Weekly Current Affairs 23rd December- 31st December 2021

FINANCE AND BANKING

• RBI extends restrictions on PMC Bank for 3 months till March 2022
  • The restrictions on Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative (PMC) Bank have been extended for another three months till the end of March next year.

• CSB Bank has been impaneled as Agency Bank by RBI
  • Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has announced the empanelment of CSB Bank, a private sector lender as an ‘Agency Bank’.
  • As an Agency bank, CSB Bank will work with different state governments and central government departments for businesses such as tax collections, pension payments, collection of stamp duty, etc.

• RBI extends card tokenisation deadline till June 2022
  • RBI recently extended the card-on-file (CoF) tokenization deadline by 6 months i.e., to June 30, 2022. Earlier the deadline was fixed till December 31, 2021.

ECONOMY

• J&K administration signs investment pact with Apollo Hospitals
  • The Government of J&K signed a pact with the world-renowned healthcare company Apollo Hospitals to establish a multi-specialty hospital in Jammu.

• More women beneficiaries are joining insurance schemes PMJJBY, PMSBY
  • As per the Central Government, greater number of women beneficiaries are joining Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana and Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana with over 13.68 crore enrolment.

• IOCL acquired 4.93% stake in Indian Gas Exchange
  • Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) has acquired a 4.93 per cent equity share in Indian Gas Exchange Limited – the country’s first automated national level gas exchange.
  • The acquisition of an equity stake in IGX is a strategic opportunity for the country’s top oil refiner to become part of India’s natural gas market. IGX is a subsidiary of the Indian Energy Exchange (IEX).

NATIONAL

• Centre sets up high-level committee to examine possibility of lifting AFSPA from Nagaland
  • The Centre constituted a high-level committee, headed by a secretary-rank officer, to examine the possibility of lifting the controversial Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act in Nagaland.
  • Members of the Committee: Vivek Joshi, who is Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India, will head the five-member committee.

• NITI Aayog's Atal Innovation Mission Unveils Vernacular Innovation Programme
  • Atal Innovation Mission (AIM), NITI Aayog has come up with a first of its kind Vernacular Innovation Program (VIP), which will enable innovators and entrepreneurs in India to have access to the innovation ecosystem in 22 scheduled languages by the Government of India.

• PB Fintech subsidiary Docprime launches integrated health locker for users
  • Docprime Technologies, a totally owned subsidiary of PB Fintech, has launched Docprime Health Locker, India’s first health locker that is integrated with the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission.

INTERNATIONAL

• Indian-origin judge appointed to South Africa's highest judicial bench
  • Narandran 'Jody' Kollapen, who is of Indian origin, has been appointed to South Africa's highest judicial bench, the Constitutional Court.

• Somalia’s president suspends prime minister
  • Somalia’s president Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed had suspended the Prime Minister Mohammed Hussein Roble for suspected corruption.

• Japan introduces world's first dual-mode vehicle that can run on roads and rail tracks
  • Japan has introduced the world's first dual-mode vehicle in the town of Kaiyo. The vehicle can run on roads as well as rail tracks.

STATES

• World Sangeet Tansen festival to begin in Madhya Pradesh
  • In Madhya Pradesh, five-day World Sangeet Tansen Festival is started. The festival will be organised till December 30th in Gwalior. This is the 97th edition of the festival.

• Odisha CM inaugurates State’s longest bridge ‘T-Setu’ over Mahanadi
  • Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik inaugurated T-Setu, the state’s longest bridge over Mahanadi in Cuttack district.
  • The 3.4 km long bridge, connecting Gopinathpur in Badamba, Baideswar in Banki to Singhanath Pitha located in the middle of the river, has been built in the shape of English alphabet ‘T’ at a cost of Rs 111 crore.

• Tamil Nadu’s CM launched “CM Dashboard - Tamil Nadu 360”
  • Tamil Nadu’s Chief Minister MK Stalin launched a state-of-the-art “CM Dashboard - Tamil Nadu 360” at his office.
  • This is an attempt to fine-tune the government administration towards prompt delivery of services and quick decision-making to cope with the emerging situations and cutting-down of delays.

REPORTS AND INDEXES

• Global Unicorn Index 2021
  • Hurun Research Institute released Global Unicorn Index 2021. Unicorns are unlisted companies with a valuation of $1 billion or more.
  • Top Ranked Countries: The US and China, who occupy the first two ranks. The US have now total 487 companies in the list, while China have 301 start-ups having a valuation of over USD 1 billion.
  • India’s Rank: India has overtaken the UK to rank third with 54 unicorns. The UK currently has 39 unicorns.

• Good Governance Index 2021
  • Union Home Minister Amit Shah launched Good Governance Index 2021 prepared by the Department of Administration Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG) on Good Governance Day (25 December).
  • Top Ranked States and UTs: Top ranking States in Composite Ranks is as follows:
  • Other States – Group A: Gujarat has topped the composite ranking followed by Maharashtra and Goa. While Gujarat registered a 12.3 per cent increase, Goa registered a 24.7 per cent increase over GGI 2019 indicators.
  • Other States – Group B: Madhya Pradesh has topped the composite ranking.
  • North-East and Hill States: Himachal Pradesh has topped the composite ranking in North-East and Hill States.
  • Union Territories: Delhi has topped the union territories category composite rank registering a 14 per cent increase over the GGI 2019 indicators.

