Daily GK Update- 26th Jan, 2022

NATIONAL UPDATES:

 

1. India Celebrating 73rd Republic Day on 26 January 2022: India is celebrating the 73rd Republic Day on 26 January 2022. The celebrations this year are special as India is in the 75th year of Independence – being celebrated as ‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’. Republic Day marks the date on which the Constitution of India came into effect on 26 January 1950. It replaced the Government of India Act (1935) as the governing document of India.

According to the Ministry of Defence, for the first time, an Indian Air Force (IAF) will show grand flypast by 75 aircraft or helicopters. A drone show by 1,000 indigenously developed drones has been planned for the ‘Beating the Retreat’ ceremony, along with projection mapping will be shown for the first time. In another first, 480 dancers will perform during the cultural programme at the parade have been selected through a nationwide Vande Bharatam dance competition. Republic Day of India: Importance

(1) India became independent on 15th of august, 1947. Even after independence, the country did not have a sound constitution.

(2) The laws, before the enactment of the constitution, were running on the basis of Government of India Act 1935. Having realized the need for a permanent constitution and its own governing body, the government of India appointed a Drafting Committee on 28th of August 1947 to draft it and Dr, B. R. Ambedkar as the Chairman of the Drafting Committee.

(3) After almost 3 years, the 308 members of the Assembly, after many consultations and a few modifications finally signed a constitution on 24th of January 1950, which came into effect on 26th of January 1950.

(4) And, that day, is being celebrated as Republic Day in India ever since then. This day defines the importance of having a proper constitution that all the citizens must abide by.

 

2. 29 Children Awarded Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar 2022: Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar (PMRBP) for the year 2022 has been conferred to 29 children. These winners include 15 Boys and 14 Girls, belonging to 21 States and UTs. The PMRBP award is given by the Government of India to children with exceptional abilities and outstanding accomplishments in 6 categories. The award carries a cash prize of Rs.1,00,000/-.

List of the winners of PMRBP 2022 is:

S. No	Name	Category	State
1	Gauri Maheshwari	Art & Culture	Rajasthan
2	Remona Evette Pereira	Art & Culture	Karnataka
3	Deviprasad	Art & Culture	Kerala
4	Syed Fateen Ahmed	Art & Culture	Karnataka
5	Daulas Lambamayum	Art & Culture	Manipur
6	Dhritishman Chakraborty	Art & Culture	Assam
7	Gurugu Himapriya	Bravery	Andhra Pradesh
8	Shivangi Kale	Bravery	Maharashtra
9	Dhiraj Kumar	Bravery	Bihar
10	Shivam Rawat	Innovation	Uttarakhand
11	Vishalini N C	Innovation	Tamil Nadu
12	Jui Abhijit Keskar	Innovation	Maharashtra
13	Puhabi Chakraborti	Innovation	Tripura
14	Aswatha Biju	Innovation	Tamil Nadu
15	Banita Dash	Innovation	Odisha
16	Tanish Sethi	Innovation	Haryana
17	Avi Sharma	Scholastic	Madhya Pradesh
18	Meedhansh Kumar Gupta	Social Service	Punjab
19	Abhinav Kumar Choudhary	Social Service	Uttar Pradesh
20	Pal Sakshi	Social Service	Bihar
21	Aakarsh Kaushal	Social Service	Haryana
22	Arushi Kotwal	Sports	Jammu & Kashmir
23	Shriya Lohia	Sports	Himachal Pradesh
24	Telukunta Virat Chandra	Sports	Telangana
25	Chandhary Singh Choudhary	Sports	Uttar Pradesh
26	Jiya Rai	Sports	Uttar Pradesh
27	Swayam Patil	Sports	Maharashtra
28	Tarushi Gaur	Sports	Chandigarh
29	Anvi Vijay Zanzarukia	Sports	Gujarat

 

3. Himachal Pradesh and Haryana govts tie-up for construction of Adi Badri Dam: Governments of Himachal Pradesh and Haryana have signed an MoU at Panchkula, for the construction of Adi Badri Dam that would come upon 77 acres in Himachal Pradesh near the Adi Badri area of Yamuna Nagar district of Haryana. The proposed dam aims for the rejuvenation of the Saraswati river with an estimated cost of Rs 215.35 crore.

About the Dam: The Dam would get 224-hectare metre water from Himachal Pradesh’s Somb River that falls in the Yamuna near Adi Badri in Yamuna Nagar district. The executing agency for the construction of Adi Badri Dam would be Himachal Pradesh Power Corporation Limited. Adi Badri, also Sri Sarasvati Udgam Tirath, is located in the foothills of the Sivalik Hills in the Bhabar area. It is situated in the northern part of Haryana’s Yamunanagar district.

