Latest Current Affairs For Wednesday 2nd February, 2022

Indian Coast Guard celebrates its 46th Raising Day 2022

Indian Coast Guard is celebrating its 46th Raising Day on 01 Feb 2022. As the fourth largest Coast Guard in the world, the Indian Coast Guard has played a significant role in securing the Indian Coasts and enforcing regulations in the Maritime Zones of India.

The ICG was formally established on February 1, 1977, by the Coast Guard Act, 1978 of the Parliament of India. It operates under the Ministry of Defence.

Important For All Exam 2022:

Indian Coast Guard Director-General: Virender Singh Pathania;

Indian Coast Guard Founded: 1 February 1977;

Indian Coast Guard Headquarters: Ministry of Defence, New Delhi.

A book titled ‘Operation Khatma’ authored by R C Ganjoo & Ashwini Bhatnagar

A book titled ‘Operation Khatma’ has been released which is authored by journalists RC Ganjoo and Ashwini Bhatnagar. The book is based upon the operation by the Special Operations Group of Jammu & Kashmir Police which led to the killing of 22 terrorists of the Jammu & Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF).

It is a graphic first-hand thriller on terrorism in Kashmir. The blood-splattered rivalry between JKLF and HM, and the short, sharp surgical strike -OPERATION KHATMA- that broke the back of terrorism in the Valley.

Tata Steel Chess 2022: Magnus Carlsen beats Fabiano Caruana

World Champion Grand Master Magnus Carlsen has secured his victory in Wijk Aan Zee (Netherlands) with a round to spare. The world champion defeated GM Fabiano Caruana and now leads the 2022 Tata Steel Chess Tournament by a full point. It was his 8th win, a unique achievement.

Erigaisi Arjun (India) has won the Tata Steel Challengers. By doing so he has earned a spot in the Tata Steel Masters next year. The 85th edition of the Tata Steel Chess Tournament will take place from 13 – 29 January 2023.

Chennai Super Kings becomes India’s First Unicorn Sports Enterprise

Chennai Super Kings (CSK), has become the country’s first sports Unicorn with its market cap having touched a high of Rs 7,600 crores and its share in the grey market trading in the Rs 210-225 price band.

The Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led CSK, which won its fourth IPL title in Dubai last year, now has a market cap more than its parent entity, India Cements. India Cements’ market cap stood at Rs 6,869 crores.

Two key reasons which have led CSK’s market cap to go past its parent entity are the team winning its fourth IPL title in Dubai, and two new franchises being added to the upcoming season at record prices.

PR Sreejesh wins World Games Athlete of the Year award 2021

Indian men’s hockey player PR Sreejesh has won the World Games Athlete of the Year award for 2021. He is the second Indian after Rani Rampal to win this award. In 2020, Indian women’s hockey captain Rani Rampal became the first Indian to win the honour for her performances in 2019.

A total of 24 athletes from 17 countries were nominated for the annual awards based on individual or team performance. Alberto Ginés López of Spain and wushu player Michele Giordano of Italy are the runner-ups. In the FIH Stars Awards in October, Sreejesh was named the goalkeeper of the year for 2021.

Samsung Surpasses Intel as World’s top semiconductor company in 2021

South Korean electronics manufacturing giant, Samsung Electronics surpassed U.S chipmaker Intel to become the world’s leading chipmaker by revenue in 2021, according to a report released by research firm Counterpoint Technology Market Research.

While Intel posted relatively flattish results, Samsung took the lead with a strong DRAM and NAND flash market performance in 2021. Samsung also saw solid momentum in logic chips this year.

Memory vendors continued to lead the industry with SK Hynix and Micron taking the third and fourth positions, followed by IC design vendors, including Qualcomm and NVIDIA. The year saw 19% YoY revenue growth.

Important For All Exam 2022:

Samsung Electronics Headquarters: Suwon-si, South Korea;

Samsung Electronics Founder: Lee Byung-chul;

Samsung Electronics Founded: 13 January 1969.

Samsung Electronics CEO: Kim Hyun Suk, Kim Ki Nam & Koh Dong-Jin.

