Daily Current Affairs March 13 & 14, 2022

 

CURRENT AFFAIRS: NATIONAL NEWS

Ashwini Vaishnaw to inaugurate seminar on 25 Years of TRAI Act: The Way Forward for Stakeholders:

• Ashwini Vaishnaw, the union minister for Communications, Electronics & Information Technology and Railways, will inaugurate a seminar on “25 Years of TRAI Act: The Way Forward for Stakeholders (Telecom, Broadcasting, IT, AERA and Aadhaar)”.
• The seminar will be organised by Telecom Disputes Settlement & Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) to commemorate the 25 years long journey of Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) Act.
• The objective of the seminar is to enhance awareness regarding regulatory mechanism, including dispute resolution, amongst stakeholders in Telecom, Broadcasting, IT, Airport Infrastructure and Aadhaar Sectors.
• The subject would be deliberated by dignitaries from the Govt., Judiciary, representatives of various stakeholders, Sector Regulators, eminent lawyers etc…
• It is expected that these discussions would throw light on key areas, emerging trends and challenges thrown by fast changing technology concerning the sectors.

Union Ayush Minister Shri Sarbananda Sonowal inaugurates 25th Convocation of Rashtriya Ayurveda Vidyapeeth:

• Union Minister for Ayush Shri Sarbananda Sonobal has inaugurated the 25th Convocation of Rashtriya Ayurveda Vidyapeeth (RAV), an autonomous organisation under the Ministry of Ayush, where he urged the young Vaidyas to prepare themselves to bring the traditional medicine and knowledge on the world map and take India to a new height and help the mankind.
• The convocation of RAV held at New Delhi, which was presided over by the Secretary, Ministry of Ayush Vaidya Rajesh Kotecha and Vaidya Devinder Triguna.
• Sonowal honoured Vaidya Subhash Ranade and Vaidya Tarachand Sharma with the Lifetime Achievement Award 2021-22 for their outstanding contribution to the promotion of Ayurveda.
• He also honoured 12 Vaidyas with Fellow of RAV (FRAV).

Ministry of chemicals and fertilizers releases guidelines for the scheme “strengthening of pharmaceutical industry “:

• Department of Pharmaceuticals, Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers has released the guidelines for the scheme “Strengthening of Pharmaceutical Industry (SPI)”, with a total financial outlay of Rs.500 Cr for the period from FY 21-22 to FY 25-26.
• The scheme will address the rising demand in terms of support required to existing Pharma clusters and MSMEs across the country to improve their productivity, quality and sustainability
• The objectives of the scheme “Strengthening of Pharmaceutical Industry (SPI) are to strengthen the existing infrastructure facilities in order to make India a global leader in the Pharma Sector.
• Under the Scheme, financial assistance to pharma clusters will be provided for creation of Common Facilities.
• This will not only improve the quality but also ensure the sustainable growth of clusters.

Amit Shah addressed the 37th Foundation Day celebrations of National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) in New Delhi:

• Union Minister of Home Affairs and Minister of Cooperation, Shri Amit Shah attended the 37th Foundation Day celebrations of National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) as the Chief Guest in New Delhi.
• Amit Shah is the first Union Home Minister to attend a Foundation Day function of the NCRB.
• The NCRB is celebrating its 37th Raising Day.
• If any organization is in existence for 37 years, then it demonstrates its relevance and no matter which government was in power, the NCRB always received strength and encouragement due to its utility.

Giriraj Singh has launched SMS sending functionality to inform MPs/ MLAs about the commencement of drone flying in their constituency under SVAMITVA Scheme:

• Shri Giriraj Singh, Minister of Panchayati Raj & Rural Development launched the SMS functionality developed wherein SMS will be rolled out to Elected Representatives of respective State / UT informing about the commencement of drone flying in their respective constituency scheduled for survey under SVAMITVA scheme.
• The functionality will definitely provide important nudge to Elected Representatives and will help in timely implementation of the Scheme.
• The Minister also emphasized on the latest technology being used to implement the scheme. SVAMITVA scheme uses the combination of Survey Grade Drones and CORS (Continuously Operated Reference Stations) network to accurately survey large areas in a very short span of time.
• The maps generated through the drone survey are of very high accuracy i.e. up to 5 cms which the conventional methodology does not provide.

