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CURRENT AFFAIRS: NATIONAL NEWS
SC to set up high-level committee to inquire into security lapses during PM’s visit to Punjab:
- Supreme Court to constitute a high-level committee headed by retired Supreme Court judge to investigate lapses in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s security in Punjab.
- A three-judge bench comprising Chief Justice NV Ramana and Justices Surya Kant and Hima Kohli was hearing the plea filed by an organisation.
- Ministry of Home Affairs has constituted a committee to enquire into the serious lapses in the security arrangements during Prime Minister Narendra Modis visit to Punjab.
- It is a three-member committee and will be headed by Sudhir Kumar Saxena, Secretary (Security), Cabinet Secretariat.
- It also comprises Balbir Singh, Joint Director, IB and Suresh, IG, SPG.
- The Prime Minister’s convoy was stranded on a flyover due to a blockade by protesters in Ferozepur after which he returned from poll-bound Punjab without attending the planned events, including a rally.
- The apex court had also directed the Registrar General of the Punjab and Haryana High Court to “secure and preserve” the records pertaining to arrangements made for the prime minister’s visit to Punjab when there was a “massive security breach”.
CURRENT AFFAIRS: STATE NEWS
Narendra Modi to inaugurate 11 New Government Medical Colleges in Tamil Nadu:
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate 11 New Government Medical Colleges across Tamil Nadu and the new campus of Central Institute of Classical Tamil in Chennai.
- The new medical colleges are being established at an estimated cost of about 4 thousand crore rupees.
- Of this amount, around 2 thousand 145 crore rupees has been provided by the Union government and rest by the Tamil Nadu government.
- The districts in which the new Medical Colleges are being established are Virudhunagar, Namakkal, The Nilgiris, Tiruppur, Thiruvallur, Nagapattinam, Dindigul, Kallakurichi, Ariyalur, Ramanathapuram and Krishnagiri.
- The new medical colleges, with cumulative capacity of 1 thousand 450 seats, are being established under the Centrally Sponsored scheme of Establishing of New Medical Colleges attached with existing district and referral hospital.
- Under the scheme, medical colleges are established in districts which do not have either a government or private medical college.
CURRENT AFFAIRS: BANKING AND ECONOMY
LazyPay forays into card segment partnering with SBM Bank India:
- Lazypay, a Buy Now Pay Later solution by PayU Finance, has partnered with SBM Bank India to launch LazyCard, a payment instrument backed by a credit line, thus foraying into the card segment.
- The card aims at empowering financially underserved Indians, who struggle with limited credit options, with easy access to credit.
- LazyCards Booster feature is useful for people looking to rebuild their credit score or establish their credit history.
- Offered to thin-file borrowers, this feature lets users set up a fixed deposit with RBI- regulated SBM Bank India in a fully digitized two-minute app flow.
RBI extends validity of its Directions for Sri Guru Raghavendra Bank till May 10, 2022:
- The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has extended the validity of its Directions for Sri Guru Raghavendra Sahakara Bank Niyamitha, Bengaluru, till May 10, 2022, subject to review.
- The bank has been under RBI Directions with effect from close of business on January 10, 2020.
- RBI brought the bank under Directions in the interest of depositor protection
- The withdrawal limit for depositors of Sri Guru Raghavendra Sahakara Bank is capped at ₹1 lakh per depositor during the entire duration that it is under RBI Directions.
Axis Bank ties up with MinkasuPay for smoother biometric-based net banking payments:
- Axis Bank has entered into a partnership with MinkasuPay to offer biometric authentication solution for its customers, whereby the transaction time to execute net banking payment will be reduced from about 50-60 seconds currently, to just 2-3 seconds.
- Indias third largest private sector bank, customers biometric authentication will be done with Fingerprint or Face ID authentication.
- This will also increase transaction success rates significantly.
- Axis Bank, through this partnership with MinkasuPay, will enable customers to make net banking payments in merchant apps using Fingerprint or Face ID, without the need of usernames, passwords, and OTPs
CURRENT AFFAIRS: AWARDS AND HONOUR
Golden Globe Awards 2022 announced:
- The Golden Globe Awards 2022 ceremony was held to recognise excellence in film, both American and international, and American television.
