Daily GK Update- 9th Jan, 2022

 

NATIONAL UPDATES:

 

1. Raj Kumar Singh dedicates Automatic Generation Control to nation: Power and new and renewable energy minister, Raj Kumar Singh has dedicated Automatic Generation Control (AGC) to the nation. The AGC sends signals to power plants every four seconds to maintain the frequency and thereby reliability of India’s power system. It will help in achieving the government’s target of 500 GW non-fossil fuel-based generation capacity by 2030.

About the Automatic Generation Control:

(1) Automatic Generation Control will be operated by Power System Operation Corporation (POSOCO) through National Load Despatch Centre.

(2) POSOCO will send signals to every power plant through AGC every 4 seconds to maintain the frequency and reliability of the Power System.

(3) R.K. Singh has also released a report titled “Assessment of Inertia in Indian Power System”. It has been prepared by POSOCO with the help of IIT Bombay.

(4) India has achieved an installed capacity of 150 GW of renewable energy and aims to achieve a renewable energy capacity of 175 GW in 2022.

 

2. PM chose Puducherry as host of National Youth Festival: Puducherry has been handpicked by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to host the 25th National Youth Festival. The 25th National Youth Festival is going to be held in Puducherry from 12th to 16th January 2022. The festival has been organised as part of the Azadi ki Amrit Mahotsav marking the 75th year of Independence, said Union Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports and Information and Broadcasting Anurag Thakur. Key points of the festival:

(1) The festival is likely to draw around 7000 youths in the age group of 18 to 22 from across the country. Around 500 youths from Puducherry will take part in the event.

(2) The government of India holds National Youth Festival, as a part of National Youth Week celebrations. It is organised with the aim of propagating the concept of national integration, brotherhood, the spirit of communal harmony, courage and adventure amongst the youth.

(3) This aim is achieved by organizing gatherings of youth and encouraging them to take part in different activities.

 

3. Odisha’s Ganjam district is now child marriage free 2022: Odisha’s Ganjam has declared itself a child marriage free district, the first in the State. The district administration has been able to stop as many as 450 child marriages and video-record 48,383 marriages in two years — 2020 and 2021. After verification, the Ganjam administration declared it a child marriage free district. Sarpanchs and task force committee members had sent recommendations that no child marriage had taken place in their respective areas.

About the programme: Ganjam had started a programme Nirbhaya Kadhi (Fearless bud). All heads of educational institutes were directed to inform the administration if any girl aged between 12 and 18 remained absent from school for five days. As many as one lakh teenagers have undergone counselling in the past two years. The administration also made the production of Aadhaar cards mandatory for any marriages to take place.

Note: Odisha Capital: Bhubaneswar; Odisha Governor: Ganeshi Lal; Odisha Chief Minister: Naveen Patnaik.

 

4. Alka Mittal becomes 1st women head of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation: Director HR in ONGC, Alka Mittal has been given the additional charge as the new interim chairman and managing director (CMD) of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), the largest oil and gas producer in India. She is the first woman to head the top post at the Maharatna company. She replaces Subhash Kumar who superannuated on December 31. He was also serving as an interim head. Alka Mittal has been appointed for a period of six months with effect from January 1, 2022, or till the appointment of a regular incumbent to the post, or until further order, whichever is the earliest.

Note: ONGC Headquarters: Vasant Kunj, New Delhi; ONGC Founded: 14 August 1956.

 

5. Pravasi Bhartiya Divas: 9th January: The Non-Resident Indian Day or also known as the Pravasi Bhartiya Divas is celebrated every year on 9th January every year. The aim of the event is to strengthen the engagement of the overseas Indian community with the Government of India and reconnect them with their roots. On the occasion of 2022 Pravasi Bhartiya Divas (PBD), Union Minister of State for External Affairs V. Muraleedharan will speak at a virtual youth PBD conference on the “role of Indian diaspora” in innovation and new technology.

History and Significance: On 9 January 1915, Mahatma Gandhi came to India from South Africa and became the greatest Pravasi who led India’s Freedom Struggle and made India free from British or colonial rule. As a Non-Resident Indian or Pravasi, he is presented as a symbol of a change and development that could bring into India.

Note: Union Minister of External Affairs: Subrahmanyam Jaishankar.

 

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

 

1. Sudan’s Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok announces resignation: Prime Minister of Sudan, Abdalla Hamdok has announced his resignation on January 02, 2022. The decision follows a military coup that caused political deadlock and widespread pro-democracy protests in the country. The 66-year-old Hamdok served as the 15th Prime Minister of Sudan from 2019 to 2022. Mr Hamdok called for a dialogue to agree on a “national charter” and to “draw a roadmap” to complete the transition. The October coup had upended Sudan’s plans to move to democracy after a popular uprising forced the military’s overthrow of longtime autocrat Omar al-Bashir and his Islamist government in April 2019.

Note: Sudan Capital: Khartoum; Currency: Sudanese pound.

 

2. Apple becomes world’s first company to hit $3 trillion M-Cap: The stock market value of Apple Inc. hit $3 trillion and became the world’s first company to do so. The market cap of Apple hit $182.86 per share, which made it the world’s first company to touch the $3 trillion mark. However shortly after hitting the mark, the share value dipped below it and did not rise again until the market closed. The iPhone maker passed $2 trillion in 2020 and over $1 trillion in 2018. The world’s most valuable company reached the milestone as investors bet that consumers will continue to shell out top dollar for iPhones, MacBooks and services such as Apple TV and Apple Music. In China, the world’s largest smartphone market, Apple continued to lead for the second straight month, beating rivals such as Vivo and Xiaomi, recent data from CounterPoint Research showed.

