current affairs snippets FEBRUARY 10,11 AND 12, 2022

 

Current Affais Snippets

 

10th February 2022

National News

 

I'll try trekking hill again: Man who got stuck in Kerala hill cavity for 2 days

The 24-year-old Kerala man, who was rescued nearly two days after being trapped in a hill cavity in Palakkad, said he'll try trekking the hill again. This was his first attempt at trying to climb it, said Babu, who was discharged from the hospital on Friday. He was rescued by the Army on Wednesday.

 

India’s first biomass-based hydrogen plant to come up at Madhya Pradesh 

India’s first commercial-scale biomass-based hydrogen plant will come up at the Khandwa district of Madhya Pradesh.  Every day this plant will produce one tonne of hydrogen, from 30 tonnes of biomass feedstock. The plant is being put up by a joint venture of Watomo Energies Ltd and Biezel Green Energy with an investment of Rs 24 crore.  The company owns the technology for a ‘thermally accelerated anerobic digestion (TAD) reactor’ that can produce hydrogen, methane and biochar from biomass. Biezel Green will own 50 per cent in the yet-to-be-named joint venture; the other 50 per cent will come from interested farmers.

 

Gujarat unveils new IT/ITeS policy to generate 1 lakh direct jobs

Chief Minister of Gujarat, Bhupendra Patel has announced a new IT/ITeS policy for the next five years. This policy will provide financial incentives up to Rs 200 crore to the entities willing to incur capital expenditures.  It will also generate employment of about 1 lakh youths. It also seeks to increase IT-ITeS exports from the current Rs 3000 crores annually to 25,000 crores over the next five years. Its operative period will start from the day of notification to 31st March 2027.  The policy launched at a formal event at a club in GIFT City in Gandhinagar replaces the 2016-2021 policy that had set an ambitious target to increase exports up to USD two billion (Rs 13,000 crore), IT turnover to USD 15 billion (Rs 75,000 crore) and create 10 lakh direct jobs.  The policy provides support for both capital (CAPEX) and operational (OPEX) expenditures. “This is a unique model that gives flexibility to industries to plan their expenditures and addresses the viability concerns.

Senior bureaucrat S. Kishore appointed as new SSC Chairman

Senior bureaucrat S. Kishore has been appointed as Chairman, Staff Selection Commission (SSC).  According to an order issued by the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the appointment of Kishore to the post in the rank and pay of Secretary to Government of India by temporarily upgrading the post and keeping the Recruitment Rules of the post in abeyance.  Presently, he is serving as Special Secretary, Department of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

Sanjay Malhotra named DFS Secretary in Finance Ministry

Sanjay Malhotra has been named as Secretary in the Department of Financial Services in the Ministry of Finance. He is a 1990 batch IAS officer of the Rajasthan cadre. Before this, Sanjay Malhotra was Chairman and Managing Director of REC Ltd. He has succeeded Debashish Panda, who completed his term as DFS Secretary on January 31, 2022.  Malhotra has an exhaustive power sector experience. The reforms-based result-linked power distribution sector scheme to be applicable till 2025-26 aims to reduce India’s AT&C loss to 12-15% and gradually narrow the deficit between the cost of electricity and the price at which it is supplied to ‘zero’ by 2024-25.

UNEP tie-up with Maharashtra to support ‘Majhi Vasundhara’ campaign

The United Nation Environment Programme (UNEP) has signed an MoU with the Maharashtra government to support its ‘Majhi Vasundhara’ campaign. It is an initiative towards sustainable use of energy and environmental development.  The literal meaning of ‘Majhi Vasundhara’ is ‘My Earth’. It is an initiative of the Environment and Climate Change Department, Government of Maharashtra.  Majhi Vasundhara' is an initiative of the Government of Maharashtra's Environment and Climate Change Department to empower citizens with knowledge on the impacts of climate change and environmental issues and to encourage them to make a conscious effort towards improvement of the environment.  To empower citizens with knowledge on the impacts of climate change and environmental issues and to encourage them to make a conscious effort towards the improvement of the environment.

 

International News

Canada's Ontario declares state of emergency over truckers' protests

Canada's Ontario province on Friday declared a state of emergency amid protests by truckers against the COVID-19 mandates. Ontario Premier Doug Ford said he will "urgently enact orders that will make crystal clear it's illegal...to block and impede the movement of goods, people and services along critical infrastructure". Ford also pledged new legal action against the protesters.