Atal Innovation Mission expanded to to encourage AR skills in youth:

• Atal Innovation Mission, NITI Aayog has announced their partnership with Snap Inc. to drive Augmented Reality (AR) skilling among the Indian youth.
• Snap Inc. is a global camera company and Snap’s camera plays a transformative role in how people experience the world around them, combining what they see in the real world, with all that’s available to them in the digital world.
• Snap Inc is expected to train over 12,000 teachers affiliated with the Atal Tinkering Labs on Augmented Reality, enabling the reach of the program to millions of students affiliated with ATL’s network of schools.
• Snap Inc. also announced a collaboration with the Atal Incubation Centers (AICs) to support the Indian start-up ecosystem with AR advertising bootcamps, Ad credits, and other opportunities.
• At AIM, we are committed to using our network of state-of-the-art Atal Tinkering Labs to encourage a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship.

CURRENT AFFAIRS : STATE NEWS

Lt. Governor of Puducherry Tamilisai Soundararajan inaugurates digitisation of health records of students

• Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan inaugurated digitisation of the health records of students starting from Classes I to XII of the Union Territory Puducherry.
• The software has been developed with the assistance of Axis Bank.
• Under the digitisation project, the Health Department will feed the personal details of all government school students into a portal to maintain their health records.
• The health care workers after visiting schools for medical screening will upload the health details of the students into the password-driven portal.
• The health details could be accessed by doctors, teachers and parents of students.
• Meanwhile, the Indira Gandhi Government General Hospital and Post Graduate Institute entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with Zaara Tech, Chennai, to digitise the medical records available with the hospital.
• The agreement was signed in the presence of Chief Minister N. Rangasamy, Secretary Udayakumar, Director of Health and Family Welfare Services and Medical Superintendent of GH S. Sevvel.

About Puducherry :

• Chief Minister : N. Rangaswamy
• Chief Secretary : Ashwani Kumar

CURRENT AFFAIRS : BANKING & FINANCE

India’s GDP growth estimated at 7.8% in FY2023 : CRISIL Report

• According to the ratings agency CRISIL, reiterated its December 2021 forecast of India’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth at 7.8% in fiscal 2023.
• CRISIL stated that average Consumer Price Index (CPI)-based inflation will stay firm at 5.4 percent next fiscal if the price of crude oil averages $85-90 per barrel.
• Analysts expect the higher price of crude oil to widen India’s current account deficit to 2.2% in the upcoming fiscal.
• A $10 increase in the price of crude oil increases the current account deficit to GDP ratio by about 40 basis points.

About CRISIL Ltd :

• Founded : 1987
• Headquarters : Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
• MD & CEO : Amish Mehta

Karnataka Bank partners with SELCO to finance solar energy products

• Karnataka Bank Ltd has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with SELCO Solar Light Pvt Ltd to provide energy access to the underserved population.

About the MoU :

• Under this collaborative initiative, Karnataka Bank provides financial support to individuals/ HUF/ Farmers/ Traders/Businessmen / Proprietorship concerns / Professionals / Salaried Persons/Institutions etc to purchase the solar energy products of SELCO Solar Light in India.

About Karnataka Bank :

• Founded : 18 February 1924
• Headquarters : Mangaluru, Karnataka, India
• Part-Time Non-Executive Chairman : P. Pradeep Kumar
• Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer : Mahabaleshwara M. S

About SELCO India :

• Founded : 1995
• Headquarters : Bangalore, Karnataka, India
• MD : Harish Hande

RBI directs Paytm Payments Bank to stop onboarding new customers               

• On March 11, 2022, The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) directed Paytm Payments Bank to stop onboarding of new customers with immediate effect.
• The RBI took the decision in exercise of its powers under section 35A of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949.
• The bank has also been directed to appoint an IT audit firm to conduct a comprehensive System Audit of its IT system.
• Onboarding of new customers by Paytm Payments Bank Ltd will be subject to specific permission to be granted by RBI after reviewing reports of the IT auditors.

About RBI :

• Established : 1 April 1935
• Headquarters : Mumbai, Maharashtra
• Governor : Shaktikanta Das
• Deputy Governors : Mahesh Kumar Jain, M. Rajeshwar Rao, Michael Patra and T. Ravi Shankar.

