Weekly Current Affairs PDF - General Knowledge For This Week 1st January - 8th January 2022 - Ixambee Beepedia

Weekly BeePedia
1st January to 8th January 2022
INDEX
Finance and Banking ______________________________________________2
Economy _________________________________________________________
6
National __________________________________________________________
9
International _____________________________________________________
12
States____________________________________________________________14
Reports and Indexes _______________________________________________

15
Agriculture and Rural Development __________________________________

16
Defence __________________________________________________________
16
Events ___________________________________________________________
17
Appointments ____________________________________________________17
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Awards and Rewards ______________________________________________19
Important Days ___________________________________________________21
Obituaries_________________________________________________________
22
Books ___________________________________________________________22
Sports ___________________________________________________________
23
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FINANCE AND BANKING

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RBI extended deadline for Periodic KYC Update till March 31, 2022
 The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has announced that it has extended the deadline for periodic KYC
updates by 3 months till March 31, 2022.
 Extension in view of prevalent uncertainty due to a new variant of COVID-19 – Omicron. Earlier the
deadline for periodic KYC updates was December 31.
Learn Along
RBI Headquarters: Mumbai Governor: Shaktikanta Das
4 Deputy Governors: T. Rabi Sankar,
MK Jain, MD Patra, M Rajeshwar Rao
KYC means “Know Your Customer”. It is a process by which banks obtain information about the identity and
address of the customers. This process helps to ensure that banks' services are not misused. The KYC procedure
is to be completed by the banks while opening accounts and also periodically update the same.
RBI approves Fino Payments Bank for international remittance business
 RBI recently approved Fino Payments Bank for commencing international (Cross Border) remittance
business under the Money Transfer Service Scheme (MTSS).
 The approval will enable the customers of Fino Payments Bank to receive money sent from foreign
countries.
Learn Along
Fino Payments Bank Headquarters: Mumbai MD & CEO: Rishi Gupta
Limited www.i xamBee.c om
RBI Retains SBI, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank as D-SIBs 2022
 RBI has retained State Bank of India, ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank as Domestic Systemically
Important Banks (D-SIBs).
 Domestic Systemically Important Banks are those banks which if fail would have a significant impact on
the economy. The D-SIBs banks are classified into 5 buckets. Bucket 1, Bucket 2, Bucket 3, Bucket 4
and Bucket 5.
 With Bucket 5 being the most important followed by rest in decreasing order. State Bank of India is in
Bucket 3, while ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank are in Bucket 1. The updated list is based on the data
collected from banks as of March 31, 2021.
Learn Along
Domestic systemically important Banks (D-SIBs) refer to banks of such size, market importance and domestic
and global inter-connectedness whose distress or failure would cause a significant dislocation in the domestic
financial system.
Airtel Payments Bank gets scheduled bank status
 Airtel Payments Bank has been categorised as a scheduled bank by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI)
in the second schedule of the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934.
Learn Along
Airtel Payments Bank Headquarters: New Delhi MD & CEO– Anubrata Biswas

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RBI issued framework for offline digital payments
 Reserve Bank of India has issued a framework for facilitating small-value digital payments in offline
mode using cards, wallets, mobile devices, etc, to push digital transactions in rural and semi-urban
areas.
 The upper limit of an offline payment transaction was fixed at Rs 200, with a total limit of Rs 2,000 at any
point in time. The framework will enable the Authorised Payment System Operators (PSOs) and
Payment System Participants (PSPs), Acquirers and Issuers (banks and non-banks) to conduct small
value offline digital payments.
 Under the offline mode, payments can be carried out face-to-face (proximity mode) using any channel or
instrument like cards, wallets, and mobile devices.
 These transactions will not require an additional factor of authentication (AFA), the Reserve Bank of
India said, adding that since the transactions are offline, alerts (by way of SMS and/or e-mail) will be
received by the customer after a time lag.
RBI cancelled authorisation certificates of Muthoot Vehicle Finance, Eko India
 RBI recently cancelled the Certificate of Authorisation (CoA) of two Payment System Operators
(PSOs): Muthoot Vehicle and Asset Finance Limited and Eko India Financial Services Private Limited.
 It cited non-compliance with regulatory requirements under the Payment and Settlement Systems Act,
2007.
RBI lays down eligibility norms for entities tapping credit bureau data
 RBI recently laid down eligibility norms for entities tapping into data from credit information companies
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(CICs), or credit bureaus.

 As per the rules, a company must be owned and controlled by resident Indian citizens to become a
specified user with a credit bureau.
 In order to be eligible as a ‘specified user’ under the Credit Information Companies (Amendment)
Regulations, 2021, an entity must be a company incorporated in India or a statutory corporation
established in India.
 The company shall have at least three years of experience in running the business or activity of
processing information for the support or benefit of credit institutions and shall have a clean track record.
 The company, its promoters or directors should not have at any time in the past been convicted of any
offence involving moral turpitude or any economic offence.
RBI Increases the threshold for deposits of Small Businesses
 The Reserve Bank has increased the threshold for deposits and other funds of non-financial small
businesses by 50 per cent to Rs 7.5 crore for the purpose of maintenance of Liquidity Coverage
Ratio (LCR).
 It has been mades with the aim to better align its regulations with Basel norms and also enable banks to
manage liquidity risks more effectively.
 The existing cap was Rs 5 crore.
Learn Along
The liquidity coverage ratio (LCR) refers to the proportion of highly liquid assets held by financial institutions, to
ensure their ongoing ability to meet short-term obligations.

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SEBI reconstitutes its primary market advisory committee
 Securities and Exchange Board of India has restructured its primary market advisory committee on
data. The committee aims to measure pertaining to areas such as securities market data access and
privacy.
 Sebi has appointed Professor at National Law University, Delhi and former chairperson, Insolvency and
Bankruptcy Board of India S Sahoo as Panel Head. Earlier this panel was headed by Madhabi Puri
Buch, an ex-whole-time member of Sebi.
 The scope of the work of the committee includes identifying segment-wise data perimeters, data needs
and gaps, recommending data privacy and data access regulations applicable to market data. It is
responsible for recommending appropriate policy for access to securities market data.
Learn Along
SEBI Headquarters: Mumbai Chairman: Ajay Tyagi
SEBI’s board meets and takes multiple decisions
 The board of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) met in Mumbai, Maharashtra under
the Chairmanship of Ajay Tyagi.
 SEBI approved a slew of amendments to various regulations, including tightening rules for the
utilisation of IPO proceeds.
 Changes have been cleared for regulations governing foreign portfolio investors, Alternative
Investment Funds (AIFs), mutual funds, settlement proceedings, among others.
 It has also decided to introduce provisions relating to appointment or re-appointment of persons who fail
to get elected as directors, including as Whole Time Directors or Managing Directors or Managers, at
the general meeting of a listed entity.
 Appointment or a re-appointment of any person, including as a Managing Director or a Whole Time
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Director or a Manager, who was earlier rejected by the shareholders at a general meeting, shall be done
only with the prior approval of the shareholders.
 Also, the time period for filing settlement applications by entities will be 60 days from the date of receipt
of the show-cause notice or a supplementary notice, whichever is earlier.
 Amendments have also been approved to regulations governing Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs).
 This will enable Sebi to generate unique registration numbers of FPIs on receiving the basic details of
the applicants seeking FPI registration from either of Sebi-registered depositories.
 According to Sebi, changes will be made to regulations on listing obligations and disclosure
requirements for issuance of securities in dematerialised form in case of investor requests for the issue
of duplicate shares.
 In a move aimed to further safeguard the interest of mutual fund investors, Sebi decided to mandate
trustees of mutual funds to obtain the consent of unitholders when the majority of trustees decide to
wind up a scheme.
 As part of amending the mutual fund regulations, SEBI will make it mandatory for the funds to follow
Indian Accounting Standards (Ind AS) from 2023-24 financial year onwards.
 To enhance the role of KYC Registration Agencies (KRAs), the regulator has decided to make them
responsible to carry out independent validation of the KYC records uploaded onto their system by the
Registered Intermediary (RI).
Learn Along
AIFs (Alternative Investment Fund) are funds established or incorporated in India for the purpose of pooling
in capital from Indian and foreign investors for investing as per a pre-decided policy, while VCFs (Venture
capital fund) are investment funds that manage the money of investors who seek private equity stakes in
start-ups.

