Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 08 March 2022

SSC CGL Current Affairs

Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 08 March 2022

::NATIONAL::

Andhra governor avoids 3-capital plan in assembly address

Addressing a joint session of the state legislative assembly and legislative council on the first day of the budget session on Monday, governorBiswabhushanHarichandan avoided direct mention of state government’s proposal to form three capital cities for Andhra Pradesh, in place of present Amaravati, but said it was committed to the decentralised governance.
“For the last three years, my government has been making relentless efforts to ensure a decentralised and inclusive governance,” Harichandansaid.The governor’s statement was an indirect reference to the state legislation — Andhra Pradesh Decentralisation and Inclusive Development of All Regions Act, 2020, — which was repealed by the Jagan Mohan Reddy government in November 2021.
This is for the first time that Harichandan has not made a direct reference to the Jagan Mohan Reddy government’s policy for creating three capitals. During the budget sessions for 2020-21 and 2021-22 and also during the Republic Day speeches in the last two years, the governor categorically referred to the three capitals plan.
He said the restructuring of the existing districts was also being done in coherence with the objective of a decentralised and good governance. “My government has decided to restructure the existing 13 districts and form 13 new districts, which would start functioning from April 2, coinciding with the Ugadi festival,” he said.
The governor also reaffirmed the state’s commitment toward the welfare of employees (who threatened to go on indefinite strike in January and dropped the plan after talks with the state government).
Describing the employees as pillars of the administration, Harichandan said the government had implemented the 11th pay revision commission (PRC) recommendation by giving them a 23% hike in fitment (basic salary), besides other benefits like release of five dearness allowance instalments at one go and enhancement of their retirement age from 60 to 62 years.
He explained how the state had suffered due to the bifurcation stress, policy paralysis between 2014 and 2019 and subsequent two years of Covid-19. Yet, the state had achieved a growth of 0.22% in the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) in 2020-21. The per capita income went up by 15.87% to ₹ 2.04 lakh per annum.The governor also listed out several welfare programmes implemented by the state government for the upliftment of vulnerable sections of the society.

::INTERNATIONAL::

Russia announces ceasefire plan, to open evacuation corridor from Ukraine cities

Russia will carry out a cease-fire on Tuesday at 10am Moscow time and open humanitarian corridors to evacuate citizens from strife-torn cities of Ukraine – Kiev, Chernigov, Sumy and Mariupol, said Moscow’s UN Ambassador VassilyNebenzia. The evacuation plan would be subject to Ukraine's approval, he said.
Russia's invasion of Ukraine entered the 13th day on Tuesday. Nebenzia took the floor at the end of a UN Security Council meeting on the humanitarian crisis in the east European nation on Monday to make the announcement.
“This proposal doesn’t have any demands about the citizens being sent necessarily to Russia, into Russian territory,” he said.
“There’s also evacuation offered towards Ukrainian cities to the west of Kyiv, and ultimately it will be the choice of the people themselves where they want to be evacuated to,” Nebenzia said.
Regarding the possibilities of evacuating the Ukrainian citizens towards Russia, he said officials have ignored the fact that there were already Ukrainian refugees in the country.
"Civilians in places like Mariupol, Kharkiv, Melitopol and elsewhere desperately need aid, especially life-saving medical supplies," said the undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs, Martin Griffiths, while urging all sides to ensure that civilians, homes and infrastructure in Ukraine were safeguarded.

::ECONOMY::

Awaiting govt, RBI advisory on SWIFT transactions with Russian assets: PNB

The country's second-largest bank Punjab National Bank (PNB) said it was awaiting advisory from the Finance Ministry and the Reserve Bank with regard to SWIFT-related transactions with Russian entities.
In view of the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine, several countries including the US, Canada and certain European nations have blocked some Russian banks from using SWIFT, a system that is used for global banking transactions.
"...we have not received any advisory from the RBI/Finance Ministry regarding SWIFT-related transactions with respect to Russia. Any action in this regard shall be taken after receipt of guidelines from RBI/Finance Ministry," PNB said in a response to queries on Russia-related transactions.
Meanwhile, sources said that India's largest lender State Bank of India has stopped processing transactions of Russian entities that have been sanctioned by the West over Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.
SBI is learnt to have issued a circular as it fears that any transaction with entities or sectors under sanction will invite sanctions on it as well. Russia is one of the biggest suppliers of defence products and equipment to India mostly under government-to-government contracts.
Bilateral trade between India and Russia stood at USD 9.4 billion so far this fiscal year, against USD 8.1 billion in 2020-21.
The Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) is the world's main banking messaging service which links around 11,000 banks and institutions in more than 200 countries, including India.
Based in Belgium, the SWIFT system is considered central to the smooth functioning of global finances and Russia's exclusion from it would hit the country hard.
India's main imports from Russia include fuels, mineral oils, pearls, precious or semi-precious stones, nuclear reactors, boilers, machinery and mechanical appliances; electrical machinery and equipment and fertilisers.
Major export items from India to Russia include pharmaceutical products, electrical machinery and equipment, organic chemicals and vehicles.

::SPORTS::

Rhythm, Anish win 25m rapid fire pistol mixed team gold as India top medal tally

India's Rhythm Sangwan and AnishBhanwala won the gold medal in the 25m rapid fire pistol mixed team event on the concluding day of the ISSF World Cup here.
The Indian duo emerged victorious by a margin of 17-7 over Thailand in the gold medal match.
The country thus topped the medal’s tally with four gold, two silver and one bronze as the year’s first ISSF World Cup concluded in the Egyptian capital.
On the final day of competitions, India also won a silver in the men’s 25m rapid fire pistol event, going down to Germany 7-17 in the title decider.
Rhythm and Anish made it through to the gold medal match after finishing second in round two of qualification with a score of 370 out of 400. Thailand’s PadukaChawisa and Ram Khamhaeng had topped the qualification with 381 to setup the title clash with India.