Instagram encourages people to 'Take a Break' from social media 

Instagram has announced the launch of ‘Take a Break’ in all countries, including India, to empower people to make informed decisions about the way they are spending their time.  This feature will be promoted in India through a campaign, in partnership with ‘We The Young ’, called ‘Break Zaroori Hai’. ‘Take a Break’ was first launched in the US, UK, Ireland, Canada, New Zealand and Australia, and it is now available for everyone globally.  Take a Break’ is a feature that will show up for people, as they have been scrolling for a certain amount of time. They will be asked to take a break from Instagram and suggest that they set reminders to take more breaks in the future.  They will also be shown expert-backed tips to help them reflect and reset. To make sure that young people are aware of this feature, they will be shown notifications suggesting they turn these reminders on.  The ‘Take a Break’ reminders build on Instagram’s existing time management tools including Daily Limit, which lets people know when they’ve reached the total amount of time they want to spend on Instagram each day, and offers the ability to mute notifications from Instagram.

BANKING, BUSINESS AND ECONOMY
India's internet economy likely to reach $1 trillion by 2030: Report

India's internet economy is surging by over 50% year over year and may reach $1 trillion by 2030, a report by consulting firm RedSeer said. The internet economy includes sectors like e-tailing, e-health, food tech, online mobility and quick commerce. ''In just 2021, more than $40 billion of funding and 42 new unicorns were born,'' RedSeer CEO Anil Kumar said.

India's industrial output growth falls to 10-month low in December

short by Hiral Goyal / 08:02 pm on 11 Feb 2022,Friday

India's industrial production growth fell to a 10-month low of 0.4% in December 2021, according to data released by the government on Friday. The Index of Industrial Production (IIP) rose 0.4% in December 2021 as compared to an increase of 1.3% in November. As per use-based classification, capital, consumer durables and consumer non-durables saw their output shrink in December 2021.

 

Passenger vehicle wholesales dip 8% in January amid chip shortage

The passenger vehicle dispatches from factories to dealers in India dropped 8% in January, mainly due to chip shortage, auto industry body SIAM said. The total passenger vehicle wholesales dropped to 2,54,287 units in January 2022 as compared to 2,76,554 units in January 2021. Two-wheeler dispatches declined 21% to 11,28,293 units from 14,29,928 units in the year-ago period.

Ruchi Soya to launch ₹4,300-crore FPO in last week of Feb: Report

Ruchi Soya is likely to launch its follow-on public offer (FPO) in the last week of February to raise up to ₹4,300 crore, PTI reported. It had received SEBI's approval to raise funds through an FPO in August last year. Ruchi Soya is launching the FPO to meet SEBI's norm of minimum public shareholding of 25% in a listed entity.

 

RBI 2nd largest buyer of gold in 2021

The largest buyer, the Central Bank of Thailand, bought 90 metric tonnes of gold while RBI bought 77.5 metric tonnes taking its total gold reserve to 754.1 tonnes at the end of December 2021.  When it comes to gold buying, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) emerged as the second-largest buyer of yellow metal among the world's Central Banks in 2021. As per Goldhub, India’s official gold reserves is the ninth-largest in the world. Goldhub is the official website of the World Gold Council that maintains all the data regarding precious metals.  At the end of December 2021, RBI gold reserves stood at 754.1 tonnes, which amounts to 6.22 per cent of India’s forex reserves. As per RBI data, India’s total reserves at the end of December 31, 2021, stood at $633.61 billion, including gold reserves worth $39.405 billion.

Razorpay buys majority stake in Malaysian startup “Curlec”

Razorpay has expanded into South-East Asia with the acquisition of a majority stake in a Malaysian fintech firm Curlec, valuing the company between $19-20 million. Razorpay expects to complete the full acquisition in the next one-and-a-half years.  The Kuala Lumpur-based, Curlec builds solutions for recurring payments for businesses. This marks Razorpay’s fourth acquisition overall and its first in the international markets.  This acquisition will allow us to quickly ramp up and start scaling in Southeast Asia as a market. Curlec has been powering recurring payments for multiple companies in the Malaysian market. With them as part of this team, we will have a local team that understands the nuances of the market in Malaysia and Southeast Asia at large.

