NATIONAL UPDATES:
1.
Cabinet approves increase in Dearness Allowance/Dearness Relief by 3% to 34%: The Union Cabinet
chaired by the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi has approved a hike in Dearness
Allowance (DA) to Central Government employees and Dearness Relief (DR) to
pensioners by 3 per cent to 34%, over the existing rate of 31% of the Basic
Pay/Pension. The hike announced will be effective from January 1, 2022, to
compensate for the price rise.
The combined impact on the exchequer on
account of both Dearness Allowance and Dearness Relief would be Rs. 9,544.50
crore per annum. This increase is in accordance with the accepted formula,
based on the recommendations of the 7th Central Pay Commission. The hike will
benefit about 47.68 lakh Central Government employees and 68.62 lakh,
pensioners.
2.
The government of Karnataka has introduced the Vinaya Samarasya initiative: The Basavaraj
Bommai government announced the Vinaya Samarasya Yojana as a public awareness
campaign against caste prejudice in the state’s gramme panchayats. It will be
formally launched on April 14, the birth anniversary of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar.
Key Points:
a)
The
initiative was named after Vinay, a three-year-old Dalit kid who strayed into a
temple in Miyapur hamlet in Karnataka’s Koppal district to seek shelter from
the rain in September 2021. His family has faced even greater hostility since
being fined Rs 25,000 by village elders.
b)
The
area’s 1,500 members, largely from the Ganiga group, had intensified their
persecution of the Dalit family in the meantime, forcing Vinay’s family to
leave the village and abandon possessions, including agricultural land.
c)
All
of the accused who were imprisoned for caste prejudice in the aftermath of the
incident were also released on bail, and they continue to control the village,
according to Vinay’s relatives and family.
3.
Living Root Bridges of Meghalaya included tentative list of World Heritage
Sites: ‘Jingkieng Jri or Living Root Bridge’, found
in over 70 villages in Meghalaya highlighting the socio-cultural, social and
botanical links between people and nature, has been included in the tentative
list of World Heritage Sites of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and
Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).
Villagers grow the living root bridges by
training the ‘ficus elastica’ tree on both sides of water bodies over a period
of about 10 to 15 years where the roots form the bridge. At present, there are
about 100 known living root bridges spread across 72 villages in the state.
Villagers, (especially Khasi and Jaintia tribal communities) build and maintain
these bridges from the past for more than 600 years.
Other sites included in the list: The Geoglyphs of
the Konkan region of Maharashtra, Sri Veerabhadra Temple and Monolithic Bull
(Nandi) at Lepakshi of Andhra Pradesh have made it to the Tentative list of
UNESCO world heritage sites in 2022.
Note: UNESCO Founded: 16 November 1945;
UNESCO Headquarters: Paris, France; UNESCO Members: 193 countries;UNESCO Head:
Audrey Azoulay
4.
Virat Kohli tops in Duff & Phelps Celebrity Brand Valuation Report 2021: According to the
Celebrity Brand Valuation Report 2021 (7th Edition) titled “Digital
Acceleration 2.0.” released by Duff & Phelps (Now Kroll), Indian Cricketer
Virat Kohli was ranked as the most valued celebrity for the 5th consecutive
time in 2021. The brand value of Virat Kohli has dropped from USD 237.7 million
in 2020 to USD 185.7 million in 2021.
Alia Bhatt has ranked 4th with a brand
value of USD 68.1 million and has become the most valued female celebrity. She
is the youngest celebrity among the top 10 and she is the most valued brand
amongst female Bollywood actors.
|
Rank |
Name |
Brand Value (In
Millions) |
|
1 |
Virat Kohli |
USD 185.7 |
|
2 |
Ranveer Singh |
USD 158.3 |
|
3 |
Akshay Kumar |
USD 139.6 |
|
4 |
Alia Bhatt |
USD 68.1 |
|
5 |
MS Dhoni |
USD 61.2 |
|
6 |
Amitabh Bachchan |
USD 54.2 |
|
7 |
Deepika Padukone |
USD 51.6 |
|
8 |
Salman Khan |
USD 51.6 |
|
9 |
Ayushmann Khurrana |
USD 49.3 |
|
10 |
Hrithik Roshan |
USD 48.5 |
INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:
1.
