Latest Current Affairs For Friday 7th January, 2022

Indian-Origin Captain Harpreet Chandi reaches South Pole

Captain Harpreet Chandi, Indian-origin British Sikh Army officer and physiotherapist, also known as Polar Preet, has created history by becoming the first woman of colour to complete a solo unsupported trek to the South Pole.

Capt. Chandi announced her history-making feat at the end of Day 40 after travelling 700 miles (1,127 kilometres) while pulling a pulk or sledge with all of her kit and battling temperatures of minus 50 degrees Celsius and wind speeds of around 60mph.

As part of a Medical Regiment in the northwest of England, Capt. Chandi’s primary role is to organise and validate training for medics in the Army as Clinical Training Officer.

Sindhutai Sapkal popular as ‘Mother of Orphans’ passes away

Social worker Sindhutai Sapkal, who was called as ‘Mother of Orphans’ passed away at the age of 73 years. She was also referred to just as ‘Sindhutai’ or ‘Mai’. She was awarded the Padma Shri in 2021 in the Social Work category.

Apart from this, she had received more than 750 awards and honours in her lifetime. She adopted close to 2,000 orphans and is grandmother to even more. She was from Maharashtra. A biopic on her life titled “Mee Sindhutai Sapkal“ was released in the year 2010.

3-time Olympic Gold winning Triple Jump Champion Viktor Saneyev passes away

The Olympic triple jump 3-time gold medalist and former world record holder, Viktor Danilovich Saneyev passed away in Australia.

He was a triple long player who represented the Union of Soviet Socialist Republic (USSR) in the Olympic games. Later he worked as a coach in Australia. He secured gold medals in European Games organized in 1969 Athens and 1974 Rome.

World Day of War Orphans 2022: History and Significance

World Day of War Orphans is marked on 6 January to create awareness about the plight of children who have lost their parents due to conflict. In any conflict, children are one of the most disadvantaged and vulnerable groups present.

Children who have been injured in a gunfight or separated from their families require particular care in order to heal the mental wounds of war, begin school, and restart normal life.

World Day of War Orphans was started by the French organisation SOS Enfants en Detresses, which aimed to help children affected by conflict. According to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), an orphan is defined as a “child under 18 years of age who has lost one or both parents to any cause of death”.

India records highest-ever monthly exports at $37 billion in December

The preliminary data released by the commerce and industry ministry, India exported goods worth $37.29 billion in December, the highest ever in a month, as demand for items such as engineering products, petroleum items, and gems and jewellery continued to soar.

India’s export has increased by 37 per cent from the figures of December 2020. The import has also increased by 38 per cent from last December. India’s exports of goods will cross 400 billion dollars in this fiscal year.

Google acquires Israeli cybersecurity startup Siemplify for $500 million

Alphabet Inc-owned, Google has acquired Israeli cybersecurity startup Siemplify, in a deal worth $500 million. This acquisition will expand the U.S. tech giant’s security offerings in the country amid rising cyber-attacks.

Siemplify will be integrated into Google Cloud’s Chronicle operation. As a part of Google Cloud’s security team, Siemplify will help companies better manage their threat response.

This purchase marks the fourth acquisition of an Israeli company by Google and its first in the cybersecurity industry outside the US.

Siemplify was founded in 2015 by Amos Stern (CEO), Alon Cohen (CTO) and Garry Fatakhov (COO). It has offices in Tel Aviv and headquarters in New York.

Siemplify specializes in end-to-end security services for enterprises, typically referred to as security orchestration, automation and response (SOAR) services.

Important For All Exam 2022:

Google CEO: Sundar Pichai;

Google Founded: 4 September 1998, California, United States;

Google Founders: Larry Page, Sergey Brin.

NBBL launched UPMS to simplify recurring bill payments

NPCI Bharat BillPay Ltd. (NBBL), the wholly-owned subsidiary of National Payments Corporation of India has introduced a functionality called ‘Unified Presentment Management System’ (UPMS).

NBBL through UPMS will enable the customers to set up standing instructions – from any channel and for any mode on their recurring bill payments. The bills will be automatically fetched from the billers and presented to customers for their action, in terms of auto-debit and bill payment management.

The bills will be automatically fetched from the billers and presented to customers for their action, in terms of auto-debit and bill payment management.

UPMS will be available to customers through the centralized infrastructure and application support provided by Bharat BillPay Central Unit (BBPCU).

Important For All Exam 2022:

NPCI Bharat BillPay Ltd Founded: 2021;

NPCI Bharat BillPay Ltd Headquarters: Mumbai, Maharashtra;

NPCI Bharat BillPay Ltd CEO: Noopur Chaturvedi.

RBI issued framework for offline digital payments

Reserve Bank of India has issued a framework for facilitating small-value digital payments in offline mode using cards, wallets, mobile devices, etc, to push digital transactions in rural and semi-urban areas.

The upper limit of an offline payment transaction was fixed at Rs 200, with a total limit of Rs 2,000 at any point in time. The framework will enable the Authorised Payment System Operators (PSOs) and Payment System Participants (PSPs), Acquirers and Issuers (banks and non-banks) to conduct small value offline digital payments.

Under the offline mode, payments can be carried out face-to-face (proximity mode) using any channel or instrument like cards, wallets, and mobile devices.