Summits and Conferences News

Power Minister R K Singh launched Powerthon-2022

Union Minister of Power, R K Singh has launched Powerthon-2022, a hackathon competition to find technology-driven solutions to solve the complex problems in power distribution and to ensure quality and reliable power supply.  The competition will bring together qualified mentors with TSPs, innovators, and other participants to create teams for efficient electricity networks. He also encouraged technologists to come forward not only with solutions to existing problems but also with other problem statements and ideas for reliable power supply.  Technology Solution Providers (TSPs), start-ups, educational institutions, research institutes, equipment manufacturers, state power utilities and other state and central power sector entities, shall be briefed on the current challenges/ problem statements faced across the power distribution sector and invited to showcase their technology-driven solutions to solve the complex problems.

Reimagining Museums Global Summit 2022: Culture Ministry to organise

The Union Ministry of Culture will organize a first-of-its-kind Global Summit on ‘Reimagining Museums in India’ on February 15-16, 2022. The summit will be inaugurated by Union Culture Minister G. Kishan Reddy.  The Global Summit is being organised in partnership with Bloomberg. It will be held online for two days and is open for public participation. The summit will see participation from 25 museologists and museum professionals who will speak on reimagined priorities and practices for Museums.  The virtual summit will be conducted with four broad themes: Architecture and Functional Needs, Management, Collections Curation & Conservation practices) and Education and Audience Engagement.  The Reimagining Museums Global Summit 2022 will focus on best practices and strategies to develop India’s museums. It will be organised as a part of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav, a flagship program to mark the 75th anniversary of India’s independence.

Awards News

Nitin Gadkari received 18th Late Madhavrao Limaye Award

Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari will be facilitated for the first time with the 18th late Madhavrao Limaye award in the category of Karyakram Khaasdar (Efficient Member of Parliament) for the year 2020-21.  This award will be facilitated by Nashik Public Library, Sarvajanik Vachanalay. Earlier, the award was given to Karyaksham Aamdaar, an efficient Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) from Maharashtra.  The Sarvajanik Vachanalay annually selects one of the members of Vidhan Parishad (Lok Sabha), Vidhan Sabha (Rajya Sabha) for the Efficient MLA or Member of Parliament (MP) Award. The award has been instituted in the memory of Limaye by his daughter Dr. Shobha Nerlikar. The award consists of Rs 50,000 in cash and a memento.

Sports News

F1 to continue racing in Bahrain till 2036 after signing new deal

Formula One on Friday announced the Bahrain Grand Prix will remain on the F1 calendar until at least 2036, after signing a new long-term deal with the Bahrain International Circuit, the race's promoter. Bahrain will host the first race of the 2022 season on March 20. Other races in the Middle East are in Abu Dhabi, Qatar and Saudi Arabia

 

Gujarat Titans unveiled as name for new Ahmedabad IPL franchise

Gujarat Titans is the official name of the new Ahmedabad franchise owned by CVC Capital as Hardik Pandya is all set to lead the franchise in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022.  The naming of the Ahmedabad franchise comes days after Lucknow, owned by RPSG Group, announced its official name as Lucknow Super Giants. The Lucknow team will be led by KL Rahul.  Debuting in the 15th season of the IPL, the Gujarat Titans will pay tribute to the state's rich cricketing legacy, which has seen it produce countless Indian international cricket legends over the years.  The franchise is inspired by the opportunity to represent and build on this deep cricketing heritage, as well as build on its future success on the pitch.  Gujarat Titans drafted in Hardik Pandya as their captain for Rs 15 crore and Afghanistan leg-spinner Rashid Khan for Rs 15 crore. They also got young India opener, Shubman Gill, for Rs 8 crore.  The Titans will head into the mega auction with a budget of Rs 52 crore. The Gujarat Titans brought on board former England cricketer Vikram Solanki as the Director of Cricket.  Ashish Nehra will be the head coach of the franchise while former World Cup-winning coach and South Africa opener Gary Kirsten will be the Head of Cricket Operations and the batting coach for IPL 2022.