International Children’s Book Day: 2nd April: The International Children’s Book
Day (ICBD) is organised annually on the 2nd of April since 1967, by the
International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY). IBBY is an international
non-profit organization, to inspire a love of reading and to call attention to
children’s books.
In 2022, Canada is hosting International
Children’s Book Day with this chosen theme: “Stories are wings that help you
soar every day.” Every year, a different international section of IBBY hosts a
children’s books event on or around April 2 (which is the birthday of classic
children’s book author Hans Christian Andersen). The host country picks a theme
and invites a well-known author and illustrator to create a message for
children around the world.
Note: International Board on Books for
Young People Founder: Jella Lepman; International Board on Books for Young
People Founded: 1953, Zürich, Switzerland; International Board on Books for
Young People Headquarters: Basel, Switzerland.
2. World
Autism Awareness Day:
2nd April: World Autism Awareness
Day is observed annually on 2nd April by the member states of the United
Nations. The day is observed to raise awareness among its citizens about people
with Autism Spectrum Disorder throughout the world. World Autism Awareness Day
is organized by the UN Department of Global Communications and UN Department of
Economic and Social Affairs, with the support of civil society partners
including the Autistic Self Advocacy Network, the Global Autism Project and the
Specialisterne Foundation. The theme for ‘World Autism Awareness Day 2022’ is
“Inclusive Quality Education for All”. Access to education that was made easy
for years, especially for autistic persons was disrupted after 2020 with the
spread of the Covid-19 pandemic.
History of the day: The United Nations
General Assembly designated a resolution (A/RES/62/139). The council passed
‘World Autism Awareness Day’ on November 1, 2007, and adopted it on December
18, 2007. The purpose was to highlight the need to help improve the quality of
life of autistic people. The very first World Autism Day was observed in the
year 2008 on April 2. World Autism Day is one of only seven official
health-specific UN Days.
Note: World Autism Organisation: 1998;
World Autism Organisation President: Dr Samira Al Saad; World Autism
Organisation Founded: Luxembourg.
OTHER UPDATES:
SPORTS
1.
Adidas Unveils Official Al Rihla FIFA World Cup Ball for Qatar 2022: Al Rihla – the
Official Match Ball for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 has been revealed by
Adidas. It is Adidas’ 14th World Cup ball, and it is designed to accommodate
the fastest game speeds possible, since it flies quicker in flight than any
other World Cup ball.
Key Points:
a)
Al
Rihla provides the highest level of precision and reliability on the field of
play, having been designed from the inside out utilising data from extensive
testing in Adidas labs, wind tunnels, and on-pitch.
b)
The
ball was also created with the environment in mind, with all components
carefully considered, and Al Rihla being the first World Cup ball to be
constructed entirely of water-based inks and glues.
c)
The
game’s ever-increasing pace is reflected in the strong, vibrant colour and
visuals placed on a pearlescent background, with speed revealing the spectrum
of colour to excite players and fans from grassroots to elite levels throughout
the world.
BANKING AND FINANCE
1.
Central Bank of India partnered with Kwik.ID to digitize customer onboarding: Central Bank of
India partnered with ID to implement digital Know Your Customer (KYC), video
KYC and eKYC for its network across India. The aim of the partnership is to
bring seamless onboarding and provide efficient digital facilities to the
customers across India.
ID is India’s fastest and first-ever
AI-based fully compliant Video KYC solution and a flagship product by
Think360.ai. It has the target to digitize 10 million customers’ onboarding
annually and streamline its end-to-end processes. Central Bank of India had an
eight-month-long gruelling evaluation process on technology and product
experience followed by a reverse auction commercial round for this selection.
This partnership will support the bank in driving its digital transformation
agenda and supporting digital finance initiatives championed by the government.