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Foreign portfolio investment (FPI) refers to investing in the financial assets of a foreign country, such as stocks
or bonds available on an exchange.
Initial public offering (IPO) refers to the process of offering shares of a private corporation to the public in a new
stock issuance. Public share issuance allows a company to raise capital from public investors. IPO turns a
privately owned company into a Public company.
SBI to acquire 9.95% stake in GIFT-IFSC-based Clearing Corp
 State Bank of India will acquire up to 9.95 per cent stake in India International Clearing Corporation
(IFSC) Ltd subject to a maximum investment of Rs 34.03 crore.
 The Clearing Corporation is a GIFT City (Gandhinagar, Gujarat) based Market Infrastructure Institution
(MII).
 The Corporation is the first international clearing corporation to be set up at Gujarat International
Finance Tec-City (GIFT) International Financial Services Centre (IFSC).
 The Clearing Corporation acts as a central counterparty providing clearing & settlement and risk
management services to India International Exchange (IFSC) Ltd.
Learn Along
SBI Headquarters: Mumbai Chairperson: Dinesh Kumar Khara
IRDAI: LIC, GIC Re and New India systemically important insurers
 Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai) has stated that LIC, GIC Re and
New India continue to be identified as Domestic Systemically Important Insurers (D-SIIs) for 2021-
22.
 D-SIIs refer to insurers of such size, market importance and domestic and global interconnectedness,
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whose distress or failure would cause significant dislocation in the domestic financial system.
Learn Along
IRDAI Headquarters: Hyderabad Chairperson: Subhash Chandra Khuntia
Domestic systemically important insurers (D-SIIs) refer to insurers of such size, market importance and domestic
and global inter-connectedness whose distress or failure would cause a significant dislocation in the domestic
financial system.
HDFC Bank starts online customs duty payment facility for customers
 HDFC Bank has integrated with Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) ICEGATE
platform and it allows customers to pay for their customs duty directly via the bank.
 With this, the bank will offer customers the convenience of directly paying customs duty by selecting
HDFC Bank
Learn Along
HDFC Bank Headquarters: Mumbai CEO: Sashidhar Jagdishan
Company Name Service/Scheme Launched Learn Along

About SBI Card
Tie-up- for card tokenisation to protect the data of the Headquarters: Gurugram
SBI Cards & Paytm cardholders. CEO: Rama Mohan Rao
Amara
Life Insurance Digi Zone- It can be used by the customers to purchase About LIC
Corporation (LIC) policies online, pay the premium and avail of other services. Headquarters: Mumbai
of India Chairman: M R Kumar

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Company Name Service/Scheme Launched Learn Along

Nippon India Nifty Auto ETF- Nippon India Nifty Auto ETF About Nippon India
will predominantly invest in stocks comprising of the Nifty Mutual Fund
Nippon India MF Auto Index in the same proportion as the Index. It will provide Headquarters: Mumbai
exposure to Top 15 CMD: Sundeep Sikka
Unified Presentment Management System- NBBL through
UPMS will enable the customers to set up standing
instructions – from any channel and for any mode on their About NPCI
NPCI Bharat
recurring bill payments. The bills will be automatically fetched Headquarters: Mumbai
BillPay Ltd.
from the billers and presented to customers for their action, in CEO: Dilip Asbe
terms of auto-debit and bill payment management.
ECONOMY
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Egypt becomes fourth new member of New Development Bank
 Egypt has recently been added as the fourth new member of BRICS New Development Bank.
Bangladesh, UAE, and Uruguay joined BRICS New Development Bank in September 2021.
Learn Along
New Development Bank (NDB) was set up with an initial authorised capital of $100 billion by BRICS countries in
2014. It was officially opened in Shanghai in 2015.
Government approves 19th Tranche of Electoral Bonds

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 The government has approved the issuance of the 19th tranche of electoral bonds, which will be open
for sale from January 1 to 10, 2022.
 In the 19th tranche of sale, the State Bank of India (SBI), has been authorised to issue and encash
electoral bonds through its 29 specialised branches.
 There is no limit on the number of bonds an individual or company can purchase. An electoral bond will
be valid for 15 days.
Learn Along
Electoral Bonds may be purchased by a person, who is a citizen of India or incorporated or established in India. A
person being an individual can buy Electoral Bonds, either singly or jointly with other individuals. Only the Political
Parties registered under Section 29A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 (43 of 1951) and which
secured not less than one per cent of the votes polled in the last General Election to the House of the People or the
Legislative Assembly of the State, shall be eligible to receive the Electoral Bonds. The Electoral Bonds shall be
encashed by an eligible Political Party only through a Bank account with the Authorized Bank.
GST Collection Stands at Rs 1.29 Lakh Crore in December 2021
 GST revenue collected in December 2021 was over Rs 1.29 lakh crore, 13 per cent higher than the
same month in 2020.
Learn Along
Goods and Services Tax (GST) is an indirect tax (or consumption tax) levied on the supply of goods and services.
It is a comprehensive, multistage, destination-based tax: comprehensive because it has subsumed almost all the
indirect taxes except a few state taxes.

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Tech Mahindra to acquire 100 percent stake in Allyis India, Green Investments
 Tech Mahindra has approved a proposal for the acquisition of a 100 per cent stake in Allyis India and
Green Investments, for a total consideration of up to USD 125 million.
 The acquisition will bolster Tech Mahindra’s capabilities in Digital Experience Solutions, Learning &
Development, Marketing, Instructional Design; Engineering: Cloud & Automation, BI & Analytics,
Technical support services.
 Tech Mahindra will pay total consideration of up to $125 million, including employment-related and
performance-related earnouts, as per a regulatory update filed with the exchanges.
Learn Along
Tech Mahindra Headquarters: Pune CEO: C. P. Gurnani
Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology launched “India Semiconductor Mission”
 Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has launched the India Semiconductor Mission
(ISM) to attract large investments for setting up semiconductor wafer fabrication facilities in India.
 The companies that are interested are invited by the Centre for the development of the semiconductors
and display manufacturing ecosystem in India.
 ISM is a specialised and independent business division within the Digital India Corporation.
NTPC plans to buy 5% equity in Power Exchange of India Ltd
 NTPC Ltd. will acquire a 5 per cent equity stake in Power Exchange of India Ltd (PXIL).
Learn Along
NTPC Headquarters: New Delhi CMD: Gurdeep Singh
Government keeps interest rates on Small Savings Schemes unchanged

