SPOTLIGHT

Monthly Current Affairs

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RBI - NABARD - SEBI

SPOTLIGHT – JANUARY
2022
 Table of Contents
NATIONAL NEWS ..................................................................................................................................... 2

STATE NEWS .......................................................................................................................................... 38

AGRICULTURE AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT ............................................................................................ 54

DEFENCE NEWS ...................................................................................................................................... 57

MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING................................................................................................... 60

INTERNATIONAL NEWS .......................................................................................................................... 62

REPORTS AND INDICES ........................................................................................................................... 76

BANKING AND ECONOMY ...................................................................................................................... 88

GDP FORECASTS ....................................................................................................................................117

APPOINTMENTS ....................................................................................................................................121

IMPORTANT DAYS ................................................................................................................................126

AWARDS ...............................................................................................................................................130

SPORTS .................................................................................................................................................142

MISCELLANEOUS ...................................................................................................................................147

QUESTIONS ...........................................................................................................................................152

pg. 1
 NATIONAL NEWS
1. Ministry of Education has launched a 100-days reading campaign called “Padhe Bharat” to
promote joyful reading culture among children by ensuring availability of age-appropriate
reading books for children.
• The campaign will focus on children studying Balvatika to class 8th.
• It will run from 1st January 2022 to 10th April 2022.
• It will also focus on Indian languages including mother tongue/local/regional languages.

2. Central Govt has notified the Consumer Protection (Jurisdiction of the District
Commission, the State Commission and the National Commission) Rules, 2021.
• The rules aim to strengthen the jurisdiction of the Consumer Commissions.
• National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) will now have
jurisdiction to entertain consumers complaints where the value of the goods or services
exceeds Rs 2 crore as against the earlier limit of over Rs 10 crore.
• District commissions will have jurisdiction to entertain complaints up to Rs 50 lakh worth
value of goods or services as against the earlier limit of up to Rs 1 crore.
• State commissions will now have jurisdictions for more than Rs 50 lakh and up to Rs 2
crore. (Earlier, the limit was Rs 1 crore to Rs 10 crore.)
• The new rules have been framed under the CONSUMER PROTECTION ACT, 2019.

Additional Facts:
• The Centre has set up the e-Daakhil Portal, which provides a hassle-free, speedy and
inexpensive facility to consumers to conveniently approach the relevant consumer forum.
• The portal will eliminate the need to travel and be physically present to file their grievance.
• The portal has many features like e-Notice, case document download link and VC hearing
link, filing written response by the opposite party, filing rejoinder by complainant and alerts
via SMS/e-mail.
• Currently, the facility of E-Daakhil is available in 544 consumer commissions, which
includes the national commission and consumer commissions in 21 states and 3 UTs.

pg. 2
3. Central Govt has recently notified the Consumer Protection (Direct Selling) Rules, 2021 for
the direct selling industry.
• The rules have been notified under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019.
• It prohibits promotion of pyramid schemes and participation in money circulation
schemes.
• Earlier, the government notified and made effective the provisions of the Consumer
Protection (E-Commerce) Rules, 2020 under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019.

Obligations on the Direct Selling Entities under the new rules:

• Establish at least one physical office in India.
• Comply with Legal Metrology Act, 2009.
• These entities should not indulge in pyramid schemes and participation in money circulation
schemes.
• Establish a grievance redressal mechanism.

4. Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas has formed the Energy Transition Advisory
Committee, headed by Former Petroleum Secretary Tarun Kapoor, for preparing the report
on transitioning to clean energy sources from fossil fuels.
• The committee will submit its report in 6 months.
• The committee will focus on scaling up infrastructure for biofuels and green hydrogen.

5. Department of Telecommunication has formed six new task forces on 6G.

• Purpose - to explore the feasibility of rolling out 6G in India, including the research on
India's competencies, and pre-standardisation activities.
• Committees –
o 1st – Task-force on Multi-Platform for Next Generation Networks – Chaired by
Bhaskar Ramamurthy (Director of IIT-Chennai)
o 2nd - Task force on Spectrum Policy – Chaired by Abhay Karandikar (Director, IIT-
Kanpur)
o 3rd – Task force on Multi-Disciplinary Innovative Solutions and Devices – Chaired by
Bharadwaj Amrutur (director of IISc Bangalore)

pg. 3
 o 4th - Task force on Devices – Chaired by Kiran Kumar Kuchi (Director, IIT-
Hyderabad)
o 5th - Task force on Financing Research and Development – Chaired by Ashok
Kumar Tiwari (Member (Technology), Digital Communications Commission)
o 6th - Task force on International Standards – Chaired by NG Subramaniam
(chairman of the Telecommunications Standards Development Society, India)

6. Ministry of Civil Aviation has released a draft National Air Sports Policy (NASP) to govern
the air sports in India and make India one of the top air sports nations by 2030.
• The policy will cover sports like aerobatics, aeromodelling, amateur-built and experimental
aircraft, ballooning, drones, gliding, hang gliding, paragliding, micro-lighting, paramotoring,
skydiving, and vintage aircraft.
• Top air sports locations like Bir Billing in Himachal Pradesh, Gangtok in Sikkim, Hadapsar
in Maharashtra and Vagamon in Kerala can be declared as “control zone” to ensure
safety.
• Air Sports Federation of India (ASFI) will be created under the Ministry of Civil Aviation
as an autonomous body to regulate the air sports in India.
o ASFI will represent India at international forum like Lausanne (Switzerland)-
headquartered Fédération Aéronaautique Internationale (FAI) and other global
platforms related to air sports.
o AFSI will form associations for each air sport.
o It will be responsible for various aspects of air sports, including regulation,
certification, competitions, awards and penalties, etc.

7. Ministry of Education has launched National Education Alliance for Technology 3.0 to
provide the best-developed ed-tech solutions and courses to students of the country.
• 58 global and Indian start-up ed-tech companies are onboard NEAT and are offering 100
courses & e-resources.
• 12 Lakh socially and economically disadvantaged students have received free ed-tech
course coupons worth over ₹253 crore under NEAT 3.0.
• AICTE is the implementing agency of NEAT 3.0.

pg. 4
8. Ministry of Ayush has launched the Ayush Aahar Project in the Ministry’s canteen at Ayush
Bhawan, New Delhi.
• Purpose – to serve healthy diet to ensure a healthy life.
• The healthy diet that includes kokum drink, gajar ka halwa, bhajani vada and vegetable
poha.
• Currently, the project is being launched on a pilot basis. Feedbacks will be collected from
the participants.

9. ISRO has announced its missions for 2022.

• Gaganyaan – Launch of an uncrewed mission; First mission to send humans to space;
Cost of the overall mission is less than Rs 10,000 crores
o Crewed mission’s launch date is 2023
• Aditya L1 – First mission to study sun
o The Aditya-L1 spacecraft will be place in the halo orbit around the Lagrange point 1
(L1) - which is 15,00,000 kilometres away from Earth.
• Chandrayaan-3 – to continue the study of Moon, with the help of the orbiter of the
Chandrayaan-2 mission.
• Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV) – To make India a hotspot for launching small
satellites to low-Earth Orbit
o ISRO has signed six agreements with four countries to launch satellites in 2021-
2023, generating 132 million euros in revenue.
• XpoSat – to study pulsar and supernova
• TRISHNA, a joint mission with CNES, the French space agency, meant for accurate
mapping of land surface temperatures. To be launched in 2024.
o TRISHNA’s full form - Thermal infraRed Imaging Satellite for High-resolution Natural
resource Assessment
o TRISHNA will acquire imagery of Earth’s surface in the thermal infrared with a
resolution and revisit frequency never seen before.
• A Venus Mission – Details are awaited.

pg. 5
 • DISHA – A twin-satellite system that will study Earth’s aeronomy, the uppermost layer of
Earth’s atmosphere. Launch date not confirmed.
o Disha will be implemented by the Physical Research Laboratory (PRL).
o DISHA is short for “Disturbed and quiet-type System at High Altitude”.
o It’ll involve twin satellites orbiting Earth at an altitude of 450km.

10. Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla has released the quarterly newsletter of Indian
Cybercrime Coordination Centre (I4C) named as ‘CyberPravah’.
• CyberPravah provides details on various activities of I4C in two quarters (from April-
June,2021 and July-September, 2021), and on cybercrime trends/patterns etc.
• I4C operates under the Cyber and Information Security Division (CIS) of the Ministry of
Home Affairs.
• Along with this, a set of manuals focused on prevention of cybercrime and inculcating
cyber-hygiene across rural areas, in industrial bodies and among the general public.

11. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has inaugurated Kalpana Chawla Centre for Research in
Space Science & Technology (KCCRSST) at Chandigarh University, Gharuan.
• This is the first of its kind centre in North India.
• The Union Minister also launched Chandigarh University's Defence Scholarship
Scheme, worth Rs 10 Crore, for the wards of Defence Personnel of the three services.
• This state-of-the-art space centre would be the Ground Control Station (GCS) for the
Chandigarh University's Student Satellite (CUSAT).
• CUSAT is an in-house developed nano-satellite being designed by the students of
Chandigarh University, and a Geo Spatial Centre for research, besides other important
projects.
• With this, Punjab will become the first border state in India to have its own satellite in
space.

12. Common Services Centre, in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture, will undertake the
first-ever cultural survey of India's villages through a mobile application.
• The survey is titled 'Mera Gaon, Meri Dharohar'.

pg. 6
 • The survey will involve the citizens of villages to share what makes their village, block or
district unique.
• The entire exercise is expected to be completed by mid-2022.

13. ‘Tourism Week’ (3-15 January) is being organised by the Ministry of Tourism.
• The Ministry also launched a new tourism policy to strengthen and build capacity of the
tourism sector in order to provide better services and facilities to tourists visiting the
country.
• The policy will create five missions including National Green Tourism Mission, the
National Digital Tourism Mission, Sectoral Mission on Skill Development; the National
Mission on Destination Management and National Mission on Tourism MSMEs.
• Expo 2020 Dubai is the first Expo in the MEASA (Middle East, Africa and South Asia)
region, and Indian visitors are largest in terms of visitors by nationality at the Expo.

14. Central Govt has released 50% of funds under the “India Covid-19 Emergency Response
and Health Systems Preparedness Package - Phase-II” (ECRP-Phase-II).
• Union Cabinet had approved the ECRP-Phase-II in July 2021 for an amount of Rs 23,123
crores (Central Share - Rs 15,000 Crore and State Share - Rs 8,123 Crore) to be
implemented from 1st July 2021 to 31st March 2022.
• The scheme is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS) with some Central Sector (CS)
components.
• The scheme is aimed to prevent, detect and respond to the continuing threat posed by
COVID-19 and strengthen national health systems for emergency response and
preparedness across the country, said the Ministry.

15. Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari has announced that the
Centre will create a policy to know the condition and age of all the bridges across the
country.
• Ministry had already prepared the Indian Bridge Management System (IBMS) in order to
collect information about all the bridges of the country.

pg. 7
 • The Minister has also launched the "Building Bridges - Shaping the Future" book written
by Sachidanand Joshi and Vaibhav Dange.

16. PM Narendra Modi will inaugurate the 25th National Youth Festival in Puducherry on the
occasion of Swami Vivekananda Jayanti, which is observed as the National Youth Day
(January 12) all over India.
• Theme of the National Youth Day - “It’s all in the mind”
• This year, the festival will take place over a period of 5 days, Jan 12 to 16 and will be
conducted in four phases including a youth summit, indigenous games awareness, yoga
and cultural celebrations.

17. A Special Postage Stamp commemorating the 75th Platinum Jubilee year of CSIR-National
Physical Laboratory (NPL) New Delhi has been released by Ministry of Science and
Technology.
• ‘LED Photometry Laboratory’ was established at CSIR-National Physical Laboratory,
New Delhi to develop energy-efficient illumination technology.
• Bharatiya Nirdeshak Dravya (BNDs) was also launched to support testing of the purity of
gold, silver and other elements at par with the international standards.
• Also, Certification Process for India-made Ambient Ozone Analysers was launched.

18. Union Minister of Power and New & Renewable Energy Shri R.K. Singh has inaugurated
Automatic Generation Control (AGC) to achieve the ambitious target of 500 GW non-fossil
fuel-based generation capacity by 2030.
• The AGC is being operated by Power System Operation Corporation (POSOCO) through
National Load Despatch Centre.
• Through AGC, POSOCO sends signals to power plants every 4 seconds to maintain
frequency and reliability of the Power System.
• Shri R.K. Singh also released a report titled “Assessment of Inertia in Indian Power
System” which has been prepared by POSOCO in collaboration with IIT Bombay.
• India has already achieved 150 GW of renewable energy, including large hydro projects.

pg. 8
 • 63 GW of renewable energy capacity are under various phases of installation, which is
expected to be completed by next year.

19. The Akshaya Patra Foundation (TAPF) and the United Nations World Food Programme
(WFP) in India have partnered on enhancing the effectiveness of the Pradhan Mantri Poshan
Shakti Nirman (PM-POSHAN) scheme (earlier Mid-Day Meal Scheme).
• The partnership aims to enhance food safety, hygiene, and nutritional quality of school
meals.
• Both the parties will also work for capacity building of the cooks-cum-helpers.
• TAPF and WFP will form a steering committee, which will meet quarterly, to plan, discuss,
and review the implementation of the activities under this partnership.

20. Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs has launched Smart cities and Academia Towards
Action & Research (SAAR) program.
• For documentation of landmark projects undertaken by the Smart Cities Mission.
• Under the program, 15 premier architecture & planning institutes of the country will be
working with Smart Cities to document landmark projects.
• A compendium of 75 landmark projects across 47 cities will be prepared under the
program.
• The compendium will act as a first point of reference for future research in the field and will
act as a repository for Urban Projects.

21. Union Ministry of Food Processing Industry has launched six one district one product
brands under Pradhan Mantri Formalization of Micro food processing Enterprises
(PMFME) Scheme.
• These brands have been launched under an agreement signed between Ministry of Food
Processing Industry and NAFED.
• Under the agreement 10 brands of selected ODOPs will be developed under branding
and marketing component of the PMFME scheme.
• The six brands which have been launched are –
o Amrit Phal –Gurugram, Haryana

pg. 9
 o Cori Gold –Kota, Rajasthan
o Kashmiri Mantra –Kulgam, J&K
o Madhu Mantra –Saharanpur, UP
o Somdana–Thane, Maharashtra
o Whole Wheat Cookies of Dilli Bakes –Delhi

22. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), India is on track to become the world’s
third largest ethanol consumer by 2026 by surpassing China.
• Ethanol demand in India tripled between 2017 and 2021 with consumption expected at 3
crore litres in the last calendar year.
• United States and Brazil will precede India in ethanol consumption by 2026.
• India has brought forward its target of 20% ethanol blending in petrol to 2025. Also,
ethanol-blended petrol will start selling from 2023 in India.
o The average ethanol blending percentage in petrol for Ethanol Supply Year
(December 2020-November 2021) was 8.1%.
• Present Problems in India’s E20 blend –
o At present, a large segment of India’s existing vehicle fleet may have compatibility
issues with fuel blends above E10.
o The only way is to retrofit them, but that is also very costly. Therefore, according to
IAE, convincing the customers to buy new flex-fuel vehicles compatible with E20 fuel
is the option with India.
• Biodiesel blending in diesel target is 5% by 2030.

23. 14th Military Cooperation Sub-Group Meeting between India and Germany was organized
in New Delhi.
• Both parties expressed deep satisfaction at the scope and depth of military cooperation and
committed themselves to enhancing the bilateral military ties further.
• In 2006, India and Germany signed the agreement for cooperation regarding security and
defence issues.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the newly appointed German Chancellor Olaf Scholz
held talks.

pg. 10
24. Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change has shared the draft notification for
regulations for the extended producer responsibility (EPR) for waste tyres.
• ‘Extended Producer Responsibility' means responsibility of producer of tyres to ensure
environmentally sound management of waste tyres, as per the provisions of this regulation.
• EPR obligations –
o EPR obligation of 2022-23 would be 35% of the quantity of new tyres manufactured /
imported in 2020-21,
o EPR obligation of 2023-24 will be 70% of the quantity of new tyres manufactured /
imported in 2021-22, and,
o EPR obligation of 2024-25 would be 100% of the quantity of new tyres
manufactured/imported in 2022-23.
• The draft notification was issued under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986.
• India discards roughly 2,75,000 tyres each year but does not have comprehensive plan for
them. Over and above it, about 3 million waste tyres are imported for recycling.
• Most of the recycling of tyres or burning of waste tyres is done in the informal sector, in an
unscientific manner. To stop this, registration of tyre recyclers and producers will be
mandatory under these rules.

25. According to the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, India has achieved the target of
generating 40% electricity from the non-fossil fuel sources in November 2021.
• The target under Paris Agreement was to achieve this target by 2030.
• Under the Panchamrit of India – announced at the COP 26 of UNFCCC – 50% of the
electricity would be generated from non-fossil fuel sources by 2030.
• The total non-fossil based installed energy capacity of the country stood at 157.32
gigawatts (GW), which is 40.1% of the 392.01 GW total installed electricity capacity.
• Of this 157.32 GW capacity –
o Solar – 48.55 GW
o Wind – 40.03 GW
o Small Hydro power – 4.83 GW
o Biofuel – 10.62 GW

pg. 11
 o Large Hydro-power – 46.51 GW
o Nuclear – 6.78 GW
• India ranks 4th in the world in terms of installed renewable energy capacity.

26. By 2026, around 50 African cheetahs will be present in India under the ‘Action Plan for
Introduction of Cheetah in India’.
• The Action Plan was introduced at the 19th meeting of the National Tiger Conservation
Authority.
• The first batch of 12-14 African cheetahs will be brought from Namibia or South Africa this
year to Madhya Pradesh’s Kuno-Palpur National Park.
• Each of the cheetahs will be fitted with a satellite-GPS-very high frequency radio-collar.

27. India’s first Open Rock Museum has been inaugurated in Hyderabad, Telangana.
• The Museum displays around 35 different types of rocks from different parts of India with
ages ranging from 3.3 billion years to around 55 million years of the Earth’s history.
• These rocks also represent the deepest part of the earth, up to 175 kms from the surface
of the earth.
• The rocks have been sourced from Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand, Jharkhand, Jammu &
Kashmir and others.
• Union Minister of State for Science and Technology Dr Jitendra Singh also released
Earthquake Risk Maps of Lucknow and Dehradun.

28. Asian Waterbird Census is being carried out from January 2- 16, 2022.
• Locations of survey - seven wetlands in the NCR — Hastinapur Wildlife Sanctuary;
Dhanauri and Surajpur wetlands in Greater Noida; Delhi Zoo and Sanjay Lake; Okhla Bird
Sanctuary; Najafgarh Jheel; and the Yamuna River.
• Purpose - to help with identifying and protecting areas that are important for waterbirds.
• Surveyor - Wetlands International South Asia and the Bombay Natural History Society.
o It is part of the International Waterbird Census.
• Results - Sanjay Lake witnessed a downgrade in species count, which declined to 13 from
17 species.

pg. 12
 o The lower species diversity is a sign of degradation of the lake, since waterbirds are
an indicator of its health.
o Of the 13 species, 11 were resident and only 2 were winter migratory species - Great
Cormorant, which migrates from Southeast Asia, and the Eurasian Coot, which
migrates from Temperate Asia.

29. Veer Gatha Project has been launched by the Ministry of Education, in partnership with
Ministry of Defence, CBSE, and MyGov to aware school children regarding the Gallantry
award winners under the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav.
• The project will encourage children to develop projects on regarding the Gallantry award
winners.
• The project was conducted at an all-India level for standard 3 to 12 students in all States
and Union Territories as well as all schools affiliated to CBSE.
• 25 students have been selected as the winners of this project.
• This project was organised from October 21, 2021 to November 21, 2021 across India.

30. Ministry of Home Affairs has formed a 3-member committee, headed by Sudhir Kumar
Saxena, secretary (security), Cabinet Secretariat.
• Other two members of the committee - Balbir Singh (Joint Director, intelligence bureau)
and S. Suresh (IG, special protection group (SPG).
• Reason – to look into the reasons for lapse in PM Mod’s security in Punjab recently.
• What happened – PM was scheduled to visit National Martyrs Memorial at Hussainiwala
but he couldn’t reach there as his convoy had to stop at a flyover due to alleged protests.

31. Koppal Toy Cluster – India’s first and biggest toy cluster located at Koppal in North
Karnataka – is expected to start operations from April 2022.
• The units are planning to employ 5,000 people in the first phase.
• The manufacturing units at the cluster are expected to start their operations from April.
• Aequs Infra had received the contract for developing the infrastructure at the toy cluster.
• Spread across 400 acres, the cluster can accommodate at least 100 manufacturing units,
generating over 25,000 direct and two lakh indirect employment opportunities.

pg. 13
32. 24th National Conference on e-Governance 2021 has been held at Hyderabad, Telangana.
• Organizer - Department of Administrative Reforms & Public Grievances (DAPRG), Ministry
of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions and Ministry of Electronics & Information
Technology, in collaboration with the Government of Telangana.
• Theme - “India’s Techade: Digital Governance in a Post Pandemic World”
o The Conference has six sub-themes.
• ‘Hyderabad Declaration’ on e-Governance has been adopted to improve governance and
leverage technology for governance.
• 26 awards were presented under the 6 categories of the Award Scheme to Central
Ministries/Departments, State/UT Governments, Districts, Local Bodies, Public Sector
Undertakings and Academic & Research Institutions. This include 12 Gold, 13 Silver and 1
Jury Award.

33. Central Government has approved Rs 12,031 crore intra-state transmission scheme for
generating renewable energy from 20 GW power projects in seven states including Gujarat,
Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh.
• The Green Energy Corridor (GEC) Phase-II aims to add 10,750 circuit kilometres (ckm)
of transmission lines and 27,500 Mega Volt-Amperes (MVA) transformation capacity of
substations.
• The scheme will have central financial assistance (CFA) at 33% of the project cost of Rs
3,970 crore.
• The transmission systems will be created over a period of five year from 2021-22 to 2025-
26.

Phase 1 of GEC –
• This scheme is under implementation in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Himachal
Pradesh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu for grid
integration and power evacuation of 24 GW of renewable power and is expected to be
completed by 2022.

pg. 14
 • The scheme is for addition of 9700 ckm of transmission lines and 22,600 MVA capacity of
substations.
• Cost of Project - Rs 10,141 crore with Central Financial Assistance of Rs 4,056 crore.

34. National Skill Development Corporation has organized the national competition of
IndiaSkills2021 in New Delhi.
• Participants from 26 states/UTs will participate.
• Winners of IndiaSkills2021 will undergo training to represent India at WorldSkills,
Shanghai, China.

35. Ministry of External Affairs has signed an agreement with the Tata Consultancy Services
for the second phase of Passport Seva Program.
• The Passport Seva Program was launched in 2008 to digitize the passport related
services.
• TCS is the implementing agency of this scheme.
• In the second phase, TCS will leverage the technology to enhance consumer experience.

36. India and Indonesia have announced to boost connectivity between Andaman & Nicobar
Island and Aceh Province of Indonesia.
• The cooperation is being mulled since 2018.
• Under the collaboration, India and Indonesia will undertake infrastructure development work
at Sabang Port in Aceh province.
• Sabang Port – located 90 nautical miles away from Andaman & Nicobar – sits at the
entrance of Strait of Malacca.

37. Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh has flagged-in India’s first multi-dimensional adventure
sports expedition, conducted by National Institute of Mountaineering and Allied Sports
(NIMAS), in France.
• The expedition was conducted in November 2021 and the team was led by Director NIMAS
Colonel Sarfaraz Singh, comprising 12 people - eight Army personnel and four youths of
Arunachal Pradesh.

pg. 15
38. Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) will organise the first-
ever Startup India Innovation Week during January 10-16 as part of the 'Azadi Ka Amrit
Mahotsav'.
• Purpose - to showcase the spread and depth of entrepreneurship across India.
• 2021 has been recognised as the 'Year of unicorns', with over 40 unicorns added in the
year.
• India is emerging as a global innovation hub, boasting the world's third-largest startup
ecosystem.
• DPIIT has recognised more than 61,000 startups as on date.

39. India’s first heli-hub with all aviation facilities has been established at Gurugram, Haryana.

40. Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI) has a dedicated grievance cell for the
food and food related industry to ensure hassle free operations and uninterrupted supply of
essentials for citizens in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.

41. Ministry of AYUSH has decided to organise the first-ever “Global Surya Namaskar
Demonstration Programme”.
• During the event, Surya Namaskar will be offered as a salutation to the Sun.

42. Trade Minister of South Korea, Yeo Han-Koo, held discussions with the Minister of
Commerce & Industry of India.
• At a summit meeting in 2018, India and South Korea set a bilateral trade target of $50
billion before 2030.
• Both countries agreed to upgrade their Comprehensive Economic Partnership
Agreement (CEPA) and promote business-to-business interactions on trade and
investment.
• The trade deficit of India with South Korea has increased from $5 billion in 2008-09 to $8
billion in 2020-21.

pg. 16
 • India has signed CEPAs with South Korea and Japan. India is working to launching CEPA
with UAE and Bangladesh.
• To facilitate investment from Korea, India has launched a "Korea Plus” facilitation cell
under ‘Invest India’ to guide, assist and handhold investors.

43. Red Sanders (Red Sandalwood), an Indian endemic tree species, has fallen back into the
‘endangered’ category in the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN)
Red List.
• The species, Pterocarpus santalinus, is endemic to a restricted geographical range in the
Eastern Ghats.
• The species is endemic to a distinct tract of forests in Andhra Pradesh.
• The population of Red Sanders has witnessed a decline of 50-80%.
• Red Sanders, known for their rich hue and therapeutic properties, are high in demand
across Asia, particularly in China and Japan, for use in cosmetics and medicinal products
as well as for making furniture, woodcraft and musical instruments.

44. 16th India Digital Summit 2022 has been organised by Internet and Mobile Association of
India (IAMAI).
• Government is only acting as a facilitator, focusing on the 3 Es - Ease of living, Ease of
Service & Ease of Skilling, re-skilling & up-skilling.
• Union Minister of Commerce & Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution and
Textiles, Shri Piyush Goyal unveiled ‘LEAP’ - “Leverage, Encourage, Access & Promote” -
for Startups.
• India has produced 82 unicorns and over 60,000 startups. India has world’s 3rd largest
no. of Unicorns.

45. Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology; Minister of State
(Independent Charge) Earth Sciences; MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions,
Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh has launched Swajal Water Private Limited.
• Swajal Water Private Limited is an Artificial Intelligence (AI) driven Start-Up, founded
by IIT alumni for water purification through innovative technology.

pg. 17
 • The startup will help to scale up this technology to help achieve India’s ambitious target of
providing clean drinking water to all by 2024.
• Dr Jitendra Singh had launched state-of-the-art Heli-borne survey technology for
groundwater management, developed by CSIR-NGRI Hyderabad in October 2021.
• CEO & Co Founder of Swajal - Dr Vibha Tripathi

46. PM has inaugurated an MSME Technology Centre at Puducherry, on the occasion of

National Youth Day (Jan 12).
• The centre will train 20,000 youth, support 2000 MSMEs and incubate 200 Start Ups.
• PM also inaugurated the Perunthalaivar Kamarajar Manimandapam -- an auditorium with
an open air theatre, constructed by the Puducherry government.

47. Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) has developed first of its kind Khadi
handmade paper “Use & Throw” slippers for the use of the devotees and the workers.
• These handmade paper slippers are 100% eco-friendly and cost-effective.

48. Union Cabinet has extended the tenure of the National Commission for Safai Karamcharis
(NCSK) for three years beyond 31.3.2022.
• The total implication of the extension for three years would be approximately Rs.43.68
crore.
• The NCSK was established in the year 1993 as per the provisions of the NCSK Act, 1993.

49. Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved infusion of ₹1,500 crore in
Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency Limited (IREDA).
• The infusion will help generate 10,200 jobs a year and reduce carbon emissions equivalent
to approximately 7.49 million tonnes per year.
• IREDA is a mini-ratna company under the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy,
• Separately, the Union Cabinet has also approved a scheme for grant of ex gratia
payment of ₹973.74 crore, the difference between compound interest and simple
interest for six months, to borrowers in specified loan accounts.

pg. 18
 • State Bank of India (SBI) is the nodal agency under the scheme for consequent
reimbursement to lending institutions.

50. India and Israel have decided to widened the scope of the bilateral Industrial R&D and
Technological Innovation Fund (I4F).
• Both nations have approved three joint research and development projects worth USD
5.5 million.

51. UK has launched Free Trade Agreement negotiations with India.

• UK govt has described it as a "golden opportunity" to put British businesses at the "front of
the queue" of the Indian economy.
• UK’s Secretary of State for International Trade, Anne-Marie Trevelyan, visited New
Delhi to meet with Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal for the 15th UK-
India Joint Economic and Trade Committee (JETCO).

52. Indian Railways has launched the ‘Mission Amanat’ to find the lost luggage of the
passengers.
• The Railway Protection Force uploads the information of the lost luggage and belonging in
the web portal https://wr.indianrailways.gov.in/.
• In the year 2021, Western Railways has done a spectacular work under this mission.

53. India’s first Mobile Honey Processing Van has been launched by the Khadi and Village
Industries Commission (KVIC) Chairman, Vinai Kumar Saxena, at Village Sirora in
Ghaziabad.
• This mobile honey processing unit can process up to 300 KG of honey in 8 hours.

54. Power grid corporation of India limited has signed a joint agreement with Africa50, the pan
African infrastructure investment platform.
• Purpose - for continuation of development projects in Kenya on PPP basis.
• PowerGrid will provide the technical and operational support to the project.

pg. 19
55. Ministry of Coal has launched the "Koyla Darpan" portal to share Key Performance
Indicators (KPIs) related to the Coal Sector.
• The portal was launched by Dr Anil Kumar Jain, Secretary, Ministry of Coal.
• The portal will provide information about the nine KPIs, which are –
o Coal/Lignite Production, Coal/Lignite Offtake, Exploration Data, Central Sector
Schemes, Status of Coal Stock in Thermal Power Plants, Infrastructure Projects,
Allocation of Blocks (CMSP/MMDR), Monitoring of Major Coal Mines (CIL), Coal
Price.
• The portal is available through the website of Ministry of Coal (https://coal.gov.in).

56. Department of Food and Public Distribution under Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and
Public Distribution, along with its principal agency, Food Corporation of India, has developed
a roadmap to launch the Online Storage Management (OSM) in the country.
• The OSM will integrate State portals with the central portal to act as a single source of
information for the food grains stored in the country.
• This will help in optimizing the distribution of food grains through Public Distribution
System (PDS) as well.
• So far, 16 states have assured to develop storage management applications with
Minimum Storage Specifications (MSS) and integrate them with the central portal.
• This exercise, expected to be completed by Mar’22, will improve efficiency and
transparency in stocking, storage, movement and distribution of food grains.
• The OSM will help in reducing costs of food storage and distribution by checking
leakages in the entire process.

57. India’s first virtual platform for spice exports ‘Spice Xchange India' has been developed by
the Kochi-based Spices Board of India.
• The portal’s URL is spicexchangeindia.com.
• It is a 3D virtual platform aimed at connecting India’s spice exporters with buyers from
around the world, with the help of AI.
• Besides helping buyers and sellers discover each other, this portal also provides the facility
to conduct virtual meetings to the participants.

pg. 20
 • India presently enjoys a dominant share in the global spice market by exporting 225
different spices and spice products to more than 180 countries.
• Chairman of Spices Board of India - A.G. Thankappan

58. Leading companies operating in the education technology space have formed a consortium
named India EdTech Consortium (IEC).
• It has been joined by Companies and start-ups such as Byju’s, Careers 360, Great
Learning, Harappa, Times Edutech & Events Ltd, Scalar, Simplilearn, Toppr, Unacademy,
upGrad, Vedantu and WhiteHat Jr have joined the IEC as of now.
• IEC will ensure that every learner shall have access to quality and affordable education, as
per the recent advisory from Ministry of Education.
• These Ed-tech companies will follow a common code of conduct.
• IEC will establish a two-tier grievance redressal mechanism to ensure that business is
conducted with transparency.
• The framework will cover areas such as ethical sales practices, marketing communication,
loans and refunds, fair and transparent functioning of a robust grievance redressal
mechanism and a proposed independent grievance review board.
• Need to form the IEC – to protect children and guardians from exploitative sales practices
of these Ed-tech companies.

59. 58th Foundation Day of the Food Corporation of India was celebrated.
• Union Food Minister Piyush Goyal introduced ‘5 sutras’ for reforming the functioning of
FCI.
o Changing the public perception of FCI from inefficient and corrupt to inclusive &
honest
o Integrating end-to-end tech solutions right from procurement to delivery
o Establish a grievance redressal mechanism to react rapidly to farmer/Farmer
Producer Organisation in distress
o Plan for modern infrastructure & logistics
o Global best practices to make India a “Food hub”

pg. 21
 • FCI procures nearly 1,300 lakh metric tonnes (LMT) of wheat & paddy annually against
nearly 13 LMT procured during 1965.

60. On the occasion of the 125th birth anniversary of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose (on
January 23), PM Narendra Modi unveiled a hologram statue of Netaji at India Gate in New
Delhi.
• The hologram statue is a placeholder until a granite statue is installed at the site. The size
of the hologram statue is 28 feet in height and 6 feet in width.
• The government has also announced that Republic Day celebrations in the country would
begin on January 23 every year to incorporate the birth anniversary of Netaji Subhas
Chandra Bose.
• His birth anniversary is celebrated every year as Parakram Diwas.

