Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 25 April 2022

SSC CGL Current Affairs

Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 25 April 2022

::NATIONAL::

Bring back Netaji’s remains, kin writes to Modi

Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose’s grandnephew, Chandra Kumar Bose, has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and requested him to bring the legendary freedom fighter’s mortal remains back home.
“Netaji’s ambition was to return to an independent India as the head of a victorious revolutionary army. Circumstances did not allow that to happen. The best way to honour his wishes in this 125th Birth Centenary year is to bring his remains by 18th August 2022 to repose on Indian soil,” Bose wrote.
He added the government is certain the remains at Japan’s Renkoji Temple are those of Netaji and which is why the government contributes to the costs of maintaining the urn containing them. He urged the government to ensure DNA tests are done on the ashes.
Chandra Kumar Bose said the return of the remains will allow Netaji’s daughter, Anita Bose Pfaff, to perform the last rites and bring the long-awaited closure to the family.
Two of the three commissions the Centre set up to probe into Netaji’s death concluded he died in a plane crash in 1945. But the Justice Mukherjee Commission of Inquiry set up in 1999 did not agree with this. There is a controversy over Netaji’s death in a plane crash in Taipei on August 18, 1945. But the Centre in 2017 confirmed he had died in the incident.
Chandra Kumar Bose said to date the government has not declared publicly and categorically Netaji’s demise on August 18, 1945, because declassified files say there is no political benefit in such a declaration. “Because of this procrastination, weird stories continue to circulate which demean the might and reputation of Netaji, including in films.”

::INTERNATIONAL::

Myanmar's Suu Kyi awaits verdict in first corruption case

Suu Kyi, 76, is being held in an undisclosed location, without visitors. She denies all charges. She has been found guilty of two lesser offences so far and sentenced to six years, in a series of trials that could last years, leaving little chance for a political comeback.
Deposed Myanmar leader Aung San SuuKyi faces a possible 15 years in prison on Monday, when a court in the military-ruled country is scheduled to deliver a verdict in the first of multiple corruption cases against her.
Since being forced from power in a coup last year, Nobel laureate SuuKyi has been charged with offences ranging from incitement and graft to violations of electoral and state secrets laws, which carry combined maximum sentences of more than 150 years.
She has been found guilty of two lesser offences so far and sentenced to six years, in a series of trials that could last years, leaving little chance for a political comeback for the figurehead of the country's struggle against dictatorship.
According to a source familiar with the trial, the judge is set to decide on Monday on charges that SuuKyi accepted bribes totalling $600,000 and 11.4 kg of gold from Phyo Min Thein, a former Yangon chief minister once seen as her future successor.
Phyo Min Thein, a protege of SuuKyi, in October testified that he gave money and gold to her in exchange for her support. SuuKyi has dismissed his allegations, which the junta aired separately on national television, as "absurd."

::ECONOMY::

Six groups set up to improve PSB functioning to submit report by December

Six working groups created to suggest ways to improve digitisation in the state-owned banks and strengthen their balance sheets have been asked to submit their respective reports by December, according to a senior banker.
Participating in the meeting, Financial Services Secretary Sanjay Malhotra recently asked the banks to explore strategies for long-term profitability and adopt a more customer-centric approach.
The senior banker, who participated in the recently concluded Manthan 2022 - a meeting of the top PSU bankers, said the six working groups would look into functioning the public sector banks (PSBs) and suggest ways to improve customer service, digitisation, HR incentives, corporate governance and collaboration.
The working groups are expected to submit their respective reports by the end of the year, the banker said.
The groups will have regular meetings and periodic review to track the progress of each panel, another banker said.
Manthan was held on April 22, to brainstorm with the top leadership of public sector banks and unlock next-generation reforms, while continuing with the EASE journey. The last such exercise was held in 2019. The first PSB Manthan took place in 2014.
Public sector banks have turned corner in 2020-21, after booking losses for five years due to various steps taken by the government. It is to be noted that no PSBs have faced any loss in the April-December period of 2021-22 and clocked a collective net profit of Rs 48,874 crore during this period.
They earned a combined net profit of Rs 31,820 crore in 2020-21. However, there were collective losses for five straight years during 2015-16 to 2019-20.
The highest amount of net loss was registered in 2017-18 at Rs 85,370 crore, followed by Rs 66,636 crore in 2018-19; Rs 25,941 crore in 2019-20; Rs 17,993 crore in 2015-16 and Rs 11,389 crore in 2016-17. During 2009-10 to 2014-15, the PSBs were earning profits on their books.

::Science and tech::

NASA releases data on India's space debt

The world is literally a greener place than it was 20 years ago, and data from NASA satellites has revealed a counterintuitive source for much of this new foliage: China and India. A new study shows that the two emerging countries with the world’s biggest populations are leading the increase in greening on land. The effect stems mainly from ambitious tree planting programs in China and intensive agriculture in both countries.
The greening phenomenon was first detected using satellite data in the mid-1990s by RangaMyneni of Boston University and colleagues, but they did not know whether human activity was one of its chief, direct causes. This new insight was made possible by a nearly 20-year-long data record from a NASA instrument orbiting the Earth on two satellites. It’s called the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer, or MODIS, and its high-resolution data provides very accurate information, helping researchers work out details of what’s happening with Earth’s vegetation, down to the level of 500 meters, or about 1,600 feet, on the ground.
Taken all together, the greening of the planet over the last two decades represents an increase in leaf area on plants and trees equivalent to the area covered by all the Amazon rainforests. There are now more than two million square miles of extra green leaf area per year, compared to the early 2000s – a 5% increase.
“China and India account for one-third of the greening, but contain only 9% of the planet’s land area covered in vegetation – a surprising finding, considering the general notion of land degradation in populous countries from overexploitation,” said Chi Chen of the Department of Earth and Environment at Boston University, in Massachusetts, and lead author of the study.
An advantage of the MODIS satellite sensor is the intensive coverage it provides, both in space and time: MODIS has captured as many as four shots of every place on Earth, every day for the last 20 years.
“This long-term data lets us dig deeper,” said Rama Nemani, a research scientist at NASA’s Ames Research Center, in California’s Silicon Valley, and a co-author of the new work. “When the greening of the Earth was first observed, we thought it was due to a warmer, wetter climate and fertilization from the added carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, leading to more leaf growth in northern forests, for instance. Now, with the MODIS data that lets us understand the phenomenon at really small scales, we see that humans are also contributing.”

::Sports::

Teenager Carlos Alcaraz mirrors Rafael Nadal with Barcelona crown

Spanish teenager Carlos Alcaraz captured the fourth title of his young career by beating eighth seed Pablo CarrenoBusta 6-3 6-2 in the Barcelona Open final on 24-04-2022, hours after winning a gruelling semi-final that was postponed due to rain.
The 18-year-old will enter the top 10 of the world rankings on Monday at the same age, on the same date and after a triumph in the same tournament as compatriot and 21-times major winner RafaNadal did in 2005.
The U.S. Open quarter-finalist joins countrymen including Nadal, coach Juan Carlos Ferrero and Carlos Moya in lifting the trophy in the ATP 500 claycourt tournament.
"It means a lot. I've watched this tournament since I was a kid. I always wished to play in this tournament and of course be able to win this tournament," Alcaraz said. "I'm really happy to be part of the (historic) Spanish list."