Daily Current Affairs January 22 2022

 

CURRENT AFFAIRS: NATIONAL NEWS

TCIL launches first e-vehicle charging station in South Delhi

• TCIL, a Mini Ratna Status Company under the Department of Telecommunications, Ministry of Communications, with support of SDMC launched first e-vehicle charging station in South Delhi.
• The launch was inaugurated by Meenakshi Lekhi, Union Minister of State for External Affairs and Culture in the presence of Shri Sanjeev Kumar, CMD, TCIL & other dignitaries of area.
• This e-vehicle charging station is first one in series of 65 e-charging stations to be setup by TCIL in progressive manner in next four months in South Delhi area within easy reach of citizens of Delhi.
• Each charging station can charge 6 Two/Three/ Four wheeler vehicle at a time.
• The charging stations are equipped with CCTV surveillance & Wi-fi facility for use by common public. It is also powered by a 6 kW solar panel.
• The e-vehicle charging station will help in popularizing use of e-vehicle and in reducing pollution in metro city of Delhi.

DAY-NRLM celebrates Agri Nutri Garden Week as part of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav

• Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana – National Rural Livelihood Mission (DAY-NRLM) has observed ‘Agri Nutri Garden Week’ from 10th to 17th January, 2022 through awareness campaign and encouraging establishment of ‘Agri Nutri Gardens’ in the rural households.
• It is the Mission’s agenda to support every rural poor household to have Agri Nutri Garden to fulfill the need of the family’s nutrition and any excess production can also be sold for income generation.
• In line with Prime Minister’s vision of enhancing strength of Rural Economy and his clarion call of Atma Nirbhar Bharat, Rural India is showing the way with establishment of over 78 lakh Agri Nutri Gardens towards ensuring Food and Nutritional Security in Rural India.
• A total of 76,664 ‘Agri Nuti Gardens’ were established in this week against the target of 7500.
• The initiative is also helping in promoting nutritional awareness, education and behavioral change in rural areas involving farm women and school children, harnessing traditional knowledge through the local recipe to overcome malnutrition and implementing nutrition-sensitive agriculture through homestead agriculture and Nutri-garden.

MoS Ajay Bhatt inaugurates interactive Virtual Museum hosted by Gallantry Awards portal

• Minister of state for Defence Ajay Bhatt has inaugurated an interactive Virtual Museum hosted by the Gallantry Awards portal.
• The virtual museum will honour the contribution of the country’s Bravehearts who have made the supreme sacrifice in the service of the nation.
• and sacrifice of the gallantry awards winners in an innovative and user-friendly format.
• It comprises of a 3-D walk through experience, gallery building, lobby, wall of fame, tour of war memorials, war room, resource centre, selfie booth and equipment display.
• The Virtual Museum has been jointly developed by Ministry of Defence, Society of Indian Defence Manufacturers, Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology and Bhaskar Acharya National Institute for Space Applications and Geo-informatics.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: INTERNATIONAL NEWS

India, Sri Lanka extend existing Science & Technology cooperation for three more years

• India and Sri Lanka have extended the existing Science and Technology cooperation for three more years, with focus on new areas like waste-water technologies, sustainable agriculture, aerospace engineering, robotics and artificial intelligence.
• The decision was taken during the 5th Joint Committee meeting on Science and Technology Cooperation between India and Sri Lanka.
• India and Sri Lanka have a great legacy of intellectual, cultural, and religious interaction and relationship of more than two thousand 500 years old.
• The trade and investment and cooperation in education and other sectors have gone up in recent times.
• State Ministry of Skills Development, Research and Innovations, Sri Lanka, Deepa Liyange welcomed India’s cooperation in Science and Technology sectors and research areas for boosting scientific knowledge in the country.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: STATE NEWS

Karnataka govt launches AVGC center of excellence in Bengaluru

• Karnataka minister for Electronics, IT, BT and Higher Education C N Aswatha Nayarana launched the AVGC Center of Excellence in
• AVGC is Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming and Comics.
• The minister informed that Karnataka has become the first state in the country to set up a Center of Excellence with pioneering high technology digital media hub under its Innovate Karnataka initiative.
• Karnataka was also a pioneer in introducing AVGC policy, way back in 2012.
• The minister pointed out that India commands around 10 percent of the global ACGC market and has the potential to reach 20 to 25 percent by 2027.
• Over 300 animation, VFX and gaming studios operate in Karnataka employing over 15000 professionals. Ang Lee’s Life of Pi that won recognition during the 85th Academy Awards had visual effects and computer aided animation created by a company in Bengaluru.

