Current Affairs January 06th 2022| Current Affairs News

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CURRENT AFFAIRS: NATIONAL NEWS

Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh launches theme of National Science Day 2022:

• Union Science and Technology Minister, Dr Jitendra Singh has launched the theme of National Science Day 2022.
• The theme of this year is ‘Integrated Approach in Science and Technology for Sustainable Future’.
• The National Science Day is observed every year on 28th February to mark the discovery of the Raman effect.
• Launching the theme in New Delhi, Singh expressed hope that through this all the institutions across the country will be able to chart out programmes to observe the day.

Smart Cities Mission launches “Smart cities and Academia Towards Action & Research (SAAR)” program:

• Smart Cities Mission has launched “Smart cities and Academia Towards Action & Research (SAAR)” program.
• It is a joint initiative of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, National Institute of Urban Affairs and leading Indian academic institutions of the country.
• Under the program, 15 premier architecture & planning institutes of the country will be working with Smart Cities to document landmark projects undertaken by the Smart Cities Mission.
• The first activity envisaged under SAAR is to prepare a compendium of 75 landmark urban projects in India under the Smart Cities Mission.
• These 75 urban projects are innovative, multi-sectoral, and have been implemented across geographies.
• The program marks the 75th anniversary of India’s independence. Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs has said that the compendium of 75 urban projects would be launched by June this year.

Click here to read more;

Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh launches the web portal for PM’s Awards for Excellence in Public Administration for the year 2021-22

• Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology; Minister of State (Independent Charge) Earth Sciences; Dr Jitendra Singh launched the Web Portal for PM’s Awards for Excellence in Public Administration for the year 2021-22.
• PM’s Award for Excellence in Public Administration portal for the year 2021-2022 is www.pmawards.gov.in.
• The Minister also added that the prize money was also doubled this year from Rs.10 lakh to Rs.20 lakh to the awarded District/Organization which is to be utilized for implementation of project/programme or bridging resource gaps in any area of public welfare.
• For the year 2021, the scheme for Prime Minister’s Awards for Excellence in Public Administration aims to recognize the contribution of civil servants in:

1)Promoting “Jan Bhagidari” or Peoples’ participation in Poshan Abhiyan

2)Promoting excellence in sports and wellness through Khelo India scheme

3) Digital Payments and good governance in PM SVANidhi Yojana

4) Holistic Development through One District One Product scheme

5) Seamless, End-to-End Delivery of Services without Human Intervention

6) Innovations

• The Period of consideration is 1st April 2019 to 31st Dec, 2021.
• The total number of Awards under the Prime Minister’s Awards for Excellence in Public Administration 2021 would be 18.

The PM’s Awards, 2021 will consist of:

• Trophy
• Scroll
• an incentive of Rs.20 lacs to the awarded District/organization
• A Certificate of Recognition
• A letter of appreciation to be issued by the Secretary (ARPG)

About Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions :

• Minister Responsible : Narendra Modi
• Minister of State : Dr Jitendra Singh

CURRENT AFFAIRS: INTERNATIONAL NEWS

India-UK FTA may include chapter on gender equality in trade:

• Issues around gender equality in trade and women’s economic empowerment are likely to feature for the first time in a bilateral trade agreement being negotiated by India.
• The UK is insisting on a chapter on gender issues in the proposed India-UK free trade pact and New Delhi is willing to participate as long as it does not lead to greater market access commitments.
• “While India is open to exploring ways to ensure women too can take advantage of free trade pacts being negotiated, it will not allow gender to be used as a tool to gain back door market access or restrict trade.

Click here to read more;

CURRENT AFFAIRS: STATE NEWS

Nitin Gadkari inaugurates and lays foundation stone for 821 km of National Highways worth Rs 26778 crore in Uttar Pradesh:

• Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari has inaugurated and laid foundation stone for 821 km of National Highways worth Rs 26778 crore in Uttar Pradesh in presence of Union Minister Shri Rajnath Singh, Chief Minister Shri Yogi Adityanath.
• Shri Gadkari inaugurated and laid foundation stones in Kanpur for 8 National Highway projects worth Rs. 14,199 Crore, in Lucknow for 16 National Highway projects worth Rs. 7409 Crore and in Shringverpur Dham, Prayagraj for 4 National Highway projects worth Rs. 5169 Crore.

