Endeavor Careers Choicest Blogs: Weekly Current Affairs: May 2022, Week 02

Welcome to the Endeavor Editors’ Weekly Current Affairs Choicest Blog series. Get a weekly roundup – of news from business, economy, markets, policy, and more. A quick capsule format news summary and update to keep you abreast with all the latest current affairs.

1) International News and Global Economy

Ukraine braces for attacks; evacuates more from steel mill

Russian forces fired cruise missiles at the southern Ukrainian city of Odesa on Saturday and bombarded a steel mill in Mariupol housing Ukrainian civilians and fighters, hoping to complete their conquest of the port city in time for Victory Day celebrations. In a sign of the unexpectedly effective defense that has sustained the fighting into its 11th week, Ukraine’s military flattened Russian positions on a Black Sea island that was captured in the war’s first days and has become a symbol of Ukrainian resistance. As Russia’s Monday holiday commemorating Nazi Germany’s defeat in World War II approached, cities across Ukraine prepared for an expected increase in Russian attacks. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged residents numbed by more than 10 weeks of the war to heed air raid warnings.

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Russian Missiles hit Odesa, Donetsk l Putin bombs west arms depots l US’ $150 Mn weapons aid to Kyiv

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UNSC dilutes statement on Ukraine, opens a window

Ten weeks into the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the United Nations Security Council issued its first Presidential statement early Saturday — adopted by consensus, including Russia — which did not mention “war”, “conflict” or “invasion”. Instead, it referred to the conflict as a “dispute”. This is UNSC’s first unanimously adopted statement, and it is significant that it took place under the US presidency — it holds the rotational presidency of the UNSC for May — and Russia came on board with the language widely perceived to be significantly “watered down.” This statement comes as Russian forces renewed their attacks Saturday across Ukraine ahead of Victory Day festivities in Moscow Monday.

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Biden announces more Artillery, Radars for Ukraine’s war against Russia

President Joe Biden announced Friday a new US weapons package worth $150 million for Ukraine’s fight to repel Russia’s invasion. According to a senior US official, the package includes 25,000 155mm artillery rounds, counter-artillery radars used for detecting the source of enemy fire, electronic jamming equipment, and spare parts. The artillery munitions appear to be meant for recently supplied US howitzers. Prior to Friday, the Biden administration had already sent more than $3.4 billion worth of weaponry, ranging from heavy artillery to shoulder-held Stinger anti-aircraft missiles and drones. Friday’s new package means the remaining $250 mn available from previously authorized funding for Ukraine will have all but run out. Biden is pressing Congress to authorize a huge $33 billion Ukraine package, which would include $20 billion in military assistance, and last for five months.

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S Korea’s next leader Yoon Suk Yeol faces escalating N Korean nuke threat

During his election campaign, South Korean President-elect Yoon Suk Yeol had tough words for North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, saying he would teach his rival some manners and sternly deal with his provocative missile tests with a strengthened alliance with the United States. But as he takes office on Tuesday for a single five-year term, the conservative Yoon must now confront an increasingly belligerent Kim, who openly threatens to use atomic bombs and is reportedly preparing for his first nuclear test explosion in four years, part of an effort to build warheads that specifically target South Korea. There’s skepticism among experts over whether Yoon, despite his rhetoric, can accomplish something meaningfully different from outgoing President Moon Jae-in while North Korea continues to reject talks and focuses instead on expanding its nuclear and missile programs despite limited resources and economic difficulties.

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North Korea tests missile as South gets ready for the new president – BBC News

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Hong Kong kicks off leadership polls with sole candidate John Lee

A Hong Kong election committee is voting Sunday for the city’s only leadership candidate, John Lee, who is widely expected to win and become Hong Kong’s next chief executive. As the only candidate in the polls, Lee is expected to win easily, especially since he has Beijing’s endorsement and last month obtained 786 nominations from members of the Election Committee in support of his candidacy. The election on Sunday follows major changes to Hong Kong’s electoral laws last year to ensure that only “patriots” loyal to Beijing can hold office. The legislature was also reorganized to all but eliminate opposition voices. Lee as Hong Kong’s future leader has sparked concern that Beijing could further tighten its grip on Hong Kong. He spent most of his civil service career in the police and security bureau and is an outspoken and staunch supporter of a national security law imposed on Hong Kong in 2020 aimed at stamping out dissent.