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 The interest rates on the small savings schemes will remain the same for the fourth quarter of 2021-
2022 (January – February – March 2022) as they were in the third quarter of 2021-22 (October-
December 2021).
 West Bengal is the highest contributor to the small saving schemes while Uttar Pradesh is the second
top contributor. Also remember, the government notifies the Interest rates for small savings schemes on
a quarterly basis.
o Post Office Savings Account 4%
o 5-Year Post Office Recurring Deposit (RD) Account- 5.8%
o Post Office Time Deposit (TD) Account – One Year- 5.5%
o Post Office Time Deposit Account (TD) – Two Years- 5.5%
o Post Office Time Deposit Account (TD) – Three Years- 5.5%
o Post Office Time Deposit Account (TD) – Five Years- 6.7%
o Post Office Monthly Income Scheme Account (MIS)- 6.6%
o Senior Citizen Savings Scheme (SCSS)- 7.4%
o 15-Year Public Provident Fund Account (PPF)- 7.1%
o National Savings Certificates (NSC)- 6.8%
o Kisan Vikas Patra (KVP)- 6.9%
o Sukanya Samriddhi Account- 7.6%
Apple becomes world’s first company to hit $3 trillion M-Cap
 The market capitalisation of Apple Inc. recently touched $3 trillion and became the world’s first
company to do so.
Learn Along
Apple Headquarters: California, USA CEO: Tim Cook

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Google acquires Israeli cybersecurity startup Siemplify for $500 million
 Google has acquired Israeli cybersecurity startup Siemplify, in a deal worth $500 million.
 Siemplify specializes in end-to-end security services for enterprises, typically referred to as security
orchestration, automation and response (SOAR) services.
Reliance Retail invests $200 mn in Dunzo to acquire 25.8% stake
 Reliance Retail has invested $200 million or around Rs 1,488 crore in Bengaluru-based quick
commerce player Dunzo for a 25.8 per cent stake.
 The funding will be used to strengthen Dunzo’s vision to excel in the quick commerce business, enabling
instant delivery of essentials from a network of micro warehouses while also expanding its B2B business
vertical to enable logistics for local merchants in Indian cities.
Learn Along
Reliance Retail Headquarters: Mumbai Founder: Mukesh Ambani
Central Government Scheme UJALA scheme completed 7 years
 The flagship UJALA programme of the Ministry of Power has successfully completed seven years of
distributing and selling LED lights on January 05, 2022.
 Unnat Jyoti by Affordable LEDs for All (UJALA) scheme was launched by Prime Minister of India
Shri Narendra Modi on January 05, 2015.
 UJALA initiative is the world’s largest zero-subsidy domestic lighting programme with more than 36.78
crore LEDs distributed across the country.
CVC expands ambit of advisory board on large scale bank frauds

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 The Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) has expanded the ambit of an advisory board that conducts
first level examination of large bank frauds to now cover all fraud cases involving amount of Rs 3 crore
and above and examine the role of all levels of officials.
 At present, the Advisory Board for Banking and Financial Frauds (ABBFF) conducts initial
examination in all large fraud cases (of above Rs 50 crore) before recommendations or references are
made to investigative agencies such as Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) by the respective public
sector banks (PSBs) and financial institutions.
 Officials of the level of general managers and above, whole-time directors, including former officials or
former whole-time directors are under the ambit of the board.
Learn Along
Central Vigilance Commission is an apex Indian governmental body created in 1964 to address governmental
corruption. In 2003, the Parliament enacted a law conferring statutory status on the CVC.
Unemployment rate hits 4-month high in December
 India’s unemployment rate rose to a four-month high of 7.91% in December, according to the Centre for
Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE).
 As per the CMIE data, both urban and rural areas contributed to the spike in the rate of joblessness
during December.
 The all-India unemployment rate was higher in August at 8.32% but the joblessness rate in the following
three months was lower – at 6.86% in September, 7.75% in October and 7% in November.
Cabinet approves Rs 12,031-crore green power transmission scheme
 The cabinet committee on economic affairs (CCEA) recently approved the second phase of the
green energy corridor scheme.

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 About 10,750 circuit kilometres (ckm) of transmission lines and around 27,500 mega volt-amperes
(MVA) of sub-station capacity will be installed to facilitate electricity evacuation of around 20 giga-watt
(GW) of renewable energy projects in Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Rajasthan, Tamil
Nadu and Uttar Pradesh in this phase.
 The estimated cost of the scheme is Rs 12,031 crore, and 33% of the project cost — around Rs 3,970.3
crore — will be met as central financial assistance.
Govt estimates India’s GDP growth rate at 9.2% in FY22
 India's economy is expected to grow 9.2% in the current financial year, aided by the base effect of 7.3%
contraction last year, according to the first advance estimates by the National Statistical Office (NSO).
NATIONAL
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Dharmendra Pradhan launches 100-day reading campaign 'Padhe Bharat'
 Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan launched a 100-day reading campaign 'Padhe
Bharat'.
 The launch of the 100 Days Reading Campaign is in alignment with the National Education Policy (NEP)
2020 which lays emphasis on the promotion of joyful reading culture for children by ensuring the
availability of age-appropriate reading books for children in local/mother tongue/regional/tribal language.
 Padhe Bharat campaign will focus on children studying in Balvatika to Grade 8.
 The reading campaign will be organized for 100 days (14 weeks) starting from January 1, 2022, to April
10, 2022.
 The reading campaign aims to have the participation of all stakeholders at the national and state level
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including children, teachers, parents, community, educational administrators etc.
PM Modi lays foundation stone of Major Dhyan Chand Sports University in Meerut
 Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone of Major Dhyan Chand Sports University
in Uttar Pradesh's Meerut.
 The university is established at Salawa and Kaili villages of Sardhana town in Meerut at an estimated
cost of about ₹700 Crore.
 The Sports University will be equipped with modern and state-of-the-art sports infrastructure including
synthetic Hockey ground, Football ground, Basketball, Volleyball, Handball, Kabaddi ground, Lawn
tennis court, Gymnasium hall, Synthetic running stadium, Swimming pool, Multipurpose hall, and a
Cycling Velodrome.
 It will also house facilities for Shooting, Squash, Gymnastics, Weightlifting, Archery, Canoeing, and
Kayaking, among other facilities with the capacity of training 1080 sportspersons including 540 female
and 540 male sportspersons.
Indian Army sets up quantum computing lab, AI centre at MCTE to enable research
 The Indian Army, with support from the National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS), has set up a
quantum computing laboratory and a centre for artificial intelligence (AI) at the Military College of
Telecommunication Engineering (MCTE), Mhow in Madhya Pradesh for research in the
aforementioned fields.
 The two centres will carry out extensive research in developing transformative technologies for use by
the armed forces.

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 Indian Army has also established an Artificial Intelligence (AI) centre at the same institution with over
140 deployments in forward areas and active support of industry and academia.
 Training on cyber warfare is being imparted through a state-of-the-art cyber range and cyber security
labs at this facility.
PM inaugurates Bina (MP)-Panki (UP) Multiproduct pipeline project
 The Multiproduct pipeline from Bina Refinery (MP) to POL Terminal at Panki, Kanpur (UP) was
dedicated to the nation by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
 356 Km long project has a capacity of around 3.45 million metric tonne per annum.
 This Project also includes augmentation of Tankage capacity and construction of Rail Loading Gantry at
Panki POL Terminal.
 Total cost of the project is Rs.1524 crore (Rs. 1227 crore in UP and Rs. 297 crore in MP).
 Project will cover 5 districts of UP: Lalitpur, Jhansi, Jalaun, Kanpur Dehat and Kanpur Nagar, and 2 of
MP: Sagar and Tikamgarh.
 It will provide for safe and efficient evacuation of products from Bina Refinery and also improve
availability of products in Eastern U.P, Central U.P., Northern Bihar and Southern Uttarakhand.
 The project includes laying of 18 inch dia, 356 km long multi-product pipeline (283 km in UP and 73 km
in MP) with design capacity of 3.5 MMTPA from Bina Dispatch Terminal at Bina (MP) to POL Terminal at
Panki, Kanpur (UP) for transporting MS, HSD & SKO and also includes following facilities;
o Construction of Pipeline Dispatch Terminal at Bina

