Daily Current Affairs February 16 2022

 

CURRENT AFFAIRS: NATIONAL NEWS

PM to deliver inaugural address at TERI’s World Sustainable Development Summit:

• Prime Minister, Narendra Modi will deliver the inaugural address at the Energy and Resources Institute’s (TERI) World Sustainable Development Summit via video message.
• The summit is TERI’s annual flagship event and the theme for this year is ‘Towards a Resilient Planet: Ensuring a Sustainable and Equitable Future.
• It will discuss a wide range of issues including climate change, sustainable production, energy transitions, global commons and resource security.
• The three-day summit will be attended by President of Dominican Republic, Luis Abinader, President of Guyana, Irfaan Ali, Deputy Secretary-General of United Nations, Amina J Mohammed, heads of various intergovernmental organisations and Ministers and Envoys from more than a dozen countries and delegates from over 120 countries.

Punaura Dham included under PRASHAD Scheme of the Ministry of Tourism: Shri G. Kishan Reddy:

• Ministry of Tourism has included Punaura Dham in the Ramayana circuit of Swadesh Darshan Scheme.
• The destination of Punaura Dham has been recently included under PRASHAD Scheme of the Ministry of Tourism.
• The Punaura Dham has been included under the PRASHAD Scheme (Pilgrimage Rejuvenation And Spiritual, Heritage Augmentation Drive) of the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India.
• This was proposed by the State government of Bihar.
• PRASAD scheme (Pilgrimage Rejuvenation And Spiritual Augmentation Drive) was launched in 2014-2015 under the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India.
• The name of the scheme was changed from PRASAD to “National Mission on Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spiritual, Heritage Augmentation Drive (PRASHAD)” in October 2017.

WHO Report-COVID-19 Medical Waste Poses Threat to Environment & Health:

• The World Health Organization (WHO) warned that the huge amount of medical waste produced as a result of tackling the COVID-19 pandemic poses a threat to human and environmental health.
• The extra waste is threatening human and environmental health and exposing a dire need to improve waste management
• As countries tried to get personal protective equipment (PPE) to cope with the crisis, it appears not much attention is given to disposing off COVID-19 health care waste safely and sustainably, according to WHO.
• The report looked at the 5 billion units approximately 87,000 tons of PPE procured between March 2020 and November 2021 through the UN system.
• According to the report, most of the equipment ended up as waste.

Camp for free Assistive Devices distribution organized for Divyangjan and Senior Citizens in Tikamgarh:

• 1571 Divyangjan and Senior Citizens got free of cost Assistive Devices in a distribution camp organized in Tikamgarh, MP
• Indigenously developed “Sugamya” Cane for Visually Impaired and ‘Swavlamban Kendra Container’ for skill development training and repairing centre launched at Tikamgarh, Madhya Pradesh.
• Tikamgarh (M.P) Camp for distribution of aids and assistive devices to ‘Divyangjan’ under the ADIP Scheme and to Senior citizens under ‘Rashtriya Vayoshri Yojana’ (RVY Scheme) of the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Government of India was organized by the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (DEPwD) in association with ALIMCO

Government bans 54 Chinese apps posing threat to national security:

• Government has banned 54 Chinese apps posing threat to national security.
• Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has issued the list of banned apps.
• These include Beauty Camera: Sweet Selfie HD, Beauty Camera – Selfie Camera, Equalizer & Bass Booster, CamCard for SalesForce Ent, Isoland 2: Ashes of Time Lite, Viva Video Editor, Tencent Xriver, Onmyoji Chess, Onmyoji Arena, AppLock and Dual Space Lite to name a few.
• The list of 54 apps includes some of those that been had been banned by the government earlier but were rebranded and relaunched under new names.
• Upon official confirmation and after establishing the country of origin, orders have once again been issued to ban the apps.
• Several of these apps have been known to either run malicious software or directly send user information to China-based data centres without user consent.

NHA announces integration of Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission with Aarogya Setu app:

• The National Health Authority has announced the integration of its flagship Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission with the Aarogya Setu app, allowing users to create the 14-digit unique Ayushman Bharat Health Account numbers from the app.
• This integration takes the benefits of the Ayushman Bharat Health Account (ABHA) number to the Aarogya Setu user base.
• People can use their ABHA number to link their existing and new medical records, including doctor prescriptions, lab reports, hospital records and also share those with health professionals and health service providers.