Additional Facts:
• The 28-feet-long hologram statue has been installed under a canopy which used to have a
statue of King George V; his statue was removed in 1968.
• Recently, Amar Jawan Jyoti of India Gate has been shifted to National War Memorial.
• During the programme, Prime Minister Modi also conferred the Subhas Chandra Bose
Aapda Prabandhan Puraskars for the years 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022. A total of 7
awards were presented during the ceremony.
• Winners –
2019 PK Tiwari
(Commandant, 8th battalion of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF)
received the honour for the year 2019)
pg. 22
 2020 Uttarakhand's Disaster Mitigation and Management Centre and,
KM Singh (former D-G of the Central Industrial Security Force)
2021 Sustainable Environment and Ecological Development Society (SEEDS) and,
Dr Rajendra Kumar Bhandari
2022 Gujarat Institute of Disaster Management (GIDM) and,
Professor Vinod Kumar Sharma

• For an institution, it carries with it a cash prize of ₹51 lakh, while an individual gets ₹5 lakh
and a certificate.

61. Centre has begun work on a blueprint for India@2047- a vision plan for a 'future ready India'
that befits the 100th year of Indian Independence.
• The aim is to finalise the 2047 plan by May this year.
• The Prime Minister's Office and the cabinet secretary last month assigned the 10 Sectoral
Group of Secretaries (SGoS).

62. India's first BHEL-built 'coal to methanol' (CTM) pilot plant at Hyderabad, as part of the
ongoing 'Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav' celebrations.

63. India has extended over $900 million in loans to Sri Lanka.
• The assistance consists of deferment of Asian Clearing Union settlement of over $500
million and a currency swap of $400 million.

64. Ministry of Electronics and Information (MeitY) has launched the Chips to Startup (C2S)
program to train 85,000 engineers in the area of very-large-scale integration (VLSI) and
embedded system design.
• Applications from 100 academia, R&D organisations, start-ups and MSMEs have been
invited under this programme.
• Portal for application submission - www.c2s.gov.in

pg. 23
 • Areas under C2S Programme - quality manpower training, research and development,
hardware IPs design, System design, application-oriented R&D, Prototype design and
deployment with the help of academia, industry, start-ups and R&D establishments.
• Nodal Agency - C-DAC (Centre for Development of Advanced Computing)

65. Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has mandated all M1 vehicles in India to have a
minimum of 6 airbags.
• M1 vehicle category refers to passengers cars with a maximum of eight seats in addition to
the driver’s seat and includes hatchbacks, sedans, MUVs and SUVs.
• Initially, airbag was mandated for driver’s seat only in 2019.
• Now, all the car manufacturers will have to equip four-wheelers with airbags.

66. Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare, Dr Mansukh Mandaviya, has released a
commemorative Postal Stamp on COVID-19 Vaccine to mark the 1st anniversary of India's
National Covid-19 Vaccination program.

67. Design Linked Incentive (DLI) Scheme is a part of the ₹76,000 crores comprehensive
program for the development of semiconductor and display manufacturing ecosystem.
• Applications from 100 domestic companies, start-ups and MSMEs have been sought by the
Ministry of Electronics and IT under the DLI Scheme.
• It was launched in December 2021 as a part of the ₹76,000 crores comprehensive
program.
• Under the DLI Scheme, financial incentives and design infrastructure support will be
extended to domestic companies, startups and MSMEs across various stages of
development and deployment of semiconductor design for –
pg. 24
 o Integrated Circuits (ICs), Chipsets, System on Chips (SoCs), Systems & IP Cores
and semiconductor linked design for over a period of 5 years.
• The DLI scheme aims to nurture at least 20 domestic companies involved in
semiconductor design and facilitating them to achieve turnover of more than ₹1500 Crore
in the next 5 years.
• C-DAC (Centre for Development of Advanced Computing) is the nodal agency for
implementation of the DLI scheme.
• The scheme has three components – Chip Design infrastructure support, Product
Design Linked Incentive and Deployment Linked Incentive.
Chip Design Product Design Linked Deployment Linked
infrastructure support Incentive Incentive
C-DAC will setup the India Under the scheme, a An incentive of 6% to 4%
Chip Centre to host the reimbursement of up of net sales turnover
state-of-the-art design to 50% of the eligible over 5 years subject to
infrastructure and expenditure subject to a a ceiling of ₹30 Crore
facilitate its access to ceiling of ₹15 Crore per application will be
supported companies. per application will be provided.
provided.
The India Chip Centre will The reimbursement will be It will be provided to
be equipped with EDA provided to approved approved applicants
Tools, IP Cores and applicants who are whose semiconductor
support for MPW (Multi engaged in design for Integrated
Project Wafer semiconductor design. Circuits (ICs), Chipsets,
fabrication) & post- System on Chips
silicon validation. (SoCs), Systems & IP
Cores and
semiconductor linked
design are deployed in
electronic products.

pg. 25
 • An applicant must meet the Threshold and Ceiling Limits to be eligible for disbursement of
incentives under the Scheme.
• Portal - www.chips-dli.gov.in - is available for inviting Online applications from January 1,
2022 to December 31, 2024.

68. Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has approved the establishment of a
first-of-its-kind centre for studying graphene.
• The centre will be developing its newer applications as suitable for industries.
• The India Innovation Centre for Graphene (IICG) will be established in Thrissur, Kerala.
• It will be a joint venture between Pune-headquartered Centre for Materials for
Electronics Technology (CMET), Digital University Kerala (DUK), Tata Steel Limited
and other industries.
• Estimated cost for establishing this centre is Rs 34 crores. Of this, 60% will be paid by
partnering industries.

69. At the 147th Foundation Day of India Meteorological Department (IMD) on 14th Jan, Ministry
of Earth Sciences has launched first ever Climate Hazards and Vulnerability Atlas of India.
• The Atlas has been developed by Climate Research and Services (CRS) office of the
India Meteorological Department (IMD), Pune.
• The Atlas is based on 14 extreme weather events and the risks they pose to the local
population, livelihoods and economy of each district.
• It provides details about each weather phenomenon’s month-wise hazard levels posed to
the respective district.

70. India Meteorological Department (IMD) has commissioned four doppler weather radars
(DWR).
• Purpose – to observe rainfall, the advance of cloud formations over a region,
thunderstorms, and lightning in real time.
• 1st - An X-band radar in Leh that is installed at the highest altitude anywhere in the country.
• 2nd - Delhi got its third doppler radar in the form of an X-band radar at Ayanagar.
• 3rd - Mumbai got its second radar, a C-band radar at Veravalli

pg. 26
 • 4th - An X-band radar in Chennai
• With the latest additions, the IMD now has 33 operational radars in the country.
• DWRs are used to study precipitation in the atmosphere.
• An app named ‘Public Observation’ – a crowd source mobile app – allows citizens to
report weather conditions in their locality in the app.

71. Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari has inaugurated the
“Power MAP” – India’s first Intelligent Chronic Disease Patients Habit Tracking System.
• Power MAP is a medical analytics application developed by Madhavbaug.
• Madhavbaug (Vaidya Sane Ayurved Labs Ltd), is a medical service institution that treats
chronic ailments like cardiac disease, diabetes, hypertension, and obesity with Ayurveda
and modern technology.

72. Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology is organising the 26th CISO Deep Dive
Training program under Cyber Surakshit Bharat initiative.
• Purpose – to acquaint participants with best practices in cyber security.
• The training program is a part of a series of workshops organised by the National e-
Governance Division.
• It will cover topics such as Governance Risk and Compliance and Data Privacy, Network
Security, End Point Security, Application and Data Security, Cloud Security, Mobile
Security, Cryptography, Cyber Security related provisions in IT Act, 2000.
• CISO - Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs)
• MeitY had initiated the Cyber Surakshit Programme in January 2018 to train 1200 CISOs
and frontline IT officials from Central and State Government, PSUs, Banks and government
organizations about cyber-resilience.

73. Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs celebrated Open Data Week from 17-21 January,
2022.
• Purpose - to encourage adoption of open data and promote innovation across India’s
urban ecosystem.

pg. 27
 • ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav - Smart Cities: Smart Urbanization’ conference is scheduled
to be held in Surat, during February 2022.
• The Open Data Week is a part of pre-event initiatives being undertaken by MoHUA to
promote awareness and use of open data.
• All 100 smart cities participated. These cities will be publishing high quality datasets and
data blogs on the Smart Cities Open Data Portal.
• Celebration of the week –
o 1st phase – dataset upload by all smart cities on the Smart Cities Open Data Portal
from Jan 17 to 20
o 2nd phase – celebration of Data Day on Jan 21

74. India and UAE have launched a first of its kind venture capital fund to boost the growth of
start-ups in India and UAE.
• The fund was launched from the India Pavilion at EXPO2020 Dubai.
• Ajai Chowdhry, HCL Founder and Chairman-Start-up Committee, FICCI, announced the
launch of this fund.
• Funding – UAE, India, and other Gulf Cooperation Council countries
• Target – It will target to invest in a minimum of 50 start-ups based in India and the UAE
over a period of 5 years, turning 10 unicorns by 2025.
• The Fund will also help early-stage start-ups in India and the UAE to develop into viable
global ventures and attain the unicorn level.
• The Indian Angel Network Fund (IAN) will offer benefits to the investors from the UAE
including the experience and knowledge that India offers.

75. Indian govt has announced to convert 150 villages into 'Villages of Excellence' in 12 States
with technical assistance from the Israel government.
• Israel government has already established 29 Centre of Excellence (CoEs) in these 12
States.
• The CoE are already producing more than 25 million vegetable plants, over 3,87,000
quality fruit plants and training more than 1.2 lakh farmers per year.
• The 150 villages that are located around CoE will be converted into 'Villages of Excellence'.

pg. 28
 • In the first year, 75 villages will be taken up to commemorate the 75th year of India's
independence.
• Tenure of the program – 2021-23
• MASHAV – Israeli Agency for International Development Cooperation – will provide training
to the farmers.
• New Israeli Ambassador to India - Naor Gilon

Additional Facts:
• India and Israel have completed 30 years of diplomatic relations.
• India had recognized Israel in 1950. However, both nations established their diplomatic ties
on Jan 29, 1992.
• India and Israel are also negotiating free trade agreement, which is expected to conclude
by June 2022. This FTA aims to increase the bilateral trade to $10 billion.
• India and Israel are also planning to develop a 10-year defence cooperation plan.
• Masada Fortress in Israel was illuminated on this occasion.

76. Geological Survey of India has approved the creation of India’s First Geological Park at
Lamheta, Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh.
• Lamheta is a UNESCO Geo Heritage Site. It is a significant place from geological
perspective.
• William Henry Sleeman had discovered Dinosaur fossil from this area in year 1928.

pg. 29
77. University Grants Commission (UGC) has developed a draft National Higher Educational
Qualification Framework (NHEQF).
• NHEQF is part of a set of reforms under the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
• All the universities will be covered under the NHEQF.
• The framework is not intended to promote a uniform curriculum or national common
syllabus.
• The aim is to upgrade all the higher education institutions to provide benchmark quality
education.
• The NHEQF will assess students on six levels of learning outcomes to give them UG
certificates, diplomas and degrees.
• NHEQF also fixes the number of credits required to clear the different levels of under-
graduation.
o Students who are looking to exit the undergraduate programme with a certificate will
require 40 credits; with a diploma after two years will need 80 credits; degree after
three years will have a requirement of 120 credits; degree with honours/research
after four years with 160 credits.
o One credit is equivalent to one hour of teaching (lecture or tutorial) or two hours of
practical work/fieldwork per week.

78. National Green Tribunal (NGT) has directed to constitute a ‘Fly Ash Management and
Utilisation Mission’ to monitor the disposal of unutilised fly ash.
• Fly Ash is produced in small dark flecks by the burning of powdered coal or other materials
and carried into the air.
• The Mission will also assess measures to use 1,670 million tonnes of accumulated fly
ash in the least hazardous manner and how all safety measures could be taken by the
power plants.
• The Mission will hold its first meeting within one month to prepare action plans to build road
maps for ash utilisation by individual plants and assess fly ash management by coal plants.
• Head of the Mission - Secretaries of the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate
Change, Union Ministry of Coal, and Ministry of Power

pg. 30
 • Nodal Agency - The office of the secretary of Ministry of Environment will be the nodal
agency for coordination and compliance.
• Separately, the Fly Ash Notification 2021 was issued under the Environment
(Protection) Act 1986 to prohibit dumping and disposal of fly ash on land or into water
bodies.
o Fine of Rs 1,000 per tonne is levied for non-compliant coal-based power plants.

79. Ministry of Electronics and IT have launched the ‘Digital Government Mission’ to boost
governance with the help of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning.

80. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has inaugurated the launch of 'Azadi Ke Amrit Mahotsav se
Swarnim Bharat Ki Ore'.
• During the event, PM Modi launched seven initiatives that will be undertaken by Brahma
Kumaris.
• Events -
o My India Healthy India, Aatmanirbhar Bharat: Self Reliant Farmers, Women: Flag
Bearers of India, Power of Peace Bus Campaign, Andekha Bharat Cycle Rally,
United India Motor Bike Campaign and green initiatives under Swachh Bharat
Abhiyan.

pg. 31
 • This event was organized on the occasion of the 53rd Ascension Anniversary of Pitashree
Prajapita Brahma.

About Brahma Kumaris:

• It is a worldwide spiritual movement that has now spread over to 130 countries.
• It was founded in India in 1937 by Pitashree Prajapita Brahma.

81. India has recently launched a slew of India-assisted projects in Mauritius.

• Mauritius PM - Pravind Kumar Jugnauth
• Projects –
o India-assisted social housing project
o Civil service college
o An 8-MW solar power project
o $190-million line of credit for the Metro Express Project and other infrastructure
projects
o An MoU for implementing small development projects will be exchanged.
• In February 2021, India and Mauritius signed a free trade agreement to make the island
nation a hub for Indian investments in the region and New Delhi extended a $100-million
line of credit to fund purchases of defence hardware.
o The Comprehensive Economic Cooperation And Partnership Agreement
(CECPA) signed with Mauritius was India’s first free trade agreement with any
African country.
• India has also given a Dornier aircraft and a Dhruv advanced light helicopter for
monitoring the exclusive economic zone of Mauritius.

82. Union Ministry of Environment has launched a ‘Star Rating’ system for state authorities
granting environment clearance (EC) in least possible time.
• Ranking of the State Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA) will be based
on several factors such as
o Average number of days for granting EC,

pg. 32
 o Percentage of disposal of fresh terms of reference (ToR) amendment proposals
awaiting for more than 30 days,
o Percentage of fresh EC awaiting for more than 105 days
o An average number of days taken for accepting the proposals for ToR/EC and
complaints reassessed by the SEIAAs.
• Purpose - to incentivise the states, based on the efficiency and timelines in the grant of EC.
• The rating for the SEIAA will be a dynamic process based on performance during the last 6
months.
• The Environment Impact Assessment Notification, 2006 prescribes the timeline for
grant of EC to 75 days from 105 days earlier.

83. Prime Minister Narendra Modi would unveil a 216-foot statue of Ramanujacharya, an 11th
century saint and a social reformer, in Hyderabad, Telangana on February 5.
• The statue, described as the 'Statue of Equality', is located in a 45-acre complex at
Shamshabad on the outskirts of the city.
• The statue is made of 'panchaloha', a mix of five metals - gold, silver, copper, brass and
zinc.
• Ramanujacharya was born in 1017 at Sriperumbudur in Tamil Nadu.

84. Centre govt has launched a Mobile Covid testing facility – a first of its kind Mobile
Diagnostic Laboratory (I-LAB) capable of performing both RT-PCR and ELISA tests – for
Northeast India.
• The facility began from Mizoram.
• It has been developed with support from the Department of Biotechnology (DBT) under
the Ministry of Science & Technology.

85. India and Sri Lanka have extended their science and technology cooperation for 3 more
years.
• The focus will be on areas like waste-water technologies, sustainable agriculture,
aerospace engineering, big data analytics, and artificial intelligence.

pg. 33
 • The decision was taken at the India-Sri Lanka 5th Joint Committee on S&T
Cooperation.

86. Common Services Centers (CSC) has launched the "Yogyata" mobile application to
provide vocational education and skill enhancement opportunities to youth and citizens
in rural areas across the country.
• Courses offered on the App - Cyber Security, CAD and 3D printing
• CSC e-Governance Services India Ltd.’s MD - Dinesh Tyagi

87. ISRO has successfully test-fired the Vikas engine that will power the ambitious Gaganyaan
mission into space.
• The test took place at ISRO's Propulsion Complex (IPRC), Mahendragiri, Odisha.

88. Jahnavi Dangeti, a second-year engineering student from Andhra Pradesh, has completed
International Air and Space Program (IASP) at Nasa Launch Operations' Kennedy Space
Centre in Alabama, US.
• She has become the only Indian to clear the program.
• Jahnavi is a member of International Organization of Aspiring Astronauts (IOAA).

89. Supreme Court has mandated the Centre to create a dedicated Indian Environment Service
in the central bureaucratic structure.
• The petition also sought directions from the court to set up an Indian Environmental
Service Academy in order to train officers for enforcing environment laws.
• The petition was filed by senior advocate K Sultan Singh.
• This was decision was taken on the recommendation of a committee headed by former
Cabinet secretary TSR Subramanian in 2014.
• The high-level committee was constituted in August 2014 under the chairmanship of
Subramanian by the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change to review
environmental laws in the country, and to bring them in line with the current requirements.

Recommendations of the Committee -

pg. 34
 • The committee submitted its report in November 2014.
• The report mentioned that India had a strong environmental policy and legislative
framework but weak implementation.
• To ensure implementation, an Indian Environment Service may be created, as an all-India
Service, based on qualifications and other details prescribed by MoEF&CC/ DoPT/ UPSC.
• Officers dealing with environment clearances and policies currently come from the all India
civil services conducted by the UPSC.

90. Ministry of Culture has organized the ‘Umang Rangoli Utsav’ on the occasion of National
Girl Child Day (on 24th January 2022).
• The participants drew rangoli decorations on the roads and squares named after the female
freedom fighters or the female role models of the country; in 19 states.

91. Ministry of Electronics and IT has outlined the vision of $300 billion electronic production
by 2026.
• Title of the vision document - “$300 bn Sustainable Electronics Manufacturing and
Exports by 2026”
• Purpose - to make electronics India’s third largest exports category exponentially
expanding exports to $120 billion from the current $10.6 billion.
• Mobile phone production would be the engine of this growth with an estimated
production of $126 billion followed by electronics hardware & IT along with industrial
electronics at $25 billion each.
• The report has been presented by India Cellular and Electronics Association.

National Policy on Electronics 2019:

• Target – manufacturing + exports to USD 400 billion (approximately INR 26,00,000 crore)
by 2025
• This will include production of 1 billion mobile handsets by 2025, valued at USD 190
billion (approximately INR 13,00,000 crore), including 600 million mobile handsets for
exports valued at USD 110 billion (approximately INR 7,00,000 crore).
• This policy replaced the National Policy of Electronics 2012.

pg. 35
 • The policy envisaged to create a Sovereign Patent Fund (SPF) to promote the
development and acquisition of patents in Electronics System Design and Manufacturing
(ESDM).

92. Lok Sabha secretariat has launched the “Digital Sansad” app.
• The Digital Sansad app is a brainchild of Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla who sought to
make parliamentary proceedings more accessible to people.
• The App will help people get all Parliamentary updates.
• It will become easier for citizens to access general information on MPs, on budget
speeches since 1947, House discussions from 12th Lok Sabha to 17th Lok Sabha.

93. India’s largest EV charging station has been established in Gurugram with 96 chargers.
• It will also set the standard as a prototype station for all the upcoming EV charging stations
of National Highways for Electric Vehicle (NHEV) pilot project.

94. 1st India-Central Asia Summit 2022 was held virtually. It was attended by all the Central
Asian leaders.
• At the summit, the leaders decided to establish an "India – Central Asia Centre” in New
Delhi which could act as the Secretariat for the India – Central Asia Summit.
• Delhi Declaration has been adopted by the leaders for strengthening India’s ties with its
‘Extended Neighbourhood’ (which includes the Central Asian countries).
• Countries decided to establish a Joint Working Group on Chabahar Port to address
issues of free movements of goods and services between India and Central Asian
countries.
• Another Joint Working Group on Afghanistan at Senior Officials Level was established.

95. Ministry of Housing And Urban Affairs, in collaboration with DPIIT and French agency
Agence Française de Développement (AFD) has launched the Swachhta Start-Up
challenge.
• Purpose - To provide an impetus to start-ups for transformation of sanitation and waste
management sector of India

pg. 36
 • It has been launched under Swachh Bharat Mission – Urban 2.0.
• The challenge invites solutions for 4 thematic areas –
o Social inclusion
o Zero dump
o Plastic waste management
o Transparency through digital enablement
• Top 10 awardees will receive Rs 25 lakhs along with one year incubation support.

96. 4th edition of the National Conference on Agriculture for Summer Campaign 2021-22 has
been organized by Ministry of Agriculture.
• The conference is also known as ‘Zaid Conference’.
• Department of Fertilizers gave estimated availability of fertilizers for Kharif 2022. The total
availability of Urea is likely to be 255.28 LMT.
o DAP: 81.24 LMT
o MOP: 18.5 LMT
o NPKS: 76.87 LMT
• Pulses and oilseeds will be promoted through Targeted Rice Fallow Area sub-
component of 'National Food Security Mission.
• The area under Zaid crops has increased from 29.71 to 80.46 lakh hectares in last 3
years.

97. Ministry of Electronics and IT has proposed to establish ‘Federated Digital Identities’ to
optimise the number of digital identities that a citizen needs to have.
• Under the initiative, various consumer identification data will be linked into a single unique
ID for digital transactions such as authentication and e-KYC services.
• It is a part of Ministry of Electronics and IT’s India Enterprise Architecture 2.0 (IndEA 2.0)
framework.
• The IndEA 2.0 framework aims to enable the governments and the private sector
enterprises to design IT architectures that can ensure the delivery of integrated services.

pg. 37
 STATE NEWS
1. Tamil Nadu has released the New Policy for Women 2021 for providing martial arts training
for school and college girls, giving 33.3% representation to women in political parties, giving
work to women under MGNREGA etc.
• Scope of Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya will be extended specifically in educationally
backward blocks, in order to cover adolescent girls aged up to 19 years of age.
• Women friendly transportation will also be established under the policy.

2. Indian School of Business (ISB), Hyderabad has signed an MoU with Jharkhand to
empower the state’s forest economy.
• Parties to the MoU – State Department of ST, SC, Minority and OBC Welfare, State
Department of Forests and Bharti Institute of Public Policy at ISB.
• Purpose – to improve Jharkhand’s forest economy by creating clusters, connecting local
communities and industry leaders, and enhancing the value-addition to the forest products
via a sustainable model.
• Also, ISB and Jharkhand will work for creating employment opportunities in the forest and
related sector through this partnership.

3. Portuguese football legend Cristiano Ronaldo's statue has been installed in Panaji, Goa to
inspire the youth and take football to next level in the state and country.

4. Uttarakhand CM Pushkar Singh Dhami has launched a Free Mobile Tablet scheme for
students.
• About 2.65 lakh students of Class 10 and 12 of degree colleges and state schools will get
benefit from this scheme.
• ₹12,000 was given by the Direct Benefit Transfer for buying mobile tablets to class 10 and
12 students of state government schools.

pg. 38
5. Mumbai water taxi services is going to start in January 2022 to provide connectivity
between the Domestic Cruise Terminal at Ferry Wharf and the terminals at Belapur and
Nerul.

6. Foundation stone of Major Dhyan Chand Sports University was laid in Uttar Pradesh's
Meerut.
• The university is being established at Salawa and Kaili villages of Sardhana town in Meerut
at an estimated cost of about ₹700 Crore.

7. Jammu & Kashmir has announced to release its own District-level Good Governance Index
to assess the governance practices of districts in the UT.
• It is modelled on the State-level Good Governance Index.
• With this, J&K will become the first Union Territory in the country to have a district level
Good Governance Index.
• 58 Indicators divided in 10 sectors will be used for assessment.
• Central Govt will set up District Good Governance Index (DGGI) in J&K and the
Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (under Ministry of
Personnel) will prepare the index, in collaboration with the Union Territory Government.
• Technical support for the framework of this index is being provided by the Centre for Good
Governance (CGG), Hyderabad.
• Total number of districts in J&K is 20.

8. Losar Festival – Tibetan New Year – was celebrated in Ladakh.

9. Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid tributes to Rani Velu Nachiyar on her birth anniversary.
• She was the Sivaganga queen in Tamil Nadu who waged war against the British.
• She was born in 1730. She is hailed for her campaign against the East India Company.

10. Azure Power has commissioned a 600 MW solar power project in Bikaner, Rajasthan.
• This is the largest solar power project in India, owned and operated at a single location
by any developer.

pg. 39
 • The power generated from the project will be supplied to Solar Energy Corporation of India
(SECI) at a tariff of Rs 2.53 per kWh for 25 years.

11. Himachal Pradesh has become the first LPG enabled and smoke free state in the country
due to Ujjwala scheme of the Centre and Grihini Suvidha Yojana of the state government.
• The Center government had started the Ujjwala scheme to get rid of the diseases caused
by smoke.
• Along with this, the Himachal government also started the Grihini Suvidha Yojana to benefit
more and more women under the scheme.

12. Odisha Wildlife Organization has conducted a bird census in the Chilika lake - Asia’s
largest brackish water lagoon.
• The census was jointly conducted by the Odisha State Wildlife Organisation, Chilika
Development Authority and the Bombay Natural History Society.
• Nalabana (Island) Sanctuary – a Ramsar-designated wetland located within Chilika Lake
– was also surveyed.
• The survey found over 10 birds from 183 species at the lake. This is down from around
11.40 lakh birds of 190 species counted last year.
• Species that were seen during the survey - Uncommon Mangolian gulls, Northern pintail,
gadwall, Eurasian wigeon, northern shoveler, tufted duck, flamingo, red-crested pochard,
purple swamp-hen, purple heron, Indian moorhen, and jacanas.

13. Karnataka has signed an MoU with Singapore-based LNG Alliance Company for setting up
the State’s first LNG Terminal in Mangaluru.
• The terminal will be set up in association with New Mangalore Port Trust (NMPT) with an
investment of ₹2,250 crore.
• Additionally, Karnataka government has also approved a new policy to introduce electric
bike taxi services in all major urban centres in the state.

14. Imphal Smart Cities Project worth at a cost of over Rs 170 crores has been launched in
Imphal, Manipur. Under the project, Integrated Command and Control Centre,

pg. 40
 Development of Western Riverfront on Imphal river, and Development of Mall Road at
Thangal Bazar will be developed.
• Foundation stone of the Centre for Invention, Innovation, Incubation, and Training
(CIIIT) was also laid in Manipur.
• Foundation stone of Manipur Institute of Performing Arts was laid at Gurgaon, Haryana.

15. Project Mission 100 of Vidyajyoti Schools was launched in Tripura to improve the quality of
education by upgrading 100 schools with state of the art facilities at a cost of around Rs 500
crores.
• Mukhyamantri Tripura Gram Samriddhi Yojana was also launched to improve the
service delivery at the village level in core development sectors like tap water connections,
electricity etc.
• PM Narendra Modi also inaugurated the New Integrated Terminal Building of Maharaja
Bir Bikram Airport at Agartala, Tripura.

16. Punjab govt has constituted a high-level committee, chaired by Justice Mehtab Singh Gill
(retd), to look into the lapses that occurred during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to
Ferozepur.

17. Gujarat CM Bhupendra Patel has inaugurated a two-day International Conference of

Academic Institutions at Science City, as a precursor to the 10th Vibrant Gujarat Global
Summit, scheduled to take place between January 10 and 12.
• During the ceremony, Patel launched the 2nd edition of the Student Start-up and
Innovation Policy (SSIP 2.0).
• The five-year tenure of SSIP 1.0 is scheduled to end on January 10, 2022. Hence, the SSIP
2.0 has been launched till March 2027.
• Under the scheme, the new policy aims to establish an innovation and incubation centre
in each of the 90-odd universities in Gujarat.
• The policy also aims to upscale nearly 1,500 student start-ups and incubate 500 start-
ups through iHub, Gujarat government’s startup incubator.

pg. 41
 • Australia, Canada, Norway, the UK and France have joined as partner countries for this
conference.

18. Odisha’s Ganjam district has declared itself a child marriage free district — the first in the
State.
• For stopping child marriages, Ganjam had started a programme named Nirbhaya Kadhi
(Fearless bud).
• Under the program, steps like ground-level monitoring of absent girls from schools,
counselling of the girls, making Aadhar mandatory for conducting marriage etc. were taken.
• Also, the informants of child-marriages were Rs 50,000 as award, increased from Rs 5,000
earlier.

19. Jammu and Kashmir government has signed an MoU with LuLu Group (hypermarket and
retail giant based in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates) to set up a food processing and
logistics hub in Srinagar.
• The Jammu and Kashmir government has declared around 169.75 acres as “strategic
areas” in the tourist hotspots of Gulmarg and Sonamarg in north and central Kashmir.

20. Syntizen, a Digital Identity Solutions provider, has partnered with the Odisha government to
provide a Video KYC solution to help them offer life certificates to pensioners.
• Odisha has become the first state in the country to deploy a digital process which
includes Aadhaar Validation for smoothening the process of obtaining a life certificate.

21. Himachal Pradesh CM Jai Ram Thakur has launched the portal UNNATI and the mobile
app of HP State Industrial Development Corporation (HPSIDC).
• The portal would give users the ability to work in collaboration with others and focus on
individual projects.
• Apart from real-time collaboration, the UNNATI portal would allow users to share and work
on documents together from any place and any time.

pg. 42
22. Industrial Promotion and Investment Corporation of Odisha (IPICOL) and GAIL (India)
Limited have signed an MoU for cooperation in the areas of green hydrogen, green
ammonia and renewable energy (solar/wind) for the production of eco-friendly fuels in
Odisha.
• Also, NHPC has signed a pact with Green Energy Development Corporation of Odisha
Ltd (GEDCOL) to form a joint venture (JV) for setting up a 500-megawatt (MW) floating
solar power projects in Odisha.
• NHPC will hold a 74% equity stake, while GEDCOL will have 26%.
• It will have an authorised share capital of Rs 500 crore.

23. Sikkim celebrated Losoong (Namsoong) festival to mark the beginning of the new harvest
season.
• The festival is celebrated in the 10th month of Tibetan lunar calendar.
• The losoong festival is celebrated as Sonam Losoong, by the Sikkimese Bhutia and as
Namsoong by the Lepchas.
• The festival is also celebrated in Nepal and Bhutan.

24. National Dairy Development Board has signed an MoU with Assam to develop the dairy
sector in the state.
• For this, a joint venture worth Rs 2000 crore will be established with the target of
processing ten lakh litres of milk at six new milk processing units over seven years.

25. Telangana has launched the first of its kind ‘Urban Forest Park’ app to allow citizens look for
the urban forest and parks in their nearby areas.

26. The first electric boat in the Water Metro fleet, which would be handed over to Kochi Metro
Rail Ltd (KMRL) by Cochin Shipyard Ltd (CSL), was developed with state-of-the-art
technology.
• It is the first time in the world that a centrally controlled integrated water transport system
with a large fleet, is being powered by battery.

pg. 43
27. National Health Mission, Assam, in collaboration with Piramal Swasthya and Cisco, has
launched “Niramay” project to integrate digital health technology with the public health
care delivery in the state.
• This initiative aims to facilitate the roll out of Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission in the
state.
• This initiative is based on Piramal Swasthya’s indigenous integrated health technology
platform ‘AMRIT’.

28. 9th edition of the North-East Festival will be held in Guwahati, Assam.

29. Odisha government has increased the upper age limit for entry into the government and
state civil services from 32 to 38 years.
• The amendments were made in the State Civil Services Rules, 1989 Act.
• Upper age limit relaxations for Odisha Civil Services
o SC/ST/SEBC: 43 years (38+5)
o Women of all categories: 43 years (38+5)
o General PwD category: 48 (38+10)
• Odisha is already running the MUKTA – Mukhyamantri Karma Tatpara Abhiyan to
generate employment for the urban poor.

30. Ministry of Railways has approved the renaming of the Kevadiya railway station in the
Narmada district of Gujarat, as Ekta Nagar railway station.

31. Kumbalangi in Kerala’s Ernakulam district is set to become the first ever sanitary napkin-
free village in India.

pg. 44
 • A total of 5,000 menstrual cups will be distributed to women aged 18 and above at an
event.
• Kumbalanghi will be declared a model village by the Governor at the same event. The
model village project is implemented through Pradhan Mantri Sansad Adarsh Gram
Yojana (SAGY).
• Kumbalanghi will also have a new tourist information center.
• It also holds the title of India's first model tourist village.

32. Adani Group and South Korea's POSCO have signed an MoU to establish a steel mill as
well as other businesses at Mundra in Gujarat.
• The investment is estimated to be up to USD 5 Billion.