o Pipeline Receipt Terminal at Panki (Kanpur) with augmentation of tankage capacity from 30400 KL
to 167200 KL
o Rail Loading Gantry www.i xamBee.c om
o 11 nos. SV stations and 1 no. Intermediate Pigging station along pipeline route.
National Education Alliance for Technology (NEAT) 3.0 launched
 Union Minister for Education and Skill Development Dharmendra Pradhan launched National
Education Alliance for Technology (NEAT) 3.0, a single platform to provide the best-developed ed-tech
solutions and courses to students of the country.
 National Education Alliance for Technology (NEAT) will bridge the digital divide, especially among the
economically disadvantaged students and also in fulfilling the knowledge-based requirement of India
and the world.
 58 global and Indian startup ed-tech companies are onboard NEAT and are offering 100 courses and e-
resources for bettering learning outcomes, developing employable skills and overcoming learning loss.
Learn Along
About NEAT: National Educational Alliance for Technology (NEAT) is an initiative to provide the use of best-
developed technological solutions in the education sector to enhance the employability of the youth on a single
platform for learners’ convenience. These solutions use Artificial Intelligence (AI) for a personalised and customised
learning experience for better learning outcomes and skill development in the niche areas. AICTE is acting as the
facilitator in the process while ensuring that the solutions are freely available to a large number of socially and
economically backward students.
Hyderabad gets India’s first Open Rock Museum
 Union Minister of State for Science & Technology and Earth Sciences, Jitendra Singh, inaugurated
India’s first Open Rock Museum, in Hyderabad.

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 The museum displays around 35 different varieties of rocks from different parts of India with ages
ranging from 3.3 billion years to around 55 million years. These rocks also represent the deepest part of
the Earth, up to 175 km of distance from the surface of the earth.
Automatic Generation Control dedicated to the nation
 Power and new and renewable energy minister Raj Kumar Singh dedicated Automatic Generation
Control (AGC) to the nation.
 This is expected to facilitate achieving the government’s ambitious target of 500 GW non-fossil fuel-
based generation capacity by 2030.
 Through AGC, POSOCO sends signals to power plants every 4 seconds to maintain frequency and
reliability of the Power System. All possible measures are taken to ensure that the grid frequency always
remains within the 49.90-50.05 Hz (hertz) band.
 The AGC is being operated by Power System Operation Corporation (POSOCO) through National
Load Despatch Centre. POSOCO oversees the country’s critical electricity load management functions
through the National Load Dispatch Centre (NLDC) and a set of regional load dispatch centres (RLDCs)
and state load despatch centres (SLDCs). India has 33 SLDCs, five RLDCs—for the five regional grids
that form the national grid—and one NLDC.
Ayush Minister lays foundation stone for Heartfulness International Yoga academy
 The Union Ayush Minster Sarbananda Sonowal laid the foundation stone for the Heartfulness
International Yoga academy at Hyderabad.
 The Academy endeavors to reach all levels of the society in creating programs that are accessible to
one and all with training for Health Volunteers, Asha, Angavadi, school-teachers and students as part of
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life-skill development. The Academy also offers Ayurvedic consultation, massage and therapeutic
treatments along with dormitory to Deluxe Suite facilities.
Akshaya Patra Foundation And UN World Food Programme To Collaborate
 The Akshaya Patra Foundation (TAPF) and the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) in
India will partner on enhancing the effectiveness of the Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman (PM
POSHAN) scheme (earlier Mid-Day Meal Scheme).
 Considering their collective experience and expertise in the fight against hunger and malnutrition, this
longer-term partnership aims to bridge operational and execution gaps in food safety and hygiene
projects, capacities of the cooks-cum-helpers, as well as the nutritional quality of the meals provided.
 From knowledge sharing between the two organizations to jointly conducting workshops to showcase
the implementation of PM-POSHAN in India, the proposed areas of partnership are likely to include
dialogues with the Government to bring forth more policy and strategy-related elements that will
enhance the quality of the school meal programme.
 The WFP and Akshaya Patra will form a Steering Committee comprising representatives from both
organisations, which will meet quarterly to plan, discuss and review various aspects of this collaboration.
Both organisations will bring in financial resources as required to support the implementation of the
activities.
Govt hikes poll expenditure limit for candidates contesting Lok Sabha, assembly polls
 As per a decision taken by the law ministry on the recommendation of the Election Commission, the
maximum poll expenditure limit for candidates has been hiked to Rs 95 lakh from Rs 70 lakh for Lok
Sabha elections and to Rs 40 lakh from Rs 28 lakh for assembly elections.

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 The new expenditure limits for assembly polls are revised in view of the rise in cost inflation index and
the size of the electorate between the last major revision in 2014 and 2021.
 While the Lok Sabha poll expenditure limit for bigger states, as per last revision done in 2014, has been
raised by 35 per cent to Rs 95 lakh, in the smaller states, where the limit was Rs 54 lakh, it stands
revised 38 per cent upwards to Rs 75 lakh.
 For assembly elections, the revised poll expenditure limit for candidates will now be Rs 40 lakh for the
big states, up 42 per cent from Rs 28 lakh, while candidates in smaller states can now spend a
maximum of Rs 28 lakh, 40 per cent higher than the previous limit of Rs 20 lakh.
 The EC had set up a committee in 2020 to review the expenditure limits in view of the 12.23 per cent
rise in cost inflation index from 240 in 2014-15 to 317 in 2021-22 and 32 per cent increase in the number
of electors from 834 million in 2014 to 936 million in 2021.
Telangana tops in highest number of ODF villages
 Telangana tops other states in the country in having the highest number of villages as ODF plus
under the Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin) phase II programme. Of 12,769 villages, 8,035 villages
are aspiring villages with clean and good sanitation practices having green surroundings, enabling
people to lead a quality life while piped and safe drinking water is supplied to all houses.
 Tamil Nadu came in second with 4,432 villages (35.39 per cent), and Karnataka came in third with
1,511 villages (5.59 %).
 Panchayat raj and rural development department said 56% of Telangana’s villages were ODF plus
aspiring villages, Tamil Nadu has 29% and Puducherry has 17% of ODF plus aspiring villages.
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World's Longest Metro Line Opens In Shanghai, China
 China's city Shanghai is going to extend a new driverless and longest metro line.
 With the latest inclusion of metro lines, the total length of Shanghai's metro network will extend to 831
km, continuing to be the longest in the world.
 The city will also get two fully driverless metro lines, taking the total number of such automatic lines to
five in the city. The fully automatic lines will contribute 167 km to the total length of the metro network
established in the city.
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About China Capital: Beijing Currency: Renminbi
Ex-UK PM Tony Blair joins top royal order
 Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, the Duchess of Cornwall, and Baroness Amos are to be
appointed as members of the Order of the Garter, England's oldest and most senior order of chivalry.
 The appointments are the personal choice of the Queen, who has up to 24 knight and lady companions.
 Baroness Amos, a former Labour cabinet minister, becomes the first black member of the order.
 The ceremonial order, founded in 1348, is a recognition of significant public service.
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About UK Capital: London Currency: British Pound

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France takes over European Union presidency
 France takes over the rotating presidency of the European Union.

