Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 01 January 2022

SSC CGL Current Affairs

Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 01 January 2022

::NATIONAL::

Ministry of Home Affairs extends validity of FCRA registration of NGOs by 3 months till March 31

The ministry of home affairs on Friday extended the validity of Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) registration of non-government organisations (NGOs) by three months till March 31.
The validity was slated to expire on December 31.
The relief, however, will not be extended to organisations such as Missionaries of Charity (MoC), as their applications for a renewal of FCRA have already been rejected, the ministry said.
“The Centre, in public interest, has decided to extend the validity of the FCRA registration certificates of NGOs up to March 31, 2022 or till the date of disposal of their renewal applications, whichever is earlier, in respect of only those entities that fulfill certain criteria,” the notice by the ministry said.
The NGOs with FCRA registration certificates expiring between September 29, 2020 and March 31, 2022 and that have applied for renewal on the FCRA portal before the expiry of the certificates, in accordance with rule 12 of the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Rules, 2011, are eligible for the benefits.
According to the ministry, a total of 22,762 NGOs are registered under the FCRA and the renewal applications of about 6,500 have so far been processed.
The NGOs that have valid registration certificates under the FCRA are eligible to receive funding from abroad.
Earlier this week, a political controversy broke out over the Centre’s decision, taken on December 25, to not renew the FCRA licence of Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity (MoC) with Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee expressing shock, and the Union government clarifying its stand.

::INTERNATIONAL::

World population estimated to be 7.8 billion on New Year's Day 2022: US Census Bureau

The world's population is projected to be 7.8 billion people on New Year's Day 2022, according to the US Census Bureau.
That represents an increase of 74 million people, or a 0.9% growth rate from New Year's Day 2021. Starting in the new year, 4.3 births and two deaths are expected worldwide every second, the Census Bureau estimated.
China remains the world's most-populous country with 1.4 billion people, though it is only narrowly ahead of India on 1.38 billion which is set to overtake it by 2025.
Meanwhile, the US grew by almost 707,000 people over the past year, and the nation's population is expected to be 332.4 million residents on New Year's Day 2022, according to the US Census Bureau.
The Census Bureau estimate represents a 0.2% growth rate from New Year's Day 2021 to New Year's Day 2022. Starting in the new year, the US is expected to grow by one person every 40 seconds from births, minus deaths, as well as net international migration.
The US is expected to experience a birth every nine seconds and a death every 11 seconds, as well as an additional person from international migration every 130 seconds.

::ECONOMY::

ICRA rating agency expects India to grow at 9% in FY 2022-23

The Indian economy is expected to maintain a real GDP growth of 9.0% each in FY22 and FY23 amid the uncertainty triggered by the Omicron variant of Covid-19, ratings and research firm Icra said.
The rating agency said the available data for Q3 FY2022 does not offer convincing evidence that the Monetary Policy Committee’s (MPC’s) criteria of a durable and sustainable growth recovery had been met, to confirm a change in the Monetary Policy stance to neutral in February 2022.
According to AditiNayar, chief economist, ICRA Ltd, “The data for October-November 2021 does not point to a broad-basing of the growth recovery in India. After the higher-than-expected net cash outgo sought under the second supplementary demand for grants, the pace of actual Government spending is likely to determine whether the pace of GDP growth meaningfully exceeds 6.0-6.5% in Q3 FY2022."
Similar to the trend in Q2 FY2022, the volumes of seven of the 13 high frequency indicators rose above their pre-Covid levels in October-November 2021, including GST e-way bills generation (+26.7%), non-oil exports (+26.0%), rail freight traffic (+20.2%), Coal India Limited output (+15.7%), electricity generation (+9.9%), petrol consumption (+6.4%) and ports cargo traffic (+4.0%).
However, the volumes of six of the 13 high-frequency indicators contracted in October-November, relative to October-November 2019, and in line with the trend in Q2 FY2022, suggesting that the recovery is yet to broad-base.
The subset trailing their pre-Covid performance in October-November 2021, includes scooter production (-25.1%), domestic airline passenger traffic (-22.8%), vehicle registration (-22.8%), diesel consumption (-6.8%), passenger vehicle (PV) production (-3.1%) and motorcycle production (-2.6%).