Important Days

World Pulses Day 2022: Observed On 10 February

The United Nations designated World Pulses Day is observed every year on 10 February. The day has been established by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations to recognize the importance of pulses (dry beans, lentils, dry peas, chickpeas, lupins) as a global food.  This year World Pulses Day’s theme: “Pulses to empower youth in achieving sustainable agrifood systems”.  In 2018, the UN General Assembly decided to mark 10 February as World Pulses Day. The first WPD was held on February 10, 2019. On 20 December 2013, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution (A/RES/68/231) proclaiming 2016 as the International Year of Pulses (IYP).  The celebration of the year, led by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), increased the public awareness of the nutritional and environmental benefits of pulses as part of sustainable food production. 

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CURRENT AFFAIRS SNIPPETS

11th February 2022

 

 

NATIONAL

Munishwar Nath Bhandari new Chief Justice of Madras High Court

According to the Law Ministry, Justice Munishwar Nath Bhandari has been appointed Chief Justice of the Madras High Court. Justice Bhandari had taken over as the Acting Chief Justice of the Madras High Court after the transfer of Justice Sanjib Banerjee to the Meghalaya High Court in November last year.  The Law Ministry also notified the appointment of a total of 13 advocates and three judicial officers as judges of Andhra Pradesh, Orissa and Madhya Pradesh High Courts.  While three advocates each were appointed to the Orissa and Madhya Pradesh High Courts, seven advocates were elevated to the Andhra Pradesh High Court. Three judicial officers were appointed as judges of the Madhya Pradesh High Court

 

45th International Kolkata Book Fair to start from February 28 

The 45th International Kolkata Book Fair will start from February 28 and will go on till March 13. The focal theme country this year is Bangladesh. Due to both Bangabandhu’s birth centenary and Bangladesh’s 50 years of Independence the theme this year is Bangladesh.  Bangladesh Day will be celebrated on March 3 and 4. The fair will be inaugurated on February 28 by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.  Kolkata Book Fair had got recognition from International Publishers Association, Geneva and also that Geneva has incorporated International Kolkata Book Fair in the calendar of book fairs published by them.  Apart from Bangladesh, Britain, USA, Russia, Italy, Japan, Iran, Spain, Argentina, Mexico and other Latin American countries will participate in the Kolkata Book Fair.

Banking, Business and Economy

RBI Monetary Policy: RBI keeps Repo Rate unchanged at 4.0 per cent 

The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) headed by Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das kept the repo rate unchanged at 4 per cent for the 10th consecutive time while maintaining an ‘accommodative stance’ as long as necessary.  The reverse repo rate will continue to be 3.35 per cent. Reserve Bank of India conducted the 6th and the last Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting for 2021-22 between February 8-10, 2022. 

The Marginal Standing Facility (MSF) rate and bank rates remain unchanged:

Policy Repo Rate: 4.00%

Reverse Repo Rate: 3.35%

Marginal Standing Facility Rate: 4.25%

Bank Rate: 4.25%

CRR: 4%

SLR: 18.00%

 

RBI Monetary Policy Highlights & Key Decisions:

The MPC decided to continue with the accommodative stance.  RBI has projected the real GDP growth for 2022-23 at 7.8 per cent.  For the current fiscal year, RBI projected real GDP growth of 9.2 per cent and expects that it will take the economy above the pre-pandemic level.  For the current fiscal year, RBI retained its retail inflation projection at 5.3 per cent.  MPC has been given the mandate to maintain annual inflation at 4 per cent until March 31, 2026, with an upper tolerance of 6 per cent and lower tolerance of 2 per cent.

RBI reopens Voluntary Retention Route with investment limit of Rs 2,50,000 cr

The Reserve Bank of India had introduced the Voluntary Retention Route (VRR) for investments by Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) in debts in 2019 with an investment limit of Rs 1,50,000 crore.  Out of this, around Rs, 1,49,995 crore have been availed so far in three tranches. Now RBI has increased this investment limit in VRR from Rs. 1,50,000 crore to Rs. 2,50,000 crore.