 The EU's presidency rotates every six months among the member states of the 27-nation bloc.
 The Czech Republic will have its turn once the French EU presidency concludes on June 1.
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About France Capital: Paris Currency: Euro
Russia test-fires new hypersonic Tsirkon missiles
 Russia test-fired around 10 new Tsirkon (Zircon) hypersonic cruise missiles from a frigate and two
more from a submarine.
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About Russia Capital: Moscow Currency: Russian ruble
IHU Variant of Covid-19 Detected in France
 A new coronavirus variant called 'IHU' has emerged in France.

 The B.1.640.2 variant was discovered at the institute IHU Mediterranee Infection, France.
 The new variant has been associated with the African country Cameroon.
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About France Capital: Paris Currency: Euro
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Sudan’s PM announces resignation
 Sudan’s Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok has resigned amid political deadlock and widespread
protests following a military coup that derailed the country’s transition to democracy.
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About Sudan Capital: Khartoum Currency: Sudanese pound
Antigua and Barbuda joins International Solar Alliance as 102nd member
 Antigua and Barbuda became the 102nd member of the International Solar Alliance (ISA) by
signing the ISA Framework Agreement.
 The alliance was set up jointly by India and France on the sidelines of COP21 Climate Conference in
Paris in 2015.
 The ISA is conceived as a coalition of solar resource rich countries to address their special energy
needs and provide a platform for collaboration to address the identified gaps through a common and
agreed approach. ISA aims to contribute to the implementation of the Paris Climate Agreement through
rapid and massive deployment of solar energy.
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ISA Headquarters: Gurugram, Haryana Director General: Ajay Mathur

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STATES
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Odisha CM launches Digital Life Certificate mechanism for pensioners
 Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik virtually launched an online service for verification of
identity and submission of life certificates for the pensioners of the state government.
 In this new system, identification and life certificates can now be submitted by the pensioners using an
artificial intelligence based video-verification process.
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About Odisha
Capital: Bhubaneswar CM: Naveen Patnaik Governor: Ganeshi Lal
Odisha’s Ganjam district is free of child marriages
 Odisha’s Ganjam district was declared child marriage-free in January 2022.

 Ganjam is the first district in the state that has been declared child marriage-free.
 The district administration launched Nirbhaya Kadhi, an innovative awareness campaign for the
empowerment of adolescents and to prevent child marriage, in September 2019. Anganwadi workers
and accredited social health activists (ASHA) organised meetings of adolescent girls at the village level
every month to educate them about the ill impact of child marriage. The district administration increased
the reward for people informing about the occurrence of child marriage to Rs 50,000 from Rs 5,000.
UP's Jhansi Railway Station Renamed As 'Veerangana Laxmibai Railway Station'

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 The Uttar Pradesh government has renamed Jhansi Railway Station as 'Veerangana Laxmibai
Railway Station' after Rani Laxmibai.
 A notification to this effect has been issued by the UP government and the Railways has started
preparations to implement the change.
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About UP
Capital: Lucknow CM: Yogi Adityanath Governor: Anandiben Patel
First electric boat built for Kochi Water Metro Project handed over to KMRL
 In Kerala, the first battery powered electric boat built for the Kochi Water Metro Project was handed
over to the Kochi Metro Rail Limited at a function held at the Cochin Shipyard.
 The fully air-conditioned boat is among the 23 boats being built by the Cochin Shipyard for the 747-
crore rupee Kochi Water Metro project.
 The boat has been christened Muziris after the prominent BC-era port, located about 25 kilometres
away from Kochi city. The 50 seater boat can carry 100 passengers at a time.
 Kochi Water Metro system will have 78 ferries, linking 38 terminals spread over 76 route kilometres.
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About Kerala
Capital: Thiruvananthapuram CM: Pinarayi Vijayan Governor: Arif Mohammad Khan

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Jawaharlal Nehru Road renamed as 'Narendra Modi Marg' in Sikkim
 A second road linking Tsomgo lake and Nathula border pass with Gangtok -- christened as 'Narendra
Modi Marg' -- was officially inaugurated by Governor Ganga Prasad. The older route is called
Jawaharlal Nehru Road.
 The alternative double-lane road at 51 Kyongasala gram panchayat unit (GPU) -- spanning 19.51 km --
has been operational for almost a year.
 The stretch, constructed by Border Roads Organisation, has reduced the distance between Gangtok
and Tsomgo lake by 15 km.
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About Sikkim
Capital: Gangtok CM: Prem Singh Tamang Governor: Ganga Prasad
Himachal becomes country’s first LPG connected and smoke-free state
 Himachal Pradesh has become the first LPG enabled and smoke free state in the country due to
Ujjwala scheme of the Central Government and Grihini Suvidha Yojana of the State Government.
 The Center had started the Ujjwala scheme to rid women of serious diseases caused by smoke while
lighting a wood stove. The state government also started Grihini Suvidha Yojana to benefit more and
more women.
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About Himachal Pradesh
Capital: Shimla CM: Jai Ram Thakur Governor: Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar
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REPORTS AND INDEXES

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Atal Ranking of Institutions on Innovation Achievements (ARIIA) 2021
 The third edition of the Atal Ranking of Institutions on Innovation Achievements (ARIIA) 2021 was
released.
 The ARIIA rankings is an initiative of the Union education ministry to promote innovation, assess
technical universities and colleges on parameters ranging from support for entrepreneurship
development to innovative learning methods, intellectual property generation, technology transfer, and
commercialisation among other aspects.
Top Ranked Institutes:
o The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras bagged the top position among the centrally
funded technical institutes in the Centre’s ranking. IIT Madras was recognised as the most
innovative technical institute for the third consecutive year. IIT-Madras is followed by IIT Bombay,
IIT Delhi, IIT Kanpur and IIT Roorkee. The Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru bagged
the sixth position in the category.
o In the state and deemed to be universities category, Panjab University (Chandigarh) topped
the ranking followed by Delhi Technological University and Netaji Subhas University of
Technology (Delhi).

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o In the government engineering colleges category, the College of Engineering in Pune stood
first, followed by PSG College of Technology in Tamil Nadu and LD College of Engineering in
Gujarat.
o Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology Khordha (Odisha) topped the private university
category.
o G H Raisoni College of Engineering in Maharashtra was recognised as the most innovative
private college.
o For the first time, the Centre introduced a “non-technical institutions’’ category in the ARIIA
rankings to strengthen the innovation and entrepreneurial ecosystem in higher education
institutions. Indira Gandhi National Open University (Delhi) topped the category among centrally
funded institutions followed by the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Kozhikode.
AGRICULTURE AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT

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Darjeeling tea output sinks to record low in 2021
 Production of Darjeeling tea, one of the most popular tea varieties globally, has shrunk to 6.5 million kg
in 2021, the lowest on record and just half of the 13 million kg produced two decades ago.
 Climate change, closure of gardens, high level of absenteeism among tea workers, losing export
markets due to agitation in the hills in 2017 and little effort to promote the Darjeeling tea in the domestic
market have led to the fall.
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Exercise Milan 2022
 India has invited a total of 46 friendly foreign countries to participate in the multinational naval
Exercise Milan in Visakhapatnam, scheduled from February 25.
 The theme of this edition of exercise Milan is camaraderie, cohesion and collaboration.
 The countries that have been extended invitations for participation include Russia, the United States, the
United Kingdom, Australia, Israel, Iran, France, Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, Bangladesh, Brazil,
United Arab Emirates, among others.
 The Harbour Phase of Milan 2022, which would allow participating navies to discuss maritime subjects
of common concern and share solutions, from February 25 till February 28. The professional
competitions and conferences planned during this phase shall build the operational tempo for the Sea
Phase planned from March 1-4. This Phase would be utilised to consolidate upon the lessons learnt
during harbour interactions and to build upon the experience of operating together at sea.
India and five other nations begin anti-submarine exercise with US
 India is among the six Indo-Pacific nations participating in a multi-lateral anti-submarine warfare
exercise Sea Dragon 22 in the Pacific Ocean.
 The exercise began on January 5 along with the navies of India, US, Australia, Canada, Japan and
South Korea.
 Sea Dragon 22 is primarily centering on anti-submarine warfare training and excellence, culminates in
over 270 hours of in-flight training, ranging from tracking simulated targets to the final problem of
tracking a live US Navy submarine. Each event will be graded and the nation scoring the highest total
points will receive the coveted Dragon Belt award.