33. West Bengal govt has received a loan of Rs 1000 crores approx. ($125 million) from World
Bank for its social protection schemes.
• West Bengal was facing financial constraints in fulfilling its obligation in the social protection
schemes, and paying allowances.
• West Bengal has been running more than 400 schemes to provide social assistance,
protection, care services and jobs through its ‘Joy Bangla’ portal.
• The loan has been given under the ‘West Bengal Building State Capability for Inclusive
Social Protection’ operation to strengthen the capability of this state to expand coverage
and access to social assistance.

34. Kollam district of Kerala has launched the first of its kind ‘Citizen Constitution Literacy
Campaign’ to educate the residents of the district about the basics of constitution.
• It is organized by the Kerala Institute of Local Administration and District Planning
Committee.

35. Andhra Pradesh has launched the Mahila Police cadre, having five ranks, under the Andhra
Pradesh Mahila Police (Subordinate Service) Rules, 2021.

pg. 45
36. Reliance Industries has signed an MoU with the Gujarat Government for a total investment
of Rs 5.955 lakh crore as part of Investment Promotion Activity for Vibrant Gujarat Summit
2022.
• These projects will create 10 lakh direct / indirect employment opportunities in the State.
• To make Gujarat net zero and carbon free, RIL proposed to invest Rs 5 lakh crore in 10
to 15 years to set up 100 GW Renewable Energy Power Plant and Green Hydrogen
Eco-System development.
• This plant is expected to be established in Kutch, Banaskantha and Dholera.
• RIL will invest another Rs 60,000 crore in setting up New Energy Manufacturing-
Integrated Renewable Manufacturing: 1) Solar PV Module (manufacture of Polysilicon,
wafer, cell & module); 2) Electrolyzer; 3) Energy-storage Battery; 4) Fuel Cells.

37. Chhattisgarh government has decided to set up an employment (Rozgar) mission headed
by CM Bhupesh Baghel to create around 15 lakh job opportunities in the state in the next five
years.
• Under the mission, the state government will also leverage expertise of premiere institutions
such as the IITs, International Institute of Information Technology (IIIT), Indian Institute of
Management (IIM) and National Institute of Technology, in the state.

38. The Tamil Nadu government will seek permission from UK govt to install a statue of Col.
John Pennycuick in Camberley, United Kingdom.
• Pennycuick is the birthplace of the British Army Engineer, who was instrumental in
constructing the Mullaperiyar reservoir. The dam was constructed in 1895.
• There is already a statue and a memorial of Pennycuick in Tamil Nadu.

About the Mullaperiyar Dam:

• According to the “Ageing Water Infrastructure: An Emerging Global Risk” 2021 report
released by United Nations University (UNU) Institute for Water, Environment &
Health, Mullaperiyar Dam (aged over 125 years) threatens the lives of 3.5 million people if
it fails.

pg. 46
 • As per the report, 50 years is the average lifetime of a dam after which the dam starts
showing signs of ageing.
• Tamil Nadu and Kerala are in dispute over the construction of the Mullaperiyar Dam.
• It is built on Periyar River. Kerala is situated at the downstream of this dam.

39. Central Govt started a special awareness drive to provide proper information to growers
about the cultivation and processing of aromatic plants.
• The Department of the Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine (IIIM) and the
Department of Agriculture is conducting the drive to enhance employment opportunities
for the youths of J&K.

40. Telangana govt has approved ‘Mana ooru, mana badi’ programme aimed at all-round
development and creation of effective basic infrastructure in schools across the State.
• Digital classrooms will be set up, in addition to the construction of additional classrooms
and taking up repairs to schools.

41. Odisha has signed an agreement with United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) to
improve the food security of small and marginal farmers by strengthening their resilience to
climate change.
• In this initiative, advisories will be provided to small farmers of the state, which is
particularly prone to cyclones, to help them adapt to impact of the climate crisis.

42. Spituk Gustor festival is celebrated at the Spituk Monastery, Ladakh.

• Colourful mask dance (Chams) performed by the monks of the monastery in their best
robes depicting different deities such as Mahakala (Gonbo) - Protector Deity - the main
attraction of the festival.

43. Torgya Festival – a new year festival – is celebrated at the Tawang monastery, Arunachal
Pradesh.
• The Torgya festival is celebrated by the Monpa community of Arunachal Pradesh.

pg. 47
 • It is held according to the Buddhist calendar days of 28th to 30th of Dawachukchipa (11th of
the moon), which corresponds to 10 to 12 January of the Gregorian calendar.

44. Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve (a UNESCO world heritage site) has conducted
its annual waterfowl census.
• The census aims to count and record the waterfowl and winter-migratory birds and
monitor and assess the health of wetlands.
• The census is going on in Kaziranga National Park, Burhachapori wildlife sanctuary.
• Area of census - 52 wetlands in Kaziranga National Park & Tiger Reserve
• Population of birds (as per last survey) - The total number of birds has increased from
34284 in 2020 to 93491 in 2021, which amounts to a rise by 175% in just one year.

45. Telangana is implementing the KCR Kit Scheme for pregnant women, who give birth in govt
hospitals.
• Pregnant women can utilize this scheme for maximum 2 deliveries.
• The kit provides all the necessary items for pregnant women and the new-born baby.
• Under this scheme, pregnant women will be provided with financial assistance of Rs.
12,000 in three phases. In case of a girl child, an additional Rs. 1000 will be given by the
government.
• KCR Kit scheme is in operation since 2017.

46. Tripura celebrated the 44th edition of the Kokborok Day, aka Tripuri Language Day, on Jan
19 to develop the Kokborok Language.
• The day commemorates the recognition of Kokborok as the official language of the state
of Tripura (in addition to Bengali and English) in 1979.

47. Delhi Police has launched the ‘Operation Sajag’ in October 2021 to reduce crime in the UT.

48. Arunachal Pradesh government has announced to establish Arunachal Pradesh

Infrastructure Financing Authority to expedite infrastructure development.
• Arunachal Pradesh celebrates the statehood day on 20 February 1972.

pg. 48
49. Statehood Day of Manipur, Meghalaya and Tripura was celebrated on 21st January.
• On 21st January, 1972, all the three states became full-fledged states under the North
Eastern Region (Reorganisation) Act, 1971.

50. Himachal Pradesh celebrated its 50th statehood day on January 25.
• It became the 18th state of India on January 25, 1971.

pg. 49
51. Delhi government has launched a dedicated one-stop website for the promotion and
adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) across the capital.
• Website - ev.delhi.gov.in
• The website includes a ‘charging stations explorer’, ‘EV calculator’, ‘EV search’ and ‘EV
dashboard’ among others.

52. Karnataka Government has launched the AVGC (animation, visual effects, gaming, and
comics) center of excellence at Mahadevapura, Bengaluru as it aims to become a high
technology digital media hub.
• Karnataka has now become the first state to set up the first centre of excellence in AVGC.
• Karnataka is the first state in India to bring an AVGC policy in 2012.
• At present, India has a share of around 10% of the global AVGC market and has the
potential to reach 20-25% by 2027.
• Karnataka accounts for a 20% share of the Indian Entertainment & AVGC industry. A total
of over 300 animation, VFX & gaming studios operate in Karnataka employing over 15,000
plus professionals.

53. Jammu and Kashmir UT has declared Jerri settlement (a hamlet) in Reasi district as the
first ‘Milk Village’ of the Union Territory.
• The UT govt sanctioned 57 more dairy farms under the Integrated Dairy Development
Scheme (IDDS) of the UT for the hamlet.
• Under the IDDS, dairy units with five animals are provided with a 50% subsidy.

54. Himachal Pradesh CM Jai Ram Thakur has launched the Apna Kangra App and Apna
Kangra hamper—a product handcrafted by self-help groups—at Dharamshala.
• Apna Kangra App would provide a unique experience for any tourist who plans to explore
various destinations in Kangra.
• The CM also inaugurated Radhe Krishna Cow Sanctuary at Luthan in Kangra district.

pg. 50
55. AgNext Technologies (Agritech company) has collaborated with NAFED to organise a virtual
training and awareness programme on quality assessment of pulses for Farmer
Producer Organisations (FPOs) in Maharashtra.
• AgNext has engaged with five FPOs in the state to create awareness about quality
standards of pulses, particularly tur, for the upcoming procurement season.
• The FPOs will in turn train 40,000-50,000 farmers from across the state.
• AgNext’s physical quality assessment device ‘SpecX Visio’ can instantly analyse tur dal
samples and conduct a physical quality check in less than a minute.
• AgNext Technologies’ CEO and Founder - Taranjeet Singh Bhamra

56. Himachal Pradesh and Haryana govt have signed an MoU for the construction of Adi Badri
Dam.
• The Dam would come up on 77 acres in Himachal Pradesh near Adi Badri area of Yamuna
Nagar district of Haryana.
• The Dam would get 224 hectare metre water from Somb River of Himachal Pradesh that
falls in Yamuna near Adi Badri in Yamuna Nagar district, UP.
• Purpose of the dam – to revive Saraswati River by ensuring a continuous flow of 20 cubic
second water in the river

57. Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) has underlined some rules for the living root-bridges of
Meghalaya to get the UNESCO World Heritage Site tag.
• A living root bridge is made up of the roots of rubber fig tree (Ficus elastica) across a
stream or river.
• Such a bridge is locally called jingkieng jri.
• ZSI Director - Dhriti Banerjee

58. National Green Tribunal (NGT) has directed Delhi and Haryana to rejuvenate and protect the
Najafgarh jheel, a transboundary wetland.

59. Gujarat government has named an under-bridge in Rajkot after General Bipin Rawat to
honour the country's first Chief of Defence Staff.

pg. 51
 • The under-bridge is located in Laxmi Nagar area.

60. Karnataka has launched the 'Brain Health Initiative', a first-of-its-kind in the country,
undertaken by Bangalore-based NIMHANS in association with NITI Aayog in the state.
• Under this programme, the doctors will be trained in screening and treating mental health
patients.
• The initiative is being rolled out in Bengaluru, Kolar and Chikkaballapur districts on pilot
basis.
• NIMHANS stands for National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences

61. Andhra Pradesh has allowed the creation of 13 more districts in the state, taking the total
number of districts in the state to 26.

62. Grama One centres will be established in all gram panchayat limits in Karnataka by the end
of March.
• Purpose – the centres will provide the govt services in rural areas from one centre.

63. Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG) under the Union
Personnel Ministry will collaborate with J&K govt for the next-generation administrative
reforms.
• Reforms include –
o An online portal for monitoring progress in 58 District Good Governance Index
Indicators
o Adoption of e-HRMS in the Jammu and Srinagar secretariats
o Online monitoring of citizen satisfaction in 150 e-services through Jammu & Kashmir
e-services delivery assessment framework

64. Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) Chhattisgarh (Rural) 2021 has been released
by Pratham Foundation.
• It was a phone-based two stage survey, conducted in in October-November 2021 in 28
districts of Chhattisgarh.

pg. 52
 • Sampling size was 1,200 households per district.
• Parameters of assessment - foundational reading and arithmetic skills

Findings –
• The proportion of children who were unable to recognise even letters in classes 2, 3, and
6 has doubled since 2018.
o Only 12.3% pupils in class 3 were able to read class 2-level text, down from 29.8% in
2018.
• The proportion of children who were unable to recognise even single-digit numbers has
increased since 2018 from 11.4% to 24.3% in class 2, and from 1.7% to 4.5% in class 5.
• Both in terms of reading and numerical abilities, children have touched the lowest point in a
decade, driven by pandemic-led closure of schools. Examples -
o In 2014, 70.7% children in class 2 of government schools could read letters. This
improved to 76.3% in 2018. But, in 2021, it had crashed to 57%.
o In the case of arithmetic, 14.2% of children in class 3 (in both government and
private schools combined) could do subtractions in 2014; this reached 19.3% in
2016. But, in 2021, this number stood at just 9%.
• An increase in government school enrolment was seen from 76.4% in 2018 to 82.9% in
2021 in the age group of 6-14 years

Another Report –
• A study carried out by Azim Premji University in over 1000 public schools across
Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Uttarakhand in January 2021
had found that 92% of primary school students had lost at least one language ability
from the previous year.
• 82% of students in classes 2-6 had lost at least one mathematical ability during the same
period.
• The results of Centre’s National Achievement Survey (NAS) will be out in March 2022.

65. Karnataka government is all set to establish a military school in the name of freedom fighter
Sangolli Rayanna at a cost of Rs 180 crore.

pg. 53
 • It was announced on the occasion of 191st Remembrance Day of Sangoli Rayanna.
• Sangoli Rayanna (15 August 1798 – 26 January 1831) was a revolutionary, military chief
and warrior during the tenure of Rani Channamma.

66. Experts from the Wildlife Institute of India (Dehradun), Zoological Survey of India (Kolkata),
and Bombay Natural History Society have been roped in by the Andhra Pradesh to prevent
mass mortality of spot-billed pelicans (Pelicanus philippensis) at Telineelapuram in
Naupada swamp in Srikakulam district.
• Andhra Pradesh has also launched the AP Seva Portal 2.0 (Citizen Service portal) to
provide better services to the citizens.

67. First freight train has reached Manipur. It will boost connectivity in the North-East state.
• The train travelled from Silchar in Assam to Rani Gaidinliu station in Tamenglong in
Manipur.
• India’s longest train tunnel will be constructed to connect Imphal with Guwahati.

AGRICULTURE AND RURAL

DEVELOPMENT
1. Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), an
arm of Ministry of Commerce, has identified potential districts of Uttar Pradesh to be covered
under the Varanasi Agri-Export Hub (VAEH) for promotion of exports from that region.
• VAEH aims to promote exports from the Purvanchal region of the state.
• The Purvanchal division of the state covers districts of Varanasi, Mirzapur, Azamgarh,
Prayagraj, Gorakhpur, Basti, Ghazipur, Jaunpur, Chandauli and Sant Ravidas Nagar.

2. India has announced to start exports of mango and pomegranate to the US from January-
February to boost India’s exports of agri-products.
• It is pursuant to the 12th India-USA trade policy forum meeting held in November 2021,
the Department of Agriculture and farmer's welfare and the US Department of Agriculture

pg. 54
 (USDA) have signed a framework agreement for implementing the 2 Vs 2 agri-market
access issues.
• This agreement gave entry to Indian mangoes and pomegranate in the US market and US
cherries and Alfalfa hay in Indian market.

3. India has agreed to allow imports of US pork and pork products into India for the first time,
removing a long-standing barrier to US agricultural trade.
• It took nearly two decades of work to gain market access for US pork to India.
• In 2020, the US was the world's third-largest pork producer and second-largest
exporter, with global sales of pork and pork products valued at USD 7.7 billion.
• In FY21, the US exported over USD 1.6 billion of agricultural products to India.

4. According to the Ministry of Commerce and Industry’s data, India has emerged as the world’s
largest exporter of gherkins, also known as pickling cucumber or cornichons, in 2020-21.
• India exported $223 million worth of gherkins in FY21, which is equanimous to 2,23,515
metric tonne.
• India has already exported gherkins worth $114 million from April-October 2021.
• Hence, India has become the Pickle King of The World.
• Out of the global requirement of gherkins, India alone meets 15% approx. of its demand. It
is imported in more than 20 countries.

pg. 55
Additional Facts:
• Gherkins are exported under two categories- cucumbers and gherkins, which are
prepared and preserved by vinegar or acetic acid and those which are provisionally
preserved.
• In India, cultivation of gherkins is carried out under contract farming by around 90,000
small and marginal farmers with an annual production area of 65,000 acres.
• Gherkin cultivation, processing and exports started in India during the early 1990s with a
modest beginning in Karnataka and later extended to the neighbouring states of Tamil
Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
• On an average, a gherkin farmer produces 4 metric tonne per acre per crop and earns
about ₹80,000 with a net income of ₹40,000. Gherkin has a 90-day crop and the farmers
take two crops annually.
• Scientific name of Gherkins - Cucumis anguria

pg. 56
5. Centre has amended the guidelines of “Sub-Mission on Agricultural Mechanization” to
make drone technology affordable and accessible to the stakeholders in agriculture sector.
• Under the guidelines, a grant of 100% of the cost of drones or Rs 10 lakh whichever is less
will be provided to the agricultural institutes.
• The grant will be provided for the purchase of drones by the Farm Machinery Training and,
Testing Institutes, ICAR institutes, Krishi Vigyan Kendras and State Agriculture Universities
for taking up large-scale demonstrations of this technology on the farmers’ fields.

DEFENCE NEWS
1. Ministry of Defence has notified a list of another 2,500 subsystems and components and
351 more imported items to be made locally in the next three years.
• Earlier, the Ministry launched the two positive indigenisation lists barring import of 209
major platforms and systems.
• This will save approximately equivalent to ₹3,000 crore every year.
• At present, India’s defence and aerospace manufacturing market was worth ₹85,000 crore,
of which the present contribution of the private sector was ₹18,000 crore.
• In 2022, the country’s defence and aerospace manufacturing market would increase to
₹1 lakh crore and could reach ₹5 lakh crore by 2047.

2. The Rafale maritime fighter aircraft has demonstrated its operational capability at a naval
facility in Goa.
• The demonstration by the naval variant of the Rafale jet took place at the shore-based test
facility (SBTF) at INS Hansa, the naval air station in Goa.
• Indian Navy plans to acquire a fleet of combat jets for its indigenous aircraft carrier (IAC)
INS Vikrant.

3. Indian Armed Forces has selected Swedish defence company ‘Saab’ for supplying single-
shot anti-armour weapon AT4 to Indian Army and Indian Air Force.
• AT4 is carried by a single soldier to destroy structures, landing craft, helicopters, armoured
vehicles and personnel.

pg. 57
 • Its 84 mm calibre warhead offers enhanced power and performance.

4. DRDO has test fired sea-to-sea Brahmos supersonic cruise missile from INS
Vishakhapatnam.

About Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR):

• Launched in 1987 by G7 countries, this treaty is ratified by 35 countries, which have
pledged to reduce the proliferation of missiles and missile technology.
• The countries who have signed the treaty can develop missile above the capacity of 500 kg
payload and 300 km range.
• India joined the treaty in 2016.

5. Border Security Force will increase surveillance along the Pakistan border in Rajasthan
under its "Operation Sard Hawa" from January 23 to 28.
• Due to fog and haze on the border during winter, the force remains on "high alert" to deal
with infiltration and other nefarious activities from across the border.
• The BSF conducts "Operation Garam Hawa" in summer and "Operation Sard Hawa" in
winter every year.

6. Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) has signed a contract with the Mauritius government
to export one advanced light helicopter (ALH Mk-III) for the country's police force.
• The Mauritius government already operates HAL-built ALH and Do-228 aircraft.
• ALH Mk-III is a multi-role, multi-mission versatile helicopter in 5.5 tonne category.

pg. 58
7. India and Philippines are expected to sign a $374.9 million deal for ‘BrahMos shore-based
supersonic cruise missile systems’ supply.

8. Ministry of Defence has set up Raksha Pension Shikayat Nivaran Portal - an online portal -
to resolve pension-related grievances of ex-servicemen (ESM) and their dependents,
• Separately, Defence Ministry has allotted Rs 320 crore to Armed Forces Flag Day Fund
(AFFDF) to clear all backlog of pending applications for welfare schemes, especially
education and marriage grants for widows or dependent children of ESM.

9. India and Japan conducted a Maritime Partnership Exercise in the Bay of Bengal.
• Participating ships - Indian Naval Ships Shivalik & Kadmatt with Japan Maritime Self-
Defence Force Ships Uraga and Hirado.

10. Indian Navy and Russian Federation Navy conducted a passing exercise in the Arabian
Sea.
• Participating Ships - INS Kochi and Russian Federation Navy's destroyer Admiral Tributs

pg. 59
11. A joint maritime exercise Paschim Lehar (XPL-2022) was conducted by the Indian Navy
and Indian Coast Guard, off the West Coast, in the Arabian Sea.
• The exercise was conducted under the aegis of C-in-C, Western Naval Command.
• It was an intra-theatre exercise, included mobilisation and participation of over 40 ships
and submarines of the Indian Navy.

12. The indigenous Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) MK III aircraft was formally inducted at
INS Utkrosh by Commander-in-Chief, Andaman and Nicobar Command (CINCAN), Lieutenant
General Ajai Singh at Port Blair.
• The ALH MK III aircraft has been developed by Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd.

MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING
1. Union Cabinet has approved the MoU between India and Nepal for construction of bridge
over Mahakali River at Dharchula (India)- Dharchula (Nepal).

2. Union Cabinet has approved the signing of MoU between India and Turkmenistan on
Cooperation in the field of Disaster Management.
• It will help in strengthening the areas of preparedness, response and capacity building in
the field of Disaster Management.

3. Union Cabinet has approved the signing of an agreement between India and Spain for
cooperation in custom related matters.
• Both nations will collaborate on preventing custom related offences and preparing a legal
framework.

4. National Institute of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj (NIRDPR), Hyderabad and
National Centre for Good Governance (NCGG), New Delhi have signed an MoU.
• Purpose - to promote inclusive good governance, strengthening of local institutions and
effective implementation of government programmes.

pg. 60
 • Both organizations will work for bringing better good governance mechanisms into practice
across all programmes and schemes.

5. Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship (MSDE) has signed an MoU with Indira
Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) to link vocational education and training with
higher education.
• Purpose – to strengthen the vocational and technical training framework.
• The beneficiaries of the programme include trainees attached to the National Skill
Training Institutes (NSTIs), Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs), Pradhan Mantri
Kaushal Kendras (PMKKs), and Jan Shikshan Sansthans (JSS).
• The progress of the programme will be monitored and reviewed by a project steering
committee, which will include members from IGNOU and the skill ministry.
• Nearly 32 NSTIs, 3000 ITIs, 500 PMKKs and 300 JSS will be associated with IGNOU as
registration, examination, and work centres.

6. Amazon India has signed an MoU with the NIF Incubation and Entrepreneurship Council
(NIFientreC) to strengthen grassroots innovation, local economy, and livelihoods across rural
India.
• Purpose – It will bring digitisation and e-commerce to grassroots entrepreneurs and
student innovations and increase the market reach of the rural entrepreneurs.
• NIFientreC is a technology business incubator hosted by National Innovation Foundation
(NIF), an autonomous body of the Department of Science and Technology (DST).
• NIFientreC’s Chairperson - Gulshan Rai

7. International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA) has signed an MoU with the
Insurance Institute of India (III) for capacity building of professionals in the insurance
sector in International Financial Services Centres (IFSCs).

8. CSIR and Institut Pasteur (based in France) have signed an MoU for cooperation in health
research.

pg. 61
 • CSIR and Institut Pasteur would be jointly researching and focusing on emerging and re-
emerging infectious diseases and inherited disorders.
• Both organizations will also research on enabling the delivery of effective and affordable
healthcare solutions not only for the people of India and France but for the global good.

9. Indian Naval Placement Agency (INPA) has signed an MoU with IIFL Home Finance
Limited to explore employment opportunities for naval veterans within the company.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS
1. Iran has carried out a new space launch on its Simorgh satellite launcher.
• In February 2021, Iran announced a successful test of its most powerful solid fuel satellite
launcher to date, the Zoljanah, boasting that it can put a 220-kilogramme payload into orbit.

2. Antigua and Barbuda has become the 102nd signatory country of the International Solar
Alliance (ISA).
• Parties to the ISA – 81 countries
• Director-General of ISA – Ajay Mathur
• ISA’s current President and Co-President – India and France
• ISA’s Secretariate – Gurugram, Haryana
• India is also planning to extend a line of credit of USD 10 million to Antigua and Barbuda
in the solar energy sector.
• ISA is also joining the 10th Vibrant Gujarat Summit on January 10-12, 2022 as its partner
organization.

pg. 62
3. Recently, Lithuania has allowed Taiwan to open its embassy in Lithuania. This step is being
supported by the USA and the Bucharest Nine (B9) Group.
• The Bucharest Nine Group was formed in 2015 in Bucharest, Romania to condemn
Russia’s annexation of the Crimean peninsula in 2014.
• The group include Poland, Bulgaria, Romania, Slovakia, Estonia Lithuania, Latvia, Hungary,
and Czech Republic.

4. Atacama Large Millimetre / Submillimetre Array (ALMA), an astronomical interferometer of

66 radio telescopes in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile, has detected a new born star and
the surrounding cocoon of a complex organic matter.
• ALMA is the joint effort of Europe, the United States, Japan, Canada, Taiwan, South Korea
and Chile.

pg. 63
5. Now, world’s longest metro line is located in Shanghai Province, China, with the opening of
two driverless lines—Line 14 and Phase One of Line 18.
• Shanghai has the largest metro network in the world, with 508 metro stations.
• Shanghai is situated on the banks of the Yangtze River’s southern estuary.
• The city of Shanghai is China’s most populous urban area and the world’s most populous
city.

6. Exercise Sea Dragon 22 is a multi-lateral anti-submarine warfare exercise in the Pacific

Ocean.
• Participating nations – USA, India, Australia, Canada, Japan and South Korea
• Led by – USA’s 7th fleet
• Location – Andersen Air Force base, Guam, US territory in Micronesia

7. China’s Chang’e 5 lunar lander has found the first-ever on-site evidence of water on the
surface of the moon, lending new evidence to the dryness of the satellite.
• The study was published in the peer-reviewed journal Science Advances.

8. Five of the world’s nuclear powered countries have pledged to prevent the proliferation
of nuclear arms and nuclear war.
• Five countries are China, France, Russia, the UK and the US.
• Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) is a landmark international
treaty to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology, to promote
cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy and to further the goal of achieving
nuclear disarmament and general and complete disarmament.
• Opened for signature in 1968, the Treaty entered into force in 1970.
• A total of 191 States have joined the Treaty, including the five nuclear-weapon States.
• Nuclear weapon states in the NPT – USA, UK, France, Russia, and China
• Nuclear Countries not in NPT – India, Pakistan, Israel, North Korea

pg. 64
9. China has received the ‘developing country’ status at the World Trade Organisation
(WTO). This is being opposed by several countries.
• The WTO has not defined ‘developed’ and ‘developing’ countries and therefore member
countries are free to announce whether they are ‘developed’ or ‘developing’.
• Thus, 2/3rd of its 164 member countries classify themselves as ‘developing’.
• Developing countries at WTO get preferential treatment in their trade.

10. Turkmenistan has announced to find measures to extinguish the fire in the Darvaza Gas
Crater (popularly known as the ‘Gateway to Hell’), a major tourist attraction in the country.
• Fire in the ‘Gateway to Hell’ is raging for five decades because of the natural gas.
• Natural gas (containing over 92% methane) is responsible for the ever-raging fire.

pg. 65
11. First Colombo Security Conclave Virtual Workshop on “Developing Regional Cyber
Security Capabilities on Defensive operations, Deep/Dark Web handling and Digital
Forensics” was conducted by India.
• Organizers - National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS), Government of India in
association with National Forensics Science University, Gandhinagar (Gujarat) and the
Secretariat of the Colombo Security Conclave
• Member and Observer States of the of Colombo Security Conclave (CSC) including Sri
Lanka, Maldives, India, Mauritius, Seychelles, and Bangladesh participated in the
workshop.

12. Poet and activist Maya Angelou has become the first Black woman to appear on the US
Coin.

13. Russia unveiled its new Tupolev Tu-160M strategic missile bomber named as ‘White
Swan’.

14. Indonesia has approved to change its capital from Jakarta on Java island to "Nusantara"
(means archipelago) on Borneo island.
• The new capital will cover about 56,180 hectares (216 square miles) in East Kalimantan
province.
• Reasons for changing capital – overpopulation, and slow sinking of Jakarta

pg. 66
 • Capital Changes –
o Nigeria: Lagos to Abuja
o Kazakhstan: Almaty to Nur-Sultan
o Brazil: Rio de Janeiro to Brasilia
o Myanmar: Yangon to Naypyidaw

15. China’s global trade surplus has increased to $676.4 billion in 2021, likely the highest ever
recorded by any country.
• China’s exports have jumped 29.9% over a year earlier despite semiconductor shortages
that disrupted manufacturing.

16. South Africa has launched its third satellite in the MDA (Marine Domain Awareness)
constellation into space.
• MDA will have nine nano-satellites in total as part of this constellation.
• The previous two satellites were ZACube-1 & 2.
• MDASat-1 will use Automatic Identification System data to monitor ships’ movements
within South Africa’s exclusive economic zone.
• This is the first time, a satellite has been designed and developed in Africa indigenously.
• Launch – From Cape Canaveral rocket launch site in Florida in the US on SpaceX’s rocket
o SpaceX launched 105 satellites in this round of its Transporter-3 mission.
• South Africa has designed and developed under Operation Phakisa (the initiative of the
South African govt to fast-track the socio-economic developments in the country).

17. US has proposed a bill to reduce imports of rare-earth metals from China.
• According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS) data, 80% of the rare-earth
metals in US are imported from China in 2019. Rare-earth metals have a wide range of
uses from batteries to jets.
• This bill will mandate to use indigenous rare-earth metal and disclosure of the origin of the
rare-earth metals’.

pg. 67
18. China has partnered with Iran to strengthen economic and political cooperation between both
the countries.
• China has already announced to invest $400 billion in Iran.

19. China has built a first of its kind artificial moon research facility in the Jiangsu province.
• The research facility is scheduled to officially launch in 2022.
• The mini-moon is about 2 feet in diameter and the artificial surface has been made with
rocks and dust.
• The 60 cm vacuum chamber aims to lower the gravity level using magnetism inside the
chamber just like moon.
• Purpose – to experiment China’s technology and instruments in the moon-like environment
and also to test the possibility of human settlement on the moon.

20. A huge volcanic eruption happened near Tonga (country in Oceania), which led to tsunami in
the Pacific-island nation.
• India has extended an immediate relief assistance of $200,000 to deal with the disaster
that was triggered by the explosion of a massive underwater volcano.
• Tonga is a member of the Forum for India-Pacific Islands Cooperation (FIPIC).
• Many countries like US, Britain, Australia have also announced aid for Tonga.
• Tonga is a constitutional monarchy.
• Capital – Nuku'alofa; Currency - Pa'anga (TOP)

21. A 555.55-carat black diamond named as ‘The Enigma’ was unveiled in Dubai.
• Scientists are of the opinion that an asteroid or a meteorite hit the Earth more than 2.6
billion years ago is behind the formation of this diamond.
pg. 68
22. BRICS 2022 chairmanship has been handed over to China by India during the 15th meeting
of the BRICS Science Technology Innovation (STI) Steering Committee.
• Theme of BRICS 2022 - Foster High Quality BRICS Partnership Usher in a New Era for
Global Development
• First Sherpa meeting of BRICS was hosted by China recently.
• BRICS countries decided to conduct 25 S&T events in 2022. Of these, 5 events will be
hosted by India in 2022.
o BRICS Startups Forum meeting
o Working Groups meetings on Energy; Biotechnology & Biomedicine; ICT & High-
Performance Computing
o Launch event of BRICS innovation Launchpad as a microsite (Knowledge Hub)
o STIEP (Science, Technology, Innovation and Entrepreneurship Partnership) Working
Group Meeting
o DPIIT is the main executing agency for BRICS Startups Forum and creation of
innovation Knowledge Hub.
• Meetings planned for September 2022 -
o BRICS Young Scientist Conclave on themes of Carbon peak neutralization;
Biomedicine, Artificial Intelligence, Material Science; Modern Agriculture.
o 10th BRICS S&T Ministerial meeting (an exhibition showcasing outcomes of
successful projects under BRICS Framework Programme( 2015-2022) will also be
organized)
o BRICS Senior Official Meeting
o BRICS S&T Innovation (STI) Steering Committee meeting

23. According to a report conducted by Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, developing

countries, particularly in Africa, are not receiving funds from the Green Climate Fund to adapt
to climate change.
• The lengthy and complicated processes to access funding are among factors behind this
gap.

pg. 69
 • Developed countries have committed to provide $100 billion to developing countries for
financing climate related projects.

About the Green Climate Fund:

• Born out of the Copenhagen Accord of 2009, the Green Climate Fund was established in
2010. Its headquarters are in Incheon, South Korea.
• GCF is the world’s largest dedicated fund for helping developing countries reduce their
greenhouse gas emissions and enhance their ability to respond to climate change.
• It was set up by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
(UNFCCC).
• It also plays a major role in fulfilling the goals of Paris Agreement (2015).

24. NASA’s HERMES – short for Helio-physics Environmental and Radiation Measurement
Experiment Suite – mission has passed a critical mission review.
• HERMES mission is a four-instrument suite, which will be mounted under the Artemis’s
mission.
• Purpose of HERMES – to monitor space weather and fluctuating conditions in space
driven by the Sun and magnetosphere.
• Its target launch readiness date is November 2024.

25. United Nations Security Council (UNSC) members used Virtual Reality (VR) technology to
embark on a virtual field trip to Columbia.
• UNSC used the VR technology in its security council session for the first time.

26. Beijing-based Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) has announced to invest $150
million in the development of data centres that mostly serve emerging Asia.
• AIIB will provide funds to set up data centres through the Keppel Data Centre Fund II
(KDCF II), a private equity fund managed by Alpha Investment Partners Limited
(Alpha).
• This is AIIB’s first data centre project.

pg. 70
27. China has launched the ‘My2022 app’ for the upcoming Beijing Olympics 2022 to allow
athletes, audience members and media for daily Covid monitoring.
• However, this app has security issues that expose the users to security breaches.
• China has also directed the athletes participating in the Olympics to leave their phones and
devices at home and use temporary devices given by China to avert the risks of
cyberattack.
• India’s Mohammad Arif Khan (alpine skier from J&K) is the sole representator of India in
the Beijing Olympics (to be held in February).