About Paytm Payments Bank :

• Founded : 2015
• Commenced Operations : May 23, 2017
• Headquarters : Noida, Uttar Pradesh
• CEO : Satish Kumar Gupta
• Chairman : Vijay Shekhar Sharma

CURRENT AFFAIRS : APPOINTMENTS & RESIGNATIONS

Government appoints Ajay Bhushan Pandey as chairman of the National Financial Reporting Authority (NFRA)                   

• The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has approved the appointment of former finance & revenue secretary Ajay Bhushan Pandey as the chairperson of National Financial Reporting Authority (NFRA) for a period of three years from the date of assumption of charge or till the incumbent attains the age of 65 years

About Ajay Bhushan Pandey :

• Ajay Bhushan Pandey is a 1984 batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer belonging to the Maharashtra
• He was Finance Secretary of India from 3 March 2020 – 28 February 2021.
• He was Revenue Secretary of India from 1 December 2018 – 28 February 2021.
• Prior to becoming revenue secretary, he was chief executive of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI).

Other Appointments :

• Former Deputy Comptroller and Auditor General, a retired Indian Audit and Accounts Service officer of 1985 batch Praveen Kumar Tiwari & Smita Jhingran (IRS 1986), Principal Director General at Central Board of Direct Taxes, as full time members of NFRA.

About NFRA :

• Establishment : 1 October 2018
• Chairperson : Ashok Kumar Gupta
• NFRA is an independent regulator set up to oversee the auditing profession and accounting standards in India under the Companies Act 2013.
• It has powers to review the financial statements of companies, can seek explanations and probe irregularities with respect to accounting and auditing issues.

Justice Vipin Sanghi appointed as Acting Chief Justice of Delhi High Court

• A notification issued by the Department of Justice in the Law Ministry & according to the Article 223 of the Constitution of India, Justice Vipin Sanghi has been appointed as the acting Chief Justice of Delhi High Court with effect from March 13.
• He will replace Chief Justice D.N. Patel.

About Justice Vipin Sanghi :

• Justice Sanghi was born on October 27, 1961, at Nagpur.
• Sanghi was appointed as a Central Government Panel Advocate during 1990-91.
• He was also appointed as Central Government Panel Lawyer in the Supreme Court of India.
• He also served as a Counsel for the MC Jain, Commission of Enquiry.
• He was appointed as an additional judge of the Delhi High Court on May 29, 2006 and was confirmed as a permanent judge on February 11, 2008.
• He was appointed as chief justice of the Delhi High Court on June 7, 2019.

Additional Info :

• Supreme Court judges retire at the age of 65 years, the retirement age for high court judges is 62.

Debashish Panda appointed as new Chairman of IRDAI

• The union government has appointed former financial services secretary Debasish Panda as chairman of IRDAI (Insurance Regulatory Development Authority of India).
• He has been appointed for 3 years.
• The post of Chairman of IRDAI was lying vacant since May 2021 when Subhash Chandra Khuntia completed his term.

About Debashish Panda :

• Panda is a 1987-batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of Uttar Pradesh cadre.
• He served as Secretary, Department of Financial Services in the Union Finance Ministry, till January 31 2022.

About IRDAI :

• Headquarters : Hyderabad, Telangana
• Chairperson : Devasish Panda
• The IRDAI is a regulatory body of insurance in India under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Finance, GoI.
• It was constituted by the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority Act, 1999.

CURRENT AFFAIRS : AWARDS & HONORS

6 Indian airports named as the best airports in Asia Pacific region in ACI Airport Service Quality Survey for 2021

• The Airports Council International (ACI) has named six Indian airports as the ‘best airport by size’ in various categories (annual passenger traffic) in its Airport Service Quality (ASQ) survey for the Asia Pacific region 2021.

List if 6 Indian airports :

Category : 2 to 5 million passengers per year

1. Chandigarh Airport, Chandigarh

Category : 5 to 15 million passengers per year

1. Cochin International Airport, Cochin, Kerala
2. Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport, Ahmedabad, Gujarat

Category : 15 to 25 million passengers per year

1. Rajiv Gandhi International airport, Hyderabad, Telangana

Category : Over 40 million passengers per year

1. Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA), Mumbai, Maharashtra (5th consecutive year)
2. Indira Gandhi International Airport, New Delhi, Delhi (4th consecutive year)

About Airport Service Quality Awards :

• The ACI Airport Service Quality (ASQ) Awards takes into account 33 parameters related to passenger amenities to recognize airport excellence in customer experience.