- The ceremony took place on January 9, 2022.
- The nominations were announced on December 13, 2021 by rapper Snoop Dogg and HFPA president Helen Hoehne.
- This was the 79th edition of the annual event, which honoured the best in American television, as well as film in 2021 as chosen by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association.
- Two of the films namely The Power of the Dog and the West Side Story, won the most number of awards with 3 each.
| Category | Winners |
| Best Film (Drama) | The Power of the Dog |
| Best Film (Musical or Comedy) | West Side Story |
| Best Actor (Drama) | Will Smith for King Richard as Richard Williams |
| Best Actress (Drama) | Nicole Kidman for Being the Ricardos as Lucille Ball |
| Best Actor (Musical or Comedy) | Andrew Garfield for tick, tick BOOM! as Jonathan Larson |
| Best Actress (Musical or Comedy) | Rachel Zegler for West Side Story as María Vasquez |
| Best Director | Jane Campion for The Power of the Dog |
Satish Adiga gets ICMR national award Dr Subhas Mukherjee Award:
- Dr Satish Adiga, Professor in Clinical Embryology at Kasturba Medical College (KMC), Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE), Manipal, has been selected by the Indian Council of Medical Research for its National Award for the year 2020.
- According to a release issued by ICMR on its website, Prof Adiga will receive Dr Subhas Mukherjee Award from ICMR in recognition for his outstanding contribution to the field of In vitro fertilization (IVF).
- Dr Subhas Mukherjee is the creator of Indias first IVF baby and ICMR has instituted the award in his name to recognize the outstanding contribution of IVF experts in the country.
Forensic Science Laboratory won SKOCH award for combating crime against children:
- The Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) won SKOCH Award in Silver category for its work towards combating Crime and Violence against Children.
- It was given on the 78th SKOCH Summit organised with theme of State of Governance.
- Deepa Verma, the Director of the Rohini-based lab, has accepted the award on behalf of the lab.
- FSL is a scientific department and a participant in the criminal justice system whose mission is to investigate incidents of crime and violence against children who have suffered physical, sexual, financial, or emotional harm.
CURRENT AFFAIRS : APPOINTMENTS & RESIGNATIONS
OPEC appoints Haitham Al-Ghais of Kuwait as new Secretary General
- The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has appointed Mr Haitham Al-Ghais of Kuwait as Secretary General of the Organization, with effect from 1 August 2022, for a period of three years ( 2022 – 2025 ).
- He will replace Mohammad Sanusi Barkindo, the Nigerian who has held the post since Aug. 1 2016.
About Haitham Al-Ghais :
- Al-Ghais has previously worked for the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) and served as Kuwaits OPEC Governor from 2017 to June 2021.
- He chaired the Joint Technical Committee of the Declaration of Cooperation in 2017 and subsequently served as a member of the JTC until June 2021.
- He currently works as deputy managing director for International Marketing at KPC.
About Mohammad Sanusi Barkindo :
- Mr Barkindo held a number of key roles at OPEC between 1986 and 2010, including as Acting Secretary General in 2006.
- His leadership during his two-term tenure as Secretary General beginning on August 1, 2016 and ending on July 31, 2022.
About OPEC :
- Headquarters: Vienna, Austria
- Founded: September 1960
- Founders: Juan Pablo Pérez Alfonzo, Abdullah Tariki
- Membership : 13 Countries ( Algeria, Angola, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, the Republic of the Congo, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Venezuela ).
Justice Ayesha Malik set to become Pakistans first female Supreme Court judge
- Justice Ayesha Malik is all set to become Pakistan’s first woman to become a Supreme Court judge.
- The Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) approved the elevation of Lahore High Court Justice Ayesha Malik to the Supreme Court.
- The JCP headed by Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed approved Maliks elevation by a majority of five votes against four.
- This is the second time that the JCP held a meeting to decide on Justice Maliks elevation.
About Justice Ayesha Malik :
- Justice Malik has been a Judge of the Lahore High Court in Pakistan since 27 March 2012.
- She is currently number four on the Lahore High Court (LHC) judge seniority list.
