Latest Current Affairs For Tuesday 4th January, 2022

Jawaharlal Nehru Road renamed as ‘Narendra Modi Marg’

Governor of Sikkim, Ganga Prasad, has named a new road Narendra Modi Marg. The Governor viewed the road under Kabi Lungchok from Kyongsala, 4th mile. This is an alternative to Jawahar Lal Nehru Marg.

The National Monument at National Highway 310 was built by Border Roads Organization. It will be easier for Indian tourists to reach Nathula Border. The stretch, constructed by Border Roads Organisation, has reduced the distance between Gangtok and Tsomgo lake by 15 km.

DRDO Celebrates 64th Foundation Day on 1st January 2022

The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has observed the 64th Foundation Day of its establishment on January 01, 2022. DRDO was established in 1958 with just 10 laboratories to enhance the research work in the Defence sector.

At that time, it was tasked with designing and developing cutting edge defence technologies for the Indian Armed Forces.

As of now, DRDO is working in multiple cutting edge military technology areas, which include aeronautics, armaments, combat vehicles, electronics, instrumentation, engineering systems, missiles, materials, naval systems, advanced computing, simulation, cyber, life sciences and other technologies for defence.

Important For All Exam 2021:

Chairman DRDO: Dr G Satheesh Reddy.

DRDO Headquarters: New Delhi.

DRDO Established: 1958.

New Zealand’s Ross Taylor announces retirement from international cricket

Veteran New Zealand batter, Ross Taylor has announced retirement from international cricket at the end of the ongoing domestic season.

Taylor hence will play his final appearance in the second Test against Bangladesh, where will equal Daniel Vettori’s record of 112 tests for New Zealand.

He will be part of the one-day international series in Australia. He is the first cricketer to play more than 100 matches for New Zealand in all 3 formats.

Nirmala Sitharaman chairs 46th GST council meet in Delhi

The GST Council’s 46th meeting was held in New Delhi under the chairmanship of Union Finance & Corporate Affairs Minister Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman.

The GST Council has recommended deferring the decision to change the rates in textiles recommended in the 45th GST Council meeting. Consequently, the existing GST rates of 5 % instead of 12% in textile sector would continue.

This convention attains special significance as it comes days ahead of Sitharaman presenting the much-anticipated Union Budget 2022-23 on February 1, for which she has been holding a series of pre-budget consultations with stakeholders.

LIC inaugurates Digi Zone to sell policies online

Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) of India has inaugurated “Digi Zone”, at Bandra Kurla Complex, Mumbai, as part of its effort to enhance its digital footprint.

LIC’s Digi Zone can be used by the customers to purchase policies online, pay the premium and avail of other services. As a part of its efforts to become a tech-driven life insurer, LIC will offer information related to its products and services through kiosks installed on the Digi Zone premises.

Customers can use LIC’s Digi Zone to buy policies online, pay the premium and avail of other services. LIC plans to undertake the next wave of digital transformation to unlock several benefits of accelerating growth, driving customer satisfaction and improving intermediary productivity and loyalty.

Important For All Exam 2021:

LIC Chairperson: M R Kumar;

LIC Headquarters: Mumbai;

LIC Founded: 1 September 1956.

Tech Mahindra to acquire 100 percent stake in Allyis India, Green Investments

Tech Mahindra has approved a proposal for the acquisition of a 100 per cent stake in Allyis India and Green Investments, for a total consideration of up to USD 125 million.

The acquisition will bolster Tech Mahindra’s capabilities in Digital Experience Solutions, Learning & Development, Marketing, Instructional Design; Engineering: Cloud & Automation, BI & Analytics, Technical support services.

Tech Mahindra will pay total consideration of up to $125 million, including employment-related and performance-related earnouts, as per a regulatory update filed with the exchanges.

Allyis India Pvt Ltd and Green Investments LLC offer technology consulting and managed services for organisations to help reduce costs, improve performance, and meet their objectives. Allyis India Pvt Ltd was incorporated in 2018 whole Green Investments LLC was incorporated in 2013.

Important For All Exam 2021:

Tech Mahindra CEO: C. P. Gurnani;

Tech Mahindra Headquarters: Pune;

Tech Mahindra Founder: Anand Mahindra;

Tech Mahindra Founded: 1986.

GST Collection Stood At Rs 1.29 Lakh Crore in December 2021

GST revenue collected in December 2021 was over Rs 1.29 lakh crore, 13 per cent higher than the same month in 2020.

The gross GST revenue collected in the month of December 2021 is ₹ 1,29,780 crore, of which CGST is ₹ 22,578 crore, SGST is ₹ 28,658 crore, IGST is Rs 69,155 crore (including Rs 37,527 crores collected on import of goods) and cess is Rs 9,389 crore.