About ACI :

• Founded: 1991
• Headquarters: Montreal, Quebec, Canada

J&K Bank wins National Award for SHG Bank Linkage

• Union Minister for Rural Development, Giriraj Singh has awarded J&K Bank with National Award for Outstanding Performance for FY 2020-21’ for recognition of its best performance in Self Help Group Bank Linkage.
• On behalf of the Bank, Zonal Head Delhi Kirti Sharma received the national award during the International Women’s Day celebration (8th March 2022) at Vigyan Bhawan Delhi.

About J&K Bank :

• Founded : 1 October 1938
• Headquarters : Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, India
• MD & CEO : Baldev Prakash

CURRENT AFFAIRS : MOU & AGREEMENTS

Bureau of Indian Standards signs MoU with IIT Roorkee for establishment of ‘BIS Standardization Chair Professor’

• On March 10, 2022, Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with IIT Roorkee (IITR) for establishment of ‘BIS Standardization Chair Professor’ at IIT Roorkee.

About the MoU :

• The MoU would facilitate the research & development, teaching and training in the field of Standardization and Conformity Assessment in the country.

Focus areas :

• Civil, electrical, mechanical, chemical, earthquake engineering, development and management of water resources and renewable energy projects, infrastructure development, medical biotechnology and nanotechnology, biotechnology, biomaterials, etc

Note :

• This would be the first Standardization Chair established by BIS in an Institute for activities on Standardization and Conformity Assessment.

About Bureau of Indian Standards :

• Founded : 23 December 1986
• Headquarters : New Delhi, Delhi, India
• Director General : Pramod Kumar Tiwari
• The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) is the National Standards Body of India under Department of Consumer affairs,Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution, Government of India.
• It is established by the Bureau of Indian Standards Act, 2016 which came into effect on 12 October 2017.

About IIT Roorkee :

• Established : 1847
• Director : Ajit Kumar Chaturvedi
• Located at : Uttarakhand, India

About Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution :

• Cabinet Minister : Piyush Goyal
• Minister of State : Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti, Ashwini Kumar Choubey

India, Bangladesh, and Nepal finalise MoU for implementation of BBIN Motor Vehicles Agreement

• India, Bangladesh and Nepal finalised an enabling MoU to be signed for the implementation of the Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, and Nepal (BBIN) Motor Vehicles Agreement (MVA).
• The MoU was finalised at a meeting of the three nations on the Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal (BBIN) MVA on March 7-8, 2022.
• Bhutan participated in the meeting as an observer.

Presenters of the Agreement :

Country	Presenters
India	Smita Pant, Joint Secretary, Ministry of External Affairs
Bangladesh	A T M Rokebul Haque, Director General (South Asia), Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Nepal	Keshab Kumar Sharma, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport
Bhutan	Thinley Norbu, First Secretary, Royal Bhutanese Embassy

About the Meeting :

• The meeting was held to discuss the passenger and cargo protocols that are essential to operationalise the BBIN MVA for the regulation of passenger, personal and cargo vehicular traffic between Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal, signed on June 15, 2015.
• Asian Development Bank provided technical and knowledge support to the meeting.

Note :

• This is the first meeting of the group since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic & the last meeting was held in February 2020 in New Delhi.

About Bangladesh :

• President: Abdul Hamid
• Prime minister: Sheikh Hasina
• Capital: Dhaka
• Currency: Bangladeshi taka

About Nepal :

• President: Bidhya Devi Bhandari
• Prime minister: Sher Bahadur Deuba
• Capital: Kathmandu
• Currency: Nepalese rupee

CURRENT AFFAIRS : RANKING & INDEX

Andhra Pradesh retains top rank : Skoch State of Governance ranking in 2021  

• The SKOCH Group released the SKOCH Governance Report Card for 2021, ranking the states according to their performance in various projects at state, district and municipal level.
• Star is a category given to the States ranked from 1 to 5.

Top 5 “Star States” in India :

1.Andhra Pradesh (Second consecutive year).

2.West Bengal

3.Odisha

4.Gujarat

5.Maharashtra

In Performers State category :

6. Telangana
7. Uttar Pradesh
8. Madhya Pradesh
9. Assam

10.Himachal Pradesh

• The report card for 2021 further stated the Star States have focussed on agriculture, ease of doing business, power and energy, social justice and security and water.
• Andhra Pradesh also bagged top positions in police and safety, agriculture, district administration and rural development.

About SKOCH State of Governance report :

• The SKOCH State of Governance report is an annual report that studies project-level outcomes across various states of India.