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EVENTS
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46th GST Council Meet
 Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman chaired the 46th meeting of the Central Goods and
Services Tax (GST) Council, in New Delhi.
 This convention attains special significance as it comes days ahead of Finance Minister presenting the
Union Budget 2022-23 on February 1.
 The 2022-23 Union Budget of India will be presented by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on
February 1, 2022.
Student Start-up and Innovation Policy (SSIP 2.0)
 Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel inaugurated a two-day international conference of

academic institutions as a precursor to the 10th Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit, scheduled to take
place between January 10 and 12.
 During the inaugural ceremony, he launched the second edition of the Student Start-up and
Innovation Policy (SSIP 2.0). The five-year tenure of the SSIP-1 will end on January 10. Hence, SSIP
2.0 was unveiled and will remain in force till March 2027.
 The new policy aims to establish an innovation and incubation centre in each of the 90-odd universities
in Gujarat. Other objectives of the policy include providing financial assistance to school and college
students to build prototypes and proof-of-consents, financial assistance for filing at least 1,000
Intellectual Properties (IPs) and building a pre-incubation support system in 500 institutions and
universities. www.i xamBee.c om
 Australia, Canada, Norway, the UK and France have joined as partner countries for this conference,
while the British Council, Australia India Business Exchange and Institute of International Education are
among the key institutions which have joined as international participants.
Startup India Innovation Week
 The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) and the Ministry of
Commerce and Industry have decided to organise a week-long virtual innovation celebration called
‘Startup India Innovation Week’ to showcase the spread and depth of entrepreneurship across India.
 The virtual event will be organised from January 10 to January 16, 2022.
 The event also aims to commemorate the 75th year of India’s independence ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’.
 ‘Startup India Innovation Week’ will have sessions ranging from topics such as enhancing market
access opportunities, discussions with industry leaders, best practices by states, capacity building of
enablers, reverse pitching by incubators, technology exhibitions, corporate connect and more.
APPOINTMENTS
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Organization Learn
News
Name Along
Sashastra ITBP director general Sanjay Arora will hold the additional charge of Headquarters:
Seema Bal another border guarding force SSB as the latter’s chief Kumar Rajesh New Delhi
Chandra is set to retire on December 31.

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Organization Learn
News
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Indian Govt. Senior diplomat Anupam Ray has been appointed as India’s next ---
permanent representative to the UN Conference on Disarmament in
Geneva. Ray, a 1994-batch Indian Foreign Service officer, is currently serving
as a joint secretary in the MEA’s headquarters in Delhi. Ray will succeed
Pankaj Sharma.
EaseMyTrip EaseMyTrip has announced the appointment of ace actors Vijay Raaz and Headquarters:
Varun Sharma as brand ambassadors. This is the first time that EaseMyTrip India
has appointed any brand ambassadors.
Equitas Small Equitas Small Finance Bank Limited board of directors has approved the Headquarters:
Finance Bank proposal for re-appointment of Vasudevan Pathangi Narasimhan (PN) as Chennai
Limited the MD & CEO for three years, with effect from July 23, 2022, up to July 22,
2025, subject to the RBI and shareholders' approval.
Railway Board The Ministry of Railways appointed Vinay Kumar Tripathi as new chairman- Headquarters:
cum-CEO of Railway Board with immediate effect after obtaining approval New Delhi
from the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC).
Jammu & Baldev Prakash has taken charge as the Managing Director & CEO of Headquarters:
Kashmir Bank Jammu & Kashmir Bank from December 30, 2021. Srinagar
R K Chhibber was the Chairman and Managing Director of J&K Bank, who
assumed charge of the bank in June 2019. Chhibber has been appointed as
an additional director on the board of the bank.
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Headquarters:
Indian Coast VS Pathania took charge as the Director-General of the Indian Coast Ministry of
Guard Guard (ICG). VS Pathania replaced K Natarajan, who served as the Chief of Defence, New
the ICG from July 1, 2019 to December 31, 2021. Delhi
Vistara Vinod Kannan took over as the chief executive officer (CEO) of Vistara Headquarters:
airline. Kannan replaced Leslie Thng. Gurugram
Tesla Tesla founder and CEO Elon Musk disclosed that Indian-origin Ashok Headquarters:
Elluswamy was the first employee to be hired for his electric vehicle Texas, United
company's Autopilot team. Ashok is the head of Autopilot engineering. States
Oil and Natural Alka Mittal, company director of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), Headquarters:
Gas Corporation human resources, has taken over additional charge as its chairperson and New Delhi
managing director. Mittal, who is the senior-most director on the company’s
board, becomes the first woman to head ONGC.
Reserve Bank of Deepak Kumar and Ajay Kumar Choudhary have been promoted as Headquarters:
India executive directors of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). Mumbai
As executive director, Kumar will look after the Foreign Exchange
Department, Department of Communication and Deposit Insurance and
Credit Guarantee Corporation, which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the RBI.
Choudhary will look after the Fintech Department, Risk Monitoring
Department and Inspection Department.

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News
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National Mission
for Clean Ganga G Asok Kumar, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Jal Shakti took over as the ---
new Director General for the National Mission for Clean Ganga, Ministry of
Jal Shakti.
UN Counter- TS Tirumurti, India's permanent representative to the United Nations was ---
Terrorism named the new Chair of the UN Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC).
Committee
Shanghai China's senior diplomat Zhang Ming has taken charge as the new Headquarters:
Cooperation Secretary-General of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in Beijing, China
Organisation which India is a member. Zhang has taken charge from Vladimir Norov,
former Foreign Minister of Uzbekistan from January 1 for a three-year term.
Bank of Baroda State-owned Bank of Baroda has signed cricketer Shafali Verma as its Headquarters:
brand endorser. Vadodara
Commission for The Centre has re-appointed Vijay Paul Sharma as chairman of the Headquarters:
Agricultural Commission for Agricultural Costs & Prices (CACP). New Delhi
Costs & Prices
US-India
Business Indian-origin US diplomat Atul Keshap, who was recently Charge D'Affaires ---
Council at the US Embassy in India, has been appointed the new President of the
US-India Business Council (USIBC). www.i xamBee.c om
Organization of Headquarters:
the Petroleum OPEC appointed Kuwaiti oil executive Haitham Al Ghais as its new Vienna,
Exporting secretary general. Austria
Countries
AWARDS AND REWARDS

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Mumbai Press Club's RedInk Award
 Photojournalist Danish Siddiqui, who died during an assignment in Afghanistan, has been
posthumously awarded as the Journalist of the Year for 2020 by the Mumbai Press Club.
 Chief Justice of India N V Ramana presented the annual 'RedInk Awards for Excellence in Journalism',
instituted by the Mumbai Press Club, in a virtual event.
 He presented the prestigious award to Photojournalist Danish Siddiqui, who died during an
assignment in Afghanistan, for his spectrum of investigative and impactful news photography.
 Senior journalist Prem Shankar Jha, 83, was bestowed with the lifetime achievement award "for his
long and distinguished career of incisive and analytical writing".
 Apart from Siddiqui and Jha, variour other journalists were awarded in 12 categories as part of the 10th
edition of the award event.
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About the Award: The Red Ink Awards, also known as the Red Ink Awards for Excellence in Indian Journalism,
are a set of annual awards given by the Mumbai Press Club in India to recognize excellence in journalistic
achievements as assessed by a special jury. Instituted in 2010, the award grants national recognition to journalists
by a professional body.