Click here to read more;

Gujarat: PM Modi to inaugurate newly built Circuit House building near Somnath Temple

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the newly built Circuit House building near Somnath Temple in Gujarat.
• He will also address the function through video conferencing.
• The new circuit house building has been constructed by the Gujarat government at a cost of more than 30 crore rupees.
• The historic Somnath Temple is visited by lakhs of devotees from India and abroad every year.
• The need for the new Circuit House was felt as the existing government guest house was located far from the temple.
• The new Circuit House is located near the Somnath Temple.
• The landscaping of the circuit house has been done in such a way that sea view is available from every room.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: BANKING AND ECONOMY

ICRA revises AUM growth outlook for FY22 for retail NBFCs to 5-7 per cent

• ICRA has revised the assets under management (AUM) growth outlook of retail non-banking finance companies for the current fiscal to 5-7 per cent from 8-10 per cent in view of the muted first-half performance.
• The rating agency cautioned that the growth outlook would be exposed to the downside risk in case of significant disruptions caused by the new wave of Omicron infections in Q4 (January-March)
• At present, while the infections rates remain high, the operational disruptions have been quite limited.
• Measures taken by the regulator to strengthen the structural, regulatory and supervisory framework for the sector, especially the tighter non-performing advances (NPA) recognition/upgradation norms, could lead to an increased focus on internal controls, which can, in turn also impact the sectoral growth.

CURRENT AFFAIRS : ACQUISITIONS & MERGERS

IEX divests 4.93% equity stake in arm IGX to Indian Oil

• Indian Energy Exchange (IEX) announced divestment of 4.93 percent of its equity stake in Indian Gas Exchange (IGX) to oil major Indian Oil Corporation.
• Indian Oil has joined the company as a strategic partner by acquiring a stake from promoter IEX.
• IEX and National Stock Exchange (NSE) are promoters of IGX and other strategic investors include GAIL (India) Ltd, ONGC Ltd, Torrent Gas Pvt Ltd and Adani Total Gas Ltd.
• IGX presently offers six delivery-based contracts for trading in gas including Day Ahead, Daily, Weekday, Weekly, Fortnightly and Monthly) through five designated physical hubs including Dahej, Hazira, Dabhol, Jaigarh and KG Basin
• The government’s vision of accelerating the share of gas in the energy mix to 15% by 2030.

About IEX :

• Headquarters: New Delhi
• Founded: 2008
• The Indian Energy Exchange (IEX)is an Indian electronic system based power trading exchange regulated by the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC).

About IGX :

• Indian Gas Exchange Limited (IGX) is India’s first Natural Gas Exchange which provides a national level market to all participants for trading in gas.
• IGX facilitates automated trading where multiple buyers and sellers can trade for physical delivery of natural gas.
• Founded: 2019
• Headquarters : Noida, Uttar Pradesh
• MD & CEO : Rajesh Kumar Mediratta

CURRENT AFFAIRS : SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

India Successfully Test-Fires New BrahMos Supersonic Cruise Missile Off Odisha Coast

• India successfully test-fired supersonic cruise missile BrahMos off the Odisha coast in Balasore.
• The missile was test-fired from the Integrated Test Range (ITR) launch pad-III at Chandipur.
• The launch was conducted by the Brahmos Aerospace in close coordination with Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) teams.

About BrahMos Supersonic Cruise Missile :

• The BrahMos missile is a joint venture between India’s DRDO and Russia’s NPOM and both teams participated in the event.
• It is capable of carrying a warhead of 300 kilograms (both conventional as well as nuclear) and has a top supersonic speed of Mach 2.8 to 3 (roughly three times the speed of sound).
• BrahMos is the main weapon system of the Indian Navy warships.
• It can be launched from submarines, ships, aircraft, or land platforms.
• This flight test was monitored by all the sensors of the range instrumentation including telemetry, radar and electro-optical tracking systems deployed across the eastern coast and the down range ships.

Recent News :

• Earlier on January 11,2021, India had successfully test-fires BrahMos Supersonic Cruise missile from the Indian Navy’s INS Visakhapatnam warship.