CURRENT AFFAIRS : INTERNATIONAL NEWS

American cybersecurity firm SentinelOne released a report on ModifiedElephant

• American cybersecurity firm SentinelOne has released a report on ModifiedElephant, a hacking group that allegedly planted incriminating evidence on the personal devices of Indian journalists, human rights activists, human rights defenders, academics and lawyers.
• ModifiedElephant maliciously targeted specific groups and individuals, including the activists arrested in the Bhima Koregaon case of 2018.
• It operators have been infecting their targets using spear phishing emails with malicious file attachments over the last decade, with their techniques getting more sophisticated over time.
• Spear Phishing refers to the practice of sending emails to targets that look like they are coming from a trusted source to either reveal important information or install different kinds of malware on their computer systems.
• According to SentinelOne, NetWire and DarkComet, two publicly-available remote access trojans (RATs), were the primary malware families deployed by ModifiedElephant.

NetWire :

• NetWire is a RAT focused on password stealing, keylogging and remote control capabilities.
• It has been in use since 2012 and was typically distributed through social engineering campaigns.
• Its distribution as a second payload using Microsoft Word documents is a fairly recent phenomenon.

DarkComet :

• DarkComet is another RAT that can take control of a user’s system using a convenient graphical user interface.
• It was initially developed in 2008 by French infosec programmer Jean-Pierre Lesueur .
• It can be used to spy on victims using screen captures, key-logging, or password stealing.

About SentinelOne :

• Founded: 1 January 2013
• Headquarters: California, United States
• CEO : Tomer Weingarten
• Founder : Ehud Shamir, Tomer, Weingarten, Almog Cohen

Israel Becomes 1st Country Allowing Drones Flight In Civilian Airspace

• Israel’s Ministry of Transport and Road Safety has announced the country’s first certification for unmanned aircraft vehicles (UAVs) to operate in civilian airspace.
• The certification was issued by the Israeli Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to the Hermes Starliner unmanned system, which was developed and manufactured by Elbit Systems, an Israeli defense electronics company.
• The Hermes Starliner, which has a wingspan of 17 meters and weighs 1.6 ton, can fly for up to 36 hours at an altitude of about 7,600 meters, and can carry an additional 450 kg of electro-optical, thermal, radar and other payloads.
• It will be able to participate in border security and anti-terror operations, take part in securing mass public events, perform maritime search and rescue, commercial aviation and environmental inspection missions, as well as precision agriculture work.
• The CAA has supervised the design and manufacturing of the Hermes Starliner and led a rigorous six-year certification process that included extensive ground and flight tests.
• For safety reasons, international aviation regulations prohibit uncertified aircraft from flying in civilian airspace, limiting the operation of UAVs to non segregated airspace.

About Israel :

• President: Isaac Herzog
• Prime minister: Naftali Bennett
• Capital: Jerusalem
• Currency: Israeli Shekel

CURRENT AFFAIRS : BANKING & SERVICES

CBI finds ABG Shipyard in Rs 22,842 crore bank fraud

• ABG Shipyard Limited, one of India’s largest private sector shipyard firms, has been booked by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for defrauding 28 banks to the tune of Rs 22,842 crore.
• It is one of the biggest bank fraud (bigger than Punjab National Bank scam involving Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi) cases which the CBI will be investigating.
• ABG shipyard owes Rs 2,925 crore to SBI, Rs 7,089 crore to ICICI Bank, Rs 3,634 crore to IDBI Bank, Rs 1,614 crore to Bank of Baroda, Rs 1,244 to PNB and Rs 1,228 crore to Indian Overseas Bank.
• The Forensic Audit has shown that between 2012-17, the accused colluded together and committed illegal activities including diversion of funds, misappropriation and criminal breach of trust.

About CBI :

• Founded: 1 April 1963
• Headquarters: New Delhi, Delhi, India
• Director General : Subodh Kumar Jaiswal
• Motto : Industry, Impartiality, Integrity
• It operates under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, Government of India.
• The agency has been known to investigate several economic crimes, special crimes, cases of corruption and other cases.

