NATIONAL UPDATES:
1.
Kerala’s Kumbalanghi to be India’s first sanitary-napkin free village: Kerala’s
Kumbalanghi is set to become the country’s first sanitary napkin-free
panchayat. This move is a part of the ‘Avalkayi’ initiative, which is being
implemented in the Ernakulam parliamentary constituency, in association with
the “Thingal Scheme” of HLL Management Academy’s and Indian Oil Corporation.
Under this initiative, menstrual cups will be distributed to women aged 18 and
above in Kumbalangi village. 5000 menstrual cups will be distributed under it.
In the same event, Governor will also
declare Kumbalangi village as a model village. The model village project is
implemented as a part of ‘Pradhan Mantri Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana (PM-SAGY)’.
A new tourist information centre will also be set up in the village.
Note: Kerala Governor: Arif Mohammad Khan;
Kerala Capital: Thiruvananthapuram; Kerala Chief minister: Pinarayi Vijayan.
2.
World’s largest Khadi National Flag displayed at Longewala: The world’s largest
national flag, made of Khadi fabric was put to display to celebrate the “Army
Day” on January 15, 2022. It was displayed at Longewala, along the India –
Pakistan Border in Jaisalmer. Longewala was the centre stage of the historic
battle of 1971 between India and Pakistan. It will be the fifth public display
of the Khadi flag. 70 khadi artisans prepared this flag in 49 days. Its making
has created about 3500 man-hours of additional work for Khadi artisans and
allied workers.
Dimension of the flag: The Monumental National Flag is 225 feet long
and 150 feet wide. It is approximately 1400 kgs in weight. 4500 meters of
hand-woven, hand-spun, Khadi cotton bunting has been used to make the flag. It
covers an area of 33, 750 square feet. The Ashok Chakra in the flag has a
diameter of 30 feet.
3.
IAMAI organises 16th India Digital Summit 2022: Union Minister of
Commerce & Industry, Piyush Goyal virtually addressed the 16th India
Digital Summit, 2022. The two-day virtual event was organised by the Internet
And Mobile Association of India (IAMAI). The theme of the summit was
“Supercharging Startups”. India Digital Summit is the oldest event of the
digital industry in India. During the event, the Minister unveiled ‘LEAP’ as
the way forward to further strengthen our Startups ecosystem. LEAP stands for
“Leverage, Encourage, Access & Promote”.
4.
GoI launches stamp to mark 1 year of Covid vaccination: The government of
India has released a commemorative postal stamp on the Covid-19 vaccination to
mark the first anniversary of the country’s national immunization programme
against the virus. The commemorative stamp design features a healthcare worker
inoculating a senior citizen with COVID-19 vaccine, along with an image of
‘COVAXIN’ vial. This stamp signifies the remarkable work done by our frontline
healthcare workers and scientific community across the country in protecting
the people against the COVID pandemic.
5.
NDRF celebrates its 17th Raising Day on 19 January 2022: National Disaster
Response Force (NDRF) celebrates its Raising Day every year on January 19,
since it came into existence on January 19, 2006. In 2022, the NDRF is
observing its 17th Raising Day. There are 12 NDRF battalions located in different
parts of the country and comprises as many as 13,000 NDRF personnel who work to
build a safer country.
The NDRF has earned a good name and fame
nationally and internationally with its selfless service and unmatched
professionalism in disaster management. NDRF has saved more than One lakh lives
in its 3100 operations and rescued/evacuated over 6.7 lakh people during
disasters. NDRF is an Indian specialized force under the National Disaster
Management Authority, constituted under the Disaster Management Act, 2005, to
carry out the special responses in situations of threatening disaster.
Note: Director Generals of NDRF: Atul
Karwal.
INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:
1. PM
Narendra Modi virtually address WEF’s Davos Agenda 2022 Summit: India’s Prime
Minister Narendra Modi has addressed the World Economic Forum’s (WEF’s) Davos
Agenda Summit 2022, through video-conferencing. The “Davos Agenda 2022” summit
is being held digitally from January 17 to January 21, 2022, due to the
Covid-19 pandemic. The theme of the event is “The State of the World.”
