Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 21 April 2022

SSC CGL Current Affairs

Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 21 April 2022

::NATIONAL::

Assam to move SC for Aadhaar cards to persons whose biometrics locked for NRC

The Assam cabinet decided on Wednesday to approach the Supreme Court to ensure that those residents whose biometrics were locked during the process of updating the National Register of Citizens (NRC) are able to get Aadhaar cards.
“State government approved filing of an interlocutory application in Supreme Court to ensure residents of Assam (both whose names are in NRC and those left out) are able to get their Aadhaar cards,” parliamentary affairs and information minister PijushHazarika said.
During the process of updating the NRC, the biometrics of nearly 2.8 million applicants, whose citizenship was under doubt, were collected and locked. As per present rules, Aadhaar cards can’t be issued to those whose biometrics has been locked.
The final NRC list released on August 31, 2019 excluded 1.9 million applicants whose biometrics were collected. At present, both these applicants as well as over 830,000 others whose names were included in the final NRC haven’t been able to get their Aadhaar cards as their biometrics are still locked.
The Supreme Court is at present hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by Trinamool Congress (TMC) RajyaSabha member SushmitaDev seeking release of biometrics of those 830,000 applicants whose names have got included in the NRC.
“Nearly 2.8 million people from Assam have not been able to get their Aadhaar cards as their biometrics is locked. Due to this, these people are not able to avail benefits of many state as well as central government schemes. Since Aadhaar is not a citizenship document, we feel that these people need to get it, whether their names are in the NRC or not,” said Hazarika.
“Our government as well as many organisations in Assam have refused to accept the NRC list (due to alleged flaws in inclusion and exclusion of names). A meeting held with these groups unanimously agreed NRC shouldn’t determine who should get Aadhaar card or not. Hence, we decided to approach SC so that these people get Aadhaar and are able to get benefit of schemes,” he added.

::INTERNATIONAL::

What is Putin's Sarmat missile that will make Russia's 'enemies think twice'?

Amid the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday said Russia has successfully tested the Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile which is the world's most powerful missile that is believed to be capable of penetrating any missile defence. It is colloquially known as Satan.
The successful test of the Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile is a big and significant event for Russia's defence, Putin said adding that this will make Russia's enemies think twice.

Here is everything you need to know about Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile

1. The Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile was fired from the Plesetskcosmodrome, about 800 km north of Moscow, in the northern Arkhangelsk region, the defence ministry said.
2. In the first test launch, the missile hit targets in the Kamchatka peninsula in the far east of Russia, nearly 6,000km(3,700 miles) away.
3. The missile weighs more than 200 tonnes and is able to transport multiple warheads, more than 10, it is believed.
4. According to Russian media, Sarmat is a three-stage, liquid-fueled missile with a range of 18,000 km and a launch weight of 208.1 metric tons, to be exact. The missile is 35.3 meters long and 3 meters in diameter.
5. Apart from 10 large warheads, it can carry 16 smaller ones, a combination of warheads and countermeasures, or hypersonic boost-glide vehicles, it is believed.
6. The missile was being developed for years and the test does not come across as a surprise to western countries.
7. Pentagon said the test is routine and not a threat to the US and its allies. Moscow had properly notified the United States before the test launch of Sarmat, the Pentagon said. US postponed its test of Minuteman III ICBM on March 2 to avoid escalating tensions with Russia, it said.
8. Russia's nuclear forces will start taking delivery of the new missile "in the autumn of this year" once testing is complete, reports said.

::ECONOMY::

Punjab & Sind Bank declares SREI firms' outstanding dues as fraud

Punjab & Sind Bank has declared outstanding dues of SREI companies as fraud, it said in a notice to the stock exchanges.
In its filing, the bank said that the NPA accounts, SREI Infrastructure Finance (SIFL) with outstanding dues of Rs 510.16 crore and SREI Equipment Finance Limited (SEFL) with outstanding dues of Rs 724.18 crore have been declared as fraud and reported to the RBI today as per regulatory requirement.
With this, the bank became the first to classify SIFL and SEFL as fraud accounts, according to sources.
In its filing, the bank also said that the accounts have been fully provided for as per prescribed prudential norms.
Sources close to SREI promoters said that it was unfortunate that a public sector bank had taken such a step even when the KPMG report – on which the decision is seemingly based – is still sub-judice. “Necessary legal steps will be initiated in this regard,” they said.
SREI promoter, HemantKanoria, challenged the KPMG forensic report on January 19, 2022, before the Kolkata Bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT). In the application, he had sought setting aside the KPMG report and restraining UCO and Axis Bank (the lead banks in the consortium) from publishing information and taking action based on the audit.

::Science and tech::

Radio, GPS blackout likely after huge solar flare over India, Southeast Asia

The Sun unleashed a massive ‘X-Class’ solar flare on Wednesday, causing major fluctuations in the ionosphere above India. The solar flare – that erupted was so strong that it had the potential to cause a radio blackout by impacting satellite communications and global positioning systems, according to the Centre of Excellence in Space Sciences India (CESSI).
The solar flare erupted from a region beyond the southwest limb of the Sun, impacting the most in areas over India, South East Asia and the Asia-Pacific regions.
“The X2.2 class solar flare eruption took place at 3:57 UTC (9:27 IST) from the solar magnetic active region AR12992,” Dibyendu Nandi, Associate Professor and Coordinator of CESSI at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Kolkata told news agency PTI.
The CESSI had predicted the eruption of the solar flare on April 18.
According to NASA, similar to the Richter scale for earthquakes, each letter represents a 10-fold increase in energy output. An X class flare is ten times an M class eruption and 100 times a C class flare.
The X-class flares are the most intense flares based on a classification system that divides solar flares according to their strength, according to NASA. Meanwhile, the number provides more information about its strength.
In the case of the latest one, it was a Class ‘X2.2’ flare listed under code ‘severe’.
“Expected high-frequency communication blackouts, satellite anomalies, GPS scintillations, airline communication impacts,” the CESSI had tweeted. Airlines were also alerted regarding the solar flares.

::Sports::

Djokovic rallies to beat Djere in 3 sets at Serbia Open

Novak Djokovic rallied from a set down to beat compatriot LasloDjere 2-6, 7-6 (6), 7-6 (4) in the second round of the Serbia Open on Wednesday in a match that lasted almost 3 1/2 hours. The top-ranked Serb struggled to find his rhythm in what was just his fifth match of the year and the 50th-ranked Djere created break-point opportunities in all four of Djokovic’s service games in the opening set.
Djokovic improved in the second and recovered from missing three set points in the 12th game to win the tiebreaker. Djere had a chance to go 5-3 up in the third set before Djokovic broke back for 4-4, and the 20-time Grand Slam champion then won the last four points of the decisive tiebreaker.