About SKOCH Group :

• Founded : 1997
• Headquarters : Gurgaon, Haryana
• Chairman : Sameer Kochhar

CURRENT AFFAIRS: SPORTS NEWS

Tiger Woods inducted into World Golf Hall of Fame:

• Tiger Woods was formally inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame, who is the 82-time PGA TOUR winner and 15- time major champion’s induction presenter.
• The 46-year-old Woods entered the storied hall as part of the Class of 2022 along with retired PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem, U.S. Women’s Open champion Susie Maxwell Berning and Marion Hollins, a U.S. Women’s Amateur champion and golf course architect who was recognised posthumously.

About International Golf Federation:

• Headquarters: Lausanne, Switzerland
• President: Annika Sörenstam
• Founded: 1958

Daily CA On Mar 13 :

• Ashwini Vaishnaw, the union minister for Communications, Electronics & Information Technology and Railways, will inaugurate a seminar on “25 Years of TRAI Act: The Way Forward for Stakeholders (Telecom, Broadcasting, IT, AERA and Aadhaar)”.
• Union Minister for Ayush Shri Sarbananda Sonobal has inaugurated the 25th Convocation of Rashtriya Ayurveda Vidyapeeth (RAV), an autonomous organisation under the Ministry of Ayush, where he urged the young Vaidyas to prepare themselves to bring the traditional medicine and knowledge on the world map and take India to a new height and help the mankind.
• Department of Pharmaceuticals, Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers has released the guidelines for the scheme “Strengthening of Pharmaceutical Industry (SPI)”, with a total financial outlay of Rs.500 Cr for the period from FY 21-22 to FY 25-26.
• Union Minister of Home Affairs and Minister of Cooperation, Shri Amit Shah attended the 37th Foundation Day celebrations of National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) as the Chief Guest in New Delhi.
• Shri Giriraj Singh, Minister of Panchayati Raj & Rural Development launched the SMS functionality developed wherein SMS will be rolled out to Elected Representatives of respective State / UT informing about the commencement of drone flying in their respective constituency scheduled for survey under SVAMITVA scheme.
• Atal Innovation Mission, NITI Aayog has announced their partnership with Snap Inc. to drive Augmented Reality (AR) skilling among the Indian youth.
• Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan inaugurated digitisation of the health records of students starting from Classes I to XII of the Union Territory Puducherry.
• According to the ratings agency CRISIL, reiterated its December 2021 forecast of India’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth at 7.8% in fiscal 2023.
• Karnataka Bank Ltd has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with SELCO Solar Light Pvt Ltd to provide energy access to the underserved population.
• On March 11, 2022, The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) directed Paytm Payments Bank to stop onboarding of new customers with immediate effect & the RBI took the decision in exercise of its powers under section 35A of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949.
• The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has approved the appointment of former finance & revenue secretary Ajay Bhushan Pandey as the chairperson of National Financial Reporting Authority (NFRA) for a period of three years from the date of assumption of charge or till the incumbent attains the age of 65 years
• A notification issued by the Department of Justice in the Law Ministry & according to the Article 223 of the Constitution of India, Justice Vipin Sanghi has been appointed as the acting Chief Justice of Delhi High Court with effect from March 13 & he will replace Chief Justice D.N. Patel.
• The union government has appointed former financial services secretary Debasish Panda as chairman of IRDAI (Insurance Regulatory Development Authority of India).
• The Airports Council International (ACI) has named six Indian airports as the ‘best airport by size’ in various categories (annual passenger traffic) in its Airport Service Quality (ASQ) survey for the Asia Pacific region 2021.
• Union Minister for Rural Development, Giriraj Singh has awarded J&K Bank with ‘National Award for Outstanding Performance for FY 2020-21’ for recognition of its best performance in Self Help Group Bank Linkage.
• On March 10, 2022, Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with IIT Roorkee (IITR) for establishment of ‘BIS Standardization Chair Professor’ at IIT Roorkee.
• India, Bangladesh and Nepal finalised an enabling MoU to be signed for the implementation of the Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, and Nepal (BBIN) Motor Vehicles Agreement (MVA).
• The SKOCH Group released the SKOCH Governance Report Card for 2021, ranking the states according to their performance in various projects at state, district and municipal level.
• Tiger Woods was formally inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame, who is the 82-time PGA TOUR winner and 15- time major champion’s induction presenter.