecosystem in India and the livelihoods that depend upon it. Features of the partnership:

 i.AERF will enter into conservation agreements with local community members, offering support in exchange for conserving and protecting the mangroves on their land.

 ii.The conservation agreements will provide sustained support to villagers in exchange for conserving the land.

iii.AERF will engage with Conservation International to verify the climate benefits of the mangroves, accounting for the carbon sequestered in both the trees and soil.

 iv.AERF will also apply learnings from Conservation International’s pilot blue carbon project in Cispatá, Colombia, launched in 2018.

v.The blue carbon project was the first in the world to adequately and accurately measure the carbon that mangrove trees store in their trunk and leaves and what they sequester in their soil

Key points: i.In 2021, Apple awarded a grant to AERF to explore the area with a plan to safeguard the future of 2,400 hectares of mangrove forests in Raigad by creating alternative, sustainable industries in the local communities that cultivate and benefit from the biodiversity and resilience of the mangrove ecosystems.

ii.The grant also supports the restoration of mangroves across a 50-hectare area where they have degraded and it will also overlook the purchase and distribution of portable bio-stoves that prevent the cutting down of mangroves for firewood.

Importance of Mangroves in Raigad:

 i.The mangroves protect the coastal communities from climate impacts like the unpredictable monsoons and rising tides.

 ii.They also act as carbon sinks that absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and store it in their soil, plants, and other sediment known as blue carbon.

About Apple Inc.: Chief Executive Officer– Tim Cook

Headquarters– Cupertino, California, United States of America(USA) Founded in 1976

India's oil imports nearly double to $119.2 billion in FY22

India imported 212.2 million tonnes of crude oil, worth $119.2 billion, in the fiscal year that ended on March 31, Petroleum Ministry's data showed. This is nearly double the $62.2 billion that India spent on 196.5 million tonnes of oil in the previous fiscal. India bought $13.7 billion-oil in March alone, when oil prices surged to 14-year high.

TCS could become the world's largest IT company: CEO

Tata Consultancy Services' (TCS) CEO Rajesh Gopinathan said, "Absolutely. In many ways, we already are," when he was asked if the Indian IT services major could become the world's largest IT company. Gopinathan also said, "Today we are $25 billion in size...There is no reason we shouldn't aspire to be double, triple, quadruple of the size we are today."

UPI server faces outage, users from across India complain of failed payments

The Unified Payments Interface (UPI) server appeared to be down for more than an hour on Sunday evening, causing disruptions in payments across India. Several users took to Twitter to complain about failed payments on major UPI apps, including PhonePe, Google Pay and Paytm. The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) is yet to issue a statement on the outage.

 

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