28. Israel and Germany have signed an industrial strategic cooperation agreement to build
three advanced submarines for the Israeli Navy worth 3 billion euros ($3.4 billion).
• The submarines will be built by Germany's Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems.
• The first of the submarines, part a new series called Dakar, will be delivered within nine
years.
• Israel is already operating German-made six Dolphin class submarines, three of which will
be replaced by these Dakar submarines.

29. Malaysia and Global Tiger Forum (GTF) have organized the 4th Asia Ministerial
Conference on tiger conservation.
• India is one of the Founding members of the intergovernmental platform of Tiger Range
Countries - Global Tiger Forum.
• Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Bhupender Yadav, addressed the
conference.
• The Global Tiger Summit will be held at Vladivostok, Russia later this year.
• India has achieved the target of doubling the tiger population in 2018 itself, 4 years
ahead of the targeted year 2022.

pg. 71
 • The budgetary allocation for tiger conservation has increased from Rs 185 crore in 2014
to Rs 300 crore in 2022.
• 14 Tiger Reserves in India have already been awarded with international CA|TS
accreditation.

30. World Economic Forum Davos Agenda 2022 -

• Theme of the Davos Agenda – The State of the World
• The WEF’s Annual Meeting of 2022 has been scheduled for May 22-26 at Davos-Klosters,
Switzerland. Theme – Working Together, Restoring Trust
• European Commission announced European Chips Act to expand the area of chip
production in the EU.
o Europe’s share in the global semiconductor market is 10% only.
o By 2030, 20% of the world's microchips production should be in Europe.
o This act will increase the share by bringing improvement into 5 key areas of
semiconductors.
• WEF’s “BiodiverCities by 2030 Initiative” published a report, in partnership with
Alexander von Humboldt Institute and govt of Columbia.
o As per the report, half of the GDP coming from cities ($31 trillion, in absolute terms)
is at risk of disruption due to climate change.
o Cities account for 80% of the global economy.
o Cities also account for 75% of GHG emissions worldwide.
o Countries like China are also at a risk of witnessing disruption of 65% of GDP (or $9
trillion) due to nature loss.
• “Make Us Pay More Tax”: A group of more than 100 billionaires and millionaires has
issued a plea titled “Make Us Pay More Tax” to urge the leaders to levy wealth tax on
them.
o They called themselves as "Patriotic Millionaires".
o Thus, to pay their share of the global economic recovery from the pandemic, they
have introduced this plea.
• P3 (Pro-Planet People) movement - PM Narendra Modi introduced the "P3 (Pro-Planet
People) movement" at the meeting that underlines India's climate change commitments.

pg. 72
 o He highlighted the need to shift from 'take-make-use-dispose' economy to a
circular economy.
o PM reiterated LIFE - i.e., Lifestyle for Environment, the vision of a Resilient and
Sustainable Lifestyle which will be useful in dealing with Climate Crisis as well as
future Unpredictable Challenge.
o The P3 campaign can help in realising the vision of ‘LIFE’.
o With 17% of the world's population, India contribute only 5% to global carbon
emissions and the commitment to tackle the climate challenge is 100%.

31. China, Iran, and Russia are conducting CHIRU exercise in the Gulf of Oman.

32. Nepal's population has witnessed a growth of just 0.93%, the lowest in the last eight decades.
• Reason - the outward migration of Nepalis for jobs and studies
• Total population – over 29 lakhs
• For the first time, the Nepalese Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) conducted the
population census in Lipulek, Kalapani and Limpiyadhura (all in Uttarakhand) – disputed
territories between India and Nepal.

33. US has proposed the America COMPETES Act, 2022 to address the country’s shortage of
semiconductors by strengthening the country’s supply chain.
• The Act also aims to increase U.S. competitiveness, manufacturing capacity and research
and development.
• The bill includes $52 billion to support domestic manufacturing and research of
semiconductors.
• COMPETES stands for Creating Opportunities for Manufacturing, Pre-Eminence in
Technology, and Economic Strength.

34. Pakistan has raised a whopping $1 billion loan through the Sukuk bond (an Islamic bond) at
a record 7.95% interest rate.
• Against this, a portion of the Lahore-Islamabad Motorway was mortgaged in return for the
bond.

pg. 73
 • The bond has a tenure of 7-years.

35. “Clinker boats” of Nordic has been added in the UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage of
Humanity.
• Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden jointly sought the UNESCO designation.
• The term “clinker” refer to the way the boat’s wooden boards were fastened together.
• These boats allowed the peoples of Northern Europe to spread trade, influence and
sometimes war across seas and continents.
• Viking Ship Museum is located in Roskilde, west of Copenhagen, Denmark.

36. International Monetary Fund (IMF) has cautioned El Salvador to drop bitcoin as a legal
tender.
• Reason - impact on the nation's financial stability and consumer protection.
• In 2021, the Central American nation became the first in the world to adopt bitcoin as legal
tender, alongside the U.S. dollar.
• A group of countries, including India, have proposed to clamp down the private
cryptocurrencies.

37. European Union and the United States have announced to cooperate closely on energy
policy, decarbonisation and security of supply in the U.S.-EU Energy Council.
• Both parties also announced to ensure the energy security of Ukraine and the progressive
integration of Ukraine with the EU gas and electricity markets.

38. Sahara desert – largest desert in the world – witnessed snowfall recently, which is a rare
event to happen.

pg. 74
 • The snowfall happened in the town of Ain-Sefra (aka ‘The Gateway to Sahara’) located in
Algeria.
• It is the 5th snowfall in 42 years in Sahara.
• It is surrounded by Atlas mountain range. Atlas is spread in Morocco, Algeria, and
Tunisia. These countries are called Berberian countries.

39. China will use artificial snow in the Winter Olympics in 2022.
• It is the first time that a single country is supplying all the snow for the games.

40. China has imposed import sanction on Lithuania.

• EU has filed a case against China in the World Trade Organization.

41. European Union has proposed Digital Rights and Principles to give everyone a clear
reference point about the kind of digital transformation Europe promotes and defends.
• It will also provide a guide for policy makers and companies when dealing with new
technologies.
• The Declaration will also define the approach to the digital transformation which the EU will
promote throughout the world.

42. North Korea has launched its Hwasong-12 intermediate-range ballistic missile.
• Weapons launched by North Korea in January 2022 - KN-23 SRBM (Short-range ballistic
missiles), KN-24 SRBM Long-Range Cruise Missile, and a Hypersonic Missile.

43. NASA’s OMG mission ended on December 31, 2021.

• The mission – Ocean Melting Greenland – was launched to study the impact of oceans in
melting the Greenland.
• Greenland has the capacity to increase the sea level by 25 feet, if all melted today.
• Scientists did aerial surveys to assess the glacier melting and ice sheet situation in
Greenland.
• The OMG mission has been assessing the temperature of Greenland and melting of the
glaciers due to oceans for 25 to 30 years.

pg. 75
 • Jet Propulsion Laboratory has implemented the mission.

44. 2nd ASEAN Digital Ministers (ADGMIN) meeting with India was held virtually.
• Chairs of the meeting – Devusinh Chauhan, Minister of State for Communications, India
and Tin Aung San, Ministry of Transport and Communications, Myanmar
• The India-ASEAN Digital Work Plan 2022 was approved by the participants for combating
the use of stolen and counterfeit mobile handsets, WiFi Access network interface for
nationwide public internet, the capacity building and knowledge sharing in emerging
technologies.

About ADGMIN -
• The ADGMIN is an annual meeting of Telecom Ministers of 10 ASEAN countries.
• Dialogue partners of ADGMIN meeting - Australia, Canada, China, EU, India, Japan,
Republic of Korea, New Zealand, Russia, UK and US.
• The meeting is organized to strengthen the regional digital cooperation by enhancing
digital inclusion and integration.

REPORTS AND INDICES

1. Henley Passport Index 2022 has been released by Henley and Partners.
• Top – Japan and Singapore (score 192)
o 2nd – Germany and South Korea (score 190)
o 3rd – Finland, Italy, Luxembourg, and Spain (score 189)
o 6th – US and UK (score 186)
• India’s rank – 83rd, up from the 90th position in previous year's rankings.
o India is sharing this position with Sao Tome and Principe in Central Africa.
o India now has visa-free access to 60 destinations worldwide, with Oman and
Armenia are the new additions.
o In the 4th quarter of 2021 index, 58 destinations have allowed visa-free entry to
Indian passport holders.

pg. 76
 o In the last decade, India’s score has improved by only 7 points from 53 in 2011 to
60 in 2022.
• Tenure – The current rankings are for the first quarter of 2022.
• Bottom – Afghanistan and Iraq
• Henley Passport Index was launched in 2006 and includes 199 different passports.
• Basis – The index is based on exclusive data from the International Air Transport
Association (IATA).

Additional Facts:
• This year, the gap between the Global North and the Global South is widened
unprecedently.
• Nationals from countries such as Sweden and the US able to visit more than 180
destinations visa-free, while passport holders from Angola, Cameroon, and Laos can only
enter about 50.
• Prior to Covid pandemic, in 2019, India issued more than 12.8 million passport, which
makes it 3rd largest passport issuer after China and US.
• India is also planning to quickly introduce a new generation of e-passports having an
electronic chip in the passport booklet.
• The chip stores biographical information as well as a digital security feature, which is a
digital signature which is unique to each country and can be verified using their respective
certificates.

2. 17th edition of Global Risks Report 2022 has been released by World Economic Forum.
• The index is based on Global Risks Perception Survey (GRPS).
• The global economy is expected to be 2.3% smaller by 2024 than it would have been
without the pandemic.
• Commodity prices, inflation, and debt are rising in both the developed and developing
worlds.
• By 2024, developing economies (excluding China) will have fallen 5.5% below their pre-
pandemic expected GDP growth, while advanced economies will have surpassed it by
0.9%—widening the global income gap.

pg. 77
• The risks are divided into 5 categories – Economic, Societal, Environmental, Geopolitical,
and Technological.

• Top 5 Risks for India

pg. 78
3. World Economic Forum has released the Global Cybersecurity Outlook 2022 report.
• This report highlighted a dearth of cybersecurity personnel in the world.
• In the first six months of 2021, the volume of ransomware attack has increased by 151%.
• There were 270 attacks per organization in 2021, a 31% increase from 2020.
• Globally, 100 different types of ransomware are in circulation at present.
• The report focussed on ways to shift from cybersecurity to cyber-resilience.
• Cyber resilience is a measure of how well an enterprise can manage a cyberattack or data
breach while continuing to operate its business effectively.

4. Oxfam has released ‘Pandemic Billionaires’ report which mentions that 20 new billionaires
were created in Asia during the Covid-19.
• 140 million people across the continent were pushed into poverty as jobs were lost during
the pandemic.
• The total number of billionaires in the Asia-Pacific region grew by almost a third from
803 in March 2020 to 1,087 by November 2021.
• Their collective wealth increased by three-quarters (74%).
• The richest 1% owned more wealth than the poorest 90% in the region.

pg. 79
 • The number of millionaires by 2025 is projected to be 15.3 million, a 58% increase on
2020.

5. Oxfam India has released the India Supplement 2022- Inequality Kills report.
• The report mentions that when 84% of households in the country suffered a decline in their
income in a year, the number of Indian billionaires grew from 102 to 142.
• As per this report, just a 1% wealth tax on 98 richest billionaire families in India can
finance Ayushman Bharat for more than seven years.
• The collective wealth of India’s 100 richest people hit a record high of Rs 57.3 lakh
crore (USD 775 billion) in 2021.
• In India, during the pandemic (since March 2020, through to November 30th, 2021) the
wealth of billionaires increased from Rs 23.14 lakh crore (USD 313 billion) to Rs 53.16
lakh crore (USD 719 billion).
• More than 4.6 crore Indians are estimated to have fallen into extreme poverty in 2020
(nearly half of the global new poor according to the United Nations.)

6. International Labour Organization has released the World Economic and Social Outlook
(WESO) 2022 report.
• 207 million people will remain unemployed globally in 2022.
• This is an increment of 21 million in comparison to 2019 unemployment levels.
• ILO is projecting that total work hours globally in 2022 will remain almost 2% below their
pre-pandemic level when adjusted for population growth, which is equivalent to a deficit of
52 million full-time equivalent jobs (assuming a 48-hour working week).
• The pandemic has impacted the employment capacities of countries, regions, and sectors
differently.
• For all regions, projections to 2023 suggest that a full recovery will remain elusive.

2022 Projections:
• ILO has projected the 2% working hours loss in 2022, which is equivalent to a deficit of 52
million full time jobs.
• This deficit was projected at 26 million in May 2021 report.

pg. 80
 • In 2022, the global labour force participation rate is projected to remain 1.2% below that
of 2019.
• Thus, the overall impact on employment is significantly greater because many people have
left the labour force.

2023 Projections:
• Global unemployment is expected to remain above pre-COVID-19 levels until at least 2023.
• People at a disadvantage in the labour market – women, youth, the elderly, and migrant
workers.
• The total number of the unemployed is projected to decline in both 2022 and 2023.
• Despite this progress, global unemployment is projected to remain stubbornly higher than
its 2019 level of 186 million, at 203 million in 2023.

7. International Energy Agency has released the ‘Electricity Market Report’ 2022.
• As per the report, power demand in India is expected to grow at an annual rate of 6.5%
between 2022 and 2024.
• The rise is due to rising consumption from residential and industrial segments.
• In 2021, India’s power demand increased to a record 10% (higher than pre-pandemic
levels), equanimous to China.
pg. 81
 • Globally, power consumption registered its largest ever annual increase in absolute
terms, of more than 1,500 trillion watt hour (TWh) in 2021.
• The majority of supply growth in the years between 2021 and 2024 is expected in China,
accounting for around half of the net total increase, followed by India (12%), Europe (7%)
and the United States (4%).
• Power consumption in India declined by more than 2% during 2020 due to lockdowns.

8. UNCTAD has released the ‘Global Investment Trend Monitor’ 2022.

Global Scenario:
• In 2021, FDI flows (sum of inflows and outflows) are recorded at $1.65 trillion, increment of
77% from $929 billion in 2020.
• Developed economies saw the biggest rise by far, with FDI reaching an estimated $777
billion in 2021.
• FDI flows in developing economies increased by 30% to nearly $870 billion.
• Of the total increase in global FDI flows in 2021 ($718 billion), more than $500 billion, or
almost three quarters, was recorded in developed economies.
• Developing economies, especially the least developed countries (LDCs) saw more modest
recovery growth.

pg. 82
 FDI Trends in Select Economies –
• US – FDI: $323 billion (increased by 114%) and cross-border Merger & Acquisitions tripled
to $285 billion
• China – FDI inflow: $179 billion (increased by 20%)
• India – FDI flows were 26% lower; mainly because the level of large M&A deals recorded in
2020, was not repeated in 2021
• South Asia - FDI flows decreased 24% to $54 billion in 2021 from $71 billion in 2020

9. The Lancet has released a comprehensive study on antimicrobial resistance titled as

‘Global Research on Antimicrobial Resistance (Gram)’.
• According to the study, AMR was directly responsible for an estimated 1.27 million deaths
worldwide, and associated with an estimated 4.95 million deaths, in 2019.
• It has become a leading cause of death worldwide and is killing about 3,500 people every
day. AMR is killing more people than HIV/Aids or malaria.
• The study covered more than 200 countries and territories.

pg. 83
 • The study estimates deaths linked to 23 pathogens and 88 pathogen-drug
combinations across 204 countries and territories in 2019.
• Most affected regions - Sub-Saharan Africa (24 deaths per 100,000 population) and south
Asia (22 deaths per 100,000 population)
o In high-income countries, AMR led directly to 13 deaths per 100,000 and was
indirectly associated with 56 deaths per 100,000.
o In the western Europe region, which includes the UK, more than 51,000 people died
as a direct result of AMR.
• The report’s co-author is Prof Chris Murray from the Institute for Health Metrics and
Evaluation at the University of Washington.

10. Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has published its “Climate of India During 2021”
report.
• As per the report, 1,750 lives were lost due to extreme weather events in 2021.
• 2021 was the 5th hottest year on record since 1901 (when India began recording
temperature).
• Maharashtra is the most adversely affected state with 350 deaths.
• Major causes of deaths - lightning & thunderstorms (787 lives), floods, heavy rains,
landslides, and cyclones
• 11 out of 15 warmest years in India were during the 15 years (2007-2021) with highest
warming being observed during 2016.
• In 2016, the temperature was 0.71 degree Celsius above the long period average (LPA)
based on 1981-2010 period.
• The annual mean land surface air temperature averaged over India during 2021 was 0.44
degree C above the LPA.

11. NITI Aayog, Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI), and RMI India have released a report, titled
‘Banking on Electric Vehicles in India’.
• The report highlights the importance of including electric vehicle loans in the priority-
sector lending criteria.

pg. 84
 • Banks and NBFCs in India have the potential to achieve an EV financing market size of
Rs 40,000 crore (USD 5 billion) by 2025 and Rs 3.7 lakh crore (USD 50 billion) by 2030.

12. UNDP and the Oxford University released the ‘G20 People's Climate Vote 2021’ report.
• In India, about 67% of the population under the age of 18 years consider climate change a
global emergency, compared to about 58% of adults.
• A sample size of 34,749 adults and 31,390 under 18 was taken from India.
• In the G20 Peoples' Climate Vote, people aged 18 and over (adults) and those under 18,
were asked whether they considered climate change a global emergency.
• 81% of adults in UK and 80% in Italy believe that climate change is a global emergency.

13. 'Indian Tech Start-up Ecosystem: Year of The Titans' report has been released by
NASSCOM and Zinnov.
• More than 2,250 startups were added in the year 2021, over 600 more than what was
added in 2020. Of these, 42 were unicorns across 18 sectors.
• Startups raised USD 24.1 billion in 2021, a two-fold increase over pre-COVID levels.
• In comparison to 2020, there was a 3X increase in the number of high-value deals (deals
more than USD 100 million), which demonstrates investor confidence.
• Startups witnessed 2X gain in cumulative valuation from 2020 to 2021, with an estimate
of USD 320-330 billion.
• Established startup centres like Delhi-NCR, Bangalore, Chennai, Pune, Hyderabad and
Mumbai account for 71% of all startups.
• Apart from these, Jaipur, Kochi, Kolkata, Chandigarh and other account for 29% of all
startups.
• At least one-woman founder/co-founder is present in 12-15% of start-ups and 10 unicorns.

14. The Brookings Institution has published a study, according to which, India is among the top
10 nations in the world in terms of technological advancements and funding in artificial
intelligence.
• While India is outside the top 10 in terms of commercial and research initiatives.

pg. 85
 • India ranks 6th in terms of spending and investments on AI made by public,
governmental initiatives, as well as private institutes and organisations.
• US, China, the UK, France, Japan and Germany are ahead of India.

Other Reports:
• A December 2021 report by McKinsey Analytics on the state of AI in 2021 found that India
was the leading adopter of AI among emerging economies, from a commercial, business
standpoint.
• Deloitte’s December 2021 report noted that the Indian retail industry was the highest
adopter of AI technologies and services, followed by telecom and fintech.

15. Transparency International has released the Corruption Perception Index 2021 to rank
countries and territories by their perceived levels of corruption.
• Number of countries – 180
• Scale of Score – 0 to 100 (0 – Highly corrupt)
• Average global score – 43
• More than 2/3rd (68%) of the countries scored below 50
• Highest scoring region – Western Europe and European Union – 66/100
• Lowest scoring region – Sub-Saharan Africa – 33/100
• Average score of Asia-Pacific – 45

pg. 86
16. According to a new study led by Duke University researchers, increased temperatures have
led to major loss in labour hours across the globe.
• The economic loss due to lost productivity, if global warming increases to 2 degrees
Celsius, would reach up to $1.6 trillion annually worldwide.
• India showed the largest heat exposure impacts on heavy labour among South Asian
countries (greater than 101 billion hours lost / year), despite its modest average per-
capita labour losses (162 lost hours a person a year).
• India, China, Pakistan and Indonesia — where larger fractions of the population work
outdoors — will experience the biggest losses overall.
• 14 less populated countries could experience higher per-capita losses.
• An increase in heat stress resulting from global warming will lead to global productivity
losses equivalent to 80 million full-time jobs by 2030.

About the Study -

• The study was published in Nature Communications journal.
• Lead Author of the Study - Luke Parsons

17. Project 39A of the National Law University (NLU) has released the ‘Death Penalty in India’
report.
• In 2021, a total of 488 death sentences were handed out by various courts across India, the
highest in 17 years.
• The organisation, Project 39A, is an undertaking of National Law University promoting
equality and justice at the national level.
• Since 2016, the organisation has been publishing reports on the number of death penalties
given in India.
• Uttar Pradesh topped the list with 34 death penalties being given at sessions court level
followed by Bihar at 27, Tamil Nadu at 15 and Andhra Pradesh at 13.
• Most death sentences were given for murders, followed by sexual offences.

pg. 87
 BANKING AND ECONOMY
1. IRDAI has declared Life Insurance Corporation of India; General Insurance Corporation
of India; and New India Assurance Co. Ltd, as the Domestic Systemically Important
Insurers (D-SIIs) for the year 2021-22.
• 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.
• D-SIIs are perceived as insurers that are too big or too important to fail' (TBTF).

2. Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) of India has inaugurated its first ‘LIC Digi Zone’, which
enables walk-in customers to avail services digitally in a self-service mode.
• Customers can get information, pay their premium and avail other services through kiosks
installed within the premises of LIC.
• LIC chairperson M R Kumar inaugurated the Digi Zone at LIC’s HQ at the Bandra Kurla
Complex in Mumbai.

3. RBI has released a framework for small-value offline transactions in the digital mode with
immediate effect.
• The upper limit of the small-value offline transactions would be Rs 200.
• The total limit for offline transactions on a payment instrument shall be Rs 2,000 at any
point in time. Replenishment of this transaction can be done via online mode.
• Offline payments may be made using any channel or instrument like cards, wallets or
mobile devices, but they shall be made in proximity, or in the face-to-face mode only, the
framework prescribed.
• Additional Factor of Authentication (AFA) will not be mandatory for offline transactions up to
Rs 2000. But, for replenishment, AFA will be required.
• No internet, no telecom connectivity are required.
• There is no compulsion to send alerts after every transaction, but details of each
transaction will be adequately conveyed.

pg. 88
 • An example of offline digital payments can be chip-based card where the chip holds the Rs
2000 value.

4. Global cryptocurrency app Cryptowire has launched India’s first Crypto Index to monitor the
performance of the 15 most traded cryptocurrencies, listed on leading exchanges in the
world. The cryptocurrency index is known as IC15.
• Cryptowire is a special business unit of crypto statistics provided TickerPlant.
• The index will help investors understand how virtual coin trading works.
• There will be governance committee in the IC15 index which will monitor the top 15 cryptos’
performance and maintain the index. They will also be in charge of reshuffling of the top 15
cryptos.
• For a cryptocurrency to be listed on the index, it needs to trade on at least 90% of the
trading days during the review period and should remain in the top 50 in terms of
circulating market capitalisation during the preceding month.
• Managing Director and CEO of CryptoWire - Jigish Sonagara

5. State Bank of India (SBI) has announced to acquire about 10% stake in the India
International Clearing Corporation (IICC).
• By March 2022, SBI is expected to hold up to 9.95% stake in IICC.
• IICC is the first international clearing corporation set up at GIFT-IFSC that acts as a
central counterparty providing clearing and settlement and risk management services.
• It clears and settles index and single stock derivatives, currency derivatives and debt
securities.

6. 19th tranche of Electoral Bonds has been issued by Central Government.

• The elections are due in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Goa.
• State Bank of India (SBI) has been authorised to issue and encash Electoral Bonds
through its 29 Authorized Branches with effect from January 1 to January 10, 2022.
• Eligibility Requirement - Political parties registered under Section 29A of the
Representation of the People Act, 1951, which secured not less than 1% of the votes

pg. 89
 polled in the last general election to the House of the People or the Legislative Assembly of
a state, will be eligible to receive the electoral bonds.
• An electoral bond will be valid for 15 days from the date of issue.

7. Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) is planning to allow

subscribers of the National Pension System (NPS) scheme to change investment pattern
as many as four times during a financial year.
• At present, subscribers can only change the pattern for just two times in a financial year.
• Currently, pension fund managers under NPS are - ICICI Prudential Pension Funds
Management Company, LIC Pension Fund, Kotak Mahindra Pension Fund, SBI Pension
Fund, UTI Retirement Solutions, HDFC Pension Management Co, and Birla Sun Life
Pension Management.

8. RBI has clarified that Overseas Citizens of India (OCIs) do not require approval for purchase
or transfer of immovable property in India other than in the case of agricultural land, farm
house or plantation property.
• At present, NRIs/OCIs are governed by provisions of Foreign Exchange Management
Act, 1999 and do not require prior approval of RBI for acquisition and transfer of immovable
property in India.

9. GST Council has decided to retain the status quo on GST rate on textile to 5%, instead of
raising to 12%.

10. India's current account slipped into a deficit of USD 9.6 billion or 1.3% of GDP in the July-
September quarter of FY21.
• India’s current account surplus had stood at USD 6.6 billion or 0.9% of GDP in the April-
June 2021 quarter, while in the year-ago period (Q2FY22), the surplus had stood at USD
15.3 billion or 2.4% of the GDP.

11. Paisabazaar has strengthened its partnership with Axis Bank by launching a Pre-Qualified
Program for unsecured loans on its platform.

pg. 90
 • The Pre-Qualified program on Paisabazaar.com enables select customers to view
customized and pre-qualified lending offers on the fintech's platform.

12. According to the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) data, unemployment rate
in India rose to 7.91% in December 2021 from 7% in the previous month.
• This is the highest level of unemployment rate in India in four months.
• Unemployment in urban areas rose to 9.3% in December and rural unemployment rate rose
to 7.28%.

13. QuantumScape Corp, a California-based battery start-up backed by Volkswagen AG, is

working on “Iron-Air Battery” technology.
• This technology could make car batteries cheaper, more reliable, and suitable for quicker
recharge.

14. National Thermal Power Corporation Limited (NTPC) is planning to acquire 5% stake in
Power Exchange of India Ltd (PXIL) to avail various electricity trading options.
• The PXIL is India's first institutionally promoted power exchange, which has been
providing various electricity trading solutions and connecting buyers as well sellers.
• According to the Ministry of Corporate Affairs’ portal, the authorised share capital of the
PXIL is Rs 120 crore and paid-up capital is Rs 58.47 crore. The PXIL was incorporated in
2008.
• The government intends to expand the share of the spot power market in total electricity
supply in the country to 25% by 2023-24, as part of the draft National Electricity Policy
(NEP).

15. As per RBI’s Balance of Payments data, the current account deficit in July-September
2021 was $9.6 billion as against a surplus of $6.6 billion in April-June 2021.
• In July-September 2020, the current account surplus was even larger at $15.3 billion.
• For the first half of FY22, India had a current account deficit of $3.0 billion.

pg. 91
16. According to data released by the Controller General of Accounts (CGA), Central Govt’s
fiscal deficit at the end of November came at 46.2% of the FY22 budget estimate on the back
of robust revenues.
• Last year, the deficit was 135.1% of the estimates.
• For the current financial year, the government expects the deficit at 6.8% of GDP or Rs
15.06 lakh crore.

17. RBI has approved Fino Payments Bank for commencing International Remittance business
under the Money Transfer Service Scheme (MTSS).
• The Bank will be undertaking inward cross-border money transfer activities.
• Fino has also received the approval to partner with one of the largest global remittance
service providers as its Overseas Principal.

18. Two of the India’s largest mutual fund houses are competing with each other to launch the
India’s first exchange traded fund (ETF) based on the auto and auto ancillary sectors.
• Both Nippon Mutual Fund and ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund announced launching their
respective Nifty Auto ETFs that will mirror the Nifty Auto Index, which comprises of all the
automobile majors of the country, along with those from the auto ancillary segment.
• Companies like Maruti Suzuki India, Tata Motors, M&M, Bajaj Auto, Eicher Motors, Hero
MotoCorp and Bharat Forge have the highest weightage in the auto index.
• Nippon India Mutual Fund announces the launch of Nippon India Nifty Auto ETF, India’s
First Auto sector ETF.
• ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund has launched India’s first Auto ETF namely ICICI Prudential
Nifty Auto ETF.

19. NPCI Bharat BillPay (NBBL), the wholly-owned subsidiary of National Payments Corporation
of India (NPCI), has introduced the ‘Unified Presentment Management System’ (UPMS) for
recurring bill payments.
• UPMS will enable the customers to set up standing instructions from any channel and for
any mode on their recurring bill payments.

pg. 92
 • The bills will be automatically fetched from the billers and presented to customers for their
action, in terms of auto-debit and bill payment management.
• UPMS will enable all the Bharat BillPay Operating Units (BBPOU) to extend this facility to
their customers/corporate clients with minimal effort through the centralised infrastructure
and application support provided by Bharat BillPay Central Unit (BBPCU).

20. Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) has released IRDAI
(Surety Insurance Contracts) Guidelines, 2022.
• A surety bond is a mechanism to transfer risk for businesses. It assures the project owner
(typically a government entity) that the assigned contractor will perform the task as per the
contract clause.
• The surety company pays the project owner the promised amount (as per the contract) in
the event of a default.
• The company charges a fee to the contractor to write the surety bond.
• There is a 10% cap subject to a limit of ₹500 crores on the quantum of surety business that
an insurer can write.

21. RBI has offered a dedicated window for bond houses, known as primary dealers (PDs).
• This window will enable exchange of illiquid securities acquired through the Retail Direct
scheme.
• A special Switch window will be opened for PDs every month, wherein PDs may switch
the illiquid/semi-liquid securities acquired from Retail Direct Gilt (RDG) account holders with
liquid securities from RBI at FBIL/market prices.

22. RBI has announced the inclusion of Airtel Payments Bank in the second schedule of the
Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934.
• CEO of Airtel Payments Bank - Anubrata Biswas
• Other Scheduled Payment Banks – Fino Payments Bank, India Post Payment Bank, and
Paytm Payment Bank.
• Total 6 payment banks are operational in India.
o Airtel Payment Bank

pg. 93
 o India Post Payment Bank
o Fino Payment Bank
o Paytm Payment Bank
o NSDL Payment Bank
o Jio Payment Bank

23. RBI has declared SBI, ICICI Bank, and HDFC Bank as the Domestic Systematically
Important Bank (D-SII).
• These banks are required to maintain an additional Common Equity Tier (CET I) capital
ratios.
• The Additional Common Equity Tier 1 requirement as a percentage of Risk Weighted
Assets (RWAs) in case of SBI is 0.6%, and 0.2% for ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank.

24. Bharti Airtel has announced the formation of a joint venture with Hughes Communications
India Pvt Ltd (HCIPL), an innovator in satellite and networks, to offer satellite broadband
services in India.
• Hughes will hold a 67% stake in the joint venture, while Airtel will hold a 33% stake.
• The entity will be known as HCIPL and will combine the Very Small Aperture Terminal
(VSAT) business of both companies.

25. Reliance Industries Ltd has launched its mega bond sale to raise $3-5 billion from offshore
investors.
• This will be the largest-ever bond sale by an Indian company tapping overseas money
and the year's first fundraising from the country.

26. SBI General Insurance Company Ltd has launched ‘#BahaneChhodoTaxBachao’

campaign to increase awareness around the need to buy health insurance to save tax.

27. RBI has released the eligibility criteria for entities to be categorised as 'Specified User' of
Credit Information Companies (CICs).

pg. 94
 • The criteria sets out the requirements for the entities to become eligible as Specified User
of CIC under the Credit Information Companies (Amendment) Regulations, 2021.
• A 'specified user' should be a company incorporated in India or a statutory corporation
established in the country.
• The governing statute of the Statutory Corporation or Memorandum of Association of
the Company should allow the business/activity of processing of information for the support
or benefit of credit institutions.
• Also, the company should have a net worth of not less than Rs 2 crore as per the latest
audited balance sheet, and should meet the requirement on a continuing basis.

28. Airtel Payments Bank has partnered with Park+ to offer FASTag-based parking services to
the residential and commercial properties across India.

29. Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India has announced to set up two
hubs - motor insurance hub and property insurance hub.
• The motor insurance hub will be established at the Institute of Insurance and Risk
Management.
• The property insurance hub will be set up at National Insurance Academy.
• Reason - to prevent loss end property and motor segment in the general insurance
industry.
• IRDAI has further announced to set up an advisory committee-having two sub
committees- to develop standard survey/inspection report format and create a repository of
past inspection reports, among other things.
o The advisory committee will be chaired by the Director of National Insurance
Academy.
o The first subcommittee will look into motor insurance segment, which will develop
guidelines on inspection of vehicles and standard operating processes to be followed
by vehicle owners in the event of loss.
o The second subcommittee will look into property insurance segment, will create a
repository of past risk inspection reports and developing standard survey/inspection
report formats.

pg. 95
30. RBI has increased the limit for banks to maintain the liquidity coverage ratio [LCR] on
deposits and other ‘extension of funds’ received from non-financial small business
customers.
• Now, the new limit is ₹7.5 crore as against the earlier limit of ₹5 crore.
• Purpose -to help banks manage liquidity risk more efficiently add align the guidelines with
the Basel Committee on banking supervision standards.
• The limit will be applicable to all commercial banks, except regional rural banks, local area
banks and payment banks.

31. Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) has announced ‘COVID-
19 Helpdesk' to smoothen supply chains for e-commerce entities.
• In case any manufacturing, transporter, distributor, wholesaler or e-commerce company
faces any difficulties in transport and distribution of goods or mobilisation of resources, it
can reach the department over -
o Telephone: + 91 11 23063554, 23060625
o Email: dpiit-controlroom@gov.in

32. RBI has created a new fintech department to facilitate the innovation in the fintech sector.
• Background – In 2018, a fintech unit was set up under the Department of Regulation,
which was later transferred to the Department of Payment and Settlement Systems, Central
Office (DPSS, CO) in 2020. Now, in view of the present developments in the fintech sector,
RBI has subsumed the fintech division of the DPSS, CO in the newly created Fintech
Department.
• Earlier, the fintech division was created to act as the central point of contact for all activities
related to fintech. Now, this division will also facilitate innovation, identify challenges and
opportunities associated with this sector.
• This department regulate innovations in the Fintech sector. All the matters related to inter-
regulatory coordination and international coordination on Fintech shall also be dealt with by
the Department.

pg. 96
33. According to the IHS Markit, India will overtake Japan as Asia’s second largest economy
by 2030, preceded by China.
• Currently, India is the sixth-largest economy, behind the U.S., China, Japan, Germany and
the U.K.
• India’s nominal GDP is forecast to rise from $2.7 trillion in 2021 to $8.4 trillion by 2030.
• India’s GDP forecast for 2021-22 by IHS is 8.2%.
• 2022-23 GDP forecast for India - 6.7%

34. National Payments Corporation of India has introduced limits for cash withdrawals and
mini statements for Aadhaar enabled Payments Systems (AePS).
• These guidelines need to be implemented by January 15, 2022.
• According to the guidelines, banks will offer a maximum limit of five approved cash
withdrawal transactions per customer per terminal per day. Post five transactions, issuer
banks can either decline the request or charge a fee.
• Further, a minimum of five mini statement transactions per customer per month.
• Two-factor authentication has been made mandatory for business correspondents,
agents and merchants for login for at least one time in a day. The authentication will also
include Aadhar-Based Biometric Authentication.
• In case of a change in business correspondent, two-factor authentication is mandatory.
• Cash withdrawal from micro ATMs of AePS has a limit of Rs 10,000 per transaction.
• A total of 9.6 crore transactions worth Rs 25,860.92 crore took place through AePS in
December 2021.

What is AePS?
• Making financial transactions like cash deposit, withdrawal, balance enquiry/mini-statement,
KYC update, Aadhar to Aadhar Fund Transfer by using Aadhar is AePS.
• For this, a micro ATM is used.
• Banks appoint a Business Correspondent (BC) to carry out these transactions for the
people in the remotest areas. The BC is given a micro ATM.
• The micro ATM does Aadhar-Based Biometric Authentication including finger scanning, and
iris detection to carry out the transaction.

pg. 97
35. Sova Capital, a London-based emerging markets broker-dealer, has partnered with India INX
to allow the latter access to the Russian market.
• The partnership will help Indian investors to access trading on Moscow Exchange
(MOEX), Russia’s main trading exchange for equities, bonds, derivatives, foreign exchange
and money markets.
• India INX Global Access IFSC Limited, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of BSE’s India
INX, has launched a platform through which Indian clients can trade foreign stocks.

36. RBL Bank has collaborated with Google to strengthen its customer experience strategy to
serve its rapidly growing customer base through its digital platform, Abacus 2.0.

37. Karnataka Vikas Grameena Bank (KVGB) has signed an MoU with MECWIN Technologies
Ltd (Bengaluru-based) to introduce farmer-friendly solar-powered pump sets through bank's
finance.
• The MoU will benefit farmers as MECWIN Technologies is specialised in the production and
management of solar irrigation pump sets.
• The Karnataka Vikas Grameena Bank is having largest branch network in rural areas.
Thus, this partnership will help in spreading the solar-powered pump sets in rural areas.

pg. 98
38. AIC STPINEXT Initiatives (STPINEXT), a special purpose vehicle of Software Technology
Parks of India (STPI), has signed two MoU for nurturing tech startups in the country.
• 1st MoU - HDFC Bank
• 2nd MoU - Excelpoint Systems India Pvt Ltd, a niche technology player
• These partners would play critical role in supporting and handholding the startups in the
growth journey through technical guidance and assistance, mentoring, pitching to investors,
funding support, and market connect and access, etc.
• STPI has announced setting up of 25-plus Centres of Entrepreneurship (CoEs) in specific
domains spread across India.

39. Central Govt is planning to allow 20% foreign direct investment in the Life Insurance
Corporation of India (LIC).
• This is expected through amendment of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA)
rules.

40. Labour Minister Bhupender Yadav has released the report on the second round of
Quarterly Employment Survey for the period July to September 2021.
• Employment is showing an increasing trend.
• The estimated total employment in the nine selected sectors from the second round of
the survey stands at 3.1 crore.

41. Vodafone Idea Ltd. has announced that the Indian government will own almost 36% in the
company after converting its dues into equity.

42. Nepal Power Exchange Ltd (NPEL) has signed a trading agreement with India's Manikaran
Power Ltd to sell electricity produced by it to India.
• Nepal’s domestic power companies can sell 500 MW of power to India under this first of its
kind arrangement between private companies.
• Under the agreement, Manikaran Power will invest in 15% of shares belonging to NPEL,
which is equivalent to NRs 300 million.

pg. 99
43. Axis Bank has issued industry’s first letter of credit (LC) on the Secured Logistics
Document Exchange (SLDE), a government-backed blockchain-enabled platform.
• The deal involved ArcelorMittal Nippon and the bank's client Lalit Pipes & Pipes Limited
(LPPL).

44. LazyPay, a Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) solution by PayU Finance, has announced its
partnership with SBM Bank India to launch LazyCard.
• LazyCard is a prepaid payment instrument backed by a credit line that works on the Visa
payment network.

45. Axis Bank has partnered with MinkasuPay to offer the net banking payment solution for its
customers through a biometric authentication solution.
• Axis Bank is India's third-largest private sector bank.
• Transaction time will reduce from the current 50-60 seconds to just 2-3 seconds with
Fingerprint or Face ID authentication while increasing success rates significantly.
• With this, requirements like OTP, username, passwords will be eliminated for the Axis Bank
customers.

46. RBI has extended the validity of its Directions for Sri Guru Raghavendra Sahakara Bank
Niyamitha, Bengaluru, till May 10, 2022, subject to review.
• The bank has been under RBI Directions with effect from close of business on January 10,
2020. RBI brought the bank under Directions for protecting the interests of depositors.
• The withdrawal limit for depositors is capped at ₹1 lakh per depositor.
• Under the Directions, the bank cannot, without prior approval of RBI in writing, grant loans,
borrow funds, make any investment, add liabilities, or make any payments.

47. National Stock Exchange has received approval from SEBI to launch derivatives on Nifty
MidCap Select Index and will start from January 24.
• Nifty Midcap Select index aims to track the performance of a focused portfolio of 25
stocks within the Nifty Midcap 150 index.
• This index will focus on companies having mid-capitalisation.

pg. 100
48. NABARD has partnered with Arthimpact Digital Loans (ARTH), a fintech firm, for providing
end-to-end fintech solution to self-help group members.
• The fintech solutions include skilling, micro financial services and forward linkage support.
• ARTH provides credit, payments and insurance solutions to micro-MSME enterprises.

49. UCO Bank, in association with the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), has
launched a RuPay Select contactless debit card for its premium customer segment.
• This contactless debit card has been developed keeping in mind the needs and lifestyle
of premium/HNI customers of the bank.
• The card also offers an ATM withdrawal limit of ₹50,000 along with a purchase of up to ₹2
lakh at PoS or e-commerce, to its users.
• All RuPay Select contactless debit cardholders are eligible for the insurance cover of up to
₹10 lakh in case of death due to personal accident and permanent disability.

50. Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has launched “Saa₹thi” – a mobile app on
investor education in Mumbai.
• Purpose - to create awareness among investors about the basic concepts of the securities
market.

51. CDSL Ventures Limited has received approval from SEBI for setting up an Accreditation
Agency for a period of 3 years with effect from February 01, 2022 for accreditation of eligible
Investors.
• CDSL Ventures Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of Central Depository Services
(India) Limited (CDSL).
• MD & CEO, CDSL - Nehal Vora

Additional Facts:
• In August 2021, SEBI has released the Framework for Accredited Investors that allowed
Individuals, Hindu Undivided Family (HUFs), family trusts, sole proprietorships, partnership
firms, trusts and body corporates to get accreditation certification.

pg. 101
 • The Accreditation certification is given by the Accreditation Agency based on the eligibility
criteria (which includes net worth and income) specified by SEBI.
• Benefits of becoming an “Accredited Investor” –
o AI can invest in unlisted securities
o Flexibility in minimum investment amount
o Flexibility in regulatory requirements
• The Accreditation certificate will be valid for a year.
• Accredited Investors are considered prudent and qualified investors. They are given the
Accreditation Certification after examining them on the basis of their qualification or the
prescribed eligibility criteria.
• Therefore, these Accredited Investors are allowed investment in the unlisted securities as
well. Unlisted securities are riskier than normal securities because of their lacking
disclosures.

52. RBI has released its Annual Report of the Ombudsman Schemes for the year 2020-21.
• It has been prepared for the nine-month period, i.e., July 1, 2020 to March 31, 2021, as
from July 1, 2020, RBI had changed its Financial Year from ‘July – June’ to ‘April – March'.
• The report assessed progress made under the -
o Banking Ombudsman Scheme, 2006 (BOS)
o Ombudsman Scheme for Non-Banking Financial Companies, 2018 (OSNBFC)
o Ombudsman Scheme for Digital Transactions, 2019 (OSDT)
• As per the report, the volume of complaints received under all the three Ombudsman
Schemes has increased by 22.27% on an annual basis.
• The BOS accounted for major percent of total complaints received under the three
Ombudsman Schemes.

pg. 102
 Major complaints under Banking Major complaints under OS for NBFC
Ombudsman Scheme
ATM/debit cards Non-adherence to Fair Practices Code
Mobile/electronic banking Non-observance to RBI directions
credit cards Levy of charges without prior notice

• The overall disposal rate improved to 96.59% from 92.52% in the previous year, despite
higher volume of complaints due to the end-to-end digitization of complaint processing.
• RBI is working to integrate all the three Ombudsman Schemes under the Reserve Bank
Integrated Ombudsman Scheme (RB-IOS), 2021 by setting up of the Centralised Receipt
and Processing Centre along with a Contact Centre, revamping Complaint Management
System.

53. YES Mutual Fund has been changed to WhiteOak Capital Mutual Fund.
• In November 2021, WhiteOak group company acquired the YES AMC.
• WhiteOak Capital Mutual Fund’s Founder - Prashant Khemka

54. The sub-committee of Financial Stability and Development Council (FSDC), headed by
RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das, has reviewed the economic situation in the backdrop of the
COVID-19 pandemic.

pg. 103
 • The meeting of the FSDC Sub-Committee (FSDC-SC) was attended by all financial sector
regulators including SEBI, IRDAI, PFRDA and IBBI.

55. Facebook parent company Meta has launched its new AI supercomputer named “AI
Research SuperCluster” (RSC).
• It is expected to become the fastest in the world by the middle of 2022.
• The next generation of AI will require powerful supercomputers capable of quintillions of
operations per second.
• RSC will help build technologies for the next major computing platform - the metaverse.

56. RBI has released the new bank portfolio classification norms titled as ‘Review of Prudential
Norms for Classification, Valuation and Operations of Investment Portfolio of
Commercial Banks’. It come into effect from April 1, 2023.
• Purpose - to align the investment portfolio of banks with the global prudential framework
and accounting standard.
• As per the proposed norms, the investment portfolio of banks will be divided into three
categories — held-to-maturity (HTM), available for sale (AFS), and fair value through
profit and loss account (FVTPL).
• Within FVTPL, held-for-trading (HFT) shall be a sub-category aligned with the
specifications of ‘Trading Book’ as per the Basel-III framework.

57. RBI has released the ‘Taking Cognisance of Households’ Inflation Expectations in India’
survey.
• The paper is authored by Devendra Pratap Singh, Aditya Mishra and Purnima Shaw of the
RBI. The findings of the paper are of the authors and not of the RBI.
• As per this survey, households are expecting a higher inflation which will affect the
households’ savings portfolio.
• In the case of a developing economy, it is desirable for households to save in financial
instruments like debt or equity, which can be used further into production-enhancing
activities

pg. 104
58. State Bank of India had raised $300 million from Regulation S Formosa bonds at a coupon
of 2.49%.
• The bond are benchmarked against the five-year US Treasury.
• The bonds were to be listed on Taipei Exchange (TPEx), Singapore Exchange Securities
Trading Ltd (SGX-ST) and India International Exchange IFSC Ltd (India INX).

59. Adani Total Gas has won 14 licenses to supply CNG to automobiles and piped cooking gas
to households in the 14 cities through the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board
(PNGRB).
• As many as 65 geographical areas (GAs) were offered for bidding in the 11th city gas
distribution (CGD) licensing round. Results for only 52 GAs were announced.
• Hyderabad-based Megha Engineering and Infrastructure Ltd (MEIL) won 13 licenses.

60. Torus Kling Blockchain IFSC has signed an MOU with India INX to launch India’s first
Bitcoin and Ethereum futures ETF and Metaverse US-listed large-cap discount certificates.
• Torus Kling Blockchain IFSC is a 50:50 joint venture between Sam Ghosh promoted
Cosmea Financial Holdings (CFH) and Kling Trading India.
• This ETF is the first crypto-backed futures ETF outside of US and the first Asian
discount certificates tracking Metaverse large-cap stocks in US and Europe markets.
• The ETF futures will be launched under a sandbox construct of IFSCA.

61. Ministry of Commerce and Industry has released the data on India-China bilateral trade in
2021.
• In 2021, the trade was a record high of over USD 125 billion, crossing the USD 100 billion-
mark.
• India's trade deficit has also increased to over USD 69 billion.
• In 2021, India’s trade has increased by 43.3% from 2020.

62. According to the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation’s data, India’s
Consumer Price Index (CPI) increased to 5.59% year-on-year in December 2021.
• While a survey of Reuters had forecast Indian retail inflation at 5.80%.

pg. 105
 • It is a 5-month high CPI inflation.
• Retail inflation has now been above the RBI’s medium-term target for more than two years.

63. State-owned Oil India Ltd has exited from Niobrara shale asset (USA) selling its 20% stake
for USD 25 million.
• Oil India (USA) Inc (wholly owned subsidiary of OIL) has divested its entire stake in
Niobrara shale asset, USA.
• In Nov 2021, Reliance Eagleford Upstream Holding, LP (REUHLP) has sold its upstream
assets in the Eagleford shale play of Texas (US) to Ensign Operating III, LLC.

64. Indifi Technologies has collaborated with Google Pay to provide instant loans to eligible
small merchants on the Google Pay platform.
• Indifi Technologies is based in Gurugram, Haryana.

65. ICICI Prudential Asset Management Company has partnered with the US-based First Trust
Advisors to launch a global fund of funds (FoF).
• First Trust Advisors manages exchange-traded funds.
• FoF launched by ICICI –
o Strategic metal & energy equity fund of funds – to invest in an offshore fund
managed by First Trust Advisor

66. According to Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal, India is set to achieve $650
billion exports target in the current financial year (2021-22)
• Out of the targeted $650 billion, $400 billion will be merchandise exports while the rest $250
billion will be services exports.
• In December 2021, India touched $37 billion goods exports despite the Omicron. This
month, in 15 days till January 15, India reached $16 billion worth of goods exports.
• India's overall exports (Merchandise and Services combined) in December 2021 are
estimated to be USD 57.87 Billion.
• Trade deficit of India was $21.68 billion in December 2021 in merchandise trade.

pg. 106
 Trade during April – December 2021:

67. Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) has sanctioned Rs 650 crore to two
small finance banks — AU SFB and Jana SFB.
• Purpose - to provide funds to finance companies and Micro Finance Institutions (MFIs).

pg. 107
 • The financial assistance has been extended out of the Special Liquidity Facility
sanctioned by the Reserve Bank of India.

68. NPCI Bharat BillPay Ltd has partnered with Mobikwik to launch ClickPay services to allow
customers make recurring bill payments by using Mobikwik’s platform.
• Recently, this type of partnership was also made with PhonePe and ICICI Prudential Life
Insurance by BPCI Bharat BillPay Ltd.

69. Lendingkart has signed a co-lending partnership with Canara Bank to offer low-cost
business loans to MSMEs across India with a faster turnaround time for loan approvals.
• Co-founder and CEO of Lendingkart - Harshvardhan Lunia

70. Snapdeal has partnered with BOB Financial and NPCI to launch a co-branded contactless
RuPay credit card.
• The co-branded credit card will be equipped with contactless features and will be offered on
the RuPay platform.

71. SEBI (Settlement Proceedings) Regulations 2018 has been amended by SEBI.
• Under the settlement mechanism, an alleged wrongdoer can settle a pending case with
the regulator without admission or denial of guilt by paying a settlement fee.
• SEBI has cut the timeline for filing settlement applications to just 60 days from the current
180 days in its effort to make the system more efficient.
• Further, the time period for submission of revised settlement terms form, after the internal
committee (IC), has been rationalised to 15 days. The current rule allows 10 days plus
additional 20 days.

72. The valuation of shares owned by Chennai Super Kings Cricket Limited (CSKCL), which
controls Chennai Super Kings, has reached an all-time high to Rs 7,600 crores.
• Thus, Chennai Super Kings became India’s first sports unicorn.
• Majority shareholder in the CSKCL is India Cements.
• Now, India has 81 unicorns.

pg. 108
 • At present, the shares of the CSKCL is not listed in the stock market. Instead, the valuation
of the shares is estimated in the grey market or parallel market.
• MS Dhoni is the captain of the CSK.
• Second high valued sports venture or IPL team is Lucknow franchise (Lucknow Super
Giants), which was bought by Sanjiv Goenka-led RPSG Group for Rs 7,090 crore.

73. Flipkart has divided its LEAP program into two parts - Flipkart Leap Ahead (FLA) and
Flipkart Leap Innovation Network (FLIN) - to increase the scope of the startup program.
• The Flipkart Leap program approved its first cohort of eight startups in July 2021.
• Flipkart Leap Ahead (FLA) – It will invest in seed-stage startups across varied sectors,
which are innovating in areas that are a priority for the Flipkart group like supply chain,
logistics, B2B, social, healthtech, agritech and edtech.
o The investment will be made by Flipkart Ventures (worth $100 million).
• Flipkart Leap Innovation Network (FLIN) – It will provide opportunity to mature startups to
execute their ideas and forge commercial partnerships with Flipkart.

74. Tata Group has bought a majority stake in state-owned Neelachal Ispat Nigam (NINL) for Rs
12,100 crores.
• Divested Govt stake - 93.7% (which was owned by four central PSUs and two companies of
the Odisha government)

75. India has given $500 million loan to Sri Lanka to finance urgent oil purchases for the cash-
strapped nation.

76. RBI has released its latest Digital Payments Index for September 2021.
• Parameters of the Index - (i) Payment Enablers (weight 25%), (ii) Payment Infrastructure –
Demand-side factors (10%), (iii) Payment Infrastructure – Supply-side factors (15%), (iv)
Payment Performance (45%) and (v) Consumer Centricity (5%).

pg. 109
77. Satellite communication companies, OneWeb and Hughes have partnered to provide high
speed, low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite broadband based connectivity across India.
• The company has planned to connect towns, villages, local and regional municipalities in
the hardest-to-reach areas outside the reach of fibre connectivity.
• For this, the Bharti Airtel-backed OneWeb and Hughes have signed a six year agreement
also.

78. National Stock Exchange (NSE) has been named as the world’s largest derivatives market
place for 2021, for the third year in a row.
• NSE is the largest global exchange in terms of number of contracts traded.
• The data has been given by the Futures Industry Association.
• NSE has also been ranked as the 4th largest exchange in the world for trading cash
equities for 2021.
• NSE was also the global leader in trading equity index options and currency options in
terms of number of contracts.
• NSE’s total trading volume was 17.26 billion contracts in 2021, almost double the amount
traded in the previous year.
• Brazil’s B3 exchange was ranked second and its total trading volume rose by 38% to 8.76
billion.
• CME Group in the US was 3rd, Intercontinental Exchange came at 4th, US-based Nasdaq
came at 5th.
• OCC in the US continued to rank as the world’s largest clearing house for derivatives in
terms of open interest.

pg. 110
79. RBI has recently conducted a variable rate repo operation to infuse liquidity in the
economy, instead of its usual variable rate reverse repo operations (VRRR).
• Through the variable rate repo operation, RBI proposed to lend Rs 50,000 crore to the
banking system for a day to infuse liquidity in the market.
• Reason – due to lower GST collections leading to liquidity crunch.
• Till December 31, RBI had planned to remove Rs 7.5 trillion of liquidity through a 14-day
VRRR auction. But in the auctions, banks had given only Rs 2.67 trillion.
• RBI tried to make good of the shortfall by conducting a Rs 5-trillion reverse repo auction on
January 14, but banks offered Rs 4.31 trillion.
• This indicates the situation of tightening liquidity.

80. Factoring Regulation Act, 2011 has been amended to widen the scope of companies that
can undertake factoring business.
• The Act permits RBI to set code of conduct for the organizations engaged in the factoring
business.
• In exercise of its power under the Act, RBI has announced that all existing non-deposit
taking NBFC-Investment and Credit Companies (NBFC-ICCs) with asset size of Rs 1000
crore & above will be permitted to undertake factoring business.
• This will increase the number of NBFCs eligible to undertake factoring business significantly
from 7 to 182.
• Other NBFC-ICCs can also undertake factoring business by registering as NBFC-Factor.
pg. 111
 • The receivables shall be filed with the Central Registry on behalf of the Factors by the
TReDS concerned within 10 days.

81. Kotak Mahindra Bank Limited has signed an MoU with GIFT SEZ Limited to work together
for enhancing the services for alternative investment funds and global custody services.
• Both Kotak Mahindra Bank and GIFT SEZ, a wholly owned subsidiary of Gujarat
International Finance Tech-City Co. Ltd, will cooperate towards wide-ranging activities to
improve overall financial services.
• An area of focus will be to ease market access and cross-border activities for the fund
management community.
• MD & Group CEO, GIFT City - Tapan Ray

82. ReNew Power will set up a joint venture (JV) with US-based Fluence to provide energy
storage solutions in India.
• The JV is expected to start operations in the first half of 2022.
• The JV will start with 150 MWh Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) required for its 300
MW peak power project in Karnataka.
• The company is already working in India. In 2019, it had delivered India’s first battery-
based energy storage project.
• Fluence was founded by AES, a global energy company and Siemens in 2018.
• As of 31 December, ReNew had a total capacity of around 10.3 GW of renewable energy
projects across India, including commissioned and committed projects.

83. Jio Platforms (JPL) has signed a pact with the University of Oulu, Finland for undertaking
research and standardization related activities in 6G technology.

84. Ujjivan Small Finance Bank launched the Platina Fixed Deposit, which offers interest of 15
basis points in addition to the regular Ujjivan SFB term deposit rates.
• The Platina FD is a non-callable deposit, partial & pre-mature withdrawal is not applicable
to this scheme.

pg. 112
85. Hitachi Payment Services and Indipaisa have partnered to develop a new Fintech platform
for India’s MSMEs to help India’s 63 million MSMEs in managing their business finances with
advanced technologies.
• Hitachi is India’s foremost enabler of both cash and digital payments.
• Indipaisa is a member of the Nexxo Network, an international network of Fintech companies
operating in the Middle East, Asia and Europe.

86. Fullerton India and One97 Communications (Paytm) have partnered to provide lending
products to merchant partners and consumers.
• The program will offer Paytm Postpaid (buy-now-pay-later) to millions of consumers on the
Paytm platform while utilizing Fullerton's deep risk assessment capabilities and scale.

87. PencilCard is a National Common Mobility Card-NCMC RuPay debit card specially
designed for the teenager segment.
• Pencilton, a teen-focused fintech company, has launched the PencilCard, in partnership
with Transcorp.

88. Bank of Maharashtra has partnered with Lendingkart (a fintech company) to offer small-
ticket MSME loans.
• Lendingkart aims to make affordable finance available to MSME borrowers at their
doorstep with this agreement.
• The loans will be enabled by the 'zero touch' technology platform Lendingkart '2gthr'.
• '2gthr' allows banks and NBFCs to onboard and disburse unsecured business loans up to
Rs. 10 lakh to MSME borrowers across the country in real-time.

89. City Union Bank (CUB) has launched the CUB Easy Pay – Contactless Debit Card in a
Fitness Watch. The Wrist Watch is linked to the account of the customer.
• For making payments at PoS machines, the customers will have to hold this wristwatch in
front of the PoS device during the payment like tapping the card on PoS.
• The customer will have to tap and enter their PIN for payments above Rs 5,000.

pg. 113
 • It has been launched in partnership with smart-tech-enabled preventive healthcare platform
GOQii.

90. RBI has released the draft scheme for amalgamation of Punjab & Maharashtra
Cooperative (PMC) Bank with Unity Small Finance Bank (SFB).
• Unity SFB is promoted by Centrum Financial Services, in which BharatPe owner
Resilient Innovation is a joint investor.

91. Max Life Insurance Co. Ltd. has partnered with Policybazaar.com to offer ‘Max Life Smart
Secure Plus Plan’, a Non-Linked Non-Participating Individual Pure Risk Premium Life
Insurance Plan.
• This is an independent insurance cover for homemakers.
• The 'Max Life Smart Secure Plus Plan' will be available to consumers where household
income is a minimum of Rs. 5 Lakhs per annum.
• It will be available to homemakers in the age group of 18 to 50 years.

92. Ministry of Commerce & Industry’s data on electronics goods’ exports –

• During April – November 2021, exports (increased by 49%) to $11.0 billion
o Top 5 export destinations in April-November 2021 are USA (18%), UAE (16.6%),
China (7.6%), Netherlands (4.5%) and Germany (4.2%).
• In December 2021 - Exports touched $1.67 billion
• The overall electronic goods exports FY21 were $11.11 billion.

93. Swiggy has become the 4th Indian company to become a decacorn, with a valuation of $10.7
billion.
• Decacorns are private firms or startups whose value exceeded over USD 10 billion.
• The other three companies that hold the tag already are Paytm, Oyo, and Byjus.
• Facebook was the first decacorn in the world. It earned the tag in 2007.
• Hectocorn – private companies or startups whose value is considered to be over $100
billion

pg. 114
94. Google will invest as much as $1 billion in Bharti Airtel Ltd to accelerate India’s digital
transformation.
• Under the partnership, both organizations will work to increase smartphone access in the
country.
• Alphabet Inc., the parent of Google, will buy a 1.28% stake in Bharti Airtel for $700
million and invest $300 million over the next 5 years in commercial arrangements in the
areas of affordable mobile devices, 5G network and cloud technologies.
• In July 2020, Google invested $4.5 billion in Jio Platforms Ltd.
• Both the investments are routed through the Google for India Digitization Fund.

95. Paytm Money has introduced India’s first intelligent messenger named ‘Pops’ to allow
users to receive specific information related to their stocks, analysis about their portfolio,
market news, and important market movements in an easy to consume format, all in one place.
• The platform will also act as a marketplace to offer stock recommendations, news insights,
and other services.

96. NPCI International Payments Limited (NIPL) has signed an MoU with TerraPay,
(Netherlands-based global payments infrastructure company).
• Purpose - to allow Indians with an active UPI ID to receive real-time, international
payments into their bank accounts via TerraPay’s secure payments technology.
• In December 2021, NIPL had tied up Western Union to enable real-time bank account
payout in India.
• Founder and CEO of TerraPay - Ambar Sur

97. FAARMS (Agritech start-up) has partnered with Reliance General Insurance Company Ltd
to provide health and cattle insurance for the rural population, including farmers, through
FAARMS’s mobile application.
• FAARMS is an e-commerce platform for farmers for all farming-related inputs from seeds,
agrochemicals, machinery and animal feed in India.
• The company has a presence in Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan,
Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh.

pg. 115
 • FAARMS is founded by veteran bankers for the rural sector, Taranbir Singh and Alok
Duggal.

98. According to World Steel Association’s data, India’s crude steel production increased by
18% approx. to 118 million tonne (MT) in 2021.
• Thus, India became the 2nd largest producer of crude steel in the world.
• China is the world’s largest producer of crude steel at 1,032.8 MT in 2021 (recording a
decline of 3%).
• In 2020, India had manufactured 100.3 MT steel and China had produced 1,064.7 MT.
• Total world crude steel production in 2021 – 1,950.5 MT (a 3.7% increase from 2020)
• Top Crude Steel Producers in 2021 –
o China - 1,032.8 MT
o India – 118 MT
o Japan - 96.3 MT
o US – 86 MT
o Russia - 76 MT
o South Korea - 70.6 MT

99. According to the Ministry of Commerce’s data, exports of marine products jumped by 35%
to USD 6.1 billion during April-December 2021.
• In December 2021, the exports grew 28% to USD 720.51 million.
• Top 5 export destinations of India’s exports – US, China, Japan, Vietnam and Thailand.
• Frozen shrimps accounts for 74% of India’s marine exports in value terms.

India’s targets –
• The Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY), launched in May 2020, has set
a target of Rs 1 lakh crore fisheries export, additional 70 lakh tonnes fish production,
and generation of 55 lakh employment.

100. RBI has imposed several restrictions on Indian Mercantile Cooperative Bank Ltd,
Lucknow.

pg. 116
 • Depositors are allowed to withdraw Rs 1 lakh.
• The restrictions would remain in force for six months and are subject to review.

101. Reliance BP Mobility Limited, operating under the brand name Jio-bp, has established
India’s largest EV charging hubs in Dwarka, Delhi.
• Reliance BP Mobility Limited is a joint venture between Reliance Industries Ltd and energy
supermajor BP.
• RBML had launched its first Jio-bp branded Mobility Station at Navde, Navi Mumbai last
year.

102. Meta (Facebook) has partnered with FICCI to support 5 lakh women-led small businesses
across India under its #SheMeansBusiness programme.
• The announcement was made during Meta's inaugural National Women
Entrepreneurship Summit to encourage industry dialogue and steps to support the
MSMEs across sectors.
• Out of over 63 million small businesses in India, about 20% are owned by women.
• Meta will extend its support via three initiatives — Facebook Business Coach, Grow your
Business Hub, and Meta's Commerce Partners Program.
• #SheMeansBusiness programme was launched in 2016 to encourage women in
entrepreneurship.
• FICCI and FICCI-FLO have launched the 'Empowering the Greater 50%' in 2020. The
initiative is an ambitious women empowerment mission to enhance the entrepreneurial and
decision-making skills of women.
• FICCI-FLO President - Ujjwala Singhania

GDP FORECASTS
1. Global Economic Prospects 2022 Report has been released by the World Bank.
World’s GDP India’s GDP

pg. 117
 2019- 4%
2020- (-) 7.3%
2021- 8.3%
2022- 8.7%
2023- 6.8%

2. State Bank of India has forecasted 9.5% GDP growth rate for FY22 in its Ecowrap report.

3. National Statistics Office (NSO) has released the first advance estimate of national
income for 2021-22.
• GDP for FY22 – 9.2%
o This would mean just 1.3% growth over FY20, indicating that the economy has
recovered the loss of last year in GDP.
• India’s real GDP in the current fiscal year at ₹147.54 trillion, against the provisional
estimate of ₹135.13 trillion in the previous fiscal.
• Real GVA (gross value added) at basic prices is estimated at ₹135.22 trillion in FY22,
against ₹124.53 trillion in FY21, a growth of 8.6%.
• Sector-wise growth estimates –
o Agriculture, forestry and fishing (3.9%)
o Mining and quarrying (14.3%)
o Manufacturing (12.5%)
o Construction (10.7%)

4. Three organizations have lowered India’s GDP growth rate in the wake of third wave of Covid-
19.
• Citigroup Inc. has forecasted a 9% GDP growth rate for India, as against 9.8%.
• India Ratings has forecasted a 9.3% GDP growth rate for India, as against 9.4%.
• ICICI Bank has forecasted a 9.6% GDP growth rate for India, as against 9.8%.