 

4. CDRI Develops Omicron Testing Kit named “OM”: CSIR-Central Drug Research Institute (CDRI) has developed an indigenous RT-PCR diagnostic kit, ‘Om’, for the testing of the Omicron variant of coronavirus. It is the first kit made by any government institution, and the third to be made indigenously, for specific testing of Omicron. Currently, two more such kits developed by private players are available in the market. The kit will give test results in around two hours.

About “Om”:

(1) Om enables quick and cost-effective detection of omicron variants over genome sequencing for a large population. It was made within two months and will cost around Rs 150.

(2) Further, it will give the test results in around two hours. According to the scientists, it can also be aligned for the detection of other emerging variants of Covid infection and other respiratory infections.

(3) Once the kit gets approval from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), it will be launched by mid-February. The kit has been referred to the ICMR-National Institute of Virology (NIV) and is yet to be validated.

 

5. Jai Bhim & Marakkar shortlisted for the Oscars 2022: Indian Movie’s  Jai Bhim and Marakkar: Arabikadalinte Simham have been officially shortlisted for the Oscars 2022.  Jai Bhim is the fourth Indian film to get nominated for Oscars after Mother India, Salaam Bombay, and Lagaan. Marakkar Arabikadalinte Simham has been also nominated for the Global Community Oscar Awards 2021. The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences has released the list of 276 films eligible for the awards this year.

Not just Jai Bhim and Marakkar, directors Rintu Thomas and Sushmit Ghosh’s Writing with Fire, a film about a newspaper run by Dalit women, has been shortlisted in the Best Documentary Feature category at the Oscars 2022. The voting for the nominations will begin on January 27 and conclude on February 1. The nominations will be announced on February 8. The 94th Academy Awards will be held on March 27.

 

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

 

1. AIIB invests USD 150 million in data center development to serve emerging Asia: Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), a multilateral development bank has committed USD 150 million to invest in the development of data centres that mostly serve emerging Asia. This project is being AIIB’s 1st data centre project. India is a key founding member of AIIB. AIIB’s investment of USD 100 million through a parallel fund structure and USD 50 million through co-investments mark the final close of KDCF II, a development fund making strategic investments in the fast-growing data center sector with a focus on the Asia Pacific.

The project is aligned with AIIB’s thematic priorities of Connectivity and Regional Cooperation, Green Infrastructure and Private Capital Mobilization. It will also support Alpha in developing climate finance monitoring indicators, incorporating the joint MDB methodology for tracking climate finance and an Environmental and Social Management System at the Fund level. This partnership benefits AIIB’s geographical diversification given the diverse pipeline covering Southeast Asia and East Asia, among other regions across Asia Pacific.

Note: AIIB Headquarters: Beijing, China; AIIB Membership: 105 Members; AIIB Formation: 16 January 2016; AIIB Head: Jin Liqun.

 

2. International Customs Day: 26th January: The International Customs Day (ICD) is observed on 26 January every year. The day is celebrated to recognise the role of customs officials and agencies and focus on the working conditions and challenges that customs officers face in their jobs. This year, the theme chosen by WCO for ICD is ‘Scaling up Customs Digital Transformation by Embracing a Data Culture and Building a Data Ecosystem’. The International Customs Day’s objective is to boost leadership, guidance, and support to customs administrations as WCO strongly opines that while borders divide, it is the ‘customs’ that establish a connection between countries.

History of the day: The day was instituted by the World Customs Organization (WCO) to commemorate the day in 1953 when the inaugural session of the Customs Cooperation Council (CCC) was held in Brussels, Belgium. In 1994 the CCC was renamed World Customs Organization (WCO).

Note: World Customs Organization headquarters: Brussels, Belgium; World Customs Organization Membership:  182 countries; World Customs Organization Secretary-General: Kunio Mikuriya.

 

OTHER UPDATES:

 

BANKING AND FINANCE

 

1. Govt appoints Vinodanand Jha as new chairperson to PMLA Adjudicating Authority: Vinodanand Jha has been appointed as the Chairperson of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) Adjudicating Authority, for a period of 5 years. Jha is a 1983-batch retired IRS officer, who was serving as the Principal Chief Commissioner of Income Tax in Pune before this.

About the PMLA Adjudicating Authority:The PMLA Adjudicating Authority is a three-member body whose mandated is to adjudicate the cases of attachment of assets orders issued under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and order for its continuity and further confiscation or release, considering the merits of the investigation.

Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 is an Act of the Parliament of India enacted by the NDA government to prevent money laundering and to provide for confiscation of property derived from money laundering. PMLA and the Rules notified there under came into force with effect from July 1, 2005.

 

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY

 

1. Swiggy turns decacorn with valuation of $10.7 billion: Food-ordering and instant grocery delivery platform, Swiggy has signed a $700 million funding round led by asset manager Invesco. With this, the total valuation of Swiggy has reached to $10.7 billion i.e. it is now a decacorn. A decacorn is a startup with a valuation of more than $10 billion. Swiggy’s latest valuation is almost double that of Zomato before the latter went for its initial public offering. Zomato was valued at $5.4 billion before its IPO.

Bengaluru-based Swiggy has overtaken budget hospitality company Oyo, whose valuation dropped to $8 billion in 2020 from $10 billion in 2019, and then increased to $9 billion in 2021. Swiggy has overtaken sports technology company Dream Sports, the parent firm of fantasy sports platform Dream11. This investment in Swiggy comes at a time when the adoption of food and online grocery is accelerating and consumer demand for Swiggy’s many services continues to grow.

 

2. Fullerton India partners with Paytm to expand digital lending to MSMEs: Fullerton India and One97 Communications Limited, which owns the brand Paytm, have announced a partnership to provide lending products to merchant partners and consumers. With the partnership, the two established institutions will leverage data-driven insights and wide reach to bring credit to new-to-credit users. They aim to co-create innovative merchant loan products using customer payment behaviour and Fullerton’s years of experience of understanding of this segment.

About the program:

(1) 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.

(2) Fullerton India and Paytm will further expand their product offerings to include instant personal loans, which are end-to-end digitally originated and disbursed using Paytm’s technology and Fullerton’s pan India presence.

(3) The two institutions would establish a wide network, specifically catering to MSMEs across small cities and towns and help them grow their business.

Note: Fullerton India CEO: Shantanu Mitra; Fullerton India Founded: 1994; Fullerton India Headquarters: Mumbai, Maharashtra.

 

AWARDS AND HONOURS

 

1. Ministry of Home Affairs Padma Awards 2022 announced: The Union ministry of home affairs announced the Padma awards on the eve of the country’s 73rd Republic Day. The Awards are given in three categories: Padma Vibhushan (for exceptional and distinguished service), Padma Bhushan (distinguished service of higher-order) and Padma Shri (distinguished service). The award seeks to recognize achievements in all fields of activities or disciplines where an element of public service is involved.

These awards are conferred by the President of India at ceremonial functions which are held at Rashtrapati Bhawan usually around March/ April every year. This year the President has approved conferment of 128 Padma Awards including 2 duo cases (in a duo case, the Award is counted as one). The list comprises 4 Padma Vibhushan, 17 Padma Bhushan and 107 Padma Shri Awards. 34 of the awardees are women and the list also includes 10 persons from the category of Foreigners/NRI/PIO/OCI and 13 Posthumous awardees.

 

2. International Cricket Council announced ICC Awards 2021: The International Cricket Council (ICC) has announced the winners of the 17th edition of ICC Awards for the year 2021 to recognise and honour the best international cricket players of the previous 12 months, between January 01, 2021, and December 31, 2021. Notably, these awards honour players for their performances for their respective national side in a year. The apex international cricket governing body has named the winners in the different categories such as: Emerging Cricketer of the Year, T20I Cricketer of the Year and Associate Cricketer of the Year for both men’s and women’s cricket. Winners are listed below:

 

Sr. No.	Category	Winners
1	Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy for ICC Women’s Cricketer of the Year	Smriti Mandhana (India)
2	Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy for ICC Men’s Cricketer of the Year	Shaheen Afridi (Pakistan)
3	ICC Umpire of the Year	Marais Erasmus
4	ICC Men’s T20I Cricketer of the Year	Mohammad Rizwan (Pakistan)
5	ICC Women’s T20I Cricketer of the Year	Tammy Beaumont (England)
6	ICC Emerging Men’s Cricketer of the Year	Janneman Malan (South Africa)
7	ICC Emerging Women’s Cricketer of the Year	Fatima Sana (Pakistan)
8	ICC Men’s Associate Cricketer of the Year	Zeeshan Maqsood (Oman)
9	ICC Women’s Associate Cricketer of the Year	Andrea-Mae Zepeda (Austria)
10	ICC Men’s ODI Cricketer of the Year	Babar Azam (Pakistan)
11	ICC Women’s ODI Cricketer of the Year	Lizelle Lee (South Africa)
12	ICC Men’s Test Cricketer of the Year	Joe Root (England)