Axis Bank second largest bank among POS machines

Axis Financial institution has change into the second-largest merchant-acquiring financial institution within the nation, leapfrogging two areas throughout 2021 by putting in over two lakh card-swipe machines throughout the yr.
That is a part of the financial institution’s ‘Axis One’ technique the place it approaches the purchasers providing its complete gamut of merchandise as a substitute of a standalone service.
“We’re making aggressive strides in merchant-acquiring. We’re not taking a look at retailers as simply somebody who acquires a point-of-sale (PoS) terminal however as a possibility to open a brand new present account for his or her enterprise, private financial savings account and a possibility to supply loans and insurance coverage safety.
We’re rising this enterprise by providing new merchandise to the fee merchandise service provider,” mentioned Axis Financial institution govt VP & head (playing cards & funds) SanjeevMoghe.
The financial institution’s market share within the variety of gadgets has gone up from 15% in January this yr to 16% as much as October. Its share in spending is even bigger because the financial institution is consistently monitoring the variety of inactive terminals. “We’ve got sped up the onboarding course of by making it fully paperless.
Whereas the onboarding continues to be completed within the presence of the service provider for Now-Your-Buyer necessities, we’re engaged on methods to do it remotely,” mentioned Moghe.
The sharp leap within the onboarding of retailers — together with small retailers, organised retail and e-commerce retailers — happened after the financial institution determined to cease taking a look at these card-swipe machines as a revenue stream.
“The enterprise mannequin is a loss-making one in the event you take a look at it purely because the distinction between what you earn from the service provider for the transaction versus what you pay as interchange.
For this reason many banks have chosen not to do that and as a substitute outsource to companions or joint ventures. We’ve got determined to maintain this enterprise inside the financial institution,” mentioned Moghe.At present, HDFC Financial institution dominates the merchant-acquiring area adopted by Axis Financial institution, which has overtaken SBI and ICICI Financial institution, each of which have hived off merchant-acquiring to an affiliate firm.

::SCIENCE AND TECH::

Russia tests 10 new Tsirkon (Zircon) hypersonic cruise missiles

Russia test-fired around 10 new Tsirkon (Zircon) hypersonic cruise missiles from a frigate and two more from a submarine, the weapon Russian President Vladimir Putin has lauded as part of a new generation of unrivalled arms systems, according to the Interfax news agency citing Russia's northern fleet on Friday.
Putin has called a missile test, conducted last week, "a big event in the country's life," adding that this was "a substantial step" in increasing Russia's defense capabilities.
Some Western experts have questioned how advanced Russia's new generation of weapons is, while recognizing that the combination of speed, maneuverability and altitude of hypersonic missiles makes them difficult to track and intercept.
Putin announced an array of new hypersonic weapons in 2018 in one of his most bellicose speeches in years, saying they could hit almost any point in the world and evade a United States-built missile shield.
In October, Russia had successfully test-launched a Tsirkon (Zircon) hypersonic cruise missile from a submarine for the first time.

::SPORTS::

India beat Sri Lanka by 9 wickets to win Under-19 Asia Cup title in Dubai

India reaffirmed their supremacy in the U-19 Asia Cup with a record eighth title as they hammered Sri Lanka by nine wickets in a rain-hit summit showdown.
The Indian bowlers were all over Sri Lanka, who were gasping at 74 for seven in 33 overs, when heavy rain lashed the Dubai International Cricket Stadium and stopped play for more than two hours.
It became a 38-over-a-side contest when play resumed with Sri Lanka limping to 106 for nine.
India were set a revised 102-run target in 38 overs via DLS method which they reached rather comfortably in 21.3 overs with opener Angkrish Raghuvanshi scoring an unbeaten 56 off 67 balls.
India’s only loss in the competition came against arch-rivals Pakistan who lost to Sri Lanka in the semifinals.