Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 26 May 2021

::NATIONAL::

Recently, Odisha’s Bhubaneswar witnessed Zero Shadow Day.
It is a rare celestial phenomenon during which no shadow of an object or a being is observed.
The phenomenon occurs twice a year when the sun is at its highest point in the sky at all the regions between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn.
Due to the sun being exactly overhead, the shadow of all beings or objects disappears, resulting in Zero Shadow Day.

Owing to the normal monsoon predicted for this year, States have written to the Centre seeking the ‘Beed District formula’ to run the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana.
Under the 80-110 plan, the insurer’s potential losses are restricted.
The state government has to bear the cost of any claims above 110% of the premium collected to insulate the insurer from losses.
The premium surplus (gross premium minus claims) exceeding 20% of gross premium is refunded by insurer to the state government.

China will strengthen price controls on iron ore, copper, corn and other major commodities in its 14th five-year plan for 2021 to 2025 to address abnormal fluctuations in prices.
The country will also step up monitoring and analysis of commodity prices such as crude oil, natural gas and soybean, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC).
According to the sources said, the local governments should study and judge the import impact in depth, promptly make suggestions... (on matters) such as reserves, import and export, fiscal and taxation, and financial adjustment measures.

Lithuania quits China’s 17+1 cooperation forum with central and eastern European states that includes other EU members. Now it is known as 16+1.

About:

The 17+1 initiative is a China-led format founded in 2012 in Budapest.
The initiative includes 12 EU member states and 5 Balkan states.
It aims to expand cooperation between Beijing and the CEE member countries, with investments and tradefor the development of the CEE region.
The platform is largely seen as an extension of China’s flagship Belt and Road initiative (BRI).

The Reserve Bank said it will consider amalgamation of District Central Co-operative Banks (DCCBs) with State Cooperative Banks (StCBs) subject to various conditions, including that a proposal should be made by the state government concerned.
The Banking Regulation (Amendment) Act, 2020 has been notified for the StCBs and DCCBs with effect from April 1, 2021. Amalgamation of such banks need to be sanctioned by the Reserve Bank of India.

Key highlights:

RBI has come out with the guidelines after a few state governments approached it for amalgamation of DCCBs with StCBs as a two-tier Short-term Co-operative Credit Structure (STCCS).
As per the guidelines, RBI will consider proposals for amalgamation "when the state government of the state makes a proposal to amalgamate one or more DCCB/s in the state with the StCB after conducting a detailed study of the legal framework".
Besides, there should be an additional capital infusion strategy, assurance regarding financial support if required, projected business model with clear profitability and proposed governance model for the amalgamated bank.
The scheme of amalgamation has to be approved by the requisite majority of shareholders. Also, NABARD has to examine and recommend the proposal of the state government.

Like black fungus and white fungus, yellow fungus too is a fungal infection, but it can be rather fatal and deadly as it begins internally unlike the others where symptoms are visible.
A yellow fungus infection spreads via contaminated environments, or when a suspected patient inhales moulds (mycometes) which grow in the environment.
Like black fungus, the treatment for yellow fungus is Amphotericin-B injection.
Symptoms of yellow fungus are loss of appetite, sunken eyes, slow healing of wounds, lethargy and weight loss.