About ABG Shipyard :

• Founded : 1985
• Headquarters : Mumbai, Maharashtra
• Chairman : Rishi Agarwal
• MD : Ram Swaroop Nakra
• Vice President : DP Gupta, Subas Gantayat
• ABG Shipyard is the flagship entity of ABG Group.
• ABG Shipyard Limited (ABGSL), shipyards has capacity to build vessels up to 18,000 deadweight tonnage (DWT) at Surat Shipyard and 1,20,000 deadweight tonnage (DWT) at Dahej Shipyard.

Yes Bank launches Agri Infinity program         

• YES BANK announced the launch of an annual startup enabler program, YES BANK Agri Infinity, which seeks to co-develop digital financial solutions for the food and agriculture ecosystem by mentoring entrepreneurial ventures in the field.

About YES BANK Agri Infinity Program :

• Agri-fintech startups working on financial innovations across the food and agriculture value chain: could include origination, farmer on-boarding, farmer KYC, credit scoring, risk assessment, monitoring and mitigation, disbursement & recovery solutions and cash management systems among others
• Food and agritech start-ups
• Pivoting into agri-fintech and exploring the opportunity of adding a financing layer to their core proposition
• Looking at prototyping and rolling out modern digital cash management and transaction banking solutions across the food & agriculture value chain
• The program will last up to six months, based on the maturity and readiness of the solution.
• It will culminate in a demo day that will explore the potential for partnered engagements for scale-up.

Key Benefits :

• Access to YES BANK’s digital banking infrastructure and robust customer network
• Mentoring by senior banking professionals on credit scoring models, risk assessment and risk mitigation
• Opportunity to work with bankers to design and prototype innovative digital financial solutions
• Project partnership – Opportunity to partner for piloting new innovative solutions
• Analysis of startup’s current digital financial solutions
• Equity infusion in select startups with matching value propositions

About Yes Bank :

• Chairman : Sunil Mehta
• MD & CEO: Prashant Kumar
• Headquarters: Mumbai, Maharashtra
• Founded: 2004
• Founders : Rana Kapoor, Ashok Kapur

CURRENT AFFAIRS : APPOINTMENTS & RESIGNATIONS

Ravi Chopra Resigns as Chairman of Supreme Court appointed Char Dham Panel

• Environmentalist Ravi Chopra has resigned as chairman of the Supreme Court-appointed High Powered Committee (HPC) for the Char Dham project.
• In 2019, Chopra was appointed as chairman of the Supreme Court’s High Powered Committee (HPC) to oversee an all-weather road widening project in Char Dham circuit.

About Char Dham Road Project :

• The Char Dham Road Project aims to widen roads up to 10 meters in order to improve accessibility.
• The strategic 900-km-long Char Dham project worth ₹12,000 crore aims to provide all-weather connectivity to four holy towns : Yamunotri, Gangotri, Kedarnath and Badrinath in Uttarakhand.

Tata Sons appoints Ilker Ayci as CEO, MD of Air India

• On Feb 14, 2022, Tata Sons appointed Ilker Ayci as Chief executive officer (CEO) and Managing Director (MD) of Air India & he will assume his responsibilities on or before April 1, 2022.

About Ilker Ayci :

• Ayci was born in Istanbul in 1971.
• He is a 1994 alumni of Bilkent University’s Department of Political Science and Public Administration.
• He carried out a research stay in political science at the Leeds University in the UK in 1995, he completed a Master’s program in International Relations at the Marmara University in Istanbul in 1997.
• In January 2011, he was appointed as the President of the Prime Ministry Investment Support and Promotion Agency of Turkey.
• In February 2013, Aycı was appointed as the vice president of the World Association of Investment Promotion Agencies, and was promoted in 2014 to be the chairman.

Awards & Honors :

• In 2021 he was honored with the Order of the Rising Sun, 3rd Class, Gold Rays with Neck Ribbon.

About Tata Sons :

• Founded: 1868
• Headquarters: Mumbai, Maharashtra
• Group Chairman : Natarajan Chandrasekaran
• Founders: Tata Group, Jamsetji Tata

About Air India :

• Founder: J. R. D. Tata
• Founded: 1932
• Headquarters: New Delhi, Delhi, India
• It is owned by Talace Private Limited, a Special-Purpose Vehicle (SPV) of Tata Sons, after Air India Limited’s former owner, the Government of India.

