NATIONAL UPDATES:
1.
Uttar Pradesh Govt Declares 4 Villages Near Nepal Border as Revenue Villages: Uttar Pradesh
government declared four villages located near the Nepal border in the district
as revenue villages. District Magistrate of Bahraich, Dinesh Chandra Singh said
the decision was taken before the announcement of the general elections to the
UP Legislative Assembly. These four villages are Bhavanipur, Tedhia, Dhakia and
Bichhia located in Mihinpurwa tehsil of the district. All these villages are
Vantangiya villages. The Vantangiya’ community comprises people brought from
Myanmar during the colonial rule to plant trees. There are around 225 families
in these four villages consisting of over 1,500 members.
What is a revenue village: A revenue village
is a small administrative region with defined borders. One revenue village may
contain many hamlets. A village administrative officer is the head officer of a
revenue village. The people of these villages will now get the benefits of all
the schemes of the government.
Note: Uttar Pradesh Capital: Lucknow; Uttar
Pradesh Chief Minister: Yogi Adityanath; Uttar Pradesh Governor: Anandiben
Patel.
2. PM
declares December 26 to be observed as ‘Veer Baal Diwas’ annually: Prime Minister of
India, Narendra Modi has declared that starting from the year 2022, December 26
will be observed as ‘Veer Baal Diwas’ every year. The day will be commemorated
as a tribute to the courage of the 4 Sahibzades (the four sons of Guru Gobind
Singh Ji), who attained martyrdom in the 17th century. The announcement was
made by PM Modi on the occasion of the Parkash Purab of Sri Guru Gobind Singh
Ji, or the birth anniversary of the 10th guru of Sikhs and the founder of the
Khalsa community.
History of the day: 26 December marks
the day on which Sahibzada Zorawar Singh Ji and Sahibzada Fateh Singh Ji
(younger pair of Sahibzade) attained martyrdom after being sealed alive in a
wall, at the tender age of 6 and 9 years. Sahibzada Ajit Singh Ji and Sahibzada
Jujhar Singh Ji (older pair of Sahibzade) attained martyrdom on December 21,
1705, fighting the enemy in battle at Chamkaur Sahib at the young age of 18 and
14 years.
3.
TCS bags phase 2 of Centre’s passport plan: The Ministry of External Affairs
(MEA) has signed an agreement with Tata Consultancy Services Limited (TCS) for
the second phase of the Passport Seva Programme (PSP-V2.0). TCS will be the
service provider for the Passport Seva Project, which it has been for over 10
years. The PSP-V2.O envisages rolling out chip-enabled e-passports, increasing
data security and ensuring the next level of customer experience with the use
of biometrics, artificial intelligence, advanced data analytics and
auto-response.
In the next phase of the programme, TCS
will refresh existing facilities and systems, and develop new solutions to
enable the issuance of e-passports using technologies such as biometrics,
artificial intelligence, advanced data analytics, chatbots, auto-response,
natural language processing, and the cloud.
Note: Tata Consultancy Services Limited
CEO: Rajesh Gopinathan (21 Feb 2017–); Tata Consultancy Services Limited
Founded: 1 April 1968; Tata Consultancy Services Limited Headquarters: Mumbai.
4.
GoI extends Navrang Saini’s term as interim chief of IBBI: The Government of
India has extended the tenure of Navrang Saini as interim Chairperson of
Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) for three more months till
March 05, 2022. Mr. Saini, who is a Whole Time Member of IBBI, was assigned
additional charge of Chairperson in addition to his existing duties in October
2021 for three months till January 13, 2022. The post of full-time Chairperson
has been lying vacant after M.S. Sahoo retired upon completing a five-year
tenure on September 30, 2021.
Note: Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of
India Headquarters: New Delhi; Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India
Founder: Parliament of India; Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India Founded:
1 October 2016.
5.
Armed Forces Veterans Day: 14 January 2022: In India, the Armed Forces Veterans
Day is observed each year on 14 January since 2017. The day aims to acknowledge
and honour the selfless devotion and sacrifice of our veterans in the service
of the nation. 2022 marks the 6th Armed Forces Veterans Day. It is observed as
a mark of respect and recognition of the services rendered by Field Marshal KM
Cariappa OBE, the first Indian Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Armed Forces
who retired on 14 January 1953.