The increased investment limits shall be open for allotment from April 01, 2022 as per the following details:

The investment limit under VRR has been increased to Rs 2,50,000 crore.  The investment limit available for fresh allotment shall accordingly be Rs 1,04,800 crore (net of extant allotments and adjustments); and shall be allotted under the VRR–Combined category.  The minimum retention period shall be three years.  Investment limits shall be available ‘on tap’ and allotted on a ‘first-come, first-served basis.  The ‘tap’ shall be kept open till the limit is fully allotted.  FPIs may apply for investment limits online to Clearing Corporation of India Ltd. (CCIL) through their respective custodians.  CCIL will separately notify the operational details of the application process and allotment.

SBI tie-up with NSE Academy to launch five online courses

The State Bank of India (SBI) has announced a partnership with NSE Academy to launch five online courses that promote financial literacy as a necessary life skill.  The courses curated by SBI are a good blend of theory and operational aspects which will enable learners to have a deeper understanding of the fundamentals of banking, compliance, lending norms and a host of other topics.  These courses have been designed and developed by practising bankers possessing rich experience and excellent academic credentials. The courses are suitably enriched with real-life case studies and scenarios, thus offering experiential learning for working professionals and learners.  The following five courses will be offered with an aim to provide an understanding of different aspects of banking-to-banking professionals, students and other learners.

 

Schemes and Committees News

Government continued RYSK Scheme for another 5 years 

The Central Government of India has decided to continue the scheme of “Rashtriya Yuva Sashaktikaran Karyakram (RYSK)” for another 5 years from 2021 -22 to 2025-26 with an outlay of Rs. 2,710.65 crore.  To develop the personality and leadership qualities of the youth and to engage them in nation-building activities. Beneficiaries of this scheme are the youth in the age group of 15 to 29 years (according to the definition of ‘youth’ in the National Youth Policy, 2014).

Summits and Conferences News

PM Narendra Modi address high-level segment of One Ocean Summit

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has addressed the high-level segment of the One Ocean Summit.  The high-level segment of the summit will also be addressed by several other heads of states and governments including Germany, the United Kingdom, South Korea, Japan and Canada.  The One Ocean summit is organised by France from 9-11 February in Brest in cooperation with the United Nations and the World Bank.  The objective of the summit is to mobilise the international community to take tangible action towards preserving and supporting healthy and sustainable ocean ecosystems.

Books and Authors News

A book titled “Atal Bihari Vajpayee” authored by Sagarika Ghose

A book titled “Atal Bihari Vajpayee” authored by Sagarika Ghose has been launched. It is a biography of the former Prime Minister of India. Sagarika Ghose is a jounalist. She has also authored a book titled “Indira: India’s Most Powerful Prime Minister”.  Sagarika took the author three years to complete the biography. “The research was daunting,” says Sagarika, who had to go through all the Parliament speeches from the 1950s to the 90s, Parliament records, Vajpayee’s speeches, his written work, the pronouncements made by his Government, minutes of party meetings, proceedings of annual conferences, party periodicals, the large number of bills he moved in Parliament...the list is exhaustive.

Important Days

National Deworming Day 2022

National Deworming Day is observed on February 10, to make people aware of the importance of deworming, particularly for children from 1 to 19 years of age, who are the most vulnerable.  The Day was launched by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in 2015. The main aim of the Day is to raise awareness on intestinal worms and to attain complete eradication of Soil-Transmitted Helminths in children. Around 24% of the world's population is infected with soil-transmitted helminths (worms).

World Unani Day observed on 11 February 2022

World Unani Day is observed on February 11 every year to mark the birth anniversary of “Hakim Ajmal Khan”, an eminent Indian Unani physician. The first Unani Day was celebrated in 2017 at the Central Research Institute of Unani Medicine (CRIUM), Hyderabad.  The main objective is to spread the awareness in masses and action about healthcare delivery through the Unani system of medicine worldwide through its preventive and curative philosophy.  Hakim Ajmal Khan was an eminent Indian Unani physician who was a versatile genius, a great scholar, a social reformer, a noted freedom fighter, an Unani medical educationist and founder of scientific research in Unani System of Medicine. He was one of the founders of the Jamia Millia Islamia in New Delhi.

International Day of Women and Girls in Science: 11 February

International Day of Women and Girls in Science is observed globally on 11 February. The 7th International Day of Women and Girls in Science Assembly, taking place on 11 February 2022, aims to recognize the role of women and girls in science, not only as beneficiaries but also as agents of change, including in view of accelerating progress towards the achievement of SDG 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation).  The Day is implemented by UNESCO and UN-Women in collaboration with institutions and civil society partners that aim to promote women and girls in science. The 2022 theme of the Day is “Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion: Water Unites Us”.