CURRENT AFFAIRS : ENVIRONMENT

New Species Of Rain frog species Pristimantis gretathunbergae Discovered in Panama Jungle Named After Greta Thunberg

• A new species of rain frog Pristimantis gretathunbergae, or popularly known as the Greta Thunberg Rainfrog discovered by scientists in the Panama jungle has been named after Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg.
• The results were published in the journal Zookeys.

About the Research Team :

• The new specimen of the tropical amphibian was discovered by an international team of biologists led by doctors Abel Batista, from Panama, and Konrad Mebert (Switzerland) in Cerro Chucantí, a private reserve located in the province of Darién.
• The team found the frog on Cerro Chucantí, a sky island surrounded by lowland tropical rainforest in eastern Panama.

About Pristimantis gretathunbergae :

• Pristimantis gretathunbergae has distinctive features that helps it to be identifiable from rest by its “unusually prominent black eyes, a contrasting light upper lip, commonly a single conical to spine-like tubercle on the upper eyelid, and a larger head.
• The frog was originally discovered in 2012, and was thought to be part of the already categorized Pristimantis family.
• However, recent DNA analysis confirmed that the frog is a new species
• The new species has a poorly defined tympanic membrane, absence of vocal slits, and absence of nuptial pads.

Note :

• The researchers argued that the new species “should be listed as “Vulnerable (VU)” in the global Red List of the IUCN (2018)”.

CURRENT AFFAIRS : BOOKS & AUTHORS

Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari releases a Book Titled Tuhin Sinha’s book ‘The Legend of Birsa Munda’

• Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari released the book ‘The Legend of Birsa Munda’ authored by Tuhin A Sinha and Ankita Verma at Raj Bhavan, Mumbai.
• The Legend of Birsa Munda is being translated and will soon be available in Hindi, Marathi and other Indian languages.
• The English edition is published by Amaryllis, and the translations will be published by Manjul Publishing House.

Ket People :

• Former Corporator Niranjan Shetty, founder of Bhamla Foundation Asif Bhamla and others were present.

About the Book :

• The book based on true events is a tribute to Birsa Munda who in a very short life mobilized the tribal community.
• It is the story of a subaltern tribal hero whose contribution to India’s struggle for independence must never be forgotten.

About Birsa Munda :

• Birsa Munda was born on 15 November 1875 Ulihatu, Lohardaga district, Bengal Presidency.
• He was an Indian tribal freedom fighter, religious leader, and folk hero who belonged to theMunda tribe.

About Maharashtra :

• Governor: Bhagat Singh Koshyari
• Capital: Mumbai
• Chief minister: Uddhav Thackeray
• National Parks : Chandoli National Park, Gugumal National Park, Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve, Sanjay Gandhi National Park, Navegaon National Park
• Wildlife Sanctuaries : Nagzira Wildlife Sanctuary, Melghat Wildlife Sanctuary, BhimaShankar Wildlife Sanctuary, Koyna Wildlife Sanctuary, Sagareshwar Wildlife Sanctuary, Bor Wildlife Sanctuary, Radhanagari Bison Sanctuary, Gautala Wildlife Sanctuary, Karnala Bird Sanctuary, Great Indian Bustard Wildlife Sanctuary, Phansad Bird Sanctuary, Sagareshwar Wildlife Sanctuary, Dhaknakolkaz Wildlife Sanctuary, Narnala Wildlife Sanctuary, Rehekuri Blackbuck Sanctuary, Bhigwan Bird Sanctuary, Amba Barwa Wildlife Sanctuary, Andheri Wildlife Sanctuary

CURRENT AFFAIRS : SPORTS NEWS

India’s tennis queen Sania Mirza Announces Her Retirement From Professional Tennis

• Sania Mirza, India’s most popular female tennis player, announced that she will retire from the sport after the 2022 season.
• The 35-year-old made the statement after her doubles partner NadiiaKichenok was eliminated from the Australian Open 2022.