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier re-elected for second term

• German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier was re-elected for a second term of next five years (2022-2027) by a special parliamentary assembly.
• The president was elected with a big majority by a special assembly made up of the members of parliament’s lower house and representatives of Germany’s 16 states.

About Frank-Walter Steinmeier :

• Frank-Walter Steinmeier serving as President of Germany since 19 March 2017.
• Before first becoming president in 2017, Steinmeier, 66, served two stints as Chancellor Angela Merkel’s foreign minister and earlier was chief of staff to Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder.
• He served as Chief of Staff of the Chancellery from 1999 to 2005.
• Previously, he was Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2005 to 2009 and again from 2013 to 2017, as well as Vice-Chancellor of Germany from 2007 to 2009.
• Steinmeier was chairman-in-office of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in 2016.

About Germany :

• Chancellor: Olaf Scholz
• Capital: Berlin
• Currency: Euro

CURRENT AFFAIRS : MOU & AGREEMENTS

India signs MoU to hand over wheat to WFP in Kandahar, Afghanistan

• India signed an agreement with the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) for the distribution of 50,000 MT of wheat that it has committed to sending to Afghanistan as part of a humanitarian assistance.
• As per the MoU, the wheat will be taken through Pakistan to the Afghan border crossing and handed over to WFP officials in Kandahar beginning February 22.
• The wheat will eventually be divided into five batches of 10,000 MT, to be distributed across the country on approximately 200 trucks that are run by WFP.

About WFP :

• Headquarters: Rome, Italy
• Head : David Beasley
• The World Food Programme (WFP) is the food-assistance branch of the United Nations.
• It is the world’s largest humanitarian organization focused on hunger and food security,and the largest provider of school meals.
• It was founded in 1961 by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).
• The WFP was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2020 for its efforts to provide food assistance in areas of conflict, and to prevent the use of food as a weapon of war and conflict.

About Afghanistan :

• Capital: Kabul
• Currency: Afghan afghani
• PM : Hasan Akhund

NSDC collaborates with CSC for delivery of services to accelerate skill development in Rural areas

• National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Common Services Centers to collaborate for the delivery of services related to various skill development programmes to youth in rural and remote areas of the country.

About the Partnership :

• Under the partnership, CSCs at the village level will act as a Skill Desk, creating awareness about the various available skill development programmes.
• Registrations of the candidates will be carried out under the available programme for skill development training, along with the Aadhaar seeding of candidates and certificate distribution.
• Through CSC, NSDC will be able to identify skill seekers at the grassroots level and connect them with the right skilling opportunities in the ecosystem.
• The association with NSDC will be pathbreaking as it will allow the Village Level Entrepreneurs managing the CSCs to identify the candidates, help them in registration, link them with training providers.

About NSDC :

• Founded : 2008
• Headquarters : New Delhi, Delhi, India
• Chairman : A M Naik
• Chief Operating Officer : Ved Mani Tiwari
• National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) is a not-for-profit public limited company under section 25 of the Companies Act, 1956.
• It was set up by the Ministry of Finance as a Public Private Partnership (PPP)
• The Government of India through the Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship (MSDE) holds 49% of the share capital of NSDC, while the private sector has the balance 51% of the share capital.

About CSC :

• Founded : 16 July 2009
• Headquarters : New Delhi, India
• Chairman : Ajay Prakash Sawhney
• MD : Dr. Dinesh Kumar Tyagi
• CEO : Sanjay Kumar Rakesh
• Common Service Centres scheme is one of the mission-mode projects under the Digital India Programme.
• These centres serve as the access points for delivery of essential public utility services, social welfare schemes, as well as healthcare, financial, education and agriculture services, in addition to a host of B2C (business-to-consumer) services to citizens in rural and remote areas of the country.

CURRENT AFFAIRS : DEFENCE NEWS

India to Showcase Tejas Light Combat Aircraft at Singapore Airshow  

• India will showcase its indigenously developed Tejas light combat aircraft (LCA) at the four-day Singapore Air Show.
• The defence ministry stated a 44-member contingent of the Indian Air Force (IAF) reached Singapore to participate in the air show to be held from February 15 to 18.

About Tejas :

• The Tejas aircraft will be enthralling the audience with its display of low-level aerobatics displaying its superior handling characteristics and manoeuvrability.
• The participation of Indian Air Force in the air show provides India with the opportunity to showcase the Tejas aircraft and to interact with counterparts from Royal Singapore Air Force and other participating contingents

About Singapore Air Show :

• Singapore Air Show is a biennial event that provides a platform for the global aviation industry to showcase their products.