RBI extended deadline for Periodic KYC Update till March 31, 2022

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has announced that it has extended the deadline for periodic KYC updates by 3 months till March 31, 2022. Extension in view of prevalent uncertainty due to a new variant of COVID-19 – Omicron. Earlier the deadline for periodic KYC updates was December 31.

Meanwhile, the government has also extended the deadline for businesses to file GST annual returns for the 2020-21 fiscal ended March 2021 by two months till February 28.

Important For All Exam 2021:

Reserve Bank of India Founded: April 1, 1935;

Reserve Bank of India Headquarters: Mumbai, Maharashtra;

Reserve Bank of India Governor: Shaktikanta Das.

SBI Card joined hands with Paytm for Card Tokenization

SBI Cards and Payment Services has tied up with Paytm for card tokenisation to protect the data of the cardholders. SBI Card has collaborated with Paytm to enable cardholders to tokenise their cards on devices and make payments through Paytm.

Tokenisation refers to masking the original card number by replacing it with a set of unique characters, termed as token, which secures the customer’s card details when a transaction is under process.

Currently, only cards issued in the Indian territory are enabled on the Paytm network. However, customers may transact using his/her SBI Card through the Paytm network in international locations.

Important For All Exam 2021:

SBI Card Headquarters: Gurugram, Haryana;

SBI Card Managing Director & CEO: Rama Mohan Rao Amara.

Baldev Prakash named as MD & CEO of J&K Bank

Baldev Prakash has been appointed as the Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer (MD & CEO) of Jammu & Kashmir Bank for three years. His appointment will be effective from the date of taking charge or April 10, 2022, whichever is earlier.

Apart from him, R K Chhibber has been appointed as an additional director on the board of the bank.

Prakash has over 30 years of experience in banking. He had joined SBI as a probationary officer in 1991 and was the Chief General Manager (Digital and Transaction Banking Marketing Department) at SBI, Mumbai. The appointment is effective from the date of taking charge or April 10, 2022, whichever is earlier.

Important For All Exam 2021:

 Jammu & Kashmir Bank Headquarters: Srinagar;

 Jammu & Kashmir Bank Founded: 1 October 1938.

Odisha launched Digital Life Certificate system for pensioners 2022

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has launched an online service for the verification of identity and submission of life certificates for pensioners of the state government.

The chief minister virtually launched the new initiative while attending the orientation programme for newly recruited 153 officers of Odisha Civil Services.

Identification and life certificates can now be submitted by the pensioners using an artificial intelligence-based video-verification process.

It will be of immense help to the pensioners as they can submit their identification and life certificates digitally, without visiting any government office simply by using their mobile phones.

This facility will also be available at the ‘Mo Seva Kendras’ located across the state. Patnaik said the introduction of digital life certificates and E-dairy were part of his government’s 5T and ‘Mo Sarkar’ initiatives. 

Important For All Exam 2021:

Odisha Capital: Bhubaneswar;

Odisha Governor: Ganeshi Lal;

Odisha Chief Minister: Naveen Patnaik.

China launches 5-year plan to become a hub of world robotics innovation

China has announced a five-year roadmap to achieve its goal of becoming a global robotics innovation hub by the year 2025. China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology revealed operating income from the country’s robotics industry is expected to grow by around 20% per year between 2021 and 2025.

From 2016 to 2020, the sector expanded at an average growth rate of 15%. Last year, operating income surpassed 100 billion yuan ($15.69 billion) for the first time.

As per the 2021 World Robot Report, South Korea, Singapore, and Japan were the top three most automated countries in Asia-Pacific.

World’s longest Metro line opened in China

Shanghai has opened two new metro lines, upholding its rank as the city with the largest Metro network in the world. With the new lines, the total length of Shanghai’s metro network has extended to 831 km, continuing to be the longest in the world.

China’s Shanghai opened two new metro lines – Line 14 and Phase One of Line 18. The opening of the two new lines will bring the total number of fully automatic metro lines in Shanghai to five, with an operating length of 167 km, ranking first in the world for the first time. The city will now enjoy 20 metro lines with 508 stations, 83 of which are transfer ones.

Government approved 19th Tranche of Electoral Bonds

The government has approved the issuance of the 19th tranche of electoral bonds, which will be open for sale from January 1 to 10, 2022, ahead of assembly elections in five states Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Goa.

In the 19th tranche of sale, the State Bank of India (SBI), has been authorised to issue and encash electoral bonds through its 29 specialised branches. There is no limit on the number of bonds an individual or company can purchase. An electoral bond will be valid for 15 days.

Electoral bonds have been pitched as an alternative to cash donations made to political parties as part of efforts to bring transparency in political funding. However, Opposition parties have been raising concerns about alleged opaqueness in funding through such bonds.