These transactions will not require an additional factor of authentication (AFA), the Reserve Bank of India said, adding that since the transactions are offline, alerts (by way of SMS and/or e-mail) will be received by the customer after a time lag.

G Asok Kumar named as DG of National Mission for Clean Ganga

Additional Secretary under the Ministry of Jal Shakti, G Asok Kumar was appointed as the new Director-General of the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) under the Ministry of Jal Shakti. He succeeded Director-General, Rajiv Ranjan Mishra.

Kumar is popularly known as ‘the Rain Man of India’ for his excellent work in rainwater harvesting under the “Jal Shakti Abhiyan: Catch the Rain” campaign.

National Mission for Clean Ganga(NMCG) was registered as a society on 12th August 2011 under the Societies Registration Act 1860. It acted as the implementation arm of the National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA) which was constituted under the provisions of the Environment (Protection) Act (EPA),1986.

Atul Keshap appointed as President of US-India Business Council

Indian-origin American diplomat Atul Keshap has been appointed as the President of the U.S.-India Business Council (USIBC) by the US Chambers of Commerce. His term is effective from January 05, 2022. The US Chambers of Commerce is the parent body of USIBC. Atul Keshap replaces Nisha Desai Biswal.

Prior to this, Keshap served in Delhi as United States Chargé d’Affaires to India, leading the US Embassy team. The USIBC represents top global companies operating across the United States, India, and the Indo-Pacific.

Kerala’s High Court: India’s First paperless court

The Kerala High Court is all set to become India’s first paperless court. Supreme Court judge Justice DY Chandrachud inaugurated the smart courtrooms on 1 January 2022. In the 1st phase six courtrooms, including the Chief Justice’s room, will be converted into smart courts. Also, case files will be made available to the lawyers on the computer screen.

Cases e-filed will be processed, verified and cured through e-mode, stakeholders can avail the option of hearing of cases in hybrid mode involving physical hearing as well as through videoconferencing, and orders and judgments will also be delivered through e-mode.

Every part of the process can be viewed, processed through the dashboard or virtual box of individual stakeholders and participants in the judicial process. All stakeholders, including litigants, could access, work and update cases from the comfort of their homes, offices or in transit, added the communication.

Himachal Pradesh became 1st LPG enabled & smoke free state of the country

Himachal Pradesh became the first LPG enables, also, smoke-free state. This milestone was achieved due to the Ujjwala Scheme and Grahini Suvidha Yojana by Centre.

The Ujjwala scheme was introduced by the government to get rid of the smoke. The Grahini Suvidha Scheme was introduced to assist the women of rural areas.

Ujjwalla Yojna was started by the Centre government with the view to free the women of the country from indoor pollution.

Along with this, the Himachal government also started the Grihini Suvidha Yojana to benefit as many women as possible, under the scheme.

Important For All Exam 2022:

Himachal Pradesh Capital: Shimla (Summer), Dharamshala (Winter);

Himachal Pradesh Governor: Rajendra Arlekar;

Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister: Jai Ram Thakur.

Ayush Minister lays foundation stone of International Yoga Academy

Union Ayush Minister, Sarbananda Sonowal has laid the foundation stone of the Heartfulness International Yoga Academy in Hyderabad, Telangana. He also launched 75 crores suryanamaskar initiative as part of the Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav”.

The academy tries to reach all levels of society through training programmes and these will be overseen by an international team.

This the academy has therapeutic Yoga rooms for consultation, one to one training spaces or small group classes; pre-natal Yoga rooms; a lecture hall with  200 sitting capacity; a full-fledged recording studio with editing suites for pre-recorded wellness programs; a recording Yoga hall fully equipped for Live online Yoga Classes; a Yoga library with books from every Yoga Institutions and access to Yoga research articles.

PM chose Puducherry as host of National Youth Festival

Puducherry has been handpicked by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to host the 25th National Youth Festival. The 25th National Youth Festival is going to be held in Puducherry from 12th to 16th January 2022.

The festival has been organised as part of the Azadi ki Amrit Mahotsav marking the 75th year of Independence, said Union Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports and Information and Broadcasting Anurag Thakur.

The festival is likely to draw around 7000 youths in the age group of 18 to 22 from across the country. Around 500 youths from Puducherry will take part in the event.

The government of India holds National Youth Festival, as a part of National Youth Week celebrations. It is organised with the aim of propagating the concept of national integration, brotherhood, the spirit of communal harmony, courage and adventure amongst the youth.

This aim is achieved by organizing gatherings of youth and encouraging them to take part in different activities.

Raj Kumar Singh dedicates Automatic Generation Control to nation

Power and new and renewable energy minister, Raj Kumar Singh has dedicated Automatic Generation Control (AGC) to the nation.

The AGC sends signals to power plants every four seconds to maintain the frequency and thereby reliability of India’s power system. It will help in achieving the government’s target of 500 GW non-fossil fuel-based generation capacity by 2030.

Automatic Generation Control will be operated by Power System Operation Corporation (POSOCO) through National Load Despatch Centre.

POSOCO will send signals to every power plant through AGC every 4 seconds to maintain the frequency and reliability of the Power System.

R.K. Singh has also released a report titled “Assessment of Inertia in Indian Power System”. It has been prepared by POSOCO with the help of IIT Bombay.

India has achieved an installed capacity of 150 GW of renewable energy and aims to achieve a renewable energy capacity of 175 GW in 2022.

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.