1.Election Commission changed the date of polling for Punjab Assembly elections to February 20.
The Election Commission has decided to conduct the polling for the Assembly elections in Punjab on February 20 . Earlier this election was announced to be held on February 14. This has been done due to the fall of Ravidas Jayanti on 16 February . For this, all the political parties in Punjab had requested the Election Commission.
2.Smart Cities Mission, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs launched ‘Open Data Week’
The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs announced the launch of ‘ Open Data Week ‘ ( Open Data Week ) to encourage innovation and adoption of open data in urban eco-systems across the country . It is worth mentioning that in this sequence, the ‘ Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav – Smart Cities: Smart Urbanization ‘ seminar will be organized in Surat in February 2022. The ‘Open Data Week’ is part of the pre-programme activities initiated by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs to promote awareness and use of open data. It will be organized in the third week of January, i.e. from January 17, 2022 to January 21, 2022.
3.First DTC electric bus launched in Delhi
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal launched the first electric bus of Delhi Transport Corporation on January 17, 2022.flagged off. The e-buses will run on the 27 km long route. These buses are manufactured by JBM Auto Limited. These electric buses are low floor buses. These are fully air conditioned. These buses were acquired under Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and electric Vehicles in India i.e. FAME-II. The first fleet of 300 buses is ready. Initially, some electric buses will run from Pragati Maidan to IP Depot. It is a 27 km long route. It will cover places like ITO, Safdarjung and Ashram on its way. This is a prototype. How long does the battery last in the bus, It is being flagged for its investigation. Technical fault will also be investigated in it. After this test run, the rest of the buses will be added to the fleet. The Delhi government plans to release 50 more electric buses by February 2022. The target is to add 50 electric buses per month. In the pipeline decided earlier, the Delhi government will launch 2,300 electric buses. Of these, 1,300 will be procured by DTC. Rest of the thousand buses will be operated under the cluster scheme.
4.Goalkeeper Savita Punia appointed captain of Indian women’s hockey team
Goalkeeper Savita Punia will lead India in the upcoming Women’s Asia Cup in Muscat as Hockey India named an 18-member squad for the event, comprising 16 players, who competed in the Tokyo Olympics . As regular skipper Rani Rampal is recovering from injury in Bengaluru, Savita will lead the team in the tournament, which is scheduled to take place from January 21-28. The seven other teams competing in the Women’s Hockey Asia Cup 2022 are China, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea and Thailand.
5.Sher Singh B Khayalia appointed as CEO of Adani Power
The Board of Directors of Adani Power Limited (APL), a subsidiary of Adani Group , approved the appointment of Shersingh B. Khayalia as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Adani Powers with effect from 11 January 2022 . He is a Chartered Accountant who has served as Managing Director in Gujarat Power Corporation. Prior to this, Khyaliya has worked as Managing Director in Gujarat Power Corporation, where he has got experience in the development of renewable energy sector, especially Ultra Mega Renewable Parks.
6.Volcanic eruption in Tonga
Recently , a volcanic eruption occurred in the southern Pacific island of Tonga , causing tsunami waves across the Pacific Ocean . Tonga Islands’ Ring of Fire‘, which is the periphery of high volcanic and seismic activity that surrounds the Pacific Ocean basin. It is an under-sea volcanic eruption, consisting of two small uninhabited islands, Hunga-Hapai and Hunga-Tonga. Hunga-Tonga-Hunga-Hapai has been witnessing regular volcanic eruptions over the past few decades. There were also eruptions with hot jets of magma and steam during the events of 2009 and 2014-15. But these eruptions were much smaller compared to the recent events (January 2022). This eruption is one of the largest eruptions that are recorded every thousand years. One of the reasons it is highly explosive is the ‘fuel-coolant interaction’.
7.artificial moon of china
After China ‘s artificial sun , China has its first ‘ artificial moon ‘‘It’s ready. Scientists have built an “artificial moon” research facility. This feature will help them operate in low-gravity environments using magnetism. The Artificial Moon Research Facility will be officially launched in the year 2022. It will use powerful magnetic fields inside a 2-foot-diameter vacuum chamber to counteract gravity. Scientists plan to use the facility to test the technology in low-gravity environments for a long period of time before sending it to the Moon, where gravity is one-sixth that of Earth’s. The experiment will help scientists resolve technical issues and test whether certain structures will survive on the surface of the Moon. It will also help in assessing the feasibility of human settlement on the Moon.