Prime Minister inaugurates newly integrated terminal building of the Maharaja Bir Bikram(MBB) Airport at Agratala:

• Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi inaugurated the New Integrated Terminal Building of Maharaja Bir Bikram (MBB) Airport and launched key initiatives like Mukhyamantri Tripura Gram Samriddhi Yojana and Project Mission 100 of Vidyajyoti Schools.
• Governor of Tripura, Satyadeo Narain Arya, Chief Minister of Tripura Shri Biplab Kumar Deb, Union Civil Aviation Ministers Shri Jyotiraditya Scindia and Smt Pratima Bhoumik were among those present on the occasion.
• The airport of Agartala, which was spread over 10,000 square meters, has now been built in an area of ​​30,000 square meters which will showcase the cultural heritage of Tripura.
• Maharaja Bir Bikram Airport will now be able to cater 30 lakh passengers every year instead of 13 lakh in a year.
• Under the Krishi Udan2.0 scheme of the Central Government, 4500 kg of agricultural products have been exported in the month of November 2021, which includes pineapple and jackfruit of Tripura.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: BANKING AND ECONOMY

ICICI Bank facilitates payment of customs duty online:

• Private sector lender ICICI Bank has announced the launch of a facility for payment of customs duty online.
• The facility is available for both retail and corporate customers.
• Corporate customers can pay customs duty through the bank’s Corporate Internet Banking (CIB) and mobile banking app InstaBIZ, while retail customers can do so through the bank’s retail internet banking platform

SBI, ICICI, HDFC Bank remain as Domestic Systemically Important Banks: RBI:

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced that the State Bank of India (SBI), ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank continue to be identified as Domestic Systemically Important Banks (D-SIBs), under the same bucketing structure as in the 2020 list of D-SIBs.
• RBI places D-SIBs in appropriate buckets depending upon their Systemic Importance Scores (SISs).
• The central bank’s current update on D-SIBs is based on the data collected from banks as on March 31, 2021. Based on the bucket in which a D-SIB is placed.
• Under RBI’s ‘Framework for dealing with D-SIBs’, SBI is placed in the third bucket, whereby it is required to maintain Additional Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1) at 0.60 per cent of its Risk Weighted Assets (RWAs).
• ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank are placed in the first bucket, whereby they are required to maintain Additional CET1 at 0.20 per cent of their RWAs.

Click here to read more;

SBI enhances IMPS transaction limit to ₹5 lakh:

• State Bank of India (SBI) has enhanced the limit on Immediate Payment Service (IMPS) transactions from ₹2lakh to ₹5 lakh with nil charges on transactions via digital channels – internet banking/mobile banking, including YONO.
• The enhancement in the IMPS limit comes in the wake of the Reserve Bank of India’s announcement on October 8, 2021, that the per transaction limit for IMPS transactions would be increased from ₹2 lakh to ₹5 lakh for channels other than SMS and IVRS.
• While there are no charges for IMPS transactions up to ₹1,000 at branches, the bank is currently charging ₹2 plus GST for transactions above ₹1,000 and up to ₹10,000, ₹4 plus GST for transactions above ₹10,000 and up to ₹1 lakh, and ₹12 plus GST or transactions above ₹1 lakh and up to ₹2 lakh.
• With effect from February 1, 2022, SBI will introduce a new slab – ₹2 lakh and up to ₹5 lakh – for IMPS transactions at branches and it will charge ₹20 plus GST.
• The bank said the service charges on IMPS are in line with the service charges on NEFT/RTGS transactions.

Click here to read more;

SBI invests $20 m in payments solution provider Pine Labs:

• State Bank of India, the country’s largest commercial bank, has taken its next major step in its ongoing digital transformation journey with an investment of $20 million in Pine Labs, an IPO-bound start-up focused on payments and is emerging as a leading merchant commerce platform.
• This investment is in sync with the government’s recent push to PSBs to partner and align with new age fintechs as part of the development of digital ecosystem in the country.

