NATIONAL UPDATES:
1.
KVIC launched India’s first “Mobile Honey Processing Van”: Khadi and Village
Industries Commission (KVIC) Chairman, Vinai Kumar Saxena has launched the
country’s first Mobile Honey Processing Van at Village Sirora in Ghaziabad. The
Mobile Van has been designed in-house by KVIC at its Multi-disciplinary
Training Centre, Panjokehra, at a cost of Rs 15 lakh. This mobile honey
processing unit can process up to 300 KG of honey in 8 hours. The van is also
equipped with a testing laboratory that would instantly examine the quality of
honey.
About the Van:
(1) The Mobile Honey Processing Van comes
as a major development under KVIC’s Honey Mission which aims at training
beekeepers, distributing Bee Boxes to farmers and helping rural, educated as
well as unemployed youth to earn extra income through beekeeping activities.
(2) In line with the Prime Minister’s dream
of “Sweet Kranti” (Sweet Revolution) through honey production, the KVIC has
come up with this unique innovation to enable beekeepers and farmers to get a
fair price for their honey production.
(3) KVIC has designed the innovative Mobile
Honey Processing Van that will process beekeepers’ honey at their doorsteps and
thus save them the hassle and the cost of taking the honey to processing plants
in far off cities for processing.
2.
Sudhir Kumar Saxena committee constituted to enquire security lapses during PM
Punjab visit: Ministry
of Home Affairs has constituted a committee to enquire into the serious lapses
in the security arrangements during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to
Punjab. It is a three-member committee and will be headed by Sudhir Kumar
Saxena, Secretary (Security), Cabinet Secretariat. It also comprises Balbir
Singh, Joint Director, IB and Suresh, IG, SPG.
The committee has been asked to inquire
about the alleged lapses in the security arrangements of PM Modi “which led to
the exposure of the VVIP to grave risk” and submit the report at the earliest.
The move comes just ahead of the Supreme Court’s hearing on the PM’s security
breach. It was the government’s own former ASG, Maninder Singh, who moved SC
seeking an independent probe into the PM’s security breach.
3.
Hyderabad gets India’s first Open Rock Museum: Union Minister of
State for Science and Technology, Dr Jitendra Singh has inaugurated India’s
first Open Rock Museum in Hyderabad, Telangana. 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.
About the Open Rock Museum: The Open Rock
Museum, set up with the aim of educating and enlightening the masses about
several lesser-known facts, displays around 35 different types of rocks from
different parts of India. These rocks also represent the deepest part of the
earth, up to 175 km from the surface of the earth. The rocks have been sourced
from Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand, Jharkhand, Jammu & Kashmir and
others.
4.
Rajnath Singh inaugurates Kalpana Chawla Centre For Research at Chandigarh
University: Defence
Minister Rajnath Singh has inaugurated Kalpana Chawla Centre for Research in
Space Science and Technology (KCCRSST) at Chandigarh University. 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.
Kalpana Chawla was the first woman of Indian origin to go to space.
5.
Sikkim celebrated Losoong (Namsoong) Festival: Losoong (Namsoong)
is annually celebrated across the Indian State of Sikkim on the 18th day of the
10th month of the Tibetan Lunar Calendar, which also marks the beginning of the
harvest season. The Namsoong festival begins on the 1st day of the new moon
phase Kurneet Lovo, as per the Lepcha lunisolar Calendar known as Dungkit
Karchu. 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.
Note: Chief Minister of Sikkim: PS Golay;
Governor of Sikkim: Ganga Prasad; Sikkim’s capital and largest city: Gangtok.
INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:
1. Australia
& Japan signed defence agreement to counter China: The leaders of
Japan and Australia signed a “landmark” defence agreement that allows closer
cooperation between their militaries and stands as a rebuke to China’s growing
assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific region. Australian Prime Minister Scott
Morrison and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida met in a virtual summit to
sign the Reciprocal Access Agreement, the first such defence pact signed by
Japan with any country other than the United States.
About the agreements:
(1) The agreement follows more than a year
of talks between Japan and Australia aimed at breaking down legal barriers to
allow the troops of one country to enter the other for training and other
purposes.
(2) Morrison called the pact a “pivotal
moment for Australia and Japan and (for) the security of our two nations and
our people.”
(3) The pact builds on the strategic
dialogue known as “the Quad,” which includes Japan, Australia, the United
States and India. Australia last year also signed the Aukus agreement with the
United States and Britain, both of which have pledged to help Australia acquire
nuclear-powered submarines.
OTHER UPDATES:
SPORTS
1.
World Rapid Chess Championship 2021 won by Nodirbek Abdusattorov: Nodirbek
Abdusattorov (Uzbekistan), won the World Rapid Chess Championship 2021 by
defeating Ian Nepomniachtchi (Russia) in a tiebreaker and dethroning Magnus
Carlsen, the current World Number 1. 2020 FIDE Championship was won by Magnus
Carlsen. Nodirbek won the title along with a prize of $60,000, where he lost
only one match against the Ukrainian Anton Korobov, and tied in five others.
The Uzbeki Grand Master (GM), received the Mard Uglon (“Brave Son”)
Presidential medal.
2.
LLC named Jhulan Goswami as Ambassador of All Women Match Official Team: Legends League
Cricket (LLC) has appointed Jhulan Goswami as an ambassador to its All Women
Match Official Team to promote Women’s Empowerment initiatives of the LLC and
to increase participation of women in cricket. The LLC set up an All Women Match
Official Team for the League. This is the first of its all-women official teams
that would officiate an entire men’s league.