8.Now 6 airbags will be given compulsorily in vehicles in India
The central government has made 6 airbags mandatory from October 1, 2022.has started the process. Airbags will be made mandatory for all cars sold in India. The government has issued a draft notification and invited public comments and stakeholders’ comments on the proposed rule. Airbags were made mandatory for the driver’s seat with effect from July 1, 2019. The rule of one airbag for a co-passenger came into effect from January 1, 2022. However, the top variants of many Indian cars already have 6 airbags. Now, the government has approved the draft GSR notification to make minimum 6 airbags mandatory. This decision was taken to minimize the impact of front and rear collisions for occupants in the front as well as the rear compartments. 4 additional airbags to be made mandatory in M1 vehicle category. M1 vehicle category refers to passenger cars with a maximum of 8 seats in addition to the driver’s seat. This includes sedans, hatchbacks, MUVs and SUVs.
9.National Start-up Awards 2021 presented
The Government of India announced the winners of the “ National Start-up Awards 2021 ” and honored 46 start-ups for their contribution in their respective fields. The government also honored an incubator and an accelerator with awards during the function. This marks the second edition of the National Start-up Awards. Applications were invited from 15 sectors and 49 sub-sectors ranging from agriculture to animal husbandry and enterprise technology to fintech. The National Start-up Awards honor start-ups that have contributed to economic dynamism by encouraging innovation and fostering competitiveness. It focuses on the following start-ups:
- who create innovative products or solutions
- They are scalable enterprises with high potential for wealth creation or job creation
- It demonstrates measurable social impact.
10.China’s birth rate hits record low
According to official data, the birth rate in China is at a record low in 2021.But, as analysts are warning of faster-than-expected ageing in the country. According to analysts, a faster-than-expected aging will deepen economic growth concerns. China is already grappling with a dangerous demographic crisis with a rapidly aging workforce, the weakest population growth in decades, and a slowing economy. The birth rate in China dropped to 7.52 births per 1,000 people in 2021. In 2020 it was 8.52. This is the lowest figure in the annual statistical annual data for China since 1978. In 2016, China relaxed the country’s “one child policy”. This allowed couples to have two children. Even after easing one of the strictest family planning regulations around the world, it has failed to increase the birth rate. In 2021, China pushed for a policy of allowing couples to have up to three children.
11.China-Iran Strategic Agreement
China is fully prepared to implement a strategic agreement with Iran to strengthen economic and political cooperation between the two countries . In a meeting, China also reaffirmed its opposition to US sanctions on Iran. On January 14, 2022, at a meeting in Wuxi, East China, it was announced to implement the “China-Iran Strategic Agreement”. During this meeting, the Foreign Ministers agreed to enhance cooperation in energy, production capacity, infrastructure, science and technology, medicine and health care. Bilateral ties will be expanded in areas such as agriculture, fisheries, third party markets, cyber security, cultural exchanges in education and personnel training.
12.The central government is seeking applications from start-ups, MSMEs, R&D organizations and academicians under the Chips to Start-up (C2S) program.
Under the “ Chips to Start-up (C2S) Programme ”, the central government will employ 85,000 engineers in the areas of Very Large Scale Integration (VLSI) and Embedded Systems design .Applications are invited from 100 start-ups, MSMEs, R&D organizations and academia to train The Chip to Start-up (C2S) program will result in the development of working prototypes of 175 ASICs (application-specific integrated circuits), IP core repositories and 20 systems on chips (SoC) for a period of five years. It will be a step towards leapfrogging into the Electronics System Design and Manufacturing (ESDM) space by fostering a culture of SoC/system level design at the undergraduate, postgraduate and research levels. It will also help in the growth of start-ups involved in fabless design. The program also addresses each unit of the value chain in electronics, i.e. quality manpower training, research and development, systems design, hardware IP design, prototype design, application-oriented R&D, and deployment.
13.National Award for e-Governance conferred
The National Award (Silver) for e-Governance 2020-21 was recently presented to the Mon district administration of Nagaland . The award was presented at the 24th National Conference on e-Governance in Hyderabad . The Deputy Commissioner of Mon district Thavaselan K. was given this award. National Award for e-Governance to Mon district for “ Use of ICT in Management of COVID-19 ”was submitted under Category 6. The objective was to honor the initiatives taken by the district administration. “Technology in Aid Administration” in Mon district to reduce the hardships faced by the public by implementing COVID-19 Appropriate Behavior (CAB) to restrict the spread of infection The project titled to Administration) was launched. The project is helping to ease the hardships of the people, keep people safe from covid and increase the effectiveness of the administration.