About Sania Mirza :

• Sania Mirza was born on 15 November 1986 in Mumbai, Maharashtra.
• She is a former doubles world No. 1, she has won six Grand Slam titles ( 3 in Women’s doubles & 3 in mixed doubles in her career.
• From 2003 until her retirement from singles in 2013, she was ranked by the Women’s Tennis Association as India’s No. 1 player.
• In 2005, She became the first Indian to win a singles title in the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA).
• So far, Mirza is one of the two Indian female tennis players to win a WTA title of any kind, and the only to reach the top 100 singles rankings.
• In 2005, Mirza was crowned the WTA Newcomer of the year, and in 2015 she and Martina Hingis were the doubles team of the year.
• She has also won a total of 14 medals (including 6 gold) at three major multi-sport events, namely the Asian Games, the Commonwealth Games and the Afro-Asian Games.
• She was appointed as the UN Women’s Goodwill Ambassador for South Asia during the event held to mark the International Day To End Violence Against Women on 25 November 2013.
• She was named in Time magazine’s 2016 list of the 100 most influential people in the world.

Awards & Honors :

• Arjuna Award in 2004
• WTA Newcomer of the Year in 2005
• Padma Shri in 2006
• Brand Ambassador of Telangana in 2014
• Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna in 2015
• BBC’s list of 100 inspiring women in 2015
• Padma Bhushan in 2016
• NRI of the Year in 2016
• Time Magazine’s 100 most influential people in the world in 2016
• 1UN Women Goodwill Ambassador for South Asia

Smriti Mandhana Named In ICC Women’s T20I Team Of 2021

• The International Cricket Council (ICC) named Smriti Mandhana as the Women’s T20I Team of the Year (2021).
• With 255 runs at an average of 31.87, Smriti was India’s highest scorer in the format in 2021.
• She scored two fifties in the nine matches she played this year, and got her team off to rapid starts regularly, as evident by her strike-rate of 131.44.

ICC Women’s T20I Team of the Year:

• Smriti Mandhana (India), Tammy Beaumont (England), Danni Wyatt (England), Gaby Lewis (Ireland), Nat Sciver (c) (England), Amy Jones (England), Laura Wolvaardt (South Africa), Marizanne Kapp (South Africa), Sophie Ecclestone (England), Loryn Phiri (Zimbabwe), Shabnim Ismail (South Africa).

About Smriti Mandhana :

• Smriti Mandhana was born on 18 July 1996 in Mumbai, Maharashtra.
• In June 2018, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) named her as the Best Women’s International Cricketer.
• In December 2018, the International Cricket Council (ICC) awarded her with the Rachael Heyhoe-Flint Award for the best female cricketer of the year.
• On 30 December 2021, she became a nominee of the ICC Women’s T20 Player of the Year.
• In December 2021, she, Tammy Beaumont, Lizelle Lee and Gaby Lewis was nominated for the ICC Women’s Cricketer of the Year

About ICC :

• Chairman: Greg Barclay
• CEO: Geoff Allardice
• Headquarters: Dubai, United Arab Emirates
• Founded: 15 June 1909

CURRENT AFFAIRS : OBITUARIES

Legendary ‘Collarwali’ Tigress passes away

• ‘Collarwali’, one of India’s most popular tigresses in the wild, Passed away at the Pench Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh.
• The legendary tigress was almost 16 years old.

About ‘Collarwali’ Tigress :

• Collarwali was one of the four cubs born to famous tigress T-7 in September 2005.
• Collarwali became famous and holds the distinguished record of giving birth to 29 cubs, earning the tag of ‘supermom’.
• The official name given to the tigress by the forest department was T-15 but she was fondly called ‘Collarwali’ by the native people.
• She gained the Collarwali title as she became the first tigress in the park to be fitted with a radio collar in 2008.
• Madhya Pradesh gained an identity as a ‘Tiger State’ due to the significant contribution of this supermom.

CURRENT AFFAIRS : OBITUARIES

Noted environmentalist M K Prasad passes away

• Prof M K Prasad, renowned environmentalist, botanist, and educator, who successfully spearheaded the Save Silent Valley movement in the 1970s, passed away at the age of 89.

About M K Prasad :

• K. Prasad was born in 1932 in Kochi, Kerala.
• Prof Prasad also played a key role in the setting up of the Integrated Rural Technology Centre at Mundoor in Palakkad.
• He was associated with the UN’s Millennium Ecosystem Assessment Board for five years.
• He was also the Chairman of MS Swaminathan Research Foundation’s Programme Advisory Committee in Wayanad.
• He has also served as Pro-Vice-Chancellor of the University of Calicut, Executive Vice Chairman, Information Kerala Mission, Govt of Kerala, and President of Kerala Sastra Sahitya President.
• He has also authored numerous books in Malayalam on environmental issues and popular science.

