Weekly Current Affairs 1st January - 8th January 2022

FINANCE AND BANKING

• RBI extended deadline for Periodic KYC Update till March 31, 2022
  • The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has announced that it has extended the deadline for periodic KYC updates by 3 months till March 31, 2022.
  • Extension in view of prevalent uncertainty due to a new variant of COVID-19 – Omicron. Earlier the deadline for periodic KYC updates was December 31.

• RBI approves Fino Payments Bank for international remittance business
  • RBI recently 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.

• SEBI reconstitutes its primary market advisory committee
  • Securities and Exchange Board of India has restructured its primary market advisory committee on data. The committee aims to measure pertaining to areas such as securities market data access and privacy.
  • SEBI has appointed Professor at National Law University, Delhi and former chairperson, Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India S Sahoo as Panel Head. Earlier this panel was headed by Madhabi Puri Buch, an ex-whole-time member of SEBI.

ECONOMY

• Egypt becomes fourth new member of New Development Bank
  • Egypt has recently been added as the fourth new member of BRICS New Development Bank. Bangladesh, UAE, and Uruguay joined BRICS New Development Bank in September 2021.

• Government approves 19th Tranche of Electoral Bonds
  • The government has approved the issuance of the 19th tranche of electoral bonds, which will be open for sale from January 1 to 10, 2022.
  • In the 19th tranche of sale, the State Bank of India (SBI), has been authorised to issue and encash electoral bonds through its 29 specialised branches.

• GST Collection Stands at Rs 1.29 Lakh Crore in December 2021
  • GST revenue collected in December 2021 was over Rs 1.29 lakh crore, 13 per cent higher than the same month in 2020.

NATIONAL

• Dharmendra Pradhan launches 100-day reading campaign 'Padhe Bharat'
  • Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan launched a 100-day reading campaign 'Padhe Bharat'.
  • Padhe Bharat campaign will focus on children studying in Balvatika to Grade 8.
  • The reading campaign will be organized for 100 days (14 weeks) starting from January 1, 2022, to April 10, 2022.

• Indian Army sets up quantum computing lab, AI centre at MCTE to enable research
  • The Indian Army, with support from the National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS), has set up a quantum computing laboratory and a centre for artificial intelligence (AI) at the Military College of Telecommunication Engineering (MCTE), Mhow in Madhya Pradesh for research in the aforementioned fields.

• PM inaugurates Bina (MP)-Panki (UP) Multiproduct pipeline project
  • The Multiproduct pipeline from Bina Refinery (MP) to POL Terminal at Panki, Kanpur (UP) was dedicated to the nation by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi./
  • 356 Km long project has a capacity of around 3.45 million metric tonne per annum.
  • This Project also includes augmentation of Tankage capacity and construction of Rail Loading Gantry at Panki POL Terminal.

INTERNATIONAL

• World's Longest Metro Line Opens In Shanghai, China
  • China's city Shanghai is going to extend a new driverless and longest metro line.
  • With the latest inclusion of metro lines, the total length of Shanghai's metro network will extend to 831 km, continuing to be the longest in the world.

• France takes over European Union presidency
  • France takes over the rotating presidency of the European Union.
  • The EU's presidency rotates every six months among the member states of the 27-nation bloc.
  • The Czech Republic will have its turn once the French EU presidency concludes on June 1.

• IHU Variant of Covid-19 Detected in France
  • A new coronavirus variant called 'IHU' has emerged in France.
  • The B.1.640.2 variant was discovered at the institute IHU Mediterranee Infection, France.
  • The new variant has been associated with the African country Cameroon.

STATES

• Odisha’s Ganjam district is free of child marriages
  • Odisha’s Ganjam district was declared child marriage-free in January 2022.
  • Ganjam is the first district in the state that has been declared child marriage-free.

• UP's Jhansi Railway Station Renamed As 'Veerangana Laxmibai Railway Station'
  • The Uttar Pradesh government has renamed Jhansi Railway Station as 'Veerangana Laxmibai Railway Station' after Rani Laxmibai.

• First electric boat built for Kochi Water Metro Project handed over to KMRL
  • In Kerala, the first battery powered electric boat built for the Kochi Water Metro Project was handed over to the Kochi Metro Rail Limited at a function held at the Cochin Shipyard.
  • The fully air-conditioned boat is among the 23 boats being built by the Cochin Shipyard for the 747-crore rupee Kochi Water Metro project.