Miscellaneous News

World Book of Records: Atal Tunnel recognized as ‘Longest Highway Tunnel

Atal Tunnel has been officially certified as ‘World’s Longest Highway Tunnel above 10,000 Feet’ by the World Book of Records. Atal tunnel is a Highway tunnel built under Rohtang Pass in eastern Pir Panjal Himalayan range on Leh-Manali Highway.  It is the longest highway single-tube tunnel above 10,000 feet in the world with a length of about 9.02 km. World Book of Records, UK is an organization that catalogues, verifies extraordinary records with authentic certification around the globe.

J&K became first Union Territory to be integrated with NSWS

Jammu & Kashmir has become the first Union Territory to integrate with the National Single Window System (NSWS) which marks a major leap in Ease of Doing Business (EoDB) in the UT.  Lieutenant Governor of J&K Manoj Sinha launched the J&K Single Window Clearance System integrated with NSWS. NSWS is linked with the India Industrial Land Bank (IILB) which hosts 45 industrial parks of J&K that will help Investors to discover available land parcels in J&K.

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CURRENT AFFAIR SNIPPETS

12th February 2022

 

NATIONAL

Odisha Additional DM raided by vigilance dept; cash, gold found

The Vigilance Directorate on Friday raided properties of Sundargarh Additional DM Biswajit Mohapatra in Odisha and unearthed alleged disproportionate assets worth crores of rupees. A double-storey building, a flat, 10 plots, over ₹3 lakh in cash and 350 grams of gold were recovered, the directorate said. Over ₹2.42 crore in bank deposits, insurance and others were also found, it added.

 

 

 

NABARD launched ‘JIVA Programme’ to promote natural farming

National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) has launched the ‘JIVA programme’ to promote natural farming under its existing watershed and wadi programmes in 11 states. To effectively implement the principles of agroecology long-term sustainability and transform the pre-existing social and natural capital towards efficient farming.  JIVA is an agroecology-based programme, an amalgamation of several projects under the watershed programme of NABARD and will be implemented in 11 states covering five agroecological zones, which are in ecologically fragile and rain-fed areas.

India to help Sri Lanka launch its version of Aadhaar Card

India has agreed to provide a grant to Sri Lanka to implement a ‘Unitary Digital Identity framework’, apparently modelled on the Aadhaar card.  The Rajapaksa government will “prioritise” the implementation of the Framework as a national-level programme. The initiative follows bilateral talks between President Gotabaya Rajapaksa & Prime Minister Narendra Modi in December 2019.

Telangana govt tie-up with British Council to expand higher education 

The Government of Telangana and the British Council, an international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural exchange, have signed a 3-year MoU to renew the partnership in education, English and arts.  To facilitate research between institutions and assist to expand higher education globally, to offer global opportunities for the youth of Telangana.  Under the extended 3-year MoU, the British Council has also signed an agreement with the Research and Innovation Circle of Hyderabad (RICH) to work closely to engineer new partnerships between universities, research institutions and centres of excellence in the UK and in Telangana.

N Chandrasekaran reappointed as Chairman of Tata Sons

The board of Tata Sons Pvt Ltd has approved the re-appointment of N Chandrasekaran as the Executive Chairman of the company for the second five years term.  Chandrasekaran’s current tenure as the chairman was to expire at the end of February 2022. He joined the board of Tata Sons in 2016 and took over the role as Chairman in 2017.  Chandrasekaran's tenure in the last five years saw several mergers and acquisitions by the group in the steel, aviation and digital sectors and a complete exit from the cellular telephony industry.  One of the first tasks of Chandra, as he is popularly known, was to get rid of Tata Teleservices which lost around Rs 60,000 crore in paying back bank loans apart from paying the AGR dues till date. Tatas sold the mobile phone business to Bharti Airtel while retaining debt and other liabilities of the company.

Ranks and Reports News

India ranked 46th in EIU's Democracy Index

India has ranked 46th position in the 2021 Democracy Index’s global ranking, according to The Economist Intelligence Unit. With the highest score of 9.75, Norway topped the Democracy Index 2021 by Economist Intelligence.  The list was published on February 10, 2022. India scored 6.91 to rank 46th on the list. Our neighbour Pakistan has been placed further below in the hybrid regime with a rank of 104.