About Ministry of Defence :

• Defence Minister : Rajnath Singh
• Minister of State : Ajay Bhatt

About IAF :

• Founded: 8 October 1932
• Headquarters: New Delhi, Delhi, India
• Commander-in-Chief: President Ram Nath Kovind
• Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee : General Manoj Mukund Naravane
• Chief of the Air Staff : Air Chief Marshal Vivek Ram Chaudhari
• Vice Chief of the Air Staff : Air Marshal Sandeep Singh
• Deputy Chief of the Air Staff : Air Marshal Narmdeshwar Tiwari

CURRENT AFFAIRS : SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Reliance Jio SES form joint venture for offering satellite-based broadband service                                          

• Reliance Jio has partnered with SES, a Luxembourg-based satellite solutions provider to form a new initiative Jio Space Technology Limited.

Aim :

• To deliver the next generation scalable and affordable broadband services in India by making use of satellite technology.
• Jio and SES will own 51 percent and 49 percent each in the equity stake.
• It will use multi-orbit space networks, that is, a combination of geostationary (GEO) and medium earth orbit (MEO) satellite constellations capable of delivering multi-gigabit links and capacity to companies.
• The joint venture has entered into a multi-year capacity purchase agreement, based on certain milestones along with gateways and equipment purchase with total contract value of $100 million.
• It will leverage SES-12, SES’s high-throughput GEO satellite serving India, and O3b mPOWER, SES’s next-generation MEO constellation, to extend and complement Jio’s terrestrial network, increasing access to digital services and applications.
• With additional coverage and capacity offered by satellite communications services, Jio will be able to connect the remotest towns and villages, enterprises, government establishments, and consumers to the new Digital India.

About Reliance Jio :

• Founded: 2007, Ahmedabad
• Chairman & Founder: Mukesh Ambani
• Managing Director : Sandip Das
• Headquarters : Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

About SES :

• Founded: 1985
• Headquarters: Betzdorf, Luxembourg
• Chairman : Frank Esser
• CEO : Steve Collar

ISRO successfully launches Earth Observation Satellite with 2 co-passengers on PSLV-C52    

• The Indian Space Research Organization (Isro) successfully launched its earth observation satellite EOS-4 and two co-passenger technology demonstrator and scientific satellites from the first launch pad at the country’s only spaceport in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh.
• Three satellites namely EOS-04, INSPIREsat-1 and INST-2TD were injected successfully into a sun-synchronous polar orbit of 529 km.
• The PSLV-C52 launch was the 80th launch vehicle mission from SDSC SHAR, Sriharikota, 54th flight of PSLV and the 23rd flight of PSLV in XL configuration (6 strap-on motors).

About the Satellite :

• The Satellite weighs around 1710 kg and generates 2280 W power and has a mission life of 10 years.
• It is a radar imaging satellite capable of providing high-quality images under all weather conditions.
• It can be used to capture images for agriculture, forestry, flood mapping, soil moisture and
• The spacecraft will collect observation data in C-Band completing the observations done by Resourcesat, Cartosat, and RISAT-2B series.
• The vehicle also placed two small satellites a student satellite (INSPIREsat-1) from Indian Institute of Space Science & Technology (IIST) in association with the Laboratory of Atmospheric & Space Physics at University of Colorado, Boulder and a technology demonstrator satellite (INS-2TD) from ISRO, which is a precursor to India-Bhutan Joint Satellite (INS-2B).

About INSPIREsat-1 :

• The1-kilogram student satellite is dubbed INSPIRESat-1 & Its operational lifetime is set for a year.
• The satellite will aim at improving our understanding of the ionosphere dynamics and the sun’s coronal heating process.

About INS-2DT :

• It has a thermal imaging camera and can help in the assessment of land and water surface temperatures apart from mapping vegetation.

Note :

• Isro chief S Somnath had earlier stated that the agency conducted five major satellite launches in the coming three months and a total of 19 missions in 2022.