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China to install former security chief John Lee as Hong Kong leader

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Sri Lanka is under the State of Emergency again amid its Worst Economic Crisis

Sri Lanka President Gotabaya Rajapaksa today declared a state of emergency giving security forces sweeping powers for the second time in five weeks to deal with escalating anti-government protests. A spokesman for the President said he invoked the tough laws to “ensure public order” after trade unions staged a nationwide strike Friday demanding his resignation over a worsening economic crisis. Months of blackouts and acute shortages of food, fuel, and pharmaceuticals have caused widespread suffering across the island nation of 22 million people. Mr. Rajapaksa has insisted he will not step down despite escalating demonstrations across the island, including a protest that has been camped outside his seafront office for nearly a month.

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Macron to be inaugurated for a second five-year term

French President Emmanuel Macron is being inaugurated for a second term during a ceremony on Saturday at the Elysee presidential palace. Mr. Macron was re-elected for five years on April 24 in a runoff that saw him beat out far-right rival Marine Le Pen. Mr. Macron’s second term will formally start on May 14. France is deeply involved in efforts to stop Russia’s war against Ukraine, including via sending truck-mounted cannons and other heavy weapons.

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Delay in CPEC projects sowing frustration in Pakistan, China: Report

Amid long delays in the completion of projects and building up arrears, the once much celebrated China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) from China’s Xinjiang province, running up to Gwadar in Balochistan, is increasingly becoming dysfunctional leading to increasing frustration in both the countries, a media report said. Beijing is reluctant to release the pledged funds for infrastructure projects. Meanwhile, Chinese companies have also stopped generating electricity in CPEC projects demanding payment of arrears. High-interest rates on CPEC loans, rising project costs, weak projects, and attacks on CPEC infrastructure are major issues in what has become a white elephant dream.

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How Pak PM Shehbaz Sharif is wooing Beijing to accelerate CPEC projects

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2) India

India adds 10 GW solar capacity in 2022: Mercom report

Solar capacity installations in the country jumped by a record 210 percent to 10 gigawatts during 2021, Mercom Communications India said in a report. According to the report, utility-scale projects accounted for 83 percent of the total installations, and the top ten developers of such projects accounted for 68 percent of the total installed projects in the calendar year 2021. ReNew Power was the top utility-scale solar developer which commissioned the maximum projects during the year, followed by Adani Green.

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WHO says 4.7 million died of Covid in India in a new report, Centre objects

The WHO said that 14.9 million people were killed either by Covid-19 directly or due to the pandemic’s impact on health systems and society, with the global health agency estimating that India had 4.7 million fatalities. In New Delhi, India strongly objected to the use of mathematical models by the WHO for projecting excess mortality estimates linked to the pandemic in view of the availability of authentic data, saying the validity and robustness of the models used and methodology of data collection are questionable. New estimates from the WHO show that the full death toll associated directly or indirectly with the Covid-19 pandemic, described as “excess mortality”, between January 1, 2020, and December 31, 2021, was 14.9 million, range 13.3 million to 16.6 million. “These data not only point to the impact of the pandemic but also to the need for countries to invest in resilient health systems that can sustain essential health services during crises,” said Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General.

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“Questionable”: India objects to WHO claims of 4.7 million Covid Deaths

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India and France talk to address outer space challenges

India and France have agreed to set up a strategic dialogue to address challenges related to space issues, particularly in maintaining secure access to outer space. The development is significant amid China’s efforts to weaponize space. The decision to create the dialogue was announced during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Paris visit on Wednesday. The dialogue will bring together experts from space and defence agencies, administration, and specialized ecosystems to discuss security and economic challenges in outer space, the norms, and principles applicable to space as well as unveil new areas of cooperation, officials said. The two sides agreed to hold the first dialogue at the earliest this year. Besides boosting space-related cooperation, the two sides decided to connect their start-up ecosystems, according to officials. India will be the first Country of the Year at Vivatech, Europe’s largest digital fair, in Paris.