Dharmendra Pradhan launches reading campaign ‘Padhe Bharat’

Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has launched a 100-day reading campaign ‘Padhe Bharat.

The launch of the 100 Days Reading Campaign is in alignment with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 which lays emphasis on the promotion of joyful reading culture for children by ensuring the availability of age-appropriate reading books for children in local/mother tongue/regional/tribal language.

Padhe Bharat campaign will focus on children studying in Balvatika to Grade 8. The reading campaign will be organized for 100 days (14 weeks) starting from January 1, 2022, to April 10, 2022.

The reading campaign aims to have the participation of all stakeholders at the national and state level including children, teachers, parents, community, educational administrators etc.

Static GK based on Current Affairs

1. India welcomed Egypt as the fourth new member of the New Development Bank (NDB) that was established by BRICS. 

➤ Member of BRICS - Brazil, Russia, India, China, South-Africa

● The BRICS Countries represent 41 percent of the global population, 24 percent of the global GDP, and 16 percent of the global trade.

➤ About New Development Bank (NDB):

● Aim –  To mobilise resources for infrastructure and sustainable development projects in emerging economies.

Members – The NDB admitted Bangladesh, United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Uruguay as its new members in September 2021 whereas Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa were admitted in July 2015.

➤ About Egypt:

● President – Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi

● Capital – Cairo

● Currency – Egyptian Pound (EGP)

➤ About National Development Bank (NDB):

● President – Marcos Prado Troyjo

● Establishment – 2015

● Headquarters – Shanghai, China

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2. Dr. Anupam Ray, a 1994 batch of Indian Foreign Service(IFS) officer, has been appointed as India’s next permanent representative(PR)/Ambassador to the United Nations(UN) Conference on Disarmament(CD) in Geneva, Switzerland.

➤ Recent Appointments - 

● Catherine Russell Appointed As The New Head Of UNICEF

● FICCI appoints Sanjiv Mehta as its President

● Ujjivan Small Finance Bank Named Ittira Davis As MD & CEO

● Ravindra Jadeja Ropes As Brand Ambassador Of Kinara Capital

● NHAI: Alka Upadhyaya Appointed As Chairperson Of NHAI

● Sambit Patra Named As Chairman Of India Tourism

● Smriti Mandhana Signed As Brand Ambassador Of GUVI

● Indian-Origin Executive Parag Agrawal New Twitter CEO

● Harshwanti Bisht becomes 1st women President of Indian Mountaineering Foundation

● Geoff Allardice Appointed As Permanent CEO Of ICC

● Rahul Dravid Appointed As Head Coach of Indian men’s cricket team by BCCI.

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3. Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik launched the Digital Life Certificate system for pensioners virtually while attending the orientation programme for newly recruited 153 officers of Odisha Civil Services.

● Odisha is the first state in the country to implement such a digital service for pensioners.

➤ About Odisha - 

● C.M. - Naveen Patnaik

● Governor - Ganeshi Lal

● Capital - Bhubaneshwar

➤ National Parks - 

● Simlipal National Park 

● Bhitarkanika National Park

● Tikarpada Wildlife Sanctuary

● Chilika wildlife sanctuary

● Sunabeda wildlife sanctuary

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4. The Jharkhand Government partners with premier city-based B-school, Indian School of Business (ISB) to empower Jharkhand’s forest economy.

● Aim – To empower Jharkhand’s forest economy and create jobs and wealth through a sustainable development model.

➤ About Jharkhand:

● C.M. - Hemant Soren

● Capital - Ranchi

● Governor – Ramesh Bais

● Wildlife Sanctuary – Koderma Wildlife Sanctuary, Palamu Wildlife Sanctuary, Palkot Wildlife Sanctuary

● Tiger Reserve – Palamau Tiger Reserve

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5. Information Technology Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw launched the India Semiconductor Mission (ISM) to attract large investments for setting up semiconductor wafer fabrication facilities in India.

➤ Important Schemes Launched by Indian Government:

● Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Package (PMGKP) Insurance Scheme - To help Health Workers Fighting COVID-19. 

● E-Shram Portal - To help the unorganised sector

● Gram Ujala Scheme - this scheme aims to provide high quality energy efficient LED bulbs at just Rs 10 per piece Under Gram Ujala Scheme.

● PM Mentoring Yuva Scheme - this scheme envisions to groom young authors in the country

● Rail Kaushal Vikas Yojana - this scheme aims to provide skill development training to youths.

● PM Daksh Yojana - PM DAKSH Yojana is a National Action Plan for skilling of marginalised persons covering SCs, OBCs, EBCs, DNTs, Sanitation workers including waste pickers.

