Institute of Banking Personnel Selection

• IBPS is an autonomous body formed in 1984.
• It is registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860 and also a Public Trust under the Bombay Public Trust Act, 1950.
• It was created to render assistance to organisations in the areas of personnel such as recruitment, selection, placement, etc.
• It has its headquarters in Mumbai, Maharashtra.

World Bank may forecast steeper India contraction

• The World Bank on Wednesday indicated that it may further lower its GDP projections for India and said critical reforms in key areas such as health, labour, land, skills and finance were needed to come out stronger from the COVID-19 crisis.
• The World Bank, had in May, projected that the Indian economy would contract by 3.2% in FY 2020-21 and rebound slowly in the next financial year.

‘Further challenges’

• “Further challenges have emerged in recent weeks which are likely to weigh on the prospects in the near term. These risks include the virus continuing to spread; further deterioration in the global outlook; and additional strains projected on the financial sector,” the bank said in its India Development Update.
• “Keeping these factors in mind, a steeper contraction may be projected in the revised outlook that will be available in October 2020,” it added.
• It projected India’s fiscal deficit to rise to 6.6% of GDP in FY21 and remain elevated at 5.5% in the following year.

National Recruitment Agency

Context

• The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister has decided to set up a National Recruitment Agency (NRA) to conduct a common preliminary examination for various recruitments in the central government.

About NRA:

• The NRA will conduct the Common Eligibility Test (CET) for recruitment to non-gazetted posts in government and public sector banks.
• Approximately 1.25 lakh government jobs are advertised every year for which 2.5 crore aspirants appear in various examinations.
• This test aims to replace multiple examinations conducted by different recruiting agencies for selection for government jobs advertised each year, with a single online test.
• The Government also plans to provide outreach and awareness facilities to assist candidates in rural and far-flung areas to familiarize them with the online examination system.
• A 24x7 helpline will be set up for answering queries, complaints and queries.
• The present recruitment agencies– Staff Selection Commission (SSC), Railway Recruitment Board (RRB) and the Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS)— will remain in place.
• Based on the preliminary screening done at the CET score level, final selection for recruitment shall be made through separate specialised Tiers (II, III, etc.) of examination which shall be conducted by the respective recruitment agencies.
• National Recruitment Agency will be a Society registered under the Societies Registration Act,1860.
• It will be headed by a Chairman of the rank of the Secretary to the Government of India. It will have representatives of the Ministry of Railways, Ministry of Finance/Department of Financial Services, the SSC, RRB & IBPS.
• The Government has sanctioned a sum of Rs. 1517.57 crores for the National Recruitment Agency (NRA).
• The expenditure will be undertaken over a period of three years.
• It is envisioned that the NRA would be a specialist body bringing state-of-the-art technology and best practices to the field of Central Government recruitment.

Features of CET:

• The Common Eligibility Test will be held twice a year.
• There will be different CETs for graduate level, 12th Pass level and 10th pass level to facilitate recruitment to vacancies at various levels.
• The curriculum for CET would be common.
• The CET will be conducted in 12 major Indian languages. This is a major change, as hitherto examinations for recruitment to Central Government jobs were held only in English and Hindi.
• Initially, CET will cover recruitments made by three agencies: viz. SSC, RRB and IBPS at Group B and C (non-technical) posts. This will be expanded in a phased manner.
• CET will be held in 1,000 centres across India in a bid to remove the currently prevalent urban bias. There will be an examination centre in every district of the country. There will be a special thrust on creating examination infrastructure in the 117 aspirational districts.
• CET will be the first-level test to shortlist candidates and the score will be valid for three years.
• There shall be no restriction on the number of attempts to be taken by a candidate to appear in the CET subject to the upper age limit.
• Age relaxation for SC/ST and OBC candidates as per existing rules will apply.

Barakah nuclear power plant

• The Barakah nuclear power plant is the United Arab Emirates' first nuclear power station, the first nuclear power station in the Arabian Peninsula, and the first commercial nuclear power station in the Arab World.
• It consists of four APR-1400 nuclear reactors (one operating, three mostly completed).
• The total capacity is 5,600 MW which is intended to supply up to 25% of UAE's energy needs.