Daily Current Affairs and GK | 15 January 2022

Topic: Personality in News

1. Vinisha Umashankar selected as Batonbearer for the ongoing 16^th official Queen’s Baton Relay.

• The Queen’s Baton for the upcoming 2022 Commonwealth games has arrived in India after visiting 72 countries.
• Vinisha Umashankar is selected as a “changemaker” and Batonbearer for the ongoing 16^th official Queen’s Baton Relay.
• The 16^th official Queen’s Baton Relay was started at Buckingham Palace, London on 7^th October 2021. It will conclude at the opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Games on 28^th July 2022.
• Vinisha Umashankar is an environmentalist. She created a mobile ironing cart, which uses solar panels to provide power to steam iron.
• The mobile ironing cart will eliminate the need for coal for ironing.
• She was awarded the Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam IGNITE Awards instituted by National Innovation Foundation (NIF) for her invention.
• The 2022 Commonwealth Games will be organized in venues across Birmingham and the West Midlands from 28 July until 8 August 2022.

Topic: Appointments

2. Ujjivan SFB appointed Ittira Davis as its new MD & CEO.

• Ittira Davis has been appointed as Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (MD & CEO) of Ujjivan Small Finance Bank (SFB).
• The appointment has been approved by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for a one-year term from 14 January 2022.
• Nitin Chugh, the former MD, and CEO of Ujjivan Small Finance Bank had resigned on September 30.
• The bank board's special committee of directors, which was constituted in the absence of a managing director to supervise operations and administration, was dissolved on January 13.
• Ujjivan Small Finance Bank:
  • Ujjivan Small Finance Bank was set up by Ujjivan Financial Services Limited (UFSL).
  • It started banking operations on February 1, 2017.
  • Its headquarters is in Bengaluru.
  • It is a Scheduled Small Finance Bank.

Topic: Personality in news

3. Deon Lendore died in a car accident in Texas.

• Deon Lendore, an Olympic and world 4x400m medallist died at the age of 29.
• Lendore was a three-time Olympian, who helped Trinidad and Tobago to win a bronze medal at the 2012 Olympic Games in London.
• He has also won two bronze medals in the world indoor 400m and another bronze in the 4x400m.

Topic: Defence

4. Philippines approves 374 million dollars deal as part of first Brahmos missile export order.

• The Philippines has approved a $374.96 million deal with India to purchase a shore-based anti-ship variant of the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile system.
• Delfin Lorenzana, the Philippines' Secretary of National Defense, has signed the 'Notice of Award' for the acquisition. The deal for the same will be signed shortly.
• Brahmos:
  • The supersonic cruise missile "BrahMos" is produced by BrahMos Aerospace, a joint venture between India and Russia. 
  • It may be fired from submarines, ships, aeroplanes, or ground platforms.
  • The BrahMos missile travels at 2.8 Mach, or almost three times the speed of sound.
• BrahMos Aerospace Limited (Brahmos Aerospace):
  • It was founded on February 12, 1998.
  • Atul Dinkar Rane, a senior scientist, was recently appointed as the new CEO of BrahMos Aerospace Limited.
  • Its headquarters is located in New Delhi.

Topic: India and its Neighbourhood

5. Sri Lanka received around 900 million USD in financial aid from India.

• India has announced a loan of USD 900 million to help Sri Lanka in restoring its depleted foreign reserves and import food.
• It comprises a currency swap of USD 400 million between India and Sri Lankan central banks.
• Ajith Nivard Cabraal, the governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, said that the island nation was negotiating a USD 1 billion loan from India to import products.
• Due to a lack of dollars to pay for imports, Sri Lanka is now facing scarcity of almost all basic things.
• Sri Lanka:
  • It is an island country in South Asia.
  • Its executive and judicial capital is Colombo, and its legislative capital is Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte.
  • Currency: Sri Lankan rupee
  • Gotabaya Rajapaksa is the current President of Sri Lanka.
  • Mahinda Rajapaksa is the current Prime Minister of Sri Lanka.

Topic: Important Days

6. Indian Army Day: 15 January

• Indian Army Day is celebrated every year on 15 January to remember sacrifice of our soldiers to protect India and its citizens.
• This day is also celebrated to commemorate the moment when on 15 January 1949,  Lt Gen KM Cariappa took over as Indian Army’s first Commander-in-Chief from Francis Bucher.
• Francis Bucher was the last British Commander-in-Chief of India. In 2022, India is celebrating 74^th Army Day.
• Army Day Parade has been conducted at Cariappa Parade Ground.
• A song 'Maati' was released on the occasion of Army Day 2022. Song 'Maati' is sung by singer Hariharan.
• Indian Army will launch light and more climate-friendly combat uniform for its personnel on Army Day 2022.
• The monumental national flag will be put to a grand public display along India - Pakistan Border at Longewala in Jaisalmer to celebrate Army Day. This is the world’s largest national flag made of Khadi fabric.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: Banking System

7. RBI proposes new norms for classification of investment portfolio of banks.

• New norms for the classification of investment portfolio of banks have been proposed by RBI.
• As per proposed norms, banks’ investment portfolios will be divided into three categories.
• These categories are held-to-maturity (HTM), available for sale (AFS), and fair value through profit and loss account (FVTPL).
• Held-for-trading (HFT) shall be a sub-category within fair value through profit and loss account (FVTPL).
• New norms will come into effect from April 1, 2023. RBI has proposed new norms to align the investment portfolio of banks with the global prudential framework and accounting standards.
• The existing instructions on the prudential norms on classification and valuation of investment portfolio are largely based on the Report of Informal Group on Valuation of Banks’ Investment Portfolio.
• The recommendations of the informal group resulted in the issuing of prudential guidelines on the investment portfolio in October 2002. These guidelines form the basis of current norms.

