Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 30 April 2021

SSC CGL Current Affairs

::NATIONAL::

In trials conducted off the coast of Chennai, Advanced Light Helicopter Dhruv Mk III, developed by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), has successfully demonstrated deck operations capabilities.
The helicopter has successfully demonstrated capabilities such as landing on deck and folding of blades. During the trials, the helicopter was successfully moved to the onboard hanger. The trial also included maintenance activities inside the hanger and on the deck and hot refueling with engines running.
The success of these trials, the HAL said in a release, has proven the capability of ALH Dhruv to carry out operations from ships.
“Some of the missions that were successfully executed were surveillance, search and rescue, antipollution to address oil spillage, etc. With the successful demonstration of these capabilities like blade folding, stowage, the helicopter is now ready to be fielded for operations,” said R Madhavan, the Chairman and Managing Director of HAL.
According to the HAL, the helicopter is equipped with “the most modern” surveillance radar. This radar is capable of identifying ships and boats up to a range of 120 nautical miles. It also comes with an electro-optical sensor that can “monitor even the smallest of the vessels at a distance as far as 30 nautical miles,” the HAL adds.

Russia has expelled three diplomats from Germany, Sweden and Poland for joining protests in support of opposition activist Alexei Navalny, who was jailed earlier this week.
The Russian foreign ministry said the three took part in "illegal demonstrations" on 23 January.
The diplomats' home countries have condemned the expulsions, as have the UK, France and the EU.
The expulsions were announced just a few hours after EU foreign affairs chief JosepBorrell met Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow.
Hundreds of thousands of people took part in protests in support of MrNavalny across Russia on 23 and 31 January. Thousands were arrested.
Germany denounced the expulsion as being "in no way justified" and said it would not "go unanswered" if Russia did not reconsider.
Sweden said the claim that its diplomat took part in the protest on 23 January was unfounded and said it reserved the right to an appropriate response.
Poland said the expulsion could lead to the "further deepening of the crisis in bilateral relations".
MrBorrell, on behalf of the EU, said he "strongly condemned this decision and rejected the allegations that they conducted activities incompatible with their status as foreign diplomats".
However, MrLavrov said any European sanctions over MrNavalny's treatment would be illegitimate.

ICICI Bank on Thursday launched digital platform ‘Merchant Stack’ to target over 2 crore retail merchants in the country. The platform enables merchants to meet their banking requirements amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
The main features include instant credit facilities, zero-balance current account and digital store management, among others.
The bank also said the credit limit for customers will be dynamic, based on the available digital data.
AnupBagchi, executive director, ICICI Bank, said, “There are over 2 crore merchants in the country with approximately $ 780 billion in value of transactions in 2020. They are expected to grow rapidly in the coming years.”
The bank has thus launched the ‘Merchant Stack’, which most importantly offers a range of ‘contactless’ banking services, providing safety to merchants and their customers alike, he added.
Retail merchants can avail of these contactless services, without visiting the bank’s branches, at a time when people are advised to stay home and maintain social distancing. They can avail of these facilities instantly, on InstaBIZ, the bank’s mobile banking application for businesses.

China's new space station module is about to get its first robotic visitor.
The Tianzhou-2 cargo spacecraft launched from Wenchang Satellite Launch Center on China's Hainan Island today (May 29), rising off the pad atop a Long March 7 rocket at 8:55 a.m. EDT (1255 GMT; 8:55 p.m. local time). It deployed its solar arrays as expected and is in good health, according to the China Manned Space Engineering Office (CMS).
The uncrewed Tianzhou-2 is carrying 4.69 tons of pressurized cargo and 1.95 tons of propellant, CMS officials have said. If all goes according to plan, the freighter will haul these goods to Tianhe, the 22.5-ton core module of China's planned space station, which launched to low Earth orbit on April 28.
The delivery will help prepare Tianhe for the arrival of astronauts. And the module's first crew is coming soon: The three-person Shenzhou-12 mission is scheduled to launch toward Tianhe next month.
Tianhe ("Harmony of the Heavens") is the central piece of China's first space station, a three-module, 66-ton structure that the nation aims to have fully assembled by the end of 2022. It will take a total of 11 launches to build and supply the orbital outpost, the first two of which are now in the books.