- In case of her elevation, she will work as a Supreme Court judge until June 2031 before retiring at the age of 65.
CURRENT AFFAIRS : ACQUISITIONS & MERGERS
Reliance acquires 73.37% in New Yorks Mandarin Oriental hotel
- Reliance Industrial Investments and Holdings Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL), has announced the acquisition of a controlling stake of 73.37% in Mandarin Oriental New York, one of the premium luxury hotels in New York City.
- RIL has entered into an agreement to acquire the entire share capital of Columbus Center Corporation, Cayman Islands, for an equity consideration of $98.15 million (Rs 735 crore).
- This is the second acquisition of an iconic hotel by RIL in the last 10 months.
- In April 2021, RIL acquired Stoke Park Ltd, a luxury hotel, spa, and country club in the UK for $79 million.
- Mandarin Oriental had revenues of $115 million in 2018, $113 million in 2019 and $ 15 million in 2020.
- This acquisition will add to the consumer and hospitality footprint of the Reliance group.
About Reliance Industries Ltd :
- CEO: Mukesh Ambani
- Founder: Dhirubhai Ambani
- Director : Nita Ambani
- Headquarters : Mumbai, Maharashtra
- Founded: 8 May 1973
CURRENT AFFAIRS : SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
Chinas Change 5 Lunar Probe Finds First On-Site Evidence of Water on Moon
- Chinas Change 5 lunar lander has found the first-ever on-site evidence of water on the surface of the moon, lending new evidence to the dryness of the satellite.
- The study published in the peer-reviewed journal Science Advances revealed that the lunar soil at the landing site contains less than 120 parts-per-million (ppm) water or 120 grams water per ton, and a light, vesicular rock carries 180 ppm, which are much drier than that on Earth.
- The presence of water had been confirmed by remote observation but the lander has now detected signs of water in rocks and soil.
- It revealed that the moon had turned drier within a certain period, owing probably to the degassing of its mantle reservoir.
- The samples are a mixture of granules both on the surface and beneath.
- A device on-board the lunar lander measured the spectral reflectance of the regolith and the rock and detected water on the spot for the first time.
- Researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), the water content can be estimated since the water molecule or hydroxyl absorbs at a frequency of about three micrometers.
- It was the solar wind that contributed to the most humidity of lunar soil as it brought hydrogen that makes up the water.
About China :
- Capital: Beijing
- President: Xi Jinping
- Currency: Renminbi
About Change 5 :
- Chang’e 5 is the fifth lunar exploration mission of the Chinese Lunar Exploration Program, and China’s first lunar sample-return mission.
- It launched on 23 November 2020 from Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site on Hainan Island, landed on the Moon on 1 December 2020, and returned to the Earth on 16 December 2020.
- The Change-5 spacecraft landed on one of the youngest mare basalts located at a mid-high latitude on the moon.
- It measured water on the spot and retrieved samples weighing 1,731 grams.
- Chang’e-5 was the first lunar sample-return mission since the Soviet Union’s Luna 24 in 1976.
- The mission made China the third country to return samples from the Moon after the United States and the Soviet Union.
CURRENT AFFAIRS : SPORTS NEWS
Rafael Nadal Wins Melbourne Summer Set 1 Trophy 2022
- In the Melbourne Summer Set 1 ATP 250 event Rafael Nadal won his 89th tour-level title at the Melbourne Summer Set trophy by beating the American qualifier Maxime Cressy 7-6(6), 6-3 in Mens Singles final clash at Rod Laver Arena.
- This was Nadals first final in Australia since his loss to Djokovic in the final of the 2019 Australian Open.
About Rafael Nadal :
- Rafael Nadal Parera was born on 3 June 1986 in Manacor, Mallorca, Spain.
- He was nicknamed “King of Clay”,and he is widely regarded as the greatest clay-court player in history.
- He is ranked world 6 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), and has been ranked No. 1 in the ATP rankings.
- Nadal has won 20 Grand Slam men’s singles titles, an all-time record shared with Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic.
- He has won the Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship Award five times, and was the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year in 2011 and 2021.
