Latest Current Affairs For Saturday 15th January, 2022

Badminton Association partners Sony for Yonex-Sunrise India Open 2022

The Badminton Association of India (BAI) announced Sony Pictures Networks India (SPNI) as its broadcast partner for the Yonex-Sunrise India Open 2022.

The 11th edition of the tournament will see reigning world champion Singapore's Loh Kean Yew and bronze medallist Lakshya Sen as well as two-time Olympics medallist PV Sindhu and the 2015 India Open champion Saina Nehwal.

The tournament is being telecast live on Sony Ten 1 channel and is being streamed live on SonyLIV.

AYUSH Ministry hosts first-ever global Surya Namaskar event

On the auspicious day of Makar Sankranti the Ministry of AYUSH hosted the 1st-ever global Surya Namaskar event.

Union Minister, Sarbananda Sonowal, addressed the people on the occasion and gave his message on Surya Namaskar.

Keeping in view the recent upsurge of corona cases, he had advised people to do 'Surya Namaskar' from home and upload videos on the links used for registration.

Leading Yoga masters and gurus from global institutions also shared their messages.

Armed Forces Veterans Day 2022: 14th January

Armed Forces Veterans Day is observed on January 14 every year, since 2017.

It is celebrated to honour the sacrifice of our veterans in serving the nation.

Armed Forces Veterans Day was called Armistice Day when it was announced and this year, the nation is celebrating the 6th Armed Forces Veterans Day.

Armed Forces Veterans Day recognises the services rendered by Field Marshal KM Cariappa OBE, the first Indian Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Armed Forces.

Posco, Adani Group to build $5 billion Mundra steel mill

POSCO and the Adani Group have agreed to explore business cooperation opportunities, including the establishment of a green, environment-friendly Integrated Steel Mill at Mundra, Gujarat.

The investment is estimated to be up to USD 5 billion.

The non-binding MoU signed between POSCO and Adani intends to further collaborate at the group business level in various industries such as renewable energy, hydrogen, and logistics in response to carbon reduction requirements.

Axis Bank ties up with MinkasuPay for smoother biometric-based net banking

Axis Bank has entered into a partnership with MinkasuPay to offer biometric authentication solution for its customers.

Now transaction time to execute net banking payment will be reduced from about 50-60 seconds currently, to just 2-3 seconds.

customers’ biometric authentication will be done with Fingerprint or Face ID authentication.

This will also increase transaction success rates significantly.

Axis Bank MD and CEO: Amitabh Chaudhry

Headquarter: Mumbai

Snapdeal ties up with BOB Financial to launch Rupay Credit Card

Snapdeal has joined hands with BOB Financial and NPCI to launch a co-branded contactless RuPay credit card.

This co-branded credit card aims to popularise the adoption and usage of credit cards among the growing number of online buyers from India’s smaller cities and towns.

The Snapdeal-BoB co-branded contactless card will be rolled out by March 2022.

BOB Financial Solutions Limited (BFSL) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Bank of Baroda (BoB).

Paytm Payments Bank becomes most preferred UPI beneficiary bank

Paytm Payments Bank Ltd (PPBL) becomes the largest and fastest growing UPI beneficiary bank in India.

It becomes the first beneficiary bank in the country to achieve the landmark of over 926 million UPI transactions in a single month.

Beneficiary banks are the banks of the account holder who is receiving money.

Paytm Payments Bank has also gained rapid traction as a remitter bank for UPI payments.

CEO Paytm Payments Bank: Satish Kumar Gupta

Headquarter: Noida

NDTV Lucknow Bureau Chief Kamal Khan passes away

NDTV's Lucknow Bureau Chief Kamal Khan passed away due to a heart attack.

Kamal’s reportage over the last decades stood out for its perceptiveness, integrity & the way he delivered hard truths with poetic dexterity.

Khan was working as Executive Editor with NDTV.

He was a recipient of Ramnath Goenka Award, and Ganesh Shanker Vidyarthi Award from the President of India.

Kachai Lemon Festival began in Manipur

The 18th edition of Kachai Lemon Festival began in Manipur. 

Theme: 'Organic Kachai Lemon for Safe Environment and Rural Transformation'

Kachai Lemon has been accorded GI tag and widely grown in Kachai Village of Ukhrul district.

Kachai Lemon is considered to be unique as it is a rich source of ascorbic acid and famous for its juice content.

Kachai Lemon Festival is organized annually to promote this unique kind of lemon fruit and to encourage the lemon farmers.

Environment Minister releases India State of Forest Report 2021

Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav has released biennial India State of Forest Report 2021.

Highlights: 

Total forest and tree cover in India in 2021: 80.9 million hectares.

This is over 24.60% of the geographical area of the country.

17 states and union territories have above 33% of the geographical area under forest cover.

Largest forest cover: Madhya Pradesh

Max. increase in forest cover: Andhra Pradesh

Total carbon stock in India’s forest: 7,204 million tonnes.

Meenakshi Lekhi launches Bike Expedition to north-east

MoS for Culture, Meenakashi Lekhi has launched 'North East on Wheels Expedition’ in New Delhi to promote the Culture of Northeastern States.

It is scheduled to be held between 8th to 16th April this year to mark the celebrations of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav.

75 Bikers participating in this expedition will be selected from all over the country and will cover about 9000 km in the NE Region in 6 groups.

Aim: promote the Dekho Apna Desh initiative of the Ministry of Tourism.

Savita Punia named captain of Indian women hockey team for Asia Cup

Goalkeeper Savita Punia will be the captain of Indian squad at the Women’s Hockey Asia Cup 2022 to be held in Muscat, Oman. 

Indian women are the defending champions at the continental event.

Indian women’s hockey team features 16 players who were part of Tokyo 2020 Olympics, where the Indian eves finished fourth.

Vice-captain: Deep Grace Ekka.

China, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea and Thailand are the 7 other teams competing at the tournament.

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.