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Azaan on loudspeakers, not a Fundamental Right: Allahabad High Court

The Allahabad High Court on Friday ruled that delivering the azaan on loudspeakers is not a fundamental right. The court made this remark while dismissing a petition filed by one Irfan of Budaun district, who sought permission to play azaan using loudspeakers in the Noori Masjid. The court further said that although azaan is an integral part of Islam, delivering it through loudspeakers is not a part of the religion. Azaan is the Islamic call to prayers which is given five times at prescribed times of the day.

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3) Economy

India’s GDP to hit $5 trillion in FY29, rupee at 94 a dollar, suggests IMF data

According to data from the IMF’s World Economic Outlook Database, updated last month, India’s nominal GDP is seen rising to $4.92 trillion in FY28. As such, it will only be in the following year, or FY29, that the GDP will cross the $5-trillion mark. That’s four years beyond the target the Narendra Modi government had set. The IMF’s estimates for India don’t go beyond FY28. Finance ministry officials had earlier indicated that the government’s target of raising India’s GDP to $5 trillion by FY25 might get delayed by a year or two, with Chief Economic Adviser V Anantha Nageswaran saying as much following the presentation of the 2022 Budget. According to the IMF forecasts, India’s nominal GDP is expected to grow 13.4 percent in FY23 in rupee terms. In US dollar terms, the nominal GDP growth in FY23 is forecast at 8.2 percent. The difference between the two nominal growth rates is down to the change in the exchange rate, with the rupee seen depreciating to 81.5 per dollar in FY23 from 77.7 per dollar in FY22. In fact, the IMF’s forecasts for India’s nominal GDP in dollar and rupee terms are such that the rupee’s exchange rate works out to be 94.4 per dollar in FY28.

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IMF shows Bangladesh, half of India on per capita GDP in 2012 surges ahead now, widens gap till 2027

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4) Markets, Banking, and Finance

Fed hikes rates half-point, will shrink assets to curb inflation

The Federal Reserve delivered the biggest interest-rate increase since 2000 and signaled it would keep hiking at that pace over the next couple of meetings, unleashing the most aggressive policy action in decades to combat soaring inflation. The U.S. central bank’s policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee voted unanimously to increase the benchmark rate by a half percentage point. It will begin allowing its holdings of Treasuries and mortgage-backed securities to decline in June at an initial combined monthly pace of $47.5 billion, stepping up over three months to $95 billion. Policymakers, who widely signaled their intention to step up the pace of rate increases, are trying to curb the hottest inflation since the early 1980s. Back then, Chair Paul Volcker raised rates as high as 20% and crushed both inflation and the broader economy in the process. The Fed’s hope this time around is that the combination of higher borrowing costs and a shrinking balance sheet will deliver a soft landing that avoids recession while tamping down inflation.

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Interest Rate Hike: Why the Federal Reserve is increasing the rate to fight inflation | Forbes

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RBI hikes repo rate: Loan EMIs set to go up for borrowers, FD investors to benefit

In a surprise, 2 PM media briefing on May 4, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor announced that key policy rates have been hiked. As per the announcement made, the RBI has hiked the repo rate by 40 bps up to 4.40% from 4% earlier. The last time the repo rate was cut was in May 2020 and has been kept unchanged since then. The hike will come into effect immediately. Further, the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) has been hiked by 50 bps which will exert further upward pressure on interest rates. It appears that borrowers should prepare for an increasing EMI burden and FD investors can hope for better returns on new FDs. There are many signals which indicate that this may be the start of an interest rate hike cycle.

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RBI MPC hikes Repo Rate by 40 Bps, Economists discuss impact | State of the Economy | CNBC-TV18

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Govt to launch 75 Digital Banking Units in India on August 15: PM Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch 75 digital banking units (DBUs) across India on August 15 this year.  ET reported, that the DBUs will be completely paperless and also act as digital financial literacy centers for the customers. The districts that have been finalized for setting up DBUs are Leh, Srinagar, Lakshadweep, Aizawl, Kota, Nainital, and Lucknow among others. In a statement, the Indian Banks’ Association said that all the public sector banks, 10 private sector banks, and one small finance bank have already initiated the work to have these units operational by July 2022. The latest developments come after the Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman announced that the Indian government would set up 75 DBUs in 75 districts of India, during her visit to the US, in the last week. At present, DBU-type models are already functional in the country. SBI Yono and Kotak 811 are prime examples of the same.