Champions in Melbourne Summer Set 1 Trophy 2022 :
Men’s singles
- Rafael Nadal (Spain) – Winner
- Maxime Cressy (USA) – Runner Up
Women’s singles
- Simona Halep (Romania) – Winner
- Veronika Kudermetova (Russia) – Runner Up
Men’s doubles
- Wesley Koolhof / Neal Skupski ( Netherland – UK) – Winners
- Aleksandr Nedovyesov / Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi ( Kazakhstan – Pakistan ) – Runner Ups
Women’s doubles
- Asia Muhammad / Jessica Pegula ( USA-USA) – Winners
- Sara Errani / Jasmine Paolini ( Italy – Italy ) – Runner Ups
Champions in 2022 Melbourne Summer Set 2 :
Womens Singles :
- Amanda Anisimova ( USA ) – Winner
- Aliaksandra Sasnovich ( Belarus ) – Runner Up
Womens Double :
- Bernarda Pera / Kateřina Siniaková ( USA – Czech Republic ) – Winners
- Tereza Martincová / Mayar Sherif ( Czech Republic -Egypt ) – Runner Up
About 2022 Melbourne Summer Set 1 :
- The 2022 Melbourne Summer Set was a series of two simultaneous tennis tournaments organized by Tennis Australia at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia.
- The Melbourne Summer Set 1 featured an ATP Tour 250 tournament and a WTA 250 tournament, both played on hard courts.
- The Melbourne Summer Set 2 was a WTA 250 tournament played on hard courts.
Monfils wins 2022 Adelaide International 1 tennis tournament
- Gael Monfils won the 11th title of his career by defeating Karen Khachanov in the final of the 2022 Adelaide International 1 tennis tournament.
- In the womens category, World number one Australian star Ashleigh Barty beat Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan to win her second Adelaide International title.
Champions :
Men’s singles
- Gaël Monfils (France) – Winner
- Karen Khachanov (Russia) – Runner Up
Women’s singles
- Ashleigh Barty (Australia) – Winner
- Elena Rybakina (Kazakhstan) – Runner Up
Men’s doubles
- Rohan Bopanna / Ramkumar Ramanathan ( India-India) – Winner
- Ivan Dodig / Marcelo Melo ( Croatia – Brazil) – Runner Up
Women’s doubles
- Ashleigh Barty / Storm Sanders ( Australia – Australia) – Winner
- Darija Jurak Schreiber / Andreja Klepač ( Croatia – Slovenia ) – Runner Up
About 2022 Adelaide International 1 :
- The 2022 Adelaide International 1 was a tennis tournament on the 2022 ATP Tour and 2022 WTA Tour.
- It was a combined ATP Tour 250 and WTA 500 tournament played on outdoor hard courts in Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
- This was the third edition of the tournament for the women and the second edition for the men.
- The tournament took place at the Memorial Drive Tennis Center from 39 January 2022 and followed by the 2022 Adelaide International 2, a combined ATP Tour 250 and WTA 250 tournament, at the same venue.
Bharath Subramaniyam Becomes India’s 73rd Chess Grandmaster
- Chennai-based 14 year-old Bharath Subramaniyam became India’s 73rd chess Grandmaster, after completing his third and final GM norm at Vergani Cup Open in Italy.
- He scored 5 points from nine rounds along with four others to finish seventh overall in the event.
Note :
- To become a GM, a player has to secure three GM norms and cross the live rating of 2,500 Elo points.
- M Shyam Sundar, Subramaniyam’s coach and a grandmaster himself.
- Meanwhile, another Indian Grandmaster MR Lalith Babu also took part in the Vergani Cup Open and won the title in Italy.
- Lalith seeded 9th in the tournament, scored seven points out of a possible 9, and tied for the pole position along with second seed GM Niemann Hans Moke of the USA, Vitaliy Bernadskiy of Ukraine, and Nurgyul Salimova of Bulgaria.
About Bharath Subramaniyam :
- Bharath Subramaniyam born on 17 October 2007 in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India.
- He became an International Master at the age of just 11 years and 8 months in 2019.
- He achieved his first GM norm in February 2020 when he finished in eleventh place at the Aeroflot Open in Moscow.
- He followed up that performance by securing his second norm after placing fourth in the Junior Roundtable Under 21 tournament in Bulgaria with 6.5 points in October 2021.
