Latest Current Affairs For Monday 28th March, 2022

Ola to acquire neo bank Avail Finance

Ola, an Indian ride-hailing startup, has agreed to acquire neo-banking platform Avail Finance in order to expand its financial services offering.

Key Points:

The financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed by Ola, which owns a 9% share in Avail Finance.

Moneycontrol, on the other hand, claims that the deal is worth $50 million.

Ola intends to use Avail Finance’s product portfolio to enhance its lending operations and further its neo-banking expansion goals.

The acquisition is a critical step in Ola’s bigger drive into the fintech market as it strives to develop a mobility-focused financial services business under Ola Financial.

Ola Financial Services will expand its position in the credit underserved areas that include blue-collar employees, such as Ola’s driver-partner ecosystem, with this purchase.

Kerala: Identification of New Marine Species

A new Carangid species has been identified by the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI) from the Indian coast of Kerala.

Overview:

This newly identified fish belongs to the group named ‘queen fish’.

The scientific name of this fish is Scomberoides pelagicus.

In the local language this fish is called ‘pola vatta’.

In the Indian ocean there are more than sixty species of carangids. Out of them, four belong to the ‘Queen Fish’ group and the newly identified fish is number five.

Across the globe, three queen fishes are extinct due to a lot of reasons like climate change, overfishing, etc.

The newly identified species is found in the coastal region of the country along with Kerala. This fish also fetch a good demand in the local markets.

Description the fish:

It has been confirmed by CMFRI that the newly identified fish is a new species. This has been confirmed after detailed genetic and taxonomic analyses were performed on the fish. The newly identified fish is distinct as it has a deep ovate body, its head profile is concave dorsal shaped, and has stout. It also has fewer numbers of gill rakers on its first gill arch as compared to its other closely related species.

Union Minister inaugurates 10-day ‘Bharat Bhagya Vidhata’ Festival

Union Minister of Women and Child Development, Smriti Irani has inaugurated 10-day mega Red Fort Festival, titled as ‘Bharat Bhagya Vidhata’ at Red Fort in Delhi as part of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav. 

Organized by: Union Ministry of Culture in collaboration with the Dalmia Bharat Group (DBG) to organize the event as DBG has adopted the Red Fort as its Monument Mitra.

The festival will commemorate the heritage, culture and diversity of every part of India.

IIE signs MoU with MoRD to enhance the impact of SVEP

Indian Institute of Entrepreneurship (IIE) under Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) signs MoU with Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) to promote entrepreneurship at a local level amongst the rural youth. 

Under this, Start-up Village Entrepreneurship Programme (SVEP), sub scheme of National Rural Livelihoods Mission to promote employment opportunities in rural India, particularly developing self-employment avenues for unemployed rural people. 

Combined Reciprocal Common Transport Agreements (CRCTA)

Govt of Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh of NCR have signed Combined Reciprocal Common Transport Agreements (CRCTA) that covers both Contract Carriage & Stage Carriage since time period of earlier Agreements of Reciprocal Common Transport Agreement was coming to an end.

One of the policy proposals of the Regional Plan-2021 for NCR is unrestricted movement of buses, taxis, and auto-rickshaws within NCR.

Union Minister inaugurates three-day North-East festival 'Ishan Manthan'

Union Minister for Culture, Tourism & DONER, G Kishan Reddy has inaugurated three-day North-East festival called 'Ishan Manthan' at Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts in New Delhi.

It will be held from 25th to 27th March. 

It will give an opportunity to get acquainted with the culture, art, music, folk dances, handicrafts and traditional cuisines of Northeast India.

North Eastern Region inhabits about 400 communities who speak more than 200 languages. 

Centre designates 5th October as National Dolphin Day

Union Ministry for Environment, Forest and Climate Change has designated 5th October as National Dolphin Day every year, from 2022.

The day will aim to create awareness for conservation of Dolphins.

Dolphins act as ideal ecological indicators of a healthy aquatic ecosystem and conservation of the Dolphins will benefit the survival of the species and people dependent on the aquatic system for their livelihood.

It lives in Ganges and other rivers of South Asia. 

Earth Hour 2022: 26th March

Earth Hour is observed every year across the world on the last Saturday of the March to show support for fight against climate change and commitment towards better planet.

Earth Hour 2022 is being marked on 26th March, 2022. 

Earth Hour 2022 theme will focus on ‘Shape Our Future‘. 

It is a worldwide movement organized by World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), encouraging individuals, communities, corporates, and households to turn off their lights for 1 hour.

Indian Navy’s Western Naval Command conducts Prasthan exercise

Western Naval Command of the Indian Navy organized an offshore security exercise, ‘Prasthan’ in the Offshore Development Area (ODA) off the Mumbai coast.

The exercise is conducted every six months, to ensure offshore security.

Apart from the Naval forces, exercise saw participation from the Indian Air Force, Coast Guard, ONGC, Mumbai Port Trust, Jawahar Lal Nehru Port Trust, Customs, state fisheries department, Mercantile Marine Department and Marine Police.

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.