About ISRO :

• Formed : 15 August 1969
• Headquarters: Bengaluru, Karnataka
• Chairman : S. Somanath

CURRENT AFFAIRS: ACQUISITION AND MERGERS

Bank of Baroda to acquire Union Bank’s stake in IndiaFirst Life Insurance:

• Bank of Baroda will acquire Union Bank of India’s 21% stake in India First Life Insurance Company, a joint venture between Bank of Baroda, Union Bank of India and Carmel Point Investments.
• ‘Right of First Offer’ (ROFO) made by Union Bank of India (UBI) to the existing shareholders of India First Life Insurance Company to divest 21% of its stake in the life insurance company and on completion of related processes under the shareholders agreement (SHA) and further.
• IndiaFirst Life Insurance Company will continue to have long term agency distribution agreement with both banks (BOB and UBI), even after this stake sale.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: BUSINESS NEWS

Axis Bank set to buy Citigroup India retail banking business:

• Axis Bank Ltd. is nearing a deal to buy Citigroup Inc.’s India retail banking business in a transaction that could be valued at about $2.5 billion.
• An agreement for the consumer unit may be announced as soon as the next few weeks and is contingent on approval from the Reserve Bank of India, asking not to be identified as the information is private.
• The deal would include a cash component of less than $2 billion

CURRENT AFFAIRS: ENVIRONMENT

CMFRI Identifies New Carangid Species ‘Scomberoides pelagicus’ From Indian Coast:

• The Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI) has identified a new carangid (Vatta) species from the Indian coast.
• It belongs to the ‘queen fish’ group and is named scomberoides pelagicus’ The fish is locally known as pola vatta.
• The CMFRI confirmed it as a new species after detailed taxonomic and genetic analysis.
• The new fish is distinct by deep ovate body, concave dorsal head profile and stout and less numerous gill rakers on the first gill arch compared to the closely related species

CURRENT AFFAIRS: SPORTS NEWS

Rishabh Pant won ESPNcricinfo ‘Test Batting Award’ 2021:

• India’s dashing keeper-batter Rishabh Pant won top Test batting prize for his series-winning knock of 89 against Australia in Brisbane last year while New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson was adjudged ‘Captain of the Year’ at the 15th Edition ESPN cricinfo awards.
• The Test bowling award went to Kyle Jamieson for his 5 for 31, which helped New Zealand become the first World Test champions.
• Williamson, who was up against Virat Kohli, Babar Azam and Aaron Finch for the award, won it for leading his side to the World Test Championship win and a runners-up place at the T20 World Cup

Odisha Open 2022: Unnati Hooda Becomes Youngest Women’s Singles Title; Kiran George won Men’s Singles Title

• Teenager Unnati Hooda became the youngest Indian to win a Super 100 tournament as she beat compatriot Smit Toshniwal in straight games to claim the women’s singles title while unseeded Kiran George emerged triumphant in men’s singles final of the $75,000 Odisha Open badminton tournament.
• The 21-year-old George prevailed over Priyanshu Rajawat 21-15 14-21 21-18 to clinch the men’s singles title after battling hard for 58 minutes.
• Before that, the 14-year-old Unnati produced an excellent performance to emerge triumphant in her event.
• Unnati won 21-18 21-11 to be crowned the Odisha Open champion for the first time.

2028 Los Angeles Olympics: IOC approves 28 sports:

• The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has sanctioned the initial sports program for the 2028 Summer Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
• At least 28 sports have been approved for the program, including skateboarding, sport climbing, sailing and surfing.
• The decision was made during the 139th Session of the IOC in Beijing.
• While inclusion in the ‘core’ sport turns out to be a huge positive, doubts still prevail over the inclusion of boxing and weightlifting.
• The 28 sports included in the initial sports program are athletics, rowing, badminton, basketball, canoe and kayaking, cycling, equestrian, fencing, football, golf and gymnastics.
• Handball, hockey, shooting, archery, triathlon, sailing, volleyball, surfing, skating, judo, wrestling, swimming, rugby, taekwondo, tennis, table tennis, and sport climbing are the rest of the sports.
• Earlier, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) had given boxing and weightlifting 18 months to get a grip on internal problems.