Note :
- Mitrabha Guha and Sankalp Gupta were the last two Indians to have achieved the GM title in November 2021.
About All India Chess Federation :
- President: Sanjay Kapoor
- Headquarters: Chennai, Tamil Nadu
- Founded: 1951
CURRENT AFFAIRS : OBITUARIES
Oscar, Emmy And Grammy Award-Winning Composer Marilyn Bergman Passes Away
- The Oscar, Emmy and Grammy-winning American lyricist and songwriter Marilyn Bergman has passed away at the age of 93.
About Marilyn Bergman :
- Bergman was the first woman president and chairman of the board of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP), a post she held from 1994 to 2009.
- He collaborated with her husband, Alan Bergman for song-writing, graced such hits as ‘The Way We Were’, ‘The Windmills of Your Mind’, ‘In the Heat of the Night’ and the songs from ‘Yentl.
- They were frequent collaborators with composers Michel Legrand and Marvin Hamlisch.
Awards & Honors :
- They were Oscar-nominated 16 times, and won three (for `Way We Were,` `Windmills` and the entire song score for `Yentl`).
- Both received a lifetime achievement award from the National Academy of Songwriters in 1995.
- The Bergmans were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1980 and received its Johnny Mercer Award in 1997.
- The National Association of Recording Arts & Sciences (now the Recording Academy) presented them with a governor’s award in 2002 and its trustees’ award in 2013.
About ASCAP :
- Founded : February 13, 1914
- Headquarters : New York, US
- President & Chairman : Paul Williams
- CEO : Elizabeth Matthews
Daily CA On Jan 12 :
- Supreme Court to constitute a high-level committee headed by retired Supreme Court judge to investigate lapses in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s security in Punjab.
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate 11 New Government Medical Colleges across Tamil Nadu and the new campus of Central Institute of Classical Tamil in Chennai.
- Lazypay, a Buy Now Pay Later solution by PayU Finance, has partnered with SBM Bank India to launch LazyCard, a payment instrument backed by a credit line, thus foraying into the card segment.
- The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has extended the validity of its Directions for Sri Guru Raghavendra Sahakara Bank Niyamitha, Bengaluru, till May 10, 2022, subject to review.
- Axis Bank has entered into a partnership with MinkasuPay to offer biometric authentication solution for its customers, whereby the transaction time to execute net banking payment will be reduced from about 50-60 seconds currently, to just 2-3 seconds.
- The Golden Globe Awards 2022 ceremony was held to recognise excellence in film, both American and international, and American television.
- Dr Satish Adiga, Professor in Clinical Embryology at Kasturba Medical College (KMC), Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE), Manipal, has been selected by the Indian Council of Medical Research for its National Award for the year 2020.
- The Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) won SKOCH Award in Silver category for its work towards combating Crime and Violence against Children.
- The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has appointed Mr Haitham Al-Ghais of Kuwait as Secretary General of the Organization, with effect from 1 August 2022, for a period of three years ( 2022 – 2025 ).
- Justice Ayesha Malik is all set to become Pakistan’s first woman to become a Supreme Court judge.
- Reliance Industrial Investments and Holdings Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL), has announced the acquisition of a controlling stake of 37% in Mandarin Oriental New York, one of the premium luxury hotels in New York City.
- Chinas Change 5 lunar lander has found the first-ever on-site evidence of water on the surface of the moon, lending new evidence to the dryness of the satellite.
- In the Melbourne Summer Set 1 ATP 250 event Rafael Nadal won his 89th tour-level title at the Melbourne Summer Set trophy by beating the American qualifier Maxime Cressy 7-6(6), 6-3 in Mens Singles final clash at Rod Laver Arena.
- Gael Monfils won the 11th title of his career by defeating Karen Khachanov in the final of the 2022 Adelaide International 1 tennis tournament.
- Chennai-based 14 year-old Bharath Subramaniyam became India’s 73rd chess Grandmaster, after completing his third and final GM norm at Vergani Cup Open in Italy.
- The Oscar, Emmy and Grammy-winning American lyricist and songwriter Marilyn Bergman has passed away at the age of 93.