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Axis AMC confirms suspension of 2 fund managers for ‘potential irregularities’

Axis AMC on 6 May said it has suspended two fund managers pending investigation of potential irregularities, as per an official statement. The company said it has been conducting a suo moto investigation over the last two months, since February, and used reputed external advisors to aid the investigation. Chief trader and fund manager Viresh Joshi and assistant fund manager Deepak Agarwal are the two Axis mutual fund officials that have now been suspended, on the allegations of front running, pending investigation, the fund house’s officials statement confirms. Front running is a corrupt stock market practice that involves a market participant – usually, a dealer or a broker – entering the equity market minutes before a large institutional investor (typically a mutual fund) transacts in the same set of scrips that the institution trades in. The aim is to make profits with the information available, about what the institution would buy or sell. When large institutions buy or sell shares, price movements are generally substantial, given the large number of stocks involved.

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Axis Mutual Funds reveals about Suo Moto investigation, know in detail

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Central Bank of India to close 13% of its branches

Central Bank of India, a state-owned commercial bank, plans to shut 13% of its branches to improve its financial health, which has been under pressure for several years, according to sources and a document seen by Reuters. The bank is looking to reduce the number of branches by 600 by either shutting down or merging loss-making branches by the end of March 2023, according to a copy of a document reviewed by Reuters. It is the most drastic step the lender has taken to improve its finances and will be followed by the sale of non-core assets such as real estate, said a government source who did not want to be named. Central Bank along with a clutch of other lenders was placed under RBI’s prompt corrective action (PCA) in 2017 after the regulator found some state-run lenders were in breach of its rules on regulatory capital, bad loans, and leverage ratios. Since then all the lenders except Central Bank have improved their financial health and come off RBI’s PCA list.

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Delhivery IPO size cut down by a third due to market volatility and LIC IPO, say analysts

Logistics and supply chain company Delhivery is all set to go for an initial public offering (IPO) next week to raise ?5,235 crores. The company had initially planned to raise ?7,460 crores but decided to reduce the issue size by a third. The cut in the public issue comes amid volatile equity market conditions and the ongoing Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) IPO, which is the biggest public issue in the country. Delhivery, in its press conference held on May 5, noted that existing shareholders in the company believed the valuation was attractive and wanted to be a part of the company for a bit longer. Meanwhile, the company realized that it only needed ?4,000 crores in order to fund its acquisitions and expansion plans. The company now plans to raise ?4,000 crores through a fresh issue and ?1,235 crores as an offer for sale (OFS). The capital raised in a fresh issue is directly raised by the company, whereas the amount raised by an offer for sale (OFS) goes to the shareholders selling their shares in the company. In this case, the OFS would go to Carlyle, Japanese Softbank, Fosun group-owned China Momentum Fund, and Times Internet.

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5) Business

Karnataka HC orders interim stay on ED order seizing Xiaomi India’s assets

The Karnataka High Court has passed an interim order putting a stay on the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) order seizing Xiaomi India’s assets worth Rs 5551.27 crore for flouting laws under the Foreign Exchange Management (FEMA) Act. A single-judge bench of Justice Hemant Chandangoudar issued an interim stay on the seizure since Xiaomi India operates the accounts for carrying out day-to-day activities of the company. Senior counsel Mr. S. Ganesh and Mr. Sajan Poovayya, appearing for the smartphone market leader argued that paying royalties is not a violation of the FEMA Act and that similar payments are made by other manufacturers and dealers of smartphones to the very same company in the USA for the same technologies used by Xiaomi India.

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Tata Power Solar bags Rs 5,500 cr order from SJVN

Tata Power Solar Systems on Thursday said it has won India’s largest solar engineering procurement and construction (EPC) order for a 1 GW project worth Rs 5,500 crore from state-owned SJVN Ltd. According to a company statement, this EPC order has been designed keeping in mind the innovative use of ‘Make in India’ cells and modules. The project will be developed under the CPSU (central public sector undertaking) scheme of the Ministry of New & Renewable Energy and will be completed within 24 months. Covering 5,000 acres of land in Rajasthan, this project aims at reducing around 22,87,128 kg of carbon emission and is expected to generate around 2,500 million units annually. Tata Power Solar has always been a pioneer in the implementation and commissioning of such large-scale renewable projects. With this win of 1GW (gigawatt), the company’s order booking crosses the Rs 12,000-crore mark with a cumulative portfolio of more than 9.3 GW for utility-scale renewables projects.