Mithali Raj secured Second Rank in ICC Women’s ODI Batting Rankings:

• Mithali Raj has reached the 2 spot in the latest Women’s ODI Batting Rankings released by ICC, ahead of the upcoming ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2022.
• Mithali Raj has a total of 738 points to her credit and sits second to Australian player Alyssa Healy with 750 points.
• Alongside Mithali, opener Smirti Mandhana is the only other Indian player to find herself in the top 10 rankings.
• As per the latest rankings, Mandhana sits sixth on the list with a total of 710 points to her credit.
• Mandhana was recently awarded the ICC Women’s Cricketer of the Year 2021 for her brilliant performances for the Women in Blue across all formats.

China defends choice of PLA Galwan commander as Olympics torchbearer:

• China defended choosing a People’s Liberation Army (PLA) regiment commander who fought in the Galwan clash as an Olympics torchbearer, a move that led India to carry out a diplomatic boycott of the games in Beijing.
• Qi Fabao, who was regiment commander and later received military honours after sustaining a head injuryin the June 15, 2020 clash, was among the 1,200 torchbearers who took part in last week’s relay, two days before the opening of the Winter Olympic Games on February 4.

New Zealand’s Daryl Mitchell wins ICC’s Spirit of Cricket award:

• New Zealand’s Daryl Mitchell was named the recipient of 2021’s ICC ‘Spirit of Cricket’ award for not taking an easy single during the T20 World Cup semifinal against England as he felt he had “obstructed” the way of bowler Adil Rashid in that moment.
• Mitchell won the award for his gesture during the game in Abu Dhabi on November 10 last year, which New Zealand won by five wickets.
• Mitchell is the fourth New Zealand player to win the award, following in the footsteps of Daniel Vettori, Brendon McCullum and Kane Williamson.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: BOOKS AND AUTHOR

A book titled,  India, That is Bharat: Coloniality, Civilisation, Constitution’ authors by J Sai Deepak:

• A Trilogy book series titled, India, that is Bharat: Coloniality, Civilisation, Constitution’ is authored by J Sai Deepak and published by Bloomsbury India.
• The 1st part was released on 15th August 2021, is set to launch the 2nd part in June 2022.
• Whereas, the 3rd and last parts will be released in June 2023.
• It highlights how colonialism changes the socio-religious culture, history, education, language and racial patterns in India.
• Further, this work also traces the origins of seemingly universal constructs such as ‘toleration’, ‘secularism’ and ‘humanism’ to Christian political theology.
• It also puts forth the concept of Middle Eastern coloniality, which preceded its European variant and allies with it in the context of Bharat to advance their shared antipathy towards the Indic worldview.

A book titled  How to Prevent the Next Pandemic by Bill Gates:

• A book titled ‘How to Prevent the Next Pandemic’ has authored by Bill Gates will be published this year in May 3^rd, 2022.
• The book, to be published by Penguin Random House internationally and Knopf in the US
• In the book Bill Gates has written about specific steps that can only stop future pandemics but, in the process, provide better health care for everyone around the world.
• A new book by Bill Gates that lays out a clear plan to prevent future pandemics
• The COVID-19 pandemic isn’t over.
• But even as governments around the world try to get it under control, they are also starting to talk about what happens next.
• His last book, “How to Avoid a Climate Disaster: The Solutions We Have and the Breakthroughs We Need”, was released in February 2021.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: OBITUARIES

Former Greek president Christos Sartzetakis dies at age 92:

• Former Greek President Christos Sartzetakis, a judge widely respected for resisting pressure from military dictators who ultimately imprisoned him without trial in the late 1960s, has died.
• He was 92.
• Sartzetakis had been hospitalized in the intensive care unit of Athens’ Laiko hospital and died of respiratory failure
• Born in April 1929, Sartzetakis held the largely ceremonial post of president of Greece from 1985-1990, a politically tumultuous time in the country.
• He was nominated as president by the socialist PASOK party in 1985, and served in that position until May 1990.

On Daily CA Feb 16^th:

• Prime Minister, Narendra Modi will deliver the inaugural address at the Energy and Resources Institutes (TERI) World Sustainable Development Summit via video message.
• Ministry of Tourism has included Punaura Dham in the Ramayana circuit of Swadesh Darshan Scheme.
• The World Health Organization (WHO) warned that the huge amount of medical waste produced as a result of tackling the COVID-19 pandemic poses a threat to human and environmental health.
• 1571 Divyangjan and Senior Citizens got free of cost Assistive Devices in a distribution camp organized in Tikamgarh, MP
• Government has banned 54 Chinese apps posing threat to national security.
• The National Health Authority has announced the integration of its flagship Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission with the Aarogya Setu app, allowing users to create the 14-digit unique Ayushman Bharat Health Account numbers from the app.

