Latest Current Affairs For Saturday 5th February, 2022

Maharashtra tops the list of newly recognized startups and unicorns

Maharashtra tops the list of newly recognized startups and unicorns, as per Economic Survey 2021-22.

Maharashtra recognized 11,308 of total 14,000 startups that began operations in the current financial year.

Out of 44 Unicorn companies, 11 are based in the state.

Initiatives like Startup Week, Incubation Cells, Hackathon are regularly carried out, helping the state to reach this height. 

Maharashtra also ranks 2nd on Niti Aayog’s Innovation Index 2020. 

Nasa plans to plunge the ISS into South Pacific Ocean in 2031

NASA has announced that International Space Station (ISS) will cease operations in 2031, and will fall into South Pacific Ocean.

Mission control of ISS will first lower its altitude, before spacecraft begins its descent into South Pacific Oceanic Uninhabited Area (SPOUA) in an area known as Point Nemo.

ISS: modular space station in low Earth orbit and is multinational collaborative project of NASA, Roscosmos, JAXA, ESA, and CSA.

Launched: 1998

Foundation stone laid for new border haat on Bangladesh-India border

Chief Minister of Tripura Biplab Kumar Deb and Bangladesh Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi has laid foundation stone of third border haat at Kamalpur-Kumarghat on Tripura-Bangladesh border. 

It will enhance trade relations and strengthen friendly relationship. 

Apart from this, 8 border haats are proposed to be built on the border between Tripura and Bangladesh out of which 2 are already functional at Kamalasagar in Sepahijala district and Srinagar in South Tripura district. 

Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics three-day torch relay began

Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics torch relay has begun amid diplomatic boycotts and ongoing Covid-19 outbreaks.

Beijing 2022 Organizing Committee had shortened the relay route and the number of torchbearers were also reduced to 1200.

It started at the Beijing Olympic Forest Park and will travel through Great Wall and the Summer Palace, among other locations in Beijing, and concludes at ‘Bird’s Nest’ National Stadium for opening ceremony.

The Games will open on February 4. 

Indian Chamber of Commerce organizes programme on Export Controls

Ministry of External Affairs, in collaboration with Indian Chamber of Commerce has organized an outreach programme on Export Controls focusing on start-ups in various sectors of the economy.

It was aimed at enhancing awareness about regulations for export of sensitive, dual-use goods and technology.

The outreach shared relevance of export control systems in the context of India’s integration with global economy, international non-proliferation framework, etc.

Vedanta ties up with Union Bank to take over syndicated facility

Metal and mining giant Vedanta Ltd has tied up a facility of ₹8,000 crore with Union Bank of India to take over majority of syndicated facility.

Vedanta generally conducts proactive liability management exercise to achieve optimal capital structure.

During 2020, Vedanta Ltd had tied up syndicated facility of ₹10,000 crore with State Bank of India as lead bank at a running cost of 10.5 per cent (Syndicated Facility). 

SBI inks MoU with Ministry of Culture for Atmanirbhar Bharat Centre

SBI has signed MoU with Indira Gandhi Centre for the Arts (IGNCA) and National Culture Fund (NCF) of Ministry of Culture for Development of Atmanirbhar Bharat Centre for Design (ABCD) at Red Fort, in Delhi.

Aim: to highlight, promote and celebrate the products that have the Geographical Indication sign to give a boost to Economic Value Addition to GI products from India.

It will be implemented by IGNCA, through ministry’s NCF fund. 

SBI will sponsor the project under CSR. 

RBI cancelled license of Independence Co-operative Bank Limited

RBI has cancelled the license of Independence Co-operative Bank Limited, Nashik due to inadequate capital and earning prospects. 

Independence Co-operative Bank Limited will not be allowed to carry out any operations and a liquidator will be appointed soon.

Its present financial position is such that it will not be able to pay its depositors in full and public interest would be adversely affected if the bank is allowed to carry on with its business.

IISc commissions India’s most powerful supercomputers ‘Param Pravega’

Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru has installed and commissioned one of the most powerful supercomputers in India, ‘Param Pravega’.

Param Pravega:

It is the largest supercomputer in an Indian academic institution.

Supercomputing capacity of 3.3 petaflops (1 petaflop equals a quadrillion, or 1015 operations per second). 

Designed by Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) under National Supercomputing Mission (NSM).

World Cancer Day 2022: 4th February

World Cancer Day is observed every year on 4th February across the world by the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC).

World Cancer Day 2022 theme: ‘Close the Care Gap’

Aim: to raise awareness and education about cancer and encourage governments and individuals across the world to act against the prevention, detection, and treatment of the disease.

World Cancer day was introduced in 2000.

Aravalli Biodiversity Park in Gurugram designated as India’s 1st OECM site

Aravalli Biodiversity Park situated in Gurugram, Haryana, has been declared as India’s first OECM (Other Effective Area-based Conservation Measures) site on World Wetlands Day (Feb 2, 2022).

The OCEM tag is given by International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) to those areas that are not protected but support rich biodiversity.

The tag designates the area as a biodiversity hotspot on international map.

It is spread across 390 acres and has semi-arid vegetation. 

ISRO to launch Chandrayan-3 in August 2022

Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) will launch its third venture to the Moon through Chandrayaan-3 mission in August 2022.

Chandrayaan-3 mission-related hardware and their tests are successfully completed. 

The year 2022 will also witness launch of major projects of ISRO like Gaganyaan and Aditya solar mission.

Chandrayaan-1: India's first mission to Moon, was launched successfully in 2008 from Sriharikota. 

Chandrayaan-2 was launched in 2019.

Former civil servant Ravi Mittal appointed as Chairperson of IBBI

Former secretary, Department of Sports, Ravi Mittal (1986 batch IAS offier of Bihar cadre) has been appointed as Chairman of Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI).

Tenure: five years or till he attains 65 years of age, whichever is early.

He replaced Navrang Saini, who was serving as chairman of IBBI in additional charge.

IBBI: regulator for overseeing insolvency proceedings and entities.

IBBI's Headquarters: New Delhi. 

Founded: 2016.

India-US launched ‘Operation Broader Sword’

India and the USA, jointly conducted an ‘Operation Broader Sword’ to stop the illegal shipment of drugs through the International Mail System.

It targeted shipments of illicit, potentially dangerous, unapproved prescription drugs, combination medical devices, and synthetic drug precursors shipped through International Mail Facilities.

The operation resulted in the interception of over 500 shipments of illicit and unapproved prescription drugs bound for US consumers.

NLU Delhi launches research affiliate program ‘Eklavya’

The National Law University (NLU), Delhi launched Eklavya, a ‘Research Affiliate’ program, for those who do not have a traditional law degree.

Aim: To emphasize its commitment to actively seek partnerships outside the varsity and draw from their experiences and perspectives to develop quality legal scholarship. 

It is open to those who have at least three years of demonstrable experience working on issues that have a significant interface with the law.

CarTrade Tech to acquire OLX India's auto business for Rs 537 cr

Mumbai-based used cars platform CarTrade Tech Ltd will acquire online marketplace OLX India's auto sales business for Rs 537 crore.

CarTrade will acquire a 100% stake in Sobek Auto India Pvt Ltd, the entity that houses OLX India’s Automotive business, in an all-cash deal.

The acquisition will likely to be completed in 21-30 days.

Sobek is a company incorporated under the Companies Act, of 2013.

It is engaged in the business of running an automotive digital platform.

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.

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.

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.

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. 

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.

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.

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.