Ministry of Defence begins Home Delivery of medicines under SeHAT scheme

Ministry of Defence had launched the Services e-Health Assistance and Teleconsultation (SeHAT) medical teleconsultation service for all entitled armed forces personnel and their families in May 2021. To add further to this initiative, the Home Delivery or Self Pickup of Medicines to patients seeking consultation on SeHAT will be started w.e.f February 01, 2022.

SeHAT stay home OPD is a patient-to-doctor system where the patient can consult a doctor remotely through the internet using his Smartphone, laptop, Desktop or Tablet.

The consultation occurs through video, audio and chat at the same time. It aims to provide quality healthcare services to patients from the comfort of their homes.

Safe and structured video-based clinical consultations between a doctor in a hospital, and a patient within the confines of his or her home anywhere in the country, have been enabled. It is designed to be extremely simple and easy to use, which requires minimal effort from the users.

The user does not need to pay anything to seek teleconsultation & can simply access the services by visiting https://sehatopd.gov.in, or by using the SeHAT apps available on the Play store & App Stores.

Union budget 2022-23 is being presented by FM Nirmala Sitharaman

Union Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman is presenting the Union Budget 2022 for the 4th time in a row. She will be presenting the financial statements and tax proposals for the fiscal year 2022-23 (April 2022 to March 2023).

A Made in India tablet has replaced the traditional ‘Bahi Khata’ as Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman leaves the Finance Ministry’s office to go to the Parliament to present the Budget.

The Economic Survey 2021-22 was released on 31st January 2022 by the Chief Economic Advisor of India,  V Anantha Nageswaran. The government sees the Indian economy growing at 8-8.5 per cent in the financial year 2022-23 (FY23).

NPCI announces UPI safety and awareness week

National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) and the UPI ecosystem (comprising of leading banks and fintechs) have announced the UPI Safety and Awareness initiative, to create awareness amongst consumers. Under this initiative, NPCI and the UPI ecosystem will observe February 1-7 as ‘UPI Safety and Awareness Week’ and the whole of February as ‘UPI Safety and Awareness Month’.

NPCI has urged users to follow the concept of UPI Safety Shield which mentions 5 tips for safe UPI transactions. With an aim to create awareness amongst consumers, National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) and the UPI ecosystem have announced the UPI Safety and Awareness initiative.

Under this programme, NPCI urges all the customers to follow the concept of UPI Safety Shield, which the company has derived to educate customers all about UPI payments. The UPI Safety and Awareness initiative will help vulnerable and first-time customers in overcoming their fears of adopting digital payments and guide them to pursue safe payments on the UPI platform.

Important For All Exam 2022:

NPCI Founded: 2008;

NPCI Headquarters: Mumbai, Maharashtra;

NPCI MD & CEO: Dilip Asbe.

Tata group acquires Neelachal Ispat Nigam Ltd for Rs 12,100 crore

Tata Group company, Tata Steel Long Products Ltd’s (TSLP) has acquired Odisha-based Neelachal Ispat Nigam Ltd (NINL) for Rs 12,100 crore.

Neelachal Ispat Nigam Ltd (NINL) is a steel plant located in Kalinganagar in Odisha and was shut in March 2020 due to continued losses. It has a capacity of 1.1 million tonnes a year.

This is the 1st instance of privatisation of a public sector steel manufacturing enterprise in India.

Important For All Exam 2022:

Tata Steel Founded: 25 August 1907, Jamshedpur;

Tata Steel CEO: T. V. Narendran (31 Oct 2017–);

Tata Steel Founder: Jamsetji Tata;

Tata Steel Headquarters: Mumbai.

Prime Minister Modi launches Pandit Jasraj Cultural Foundation

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has launched the Pandit Jasraj Cultural Foundation on the occasion of the 92nd birth anniversary of the Indian classical vocalist.

Prime Minister Modi said that the World is entitled to benefit from Indian music like they have from Yoga.

Durga Jasraj and Pandit Shaarang Dev keep alive the glorious legacy of the maestro. Yoga, Indian music has the capacity to stir the depth of the human mind and the world is entitled to be benefited from it.

The Pandit Jasraj Cultural Foundation has been founded by Pandit Jasraj’s son Shaarang Dev Pandit, and his daughter, Durga Jasraj. The main objective of the fluctuation is to protect, preserve, develop and promote the National Heritage, Art & Culture of India.

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.