• American cybersecurity firm SentinelOne has released a report on ModifiedElephant, a hacking group that allegedly planted incriminating evidence on the personal devices of Indian journalists, human rights activists, human rights defenders, academics and lawyers.
• Israel’s Ministry of Transport and Road Safety has announced the country’s first certification for unmanned aircraft vehicles (UAVs) to operate in civilian airspace.

• ABG Shipyard Limited, one of India’s largest private sector shipyard firms, has been booked by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for defrauding 28 banks to the tune of Rs 22,842 crore.

• YES BANK announced the launch of an annual startup enabler program, YES BANK Agri Infinity, which seeks to co-develop digital financial solutions for the food and agriculture ecosystem by mentoring entrepreneurial ventures in the field.
• Environmentalist Ravi Chopra has resigned as chairman of the Supreme Court-appointed High Powered Committee (HPC) for the Char Dham project.
• On Feb 14, 2022, Tata Sons appointed Ilker Ayci as Chief executive officer (CEO) and Managing Director (MD) of Air India & he will assume his responsibilities on or before April 1, 2022.
• German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier was re-elected for a second term of next five years (2022-2027) by a special parliamentary assembly.
• India signed an agreement with the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) for the distribution of 50,000 MT of wheat that it has committed to sending to Afghanistan as part of a humanitarian assistance.
• National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Common Services Centers to collaborate for the delivery of services related to various skill development programmes to youth in rural and remote areas of the country.
• India will showcase its indigenously developed Tejas light combat aircraft (LCA) at the four-day Singapore Air Show & the defence ministry stated a 44-member contingent of the Indian Air Force (IAF) reached Singapore to participate in the air show to be held from February 15 to 18.
• Reliance Jio has partnered with SES, a Luxembourg-based satellite solutions provider to form a new initiative  Jio Space Technology Limited.

• The Indian Space Research Organization (Isro) successfully launched its earth observation satellite EOS-4 and two co-passenger technology demonstrator and scientific satellites from the first launch pad at the country’s only spaceport in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh.
• Bank of Baroda will acquire Union Bank of India’s 21% stake in IndiaFirst Life Insurance Company, a joint venture between Bank of Baroda, Union Bank of India and Carmel Point Investments.

• Axis Bank Ltd. is nearing a deal to buy Citigroup Inc.’s India retail banking business in a transaction that could be valued at about $2.5 billion.
• The Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI) has identified a new carangid (Vatta) species from the Indian coast.
• India’s dashing keeper-batter Rishabh Pant won top ‘Test batting’ prize for his series-winning knock of 89 against Australia in Brisbane last year while New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson was adjudged ‘Captain of the Year’ at the 15th Edition ESPN cricinfo awards.
• Teenager Unnati Hooda became the youngest Indian to win a Super 100 tournament as she beat compatriot Smit Toshniwal in straight games to claim the women’s singles title while unseeded Kiran George emerged triumphant in men’s singles final of the $75,000 Odisha Open badminton tournament.
• The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has sanctioned the initial sports program for the 2028 Summer Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
• Mithali Raj has reached the 2 spot in the latest Women’s ODI Batting Rankings released by ICC, ahead of the upcoming ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2022.
• China defended choosing a People’s Liberation Army (PLA) regiment commander who fought in the Galwan clash as an Olympics torchbearer, a move that led India to carry out a diplomatic boycott of the games in Beijing.
• New Zealand’s Daryl Mitchell was named the recipient of 2021’s ICC ‘Spirit of Cricket’ award for not taking an easy single during the T20 World Cup semifinal against England as he felt he had “obstructed” the way of bowler Adil Rashid in that moment.
• A Trilogy book series titled, ‘India, that is Bharat: Coloniality, Civilisation, Constitution’ is authored by J Sai Deepak and published by Bloomsbury India.
• A book titled ‘How to Prevent the Next Pandemic’ has authored by Bill Gates will be published this year in May 3^rd, 2022.
• Former Greek President Christos Sartzetakis, a judge widely respected for resisting pressure from military dictators who ultimately imprisoned him without trial in the late 1960s, has died.