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Sahitya Akademi Bal Sahitya Puraskar and Yuva Puraskar 2021
 The Sahitya Akademi announced a list of 22 winners of the Yuva Puraskar and the Bal Sahitya
Puraskar for 2021.
 The Sahitya Akademi Yuva Puraskar 2021 was given to nine books of poetry, five novels, six short
stories and one essay each, and a play.
 Winners of Sahitya Akademi Yuva Puraskar 2021: The Sahitya Akademi Yuva Puraskar 2021 were
awarded for 22 Indian languages. The winners are Abhijit Bora (Assamese), Gourob Chakraborty
(Bengali), Gautom Daimary (Bodo), Arun Akash Dev (Dogri), Megha Majumdar (English) Drashti Soni
(Gujarati), Himanshu Vajpai (Hindi), L.Lakshmi Narayan Swamy (Kannada), Razi Tahir Bhagat
(Kashmiri), Sharddha Garad (Konkani), Amit Mishra (Maithili), Mobin Mohan (Malayalam), Lenin
Khmancha (Manipuri), Pranav Sakhadeo (Marathi), Mahesh Dahal (Nepali), Debabrata Das (Odia),
Veerdavinder Singh (Punjabi), Swetapadma Satapathy (Sanskrit), Kuna Hansdah (Santali), Rakesh
Shewani (Sindhi), Thagulla Gopal (Telugu), and Umar Farhat (Urdu).
 Winners of Bal Sahitya Puraskar 2021: The Bal Sahitya Puraskar 2021 was also given in 22 Indian
languages. The winners are Mrinal Chandra Kalita (Assamese), Sunirmal Chakraborty (Bengali),
Ratneshwar Narzary (Bodo), Narsingh Dev Jamval (Dogri), Anita Vachharajani (English), Devendra
Mewari (Hindi), Basu Bevinagida (Kannada), Majeed Majazi (Kashmiri), Sumedha Kamat Desai
(Konkani), Anmol Jha (Maithili), Raghunath Paleri (Malayalam), Ningombam Jadumani Singh (Manipuri),
Sanjay Wagh (Marathi), Sudarsha Ambatey (Nepali), Digaraj Brahma (Odia), Kirti Sharma (Rajasthani),
Asha Agarwal (Sanskrit), Sova Hansda (Santali), Kishin Khubchandani "Ranjayal" (Sindhi), Mu.
Murugesh (Tamil), Devaraju Maharaju (Telugu), and Kausar Siddiqui (Urdu).
Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Awards 2021

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 The Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Awards (RNG Awards) are one of the awards in India in
the field of journalism.
 Named after Ramnath Goenka, the awards have been held annually since 2006. The awards are given
for both print journalism as well as broadcast journalism.
 Here are some of the winners:
o Hindi (Print): Anand Choudhary, Dainik Bhaskar

o Hindi (Broadcast): Sushil Kumar Mohapatra, NDTV India
o Regional Languages (Print): Aniket Vasant Sathe, Loksatta
o Regional Languages (Broadcast): Sunil Baby, Media One TV
o Business And Economic Journalism (Print): Sumant Banerji, Business Today
o Business And Economic Journalism (Broadcast): Ayushi Jindal, India Today TV
o Reporting On Politics And Government (Digital): Dheeraj Mishra, The Wire
o Reporting On Politics And Government (Broadcast): Seemi Pasha, Thewire.in
o Prakash Kardaley Memorial Award for Civic Journalism: Chaitanya Marpakwar, Mumbai Mirror
o Photo journalism: Zishaan A Latif, The Caravan
o Books (Non-Fiction): Arun Mohan Sukumar
UiPath Automation Excellence awards 2021
 The Kerala-based lender South Indian Bank has won the UiPath Automation Excellence Awards 2021
for Best Automation under Crisis for Business Continuity.

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 The award was bestowed upon the Bank for its exceptional use of Robotic Process Automation
capabilities under difficult times for solving severe operational constraints, thereby ensuring business
continuity.
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About the Award: The UiPath Automation Excellence Awards aim to recognise the change-makers of automation.
In the 2021 Edition of the UiPath Automation Excellence Awards, the individuals and organisations across India
and South Asia (Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal), who have solved some of the greatest challenges through
transformative automation projects were recognised.
JC Chaudhry achieves the first Guinness World Record on Numerology
 The first-ever Guinness World Record in Numerology and the first world record of 2022 was achieved
by one of India's top numerologists JC Chaudhry educating about ancient science to around 6000
participants, enthusiasts of numerology joined from USA, UK, Middle East, and India.
 The initiative was organised by CNPL (Chaudhry Nummero Pvt Ltd) and the Indian Institute of
Numerology to create awareness regarding numerology, which was prevalent across ancient cultures
like Greece, Egypt, China, Chaldea and India.
IMPORTANT DAYS
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Day/Week Observance Significance
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Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) celebrated

DRDO 64th
1 January its 64th foundation day on 1 January 2022. It was on this day in 1958
foundation day
when DRDO was formed to make India strong and self-reliant in terms
of science and technology and especially in military technologies.
The day is an international day and celebrates awareness of the

importance of braille as a means of communication in the full
realization of the human rights for blind and visually impaired people.
4 January World Braille Day
The date for the event was chosen by the United Nations General
Assembly via a proclamation in November 2018, and marks the
birthday of Louis Braille, creator of this writing system. The first World
Braille Day was celebrated on January 4, 2019.
World Day of War Orphans reminds the world that caring for children in
traumatic circumstances is a priority particularly amid the pandemic.
World War Orphans Children caught in crossfire or estranged from parents need utmost
6 January care to help heal the mental wounds of war, restart schools and normal
Day
life. World Day of War Orphans is marked every year on January 6.
The day aims to spread awareness and address the crises faced by
war orphans or children in conflict and disease.