About the day: Armed Forces
Veterans Day is observed to reiterate the resolve of services for the well
being of veterans and assure them that their valuable suggestions are always
welcome. Last year, Admiral Karambir Singh released the ‘Swarnim Vijay Varsh’
song dedicated to our brave and courageous soldiers of the 1971 war. At various
events, stalls are set up at the venue for the benefit of ex-servicemen, which
includes health and medical check-up camp, job placement and resettlement
stall. In addition, there are informative lectures on pensions and
welfare-related subjects. Various government departments commemorate the day in
their own unique way.
INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:
1.
Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas appointed as next IMF’s Chief Economist: French-born
economist Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas has been named as the next chief economist
of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). He will succeed Gita Gopinath, the
first woman to serve as the Fund’s chief economist. He will take over as first
deputy managing director of IMF from January 21 2022. Initially, Gourinchas
will join the IMF on a part-time basis from January 24, 2022. He will take upon
a role on a full-time basis from April 1, 2022.
Note: International Monetary Fund Formed:
27 December 1945; International Monetary Fund Headquarters: Washington D.C.,
USA; International Monetary Fund Member countries: 190; International Monetary
Fund Managing Director: Kristalina Georgieva.
2.
Chennai International Airport ranks 8th in Global List for ‘On-Time
Performance’: The
Chennai International Airport is one of the top 10 large international airports
in the world that ensures ‘on-time’ departures. In a review conducted by
Cirium, an organisation that specialises in offering aviation data to travel,
finance, aerospace, and aviation industries, the airport has been ranked 8th
for ‘on-time performance’ for the year 2021. According to the latest traffic
figures of Chennai Airport, it has done recovery of 80 % in domestic traffic.
It is the sixth busiest airport in India. Besides that, Chennai airport is the
only Indian airport to figure in the top 10 positions of the list.
Top 3 Airports in the list:
Rank Airports
1st Miami
Airport (United States)
2nd Fukuoka
Airport (Japan)
3rd Haneda
Airport (Japan)
8th Chennai
Airport (India)
OTHER UPDATES:
SPORTS
1.
Bharath Subramaniyam named India’s 73rd chess Grandmaster: Tamil Nadu’s
Bharath Subramaniyam became India’s 73rd chess Grandmaster. He secured the
third and final Grandmaster norm at an event at Cattolica in Italy. He scored
6.5 points from nine rounds along with four others and finish seventh in the
event. He secured his third GM norm here as well as touched the requisite 2,500
(Elo) mark. Fellow Indian player M R Lalith Babu became the winner in the
tournament, with seven points. He won the title on the basis of a better
tie-break score as he tied with three others including Anton Korobov from Ukraine.
In order to become a GM, a player has to secure three GM norms as well as cross
the live rating of 2,500 Elo points.
2.
Gael Monfils wins 2022 Adelaide International 1 tennis tournament: French tennis
player Gael Monfils beat Russia’s Karen Khachanov in the men’s singles event of
the 2022 Adelaide International 1 to claim the 11th ATP title of his career. In
the women’s category, World number one Australian star Ashleigh Barty beat
Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan to win her second Adelaide International title.
2022 Adelaide International 1 was a combined ATP Tour 250 and WTA 500
tournament.
List of winners:
Men’s single: Gaël Monfils (France)
Women’s single: Ashleigh Barty (Australia)
Men’s doubles: Rohan Bopanna and Ramkumar
Ramanathan (India)
Women’s double: Ashleigh Barty and Storm
Sanders (Australia)
BANKING AND FINANCE
1.
RBL Bank tie-up with Google to advance next-gen customer experience: RBL Bank and Google
announced a strategic collaboration to fuel the Bank’s customer experience
strategy. Through this, the bank will expand its value proposition to serve its
rapidly growing customer base through the digital platform, Abacus 2.0. It will
enable better customer data management, and analytics, enabling effective
cross-selling within the Bank’s large customer base. RBL Bank currently has
over 4 million urban retail asset and liability customers.