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Faulty battery cells and modules likely caused an e-scooter fire in India, initial probe finds

Faulty battery cells and modules have been identified as the leading cause of electric scooters catching fire in India in recent weeks, according to the findings of an initial federal investigation, two government sources told Reuters. The probe looked into fire incidents involving three companies, including Ola Electric, which is backed by Japan’s SoftBank Group, and was the country’s top-selling e-scooter maker in April. “In Ola’s case, the battery cells were found to be an issue as well as the battery management system,” “The government has taken samples of cells from the three companies to make further checks,” the person said, adding that the final investigation report is expected in about two weeks.

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6) Technology

Big Tech data harvesting comes under fire by the world central bank group

A paper published by the world’s main central bank umbrella group, the BIS, has called for individuals and firms to be given more control over the data collected on them by social media and other Big Tech firms and banks. The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) paper published on Thursday said while most countries already have some laws around data use, most individuals still were not aware of what was at stake, or their rights over their data. Authorities should therefore adopt new data governance systems to “level the playing field between data subjects and data controllers,” the paper said. They should require firms to get clearer consent to collect data, better explain how it was being used and make it easier to be accessed by those from whom it was harvested.

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5th largest IT co in the making: L&T Infotech, Mindtree set to merge

Mindtree Ltd and Larsen & Toubro Infotech Ltd (LTI), two technology companies in the Larsen & Toubro group, have decided to merge, creating India’s fifth-largest IT firm, with a combined market valuation of Rs 136,000 crore. Shareholders of Mindtree will be issued shares of L&T Infotech at the ratio of 73 shares of LTI for every 100 shares of Mindtree. “The boards of Mindtree and LTI at their respective meetings held today approved a composite scheme of amalgamation of both these independently listed IT services companies under the Larsen & Toubro group,” LTI and Mindtree said in an exchange filing. “The proposed integration will see Mindtree and LTI join strengths to create an efficient and scaled-up IT services provider exceeding $3.5 billion,” L&T said. L&T Ltd acquired Mindtree in 2019 through a hostile takeover move after acquiring a 20.4 percent stake from coffee baron VG Sidhartha and others and later making a public offer to buy more shares from the public.

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L&T Infotech, Mindtree announces merger; Larsen to hold 68.73% in the new entity

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India to launch open e-commerce network to take on Amazon, Walmart

India will launch an open network for digital commerce (ONDC) as the government tries to end the dominance of U.S. companies Amazon.com and Walmart in the fast-growing e-commerce market, a government document showed. The launch of the platform comes after India’s antitrust body on Thursday raided domestic sellers of Amazon and some of Walmart’s Flipkart following accusations of competition law violations. The companies did not respond to requests for comment on the raids. Indian retailers, key supporters of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, have long contended that Amazon and Flipkart’s platforms benefit a few big sellers, via predatory pricing, though the companies say they comply with all Indian laws. The government’s so-called ONDC platform will allow buyers and sellers to connect and transact with each other online, no matter what other application they use. It will be soft-launched on Friday before being expanded, the trade ministry told Reuters.

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Experts discuss the Government’s Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) | Indianomics | CNBC TV18

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7) Politics

Philippines election: When is it and who is running for president?

Among the controversial candidates is the daughter of the country’s notorious outgoing president, the son of a former dictator and a world-famous boxer. May’s presidential election takes place alongside elections for Congress and regional governments. The key election issues are how to revive the Philippine economy from a sharp recession brought about by the Covid pandemic, and how to stamp out corruption in public office. Another issue is China’s increasing military presence in the seas between it and the Philippines, where it has been building strategic bases and using vessels to threaten Philippine shipping.