About the Summits: The week-long
digital summit will begin with a special address by Chinese President Xi
Jinping. The ‘Davos Agenda 2022’ will be the first global platform for Heads of
state and government as well as CEOs and other leaders to share their visions
for 2022 on critical collective challenges and how to address them. This is the
second consecutive year that the event is being held virtually.
Note: World Economic Forum Founded: January
1971; World Economic Forum Founder & Executive Chairman: Klaus Schwab;
World Economic Forum Headquarters: Cologny, Switzerland.
OTHER UPDATES:
SPORTS
1.
Tasnim Mir became the World No 1 in Badminton U-19 Girls Singles: Tasnim Mir became
the first Indian to grab World no 1 in Under-19 (U-19) Girls Singles category
with 10,810 points in the latest Badminton World Federation (BWF) Junior
rankings. She is followed by Mariia Golubeva from Russia and Lucia Rodriguez
from Spain. In 2021, she won 3 Junior International Tournaments held in
Bulgaria, France and Belgium, which helped her climb up for No.1 position. The
World No.1 position in Boy’s Singles is shared by Lakshya Sen, Siril Verma and
Aditya Joshi.
Note: Badminton World Federation Founded: 5
July 1934; Badminton World Federation Headquarters: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia;
Badminton World Federation President: Poul-Erik Høyer Larsen.
2.
Kohli quits as India’s Test captain after seven years 2022: Virat Kohli has
stepped down as the Test captain of the Indian national cricket team after
seven years. He first led the national side in Test cricket in 2014 against
Australia. He guided the team to an unprecedented back-to-back Test series wins
Down Under. Kohli also thanked former head coach Ravi Shastri and former
captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni in his statement. In 2021, India also finished as
the runners-up in the inaugural ICC World Test Championship. Kohli had recently
stepped down as India’s T20I captain and was subsequently removed as the ODI
captain ahead of the South Africa tour. India also became a top-ranked Test
side in the world.
BANKING AND FINANCE
1.
RBI released Annual Report of Ombudsman Schemes, 2020-21: Reserve Bank of
India has released the Annual Report of the Ombudsman Schemes for 2020-21,
which has been prepared for the 9-month period (July 1, 2020 to March 31, 2021)
in alignment with the change in the Financial Year of RBI from ‘July – June’ to
‘April – March’ with effect from July 1, 2020. The Annual Report covers the activities
under the Banking Ombudsman Scheme, 2006 (BOS), the Ombudsman Scheme for
Non-Banking Financial Companies, 2018 (OSNBFC) and the Ombudsman Scheme for
Digital Transactions, 2019 (OSDT).
Key Findings:
The volume of complaints received under all
the 3 Ombudsman Schemes increased by 22.27 percent on an annualized basis and
stood at 3,03,107.
The complaints received at BOS from July 1,
2020, to March 31, 2021, stood at 2,73,204
The complaints received at OSNBFCs stood at
26,957 during July 1, 2020-March 31, 2021
The number of complaints received at the
OSDT rose to 2,946 during July 1, 2020-March 31, 2021.
Major areas of complaints: Under the scheme,
major areas of complaints are related to ATM or debit cards, mobile or
electronic banking and credit cards. This area collectively accounted for 42.74
per cent of the total complaints. This year, RBI changed the reporting period
to April-March.
The city with maximum complaints: RBI data further
highlights that, Chandigarh received the maximum complaints during the same
period. Total number of complaints stand at 28019. It accounts for 10.26 per
cent of the total complaints. Chandigarh is followed by Kanpur with 21,168
complaints and New Delhi with 18,767 complaints. Kanpur accounts for 7.75 per
cent and Delhi accounts for 6.87 per cent of the total complaints.
BUSINESS AND ECONOMY
1.