Airtel Payments Bank receives scheduled bank status from RBI:

• Airtel Payments Bank has been categorised as scheduled bank by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), paving the way for it to pitch for government business.
• With this, Airtel Payments bank can now pitch for government-issued Requests for Proposals (RFP) and primary auctions and undertake both Central and State Government business besides participating in government-operated welfare schemes.
• Airtel Payments Bank has a base of 115 million
• The bank turned profitable in the quarter ended September’21.
• It offers a diverse suite of digital solutions through the Airtel Thanks app and a retail network of over 500,000 neighbourhood banking points.

CURRENT AFFAIRS : APPOINTMENTS & RESIGNATIONS

ONGC appoints Alka Mittal as its first woman Chairman and Managing Director

• On January 4, 2022, Government-owned ONGC (Oil and Natural Gas Corporation) appointed Alka Mittal as its first woman Chairman and Managing Director (CMD).
• She replaces Subhash Kumar who retired on December 31.
• The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has approved the proposal of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas for entrustment of additional charge of the post of Chairman and Managing Director (CMD), ONGC to Alka Mittal, Director (HR), ONGC for a period of six months with effect from January 1, 2022.
• ONGC’s last full-time director was Shashi Shanker, who had retired from the post on March 31, 2021.

About Alka Mittal :

• Alka Mittal is a postgraduate in Economics, MBA (HRM) and Doctorate in Commerce and Business Studies, she had joined ONGC as a graduate trainee in 1985.
• She is the senior-most Director on the Board of the energy company.
• Before being appointed as Director (HR), Mittal had held the post of Chief Skill Development (CSD) of the Company.
• She heads the Women Development Forum of ONGC and is an Executive Committee member of NIPM (National Institute of Personnel Management).
• She earlier served as the President of Forum for Women in Public Sector (WIPs) Northern Region.

Note :

• She became the first woman to join ONGC’s board on November 27, 2018 & and the first woman to hold the charge of a full-time Director in ONGC’s history.

About ONGC :

• Headquarters: New Delhi, Delhi, India
• CEO: Subhash Kumar
• Founded: 14 August 1956
• ONGC is an Indian government-owned crude oil and natural gas corporation.
• It is under the ownership of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Government of India.
• It is the largest government-owned-oil and gas exploration and production corporation in the country

G Asok Kumar appointed as the DG, NMCG         

• G Asok Kumar, Additional Secretary, took charge as the Director General of National Mission for Clean Ganga, Ministry of Jal Shakti.
• He replaced Rajiv Ranjan Mishra, a 1987-batch IAS officer, who superannuated on 31-Dec.

About G Asok Kumar :

• G Asok Kumar is a 1991-batch IAS officer belonging to the Telangana Cadre.
• He is an Additional Secretary and Mission Director, National Water Mission (NWM) & he was leading the successful Jal Shakti Abhiyan : CatchTheRain campaign launched by PM Modi on 22 March 2021 to conserve rainwater.
• He had also served NMCG as Executive Director (Projects) in the 2019-20 period.
• Earlier he had served at the Centre as Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Civil Aviation.
• He has initiated/completed many infrastructure projects like the Outer Ring Road, Krishna Phase-2 Drinking Water Pipeline, Godavari Drinking Water Pipeline Project, etc. in Hyderabad.

Awards & Honors :

• He is the recipient of “Jal Mitra” award from the Government of Andhra Pradesh.
• The first TEX (Telangana Excellence) Award from the Government of Telangana for Outstanding Work done in Public Administration
• The Skoch award for public services, 2021

About NMCG :

• National Mission for Clean Ganga(NMCG) was registered as a society on 12th August 2011 under the Societies Registration Act 1860.
• It comes under the Ministry of jal Shakti.
• Headquarters : New Delhi, Delhi, India

About Ministry of jal Shakti :

• Cabinet Minister : Gajendra Singh Shekhawat
• Minister of State : Prahlad Singh Patel, Bishweswar Tudu

CURRENT AFFAIRS : OBITUARIES

Three-time Olympic triple jump champion Viktor Saneyev Passes away                                    

• The three-time Olympic triple jump champion and former world record-holder Viktor Saneyev Passed away at the age of 76.

