Current Affairs March 15th 2022| Current Affairs News

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CURRENT AFFAIRS: IMPORTANT DAYS

World Rotaract Day -13th of March

Every year, Rotaractors and Rotarians around the world celebrate World Rotaract Week during the week of 13 March to commemorate the founding of the first club in 1968 at North Carolina, USA.
The theme of World Rotaract Day 2022 is Rotary Making a Difference.
World Rotaract Week will be held from 11 March 2022 to 18 March 2022.
Rotary Club is the community service organization for young men and women.
They take part in international service projects, in a global effort to bring peace and international understanding to the world.

International Day of Mathematics- 14 March 2022

International Day of Mathematics is observed on 14th of March every year.
It is also known as the Pi Day because the mathematical constant π (pi) can be rounded down to 3.14.
The theme for 2022 IDM is “Mathematics Unites! “.
It aims to educate people about the essential role of mathematics in science and technology, improve quality of life, empower women and girls, and contribute to sustainable development.
The proclamation of March 14 as the International Day of Mathematics was adopted in the 205th session of the UNESCOs Executive Council.
The day was then adopted in the 40th session of the General Conference of UNESCO in November 2019.
Later in 2020, the world celebrated its First International Day of Mathematics on March 14, 2020, with the theme Mathematics is Everywhere.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: NATIONAL NEWS

India Water Pitch-Pilot-Scale Challenge launched by Minister Hardeep Singh:

Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri has launched the India WaterPitch-Pilot-Scale Start-up Challenge’, under which the government will select 100 start-ups and they will be provided with Rs 20 lakh each as funding support as well as mentorship.
According to the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, the new initiative aims at empowering start-ups in the water sector to grow through innovation and design that will drive sustainable economic growth and generate employment opportunities.
The initiative was launched at an event here by Union Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri under the ministry’s Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) 2.0.
At India Habitat Centre, MoHUA hosted the India Water Pitch-Pilot-Scale Start-up Conclave, a first-of-its-kind networking platform for entrepreneurs, young innovators, industry partners, incubators, and states/cities.
During the conclave, Union Minister HUA announced a startup challenge on the MyGov platform.

Formulation of GIS based Master Plan for AMRUT Cities has been approved to facilitate States and cities to take up Master Planning:

The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) supports States/ Union Territories by issuing advisories, design standards and schematic interventions for optimal use of technology for integrated urban planning.
Under Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT), a sub-scheme on Formulation of GIS based Master Plan for AMRUT Cities has been approved to facilitate States and cities to take up Master Planning and is being implemented in 456 towns of 35 States/ UTs.
Further, Ministry of housing and Urban Affairs has launched AMRUT 2.0 on October 1, 2021 under which a sub-scheme on Formulation of GIS based Master Plans for Class-II towns with the population 50,000 – 99,999 has been proposed with the objectives to develop standardized base maps, land use maps, master plans, and urban geo-portal using Geographical Information System (GIS).

Swachhata Startup Challenge launched to promote an enabling environment for development startups:

Government has launched Swachhata Startup Challenge in collaboration with Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) to promote an enabling environment for development startups and entrepreneurs in the waste management sector.
Applications received from startups working in the domain of four thematic areas have been identified viz.

Social Inclusion
Zero Dump

Plastic Waste Management and

Transparency, will be evaluated for the quality of solutions offered.

The scheme provides for the ten best solutions from the startups to be selected and each of them to get financial support of ₹25 Lakh per selected project and one year dedicated incubation support.
In addition to the Swachhata Startup Challenge, Government has also launched the Swachh Technology Challenge on December 6, 2021.

Ministry of Tourism under Swadesh Darshan scheme has sanctioned 76 projects under 13 thematic circuits including Buddhist theme:

The Ministry of Tourism under its Swadesh Darshan scheme since its inception has sanctioned 76 projects under 13thematic circuits including Buddhist theme for development of tourism infrastructure in the country.
The projects under the scheme were identified for development in consultation with the State Governments/Union Territory Administrations and sanctioned subject to availability of funds, submission of suitable detailed project reports, adherence to scheme guidelines and utilization of funds released earlier etc.

Amit Shah inaugurated and laid foundation stone of various schemes of Sumul Dairy in Surat, Gujarat:

Union Home and Cooperation Minister Shri Amit Shah inaugurated and laid the foundation stone of various schemes of Sumul Dairy in Surat, Gujarat.
Many dignitaries including Union Minister Darshana Jardosh and Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel were present on the occasion.
This is the year for making a resolution in every region of the country on where the country will be when it celebrates 100 years of Independence and the Prime Minister has called upon 130 crorecitizens to celebrate the year of the AmritMahotsav of Independence as the year of making a resolve
The aim is to strengthen the cooperative movement for the workers of all cooperative movements and make it the world’s strongest cooperative movement in the 100th year of Independence
The journey of Sumul has started from 200 litres to 20 lakh litres in which milk producing tribal men and women have made a big contribution
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has a dream of a US $ 5 trillion economy and the cooperative sector will contribute the most in the coming days.