Top 10 countries in the list:

Norway
New Zealand

Finland
Sweden
Iceland
Denmark
Ireland
Taiwan
Australia
Switzerland

 

 

SPORTS
Who were the most expensive buys among uncapped players on Day 1 of IPL mega auction?

Fast bowler Avesh Khan was the most expensive buy among uncapped players on Day 1 of the IPL 2022 mega auction after being bought by Lucknow Super Giants for ₹10 crore. He was followed by Shahrukh Khan and Rahul Tewatia, who were bought for ₹9 crore each by Punjab Kings and Gujarat Titans respectively.

Schemes and Committees News

SEBI restructured Advisory Committee on Investor Protection and Education Fund

Securities and Exchange Board of India has restructured its advisory committee on Investor Protection and Education Fund (IPEF), under the chairmanship of G Mahalingam.  The advisory committee on IPEF is an eight-member committee that will take G Mahalingam, former Whole Time Member of SEBI, as its new Chairperson. Members of Committee: Vijay Kumar Venkataraman, Mrin Agarwal, A Balasubramanian, M G Parameswaran, GP Garg, N Hariharan and Jayanta Jash.  In 2013, the committee was established by the SEBI to find out ways and means to best utilize the investor protection and education fund. Earlier the committee was headed by Abraham Koshy, former professor of Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM-A), Gujarat.  The committee is mandated to recommend investor education and protection activities for the utilization of the SEBI Investor Protection and Education Fund (IPEF).

 

Important Days

World Radio Day celebrated on 13 February

World Radio Day is celebrated on 13 February each year to recognize radio as a powerful medium, which brings people together from every corner of the globe, to promote diversity and help build a more peaceful and inclusive world.  The day was Proclaimed in 2011 by the Member States of UNESCO and adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 2012 as an International Day, February 13 became World Radio Day (WRD).

National Women’s Day of India 2022

Indian National Women’s Day is observed every year on 13 February to commemorate the birth anniversary of Sarojini Naidu. This year Nation celebrates its 143rd Birth Anniversary.  She was born on February 13, 1879. She was famous for her nickname ‘Nightingale of India’ or ‘Bharat Kokila’ because of her poems. Sarojini Naidu is well-known across the globe for her contributions to literature.  Sarojini Naidu, born in Hyderabad and educated in Cambridge was the powerful face of Women in the Indian Independence struggle.  Anti-imperialistic, Universal Suffragist, Women rights activist Mrs. Naidu paved the path for women’s movements in India.  Indian Nightangle Sarojini Naidu shines both as an activist and as a poet.  In 1925 Sarojini Naidu became the president of the Indian National Congress.  Sarojini Naidu was one of the forefront leaders who led the Civil Disobedience Movement and the Quit India Movement.  When she graces the United Provinces as Governor in 1947, she rewrites the history by becoming the first woman to hold the office of Governor in the Dominion of India.  For Women’s Rights, suffrage and representation in organizations and assemblies she established the Women’s India Association in 1917.

National Productivity Day observed on 13th February 2022

National Productivity Day is observed every year in India on February 12. The objective of the National Productivity Council is to stimulate and promote productivity and quality consciousness across all sectors in the country.  The main observance of the day is to encourage all stakeholders in the implementation of productivity tools and techniques with contemporary relevant themes.  The day is celebrated by the National Productivity Council (NPC) to promote productivity culture in India. National Productivity Council (NPC) under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry Government of India is a premier institution for propagating productivity movement in India.  NPC works for providing solutions towards accelerating productivity, enhancing competitiveness, increasing productivity.

Obituaries News

Nobel-Winning Co-Discoverer of H.I.V Luc Montagnier passes away

Luc Montagnier, a French virologist who shared a Nobel Prize in 2008 for discovering the virus that causes AIDS, passed away. He was 89. The discovery of H.I.V. began in Paris on Jan. 3, 1983.  That was the day that Dr. Montagnier (pronounced mon-tan-YAY), who directed the Viral Oncology Unit at the Pasteur Institute, received a piece of the lymph node that had been removed from a 33-year-old man with AIDS. 

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