Topic: National News

8. Union Minister Jitendra Singh launched AI-driven startup for water purification.

• Science & Technology Minister, Jitendra Singh, has launched AI-driven startup for water purification through innovative technology.
• It will provide clean drinking water at a cheaper rate. Under this project, solar water purification units will be used for slums, villages and high utility areas.
• With this innovation, the cost of purified water can be brought down to 25 paise per litre.
• This Gurugram based company was founded by ex-IITians. Its main aim is to develop innovative technology for providing clean drinking water at an affordable price.
• This company has also developed Water ATMs for providing clean drinking water solutions. Water ATM will use solar energy to pump water from rivers, wells, ponds or groundwater.
• An MoU has been also signed between Technology Development Board (TDB) and swajal water private limited.

Topic: Corporates/Companies

9. IAMAI establish India EdTech Consortium to uphold code of conduct by edtech platforms.

• The Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) has announced the formation of the India EdTech Consortium to uphold the code of conduct by edtech platforms.
• India’s leading edtech companies like Byju’s, Careers 360, Great Learning, Harappa, Times Edutech & Events Ltd, Scalar, etc have joined this India EdTech Consortium (IEC).
• The IEC will ensure that every learner gets access to quality and affordable education.
• Apart from the common code of conduct, Edtech companies have to establish a two-tier grievance redressal mechanism.
• The consortium said that a framework will be formed to protect the right of learners and companies.
• This framework will cover ethical sales practices, marketing communication, loans and refunds, and grievance redressal mechanism.
• The government is planning for making a common policy for edtech firms.
• Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI):
  • It is a not-for-profit organization to represent the interests of the online and mobile value-added services industry.
  • It was formed in 2004.
  • It is headquartered in Mumbai.
  • Sanjay Gupta is the Chairman of IAMAI.

Topic: Government Schemes and Initiatives

10. Government launched Fisheries Startup Grand Challenge.

• Department of Fisheries in association with Startup India has launched the “Fisheries Startup Grand Challenge”.
• This competition has been launched for startups to showcase their innovative solutions in the fisheries and aquaculture sector.
• The four themes have been identified for submission of problem statements under the Fisheries Start-up Grand Challenge.
• The selected 12 winners of the challenge will get a cash grant of Rs 2.00 Lakh each.
• In the final round, INR 20 lakh (General category) and INR 30 Lakh (SC/ST/Women) will be given to the winner for converting their ideas into an effective pilot project.
• Fisheries is one of the fastest-growing sectors among the primary producing sectors of India.

Topic: National News

11. Prime Minister Modi inaugurated MSME Technology Centre at Puducherry.

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated a Technology Centre of the MSME at Puducherry.
• It is a world-class technology center and it will provide training to 20,000 youths. It will support 2000 MSMEs and incubate 200 Start-Ups.
• It will boost skill development and encourage entrepreneurship among the youth of the region.
• The government is setting technology Centers across the country under the flagship Technology Centre Systems Program.
• It will help existing and prospective MSMEs by providing production facilities, manpower, consultancy, etc.
• MSME stands for Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises. The classification of MSMEs Enterprises are as follows:
  • Micro Enterprises - Investment up to a maximum of 1 crore and annual turnover up to a maximum of 5 crores.
  • Small Enterprises - Investment up to a maximum of 10 crore and annual turnover up to a maximum of 50 crore.
  • Medium Enterprises - Investment up to 50 crores and annual turnover up to 250 crores.

Topic: Sports

12. Tasnim Mir becomes first Indian to clinch world no 1 ranking in Under-19 girls singles.

• Indian shuttler Tasnim Mir has become the first Indian to grab the world no 1 ranking in the under-19 girls singles BWF junior rankings.
• In 2021, she has won four junior championships including Bulgarian Junior Championship, Alpes International, and Belgian Junior.
• She is currently placed at 602^nd position in the Women’s Single world ranking.
• She was part of India’s campaign at the Thomas and Uber Cup held in Denmark in 2021.
• She was the winner of the President Cup Nepal Junior International Series 2020 in Kathmandu.
• Earlier, Lakshya Sen, Siril Verma, and Aditya Joshi had got the world no 1 ranking in Boys singles at junior level.
• The BWF Junior ranking was started in 2011.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: Economy/Banking/Finance

13. United Nations forecasted global economic growth for 2022 and 2023.

• The United Nations has projected that the world economy will grow by 4% in 2022 and 3.5% in 2023.
• The UN said that new waves of COVID-19 infections, labour market challenges, supply chain issues, and inflation are the main challenges for world economies.
• Indian economy will grow at 6.5% in 2022 and by 5.9% in 2023. Coal shortages and high oil prices could put the brakes on economic activity.
• In 2021, the world economy has expanded by 5.5 %, the highest rate of global economic growth in the last four decades.
• Consumer spending, increase in investments, and trade in goods were the main factors of economic recovery in 2021.
• According to the UN report, labour shortage in developed economies has increased the challenge in supply chain management.
• High food and energy prices have increased inflation in Latin American and Caribbean countries. Recovery is very slow in tourism-dependent economies.
• Recently, World Bank has projected that the global economy will grow by 4.1% in 2022 and 3.2% in 2023.