Daily GK Update- 21st Jan, 2022

 

NATIONAL UPDATES:

 

1. Odisha and The United Nations World Food Programme To Bolster Food Security Of Small Farmers: The United Nations World Food Programme and the Odisha Government joined hands to improve the food security of small and marginal farmers in India by strengthening their resilience to climate change. In a participatory pilot initiative, climate advisories will be tailored to enable smallholder farmers to adapt to the impact of climate change. Smallholder farmers, who constitute 90 percent of farming communities in Odisha, will be able to select the right farming and livelihood options to improve their food security and incomes.

Note: World Food Programme Founded: 1961; World Food Programme Headquarters: Rome, Italy; World Food Programme Head: David Beasley

 

2. The MoHUA Announced The Initiation Of The Open Data Week: The Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) announced the “Open Data Week” that saw participation from all the 100 smart cities, a move aimed at ensuring a collaborative effort towards making Indian cities “data smart”. The Open Data Week conducted during the third week of January from 17th January 2022 to 21st January 2022. It was divided into two segments — first, uploading of datasets, visualisation, APIs and data blogs on the Smart Cities Open Data Portal from January 17 to January 20 and second, the celebration of a “Data Day” by all smart cities on January 21.

 

3. Dileep Sanghani named as new Chairman of IFFCO: The board of directors of the Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative (IFFCO) has unanimously elected Dileep Sanghani as the 17th Chairman of the Cooperative. He succeeds Balvinder Singh Nakai, who passed away earlier on October 11, 2021. Prior to this, Sanghani was serving as vice-chairman of IFFCO since 2019.

Sanghani is a senior co-operator from Gujarat and the chairman of the Gujarat State Cooperative Marketing Federation Ltd. (GUJCOMASOL), a position he has held since 2017. He held various portfolios in the Gujarat government, including agriculture, cooperation, animal husbandry, fisheries, cow-breeding, prison, excise, law and justice, legislative and parliamentary affairs.

Note: IFFCO Headquarters: New Delhi; IFFCO Founded: 3 November 1967, New Delhi.

 

4. Chanchal Kumar named as new MD of NHIDCL: Chanchal Kumar has been appointed as the Managing Director, National Highways & Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd (NHIDCL), under the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways (MoRTH). He is appointed in the rank and pay of Additional Secretary. He is a 1992 batch IAS officer of Bihar cadre, presently Principal Secretary of Bihar’s Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has also approved the extension in the central deputation tenure of Ashutosh Jindal, Additional Secretary, Cabinet Secretariat for 1 year beyond 16th February 2022 to 16th February 2023.

Note: NHIDCL Founded: 2014; NHIDCL Headquarters: New Delhi.

 

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

 

1. Roberta Metsola takes over EU parliament presidency: Roberta Metsola, a Christian Democrat from Malta, was elected president of the European Union’s parliament. Her election comes a week after the shock death of outgoing parliament president David Sassoli, who was due to step down as part of a power-sharing pact. She is only the third woman elected to the post. she is the European Parliament’s youngest president. Metsola was the candidate of the parliament’s biggest group, and she received 458 of the 616 votes cast.

Note: European Union’s parliament Headquarters: Strasbourg, France; European Union’s parliament Founded: 10 September 1952, Europe.

 

2. Dubai opens its Infinity Bridge for traffic for the first time: Iconic ‘Infinity Bridge’ in Dubai, United Arab Emirates has been formally opened to traffic for the first time on 16th January 2022. Its design resembles a mathematical sign for infinity (∞). It represents the limitless, infinite goals of Dubai. It consists of six lanes in each direction and a combined 3-metre track for pedestrians and cyclists. It is 300 meters long and 22 meters wide.

The bridge consists of six lanes and improves the link between Deira and Bur Dubai. It features a combined 3-metre track for pedestrians and cyclists. First announced in 2018, the Infinity Bridge is part of an Al Shindagha Corridor Project. Consisting of six lanes in each direction, the bridge has an arch-shaped like the infinity symbol – which symbolises Dubai’s unlimited ambitions.