Note: Central Bank of India Founded: 21
December 1911; Central Bank of India Headquarters: Mumbai, Maharashtra; Central
Bank of India MD & CEO: Matam Venkata Rao; Central Bank of India Tagline:
‘Central’ to you since 1911.
BUSINESS AND ECONOMY
1.
India Ratings lowers India’s FY23 GDP growth forecast to 7-7.2%: India Ratings and
Research (Ind-Ra) has revised downwards the GDP growth forecast for India in
FY23 to 7-7.2 per cent. Earlier in January, the rating agency Ind-Ra had
forecast this rate at 7.6 per cent.
According to Ind-Ra, in scenario one, the
crude oil price is assumed to be elevated for three months, and in scenario
two, the assumption is for six months, both with a half cost pass-through into
the domestic economy. Since the duration of the Russia-Ukraine conflict
continues to be uncertain, Ind-Ra has created two scenarios with respect to the
FY23 economic outlook basis certain assumptions.
2.
Google Pay, Pine Labs tieup to offer ‘Tap to Pay’ for UPI users: Google Pay has
launched ‘Tap to Pay for UPI’, new functionality to bring the seamless
convenience of Tap to Pay to Unified Payments Interface (UPI). The initiative
has been launched in collaboration with Pine Labs. To complete a payment, all a
user will need to do is tap their phone on the POS terminal and authenticate
the payment from their phone, using their UPI PIN, making the process virtually
instantaneous, as compared to scanning a QR code or entering the UPI-linked
mobile number.
The functionality will be available to any
UPI user who wants to use their NFC-enabled Android smartphone to transact
using any Pine Labs Android POS terminal across the country. This was piloted
with Reliance Retail and will now be available at other large merchants such as
Future Retail and Starbucks.
Note: Google CEO: Sundar Pichai; Google
Founded: 4 September 1998; Google Headquarters: Mountain View, California, United
States.
AWARDS AND HONOURS
1.
Mirabai Chanu bagged ‘BBC Indian Sportswoman of the Year’ award 2021: Olympic silver
medallist weightlifter, Mirabai Chanu won the 3rd edition of the BBC Indian
Sportswoman of The Year award 2021. Chanu created history last year when she
became the first Indian weightlifter to clinch a silver medal at the Summer
Olympics. Chanu won the gold medal in the 48kg division at the 2017 World
Championships in Anaheim and followed up with Commonwealth Games gold in 2018.
Other awardees:
a)
The
BBC Emerging Player award was presented to 18-year-old cricketer Shafali Verma,
who has recently been playing at the Women’s World Cup in New Zealand. In 2021,
Verma became the youngest Indian cricketer, male or female, to play in all
three formats for the national team.
b)
The
first Indian woman to have won a medal at the Olympics in 2000, former
weightlifter Karnam Malleswari was presented the ‘BBC Lifetime Achievement’
award. Olympians and the Paralympians from the Tokyo Games were also honoured
in this edition of BBC ISWOTY.
DEFENCE
1.
20th India-France Bilateral Naval Exercise ‘VARUNA -2022’ kicks-off: The 20th edition of
the Bilateral Naval Exercise between the Indian Navy and French Navy named
‘VARUNA’ is being conducted in the Arabian Sea from March 30 to April 03, 2022.
The Bilateral Naval Exercises between the two Navies is being held since 1993
and the exercise was christened as ‘VARUNA’ in 2001. Various ships, submarines,
maritime patrol aircraft, fighter aircraft and helicopters of the two navies
will be participating in the VARUNA-2022 exercise.
About the exercise: VARUNA series of
exercises continue to provide both the navies opportunities to learn from each
other’s best practices. The exercise has been a principal driver for
operational-level interactions between the two navies and has underscored the
shared commitment of both nations to security, safety and freedom of the global
maritime commons.
DEFENCE UNICORN INSTITUTE – GANDHINAGAR |
AHMEDABAD BEST COACHING FOR:
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