• NITI Aayog Releases 4th Edition of State Health Index
  • National Institution for Transforming India (NITI) Aayog released the 4th edition of the State Health Index for 2019–20. The report, titled “The Healthy States, Progressive India” ranking States performance.
  • Overall Ranking: On overall ranking based on the composite index score in 2019–20, the top-ranking states were Kerala and Tamil Nadu among the ‘Larger States’, Mizoram and Tripura among the ‘Smaller States’, and DH&DD and Chandigarh among the UTs.

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

• World’s largest and most powerful space telescope - James Webb Space Telescope - launched
  • NASA launched world’s largest and most powerful space telescope, James Webb Space Telescope.
  • It is built to give the world a glimpse of the universe as it existed when the first galaxies formed.

• Japan launches Inmarsat-6 F1 communications satellite into orbit
  • The Inmarsat-6 F1 satellite launched atop a Mitsubishi Heavy Industries H-2A rocket from Japan's Tanegashima Space Center.
  • The 12,060-pound (5,470 kilograms) Inmarsat-6 F1 is the first of two "I-6" spacecraft that London-based company Inmarsat plans to loft to geostationary orbit, about 22,240 miles (35,790 kilometers) above our planet.

• China launches new camera satellite with 5m resolution to find resources
  • China launched a new satellite with a camera that can take pictures of the ground with a resolution of five meters.
  • The satellite, called "Ziyuan-1 02E" or "five-meter optical satellite 02," was launched by a Long March-4C rocket from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in north China's Shanxi Province.

AGRICULTURE AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT

• CCEA approves MSP for Copra for the 2022 season
  • The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, gave their approval for the Minimum Support Prices (MSPs) for Copra for the 2022 season.
  • The MSP for Fair Average Quality (FAQ) of milling copra has been increased to Rs10,590/- per quintal for 2022 season from Rs.10,335/- per quintal in 2021.

DEFENCE

• India successfully tests new-generation ‘Pralay’ missile
  • India successfully conducted the second flight test of indigenously developed surface-to-surface missile ‘Pralay’ off the Odisha coast. Flight tests of a ballistic missile, developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation, have been conducted successfully in two consecutive days.

• S-400 air defence system to be deployed in Punjab
  • The Indian Air Force is deploying the first-ever squadron of the S-400 air defence missile system in Punjab. This squadron will be capable of taking care of aerial threats from China and Pakistan.
  • The S-400 missile defence system comprises four different aircraft that can engage enemy aircraft, ballistic missiles and AWACS planes at short-range (40 km), medium range (120 km), 250 km and 400 km.

• Indian Army launches indigenous messaging application called ASIGMA
  • The Indian Army has launched a messaging application named Army Secure IndiGeneous Messaging Application (ASIGMA), with features such as multi-level security and message prioritisation.
  • ASIGMA is a new generation, state-of-the-art, web-based application. A team of Corps of Signals has developed it in-house.

AWARDS AND REWARDS

• Times Higher Education Asia Awards 2021
  • O.P. Jindal Global University (JGU) has won the "Digital Innovation of the Year" award at the distinguished Times Higher Education (THE) Asia Awards 2021.
  • JGU was the Only Indian University to be Shortlisted for the "Digital Innovation of the Year"

• Regional Asia-Pacific Women's Empowerment Principles Award 2021
  • Divya Hegde from Udupi, coastal Karnataka, has won the UN Women's Award for Leadership Commitment at the 2021 Regional Asia-Pacific Women's Empowerment Principles Awards.
  • She has been recognised for her sustained efforts in advancing gender equality through climate action efforts.

• Sushila Devi Award 2021
  • Anukrti Upadhyay has won the Sushila Devi Award 2021 for the Best Book of Fiction for her critically acclaimed novel, Kintsugi.
  • The Ratanlal Foundation and the organizing Committee of the Bhopal Literature and Art Festival announced the winner, for this notable award for fiction written by a woman author and published in 2020. This prize has been instituted by the Shri Ratanlal Foundation.

SPORTS

• SAFF U-19 Women’s Championship 2021
  • Bangladesh Under-19 Women’s team defeated India by 1-0 to lift the SAFF U-19 Women’s Football Championship 2021 at the Bir Shreshtha Shaheed Shipahi Mostafa Kamal Stadium, Dhaka.
  • Shaheda Akter Ripa of Bangladesh scored the maximum number of goals in the tournament. She was given the ‘most valuable player’ of the game award.

• Anahat Singh becomes first Indian girl to win Jr Squash Open in US Junior Open Squash Championship
  • Anahat Singh from Delhi became the first Indian to win the US Junior Open Squash Championship that took place at the Arlen Spectre Centre in Philadelphia.
  • The 13-year-old defeated Jayda Marei of Egypt 11-9, 11-5, 8-11, 11-5 in the girl’s Under-15 category to clinch the title.

• Vijay Hazare Trophy 2021/22
  • The Vijay Hazare Trophy also known as the Ranji One-Day Trophy, was started in 2002-03 as a limited-overs cricket domestic competition involving state teams from the Ranji Trophy plates. It is named after the legendary Indian cricketer Vijay Hazare.
  • Himachal Pradesh won the final match against Tamil Nadu by 11 runs to clinch their maiden domestic title.