Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 25 March 2022

SSC CGL Current Affairs

Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 25 March 2022

::NATIONAL::

External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar holds discussions with Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dandias

Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has reached Athens, the capital of Greece. The Indian External Affairs Minister was received by his Greek counterpart Nikos Dandias.
In Greece, he will discuss various aspects of bilateral relations. Along with this, he will participate in ministerial level meetings. This visit of the Indian External Affairs Minister is quite historic, because this is the visit of an External Affairs Minister to Greece after 18 years.
The Indian Foreign Ministry said that the External Affairs Minister will also visit Italy along with Greece. The ministry said that his visit to Greece on June 25 and June 26 will be bilateral.
He will discuss bilateral relations with his counterpart in Greece. Apart from this, he will also participate in other programs. The Ministry of External Affairs said that after the year 2003, ie after 18 years, this is the first visit from India at the level of Foreign Minister to Greece.
After Greece, the Foreign Minister will go to Italy. In Italy, he will participate in the G-20 ministerial meeting. Will represent India at External Affairs Minister level and Development Minister level meetings.
There have been regular and high-level exchanges between the two countries. The President of India had visited Greece in 2007, which was the last state visit from India. The Greek Prime Minister had visited India in 2008 and the Greek PM Papandreu had visited India in 2010 for the Delhi Sustainable Development Summit.
In the year 2017, the Foreign Minister of Greece had visited India. Both countries are fully committed to democracy, law and pluralism.
"Our bilateral trade is around $530 million. Some of the Indian companies have their presence in Greece in the infrastructure sector, pharma and steel. India has 10 Greece companies in sectors such as IT and construction," the Indian foreign ministry said in a statement.

::INTERNATIONAL::

World Bank issues first wildlife bond to save Africa's black rhinoceros

The World Bank said it has priced the world’s first wildlife bond, raising $150 million that will be partly used for the conservation of black rhinos in South Africa.
The five-year bond will pay returns determined by the rate of growth in populations of the animals in two South African reserves, the Addo Elephant National Park and the Great Fish River Nature Reserve, the World Bank’s International Bank for Reconstruction and Development said in a statement.
“The Wildlife Conservation Bond is a first-of-its-kind, outcome-based, financial instrument that channels investments to achieve conservation outcomes -- measured in this case by an increase in black rhino populations,” the World Bank said in the statement.
If successful, the program could be expanded to protect black rhino populations in Kenya as well as other wildlife species such as lions, tigers, gorillas and orangutans, an earlier proposal said.
There are five rhino species globally, with most of the animals in South Africa and almost all them white rhino. Black rhino numbers have dropped to about 2,600 from 65,000 in 1970, and may once have been as high as 850,000, according to documentation from the World Bank. The animals are found in three other African countries, and can weigh as much as 1.4 tons -- much smaller than the white rhino.

::ECONOMY::

PFRDA and Irdai give license to Finmap to sell NPS, insurance

The Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority has given FinMapp, a financial services company, a licence under the National Pension Scheme.
The Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority has given FinMapp, a financial services firm, a licence under the National Pension Scheme (PFRDA).
The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India has also granted it a certificate of registration as a corporate agent (Irdai).
The organisation offers a number of financial products through its app, ranging from mutual funds to bank accounts.
According to the company, it is a "one-stop marketplace for all financial products made digitally available by leading banks, NBFCs, insurance companies, mutual fund institutions, and capital markets."
According to the business's statement, the licences would allow FinMapp to supply insurance and NPS products to its clients as a verified seller, helping the company to expand its customer base.
NPS will be available as an investment option on the company's app in the coming months.
The IRDAI & PFRDA certificate is a significant step forward in our development. It will help us improve our financial services and establish our legitimacy as a legitimate seller of NPS and related goods.
It will help us develop our financial services and establish our legitimacy as a genuine provider of NPS and insurance products.

::Science and tech::

Indian-American among two astronauts who carried out spacewalk

According to a statement by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) on Tuesday, flight engineers Raja Chari of NASA and Matthias Maurer of the European Space Agency (ESA) were given the go-ahead to exit the International Space Station (ISS).
Two astronauts at the International Space Station (ISS) on Wednesday exited the space station for a six and a half hour spacewalk or an Extravehicular Activity (EVA). This is the second spacewalk being undertaken to upgrade the orbiting laboratory. The first one was carried out on March 15 and lasted for the same duration.
According to a statement by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) on Tuesday, flight engineers Raja Chari of NASA and Matthias Maurer of the European Space Agency (ESA) were given the go-ahead to exit the ISS.
On Tuesday, both astronauts underwent a standard medical checkup. “The duo had an ear exam and measured heart and breathing rate, blood pressure, and temperature. Afterwards, Chari and Maurer staged their US spacesuits and readied their spacewalking tools inside the US Quest airlock,” the NASA statement added.
Earlier this month, NASA had said that Chari and Maurer would install hoes on a Radiator Beam Valve Module that routes ammonia through the station's heat-rejecting radiators to keep systems at the proper temperature.
“The crew members will also install a power and data cable on the Columbus module’s Bartolomeo science platform, replace an external camera on the station’s truss, and conduct other upgrades to station hardware,” NASA added.

::Sports::

Bajrang Punia refused federation-appointed physios at camp: WFI

The Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) refuted Bajrang Punia’s charge that he is without a physiotherapist since the Tokyo Olympics, saying on Friday that the Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist has refused the services of two physios at the national camp in Sports Authority of India (SAI), Sonepat.
WFI said after the Olympics Punia made a request to hire physio Anand Kumar Dubey, but he was not being released by his employers Indians Railways.
“The WFI immediately sent a proposal to SAI TOPS for approval, which was later approved by the competent authority and a letter was issued by SAI & WFI to the Secretary, Railway Sports Promotion Board for the release and attachment of Anand Kumar with Bajrang,” WFI said in a statement on Friday.
“As per the request from Bajrang Punia, the physiotherapist was sanctioned boarding and lodging at the SAI Sonepat centre at cost to the government. Since Dr. Anand Kumar was not relieved by his department, therefore, WFI arranged another physiotherapist for Bajrang.