5. UN’s Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) has released the ‘World
Economic Situation and Prospects (WESP) 2022 report.

pg. 118
6. UBS Securities (Switzerland based brokerage) has downgraded India’s forecast for FY22 to
9.1% from 9.5%.
• FY23 GDP forecast – 8.2%

7. National Statistics Office has released the ‘First Revised Estimates Of National Income,
Consumption Expenditure, Saving And Capital Formation For 2020-21’.
• Indian economy has contracted by 6.6% in 2020-21 as against the 7.3% forecast.
• GDP for 2019-20 is now projected at 3.7%, as against the earlier forecast of 4%.
Categories 2020-21 2019-20
Nominal GDP (GDP at Rs 198.01 lakh crore Rs 200.75 lakh crore
current prices) (decline of 1.4% from (growth of 6.2% over
FY20) FY19)
Real GDP (GDP at Rs 135.58 lakh crores Rs 145.16 lakh crore
constant prices) (contraction of 6.6%) (growth of 3.7% over
FY19)
GVA (Gross Value -1.6% 6.9%
Added) at Current
Prices
GVA at Constant Prices -4.8% 3.8%
Net National Income at ₹171.94 lakh crore ₹177.17 lakh crore
current prices (-2.9%) (6%)
Per Capita Income i.e. ₹1,26,855 ₹1,32,115
Per Capita Net

pg. 119
 National Income at
current prices
Per Capita PFCE (Private ₹88,775 ₹91,254
Financial
Consumption
Expenditure)

Sector wise GVA at 2020-21 2019-20

Constant Prices
(2011-12)
Primary 1.6% 4.5%
Secondary -2.8% -1.4%
Tertiary -7.8% 6.3%
Total -4.8% 3.8%

8. India Ratings & Research (Ind-Ra) has forecasted India’s GDP growth rate for 2022-23 at
7.6%.
• FY22 forecast – 9.3%

9. International Monetary Fund (IMF) has released the World Economic Outlook Update –
January 2022.
World’s GDP India’s GDP
2020-21: (-) 3.1% 2020-21: (–7.3)
2021-22: 5.9% 2021-22: 9%
2022-23: 4.4% 2022-23: 9%
2023-24: 3.8% 2023-24: 7.1%

• For Calendar year, India’s GDP forecast varies for

o 2022 – 8.7%
o 2023 – 6.6%

pg. 120
 APPOINTMENTS
1. Virender Singh Pathania has been appointed as the new Director-General of the Indian
Coast Guard.
• He was appointed as the new Director-General of the Indian Air Force (IAF) by the
government on December 31.
• Pathania who hails from Himachal Pradesh is the first chopper pilot from the IAF to get
command of the Coast Guard.

2. Ministry of Railways has appointed Vinay Kumar Tripathi as new chairman-cum-CEO of

Railway Board.

3. Alka Mittal has been appointed as the first female Chairperson and Managing Director of
Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), India’s largest oil and gas exploration company.

4. Shafali Verma (cricketer) has been appointed as the Brand Endorser of Bank of Baroda.

5. T. S. Tirumurti has been appointed as the Chair of Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC) of

UN Security Council.
• At present, India is chairing the three important Committees of the UN Security Council,
which include the Counter-Terrorism Committee, Libyan Sanctions Committee, and
Taliban Sanctions Committee.
• The CTC Committee was formed in September 2001 soon after the tragic terrorist attack of
9/11 in New York, while India had chaired this Committee in the Security Council in 2011-
12.

6. Vijay Paul Sharma has been re-appointed as the chairman of the Commission for
Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP), under Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare.
• The CACP decides the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for 22 crops and Fair and
Remunerative Price for Sugarcane.

pg. 121
7. Zhang Ming (China’s outgoing ambassador to the European Union) has taken over as the new
secretary-general of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO).
• The SCO comprises eight member states: India, Kazakhstan, China, the Kyrgyz Republic,
Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

8. Urjit Patel has been appointed as the Vice President of Asian Infrastructure Investment
Bank.
• Patel has served as the 24th Governor of RBI.
• AIIB President – Jin Liqun (China)

9. Haitham Al-Ghais (from Kuwait) has been appointed as the Secretary-General of

Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), with effect from 1 August
2022, for a period of three years.

10. New directors were appointed for four IITs.

• IIT Delhi-Director: Professor Rangan Banerjee
• IIT Madras-Director: Professor V Kamakoti
• IIT Mandi-Director: Laxmidhar Behera
• IIT Indore-Director: Suhas Joshi

11. Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas has been appointed as the new Chief Economist of International
Monetary Fund (IMF) and Head of Research Department.
• Kristalina Georgieva (Bulgarian economist) is the managing director (MD) of IMF.

12. Raghuvendra Tanwar has been appointed as chairman of the Indian Council of Historical
Research.
• Tanwar was a professor emeritus and former registrar of the Kurukshetra University.

13. RenewBuy, an online insurance platform, has appointed Rajkummar Rao as the brand
ambassador for its 1st 360-degree consumer advertising campaign that highlights consumers'
insurance needs.

pg. 122
 • “Smart Tech, Right Advice” is the theme of the campaign.

14. Adani Power has appointed Shersingh B Khyalia as the company's chief executive officer
(CEO).

15. Navrang Saini has been given the additional charge as the Chairperson of the Insolvency
and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI).

16. Dileep Sanghani has been elected as the 17th chairman of the Indian Farmers Fertiliser
Cooperative (IFFCO).

17. Roberta Metsola (from Malta) has been appointed as the President of European Parliament.
• She is the third woman to head the European Parliament.
• Heads of EU Legislative Bodies –
o European Council – Charles Michel (Belgium)
o European Commission – Ursula von der Leyen (Germany)

18. S. Somanath has assumed the charge as Secretary, Department of Space and Chairman,
Space Commission (ISRO’s board).
• Prior to this, he was the Director of Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC),
Thiruvananathapuram.
• He had earlier made contributions in PSLV and GSLV MkIII.

19. RBI has approved the appointment of Ittira Davis as the MD and CEO of Ujjivan Small
Finance Bank (based in Bengaluru) for a one-year term effective January 14.

pg. 123
20. Lovlina Borgohain has been appointed as Deputy superintendent of police in Assam
Police.
• She won the bronze medal in boxing at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

21. Indian Olympic Association (IOA) has appointed senior vice president of the Indian Olympic
Association Rakesh Anand as the Chef de Mission of India’s contingent for the 2022
Commonwealth Games to be held at Birmingham, UK from July 28-August 8.
• Also, the IOA has appointed president of Wushu Association of India Bhupender Singh
Bajwa as India's Chef de Mission for the 2022 Asian Games, scheduled to be held in
Hangzhou, China from September 10-25.

22. Narendra Goenka has been appointed as the Chairman of Apparel Export Promotion
Council (AEPC).
• AEPC HQ – New Delhi

23. Dr V Anantha Nageswaran was appointed as the government’s Chief Economic Advisor.
• Nageswaran is an academic and former executive with Credit Suisse Group AG and Julius
Baer Group.

24. Senior bureaucrat Vikram Dev Dutt has been appointed as the chairman and managing
director (CMD) of Air India Limited by the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and
Pensions.
• Last year, Govt of India sold 100% stake of Air India to Tata Sons. Soon after divestment,
a new board took charge of Air India.
• Tata Sons, which will soon take over the Air India, made payment of ₹2,700 crore in cash
and took over ₹15,300 crore of the carrier's debt.

pg. 124
 • Tata Sons Chairman - N Chandrasekaran

25. Global internet body ICANN-supported Universal Acceptance Steering Group has roped in
Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma as its Ambassador.
• ICANN - Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers
• Universal Acceptance Steering Group works on developing and recommending standards
for languages script that are not currently used to access the internet.

26. Content creator Prajakta Koli has been named as youth climate champion by United
Nations Development Programme-India.
• Koli is a YouTuber known for her channel Mostlysane featuring comedy videos.
• She has become India’s first youth climate champion.

27. RBI has approved the appointment of Vinod Rai, the former comptroller and auditor general of
India, as the independent chairman of Unity Small Finance Bank (SFB).
• The Unity SFB is a joint venture between Centrum group and Bharat Pe.

28. Vinodanand Jha (an IRS officer) has been appointed as the chairperson of the PMLA
Adjudicating Authority (located in New Delhi).
• Prior to this appointment, he was the Member (Finance and Accounts) in the Authority.
• Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002 provides for the constitution of this
Authority.

29. Lieutenant Shivangi Singh – India’s first Rafale pilot – was a part of the Indian Air Force
(IAF) tableau that featured in the Republic Day parade.
• She hails from Varanasi.
• Only a handful of women – less than 20 – have been commissioned as fighter pilots so far.

30. Pushp Kumar Joshi has been appointed as the new chairman and managing director of
Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL).

pg. 125
31. IIFL Finance has appointed Arun Purwar as its chairman from April 1, 2022.
• Purwar was the former head of State Bank of India.

IMPORTANT DAYS
1. National Science Day is observed on February 28 to commemorate the discovery of the
‘Raman Effect’.
• Theme - Integrated Approach in S&T for Sustainable Future
• On this day Sir C.V. Raman announced the discovery of the 'Raman Effect' for which he
was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1930.

2. DRDO Foundation Day is observed on January 1.

• 2022 is the 64th edition of this day.
• DRDO was established in 1958. There are 60 laboratories of DRDO.

3. Bureau of Indian Standards, which came into existence as Indian Standards Institution (ISI)
in 1947, commemorated its 75th anniversary on January 6.
• In December 2021, BIS launched the ‘BIS Care’ mobile app for allowing the customers to
verify the authenticity of ISI mark, Hall mark, and other quality standards.
• In 2019, BIS had also launched the ‘One Nation One Standard’ Scheme to ensure
uniform standardisation in the country and eliminate overlapping in the same.

4. Union Home Ministry announced that December 26 will be observed as 'Veer Baal Diwas'
as a tribute to the 10th Sikh guru Gobind Singh's four sons who were executed by the
Mughals.

5. Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas is celebrated on January 9 in India to commemorate Mahatma

Gandhi’s return to India from South Africa.
• Youth Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas Conference 2022 was held.

pg. 126
6. World Hindi Day (Vishwa Hindi Diwas) is celebrated on January 10 to spread awareness
about Hindi as an international language across the world.
• In the year 1975, the first-ever World Hindi Conference took place in Maharashtra’s
Nagpur on January 10.
• UNESCO’s World Heritage Centre (WHC) has agreed to publish Hindi descriptions of
India's UNESCO World Heritage Sites on its website.

7. National Startup Day will be observed from January 16 in India.

• The day will be observed on six themes –
o Growing from Roots; Nudging the DNA; From Local to Global; Technology of Future;
Building Champions in Manufacturing; and Sustainable Development
• 42 unicorns —start-ups valued at over $ 1 billion – came up in India in 2021.
• India is the third-largest base for unicorns in the world after the US which has close to
487 unicorns, and China which is home to 301 unicorn startups.
• Globally, there were close to 963 unicorn startups worldwide.

8. 74th Army Day was celebrated on January 15.

• Theme - In Stride with the Future
• A song titled ‘Maati’, sung by famed singer Hariharan, dedicated to the Army and the
Nation, was released during the event.
• On this day, ‘Monumental National Flag,’ the world's largest national flag made from
Khadi, was displayed along the India-Pakistan border in Rajasthan's Longewala.
• Purpose - to remember the occasion when General (later Field Marshal) KM Cariappa
took over the command of the Indian Army from General Sir FRR Bucher, the last British
Commander-in-Chief in 1949.
o He became the first Indian Commander-in-Chief of Independent India.

9. Armed Forces Veterans Day is observed on January 14 every year, since 2017.
• The Day recognises the services rendered by Field Marshal KM Cariappa OBE, the first
Indian Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Armed Forces.
• He retired on January 14 in 1953.

pg. 127
10. Guru Ravidas Jayanti is celebrated on February 16.

11. National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) Raising Day is observed January 19 annually.
• The successive natural calamities from 1990 to 2004 led to the enactment of the Disaster
Management Act on December 26, 2005.

12. National Payment Corporation of India has announced to celebrate ‘UPI Safety and
Awareness Week’ from Feb 1 to 7.
• The whole of February will be celebrated as ‘UPI Safety and Awareness Month’.
• MD & CEO, NPCI - Dilip Asbe

13. Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana - National Rural Livelihood Mission (DAY-NRLM) has
observed ‘Agri Nutri Garden Week’ from 10th to 17th January, 2022.
• Purpose – to encourage the establishment of ‘Agri Nutri Gardens’ in the rural households.
• It is DAY-NRLM’s agenda to support every rural poor household to have Agri Nutri Garden
to fulfil the need of the family’s nutrition and any excess production can also be sold for
income generation.
• A total of 76,664 ‘Agri Nutri Gardens’ were established in this week against the target of
7500.

14. International Day of Education is observed on January 24 by UN.

• Theme - Changing Course, Transforming Education

15. National Tourism Day is observed on January 25 in India.

• Theme - Rural and Community Centric Tourism

16. National Voters' Day is observed on January 25 in India.

• Theme – ‘Making Elections Inclusive, Accessible and Participative’
• Edition – 12th

pg. 128
 • ECI Publication ‘Leap of Faith: Journey of Indian Elections’ was released. ‘Pledging to
Vote – A decadal Journey of The National Voters Day in India’ publication was also
released.
• National Voter Awareness Contest on social media - ‘My Vote is my Future- Power of
One Vote’ was launched.
• National Awards for the Best Electoral Practises for the year 2021-22 will be conferred
on State and District level officers for their outstanding performance in the conduct of
elections.
o The awards will be in different spheres such as IT initiatives, Security Management,
Election Management, Accessible Elections and contribution in the field of voter
awareness and outreach.

17. Data Privacy Day is observed on January 28 in the United States, Canada, India and 47
European countries.
• Data Privacy Day was first initiated by the Council of Europe in 2007 as the European Data
Protection Day.
• In 2009, USA also declared January 28 the National Data Privacy Day.

18. International Holocaust Remembrance Day is observed on January 27 by UN.

• Theme – Memory, Dignity and Justice

19. International Customs Day is observed on January 26.

• Theme - 'Scaling up Customs Digital Transformation by Embracing a Data Culture and
Building a Data Ecosystem'
pg. 129
20. Anti-Leprosy Day is observed on 30th January every year in India, i.e., Mahatma Gandhiji's
martyrdom day, as Gandhiji was deeply committed to the cause of leprosy.
• World Leprosy Day is observed internationally every year on the last Sunday of January.
• WHO launched ‘United for Dignity’ campaign on this day for unity in honouring the dignity
of people who have experienced leprosy.

21. World Neglected Tropical Diseases Day is observed on January 30.

• Theme - Achieving health equity to end the neglect of poverty-related diseases

AWARDS
1. 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.
• Senior journalist Prem Shankar Jha was bestowed with the lifetime achievement award
"for his long and distinguished career of incisive and analytical writing".

2. Sahitya Academy Awards for 2021 have been given in three categories - Sahitya Akademi
Awards, Yuva Puraskar, and Bal Sahitya Puraskar.
Sahitya Akademi Awards Sahitya Akademi Yuva
2021 Puraskar Awards
2021
Given in 20 Indian Given in 22 Indian
languages (including languages (including
English) English)
Winner in English - Winner in English – A
Things to Leave Behind Burning (Novel) by
(Novel) by Namita Megha Majumdar
Gokhale Winner in Hindi – Kissa
Kissa Lucknowa –
Lucknow ke Awami
Sahitya Akademi Bal
Sahitya Puraskar
Awards
Given in 22 Indian
languages (including
English)
Winner in English –
Amrita Sher-gil: Rebel
with a Paint Brush
(Biography) by Anita
Vachharajani

pg. 130
 Winner in Hindi - Samrat Kisse (Short Stories) by Winner in Hindi – Natak
Ashok (Play) by Daya Himanshu Vajpai Natak mein Vigyan
Prakash Sinha (Play) by Devendra
Mewari

3. JC Chaudhary has made the world’s first Guinness World Record in Numerology and the
first world record of 2022.
• Chaudhry has been educating about ancient science of Numerology to around 6000
participants 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.

4. Kerala-based lender South Indian Bank has won the UiPath Automation Excellence
Awards 2021 for best automation under crisis for business continuity.

5. 78th SKOCH Summit was organized and awards were given.

• Theme of the Summit – State of Governance
• Forensic Science Laboratory, New Delhi has won the Skoch Silver Award 2021.
• ‘Rising to the China Challenge: Winning Through Strategic Patience and Flexible
Policies’ book authored by members of Pune International Centre.

6. 3rd edition of National Water Awards have been announced by Ministry of Jal Shakti.
• Awards have been given for adopting best water practices in India
• 57 awards have been awarded in 11 categories.
Category Winners
Best state 1. Uttar Pradesh
2. Rajasthan
3. Tamil Nadu
DISTRICT
Best District (North) Muzaffarnagar, UP
pg. 131
 Best District (South) Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala
Best District (East) East Champaran
Best District (West) Indore, MP
Best District (North-East) Goalpara, Assam
PANCHAYAT
Best Village Panchayat (North) Dhaspad, Almora, Uttarakhand
Best Village Panchayat (South) Yelarampura, Tumakuru, Karnataka
Best Village Panchayat (East) Telari, Gaya, Bihar
Best Village Panchayat (West) Takhatgadh, Sabarkantha, Gujarat
Best Village Panchayat (North-East) Sialsir, Sirchip, Mizoram
URBAN LOCAL BODY
Best Urban Local Body Vapi, Gujarat
SCHOOL
Best School Government Girls Higher Secondary
School, Kaveripattinam, Tamil Nadu
NGO
Best NGO Coastal salinity prevention cell,
Ahmedabad
INDUSTRY
Best Industry for CSR activities ITC Limited, Kolkata

7. 5th edition of the International Craft Awards were announced.

• Craft Icon of the Year - Chandramali Liyanage, Sri Lanka
• Village of the Year - Kerala Arts and Crafts Village, India
• Lifetime Achievement for contribution to the Sustainable Development of Craft
Sector and Social Incl - Malaysian Prison Department, Malaysia
• Master Artisan of the Year (Female) - Amita Sachdeva, India
• Master Artisan of the Year (Male) - Mubarik Khatri, India

About the International Craft Awards:

pg. 132
 • International Craft Awards were launched in 2017 to honour Masters, Artists, Designers,
Individuals, Institutions, Councils, Organizations, and Governments from around the globe
for their contribution to the sustainable development of handicrafts.
• ICA is organized by Craft Village (National Entity), a social organization, based out of New
Delhi (India).
Note: The complete list of the awards - https://internationalcraftawards.org/5th-ica-2021

8. Project Parvarish - a mission to combat malnourishment among children aged six months
to 5 years - has earned the SKOCH Award for southern Assam’s Cachar district.
• Instituted in 2003, SKOCH Award recognises people, projects and institutions that go the
extra mile to make India a better nation.
• The programme was launched during the “nutrition month” in 2020.

9. Golden Globe Award 2022 has been announced by Hollywood.

• Best Film – The Power of the Dog
• Best Director – Jane Campion for ‘The Power of the Dog’
• Best Actor – Will Smith for his role in ‘King Richard’
• Best Actress – Nicole Kidman for her role in ‘Being The Ricardos’

10. Satish Adiga, professor in Clinical Embryology at Kasturba Medical College (KMC), Manipal,
has been selected for the ICMR’s Dr Subhas Mukherjee Award 2020 in recognition of his
work in the field of in-vitro fertilisation (IVF).
• The ICMR has instituted the award in the name of Dr Subhas Mukherjee, who is the creator
of India’s first IVF baby.
• ICMR has given awards in a total of 28 categories.

11. The Chennai International Airport is one of the top 10 large international airports in the
world that has been recognised as the ‘on-time performing airports’.
• The airport has been ranked at the 8th position with 89.32 % on-time performance in the
'Large Airports' category, representing customer service quality and operational
excellence.

pg. 133
 • The ranking has been given for the year 2021.
• The ranking has been prepared by the Cirium, an organisation that specialises in offering
aviation data to travel, finance, aerospace, and aviation industries.
• Itami Airport (Osaka International (Itami) Airport) is located in Japan.

12. HDFC Bank has been ranked as the Best Private Bank in India at the Global Private
Banking Awards 2021.
• The awards are given by Professional Wealth Management (PWM).
• Professional Wealth Management (PWM) is published by the Financial Times. It
specialises in analysing the growth strategies of private banks and the regional financial
centres in which they operate.

13. Ministry of Education has launched the Swachh Vidyalaya Puraskar 2021-22 to recognize
schools which lay emphasize on and have done exemplary work in the field of water, hygiene
and sanitation.
• These awards were first instituted by department of school education in 2016-17.

pg. 134
 • The awards are open to all categories of schools i.e., government, government-aided and
private in both urban and rural areas.
• Sub-categories –
o Water
o Sanitation
o Hand Washing with soap
o Operation and Maintenance
o Behaviour Change and Capacity Building
o COVID-19 Preparedness and Response
• At the national level, 40 schools will be awarded under the overall category.

14. Albert Bourla (chairman and chief executive of Pfizer Inc., pharmaceutical company), was
awarded the prestigious Genesis Prize for his efforts in leading the development of a COVID-
19 vaccine.
• The award, given by Genesis Prize Foundation, carries $1 million.
• It is given each year to a person for their professional achievements, contributions to
humanity and commitment to Jewish values.
• The prize is also known as the "Jewish Nobel Prize".

15. World Bank, International Finance Corporation, and the Consumer Technology
Association (CTA) announced the winners of The Global Women's HealthTech Awards
2022.
• The awards were launched in August 2021 for companies. It is given in three categories -
reproductive health and pregnancy, general women's and adolescent health, and women
safety and security.
• Winners –
o US based - Antiva Biosciences, and UE LifeSciences (developer of iBreastExam for
detection of breat cancer)
o Bengaluru based – InnAccel (developed Fetal Lite, an AI-powered, foetal heart rate
monitor for mothers in labor), NIRAMAI (for detection of breast cancer)

pg. 135
16. Former West Indies Captain Clive Lloyd received Knighthood from Prince William, the Duke
of Cambridge at Windsor Castle, England, for his services towards the game of cricket.

17. Harshaali Malhotra, of Bajrangi Bhaijaan fame, has been honoured with Bharat Ratna Dr
Ambedkar Award 2022 for commendable performance in the movie Bajrangi Bhaijaan.

18. Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has honoured 46 startups along with
1 incubator and 1 accelerator with the National Startup Awards 2021.
• This is the 2nd edition of the awards.
• In this edition of the awards, applications were invited across 15 sectors and 49 sub-
sectors.
• Six special categories were also introduced to recognize exceptional Startups
contributing to the good of the society.
• Winning incubator - Access Livelihoods Foundation (Hyderabad, Telangana)
• Winning accelerator - India Accelerator

19. Mon District Administration of Nagaland has won the Silver award at National Award for
e-Governance 2020-21.
• Bandipora District of Kashmir has also won the National Award for e-Governance
2020-21.

20. FIFA President Gianni Infantino announced Best FIFA Football Awards 2021.
• Best FIFA Men's Player 2021 - Robert Lewandowski (Poland)
• Best FIFA Women's Player 2021 - Alexia Putellas (Spain)
• Best FIFA Men's Coach 2021 - Thomas Tuchel
• Best FIFA Women's Coach 2021 - Emma Hayes
• Best FIFA Men's Goalkeeper 2021 - Edouard Mendy
• Best FIFA Women's Goalkeeper 2021 - Christiane Endler
• FIFA Fan Award 2021 - Denmark and Finland fans
• FIFA Puskas award for 2021 - Eric Lamela
• FIFA Special Best Men's Award 2021 - Cristiano Ronaldo

pg. 136
 • FIFA HQ – Zurich, Switzerland

21. PR Sreejesh (veteran India hockey goalkeeper) has won the prestigious World Games
Athlete of the Year, given by the International Word Games Association, for his
performances in 2021.
• He became the second Indian to receive the accolade. In 2020, Indian women's hockey
captain Rani Rampal became the first Indian to win the honour for her 2019 performance.
• In October 2021, Sreejesh was named as the goalkeeper of the year for 2021 at the FIH
Stars Awards.
• Hockey India president - Gyanendro Ningombam
• The World Games 2025 will be held in Chengdu, China.

22. Shaylyn Ford (USA) was crowned as the winner of Mrs World 2022.

23. Rhapsody Music Foundation (based in Chennai) has won the prestigious QS-Wharton
Reimagine Education Awards 2022.
• Rhapsody has been ranked Number 1 in Asia and Number 1 worldwide in the Arts and
Humanities category ahead of more than 1,500 education innovators.
• About Rhapsody – Founded in 2013 by Anil Srinivasan (classical pianist-turned-
education innovation entrepreneur). It uses music to teach them science and mathematical
concepts.
• The award is given by Wharton School’s Alfred West Jr. Learning Lab and QS
(Quacquarelli Symonds).
• The award recognises innovative approaches that improve student learning outcomes.

24. Prime Minister Narendra Modi topped the global rating survey among the world leaders as
the most popular leader, with an approval rating of 71%.
• The survey was conducted by the Morning Consult Political Intelligence from January
13-19, 2022.
• 2nd position - Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador
• 3rd position - Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi

pg. 137
25. Former Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was conferred with the Netaji Award 2022 by
Netaji Research Bureau on January 23 (Parakaram Diwas).

26. 20th Dhaka International Film Festival (DIFF) -

• Best film (Asian) award – Koozangal film from India (directed by PS Vinothraj)
• Special Audience Award - Semkhor film from India (directed by Aimee Baruah)
o Semkhor is the first ever Dimasa language film to be screened in the Indian
Panorama Section of IFFI 2021.
o Dimasa language is spoken in Assam and Nagaland.
• Best Actor - Mr. Jayasurya from India (for his film Sunny)

27. International Cricket Council has announced its awards for 2021.
Winners
ICC Umpire of the Year – Marais Erasmus
ICC Men’s T20I Cricketer of the Year – Mohammad Rizwan (Pakistan)

ICC Women’s T20I Cricketer of the Year – Tammy Beaumont (England)

ICC Emerging Men’s Cricketer of the Year – Janneman Malan (South

Africa)
ICC Emerging Women’s Cricketer of the Year – Fatima Sana (Pakistan)

ICC Men’s ODI Cricketer of the Year – Babar Azam (Pakistan)

ICC Women’s ODI Cricketer of the Year – Lizelle Lee (South Africa)

ICC Men’s Test Cricketer of the Year – Joe Root (England)

Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy for ICC Women’s Cricketer of the Year –
Smriti Mandhana (India)
Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy for ICC Men’s Cricketer of the Year – Shaheen
Afridi (Pakistan)
ICC Spirit of Cricket Award – Daryl Mitchell (New Zealand)

pg. 138
28. Ashok Chakra was given to Babu Ram posthumously during Republic Day 2022 celebrations.
• Babu Ram is the Assistant Sub-Inspector of Jammu and Kashmir Police.
• President Ram Nath Kovind approved 384 gallantry awards and other military decorations
for security forces personnel.

29. A total of 51 people have been selected for the Jeevan Raksha Padak Series of Awards-
2021.
• Of them, five awardees are posthumous.
• President Ram Nath Kovind has approved the conferment of Jeevan Raksha Padak
Series of Awards- 2021 which includes Sarvottam Jeevan Raksha Padak to six, Uttam
Jeevan Raksha Padak to 16 and Jeevan Raksha Padak to 29 persons.

30. Subedar Neeraj Chopra has been awarded the Param Vishisht Seva Medal (PVSM) for his
distinguished service.
• He is the first Indian track and field athlete to win a gold medal at the Olympic games and
serving in the Indian Army’s 4 Rajputana Rifles.

31. 73rd Republic Day highlights -

• Best state tableaux - Uttar Pradesh out of 12 States/UTs
o Theme of UP tableaux - ‘One District One Product and Kashi Vishwanath Dham’
• Best Ministries’ tableaux - Ministry of Education and Ministry of Civil Aviation
o Department of Posts also took first place.
o Nine tableaux of Central Ministries/Departments had participated in the parade.
o Theme of M/o Education’s tableaux - ‘National Education Policy’
o Theme of M/o Civil Aviation’s tableaux - ‘Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik’
• Best Marching Contingent – CISF
• Best Marching Contingent among Armed services - Indian Navy
• Special Prize Category Award - Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs tableaux on the
theme of ‘Subhash @125’ and the ‘Vande Bharatam’ dance group

pg. 139
 • Popular choice category - Maharashtra tableaux on the theme of ‘Biodiversity and State
Bio-symbols of Maharashtra’
• Vande Bharatam-Nritya Utsav dance competition was organized in 2021 at the
Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium Auditorium, New Delhi to select the dancers for Republic
Day 2022 dance performance.
o It is the first time, a dance performance (by 480 dancers) was performed as part of
the Republic Day 2022 parade.

32. Padma Awards 2022 -

• Padma Bhushan – 17 winners

o Ms. Madhur Jaffery from USA – Culinary
o Satya Narayana Nadella from USA - Trade and Industry
o Sundararajan Pichai from USA - Trade and Industry
o Cyrus Poonawalla from Maharashtra - Trade and Industry
o Sanjaya Rajaram (Posthumous) from Mexico - Science and Engineering
o Rajiv Mehrishi - Civil Service
o Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee from West Bengal - Public Affairs (he has refused to
accept the award. He is CPI-(M) member.)
• Padma Shri – 107 winners
o IAS Guruprasad Mohapatra (Posthumous) - Civil Service
o Sonu Nigam - Art

pg. 140
33. Friendship Hospital, in the Satkhira town in Bangladesh, has been adjudged as the most
transformative building of the world for the year 2021 by the Royal Institute of British
Architects (RIBA).
• The 80-bed community hospital is designed by the Bangladeshi architect Kasef
Chowdhury.

34. National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) India has selected Telugu-film ‘Street
Student’ (directed by Mr. Akula Sandeep) for the first prize of Rs. 2 lakh of its 7th edition of
Short Film Award Competition.
• The NHRC Commission has also decided to give a cash award of Rs 50,000/- each to the
films selected for the ‘Certificate of Special Mention’.
• This year, three films are in this category.

35. The Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve in Tamil Nadu was awarded the prestigious
International TX2 Award for doubling its tiger population since 2010.
• Along with this, Nepal’s Bardia National Park was also conferred the award, for doubling its
population of wild tigers.

About the TX2 Award –

• Given by – World Wildlife Fund (WWF), along with Conservation Assured Tiger Standards,
Fauna and Flora International, Global Tiger Forum, IUCN’s Integrated Tiger Habitat
Conservation Programme, Panthera, UNDP, The Lion’s Share, and Wildlife Conservation
Society
• Purpose – to recognize tiger reserves for doubling their tiger populations since 2010.
• 2010 St. Petersburg Declaration – to double wild tiger population in tiger range countries
by 2022.
• Tiger range countries (under Global Tiger Recovery Program) – Bangladesh, Bhutan,
Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Russia, Thailand, and
Vietnam.

pg. 141
 SPORTS
1. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (French chess player) has won the World Blitz Chess 2021 title in
Warsaw, Poland.
• Nodirbek Abdusattorov (of Uzbekistan; aged 17) has become the youngest player to win
the World Rapid Chess Title.

2. Madhya Pradesh will host the Khelo India Youth Games 2022-23 (5th edition) in the city of
Bhopal.
• The state cabinet of MP also approved the land allocation of 50 acre to establish an
international sports complex for hosting the Khelo India Youth Games.
• Karnataka will host the second edition of Khelo India University Games (KIUG) in
Bangalore from March 5, 2022 (delayed due to Covid-19).
• 2021 Khelo India Youth Games (4th edition) are now scheduled to take place in Haryana
in February 2022. It will take place at five cities - Panchkula, Ambala, Chandigarh,
Shahabad, and Delhi.
Khelo India Games Category 2021 Venue 2020 Venue
4th Khelo India U-17 years Panchkula, Guwahati, Assam
Youth Games Haryana
2021 (earlier
known as
Khelo India
School Games)
2nd Khelo India U-25 years Karnataka Bhuvneshwar,
University (Bengaluru's Jain Odisha
Games 2021 University and
other venues in
the state)
2nd Khelo India - Gulmarg, J&K Gulmarg, J&K
Winter Games
2021

pg. 142
 (J&K Topped the
medal tally with
11 gold, 8
silver, and 5
bronze medals)

3. Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) will organize its 1st Open National Senior Ranking
Series at Nandini Nagar, Gonda (UP).

4. Legends League Cricket (LLC) has announced an All Women Referee team.
• Jhulan Goswami has been appointed as the Ambassador of the team.
• Legends Cricket League, a professional cricket league for former star cricketers,
announced that the inaugural season of the League will be held at Al Amerat Cricket
Stadium in Oman in January 2022.

5. All India Sports Council of the Deaf has got approval from the International Committee of
Sports for the Deaf (ICSD) to host the first World Deaf T20 Cricket Championship in
Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala from January 10 to 20, 2023.
• A minimum 8 countries are expected to take part in the championship.
• AISCD is the only Indian national sports federation for the deaf, while the ICSD is the only
governing body for the deaf sports and Deaflympics, sanctioned by the International
Olympic Committee.
• International Committee of Sports for the Deaf (ICSD) HQ - Maryland, USA

6. Tata group has replaced Vivo as IPL title sponsors for 2 years.

7. Tasnim Mir (aged 16, from Gujarat) has been ranked as World No.1 in U-19 Badminton
Women’s Singles’ rankings.
• She has become the first Indian to claim the No. 1 spot in the Badminton World Federation
Junior Women’s World Rankings in the under-19 singles category.
• Tasnim Mir’s global ranking in Women’s Singles (adult + U19) is 605.
pg. 143
 • Tai Tzu-ying (Taiwan) is world’s no.1 in Women’s Singles (adult) category. Viktor Axelsen
(Denmark) is the No.1 in Men’s (adult) category.

8. The Boxing Federation of India has withdrawn from the ASBC Asian U-22 boxing
championships in Tashkent, Uzbekistan due to the rising numbers of Covid-19 cases.

9. India's Lakshya Sen has won his maiden Super 500 title by winning the Yonex-Sunrise India
Open.
• The event is held annually at the Siri Fort Sports Complex in New Delhi.

10. Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has partnered with Canada Running Series (CRS) to
become the new title sponsor and official IT services and technology consulting partner
of the Toronto Waterfront Marathon and Virtual Race till November 2026.
§ TCS will develop a first-of-its-kind environmental impact calculator that will enable
runners and spectators to track their environmental impact and compensate for it.

11. Australia Open 2022 winners -

• Men’s Singles – Rafael Nadal (Spain)
o With this, he becomes the first male tennis player to win 21 Grand Slam titles.
• Women’s Singles – Ashleigh Barty (Australia)

12. Smriti Mandhana has been named in the ICC T20 women's Team of the Year for her
superlative performance in 2021.
• Nat Scriver (from England) has been named as the captain of ICC T20 women's Team of
the Year.
• Smriti Mandhana is India’s vice-captain in the T20 format. Captain of the team in T20 is
Harmanpreet Kaur.

pg. 144
 • There was no Indian representation in ICC Men's T20I Team of the Year 2021. Pakistan’s
skipper Babar Azam has been named captain.

13. ICC Men’s Test Team of the Year 2021 has been announced.
• Captain - Kane Williamson (New Zealand)
• Indians - Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant, R Ashwin

14. ICC Men's ODI Team of the Year 2021 –

• Captain - Babar Azam (Pakistan)
• Indians – NIL

15. ICC Women's ODI Team of the Year for 2021 –

• Captain – England's Heather Knight
• Indians – Mitthali Raj and Jhulan Goswami

16. India U19 team, led by Yash Dhull, has won the ACC U19 Asia Cup 2021 after defeating Sri
Lanka.
• ACC – Asian Cricket Council
• ACC HQ - Colombo, Sri Lanka
• ACC U19 Asia Cup 2021 venue – Dubai and Sharjah, UAE

17. Ladakh women's team has won the 9th national women's ice hockey championship
organised by the Ice Hockey Association of India in Himachal Pradesh.
• Ladakh LG - R K Mathur

18. Syed Modi India International 2022 (Badminton) tournament is scheduled at Lucknow, UP
from 18 to 23 January.
• Women’s singles winner - PV Sindhu
• Women’s doubles - Anna Ching Yik Cheong and Teoh Mei Xing (both from Malaysia)
• Men’s singles – cancelled as a finalist was affected by Corona.
• Men’s doubles - Man Wei Chong and Tee Kai Wun (both from Malaysia)

pg. 145
 • Mixed doubles - India’s Ishan Bhatnagar and Tanisha Crasto (UAE-born Indian badminton
player)

19. AFC Women's Asian Cup (football) 2022 was scheduled to take place at Mumbai Football
Arena (Mumbai), DY Patil Stadium (Navi Mumbai) and ShivChatrapati Sports Complex (Pune).
• Presently, India has withdrawn from the match and remaining matches have been
cancelled due to corona.
• 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup will be held in Australia and New Zealand.

20. South Africa has defeated India in the ODI series in 3-0 at Newlands Cricket Ground in
Cape Town.

21. Aslan Karatsev (from Russia) has won the men’s singles at the 2022 Sydney Tennis
Classic in Australia.
• Women’s singles - Paula Badosa (Spain)

22. 2022 Asian Games will take place from September 10-25, 2022, in Hangzhou, China and
there will be five co-host cities.
• Number of sports - 40 sports with a total of 61 disciplines
• New sports in the Asian Games 2022 - E-sports and breakdancing as full medal sports;
while T20 cricket will return.
• So far, India has won 139 gold, 178 silver, and 299 bronze medals at the Asian Games.
• For the first time ever, more than 300 athletes from Oceania countries will be participate in
the Asian Games 2022. They will participate in five sports - triathlon, athletics, wushu, roller
skating, and weightlifting.
• Sony Pictures Networks India has acquired the exclusive rights for the Asian Games
from November 2021 to September 2023.

pg. 146
23. 10th edition of Women's HockeyAsia Cup 2022 in Muscat, Oman –
• Winner – Japan by beating South Korea
• India – won bronze medal
• Venue - Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex in Muscat

MISCELLANEOUS
1. First known evidence of a magnetic field of an exoplanet has been found by the Hubble
Telescope of NASA.
• The findings were published in the ‘Nature Astronomy’ Journal.
• The exoplanet is named as ‘HAT-P-11b’.
• It is equanimous to the size of Neptune, located at a distance of 123 light years away from
Earth.
• It is the first discovery of a magnetic field on a planet outside our solar system.

2. Pangong Tso Lake is located in Ladakh and Tibet (China’s autonomous region).
• Recently, China is seen constructing a bridge on this lake on the Chinese side of the lake.

3. Captain Harpreet Chandi (Indian-origin officer in British Army) has become the first woman
of colour to make the solo trip to south pole.

4. ‘Gandhi's Assassin: The Making of Nathuram Godse and His Idea of India’ book has been
written by Dhirendra K. Jha.
pg. 147
5. “Mamata Beyond 2021” book has been authored by Jayanta Ghosal.
• The book is translated by Arunava Sinha.

6. The tallest mountain, Wolf Volcano, in the Galapagos islands of Ecuador has erupted.

7. Fatima Sheikh was the first Muslim female teacher of India, on her 191st birth anniversary
with a doodle on their homepage. Her birthday is January 9.
• She founded India’s first school for girls, alongside Jyotirao and Savitribai Phule.

8. EU's Copernicus Climate Change Service has released a report which states that 2021 was
the fifth hottest year.
• The last seven years were the world's warmest "by a clear margin" in records dating back to
1850 and the average global temperature in 2021 was 1.1-1.2C above 1850-1900 levels.
• The hottest years on record were 2020 and 2016.

9. European Parliament President David Sassoli (Italy) has passed away.

• European Parliament HQ - Strasbourg, France

10. ‘Indomitable’ book is the autobiography of Arundhati Bhattacharya (former chairperson of

the State Bank of India).

11. 'Ratan N. Tata: The Authorized Biography' has been authored by Thomas Mathew.

12. UAE-flagged vessel ‘Rwabee’ was seized by Houthis off the port of Hodeidah in Yemen with
seven Indians on board.
• Now, UN mission has talked to the crew members of the vessel.
• Houthis rebel group of Yemen has recently shot ballistic missiles on Saudi Arabia and UAE.

13. Former PM of Japan Toshiki Kaifu has passed away.

pg. 148
14. New uniforms of the Indian Army and Navy -

15. Megha Engineering & Infrastructures Limited (MEIL) is constructing the 18-km-long all-
weather Zojila Tunnel that will ensure connectivity between Srinagar and Ladakh throughout
the year.

16. Jet fuel or Aviation turbine fuel’s (ATF) price was hiked by 4.2%. This is the second increase
in rates this month.

17. ‘Bose: The Untold Story of an Inconvenient Nationalist’ has been authored by
Chandrachur Ghose.
• It is the Biography of Subhas Chandra Bose.

18. A tigress – named as ‘collarwali tigress’ – has passed away in the Pench Tiger Reserve,
Madhya Pradesh at the age of 16.
• It created a world record by delivering 29 cubs in her lifetime.
• Reason behind the name – It wore a collar (used for tracking of animals). The Forest
Department named it T-15.
• The tigress has also featured in the BBC documentary named as “Tiger: Spy in the jungle”.

pg. 149
19. Cartoonist Narayan Debnath, the creator of Bengali comic characters ‘Bantul The Great’,
‘Handa Bhonda’ and ‘Nonte Phonte, has passed away.

20. Subhash Chandra Garg (Former Finance Secretary) has authored his first book titled as “The
$10 Trillion Dream”.

21. “Season 1: The Class of 2006” book has been authored by Akash Kansal.
• It is India’s first ever season styled book.

22. “Last Among Equals: Power, Caste & Politics in Bihar’s Villages” book has been authored
by M.R. Sharan.

23. ‘The Legend Of Birsa Munda’ book has been authored by Tuhin A. Sinha and Ankita
Verma.
• The book was launched by Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari.

24. PM Narendra Modi has inaugurated the new circuit house near Somnath temple in Gujarat
for the guests visiting the temple.
• It was launched under the ‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav se Swarnim Bharat ki Ore’.

25. Astronomers have discovered a potato shaped exoplanet named as WASP-103b.

• It is located in “Hercules” constellation, at a distance of about 1,800 light-years from the
solar system.
• The discovery was published in ‘Astronomy and Astrophysics’ journal.
• The observation was made by James Webb Space Telescope.
pg. 150
26. 'Anxiety' has been chosen as the word of the year for 2021 by Oxford University Press
(OUP).
• The word is chosen by children.

27. ‘Abide with Me’ is a Christian hymn, written by Henry Francis Lyte.

28. The marine biologists has discovered the third species of syllid worm named as Ramisyllis
kingghidorahi in Sado island in Japan.

29. Govt has allowed six people - instead of the existing limit of 4 members - to register through
one number on the Cowin portal for Covid-19 vaccination.

30. Thich Nhat Hanh, the Zen Buddhist monk, poet and peace activist from Vietnam has passed
away.

31. Renowned archaeologist from Tamil Nadu R Nagaswamy has passed away.

32. ‘Liberty After Freedom: A History of Article 21, Due Process and the Constitution of
India’ book has been authored by Rohan J. Alva.

33. “A Little Book of India: Celebrating 75 years of Independence” book has been authored by
Ruskin Bond.

34. Union Minister of State for Culture Meenakashi Lekhi has released a pictorial book on
"India's Women Unsung Heroes" of the freedom struggle as part of Azadi ka Mahotsav.
• Three pictorial books on 75 unsung heroes of the freedom struggle will be released.

35. CSIR – Central Drug Research Institute’s scientists have developed an indigenous RT-PCR
kit called ‘Om’ for testing the omicron variant.

pg. 151
36. ‘Operation Khatma’ book has been authored by R C Ganjoo and Ashwini Bhatnagar.

37. US-based Roswell Biotechnologies Inc, a molecular electronics company, has used its
patented molecular electronics platform to create the industry’s first Molecular Electronics
Chip.
• Purpose - to digitize biological processes by altering molecular electronics that can predict,
prevent, and even cure various diseases.

38. Researchers from IIT Jodhpur have developed an automated Artificial Intelligence (AI)
solution for COVID-19 prediction from chest X-rays.
• The X-ray will be used for Covid-19 testing.

QUESTIONS
Q.1) With which institution has Jharkhand [c] Chennai
signed an MoU to empower the state’s forest [d] Baroda
economy? [e] Mumbai
[a] Indian School of Business
[b] IIT-Bombay Q.4) What is the maximum limit on per
[c] IIM-Ahmedabad transaction under the RBI’s framework for
[d] IIT-Delhi small-value offline transactions in the digital
[e] IIM-Bangalore mode?
[a] Rs 2000
Q.2) Which of the following is not among the [b] Rs 500
Domestic Systemically Important Insurers (D- [c] Rs 1000
SIIs) for the year 2021-22? [d] Rs 200
[a] Life Insurance Corporation of India [e] Rs 5000
[b] General Insurance Corporation of India
[c] New India Assurance Co. Ltd Q.5) How many cryptocurrencies will be listed
[d] ICICI Prudential Life Insurance on India’s first Crypto Index?
[e] None of the Above [a] 15
[b] 10
Q.3) Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) of India [c] 5
has inaugurated its first ‘LIC Digi Zone’, which [d] 20
enables walk-in customers to avail services [e] 25
digitally in a self-service mode, at its head
office. Where is the head office located? Q.6) As per the Consumer Protection
[a] Karur (Jurisdiction of the District Commission, the
[b] Kochi State Commission, and the National
pg. 152
Commission) Rules, 2021, National Consumer [b] Nikhil Saxena
Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) will [c] Ashok Kumar
now address the complaints for products worth [d] Tarun Kapoor
the value of more than ____ crore? [e] Lalit Kumar Yadav
[a] Rs 2 crores
[b] Rs 5 crores Q.12) Who heads the Task Force on Multi-
[c] Rs 20 crores Platform for Next Generation Networks, formed
[d] Rs 10 crores by Department of Telecommunication to
[e] Rs 3 crores explore the feasibility of rolling out 6G in India?
[a] Bharadwaj Amrutur
Q.7) Where is the Cristiano Ronaldo's statue [b] Abhay Karandikar
located in India? [c] Kiran Kumar Kuchi
[a] Panaji [d] Ashok Kumar Tiwari
[b] Chennai [e] Bhaskar Ramamurthy
[c] Pune
[d] Kochi Q.13) The first phase of the census 2021 and
[e] Surat collection of details to update the National
Population Register (NPR) have been
Q.8) Which state has launched a Free Mobile postponed at least till September 2022.
Tablet scheme for students? According to provisional data compiled by the
[a] Jharkhand RGI till June 2021, the number of census town
[b] Uttarakhand has increased from 3,892 in 2011 to ____ in
[c] Madhya Pradesh 2021?
[d] Telangana [a] 4,780
[e] Tamil Nadu [b] 5,050
[c] 6,320
Q.9) What is the GST rate on textiles? [d] 4,500
[a] 12% [e] 7,700
[b] 18%
[c] 5% Q.14) Prohibition of Child Marriage
[d] 22% (Amendment) Bill is being examined by a
[e] 28% Parliamentary Panel of 31 members. The
Panel is being led by the senior BJP leader
Q.10) When is the DRDO Foundation Day Vinay Sahasrabuddhe. Name the only woman
observed? member present in this panel.
[a] January 1 [a] Sushmita Dev
[b] January 22 [b] Jaya Jaitley
[c] January 10 [c] Aanchal Krishna
[d] January 4 [d] Meenakshi Lekhi
[e] January 15 [e] Nivedita Shukla Verma

Q.11) Who heads the Energy Transition Q.15) Which of the following statement is
Advisory Committee? correct about the National Air Sports Policy?
[a] Krishnendra Pratap Singh

pg. 1
 [a] It proposes a two-tier structure of [b] 8%
governance for the air sports in India [c] 5.57%
[b] It proposes to ban the non-registered air [d] 8.23%
sports sites [e] 6.47%
[c] It aims to make India a hub of air sports by
2025 Q.20) J&K is soon to become the first Union
[d] It aims to control and subsequently Territory in the country to have a district level
eliminate doping in the air sports industry Good Governance Index. The index will
[e] It is prepared in collaboration with the assess the governance practices of districts in
Fédération Aéronaautique Internationale, the UT based on 58 Indicators divided in 10
world’s governing body for air sports sectors. How many districts are located in
J&K?
Q.16) Where is the Major Dhyan Chand [a] 20
Sports University being developed? [b] 10
[a] Chandigarh [c] 15
[b] Lucknow [d] 30
[c] Ropar [e] 25
[d] Meerut
[e] Kanpur Q.21) What is the launch date of TRISHNA
mission of ISRO?
Q.17) With which bank has Paisabazaar [a] 2022
partnered for launching the Pre-Qualified [b] 2023
Program for unsecured loans on its platform? [c] 2025
[a] Axis Bank [d] 2024
[b] HDFC Bank [e] 2027
[c] ICICI Bank
[d] SBI Q.22) Which of the following is the
[e] Punjab National Bank implementing agency of the NEAT 3.0?
[a] NCERT
Q.18) What is the target of the Centre Govt to [b] NCTE
expand the share of the spot power market in [c] AICTE
total electricity supply in the country by 2023- [d] UGC
24, as per the draft National Electricity Policy? [e] CBSE
[a] 12%
[b] 25% Q.23) Which program has recently been
[c] 10% launched by Ministry of Ayush to serve healthy
[d] 30% diet to ensure a healthy life?
[e] 50% [a] Poshtik Aahar
[b] Swasthya Aahar
Q.19) What is the unemployment rate in India, [c] AYUSH Aahar
in the month of December 2021, as per the [d] Siddha Aahar
Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) [e] Sampoorna Aahar
data?
[a] 7.91%

pg. 2
 Q.24) What is the name of the quarterly Q.29) What is the maximum limit for insurers
newsletter of Indian Cybercrime Coordination for issuing surety bonds?
Centre (I4C), recently launched by Union [a] Rs 500 crore
Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla? [b] Rs 1500 crore
[a] CyberKosh [c] Rs 600 crore
[b] CyberSamridhi [d] Rs 700 crore
[c] CyberPravah [e] Rs 1000 crore
[d] CyberChetna
[e] CyberJigyasa Q.30) When is the World Braille Day
observed?
Q.25) Which university has established first of [a] January 10
its kind Kalpana Chawla Centre for Research [b] January 15
in Space Science & Technology (KCCRSST)? [c] January 4
[a] University of Delhi [d] January 21
[b] Pune University [e] January 14
[c] Chandigarh University
[d] University of Hyderabad Q.31) Common Services Centre, in
[e] IIT-Delhi collaboration with the Ministry of Culture, will
undertake the first-ever cultural survey of
Q.26) When was the B9 Group formed? India's villages through a mobile application.
[a] 2015 What is the title of the survey?
[b] 2013 [a] Mera Desh, Meri Pehchaan
[c] 2012 [b] Mera Tehsil, Meri Tasveer
[d] 2008 [c] Mera Gaon, Meri Dharohar
[e] 2014 [d] Mera Desh, Meri Zameen
[e] Meri Dharohar, Mera Desh
Q.27) As per RBI’s Balance of Payments
data, the current account deficit in July- Q.32) Who is the author of Building Bridges -
September 2021 was ____? Shaping the Future book?
[a] $9.6 billion [a] Sachidanand Joshi
[b] $17.93 billion [b] Vaibhav Dange
[c] $12.3 billion [c] Ajay Bhatt
[d] $5.38 billion [d] Both A and C
[e] $30.13 billion [e] Both A and B

Q.28) Which of the following company has Q.33) What is the venue of the 25th National
India’s first exchange traded fund (ETF) based Youth Festival?
on the auto and auto ancillary sectors? [a] Puducherry
[a] ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund [b] Tamil Nadu
[b] Axis Multicap Fund [c] Andhra Pradesh
[c] Motilal Oswal M50 ETF [d] Goa
[d] Both A and B [e] Delhi
[e] Both B and C

pg. 3
 Q.34) Recently, a Special Postage Stamp [c] Gujarat
commemorating the 75th Platinum Jubilee [d] Uttar Pradesh
year of CSIR-National Physical Laboratory has [e] Uttarakhand
been released by Ministry of Science and
Technology. At the CSIR-NPL, ‘LED Q.38) Who has been appointed as the first
Photometry Laboratory’ was established to female Chairperson and Managing Director of
develop energy-efficient illumination Oil and Natural Gas Corporation?
technology. Where is the CSIR-NPL located? [a] Surekha Naithani
[a] Chandigarh [b] Misha Tiwari
[b] Kolkata [c] Alka Mittal
[c] New Delhi [d] Soma Tripathi
[d] Mumbai [e] Kirti Pratap Singh
[e] Bangalore
Q.39) Who has become the first woman of
Q.35) Recently, Union Minister of Power and colour to make the solo trip to south pole?
New & Renewable Energy Shri R.K. Singh has [a] Suné Luus
inaugurated Automatic Generation Control [b] Harpreet Chandi
(AGC) to achieve the ambitious target of 500 [c] Nadine de Klerk
GW non-fossil fuel-based generation capacity [d] Laura Wolvaardt
by 2030. At the inauguration ceremony, Shri [e] Radha Sridharan
R.K. Singh, has released a report titled
“Assessment of Inertia in Indian Power Q.40) Which company has manufactured
System” which has been prepared by ‘OMISURE’ - an RT-PCR kit to detect Omicron
POSOCO in collaboration with ___? variant of Coronavirus?
[a] IIT Delhi [a] Tata Medical and Diagnostics
[b] IIT Kanpur [b] Ajay Bio-Tech (India) Ltd.
[c] IIT Bombay [c] Bharat Biotech
[d] IIT Guwahati [d] Vanguard Diagnostics Pvt. Ltd.
[e] IIT Kharagpur [e] Metadesign Solutions Pvt. Ltd.

Q.36) Which company has commissioned the Q.41) Which organization has partnered with
largest solar power project in India, which is United Nations World Food Programme for
owned and operated at a single location by enhancing the effectiveness of the Pradhan
any developer? Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman (PM-POSHAN)
[a] Renew Power scheme?
[b] Suzlon [a] NITI Aayog
[c] Tata Power Solar [b] Pragati Foundation
[d] Azure Power [c] The Akshaya Patra Foundation
[e] Only A and B [d] Udaan India Foundation
[e] Vanavil Trust
Q.37) Which has become the first LPG
enabled and smoke free state in the country? Q.42) Which has become the 102nd signatory
[a] Himachal Pradesh country of the International Solar Alliance
[b] Madhya Pradesh (ISA)?

pg. 4
[a] Barbados [e] 2023
[b] Cuba
[c] Dominica Q.47) How much is the present non-fossil
[d] Antigua and Barbuda based installed energy capacity of India?
[e] Haiti [a] 157.32 GW
[b] 145.67 GW
Q.43) Now, world’s longest metro line is in [c] 133.58 GW
Shanghai Province, China, with the opening of [d] 108.67 GW
two driverless lines—Line 14 and Phase One [e] 110.17 GW
of Line 18. Shanghai has the largest metro
network in the world, with 508 metro stations. Q.48) Which state has launched the Project
The city of Shanghai is China’s most populous Mission 100 of Vidyajyoti Schools?
urban area and the world’s most populous city. [a] Tripura
On which river’s bank is the city located? [b] Manipur
[a] Jinsha [c] Mizoram
[b] Mekong [d] Kerala
[c] Yarlung Zangbo [e] Uttar Pradesh
[d] Haihe
[e] Yangtze Q.49) Which state is running the Student
Start-up and Innovation Policy?
Q.44) How many payment banks are the [a] Gujarat
scheduled commercial banks in India? [b] Andhra Pradesh
[a] Two [c] Maharashtra
[b] Four [d] Madhya Pradesh
[c] Three [e] Tamil Nadu
[d] Five
[e] Six Q.50) Which district launched the Nirbhaya
Kadhi campaign to end child marriage?
Q.45) Who is the author of the Sahitya [a] Bokaro
Akademi Awards winning ‘Things to Leave [b] Ganjam
Behind’ Novel? [c] Garhwa
[a] Namita Gokhale [d] Deoghar
[b] Megha Majumdar [e] Khunti
[c] Anita Vachharajani
[d] Daya Prakash Sinha Q.51) Where is India’s first Open Rock
[e] Himanshu Vajpai Museum located?
[a] Hyderabad
Q.46) By which year is India expected to [b] Warangal
become the world’s third largest ethanol [c] Delhi
consumer, preceded by US and Brazil? [d] Aurangabad
[a] 2025 [e] Thanjavur
[b] 2024
[c] 2026 Q.52) How many total wetlands were
[d] 2027 surveyed in the Asian Waterbird Census?

pg. 5
[a] Seven Q.57) Which city will host the 5th edition of the
[b] Fifteen Khelo India Youth Games 2022-23?
[c] Forty [a] Panchkula
[d] Twenty [b] Chandigarh
[e] Nine [c] Bhopal
[d] Lucknow
Q.53) Which ministry has launched the Veer [e] Ambala
Gatha Project?
[a] Ministry of Education Q.58) What is the theme of National Science
[b] Ministry of Finance Day 2022?
[c] Ministry of Culture [a] Future of STI (Science, Technology, and
[d] Ministry of AYUSH Innovations)- Impacts on Education, Skills and
[e] Ministry of Panchayati Raj Work
[b] Integrated Approach in S&T for
Q.54) Who heads the committee, formed by Sustainable Future
Ministry of Home Affairs, to investigate the [c] Women in Science
reasons for lapse in PM Mod’s security in [d] Science for the People, and People for the
Punjab recently? Science
[a] Sudhir Kumar [e] Science and Technology for a sustainable
[b] S. Suresh future
[c] Balbir Singh
[d] Sarbananda Sonowal Q.59) Who has been appointed as the Chair
[e] Parshottam Rupala of Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC) of UN
Security Council?
Q.55) Agricultural and Processed Food [a] Alam Fakiri
Products Export Development Authority’s [b] Vikram Misri
(APEDA) arm, VAEH, aims to promote the [c] T. S. Tirumurti
exports from ___ region? [d] George Clint
[a] Vijayawada [e] Thena Williams
[b] Vishakhapatnam
[c] Vellangari Q.60) Where is the Koppal Toy Cluster
[d] Purvanchal located?
[e] Thanjavur [a] Karnataka
[b] Andhra Pradesh
Q.56) What is the venue of Exercise Sea [c] Tamil Nadu
Dragon 22? [d] Telangana
[a] Joint Base Andrews-Naval Air Facility [e] Odisha
Washington
[b] Andersen Air Force base Q.61) What is the GDP forecast for India for
[c] Arnold Air Force Base 2022-23 by World Economic Outlook 2022
[d] Joint Base Charleston Report of World Bank?
[e] Cannon Air Force Base [a] 8.7%
[b] 5.7%
[c] 6.4%

pg. 6
[d] 7.3% [c] Meghalaya and Mizoram
[e] 6.7% [d] Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim
[e] Meghalaya and Tripura
Q.62) Which company has received the
contract for the second phase of Passport Q.67) India has announced to start exports of
Seva Program? mango and pomegranate to the US from
[a] Tata Consultancy Services January-February to boost India’s exports of
[b] Infosys agri-products. This is done under the
[c] Hyperlink InfoSystem framework agreement for implementing the 2
[d] IBM Vs 2 agri-market access issues. Which two US
[e] Tech Mahindra Ltd products are allowed entry into the Indian
market under this agreement?
Q.63) India and Indonesia have announced to [a] Cherries and Alfalfa hay
boost connectivity between Andaman & [b] Barley and Corn
Nicobar Island and Aceh Province of [c] Forage and Hay
Indonesia. Which port of Indonesia will be [d] Oats and Rice
developed under this collaboration? [e] Wheat and Rye
[a] Tanjung Priok
[b] Ampenan Port Q.68) At which institute has IRDAI established
[c] Balikpapan Port the motor insurance hub?
[d] Bandung Port [a] National Insurance Academy
[e] Sabang Port [b] Insurance Institute of India
[c] Institute of Insurance and Risk
Q.64) What is the venue of India’s first multi- Management
dimensional adventure sports expedition? [d] RNIS College of Insurance
[a] India [e] Institute of Insurance Training &
[b] France Development
[c] Indonesia
[d] Kazakhstan Q.69) What is the new limit for banks set by
[e] Spain RBI for maintaining the liquidity coverage ratio
[LCR] on deposits and other ‘extension of
Q.65) Which state celebrate the Losoong funds’ received from non-financial small
(Namsoong) festival? business customers?
[a] Tripura [a] Rs 5 crores
[b] Sikkim [b] Rs 7.5 crores
[c] Meghalaya [c] Rs 4 crore
[d] Ladakh [d] Rs 2 crore
[e] Odisha [e] Rs 9 crore

Q.66) Which two north-eastern states are Q.70) When was the ‘One Nation One
being connected with the Jan Shatabdi Standard’ Scheme launched?
Express? [a] 2017
[a] Tripura and Manipur [b] 2019
[b] Manipur and Meghalaya [c] 2020

pg. 7
[d] 2021 [a] Kerala
[e] 2018 [b] Jakarta
[c] Dublin
Q.71) Where is India’s first heli-hub with all [d] Johannesburg
aviation facilities located? [e] Glasgow
[a] Gurugram
[b] Chandigarh Q.76) Which state is running the Project
[c] Kolkata Parvarish?
[d] Srinagar [a] Kerala
[e] Lucknow [b] Assam
[c] Uttar Pradesh
Q.72) Which of the following statement is [d] Rajasthan
correct about the new fintech department of [e] Madhya Pradesh
RBI?
[a] It will regulate fintech innovations and Q.77) Which state has won the Village of the
facilitate international coordination on Fintech Year at the 5th edition of the International Craft
[b] It will facilitate innovation, identify Awards?
challenges and opportunities associated with [a] Kerala
the fintech sector [b] Uttarakhand
[c] It has subsumed the Department of [c] Himachal Pradesh
Regulation within it [d] Uttar Pradesh
[d] Only A and B [e] Rajasthan
[e] Only B
Q.78) Who has been appointed as the Vice
Q.73) Which year has been designated as the President of Asian Infrastructure Investment
Year of Unicorn in India? Bank?
[a] 2023 [a] Raghuram Rajan
[b] 2020 [b] Urjit Patel
[c] 2022 [c] Gita Gopinath
[d] 2021 [d] Ajay Tyagi
[e] 2024 [e] G.R. Chintala

Q.74) What would be the growth rate of Q.79) What is the limit of transactions per
manufacturing sector in FY22, as per NSO’s customers in the Aadhar enabled Payments
first advance estimate of national income for Systems?
2021-22? [a] Five
[a] 12.5% [b] Ten
[b] 8.7% [c] Seven
[c] 7.5% [d] Eight
[d] 15.7% [e] Four
[e] 23.1%
Q.80) How many countries have joined the
Q.75) What is the venue of first World Deaf Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear
T20 Cricket Championship? weapons?

pg. 8
[a] 191 [a] Methane
[b] 160 [b] Nitrogen
[c] 101 [c] Sulphur
[d] 89 [d] Carbon
[e] 90 [e] Helium

Q.81) How much FDI is the govt planning to Q.86) Who has been appointed as the
allow in the Life Insurance Corporation of India Secretary-General of Organization of the
(LIC)? Petroleum Exporting Countries?
[a] 20% [a] Fuad Rouhani
[b] 40% [b] Abdul Rahman al-Bazzaz
[c] 10% [c] Haitham Al-Ghais
[d] 25% [d] Ashraf T. Lutfi
[e] 15% [e] Mohammad Saleh Joukhdar

Q.82) Pterocarpus santalinus is endemic to Q.87) Who is the new director of IIT Madras?
which country? [a] V Kamakoti
[a] India [b] Laxmidhar Behera
[b] Philippines [c] Suhas Joshi
[c] Thailand [d] Rangan Banerjee
[d] Indonesia [e] Ajay Mehraj
[e] Myanmar
Q.88) Who has been appointed as the new
Q.83) Which of the following startup has been Chief Economist of International Monetary
launched by Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh Fund?
to scale up this technology to help achieve [a] Jim Yong Kim
India’s ambitious target of providing clean [b] Robert B. Zoellick
drinking water to all by 2024? [c] Paul D. Wolfowitz
[a] Vassar Labs [d] James D. Wolfensohn
[b] WEGoT [e] Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas
[c] Uravu Labs
[d] Agua Q.89) Who has been appointed as chairman
[e] Swajal Water of the Indian Council of Historical Research?
[a] Chandan Mishra Dwivedi
Q.84) Which state/UT has launched “Niramay” [b] Jaspal Singh
project? [c] Raghuvendra Tanwar
[a] Assam [d] Divya Arora
[b] Uttar Pradesh [e] Bibhuti Bhushana Dash
[c] Madhya Pradesh
[d] Telangana Q.90) How much stake Central govt owns in
[e] Delhi the Vodafone Idea Ltd.?
[a] 36%
Q.85) Which gas is responsible for the ever- [b] 10%
raging fire of the Darvaza Gas Crater? [c] 50%

pg. 9
[d] 41% [c] Arundhati Bhattacharya
[e] 49% [d] Virat Kohli
[e] Hima Das
Q.91) What is the upper age limit for Odisha
PCS for unreserved category? Q.96) Which country does cricketer Chris
[a] 38 years Morris belong to?
[b] 35 years [a] England
[c] 43 years [b] Australia
[d] 40 years [c] Bangladesh
[e] 42 years [d] Sri Lanka
[e] South Africa
Q.92) Which two new countries have allowed
a visa-free entry to the Indian passholders, as Q.97) ICMR’s Dr Subhas Mukherjee 2020
per the Henley Passport Index 2022? Award winner, Dr Satish Adiga, is the
[a] Oman and Armenia specialist in which medical field?
[b] Yemen and UAE [a] Oncologist
[c] Philippines and Japan [b] In-vitro fertilisation
[d] Georgia and Moldova [c] Dermatologist
[e] Belarus and Bulgaria [d] Nephrologists
[e] Trichologist
Q.93) The global economy is expected to be
___ percent smaller by 2024 than it would Q.98) Who has been appointed as the CEO of
have been without the pandemic, as per the Adani Power?
17th edition of Global Risks Report 2022? [a] Shersingh B Khyalia
[a] 1.7% [b] Hari Nandan Rao
[b] 2.7% [c] Pranav Mahajan
[c] 2.3% [d] D. Sampath Kumar
[d] 3.4% [e] R. K. Dhawan
[e] 1.1%
Q.99) Who has been appointed as the brand
Q.94) With which Indian company has Nepal ambassador of RenewBuy, an online
Power Exchange Ltd signed a trading insurance platform?
agreement to sell electricity produced by it to [a] Saif Ali Khan
India? [b] Vicky Kaushal
[a] NHPC Limited [c] Kareena Kapoor
[b] Damodar Valley Corporation [d] Arjun Rampal
[c] Neyveli Lignite Corporation [e] Rajkummar Rao
[d] Power System Operation Corporation
[e] Manikaran Power Ltd Q.100) What is the GDP forecast for India for
2021-22 for Citigroup Inc.?
Q.95) Whose autobiography is titled as [a] 8.8%
‘Indomitable’? [b] 7.3%
[a] Vishwanath Anand [c] 9.1%
[b] Pankaj Advani [d] 9%

pg. 10
[e] 8.4% [d] CSB Bank
[e] IndusInd Bank
Q.101) Which company has received the
contract for supplying single-shot anti-armour Q.106) Who is the author of 'Ratan N. Tata:
weapon AT4 to Indian Army and Indian Air The Authorized Biography'?
Force? [a] Moutoshi Naskar
[a] Saab [b] Ajit Pal Singh
[b] IAI [c] Ujjaval Srivastava
[c] Northrop Grumman [d] Thomas Mathew
[d] Raytheon [e] Monisha Satoeya
[e] Lockheed Martin
Q.107) Who has won the Genesis Prize
Q.102) How many companies’ stocks will be 2022?
assessed in the Nifty MidCap Select Index? [a] Albert Bourla
[a] 25 [b] Tommy Tuberville
[b] 50 [c] Lisa Murkowski
[c] 30 [d] Dan Sullivan
[d] 15 [e] Kyrsten Sinema
[e] 20
Q.108) Who has been appointed as the 17th
Q.103) Who is the present Chairperson of the chairman of the Indian Farmers Fertiliser
Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India? Cooperative?
[a] M S Sahoo [a] Laxman Singh
[b] Navrang Saini [b] Arvind Singh
[c] Pranav Mahajan [c] Sarojini Shekhar
[d] D. Sampath Kumar [d] Dileep Sanghani
[e] Laxman Singh [e] Chetan Prakash Jain