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The controversial candidates in the Philippines presidential election – BBC News

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Delimitation panel finalizes J&K Assembly boundaries, recommends two seats for Kashmiri migrants

The Jammu and Kashmir Delimitation Commission on Thursday notified the new boundaries, names, and the number of Assembly constituencies in Jammu and Kashmir, paving the way for the first-ever Assembly elections in the Union Territory that was carved out of the erstwhile State of J&K in 2019. While not mentioned in its order, the Delimitation Commission said in a statement that it had recommended to the Centre to nominate at least two “Kashmiri migrants” to the Legislature who would have the same powers as nominated members of the Puducherry Assembly and to “consider” giving “some representation” to persons displaced from Pakistan-occupied J&K. A source said this was a “proposal” that the Centre would take a call on. The delimitation was carried out based on the 2011 Census and other considerations like geographical features and access. The new Assembly would have 90 seats, 47 in Kashmir and 43 in Jammu, which was an increase from the earlier 83, with six of the additional seats being in Jammu and one in Kashmir. The commission said in its statement that for the first time in J&K, nine seats have been reserved for Scheduled Tribes. Six of the ST reserved seats were in the Jammu region and three in the Kashmir Valley. Seven seats had been reserved for Scheduled Castes.

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J&K Delimitation: 43 seats for Jammu, 47 for Kashmir; ‘Disempowering,’ says Mufti

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Former J&K Minister Harsh Dev Singh, Others Join Aam Aadmi Party

Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party (NPP) Chief and former state minister Harsh Dev Singh joined the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Jammu today. He has joined AAP along with other leaders of the Panthers Party, including Rajesh Pandgotra provincial president, Gagan Pratap Singh, Purushottam Parihar, and Sudesh Dogra. Last month, former Jammu and Kashmir minister Yash Paul Kundal, ex-legislator Balwant Singh Mankotia, and former Congress leader Surinder Singh Shingari joined the Arvind Kejriwal-led party. The joining of these leaders is seen as a shot in the arms of the AAP, with the party working to expand its base in Jammu and Kashmir on the back of its performance in Punjab.

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Hours after resigning from Congress, former Karnataka Minister Pramod Madhwaraj joins BJP

Former MLA and minister in the state Madhwaraj tendered his resignation from the primary membership of the Congress party earlier in the day. Madhwaraj addressed his resignation letter to KPCC president DK Shivakumar stating, “I have decided not to accept the post of vice-presidentship of KPCC and also to tender my resignation from the primary membership of the Congress party.” The former Minster mentioned in the letter “for the last three years the situation in the Udupi district Congress party has been a bad experience for me thus leading to political suffocation and the facts of which have been brought to your kind notice and informed to other party leaders by me.”

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Mining scam of Rs 150 cr exposed in Jharkhand, says BJP seeks clarification from CM Soren

The Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday targeted the Jharkhand government alleging that a mining scam worth Rs 150 crore has been exposed following raids by the Enforcement Directorate on the premises of officials and businessmen in the state. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday conducted raids at multiple locations, including the premises of Jharkhand Mines and Geology Department Secretary, Pooja Singhal, and businessman Amit Agarwal in Ranchi. The ED is investigating Singhal based on a complaint alleging that she allowed the operation of Pachadumar sand ghat through her handpicked contractors illegally without seeking wildlife clearance from the National Board of Wildlife and as such all the money whether, in the bank accounts of Jharkhand State Mineral Development Corporation, the Pachadumar sand project or bribe money, comes within the definition of proceeds of crime of Enforcement Directorate.

For details visit here.

8) Sports

Rajasthan Royals beat Punjab Kings by 6 wickets

Rajasthan Royals comfortably beat Punjab Kings by six wickets in their IPL match on Saturday. Batting first, Jonny Bairstow was back among runs with a fine half-century as Punjab Kings put up a challenging 189 for 5. Bairstow scored 56 off 40 balls with eight fours and a six. Jitesh Sharma (38 not out off 18 balls) and Liam Livingstone (22 off 14 balls) also played nice little cameos at the back-end to spruce up the total. For the Royals, Yuzvendra Chahal was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 3 for 28 in 4 overs. In reply, the Royals scored the required runs in 19.4 overs with Yashasvi Jaiswal making 68 off 41 balls.

For details visit here.

Mumbai Indians out of IPL play-off race

Indian Premier League giants Mumbai Indians on Saturday became the first team to bow out of the play-off race after Rajasthan Royals beat Punjab Kings in the first match of the day. Royals’ victory meant Mumbai, who are bottom of the 10-team table with eight losses from 10 matches, have no chance of making the final four this season. Rohit Sharma’s Mumbai, the richest and most successful side in IPL history with five titles, remained winless in their first eight matches this season. They bounced back with two wins, including a last-over thriller on Friday when Australian fast bowler Daniel Sams defended nine off the final over against high-flying Gujarat Titans who have eight wins from 11 matches.