14.Oxfam India releases ‘Inequality Kills’ report
Oxfam India ‘s “ Inequality Kills ”According to the report, the wealth of India’s richest families reached a record high in 2021. This report states that, 84% of Indian households reported a decline in income amid the Kovid-19 pandemic. The richest 98 Indians have the same wealth as the bottom 552 million people. The number of Indian billionaires increased from 102 to 142 during 2021. The assets of the top 100 families are Rs 57.3 lakh crore. According to this report, inequality in India could be reduced by imposing higher taxes on the richest 10 percent of the Indian population, to help finance measures to reduce inequality. This fund can cover plans for health care, education and social security. Oxfam recommends conducting at least two surveys every 10 years to measure inequality and better social security for informal workers. According to Oxfam, A 4% tax on the wealth of 98 billionaires could fund the mid-day meal program for 17 years. Of those, 1% property tax would be enough to meet the total expenses for school education a7 literacy, or for the Ayushman Bharat scheme for more than seven years.
15.RBI releases Annual Report of Ombudsman Schemes, 2020-21
The Reserve Bank of India has released the Annual Report of Ombudsman Schemes for 2020-21 , which will change the RBI ‘s financial year from ‘ July-June ‘ to ‘ April-March ‘ with effect from July 1, 2020.‘ has been prepared for a period of 9 months (July 1st, 2020 to March 31st, 2021) in line with the changes. The Annual Report covers activities under the Banking Ombudsman Scheme, 2006 (BOS), the Ombudsman Scheme for Non-Banking Financial Companies, 2018 (OSNBFCs) and the Ombudsman Scheme for Digital Transactions, 2019 (OSDT). The volume of complaints received under all the 3 Lokpal schemes increased by 22.27 percent on an annual basis to 3,03,107. The number of complaints received in BOS from July 1, 2020 to March 31, 2021 was 2,73,204. The complaints received in OSNBFC during July 1, 2020-March 31, 2021 were 26,957. The number of complaints received in OSDT increased to 2,946 during July 1, 2020-March 31, 2021. The major areas of complaints under the scheme are ATM or Debit Card, relating to mobile or electronic banking and credit cards. This sector collectively accounts for 42.74 per cent of the total complaints. This year, RBI changed the reporting period to April-March. RBI data further shows that Chandigarh received the maximum number of complaints during the same period. The total number of complaints is 28019. This is 10.26% of the total complaints. Chandigarh is followed by Kanpur with 21,168 complaints and New Delhi with 18,767 complaints. Kanpur accounts for 7.75 percent and Delhi accounts for 6.87 percent of the total complaints. New Delhi with 767 complaints. Kanpur accounts for 7.75 percent and Delhi accounts for 6.87 percent of the total complaints. New Delhi with 767 complaints. Kanpur accounts for 7.75 percent and Delhi accounts for 6.87 percent of the total complaints.
16.Tasneem Mir becomes World No. 1 in Badminton Under-19 Girls’ Singles
Tasneem Mir became the first Indian to achieve World No 1 in the Under-19 (U-19) girls’ singles category in the latest Badminton World Federation (BWF) junior rankings. She is followed by Maria Golubeva of Russia and Lucia Rodriguez of Spain . In 2021, he won 3 Junior International tournaments held in Bulgaria, France and Belgium, which helped him climb to the No. 1 spot. The world No. 1 position in boys’ singles is shared by Lakshya Sen, Cyril Verma and Aditya Joshi.
17.Former West Indies cricketer Clive Lloyd gets knighthood
Former West Indies captain Clive Lloyd received a knighthood from Prince William, Duke of Cambridge at Windsor Castle for his services to the game of cricket . On the same day, England’s World Cup winning captain Eoin Morgan was awarded the CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) by Prince William for his services to the game of cricket . The CBE is the highest ranking order of the British Empire, followed by the OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) and then the MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire).
18.IAMAI organizes 16th India Digital Summit 2022
Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Piyush Goyal addressed the 16th India Digital Summit , 2022 virtually. The two-day virtual event was organized by the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) on January 11 and 12, 2022. The theme of the summit was “Supercharging Startups”. India Digital Summit is the oldest digital industry event in India. During the event, the Minister unveiled ‘LEAP’ to further strengthen our startup ecosystem. LEAP stands for “Leverage, Incorporate, Access and Promote”.