Note: UAE Capital: Abu Dhabi; UAE Currency: United Arab Emirates dirham; UAE President: Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

 

OTHER UPDATES:

 

SPORTS

 

1. 9th women National Ice Hockey Championship-2022 begins: In Himachal Pradesh, the 9th women National Ice Hockey Championship-2022 was inaugurated at Ice Skating Rink, Kaza in Lahaul Spiti district. For the first time in the state, Ice Hockey competition & development camp is being organized at the national level. Teams from Himachal Pradesh, Telengana, Ladakh, ITBP Ladakh, Chandigarh & Delhi are participating in this mega event.

The state Chief Minister, Jai Ram Thakur inaugurated the Championship. This is the first time that National Level Ice Hockey Competition and Development Camp was being held in the State. In 2019, the first Basic Ice Hockey ten days Coaching Camp was organized at Kaza by State Youth Services and Sports Department, in collaboration with the Ladakh Women Ice Hockey Foundation. The State Government has already announced the High-Altitude Sports Center at Kaza with an estimated cost of Rs. 16 crore.

 

2. India to host AFC Women’s football Asian Cup 2022: India is all set to host AFC Women’s football Asian Cup India 2022 from 20th January 2022 in Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, and Pune. The tournament will witness 12 teams competing for the trophy. AFC Women’s Asian Cup India will also be the final stage of Asian qualification for the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. Five teams will qualify for the main event directly while two of them will progress to the inter-confederation play-offs. Hosts India has been placed in Group A alongside China, Chinese Taipei, and Iran. Meanwhile, Australia, Thailand, the Philippines, and Indonesia have been placed in Group B. Defending champions Japan find themselves in Group C along with South Korea, Vietnam, and Myanmar.

 

BANKING AND FINANCE

 

1. RBI announces Digital Payments Index for September 2021: The RBI’s Digital Payment Index, which shows the deepening of payments through digital modes in India, rose by 39.64 per cent to 304.06 in September 2021 against 217.74 in the year-ago month. The RBI-DPI Index continues to demonstrate significant growth in adoption and deepening of digital payments across the country. RBI has introduced Digital Payments Index in January 2021 with March 2018 as the base year to capture the extent of digitisation of payments across the country. This means that the DPI score for March 2018 is set at 100.

RBI has started publishing the Digital Payments Index (DPI) on a semi-annual basis from March 2021 onwards with a lag of 4 months. This means that the DPI will be released by RBI for March and September every year in the months of July and January respectively.

About the RBI-DPI: The RBI-DPI comprises five broad parameters that enable measurement of deepening and penetration of digital payments in the country over different time periods, viz. payment enablers (with 25 per cent weight), payment infrastructure—demand-side factors (10 per cent), payment infrastructure—supply-side factors (15 per cent), payment performance (45 per cent) and consumer centricity (5 per cent). These parameters have sub-parameters which, in turn, consist of various measurable indicators.

Note: Reserve Bank of India Founded: April 1, 1935; Reserve Bank of India Headquarters: Mumbai, Maharashtra; Reserve Bank of India Governor: Shaktikanta Das.

 

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY

 

1. JIO becomes 1st telecom company to roll-out UPI AUTOPAY: National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) and Reliance Jio have announced that UPI AUTOPAY has now been introduced for the telecom industry with Jio. Jio’s integration with UPI AUTOPAY has made it the first player in the telecom industry to go live with the unique e-mandate feature that was launched by NPCI. Using the UPI AutoPay launched by NPCI, customers can now enable recurring e-mandate using any UPI application for recurring payments such as mobile bills, electricity bills, EMI payments, entertainment/OTT subscriptions, insurance, mutual funds among others.

Here’s what this means for Jio subscribers:

(1) Jio users will no longer need to remember their date of recharge once the validity ends.

(2) The Jio plan opted by the customers would be auto renewed on the set date.