REPORTS AND INDEXES

• Atal Ranking of Institutions on Innovation Achievements (ARIIA) 2021
  • The third edition of the Atal Ranking of Institutions on Innovation Achievements (ARIIA) 2021 was released.
  • Top Ranked Institutes:
  • The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras bagged the top position among the centrally funded technical institutes in the Centre’s ranking. IIT Madras was recognised as the most innovative technical institute for the third consecutive year. IIT-Madras is followed by IIT Bombay, IIT Delhi, IIT Kanpur and IIT Roorkee. The Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru bagged the sixth position in the category.

AGRICULTURE AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT

• Darjeeling tea output sinks to record low in 2021
  • Production of Darjeeling tea, one of the most popular tea varieties globally, has shrunk to 6.5 million kg in 2021, the lowest on record and just half of the 13 million kg produced two decades ago.

DEFENCE

• Exercise Milan 2022
  • India has invited a total of 46 friendly foreign countries to participate in the multinational naval Exercise Milan in Visakhapatnam, scheduled from February 25.
  • The countries that have been extended invitations for participation include Russia, the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Israel, Iran, France, Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, Bangladesh, Brazil, United Arab Emirates, among others.

• India and five other nations begin anti-submarine exercise with US
  • India is among the six Indo-Pacific nations participating in a multi-lateral anti-submarine warfare exercise Sea Dragon 22 in the Pacific Ocean.
  • The exercise began on January 5 along with the navies of India, US, Australia, Canada, Japan and South Korea.

EVENTS

• 46th GST Council Meet
  • Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman chaired the 46th meeting of the Central Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council, in New Delhi.
  • This convention attains special significance as it comes days ahead of Finance Minister presenting the Union Budget 2022-23 on February 1.

• Student Start-up and Innovation Policy (SSIP 2.0)
  • Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel inaugurated a two-day international conference of academic institutions as a precursor to the 10th Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit, scheduled to take place between January 10 and 12.
  • During the inaugural ceremony, he launched the second edition of the Student Start-up and Innovation Policy (SSIP 2.0). The five-year tenure of the SSIP-1 will end on January 10. Hence, SSIP 2.0 was unveiled and will remain in force till March 2027.

• Startup India Innovation Week
  • The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) and the Ministry of Commerce and Industry have decided to organise a week-long virtual innovation celebration called ‘Startup India Innovation Week’ to showcase the spread and depth of entrepreneurship across India.
  • The virtual event will be organised from January 10 to January 16, 2022.

AWARDS AND REWARDS

• Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Awards 2021
  • The Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Awards (RNG Awards) are one of the awards in India in the field of journalism.
  • Named after Ramnath Goenka, the awards have been held annually since 2006. The awards are given for both print journalism as well as broadcast journalism.

• UiPath Automation Excellence awards 2021
  • The Kerala-based lender South Indian Bank has won the UiPath Automation Excellence Awards 2021 for Best Automation under Crisis for Business Continuity.
  • The award was bestowed upon the Bank for its exceptional use of Robotic Process Automation capabilities under difficult times for solving severe operational constraints, thereby ensuring business continuity.

• JC Chaudhry achieves the first Guinness World Record on Numerology
  • The first-ever Guinness World Record in Numerology and the first world record of 2022 was achieved by one of India's top numerologists JC Chaudhry educating about ancient science to around 6000 participants, enthusiasts of numerology joined from USA, UK, Middle East, and India.

SPORTS

• Mohammed Shami becomes 5th Indian fast bowler to claim 200 Test wickets
  • India's bowler Mohammed Shami achieved the milestone of 200 Test wickets.
  • The 31-year-old pacer is third-fastest among Indian pacers to reach the landmark, achieving it in his 55th Test match.

• Quinton de Kock announces retirement from Test cricket
  • South Africa wicketkeeper-batsman, Quinton de Kock, announced his retirement from Test cricket with immediate effect.

• Cricket: U-19 Asia Cup 2021
  • The 2021 Under-19 Asia Cup was the 9th edition of ACC Under-19 Cup. The cricket tournament was played in United Arab Emirates.
  • U-19 Indian cricket team lifted the U-19 Asia Cup after beating Sri Lanka by nine wickets (DLS Method) in Dubai.