● PM Umeed Scheme - Its main objective is to provide skill training to 3 lakh youths to become entrepreneurs till 2025-26.

PM Narendra Modi to be awarded prestigious Lokmanya Tilak Award 2023

The Tilak Smarak Mandir Trust (Hind Swaraj Sangh) would confer the prestigious Lokmanya Tilak National Award 2023 to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Pune on August 1, 2023.

Reason: This award recognizes PM Modi's supreme leadership under which India has climbed the ladder of progress

It is presented annually on the occasion of Lokmanya Tilak's death anniversary.

Other awardees: Indira Gandhi, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Sharad Pawar, Cyrus Poonawalla, and Manmohan Singh. 

J&K Bank wins award for Best Performance in CASA

Jammu & Kashmir Bank has been felicitated for the Best Performance in CASA-India (1st Runner up in Small Bank Category) at ICC Emerging Asia Banking Conclave & Awards 2022.

The event was participated by banks from India, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka & Myanmar.

The function was organized by the Indian Chamber of Commerce in Goa.

Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC) is a non-governmental trade association and advocacy group headquartered in Calcutta.

India poised to become world’s 2nd-largest economy by 2075: Goldman Sachs

According to the Investment Bank Goldman Sachs, India is poised to become the world’s second-largest economy by 2075.

As per the report, India would cross Japan, Germany, and the US With a population of 1.4 billion people.

India’s GDP is estimated to expand remarkably, reaching 52.5 trillion dollars surpassing the US GDP projection.

The labour force participation set to make India the second-largest economy in the world by 2075.

L&T and Spain's Navantia sign agreement for submarine project

L&T has signed a teaming agreement with Spanish-based Navantia for the submission of a techno-commercial bid for the Indian Navy’s prestigious P75 (India) submarine program.

P75 (India) Submarine Project is expected to be valued at €4.8 billion.

Navantia would carry out the design of P75(I) submarines based on its S80 class of submarines.

The first S80 class submarine was launched in 2021 and is undergoing sea trials prior to its delivery to Spanish Navy. 

India overtakes China as most attractive emerging market for investing

According to a study by Invesco Global Sovereign Asset Management, India has overtaken China to become the most attractive emerging market for investing in sovereign wealth funds this year.

Reason: This is due to its solid demographics, political stability, and proactive regulation. 

Positives for the nation also include the rapidly expanding demography, strong regulatory actions, and a welcoming climate for sovereign investors.

World Population Day 2023: 11 July

World Population Day is observed every year on July 11 in order to raise awareness about global population issues, including population control.

2023 theme: Unleashing the power of gender equality: Uplifting the voices of women and girls to unlock our world’s infinite possibilities. 

It was established by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in 1989, after the day the world approximately reached a population of five billion, which was observed on 11 July 1987.

MoHUA conducts SBM-U 2.0 Planning & Implementation Review-cum-Workshop

The Housing Ministry organized a review-cum-workshop to evaluate and accelerate the planning and implementation of the SBM-Urban 2.0.

PM Modi launched the 2.0 versions of SBM-U and AMRUT on October 1, 2021.

SBM-U 2.0: Achieving 100% waste segregation in all households and premises and 100% door-to-door collection of segregated waste from each. 

AMRUT 2.0: To provide complete coverage of water supply to all households and sewerage and septage in 500 AMRUT cities. 

Gujarat CM launches pilot project of ‘Antyodaya Shramik Suraksha Yojana’

Gujarat CM Bhupendra Patel launched the Antyodaya Shram Suraksha Accident Insurance Scheme from Kheda

All those registered under the e-Shram portal from Nadiad will benefit from the scheme.

It is being implemented through the Indian Postal Department, the IPPB, and the Ministry of Labour and Employment.

Under this scheme, insurance with a premium of Rs. 289 and Rs. 499 per year will be a big support to workers in the event of death or partial disability.

OCA elects Sheikh Talal as the new President

Kuwait’s Sheikh Talal Fahad Al Ahmad Al Sabah has been elected as the new President of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA).

He replaced his older brother Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah, who led the OCA for 30 years until 2021.

The OCA was founded in 1982 by his father Fahad Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, who led it until 1990.

The Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) is a governing body of sports in Asia, currently with 45 member National Olympic Committees.

Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance wins Insurer Innovation Award 2023

Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance has won the Insurer Innovation Award 2023 for the APAC region at the 8th World Digital Insurance Awards, hosted by TDI - The Digital Insurer.

Recognition: Bajaj Allianz Life's ground-breaking WhatsApp Conversational Platform - empowering customers to digitally services their policies seamlessly. 

The award entries were shortlisted by industry experts and the winner was selected by the community through pre-voting and live event voting.