Indifi tie-up with GPay to offer instant digital credit to SMEs: Small
businesses-focused online lending platform Indifi Technologies has collaborated
with Google Pay to provide instant loans to eligible medium, small and micro
enterprises (MSMEs) merchants through the Google Pay platform. The borrowing
process is entirely digital and eligible merchants on the Google Pay for the
Business app can click on loan offerings from Indifi and submit an application
online. The loans will be in the range of Rs 2.5 to Rs 3 lakh.
With a 35 per cent share of monthly UPI
volumes, Google Pay has been growing its financial services play over the past
year like other payments leaders in India. It already provides loans and
short-term credit to individuals and small merchants in tie-ups with IIFL
Loans, CASHe, and ZestMoney, among others.
2.
Shersingh B Khyalia appointed as CEO of Adani Power: The Board of
Directors of Adani Power Limited (APL), a subsidiary of Adani Group, approved
the appointment of Shersingh B Khyalia as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of
Adani Powers with effect from 11th January 2022. He is a Chartered Accountant,
who has served as the Managing Director in Gujarat Power Corporation. Earlier,
Khyalia has worked as Managing Director in Gujarat Power Corporation, where he
got experience of the Renewable Power Sector especially the development of
Ultra Mega Renewable Parks.
DEFENCE
1.
Defence Ministry sets up Raksha Pension Shikayat Nivaran Portal: The Defence
Minister, Rajnath Singh has set up an online Raksha Pension Shikayat Nivaran
Portal to resolve pension-related grievances of ex-servicemen (ESM) and their
dependents. The portal will allow them to lodge grievances directly with the
Department of Ex-Servicemen Welfare (DESW), he stated on the occasion of Armed
Forces Veterans Day.
The minister also announced that the DESW
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. The Minister also
stated that the Directorate General of Resettlement has issued 22,278 job
letters—including 7,898 job letters to freshly retired/first-time entrants—to
civil life ESMs in the government sector/PSUs/banks and private sector during
the year April 2021-December 2021.
2.
Indian Navy and Russian Navy conducts PASSEX Exercise in Arabian Sea: Indian Navy and
Russian Navy undertook PASSEX exercises at the port of Cochin, in the Arabian
Sea. The Indian Navy’s indigenously designed and built guided-missile
destroyer, INS Kochi, took part in the exercise. Russian Federation Navy was
represented by RFS Admiral Tributs.
Two other Russian naval ships Russian Naval
Missile Cruiser Varyag, and Russian Tanker Boris Butoma were also accompanied.
The exercise showcased cohesiveness and interoperability between the two navies
and included tactical manoeuvres, cross-deck helicopter operations and
seamanship activities.
About the exercises: These exercises
are aimed at enhancing interoperability, improving understanding and imbibing
best practices between both the friendly navies, and this will involve advanced
surface and anti-submarine warfare exercises, weapon firings, seamanship
exercises and helicopter operations, Navy officials said, adding that these
exercises are conducted regularly with units of friendly foreign navies, whilst
visiting each other’s ports or during a rendezvous at sea.
OBITUARIES
1.
Padma Shri winning social activist Shanti Devi passes away: Odisha’s social
worker and Padma Shri awardee Shanti Devi, who was remembered as the voice of
the poor, has passed away. She was 88. She was also called Lugdi Devi. She was
known for her dedication towards the underprivileged community and restoring
peace in the Maoist-affected areas in Odisha. She has received the prestigious
Padma Shri award from President Ram Nath Kovind on November 9, 2021.
2. Former PM of Japan Toshiki Kaifu passes away: The former Prime Minister of Japan, Toshiki Kaifu has passed away at the age of 91 years in Japan. He served as the PM from 1989 to 1991. He is known for sending the Maritime Self-Defense Force to the Persian Gulf in 1991. After the Gulf War, the Japanese Self-Defense Force were deployed to the Gulf region to conduct minesweeping operations during Kaifu’s term of office.
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