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OBITUARIES
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Name of Person Field Points to Remember
The Indian Navy's 1971 Indo-Pak war veteran Vice Admiral

SH Sarma passed away at the age of 100. Vice Admiral
S H Sharma Indian Navy admiral
Sarma was the Flag Officer Commanding Eastern Fleet
during the 1971 war. India had defeated Pakistan in the 1971
war that led to the creation of Bangladesh.
Kenyan The celebrated Kenyan conservationist and fossil hunter

Richard Leakey
paleoanthropologist Richard Leakey, whose groundbreaking discoveries helped
prove that humankind evolved in Africa, has died aged 77.
The three-time Olympic triple jump champion and former

world record-holder Viktor Saneyev has died at the age of 76.
The Soviet Union man won his Olympic titles in three
Viktor Saneyev Olympic athlete
consecutive Games, first in Mexico City in 1968 and then
again in Munich, 1972 and followed by Montreal in 1976. He
won an Olympic silver medal four years later in Moscow. He
also won two European titles in 1969 and 1974.
Renowned social worker Sindhutai Sapkal, fondly known as

'the mother of orphan children', passed away. Sapkal, who
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received the Padma Shri last year, passed at the age of 73.
Growing up in extreme poverty and enduring immense
Sindhutai Sapkal Social worker
hardship during her early years, Sapkal is known for the
numerous institutes she has set up for orphan children. In
addition to the Padma award, Sapkal has received more than
750 awards and honours in her lifetime. She has used the
award money to further build shelters for orphans.
Sidney Poitier Actor Bahamian-American actor Sidney Poitier, who was first black
man to win Best Actor Oscar, has died at the age of 94.
BOOKS
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Book Title Author/s About the book
Gandhi's Assassin: The Making of Dhirendra Jha ---

Nathuram Godse and His Idea of India
Mamata: Beyond 2021 Jayanta Ghosal, Arunava Sinha ---

(Translator)

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SPORTS
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Jasprit Bumrah Achieves Milestone of Picking 100 Test Wickets
 Jasprit Bumrah achieved the milestone of picking 100 wickets in Test cricket.
 The pacer got to the feat on Day 4 of the first Test between South Africa and India at the SuperSport
Park in Centurion. Van der Dussen became Bumrah's 100th Test victim in overseas conditions. The 28-
year-old now has 105 wickets, out of which 101 have come away from home.
Mohammed Shami becomes 5th Indian fast bowler to claim 200 Test wickets
 India's bowler Mohammed Shami achieved the milestone of 200 Test wickets.
 The 31-year-old pacer is third-fastest among Indian pacers to reach the landmark, achieving it in his
55th Test match.
 He is the 11th Indian bowler to pick up 200 or more wickets and only the fifth fast bowler to reach the
milestone. Shami is only behind Kapil Dev (434), Ishant Sharma (311), Zaheer Khan (311), and Javagal
Srinath (236), at the moment.
Quinton de Kock announces retirement from Test cricket
 South Africa wicketkeeper-batsman, Quinton de Kock, announced his retirement from Test cricket
with immediate effect.
 De Kock, 29, made his Test debut against Australia in Port Elizabeth in 2014. In 54 matches, he has
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scored 3300 runs with the highest score of 141 not-out, at an average of 38.82 and strike rate of 70.93.
He also has six centuries and 22 half-centuries under his belt.
 De Kock has also taken the third-most catches in the inaugural ICC World Test Championship – 48 in 11
matches (47 catches and 1 stumping) and has a personal best of six dismissals in an innings, against
England in Centurion in 2019.
Ross Taylor announces retirement from international cricket
 Veteran New Zealand batter Ross Taylor announced that he will retire from international cricket.
 Taylor, who made his Test debut back in 2008 against South Africa and played the first of 233 ODIs
against the West Indies in 2006, will bid adieu to the game as New Zealand’s top-scorer in Test and
one-day international cricket. He has scored 7584 Test runs with 19 centuries, second only to incumbent
captain Kane Williamson, and 8581 runs in ODIs, ahead of former skipper Stephen Fleming (8007). His
21 ODI centuries also are a New Zealand record.
 Taylor as also played 102 Twenty20 internationals, becoming the first cricketer to play more than 100
matches for New Zealand in all three formats.
Cricket: U-19 Asia Cup 2021
 The 2021 Under-19 Asia Cup was the 9th edition of ACC Under-19 Cup. The cricket tournament was
played in United Arab Emirates.
 U-19 Indian cricket team lifted the U-19 Asia Cup after beating Sri Lanka by nine wickets (DLS Method)
in Dubai.

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Veteran Pakistan All-rounder Mohammad Hafeez Retires From International Cricket
 Veteran Pakistan all-rounder Mohammad Hafeez is retiring from international cricket, ending an
illustrious career that spanned over 18 years.
 After making his international debut against Zimbabwe in 2003, Hafeez represented Pakistan in 55
Tests, 218 ODIs and 119 T20Is and amassed 12,780 runs across formats. During his career, he had
won 32 Man of the Match awards, the fourth-highest among Pakistan players in all formats.
Winter Olympics-bound Md Arif Khan Included in Target Olympic Podium Scheme
 The Sports activities Ministry’s Mission Olympic Cell (MOC) has authorised the inclusion of Alpine
Snowboarding athlete Md Arif Khan within the Goal Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) Core group,
till the Winter Olympics, scheduled in February 2022 in Beijing, China.
 Khan will participate within the Winter Olympics within the Slalom and Large Slalom occasions. He has
additionally been authorised an quantity of Rs 17.46 Lakh underneath TOPS in the direction of coaching
in Europe and procurement of kit, forward of the grand occasion in China. Khan’s present coaching base
is in Austria, the place he’s accompanied by his coach and physio.
 The Gulmarg-based athlete had gained two gold medals, within the Slalom and Large Slalom occasions,
on the 2011 South Asian Winter Video games, held in Uttarakhand.
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Sources of the News:
PIB India, DD News, News on AIR, The Economic Times, Financial Express, liveMint, The Indian Express,
The Times of India, Business Standard, Business World, Business Line, Hindustan Times, The Hindu, Al
Jazeera, BBC, Zee News, Republic World, Times Now News, Money Control, NDTV, Outlook India and
Wikipedia


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1st January to 8th January 2022

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FINANCE AND BANKING

RBI approves Fino Payments Bank for international remittance business

RBI Retains SBI, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank as D-SIBs 2022

Airtel Payments Bank gets scheduled bank status

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RBI issued framework for offline digital payments

RBI cancelled authorisation certificates of Muthoot Vehicle Finance, Eko India

(CICs), or credit bureaus.

RBI Increases the threshold for deposits of Small Businesses

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SEBI reconstitutes its primary market advisory committee

SEBI’s board meets and takes multiple decisions

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SBI to acquire 9.95% stake in GIFT-IFSC-based Clearing Corp

IRDAI: LIC, GIC Re and New India systemically important insurers

Company Name Service/Scheme Launched Learn Along

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Company Name Service/Scheme Launched Learn Along

Government approves 19th Tranche of Electoral Bonds

GST Collection Stands at Rs 1.29 Lakh Crore in December 2021

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Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology launched “India Semiconductor Mission”

NTPC plans to buy 5% equity in Power Exchange of India Ltd

Government keeps interest rates on Small Savings Schemes unchanged

Apple becomes world’s first company to hit $3 trillion M-Cap

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Google acquires Israeli cybersecurity startup Siemplify for $500 million

Reliance Retail invests $200 mn in Dunzo to acquire 25.8% stake

Central Government Scheme UJALA scheme completed 7 years

CVC expands ambit of advisory board on large scale bank frauds

Unemployment rate hits 4-month high in December

Cabinet approves Rs 12,031-crore green power transmission scheme

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Govt estimates India’s GDP growth rate at 9.2% in FY22

including children, teachers, parents, community, educational administrators etc.

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PM inaugurates Bina (MP)-Panki (UP) Multiproduct pipeline project

o Construction of Pipeline Dispatch Terminal at Bina

National Education Alliance for Technology (NEAT) 3.0 launched

Hyderabad gets India’s first Open Rock Museum

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Automatic Generation Control dedicated to the nation

Akshaya Patra Foundation And UN World Food Programme To Collaborate

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Telangana tops in highest number of ODF villages

Ex-UK PM Tony Blair joins top royal order

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France takes over European Union presidency

 France takes over the rotating presidency of the European Union.

Russia test-fires new hypersonic Tsirkon missiles

IHU Variant of Covid-19 Detected in France

 A new coronavirus variant called 'IHU' has emerged in France.