About Viktor Saneyev :

• Viktor Danilovich Saneyev born on 3 October 1945, Georgia, Soviet Union.
• He was a Soviet and Georgian triple jumper, who competed internationally for the USSR and won four Olympic medals; three golds (1968 Mexico City, 1972 Munich and 1976 Montreal ) and one silver (1980 Moscow ).
• He also won two European titles in 1969 Athens and 1974 Rome and was a six-time European indoor champion before calling time on his athletics career after the 1980 Olympics.

Indo-Pak 1971 war veteran Vice Admiral SH Sarma Passes away

• On Jan 03, 2021, The Indian Navy’s 1971 Indo-Pak war veteran Vice Admiral S H Sarma passed away.

About Vice Admiral SH Sarma :

• Sarma was born on 1 December 1922 in Orissa, British Raj (present day Odisha).
• During the 1971 war, he was the Flag Officer Commanding Eastern Fleet in which India had defeated Pakistan to form Bangladesh.
• He served as the Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Eastern Naval Command from 1 March 1977 to 2 February 1978.

Autobiography :

• SH Sarma published his autobiography, My Years at Sea in May 2017 which includes the defeat of Pakistani naval forces, and the growth of the Indian Navy.

Awards & Recognitions :

• For his command of the Eastern Fleet in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, Sarma was decorated with the Param Vishisht Seva Medal (PVSM) on 26 January 1972.

UNION GOVERNMENT SCHEME

National Digital Health Mission:

Launched on:

August 15, 2020.

The pilot project of National Digital Health Mission was announced by the prime minister from the ramparts of the Red Fort on August 15, 2020.

Ministry involved:

The mission is under the administrative control of ministry of of Health and Family Welfare.

Current health minister of india – Mansukh Mandaviya.

Objective :

To establish state-of-the-art digital health systems, to manage the core digital health data, and the infrastructure required for its seamless exchange.

To establish registries at appropriate level to create single source of truth in respect of clinical establishments, healthcare professionals, health workers, drugs and pharmacies.

To enforce adoption of open standards by all national digital health stakeholders.

To create a system of personal health records, based on international standards, easily accessible to individuals and healthcare professionals and services providers, based on individual’s informed consent;

To promote development of enterprise-class health application systems with a special focus on achieving the Sustainable Development Goals for health.

To adopt the best principles of cooperative federalism while working with the States and Union Territories for the realization of the vision.

To ensure that the healthcare institutions and professionals in the private sector participate actively with public health authorities in the building of the NDHM, through a combination of prescription and promotion.

To ensure national portability in the provision of health services.

To promote the use of clinical decision support (CDS) systems by health professionals and practitioners

To promote a better management of the health sector leveraging health data analytics and medical research.

To provide for enhancing the efficiency and effectiveness of governance at all levels.

To support effective steps being taken for ensuring quality of healthcare.

To strengthen existing health information systems, by ensuring their conformity with the defined standards and integration with the proposed NDHM.

Corpus :

Since the inception of the scheme, more than 2 crore treatments worth ₹26,400 crore have been authorised through a network of over 24,000 empanelled hospitals across the country.

Benefits :

The implementation of NDHM is expected to significantly improve the efficiency, effectiveness, and transparency of health service delivery overall.

Patients will be able to securely store and access their medical records (such as prescriptions, diagnostic reports and discharge summaries), and share them with health care providers to ensure appropriate treatment and follow-up.

They will also have access to more accurate information on health facilities and service providers. Further, they will have the option to access health services remotely through tele-consultation and e-pharmacy.

NDHM will empower individuals with accurate information to enable informed decision making and increase accountability of healthcare providers.

NDHM will provide choice to individuals to access both public and private health services, facilitate compliance with laid down guidelines and protocols, and ensure transparency in pricing of services and accountability for the health services being rendered.

Similarly, health care professionals across disciplines will have better access to patient’s medical history (with the necessary informed consent) for prescribing more appropriate and effective health interventions.