(3) For recharge amounts up to Rs 5,000, customers do not have to enter the UPI PIN on the execution of the recharge.

(4) Users can also create, modify, and remove the e-mandate for the tariff plans as per their requirements through UPI Autopay.

Note: National Payments Corporation of India Founded: 2008; National Payments Corporation of India Headquarters: Mumbai, Maharashtra; National Payments Corporation of India MD & CEO: Dilip Asbe.

 

2. MobiKwik launches ‘ClickPay’ in collaboration with NBBL: MobiKwik, one of India’s largest mobile wallets and Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) Fintech companies launched ‘ClickPay’ for its customers, in collaboration with NPCI Bharat BillPay Ltd. (NBBL). This feature enables MobiKwik customers to pay recurring online bills (such as mobile, gas, water, electricity, DTH, insurance, and loan EMIs) with ease by eliminating the need to remember individual bill details and due dates. ClickPay is a two-step payment feature wherein the billers generate a unique payment link within the bill-pay message, allowing customers to make payments directly on the payment page. MobiKwik is focused on providing the Indian middle-class population a simple and secure payment platform to make daily life payments.

 

AWARDS AND HONOURS

 

1. National Startup Awards 2021 announced: National Startup Awards 2021 is the second edition of the award ceremony, conceived by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT). A total of 46 Startups have been recognized as winners of the National Startup Awards 2021 along with 1 incubator and 1 accelerator, by the Government of India. They have been felicitated for their contribution in their respective sectors.

Some winners in the list:

(1) State-wise, Karnataka bagged the highest number of awards, which included 14 out of 46 national startup awards.

(2) In fintech category’s financial inclusion sub-sector, Bengaluru-based Naffa Innovations Private Limited (ToneTag) was declared the winner.

(3) In fintech category’s insurance sub-sector, Umbo Idtech Private Limited won the award.

(4) In Robotics sub-sector, Sagar Defence was declared the winner.

(5) In the women-led start-up category, Jaipur-headquartered Frontier Markets was honoured.

 

2. Sumit Bhale won gold medal at the International Folk Art Festival: Lavni artist from Maharashtra, Sumit Bhale of Fulbari taluka has won a gold medal at the International Folk Art Festival in Dubai. With his splendid performance, Maharashtra’s splendour has been widely appreciated at the international platform. Lavani is a genre of music popular in Maharashtra and is a combination of traditional song and dance, which is particularly performed to the beats of Dholki, a percussion instrument.

 

OBITUARIES

 

1. Noted environmentalist & ‘Save Silent Valley’ campaigner M.K. Prasad passes away: Noted environmentalist & ‘Save Silent Valley’ campaigner Prof M K Prasad passed away recently. He was a prominent figure in the historic grassroots level movement to save the evergreen tropical rain forests in Kerala’s Silent Valley from destruction. He had also led the popular science movement, ‘Kerala Sasthra Sahithya Parishath’. Prof. Prasad, who had served as Pro-Vice-Chancellor of Calicut University, was in the forefront of environment protection activities in the State.

 

2. Renowned Bengali theatre personality Saoli Mitra passes away: Renowned Bengali theatre personality Saoli Mitra has passed away. She had acted in Ritwik Ghatak’s avant garde film Jukti Takko aar Gappo in 1974. She also wrote, directed and acted in the hugely popular Katha Amritsamman (Words that are like Nectar) another adaptation of the Mahabharata.

 

3. Legendary Bengali comics artist, writer and illustrator, Narayan Debnath passes away: Legendary Bengali comics artist, writer and illustrator, Narayan Debnath, has passed away after a prolonged illness. He was 97. The celebrated cartoonist was the creator of popular Bengali comic strips like Handa Bhonda (1962), Bantul the Great (1965) and Nonte Phonte (1969). He holds the record of longest-running comics by an individual artiste for the Handa Bhonda comics series which completed its continuous 60 years of running. In 2021, Debnath was awarded Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award in India.