Note: Apple Inc. CEO: Tim Cook; Apple Inc. Founded: 1 April 1976, California, United States; Apple Inc. Headquarters: Cupertino, California, United States; Apple Inc. Founders: Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne.

 

OTHER UPDATES:

 

BANKING AND FINANCE

 

1. RBI Retains SBI, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank as D-SIBs 2022: Reserve Bank of India has retained State Bank of India, ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank as Domestic Systemically Important Banks (D-SIBs). These three banks have continued to be on the D-SIBs list published by RBI, since Sep 04, 2017. Domestic Systemically Important Banks are those banks which if fail would have a significant impact on the economy.

The D-SIBs banks are classified into 5 buckets. Bucket 1, Bucket 2, Bucket 3, Bucket 4 and Bucket 5. With Bucket 5 being the most important followed by rest in decreasing order. State Bank of India is in Bucket 3, while ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank are in Bucket 1. The updated list is based on the data collected from banks as of March 31, 2021.

About the D-SIB: The D-SIB framework requires the central to disclose the names of banks designated as D-SIBs starting from 2015 and place these lenders in appropriate buckets depending upon their Systemic Importance Scores (SISs). SIBs are seen as ‘too big to fail (TBTF)’, creating expectations of government support for them in times of financial distress. These banks also enjoy certain advantages in funding markets.

 

2. RBI approved Fino Payments Bank for international remittance business: Reserve Bank of India has approved Fino Payments Bank for commencing international (Cross Border) remittance business under the Money Transfer Service Scheme (MTSS). The approval will enable the customers of Fino Payments Bank to receive money sent from foreign countries. The Bank plans to implement the service in its mobile applications as well and it also plans to partner with more leading money transfer operators (MTOs) to improve its cross-border remittance.

What are the benefits of the bank?

(1) The Bank will be undertaking inward cross-border money transfer activities and will be partnering with an overseas principal.

(2) It has also received the approval to partner with one of the largest global remittance service providers as its overseas principal.

(3) The customer segment of Fino Bank at the middle of the pyramid is targeted to families of many of the people working in foreign countries.

(4) The money remitted by family members abroad can now be directly withdrawn at the nearest micro-ATM or Aadhaar-Enabled Payment Services (AEPS) enabled Fino Bank’s neighbourhood merchant point.

Note: Chairman of Fino Payments Bank: Prof Mahendra Kumar Chouhan; Fino Payments Bank established: 13 July 2006; MD & CEO of Fino Payments Bank: Rishi Gupta; Headquarters of Fino Payments Bank: Mumbai, Maharashtra.

 

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY

 

1. Nippon India MF launches India’s first Auto ETF 2022: Nippon Life India Asset Management Limited, asset manager of Nippon India Mutual Fund (NIMF), has announced the launch of India’s First Auto sector ETF – Nippon India Nifty Auto ETF. Nippon India Nifty Auto ETF will predominantly invest in stocks comprising of the Nifty Auto Index in the same proportion as the Index. It will provide exposure to Top 15 (as per Nifty Auto Index methodology) companies representing auto-related sectors like Automobiles 4 wheelers, Automobiles 2 & 3 wheelers, Auto Ancillaries, and Tyres.

The Nippon Auto ETF will start operation from January 5, 2022 to January 14, 2022. The minimum investment amount required is Rs 1,000 and in multiples of Rs 1 aftermath. The investment objective of the scheme is “to provide investment returns closely corresponding to the total returns of the securities as represented by the Nifty Auto Index before expenses, subject to tracking error. However, there can be no assurance or guarantee that the investment objective of the Scheme will be achieved.

 

2. CryptoWire introduces India’s first global index of cryptocurrencies IC15: CryptoWire, a global crypto super app that is a special business unit of TickerPlant, announced the launch of India’s first index of Cryptocurrencies – IC15, which is a rule-based broad market index by market capitalisation. The IC15 tracks and measures the performance of the top 15 widely traded liquid cryptocurrencies listed on leading crypto exchanges of the world, the company stated. The Mumbai-based company has been designed to provide insights into crypto mining and the true benchmark and a mirror of the underlying crypto market, a barometer of the industry in a sense, with a diversified representation of overall market sentiments.

About the Index:

(1) CryptoWire’s Index Governance Committee, comprising domain experts, industry practitioners, and academicians, will maintain, monitor, and administer the index while rebalancing it every quarter.

(2) The Base Value of the index is set at 10,000 and the base date is April 1, 2018.

(3) Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, Bitcoin Cash, Cardano, Litecoin, Binance Coin, Chainlink, Polkadot, Uniswap, Dogecoin, Solana, Terra, Avalanche, and Shia Inu will be the constituents of IC15.

(4) The index enables crypto enthusiasts, investors, and investment managers to monitor the performance of cryptocurrencies in the global markets.

 

OBITUARIES

 

1. 3-time Olympic Gold winning Triple Jump Champion Viktor Saneyev passes away: The Olympic triple jump 3-time gold medalist and former world record holder, Viktor Danilovich Saneyev passed away in Australia. He was a triple long player who represented the Union of Soviet Socialist Republic (USSR) in the Olympic Games. Later he worked as a coach in Australia. He secured gold medals in European Games organized in 1969 Athens and 1974 Rome.

 

2. Sindhutai Sapkal popular as ‘Mother of Orphans’ passes away: Social worker Sindhutai Sapkal, who was called as ‘Mother of Orphans’ passed away at the age of 73 years. She was also referred to just as ‘Sindhutai’ or ‘Mai’. She was awarded the Padma Shri in 2021 in the Social Work category. Apart from this, she had received more than 750 awards and honours in her lifetime. She adopted close to 2,000 orphans and is grandmother to even more. She was from Maharashtra. A biopic on her life titled “Mee Sindhutai Sapkal“ was released in the year 2010.