Q.104) Which Indian airport has been ranked Q.109) Who has been appointed as the
among the top 10 large international airports in President of European Parliament?
the world that has been recognised as the ‘on- [a] Roberta Metsola
time performing airport’? [b] Mark Kelly
[a] Chennai International Airport [c] John Boozman
[b] Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport [d] Shelly Cotton
[c] Indira Gandhi International Airport [e] Alex Padilla
[d] Kempegowda International Airport
[e] Cochin International Airport Q.110) When was the National Commission
for Safai Karamcharis established?
Q.105) Which bank has been ranked as the [a] 1993
Best Private Bank in India at the Global Private [b] 1997
Banking Awards 2021? [c] 2003
[a] HDFC Bank [d] 1956
[b] ICICI Bank [e] 1943
[c] Axis Bank

pg. 11
 Q.111) With which country has India recently Q.116) S. Somanath has assumed the charge
launched negotiations on Free Trade as Secretary, Department of Space and
Agreement? Chairman, Space Commission. Prior to joining
[a] UK ISRO, he served as the Director of which
[b] Saudi Arabia organization?
[c] Bangladesh [a] Physical Research Laboratory
[d] Uzbekistan [b] National Atmospheric Research Laboratory
[e] Georgia [c] Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre
[d] U. R. Rao Satellite Centre
Q.112) Which department of the Centre has [e] North-Eastern-Space Applications Centre
launched Mission Amanat?
[a] ICMR Q.117) Which of the following organization
[b] DPIIT has developed Fetal Lite, an AI-powered,
[c] CSIR foetal heart rate monitor for mothers in labor?
[d] Indian Railways [a] InnAccel
[e] Dept of Biotechnology [b] NIRAMAI
[c] UE LifeSciences
Q.113) What is the validity of Accreditation [d] Antiva Biosciences
Certification under the SEBI’s framework on [e] Bharat Biotech
Accredited Investors?
[a] 3 years Q.118) Which sport is Tasnim Mir related to?
[b] 5 years [a] Tennis
[c] 2 years [b] Squash
[d] 1 year [c] Football
[e] 6 months [d] Badminton
[e] Sprint
Q.114) What is the overall disposal rate of
complaints by the Ombudsman in India, as per Q.119) Which country does Clive Lloyd
RBI’s Annual Report on Ombudsman? belong to?
[a] 91.25% [a] Antigua and Barbuda
[b] 89.88% [b] Papua New Guinea
[c] 96.59% [c] Tuvalu
[d] 78.98% [d] New Caledonia
[e] 56.67% [e] West Indies

Q.115) What is the GDP forecast for 2022-23 Q.120) Which city has KVIC launched India’s
for India, as per the ‘World Economic Situation first Mobile Honey Processing Van?
and Prospects (WESP) 2022 report? [a] Hyderabad
[a] 6.7% [b] Meerut
[b] 5.5% [c] Lucknow
[c] 6.1% [d] Ghaziabad
[d] 4.5% [e] Kanpur
[e] 5.2%

pg. 12
 Q.121) Recently, Ministry of Coal has
launched the "Koyla Darpan" portal to share
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) related to
the Coal Sector. The portal will provide
information about a total of ___ number of
KPIs?
[a] Ten
[b] Five
[c] Seven
[d] Nine
[e] Eight
Q.122) How many states have affirmed to
develop storage management applications with
Minimum Storage Specifications (MSS) and
integrate them with the Online Storage
Management (OSM) portal of the Ministry of
Consumer Affairs, Food and Public
Distribution?
[a] 16
[b] 20
[c] 12
[d] 7
[e] 4
Q.123) Which of the following portals has
been launched by the Kochi-based Spices
Board of India to connect India’s spice
exporters with buyers from around the world?
[a] spiceboardofindia.com
[b] spicetradeindia.com
[c] spicesaleindia.com
[d] spicedealindia.com
[e] spicexchangeindia.com
Q.124) Which state has received a $125
million loan from World Bank for its social
protection schemes as it is facing financial
constraints?
[a] Assam
[b] West Bengal
[c] Odisha
[d] Tripura
[e] Uttarakhand
Q.125) What is the Scientific name of
Gherkins?
[a] Cucumis anguria
[b] Lagenaria siceraria
[c] Cucumis melo
[d] Psidium guajava
[e] Mangifera indica
Q.126) Which company has developed AI
Research SuperCluster - fastest
supercomputer in the world?
[a] Meta
[b] Intel
[c] Hyperlink InfoSystem
[d] Spire Digital
[e] Zco
Q.127) Which of the statement is incorrect
about the Global Cybersecurity Outlook 2022
report?
[a] It has been released by International
Telecommunication Union
[b] As per the report, there were 270 attacks
per organization in 2021
[c] The report focussed on ways to shift from
cybersecurity to cyber-resilience
[d] Only A and B
[e] Only A, B, and C
Q.128) Where is the India's first BHEL-built
'coal to methanol' (CTM) pilot plant located?
[a] Hyderabad
[b] Surat
[c] Warangal
[d] Kochi
[e] Ahmednagar
Q.129) Which of the following districts has
launched the first of its kind ‘Citizen
Constitution Literacy Campaign’ to educate the
residents of the district about the basics of
constitution?
[a] Kollam district

pg. 13
[b] Singrauli district [c] Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
[c] Koriya district [d] Amazon
[d] Amethi district [e] Microsoft
[e] Kangra district
Q.135) When was the Mullaperiyar Dam
Q.130) Which state has launched the Mahila constructed?
Police cadre? [a] 1895
[a] Tamil Nadu [b] 1778
[b] Andhra Pradesh [c] 1968
[c] Maharashtra [d] 1999
[d] Madhya Pradesh [e] 2003
[e] Kerala
Q.136) Operation Phakisa belongs to which
Q.131) Who has won the Subhas Chandra country?
Bose Aapda Prabandhan Puraskars 2022? [a] Oman
[a] Vinod Kumar Sharma [b] South Africa
[b] Rajendra Kumar Bhandari [c] Somalia
[c] KM Singh [d] Saudi Arabia
[d] PK Tiwari [e] Nigeria
[e] Ajay Pawar
Q.137) Which of the following is the closest
Q.132) How many engineers will be trained in neighbour of the Kingdom of Tonga?
the Chips to Startup (C2S) program? [a] Bolivia
[a] 85,000 [b] Antigua and Barbuda
[b] 50,000 [c] Dominica
[c] 1,00,000 [d] Australia
[d] 75,000 [e] Chile
[e] 60,000
Q.138) Which of the following statements is
Q.133) What is the incentive percentage for incorrect about the Inequality Kills 2022 report
companies under the Deployment Linked of Oxfam India?
Incentive component of the Design Linked [a] The wealth of billionaires increased from
Incentive (DLI) Scheme? Rs 23.14 lakh crore to Rs 53.16 lakh crore
[a] 6% to 4% during March 2020-Nov 2021
[b] 4% to 3% [b] The collective wealth of India’s 100 richest
[c] 7% to 5% people hit a record high of Rs 57.3 lakh crore
[d] 8% to 6% [c] More than 4.6 crore Indians are estimated
[e] 10% to 9% to have fallen into extreme poverty in 2020
[d] Just a 1% wealth tax on 98 richest
Q.134) With which company has Gujarat govt billionaire families in India can finance
signed an MoU for an investment of Rs 5 lakh Ayushman Bharat for more than seven years
crores in the state? [e] None of the Above
[a] Tesla
[b] Reliance Industries

pg. 14
 Q.139) Who has been appointed as the Chef Q.144) Which company has developed
de Mission of India’s contingent for the 2022 “Power MAP” - India’s first Intelligent Chronic
Commonwealth Games? Disease Patients Habit Tracking System?
[a] Santosh Shilpokar [a] Sun Pharma
[b] Rakesh Anand [b] Cipla
[c] P. Haridasan Pilllai [c] Madhavbaug
[d] Shreevats Sanjay [d] Divi's Laboratories
[e] Pankaj Kumar Devrani [e] Reddy's Laboratories

Q.140) Which incubator has received the Q.145) When was the Cyber Surakshit
National Startup Awards 2021? Programme launched?
[a] iStart Nest [a] 2018
[b] Access Livelihoods Foundation [b] 2015
[c] Kerala Startup Mission [c] 2013
[d] Maker Village [d] 2017
[e] Center for Incubation and Business [e] 2020
Acceleration
Q.146) Which command of the Indian Navy
Q.141) Where is India Innovation Centre for pioneered joint maritime exercise Paschim
Graphene established? Lehar 2022?
[a] Thrissur [a] Eastern Naval Command
[b] Lucknow [b] Southern Naval Command
[c] Wayanad [c] Western Naval Command
[d] Kochi [d] Both A and B
[e] Hyderabad [e] Both B and C

Q.142) Which of the following organizations Q.147) Who has been appointed as the
has developed the first ever Climate Hazards Chairman of Apparel Export Promotion
and Vulnerability Atlas of India? Council?
[a] RMC- Nagpur [a] Narendra Goenka
[b] INCOIS [b] D. Sampath Kumar
[c] National Center for Seismology [c] Santosh Kumar
[d] National Center for Coastal Research [d] R. K. Bhati
[e] Climate Research and Services [e] Bharti Kashyap Sharma

Q.143) How many doppler weather radars are Q.148) Who has won Best FIFA Men's Player
operational in India? 2021?
[a] 42 [a] Robert Lewandowski
[b] 33 [b] Dani Alves
[c] 50 [c] Zinedine Zidane
[d] 16 [d] Gareth Bale
[e] 37 [e] Carlos Ruiz

pg. 15
Q.149) Who has authored the ‘Bose: The Q.154) With which company has Gujarat govt
Untold Story of an Inconvenient Nationalist’? signed an MoU for an investment of Rs 5 lakh
[a] Vibhava Tripathi crores in the state?
[b] Chandrachur Ghose [a] Tesla
[c] Susheela Tigga [b] Reliance Industries
[d] Niraj Sharan [c] Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
[e] Aqsa Ilahi [d] Amazon
[e] Microsoft
Q.150) Who has won the Best FIFA Women's
Goalkeeper 2021? Q.155) When was the Mullaperiyar Dam
[a] Emma Hayes constructed?
[b] Christiane Endler [a] 1895
[c] Alexia Putellas [b] 1778
[d] Eric Lamela [c] 1968
[e] Vivianne Miedema [d] 1999
[e] 2003
Q.151) Who has won the Subhas Chandra
Bose Aapda Prabandhan Puraskars 2022? Q.156) Operation Phakisa belongs to which
[a] Vinod Kumar Sharma country?
[b] Rajendra Kumar Bhandari [a] Oman
[c] KM Singh [b] South Africa
[d] PK Tiwari [c] Somalia
[e] Ajay Pawar [d] Saudi Arabia
[e] Nigeria
Q.152) How many engineers will be trained in
the Chips to Startup (C2S) program? Q.157) Which of the following is the closest
[a] 85,000 neighbour of the Kingdom of Tonga?
[b] 50,000 [a] Bolivia
[c] 1,00,000 [b] Antigua and Barbuda
[d] 75,000 [c] Dominica
[e] 60,000 [d] Australia
[e] Chile
Q.153) What is the incentive percentage for
companies under the Deployment Linked Q.158) Which of the following statements is
Incentive component of the Design Linked incorrect about the Inequality Kills 2022 report
Incentive (DLI) Scheme? of Oxfam India?
[a] 6% to 4% [a] The wealth of billionaires increased from
[b] 4% to 3% Rs 23.14 lakh crore to Rs 53.16 lakh crore
[c] 7% to 5% during March 2020-Nov 2021
[d] 8% to 6% [b] The collective wealth of India’s 100 richest
[e] 10% to 9% people hit a record high of Rs 57.3 lakh crore
[c] More than 4.6 crore Indians are estimated
to have fallen into extreme poverty in 2020

pg. 16
 [d] Just a 1% wealth tax on 98 richest [b] Denmark
billionaire families in India can finance [c] USA
Ayushman Bharat for more than seven years [d] Germany
[e] None of the Above [e] France

Q.159) Who has been appointed as the Chef Q.164) Which state has signed an agreement
de Mission of India’s contingent for the 2022 with United Nations World Food Programme
Commonwealth Games? (WFP) to improve the food security of small
[a] Santosh Shilpokar and marginal farmers by strengthening their
[b] Rakesh Anand resilience to climate change?
[c] P. Haridasan Pilllai [a] Odisha
[d] Shreevats Sanjay [b] Maharashtra
[e] Pankaj Kumar Devrani [c] Andhra Pradesh
[d] West Bengal
Q.160) Which incubator has received the [e] Uttar Pradesh
National Startup Awards 2021?
[a] iStart Nest Q.165) Which of the following events will not
[b] Access Livelihoods Foundation be hosted by India in 2022?
[c] Kerala Startup Mission [a] BRICS Startups Forum meeting
[d] Maker Village [b] BRICS STIEP Working Group Meeting
[e] Center for Incubation and Business [c] BRICS Working Groups meetings on
Acceleration Energy
[d] BRICS Sherpa Meeting
Q.161) Which company has become the title [e] All of the Above
sponsor of Toronto Waterfront Marathon?
[a] Vivo Q.166) Where is the headquarters of the
[b] BNP Paribas Global Climate Fund located?
[c] Samsung [a] Incheon
[d] Tata Consultancy Services [b] Munich
[e] Adidas [c] San Francisco
[d] Dublin
Q.162) With which country has India [e] Rome
established a first of its kind venture fund to
boost the growth of start-ups? Q.167) What is the services exports target of
[a] Israel India for 2021-22?
[b] UAE [a] $250 billion
[c] UK [b] $100 billion
[d] France [c] $150 billion
[e] Japan [d] $200 billion
[e] $80 billion
Q.163) Which country is providing technical
assistance to India for developing 'Villages of Q.168) Who has been appointed as the
Excellence' in 12 States? government’s Chief Economic Advisor?
[a] Israel [a] P. Haridasan Pilllai

pg. 17
[b] Shreevats Sanjay [b] Secretary, Ministry of Power
[c] Sanjay Singh [c] Secretary, Ministry of Environment
[d] V Anantha Nageswaran [d] Only A and B
[e] Ram Lakhan Gupta [e] Only A, B, and C

Q.169) Which tennis player has made a world Q.174) Which state / UT celebrates Spituk
record by winning 21 grand slam tournaments? Gustor festival?
[a] Novak Djokovic [a] Sikkim
[b] Rafael Nadal [b] Manipur
[c] Roger Federer [c] Odisha
[d] Pete Sampras [d] Tripura
[e] John McEnroe [e] Ladakh

Q.170) Who has authored the “The $10 Q.175) Which of the following monasteries
Trillion Dream” book? celebrates the Torgya Festival?
[a] M. Hari Nandan Rao [a] Tabo Monastery
[b] Chetan Prakash Jain [b] Tsulglagkhang Monastery
[c] Vinod Chawla [c] Bylakuppe Monastery
[d] Anita Baghel [d] Tawang monastery
[e] Subhash Chandra Garg [e] Hemis Monastery

Q.171) Where will India’s First Geological Q.176) What is the GDP forecast for 2020-21,
Park be developed? as per NSO’s ‘First Revised Estimates Of
[a] Chittoor National Income, Consumption Expenditure,
[b] Kadapa Saving And Capital Formation For 2020-21’?
[c] Tirupati [a] - 6.6%
[d] Perambalur [b] - 7.3%
[e] Lamheta [c] - 7.9%
[d] - 5.6%
Q.172) On how many levels will the students [e] - 8.1%
of under-graduation be judged under the
National Higher Educational Qualification Q.177) Which month is celebrated as the UPI
Framework for the award of UG certificates, Safety and Awareness Month in India?
diplomas, and degrees? [a] March
[a] Six [b] January
[b] Ten [c] April
[c] Five [d] May
[d] Seven [e] February
[e] Twelve
Q.178) Who has won the prestigious World
Q.173) Who among the following will be the Games Athlete of the Year 2022?
head of the newly constituted ‘Fly Ash [a] Mondo Duplantis
Management and Utilisation Mission’? [b] PR Sreejesh
[a] Secretary, Ministry of Coal [c] Yulimar Rojas

pg. 18
[d] Rafael Nadal [b] Mauritius
[e] Simone Biles [c] Philippines
[d] Malaysia
Q.179) Who is the author of “Season 1: The [e] Indonesia
Class of 2006” book?
[a] Akash Kansal Q.184) Which country has launched the
[b] Amarendra Tiwari ‘My2022 app’ for daily monitoring of Covid
[c] Dipti Mohil Chawla cases?
[d] Somnath Ghosh [a] Japan
[e] R Sreenivas [b] China
[c] France
Q.180) Who has written the “Last Among [d] UK
Equals: Power, Caste & Politics in Bihar’s [e] USA
Villages” book?
[a] Geeta Chhabra Q.185) Which multilateral bank has
[b] Rajesh Sharma announced to invest $150 million in the
[c] Sanjiv Mittal development of data centres through the
[d] Vijay Prasad Singh Keppel Data Centre Fund II?
[e] M.R. Sharan [a] AIIB
[b] ADB
Q.181) As per the ‘Global Research on [c] IFC
Antimicrobial Resistance (Gram)’ report, South [d] EIB
Asia witnessed ___ deaths per 100,000 [e] KfW
population due to AMR?
[a] 20 Q.186) United Nations Security Council
[b] 30 (UNSC) members used Virtual Reality (VR)
[c] 22 technology, for the first time, to embark on a
[d] 15 virtual field trip to which country?
[e] 12 [a] Columbia
[b] USA
Q.182) As per the ‘Global Investment Trend [c] Moldova
Monitor’ 2022 report of UNCTAD, FDI flows in [d] Liechtenstein
India were __ percent lower in 2021? [e] Poland
[a] 26%
[b] 12% Q.187) Which state / UT has started the
[c] 15% ‘Operation Sajag’ to reduce crime in the UT?
[d] 10% [a] Delhi
[e] 30% [b] Puducherry
[c] Uttar Pradesh
Q.183) Which country has organized the 4th [d] Tripura
Asia Ministerial Conference on tiger [e] Maharashtra
conservation, in partnership with Global Tiger
Forum? Q.188) Kokborok is the official language of
[a] India which state?

pg. 19
[a] Tripura [d] Jahnavi Dangeti
[b] Odisha [e] Santosh Kumar
[c] Madhya Pradesh
[d] Manipur Q.193) Which committee has recommended
[e] Sikkim the creation of the Indian Environment Service
in the central bureaucratic structure?
Q.189) With which African country has India [a] NC Saxena Committee
signed the Comprehensive Economic [b] G. Srinivasan Committee
Cooperation, And Partnership Agreement [c] Pravin Kutumbe Committee
(CECPA) for the first time? [d] Vinod Paul Committee
[a] Ghana [e] TSR Subramanian Committee
[b] Senegal
[c] Mauritius Q.194) Where is the AVGC (animation, visual
[d] Algeria effects, gaming, and comics) center of
[e] Côte d'Ivoire excellence located?
[a] Bengaluru
Q.190) As per the ‘Banking on Electric [b] Mangalore
Vehicles in India’ report, Banks and NBFCs in [c] Mysore
India have the potential to achieve an EV [d] Vijayanagar
financing market size of ____ by 2025? [e] Puri
[a] USD 5 billion
[b] USD 2 billion Q.195) AgNext Technologies (Agritech
[c] USD 6 billion company) has collaborated with NAFED to
[d] USD 10 billion organise a virtual training and awareness
[e] USD 3 billion programme on quality assessment of pulses
for Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs) in
Q.191) Which of the following app has been _____?
launched by the Common Services Centers [a] Telangana
(CSC) to provide vocational education and skill [b] Tamil Nadu
enhancement opportunities to youth and [c] Madhya Pradesh
citizens in rural areas across the country? [d] Maharashtra
[a] Yogyata [e] Odisha
[b] Sanyukt
[c] Kabil Q.196) On which river is the Adi Badri Dam
[d] Samarth being developed?
[e] Saksham [a] Somb river
[b] Gandak
Q.192) Who is the only Indian to complete [c] Betwa
International Air and Space Program (IASP) at [d] Chambal
Nasa Launch Operations' Kennedy Space [e] Hindon
Centre in Alabama, US?
[a] Hari Nandan Rao Q.197) What is the maximum limit of grant to
[b] Pranav Mahajan be provided for purchasing drones under the
[c] Rachna Chabra “Sub-Mission on Agricultural Mechanization”?

pg. 20
[a] Rs 10 lakh Q.202) Najafgarh jheel - a transboundary
[b] Rs 5 lakh wetland - is located on the borders of which
[c] Rs 20 lakh two states?
[d] Rs 30 lakh [a] Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand
[e] Rs 15 lakh [b] Delhi and Haryana
[c] Himachal Pradesh and Punjab
Q.198) What is the minimum asset size [d] Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh
requirement for the non-deposit taking NBFC- [e] Jharkhand and Bihar
Investment and Credit Companies for
engaging in the factoring business? Q.203) Which country did not participate in
[a] Rs 1000 crore the CHIRU 2022 exercise?
[b] Rs 500 crore [a] China
[c] Rs 700 crore [b] Oman
[d] Rs 900 crore [c] Russia
[e] Rs 1500 crore [d] Only A and B
[e] Only A, B, and C
Q.199) Which bank has launched the Platina
Fixed Deposit? Q.204) What is the average score of the world
[a] Ujjivan Small Finance Bank in the Corruption Perception Index 2021?
[b] Bank of Maharashtra [a] 43
[c] Bank of Baroda [b] 27
[d] Airtel Payments Bank [c] 88
[e] Suryoday Small Finance Bank Ltd. [d] 78
[e] 56
Q.200) Who has been appointed as the
chairperson of the PMLA Adjudicating Q.205) Which of the following companies
Authority? partnered with Indipaisa - a member of the
[a] S. Priyanka Nexxo Network, an international network of
[b] Rajesh Kumar Fintech companies operating in the Middle
[c] Divya Arora East, Asia and Europe - to develop a new
[d] Vinodanand Jha Fintech platform for India’s MSMEs?
[e] Gyan Bhushan [a] Shriram Transport Finance Company
Limited
Q.201) What is the targeted vision of the [b] Bajaj Finance Limited
Ministry of Electronics and IT in terms of [c] Muthoot Finance Ltd
electronics production and exports by 2026? [d] Hitachi Payment Services
[a] $300 billion [e] HDB Finance Services
[b] $100 billion
[c] $500 billion Q.206) Which company operates the '2gthr'
[d] $800 billion platform to disburse unsecured business loans
[e] $400 billion up to Rs. 10 lakh to MSME borrowers?
[a] Citrus Pay
[b] CCAvenue Payment
[c] Zaakpay

pg. 21
[d] Instamojo [e] Bangladesh
[e] Lendingkart
Q.212) Who among the following has won the
Q.207) What is the GDP forecast for India for Padma Vibhushan Award 2022?
calendar year of 2022 by IMF’s World [a] Madhur Jaffery
Economic Outlook Update – January 2022? [b] Sundararajan Pichai
[a] 8.7% [c] Satya Narayana Nadella
[b] 9% [d] Sanjaya Rajaram
[c] 6.6% [e] Prabha Atre
[d] 5.6%
[e] 9.2% Q.213) Which state has won the best state
tableaux award at the 73rd Republic Day?
Q.208) What is the theme of International Day [a] Uttar Pradesh
of Education 2022? [b] Karnataka
[a] Education for sustainable, inclusive and [c] Madhya Pradesh
peaceful futures [d] Tamil Nadu
[b] Recover and Revitalize Education for the [e] Telangana
COVID-19 Generation
[c] Ensuring Gender Equality in Education Q.214) Who has been appointed as the new
[d] Changing Course, Transforming Education chairman and managing director of Hindustan
[e] Encouraging Women in STEM Petroleum Corporation Limited?
[a] OM Prakash
Q.209) When is the National Voters' Day [b] Pushp Kumar Joshi
observed? [c] Shyam Sundar Verma
[a] January 25 [d] Uttank Joshi
[b] January 20 [e] Rajesh Talwar
[c] January 4
[d] January 9 Q.215) Which of the following company has
[e] January 11 become the 4th decacorn of India?
[a] Swiggy
Q.210) When is the Data Privacy Day [b] Razorpay
observed? [c] upGrad
[a] January 12 [d] BharatPe
[b] January 15 [e] Meesho
[c] January 28
[d] January 29 Q.216) Which of the following university has
[e] January 4 conducted the global study on the impact of
increased temperatures on labour productivity?
Q.211) Where is the RIBA-award winning Among many of its findings, one states that the
Friendship Hospital located? economic loss due to lost productivity, if global
[a] Saudi Arabia warming increases to 2 degrees Celsius,
[b] Thailand would reach up to $1.6 trillion annually
[c] Spain worldwide.
[d] India [a] Stanford University

pg. 22
[b] Harvard University [c] Prayagraj
[c] University of Oxford [d] Gurugram
[d] Duke University [e] Kolkata
[e] University of Cambridge
Q.222) Which of the following announcements
Q.217) Where is the Viking Ship Museum was not made at the 1st India-Central Asia
located? Summit 2022?
[a] Denmark [a] Establishment of India – Central Asia
[b] Sweden Centre in Surat
[c] Finland [b] Establishment of Secretariat for the India –
[d] Norway Central Asia Summit
[e] Iceland [c] Central Asia is the ‘Extended
Neighbourhood’ of India
Q.218) Recently, CSIR and Institut Pasteur [d] Establishment of Joint Working Group on
have signed an MoU for cooperation in health Afghanistan
research. Which country does the latter belong [e] Establishment of Joint Working Group on
to? Chabahar Port
[a] Spain
[b] Germany Q.223) How many thematic areas are
[c] Denmark addressed in the Swachhta Start-Up
[d] France challenge?
[e] UK [a] Four
[b] Ten
Q.219) Which state has established the [c] Twelve
Grama One centres to provide the govt [d] Five
services in rural areas from one centre? [e] Seven
[a] Karnataka
[b] Madhya Pradesh Q.224) Which edition of the Zaid Conference
[c] Jharkhand was organized in 2022?
[d] Maharashtra [a] Fifth
[e] Uttar Pradesh [b] Second
[c] Fourth
Q.220) Which state has launched the first-of- [d] Tenth
its-kind 'Brain Health Initiative'? [e] Sixth
[a] Kerala
[b] Tamil Nadu Q.225) Which state has recently collaborated
[c] Odisha with Wildlife Institute of India, Zoological
[d] Maharashtra Survey of India, and Bombay Natural History
[e] Karnataka Society to prevent mass mortality of spot-billed
pelicans?
Q.221) Where is India’s largest EV charging [a] Andhra Pradesh
station established? [b] Karnataka
[a] Surat [c] Maharashtra
[b] Ahmedabad [d] Uttarakhand

pg. 23
[e] Assam [a] Manipur
[b] Assam
Q.226) In which country is Ain-Sefra town [c] Maharashtra
located? [d] Andhra Pradesh
[a] Algeria [e] Telangana
[b] Mali
[c] Mauritania Q.232) Which of the following statements is
[d] Morocco correct about the NASA’s OMG mission?
[e] Niger [a] The mission studies impact of oceans in
melting Greenland
Q.227) Which company has launched India’s [b] The mission studies impact of
first intelligent messenger named ‘Pops’? stratospheric water vapor on the earth’s
[a] Instamojo energy budget and climate
[b] PayUBiz [c] The mission studies geometry of the dark
[c] Bill Desk universe
[d] Paytm Money [d] The mission studies the solar system
[e] Zaakpay [e] The mission mapped the salinity (the
concentration of dissolved salt) at the ocean
Q.228) Who is the new chairman of IIFL surface
Finance?
[a] Arun Purwar Q.233) Which of the following countries
[b] Pranav Mahajan chaired the 2nd ASEAN Digital Ministers
[c] Darshana Vikram Jardosh (ADGMIN) meeting?
[d] Upendra Prasad Singh [a] Myanmar
[e] Vijoy Kumar Singh [b] India
[c] Vietnam
Q.229) Who is the author of ‘Operation [d] Both A and B
Khatma’ book? [e] Both A and C
[a] R C Ganjoo
[b] Ashwini Bhatnagar Q.234) What was India’s crude steel
[c] Sanjay Sharan production in 2021, as per World Steel
[d] Only A and B Association’s data?
[e] Only A [a] 100 million tonnes
[b] 180 million tonnes
Q.230) Which company has developed [c] 118 million tonnes
world’s first Molecular Electronics Chip? [d] 200 million tonnes
[a] GSK [e] 170 million tonnes
[b] Roswell Biotechnologies Inc
[c] Johnson & Johnson Q.235) Which of the following products
[d] Pfizer account for a majority of India’s marine exports
[e] Moderna in value terms in 2021?
[a] Squid
Q.231) Where is India’s longest train tunnel [b] Cuttlefish
being developed? [c] Fish Avial

pg. 24
[d] Frozen shrimps [b] January 26, 2022
[e] Prawns [c] January 13, 2022
[d] January 12, 2022
Q.236) Where has Jio-Bp established India’s [e] January 15, 2022
largest EV charging hubs?
[a] Delhi Q.239) Who is the director of ‘Street Student’
[b] Bengaluru movie?
[c] Mangalore [a] Anjali Menon
[d] Mumbai [b] Alphonse Puthren
[e] Pune [c] Rakshit Shetty
[d] K. Viswanath
Q.237) Which company is running the [e] Akula Sandeep
#SheMeansBusiness programme in India?
[a] FICCI Q.240) Which of the following declaration
[b] Facebook pertains to doubling the population of tigers by
[c] Amazon 2022?
[d] Google [a] Geneva Declaration, 1968
[e] Tata Sons [b] Declaration of Montreal, 2006
[c] Kosovo declaration, 2008
Q.238) When was the World Leprosy Day [d] St. Petersburg Declaration, 2010
observed? [e] Amsterdam Declaration, 2002
[a] January 30, 2022

1 A 61 A 121 D 181 C
2 D 62 A 122 A 182 A
3 E 63 E 123 E 183 D
4 D 64 B 124 B 184 B
5 A 65 B 125 A 185 A
6 A 66 A 126 A 186 A
7 A 67 A 127 A 187 A
8 B 68 C 128 A 188 A
9 C 69 B 129 A 189 C
10 A 70 B 130 B 190 A
11 D 71 A 131 A 191 A
12 E 72 D 132 A 192 D
13 B 73 D 133 A 193 E
14 A 74 A 134 B 194 A
15 A 75 A 135 A 195 D
16 D 76 B 136 B 196 A
17 A 77 A 137 D 197 A
18 B 78 B 138 E 198 A
pg. 25
19 A 79 A 139 B 199 A
20 A 80 A 140 B 200 D
21 D 81 A 141 A 201 A
22 C 82 A 142 E 202 B
23 C 83 E 143 B 203 B
24 C 84 A 144 C 204 A
25 C 85 A 145 A 205 D
26 A 86 C 146 C 206 E
27 A 87 A 147 A 207 A
28 A 88 E 148 A 208 D
29 A 89 C 149 B 209 A
30 C 90 A 150 B 210 C
31 C 91 A 151 A 211 E
32 E 92 A 152 A 212 E
33 A 93 C 153 A 213 A
34 C 94 E 154 B 214 B
35 C 95 C 155 A 215 A
36 D 96 E 156 B 216 D
37 A 97 B 157 D 217 A
38 C 98 A 158 E 218 D
39 B 99 E 159 B 219 A
40 A 100 D 160 B 220 E
41 C 101 A 161 D 221 D
42 D 102 A 162 B 222 A
43 E 103 B 163 A 223 A
44 B 104 A 164 A 224 C
45 A 105 A 165 D 225 A
46 C 106 D 166 A 226 A
47 A 107 A 167 A 227 D
48 A 108 D 168 D 228 A
49 A 109 A 169 B 229 D
50 B 110 A 170 E 230 B
51 A 111 A 171 E 231 A
52 A 112 D 172 A 232 A
53 A 113 D 173 E 233 D
54 A 114 C 174 E 234 C
55 D 115 A 175 D 235 D

pg. 1
56 B 116 C 176 A 236 A
57 C 117 A 177 E 237 B
58 B 118 D 178 B 238 A
59 C 119 E 179 A 239 E
60 A 120 D 180 E 240 D

pg. 2
pg. 3
pg. 4
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