19.Yes Mutual Fund renamed as WhiteOak Capital Mutual Fund
Yes Asset Management has been renamed as WhiteOak Capital Asset Management and hence YES Mutual Fund has been renamed as WhiteOak Capital Mutual Fund . The change in names is effective from January 12, 2022. White Oak has got the license to run mutual funds. White Oak Capital Group provides investment management and advisory services for equity assets of over Rs 42,000 crore.
20.Thiruvalluvar Day
The Prime Minister paid tributes to Tamil poet and philosopher Thiruvalluvar on his birth anniversary ‘ Thiruvalluvar Day ‘ on January 15, 2022 . It was first celebrated on 17-18 May in the year 1935. At present it is usually celebrated on 15th or 16th January in Tamil Nadu and this Pongal celebrations .is a part of. Thiruvalluvar also known as Valluvar was a Tamil poet-saint. Due to religious identities, there are conflicts regarding their period, they are generally considered to be 3rd–4th or 8th–ninth centuries. He is generally considered to be related to Jainism. However Hindus claim that Thiruvalluvar belonged to Hinduism. Dravidian groups considered him a saint because he did not believe in the caste system. Tirukkural or ‘Kural’ in the Sangam literature by him ) was created. In 2009, a statue of the famous Tamil poet was unveiled at Ulsoor near Bangalore. A statue of Valluvar has also been installed outside the School of Oriental and African Studies in Russell Square, London. Thiruvalluvar’s 133 ft high statue is also in Kanyakumari. Thiruvalluvar University was established by the Government of Tamil Nadu in October 2002 in Vellore district of Tamil Nadu. In the year 1976, a temple-monument named Valluvar Kotam was built in Chennai which is one of the largest auditoriums in Asia. A temple dedicated to Thiruvalluvar was built in the Ekambeshwareshwara temple complex at Mylapore, Chennai in the early 16th century.
21.Mali’s ousted president Ibrahim Boubacar Kesta dies
Mali ‘s ousted president Ibrahim Boubacar KestaHas died at the age of 76. Kesta led Mali until the year 2020 (seven years), after he was ousted in a coup after a massive anti-government agitation to deal with jihadist unrest. The economic crisis and disputed elections also fueled demonstrations against his rule. Kesta was involved in politics for more than three decades, serving as the Socialist Prime Minister from 1994 to 2000. He was born in Koutiala, his father was a civil servant, he studied literature in Paris, Studied History and International Relations. He lived and worked in France for decades, including teaching at the University of Paris, before returning to Mali in 1980, first serving as an advisor to the European Development Fund. Mali has been in the grip of a security and political crisis since the outbreak of independence and jihadist insurgency in 2012. President Kesta was elected in 2013 on a promise to “bring peace and security”, but his government failed to address Mali’s serious security challenges, and was overthrown by the military in August 2020.
22.Lyricist Ibrahim Ashk passes away
Famous lyricist Ibrahim Ashq passed away. He was infected with the corona virus and was also a patient of pneumonia . Ibrahim Ashk was originally from Madhya Pradesh and he was recognized as a lyricist as well as a poet. He started his career as a journalist and worked for several newspapers and magazines. Ibrahim Ashk did his early studies from Bandnagar in Ujjain. He did his graduation and master’s degree from Indore University. In Bollywood, he wrote songs for films like ‘Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai’, ‘Koi Mil Gaya’, ‘Janasheen’, ‘Aitbaar’, ‘Aap Mujhe Achhe Lagne Lage’, ‘Koi Mere Dil Se Poochhe’ and ‘Dhund’. He wrote the title track of ‘Kaho Na Pyaar Hai’, the song ‘Na Tum Jaano Na Hum’.
23.Social worker and Padma Shri awardee Shanti Devi passes away
Social activist and Padma Shri awardee Shanti Devi passed away at her residence in Gunupur, Rayagada district of Odisha . Shanti Devi was a well known social worker in Odisha. He was born on 18 April 1934. The social worker started a small ashram in Koraput and later founded the Seva Samaj in Raigad. Seva Samaj was formed for the all round development of the girl child. Then it was a never ending journey of social work where he established another ashram in Ganpur. This ashram worked towards education, vocational training, rehabilitation of orphaned and destitute children.