The integrated ecosystem will also enable better continuum of care.

NDHM 7 will help digitize the claims process and enable faster reimbursement.

This will enhance the overall ease of providing services amongst the health care providers.

At the same time, policy makers and programme managers will have better access to data, enabling more informed decision making by the Government.

Better quality of macro and micro-level data will enable advanced analytics, usage of health-biomarkers and better preventive healthcare.

It will also enable geography and demography-based monitoring and appropriate decision making to inform design and strengthen implementation of health programmes and policies.

Finally, researchers will greatly benefit from the availability of such aggregated information as they will be able to study and evaluate the effectiveness of various programmes and interventions.

NDHM would facilitate a comprehensive feedback loop between researchers, policymakers, and providers.

Opportunity for the National Digital Health Mission :

The current strong public digital infrastructure—including that related to Aadhaar, Unified Payments Interface and wide reach of the Internet and mobile phones (JAM trinity) —provides a strong platform for establishing the building blocks of NDHM.

The existing ability to digitally identify people, doctors, and health facilities, facilitate electronic signatures, ensure nonrepudiable contracts, make paperless payments, securely store digital records, and contact people provide opportunities to streamline healthcare information through digital management.

Ayushman Bharat—Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) has successfully used the available public digital infrastructure to provide end-to-end services through an information technology (IT) platform from identification of beneficiaries to their admission and treatment in hospitals to their discharge and paperless payment to hospitals.

The experience of AB-PMJAY can be leveraged to expand the reach of digital health to all residents and develop an open and interoperable health management system that empowers residents, healthcare providers, the Government and researchers.

Emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, the internet of things (IoT), Blockchain and cloud computing provide additional opportunities for facilitating a more holistic digital health ecosystem, that can increase the equitable access to health services, improve health outcomes and reduce costs.

Daily CA On Jan 06 :

• Union Science and Technology Minister, Dr Jitendra Singh has launched the theme of National Science Day 2022.
• Smart Cities Mission has launched “Smart cities and Academia Towards Action & Research (SAAR)” program.
• Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology; Minister of State (Independent Charge) Earth Sciences; Dr Jitendra Singh launched the Web Portal for PM’s Awards for Excellence in Public Administration for the year 2021-22.
• Issues around gender equality in trade and women’s economic empowerment are likely to feature for the first time in a bilateral trade agreement being negotiated by India.
• Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari has inaugurated and laid foundation stone for 821 km of National Highways worth Rs 26778 crore in Uttar Pradesh.
• Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi inaugurated the New Integrated Terminal Building of Maharaja Bir Bikram (MBB) Airport and launched key initiatives like Mukhyamantri Tripura Gram Samriddhi Yojana and Project Mission 100 of Vidyajyoti Schools.
• Private sector lender ICICI Bank has announced the launch of a facility for payment of customs duty online.
• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced that the State Bank of India (SBI), ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank continue to be identified as Domestic Systemically Important Banks (D-SIBs), under the same bucketing structure as in the 2020 list of D-SIBs.
• State Bank of India (SBI) has enhanced the limit on Immediate Payment Service (IMPS) transactions from ₹2lakh to ₹5 lakh with nil charges on transactions via digital channels – internet banking/mobile banking, including YONO.
• State Bank of India, the country’s largest commercial bank, has taken its next major step in its ongoing digital transformation journey with an investment of $20 million in Pine Labs, an IPO-bound start-up focused on payments and is emerging as a leading merchant commerce platform.
• On January 4, 2022, Government-owned ONGC (Oil and Natural Gas Corporation) appointed Alka Mittal as its first woman Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) & she replaced Subhash Kumar who retired on December 31.
• G Asok Kumar, Additional Secretary, took charge as the Director General of National Mission for Clean Ganga, Ministry of Jal Shakti & he replaced Rajiv Ranjan Mishra, a 1987-batch IAS officer, who superannuated on 31-Dec.
• The three-time Olympic triple jump champion and former world record-holder Viktor Saneyev Passed away at the age of 76.
• On Jan 03, 2021, The Indian Navy’s 1971 Indo-Pak war veteran Vice Admiral S H Sarma passed away.