This collaboration will enable better
customer data management, and analytics, enabling effective cross-selling
within the Bank’s large customer base and subsequently reducing the cost of
customer acquisition, significantly. Through Abacus 2.0, the Bank aims to
provide a superior and holistic one-stop solution to its existing and new
customers, to seamlessly deliver its different product offerings across channels.
Note: RBL Bank Founded: 1943; RBL Bank
Headquarters: Mumbai, Maharashtra; RBL Bank CEO & MD: Rajeev Ahuja; RBL
Bank Tagline: Apno Ka Bank.
BUSINESS AND ECONOMY
1.
SBI Ecowrap: India’s Real GDP projected to grow at around 9.5% in FY22: The economic
research team of the State Bank of India (SBI) released its Ecowrap report. In
the report, SBI researchers have revised upwards the real GDP of India to
around 9.5 per cent in 2021-22 (FY22) on a year-on-year (YoY). The report
believes that though rising Covid infections could impact mobility, yet
economic activity is not expected to get much affected.
2.
RBI data: Forex reserves decline by USD 1.466 bn to USD 633.614 bn: As per the latest
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) data, the foreign currency reserves of India
declined by $1.466 billion to $633.614 billion, in the last week of 2021, which
ended December 31, 2021. Gold reserves rose by USD 14 million to USD 39.405
billion. India’s forex touched a lifetime high of USD 642.453 billion in the week
ended September 03, 2021. Forex reserves include foreign currency assets
(FCAs), gold reserves, SDRs and the country’s reserve position with the IMF.
AWARDS AND HONOURS
1.
Golden Globe Awards 2022 announced: The Golden Globe Awards 2022 ceremony was
held to recognise excellence in film, both American and international, and
American television. This was the 79th edition of the annual event, which
honoured the best in American television, as well as film in 2021 as chosen by
the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. Two of the films namely The Power of
the Dog and the West Side Story, won the most number of awards with 3 each. List
of winners in the Motion Picture category:
|
Category |
Winners |
|
Best Film (Drama) |
The Power of the Dog |
|
Best Film (Musical or Comedy) |
West Side Story |
|
Best Actor (Drama) |
Will Smith for King
Richard as Richard Williams |
|
Best Actress (Drama) |
Nicole Kidman for
Being the Ricardos as Lucille Ball |
|
Best Actor (Musical or
Comedy) |
Andrew Garfield for
tick, tick… BOOM! as Jonathan Larson |
|
Best Actress (Musical
or Comedy) |
Rachel Zegler for West
Side Story as María Vasquez |
|
Best Supporting Actor |
Kodi Smit-McPhee for
The Power of the Dog as Peter Gordon |
|
Best Supporting
Actress |
Ariana DeBose for West
Side Story as Anita |
|
Best Director |
Jane Campion for The
Power of the Dog |
|
Best Screenplay |
Kenneth Branagh for
Belfast |
|
Best Original Score |
Hans Zimmer for Dune |
|
Best Original Song |
“No Time to Die”
(Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell) – No Time to Die |
|
Best Animated Feature |
Encanto |
|
Best Non-English Film |
Drive My Car (Japan) |
OBITUARIES
1.
European Parliament President David Sassoli passes away: European Parliament
President, David Sassoli has passed away due to health issues. He had served as
the President of the European Parliament from July 2019 until his death in
January 2022. He was first elected as a member of the European Parliament (MEP)
in 2009. Later in July 2014, Sassoli was elected Vice-President of the European
Parliament. In the 2019 European Parliament election in Italy, he was elected
as new president with 128,533 votes. European Parliament is one of the seven
branches of the EU. Its headquarter is at Strasbourg, France.
2. Kannada writer ‘Champa’ passes away: Prominent Kannada writer Chandrashekhar Patil, popularly known as “Champa”, passed away at the age of 82. He was a Kannada language activist, a poet and a playwright and also served as President of the Kannada Sahitya Parishat (KSP) and Chairman of the Kannada Development Authority.
No comments:
Post a Comment