UNION GOVERNMENT SCHEMES

Integrated Processing Development Scheme(IPDS)

Launchedon:

Integrated Processing Development Scheme (IPDS) was implemented during the 12th Five Year Plan under the Ministry of Textile, Government of India. (Feb 2014)

Ministry involved:

The scheme is under the regulation of Ministry of Textile, Government of India.

Textile minister – Piyush Goyal

Objectives:

Major objectives of the Integrated Processing Development Scheme are:

To promote the textile sector so that it becomes competent on a global level.

To facilitate the usage of eco-friendly technology in textile processing.

To help textile processing units to meet environmental standards fixed by various agencies of the government.

To encourage Research & Development (R&D) activities geared towards innovative and clean technology.

To create new processing parks and upgrade existing ones for better productivity.

Focus areas:

Adequate and timely supply of water

Wastewater management

Safe treatment of effluents before disposal.

Projects that will be developed under IPDS are of three categories:

Group	Facilities/Technology available
A	Water treatment plant, technology for treatment of effluents (includes Marine, Riverine and Zero Liquid Discharge options)
B	Common infrastructure facilities such as captive power generating plants based on renewable or green technology
C	Other common facilities like laboratories for testing, R&D centres, etc.

For already existing textile processing clusters with the above-mentioned facilities, the scheme is available for the purposes of technology up-gradation and enhancement of capacity

Agencies Involved and Implementation Strategy:

Apart from the SPV, various other agencies are involved in the implementation and overseeing of the performance of Integrated Processing Development Scheme.

Project Management Consultant (PMC): This is an advisory panel appointed by the Ministry of textiles for assistance in the assessment of proposals, utilisation of funds, and monitoring the project progress.

Project Scrutiny Committee (PSC): This body shall be headed by Joint Secretary to the Ministry of textiles. After submission to PMC, it will appraise the proposals for feasibility.

Project Approval Committee (PAC): The Secretary to the Ministry of Textiles will be the head of this body. It is meant to offer administrative support to IPDS.

Project Management Agency (PMA): Post approval from the PAC, the SPV will appoint a PMA for preparation of project plan and other implementation assistance.

Respective state government for assistance with approvals, suitable land, labour and any other relevant schemes.

Operation & Maintenance (O&M) agency: It is responsible for the professional maintenance of the assets of SPV for a period of at least 15 years.

Corpus :

The government has approved the launching of a new Integrated Processing Development Scheme (IPDS) to establish four to six Brown Field projects and three to five Green Field projects with a total cost of Rs. 500 crore to address the environmental issues faced by the textile processing units.

The scheme will provide government support for establishing common infrastructure to catalyse private sector investments in the major processing clusters.

The scheme parameters envisage Government support limited to 50% of the project cost with ceiling limit of Rs.75 crore.

SAHKARPRAGYA INITIATIVE:

LAUNCHED ON:

The Sahakar Pragya Initiative was launched  on the 24th of November, 2020 by The Union Agriculture Minister, Narendra Singh Tomar .

National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC) has launched this initiative with a mission to assist in the capacity development of the cooperative sector within the geographical boundaries of India via effective and innovation-based training programmes.

Ministry involved:

Ministry Of Co-Operation

Minister of co-operation – Amit Shah

Sahkar pragya scheme is formulated by national cooperative development corporation  (NCDC).

NCDC was under the administration control of the ministry of Agriculture and Farmers welfare at time of launch; but now NCDC IS UNDER the new ministery named Ministry of co-operation  which was formed during the cabinet expansion happened in July 2021

Objectives:

To impart knowledge, along with organizational skills, through the training modules under this initiative

To strengthen the farmers and the agriculture industry

To educate the farmers about the way of risk reduction in agricultural activities

To make the farmers self-reliant

Need of the scheme:

As around 94% of farmers in India belong to one or other Cooperative society, the Cooperative sector has played a vital role in providing assistance to farmers in several ways. Sahakar Pragya is of utmost importance in spurring the Cooperative sector to increase awareness among the rural population and minimize the scope of risks.

Laxmanrao Inamdar National Cooperative Research & Development Academy (LINAC):

LINAC (Expanded as Laxmanrao Inamdar National Cooperative Research & Development Academy) is a training institution owned by National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC).

This organization was established in the year 1985.