CURRENT AFFAIRS : STATE NEWS

Andhra Pradesh Presents Rs 2.56 Lakh Crore Budget for 2022-23

The Andhra Pradesh Finance Minister Buggana Rajendranath presented the Budget for 2022-23 with a proposed expenditure of Rs 2.56 lakh crore and a projected revenue deficit of Rs 17,036 crore.

Key Highlights :

The government projected revenue deficit of Rs 17,036 crore, about27 percent.
The fiscal deficit in 2022-23 is expected to be Rs 48,724 crore it would be around64 percent of the GSDP
The total public debt of the state is projected to shoot up to Rs 4,39,394.35 crore in 2022-23.
A sum of Rs 21,805 crore has been earmarked for debt servicing in FY23.

Funds allocation :

Welfare – Rs. 45,955 crores (Minority welfare-Rs 3,661 crore & Kapu welfare-Rs 3,537 crore)
Education – Rs 30,077 crore
For school education, Rs 27,706.66 crore has been allocated which is 12.52 percent higher than the previous year.
For DBT schemes in 2022-23 – Rs 48,802.71 crore
Urban development-Rs 8,796 crore
Social security-Rs 4,331.85 crore
Children and gender- Rs 4,322.86 crore
SC sub-plan-Rs 18,518 crore
ST sub-plan – Rs 6,145 crore
BC Sub-plan-Rs 29,143 crore
Amma Vodi scheme-Rs 6,500 crore
Mana Badi (Nadu-Nedu)-Rs 3,500 crore
Housing for poor- Rs 4,791.69 crore.
The government allocated Rs 69,306.74 crore for economical services which are 27.05 per cent of the total outlay of the budget, Rs 1,13,340.20 crore for social services which is 44.23 per cent of the entire budget and the rest for general services.
Every member of state Legislative Assembly will have Rs 2 crore for his/her disposal and so Rs 350 crore are been allocated for Special Development Package Funds in 2022-23
Later, Minister K Kanna Babu presented the Budget allocation for agriculture 2022-23 with an outlay of Rs 43,052.78 crore.

About AP :

Governor: Biswabhusan Harichandan
Chief minister: YS Jagan Mohan Reddy
Capital : Amaravati

CURRENT AFFAIRS : BANKING & FINANCE

EPFO fixes 8.1 per cent as interest rate on provident fund deposits for 2021-22

The Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has set the interest rate on provident fund deposits for 2021-22 at 8.1 percent, from 8.5 percent in the previous year.
This is the lowest interest rate since 1977-78 on deposits that employees make towards their retirement fund.
The interest rate was recommended by the Central Board of Trustees (CBT) after its meeting in Guwahati under the chairmanship of Union Labour and Employment Minister Bhupendra Yadav.
EPFO provides the rate of interest to its five crore subscribers only after it is ratified by the government through the finance ministry.

Interest Rates Over the Years:

In March 2020, EPFO had lowered the interest rate on provident fund deposits to a seven-year low of 5 percent for 2019-20, from 8.65 percent provided for 2018-19.
EPFO had provided 8.65 per cent interest rate to its subscribers in 2016-17 and 8.55 per cent in 2017-18.
Provident fund savings are mandatory under the Employees Provident Funds and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952.

About EPFO :

Founded : 4 March 1952
Headquarters : New Delhi, Delhi,India
CEO : Neelam Shammi Rao

RBI bars Paytm Payments Bank from onboarding new customers

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) directed Paytm Payments Bank Ltd (PPBL) to stop onboarding new customers with immediate effect and conduct a comprehensive audit of its IT system, citing material supervisory concerns.
The RBI took action in exercise of its powers under Section 35A of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949.
Paytm Payments 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 report of the IT auditors.

About RBI :

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

About PPBL :

Founded: 2015
Headquarters: Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India
Chairman : Vijay Shekhar Sharma
CEO : Satish Kumar Gupta

LivQuik first PPI to achieve RBI’s PPI interoperability guidelines

Prepaid Payment Instrument (PPI) issuer LivQuik has achieved full Interoperability as mandated by the Reserve Bank of India for their Prepaid payments Instruments.
With interoperability, customers of LivQuik will be able to optimise their payments and spending across wallets by attaching a card on Visa and RuPay networks and can also enable UPI.
LivQuik partnered with M2P Fintech to enable UPI on PPI to be offered along with our capabilities across cards, wallets, gift vouchers and other solutions.

About LivQuik :

Founded : 2012
Headquarters : Mumbai, Maharashtra
Co-Founder : Yudhajit Nag Sen
LivQuik operates three key business verticals at the intersection of Financial Services and Retail Enterprise, Issuance, and Acquiring.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: BUSINESS NEWS

GST reduced from 18% to 5% for domestic Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) services:

Goods and Services Tax (GST) rate has been reduced from 18% to 5% for domestic Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) services.
The issue of reduction of Value Added Tax (VAT) on Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF) has been taken up with the States and the UTs.