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Asian Games in China postponed because of Covid-19

The Asian Games in China have been postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic, says the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA). The event was scheduled to take place between 10 and 25 September in Hangzhou. A statement from the OCA said that “new dates of the 19th Asian Games will be agreed … in the near future”. “HAGOC (Hangzhou Asian Games Organising Committee) has been very well prepared to deliver the Games on time despite global challenges,” said the OCA. “However, the above decision was taken by all the stakeholders after carefully considering the pandemic situation and the size of the Games.” China held the Winter Olympics in February and the Paralympics in March under strict coronavirus restrictions in Beijing.

For details visit here.

9) Opinion

What Is Roe vs Wade and Will Abortion Become Illegal In The US?

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RBI’s rate hikes to weigh down on banking system credit growth: India Ratings

The surprise rate hike by the RBI signaling a reversal of the interest rate cycle will weigh down on the banking system’s credit growth, which was showing signs of revival with an 11 percent growth, a report said on Thursday. The tailwinds supporting a pick-up in credit growth will be in demand from the industry and services segments, even as growth in the agriculture segment remains stable and muted in the retail segment, India Ratings and Research said. Over the medium term, inflationary pressures, supply chain disruptions, and a weak consumption demand could upset the current revival in credit growth, it added. It said that banking system credit growth offtake has shown a significant pick-up in the early part of FY23, with credit growth of 11.2 percent as of April 8, 2022, compared to 5.3 percent in the same period in 2021, it said, adding that this is the highest since July 2019.

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Can Digital Banking units change the Financial Services landscape in India?

The constantly-evolving fintech sector has provided a big push for the digitization of banking and lending. Preceding the finance minister’s Budget announcement, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in January allowed fintech companies to access credit bureaus, a decision that further enabled digital lending using fintech. Now, the DBUs present another vista for greater association between banks, NBFCs and fintech startups. The online lending regime is evolving faster than anticipated; the fintech infrastructure that the RBI has created with UPI and KYC is world-class, but it still has holes that can be exploited, particularly on the KYC front for digital lending,” said Sinha, who was earlier the convenor of the fintech committee of the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI).

For details visit here.

EV Battery Swapping Draft Policy: Great Start, but Interoperability, Data Collection issues a challenge

Amid a flurry of activities in the electric vehicle (EV) industry and the country buzzing with both positive and negative news from the sector, government think-tank NITI Aayog released a draft battery swapping policy last week for the EV industry. The policy is aimed at improving the efficiency of the battery swapping ecosystem for electric scooters and three-wheeler e-rickshaws, which would thereby drive EV adoption. However, there are questions as to how far the draft policy will help in solving the pressing issues the industry is facing today. Though the government’s plans in this regard are both futuristic and good, they have several issues because battery swapping has multiple challenges, and they need to be addressed first to make the impending policy a success, believes Amitabh Saran, founder, and CEO of Altigreen Propulsion Lab.

For details visit here.

10) Weekly special

Work smart: The evolving gig economy in India

India has been witnessing phenomenal growth in the emerging gig economy. In this episode, Vineet Arya, Founder, COHIRE, and Dheeraj Khatter, Co-Founder & Director, MyMobiForce come together for an insightful panel discussion to talk about the rising phenomenon.

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10) Did you know?

Why 9 May Victory Day is so important for Russia

Under Vladimir Putin, Victory Day has become a show of strength of troops and military hardware, as well as a chance to remember the sacrifices of World War Two. Twenty-seven million Soviet citizens died, by far the greatest loss of any country, in what Russians call the Great Patriotic War. The Victory Day parade was occasionally marked in the Soviet era and revived by President Boris Yeltsin for the 50th anniversary in 1995, but it was Vladimir Putin in 2008 who made it an annual event featuring military hardware. Russian identity has been largely created with Victory Day in the background, with schoolbooks and history books focusing on Russia as Europe’s wartime liberators.

For details visit here.

With that, we come to an end of our Weekly Current Affairs May 2022 -Week 2. Hope you have liked it. Write your feedback in the comments below and let us know if there is anything else you would like us to cover.

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