The academy strives to enhance its programmes as well as interventions with a robust client-orientation along with inter-disciplinary perspective.

The purpose of this academy is to boost institutional capabilities as well as human resources in cooperatives.

The core objective is business and entrepreneurship advancement in the sphere of cooperative societies.

Functions of  NCDC:

Planning, promoting and financing programmes for production, processing, marketing, storage, export and import of agricultural produce, food stuffs, certain other notified commodities e.g. fertilisers, insecticides, agricultural machinery, lac, soap, kerosene oil, textile, rubber etc., supply of consumer goods and collection, processing, marketing, storage and export of minor forest produce through cooperatives, besides income generating stream of activities such as poultry, dairy, fishery, sericulture, handloom etc.

NCDC Act has been further amended which will broad base the area of operation of the Corporation to assist different types of cooperatives and to expand its financial base. NCDC will now be able to finance projects in the rural industrial cooperative sectors and for certain notified services in rural areas like water conservation, irrigation and micro irrigation, agri-insurance, agro-credit, rural sanitation, animal health, etc.

Loans and grants are advanced to State Governments for financing primary and secondary level cooperative societies and direct to the national level and other societies having objects extending beyond one State. Now, the Corporation can also go in for direct funding of projects under its various schemes of assistance on fulfillment of stipulated conditions.

Important points :

The 45 new training modules of Sahakar Pragya Initiative of the NCDC (Expanded as National Cooperative Development Corporation) will impart meaningful and value-rich training to primary cooperative societies in rural parts of the nation as well as Lakshmanrao Inamdar National Cooperative Research & Development Academy (Linac).

The cooperative society plays a significant role in ushering poor farmers of the villages on the path of becoming Atmanirbhar. India is known for having a vast network of more than 8.50 lakh cooperative societies with around 290 million members.

In addition to this, about 94% of the farmers in India are part of at least one cooperative society Cooperatives support the farmers in lessening risks associated with agriculture & allied sectors. Besides this, cooperative societies act as a shield against exploitation by unethical traders.

Under this initiative, 18 regional training centers have been inaugurated for primary cooperatives.

Daily CA on Jan 22 :

• TCIL, a Mini Ratna Status Company under the Department of Telecommunications, Ministry of Communications, with support of SDMC launched first e-vehicle charging station in South Delhi.
• Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana – National Rural Livelihood Mission (DAY-NRLM) has observed ‘Agri Nutri Garden Week’ from 10th to 17th January, 2022 through awareness campaign and encouraging establishment of ‘Agri Nutri Gardens’ in the rural households.
• Minister of state for Defence Ajay Bhatt has inaugurated an interactive Virtual Museum hosted by the Gallantry Awards portal.
• India and Sri Lanka have extended the existing Science and Technology cooperation for three more years, with focus on new areas like waste-water technologies, sustainable agriculture, aerospace engineering, robotics and artificial intelligence.
• Karnataka minister for Electronics, IT, BT and Higher Education C N Aswatha Nayarana launched the AVGC Center of Excellence in
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the newly built Circuit House building near Somnath Temple in Gujarat.
• ICRA has revised the assets under management (AUM) growth outlook of retail non-banking finance companies for the current fiscal to 5-7 per cent from 8-10 per cent in view of the muted first-half performance.
• Indian Energy Exchange (IEX) announced divestment of 4.93 percent of its equity stake in Indian Gas Exchange (IGX) to oil major Indian Oil Corporation.
• India successfully test-fired supersonic cruise missile BrahMos off the Odisha coast in Balasore.
• A new species of rain frog Pristimantis gretathunbergae, or popularly known as the Greta Thunberg Rainfrog discovered by scientists in the Panama jungle has been named after Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg.
• Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari released the book ‘The Legend of Birsa Munda’ authored by Tuhin A Sinha and Ankita Verma at Raj Bhavan, Mumbai.
• Sania Mirza, India’s most popular female tennis player, announced that she will retire from the sport after the 2022 season.
• The International Cricket Council (ICC) named Smriti Mandhana as the Women’s T20I Team of the Year (2021).
• ‘Collarwali’, one of India’s most popular tigresses in the wild, Passed away at the Pench Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh.
• Prof M K Prasad, renowned environmentalist, botanist, and educator, who successfully spearheaded the Save Silent Valley movement in the 1970s, passed away at the age of 89.