The following 11 States/UTs have reduced the VAT on ATF to below 5%:

Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Dadar & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Ladakh, Madhya Pradesh, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

The Government has taken several steps to meet the increasing demand in aviation sector in future, some of which include the following:

I. AAI has taken up development of new and existing airports with a projected capital expenditure of around Rs. 25,000 crores in next five years.

II. The Public Private Partnership (PPP) airports at Delhi, Hyderabad and Bengaluru are undertaking major expansion projects of around Rs. 30,000 crores by 2025. Additionally, Rs. 36,000 crores have been planned for investment in the development of new Greenfield airports across the country under PPP mode.

III. Government of India has accorded ‘in-principle’ approval for setting up of 21 Greenfield Airports across the country. So far, eight Greenfield airports namely, Sindhudurg and Shirdi in Maharashtra, Durgapur in West Bengal, Pakyong in Sikkim, Kannur in Kerala, Orvakal in Andhra Pradesh, Kalaburagi in Karnataka and Kushinagar in Uttar Pradesh have been operationalized.

IV. Under Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) – UdeDesh ka Aam Nagrik (UDAN), 403 routes connecting 65 airports (including 8 heliports and 2 water aerodromes) have been operationalised as on 31 January 2022.

CURRENT AFFAIRS : APPOINTMENTS & RESIGNATIONS

SC appoints Former judge Sikri as chairperson of High Powered Committee on Char Dham project

The Supreme Court of India appointed ex-judge AK Sikri as chairperson of the High Powered Committee (HPC), which would consider the cumulative and independent impact of the CharDham Mahamarg Vikas Pariyojana (Char Dham Highway Development Project) on the entire Himalayan valley.
He succeeded previous Chairperson Professor Ravi Chopra who had resigned from his post in February 2022.
Prior to this Justice (retd) Sikri was appointed chairperson of the oversight committee to look at the implementation of the Char Dham Project.
The HPC would look after the environmental concerns and other issues related to the Chardham project.
The project envisages construction of 900-km roads to provide all-weather connectivity to four holy towns Yamunotri, Gangotri, Kedarnath and Badrinath in Uttarakhand.

Note :

Chopra was appointed as chairperson of the HPC by the top court on August 8, 2019.

CURRENT AFFAIRS : AWARDS & HONORS

MoPNG Swachhta Pakhwada Awards presented by Shri Hardeep Singh Puri Indian Petroleum & Natural Gas Statistics 2020-21 published

Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Shri Hardeep Singh Puri presented the MoPNG Swachchta Pakhwada Awards to the winners.
The Minister also launched the Ministrys annual publication Indian Petroleum & Natural Gas Statistics 2020-21.
The Swachhta Pakhwada was organised by Oil & Gas CPSEs, and attached offices of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas during 1st-15th July 2021.
Swachhta Pakhwada Awards have been instituted for exemplary performance during the fortnight.
Base on their performance in the event, IOCL was ranked first, ONGC second and HPCL came third.

About Indian Petroleum & Natural Gas Statistics :

Indian Petroleum & Natural Gas Statistics is the annual publication of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas.
This is a repository of data which gives an overall picture of Indias oil & Gas sector including exploration, production, refining, transportation and marketing, imports and exports of crude oil& petroleum products.

About Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas :

Union Minister : Hardeep Singh Puri
Minister of State : Rameswar Teli

CURRENT AFFAIRS : MOU & AGREEMENTS

Odisha & NABARD join hands to increase fish production

The Odisha government and the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) have inked a pact for the creation of fisheries infrastructure to augment fish production.
The memorandum of agreement was signed between Principal Secretary, Finance, Vishal Dev and Nabard chief general manager C Udayabhaskar.
The Fisheries and Aquaculture Infrastructure Development Fund (FIDF) would help in the creation of infrastructure facilities in marine and inland sectors.

Aim of FIDF :

To achieve a sustainable growth of 8-9 percent to augment the countrys fish production capacity to around 20 million tonnes by 2022-23.
It will augment the fish production of the state and Rs 119.8 crore has been initially approved.

About Odisha :

Chief minister: Naveen Patnaik
Governor: Ganeshi Lal
Capital: Bhubaneswar

About NABARD :

Founded: 12 July 1982
Headquarters: Mumbai, Maharashtra
Chairman : Govinda Rajulu Chintala
NABARD was established on the recommendations of B.Sivaramman Committee (by Act 61, 1981 of Parliament) to implement the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development Act 1981.

CURRENT AFFAIRS : RANKING & INDEX

RailTel Corporation of India ranks 124 in Fortune India Next 500 list

RailTel Corporation of India Ltd. (RCIL) under Ministry of Railways has ranked 124th in the Fortune India Next 500 list of Year 2022′
It was ranked 197 in the 2021 list of top midsize companies operating in India.
The list is published annually by Fortune India English Monthly magazine.
RailTel is the ONLY Telecom Govt. of India PSU figuring in the list
RailTel ‘s turnover during FY 2020-21 stood at Rs 1,411 crore with compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) during the last five years at 12 percent.
Apart from RailTel, IRCTC is the only Railway PSU featured in the list, at the rank of 309.