Latest Current Affairs For Wednesday 12th January, 2022

Golden Globe Awards 2022 announced

The Golden Globe Awards 2022 ceremony was held to recognise excellence in film, both American and international, and American television.

This was the 79th edition of the annual event, which honoured the best in American television, as well as film in 2021 as chosen by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. Two of the films namely The Power of the Dog and the West Side Story, won the most number of awards with 3 each.

‘Kerala Arts and Crafts Village Organization’ won ‘International Craft Award 2021

Kerala Arts and Crafts Village Organization (KACV) from Kovalam, Kerala was awarded the ‘International Craft Award for 2021’ for the best craft village in the world by the World Crafts Council International.

It is the only award India received in the non-individual category. The KACV was established by the Uralungal Labour Contract Cooperative Society (UL CCS) for the State Tourism Department of Kerala. In 2021, the Village of the Year award was won by ‘Kraf Komuniti Ku’ in Malaysia.

Kevadia railway station renamed as Ekta Nagar railway station

The Ministry of Railways has approved the renaming of the Kevadiya railway station in the Narmada district of Gujarat, as Ekta Nagar railway station. The Statue of Unity’s Kevadiya railway station falls under the Vadodara division. The station code of Ekta Nagar railway station will be EKNR.

The numerical code of the station will be 08224620. Last year, the Ministry of Railways had said tourists visiting the world’s tallest statue in Gujarat “Statue of Unity” will be able to experience the rich cultural history of the state at the Kevadiya railway station itself.

Under the public-private partnership (PPP) initiative, the Vadodara Division of Western Railways had awarded first of its kind contract in the Indian Railways network for the development of an Art Gallery with a Souvenir shop at Gujarat’s Kevadiya Railway station.

National Human Trafficking Awareness Day 2022: 11th January

This year National Human Trafficking Awareness Day is observed on January 11, 2022, which is on Tuesday. The day aims at raising awareness of the plight of human trafficking victims, and promoting and protecting their rights.

Though the entire month of January has already been recognized as National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month, this day is specifically dedicated to awareness and prevention of illegal practice.

In 2007, the United States Senate ratified the resolution establishing January 11th as National Human Trafficking Awareness Day. In 2010, President Obama dedicated the entire month of January to awareness and prevention of human trafficking. Today, there are over 50 established organizations that globally combat this illegal practice, and more awareness has been raised than ever before.

Ratan Tata’s biography ‘Ratan N. Tata: The Authorized Biography’ to be out in Nov 2022

Tata Sons emeritus Chairman, veteran industrialist and philanthropist Ratan Tata’s authorized biography titled ‘Ratan N. Tata: The Authorized Biography’ is set to hit the stands in November 2022.

The biography is penned by a former senior bureaucrat and retired IAS officer Dr Thomas Matthew. It will be published by HarperCollins. The book chronicles around the 84-year-old Ratan Tata’s childhood, college years, and early influences, among other things.

Gael Monfils wins 2022 Adelaide International 1 tennis tournament

French tennis player Gael Monfils beat Russia’s Karen Khachanov in the men’s singles event of the 2022 Adelaide International 1 to claim the 11th ATP title of his career.

In the women’s category, World number one Australian star Ashleigh Barty beat Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan to win her second Adelaide International title. 2022 Adelaide International 1 was a combined ATP Tour 250 and WTA 500 tournament.

List of winners

Men’s single: Gaël Monfils (France)

Women’s single: Ashleigh Barty (Australia)

Men’s doubles: Rohan Bopanna and Ramkumar Ramanathan (India)

Women’s double: Ashleigh Barty and Storm Sanders (Australia)

Chennai International Airport ranks 8th in Global List for ‘On-Time Performance’

The Chennai International Airport is one of the top 10 large international airports in the world that ensures ‘on-time’ departures.

In a review conducted by Cirium, an organisation that specialises in offering aviation data to travel, finance, aerospace, and aviation industries, the airport has been ranked 8th for ‘on-time performance’ for the year 2021.

According to the latest traffic figures of Chennai Airport, it has done recovery of 80 % in domestic traffic. It is the sixth busiest airport in India. Besides that, Chennai airport is the only Indian airport to figure in the top 10 positions of the list.

The first three positions have been bagged by United State’s Miami Airport, Fukuoka Airport, and Haneda Airport in Japan.

Bhupender Yadav chaired 19th Meeting of National Tiger Conservation Authority

The 19th meeting of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) was held under the chairmanship of the union minister for Environment, Forest & Climate Change Bhupender Yadav.

Currently, there are 51 Tiger Reserves in India and more than 35 rivers originate from those areas which are crucial for water security.

The environment minister launched an action plan for the reintroduction, protection and conservation of 7 major big cats in India including the cheetah, which has become extinct in independent India.

Under the action plan, 50 of these big cats will be introduced in the next 5 years in various parks.

He announced that 14 Tiger reserves across India have received accreditation of the global Conservation Assured Tiger Standards (CA|TS). He underlined the need to meetings of NTCA in the first week of April, August & December every year.

Finance Ministry: Deposits in Jan Dhan accounts cross Rs 1.5 lakh crore

According to the finance ministry, the deposits in bank accounts opened under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) scheme have crossed Rs 1.5 lakh crore mark. The total balance in accounts under the Jan Dhan scheme was recorded at Rs 1,50,939.36 crore as of December-end 2021.

The data revealed that over 44.23 crore accounts have been opened under the scheme. Of this, 34.9 crore accounts were opened with the public sector banks, 8.05 crore with regional rural banks, and the remaining 1.28 crore with private sector banks. RuPay Debit Cards were issued to 31.28 crores PMJDY beneficiaries under this scheme.

Former RBI Governor Urjit Patel Appointed as Vice President of AIIB

Former Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor, Urjit Patel has been appointed as Vice President of the multilateral funding institution Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) for a period of three years.

He will be one of the five Vice Presidents of the AIIB. He is expected to take charge from February 2022.

He will succeed outgoing Vice President D J Pandian, who is in charge of sovereign and non-sovereign lending of the AIIB in South Asia, the Pacific Islands and South-East Asia.

Important For All Exam 2022:

President of Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank: Jin Liqun.

Headquarters of AIIB: Beijing, China.

AIIB established: 16 January 2016.

Uttar Pradesh Govt Declares 4 Villages Near Nepal Border as Revenue Villages

Uttar Pradesh government declared four villages located near the Nepal border in the district as revenue villages. District Magistrate of Bahraich, Dinesh Chandra Singh said the decision was taken before the announcement of the general elections to the UP Legislative Assembly.

These four villages are Bhavanipur, Tedhia, Dhakia and Bichhia located in Mihinpurwa tehsil of the district. All these villages are Vantangiya villages. The Vantangiya’ community comprises people brought from Myanmar during the colonial rule to plant trees. There are around 225 families in these four villages consisting of over 1,500 members.

A revenue village is a small administrative region with defined borders. One revenue village may contain many hamlets. A village administrative officer is the head officer of a revenue village. The people of these villages will now get the benefits of all the schemes of the government.

Important For All Exam 2022:

Uttar Pradesh Capital: Lucknow;

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister: Yogi Adityanath;

Uttar Pradesh Governor: Anandiben Patel.

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.