About the Legends League Cricket
(LLC):
Legends League Cricket (LLC) is the professional cricket league for retired
cricketers. The inaugural session of LLC will be organized from January 20 2022
at Oman Cricket Stadium in Muscat, Oman. Legends League Cricket (LLC) 2022
teams: Indian Maharaja, Aisan Lions, World Giants.
BANKING AND FINANCE
1.
RBI increased banks’ LCR maintenance on Funds received: The Reserve Bank of
India has increased the threshold limit for Banks to maintain the Liquidity
Coverage Ratio (LCR) on deposits and other ‘extension of funds’ received from
non-financial small business customers from Rs 5 crore to Rs 7.5 crore. This is
applicable on all Commercial Banks other than Regional Rural Banks, Local Area
Banks, and Payments Banks. To better align RBI’s guidelines with the Basel
Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS) standard and enable banks to manage
liquidity risk more effectively.
Liquidity Coverage Ratio: LCR promotes the
short-term resilience of banks to potential liquidity disruptions by ensuring
that they have sufficient high-quality liquid assets (HQLAs) to survive an
acute stress scenario lasting for 30 days.
2.
RBI issues eligibility norms for entities harnessing credit bureau data: Reserve Bank of
India (RBI) issued eligibility criteria for entities that harness data from
credit information companies (CICs) or credit bureaus. These newly-formed
guidelines said that a company’s net worth must be at least Rs 2 crore and
owned and controlled by resident Indian citizens to become a designated user
with a credit bureau, which comes amid accusations of lending applications with
Chinese ties functioning in India.
According to the eligibility criteria for
entities to be categorised as Specified User under clause (j) of Regulation 3
of the Credit Information Companies (Amendment) Regulations, 2021:
(1) A company incorporated in India or a
Statutory Corporation constituted in India shall be the entity.
(2) The governing statute of the Statutory
Corporation or Memorandum of Association of the Company, as the case may be,
should allow the business/activity of processing of information for the support
or benefit of credit institutions.
(3) The guidelines said a company’s net
worth must be at least two crore rupees as of the most recent audited balance
sheet, and it must meet the criterion on a continuous basis.
(4) Also, the company must be owned and
controlled by resident Indian citizens/an Indian company owned and controlled
by resident Indian citizens in the case of a company. The ownership of the
company shall be well diversified.
(5) The corporation must have at least three
(3) years of experience in the business/activity of processing information for
the assistance or benefit of credit institutions, as well as a clean track
record.
BUSINESS AND ECONOMY
1. Reliance
acquires controlling stake of 73.37% in New York’s Mandarin Oriental hotel: Reliance Industries
Ltd (RIL) has announced the acquisition of a controlling stake of 73.37% in
Mandarin Oriental New York, a premium luxury hotel in midtown Manhattan. RIL
through its wholly-owned arm Reliance Industrial Investments and Holdings
Limited has acquired the entire share capital of Cayman Islands-based Columbus
Centre Corporation (Cayman), for an equity value of approximately $98.15
million (Rs 735 crore).
Cayman is the parent company of Mandarin
Oriental hotel. It had indirect ownership of a 73.37 per cent stake in the
hotel. Reliance will also take over the hotel’s debt in excess of $115 million
to take the entire deal value to around $270. The transaction is anticipated to
close by the end of March 2022.
Note: Reliance Industries Ltd CEO: Mukesh
Ambani (31 Jul 2002–); Reliance Industries Ltd Founder: Dhirubhai Ambani; Reliance
Industries Ltd Founded: 8 May 1973, Maharashtra; Reliance Industries Ltd
Headquarters: Mumbai.
2. NSO
projects Indian economy to grow 9.2% in FY22: National
Statistical Office (NSO) has estimated India’s GDP to grow at 9.2 per cent in
the current fiscal, 2021-22. NSO released its first advance estimates of
economic output on January 07, 2022. The GDP estimate for the 2020-21 fiscal
was projected at a contraction of 7.3 per cent by NSO.
AWARDS AND HONOURS
1.
Satish Adiga gets ICMR national award “Dr Subhas Mukherjee Award”: A professor in the
clinical embryology department at Kasturba Medical College (KMC), under Manipal
Academy of Higher education (MAHE), Dr Satish Adiga has been selected by the
Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) for its national award. He will
receive Dr Subhas Mukherjee Award from ICMR in recognition for his outstanding
contribution to the field of in-vitro fertilization (IVF). He has contributed
significantly to both clinical IVF and fertility research.
2.
Forensic Science Laboratory won SKOCH award for combating crime against
children: The
Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) won SKOCH Award in the Silver category for
its work towards combating Crime and Violence against Children. The award was
given out at the 78 SKOCH Summit. The “State of Governance” was the theme of
the summit. Deepa Verma, the Director of the Rohini-based lab, has accepted the
award on behalf of the lab. FSL is a scientific department and a participant in
the criminal justice system whose mission is to investigate incidents of crime
and violence against children who have suffered physical, sexual, financial, or
emotional harm.
OBITUARIES
1. Oscar and Grammy-winning lyricist Marilyn Bergman passes away: Marilyn Bergman, the Oscar, Emmy and Grammy-winning American lyricist and songwriter has passed away. Bergman collaborated with her husband, Alan Bergman for song-writing. The renowned music-writing duo wrote the music and lyrics for numerous celebrated television shows, films, and stage musicals. The pair was nominated for Oscars 16 times and won three times.
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