NATIONAL NEWS
Agriculture Minister stresses on infrastructure development in agriculture sector; inaugurates 4-day agriculture exhibition 'Agrovision'Minister of Agriculture, Narendra Singh Tomar has said that, under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, agriculture is being given priority and 1 lakh 62 thousand crore rupees have been provided to 11.5 crore farmers in the country under PM Kisan Yojana. He was speaking after inaugurating the four-day agriculture exhibition 'Agrovision', in Nagpur, Maharashtra.
- Stressing upon the infrastructure development in the agriculture sector Mr.Tomar expressed the need for private sector investment in the sector. He informed that the central government had sanctioned One lakh crore rupees for infra-structural funding in the agriculture sector under the ‘Aatmanirbhar’ package.
- Under this, facilities like ware house, cold chain storage are being constructed at village level and farmers are getting the benefit. He also appealed to the farmers to turn towards organic farming.
Terming it as a pro-people move, the Centre announced it was extending the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) for another four months i.e., from December 2021 till March 2022 as Phase 5 of the scheme started during the lockdown last year.
- The scheme envisages five kg grain per person per month free of cost for all the beneficiaries covered under the National Food Security Act (NFSA) (Antyodaya Anna Yojana & Priority Households), including those covered under Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT).
As the calendar year draws to a close, the total number of beneficiaries under the Centre’s financial inclusion scheme, Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY), has crossed the 44 crore mark.
- According to the latest government data, the total number of accounts opened under PMJDY stood at 44.05 crore, with a total balance of ₹1,47,812 crore as on December 8. The total number of accounts stood at 41.43 crore in the same period last year.
- In terms of performance of States in implementing the scheme, Uttar Pradesh tops the list with highest number of accounts followed by Bihar.
BANKING & FINANCE
Govt signs 140 mn euro loan agreement with KfW for energy sector reforms in Madhya PradeshThe Government of India (GoI) and the German development bank KfW signed agreements for a Euro 140 million reduced interest loan and Euro 2 million grant for an energy reform programme in Madhya Pradesh.
- The project will contribute to a more stable, secure and climate and environmentally friendly energy supply in India by upgrading and strengthening distribution networks in Madhya Pradesh.
- It will contribute to an effective, technically and economically efficient as well as socially and ecologically sustainable energy supply.
Markets regulator Sebi has signed the enhanced multilateral memorandum of understanding (EMMoU) of the International Organization of Securities Commissions. Sebi is already a signatory to MMoU since 2003.
- The EMMoU was introduced by IOSCO to expand the range of enforcement powers that signatories may use to safeguard the integrity and stability of markets, protect investors and deter misconduct and fraud.
- The pact signed is expected to increase the effectiveness of the signatories' investigations and the enforcement of their jurisdictions' laws and regulations
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) extended the card-on-file (CoF) tokenisation deadline by six months to June 30, 2022, in view of various representations received from industry bodies. Card-on-file, or CoFabc, refers to card information stored by payment gateway and merchants to process future transactions.The earlier deadline was December 31, 2021.
- Under tokenisation services, a unique alternate code is generated to facilitate transactions through cards.
- The RBI in September prohibited merchants from storing customer card details on their servers with effect from January 1, 2022, and mandated the adoption of CoF tokenisation as an alternative to card storage.
BUSINESS & ECONOMY
Reliance is India's most-visible corporate in media: Wizikey reportReliance Industries Ltd, India's largest corporate by revenues, profits and market value, topped 2021 Wizikey News Score ranking as India's most-visible corporate in the media. State Bank of India (SBI) is a close second on the ranking, followed by Bharti Airtel, Infosys and Tata Motors, according to Wizikey's News Score Report.
- Globally, Facebook is ranked No.1 on the index, followed by Alphabet Inc, which owns Google. Amazon is ranked at No.3 followed by Apple Inc, Samsung Electronics, Netflix and Microsoft. Reliance is ranked at No.8 on the global ranking.
- Others on the India list include HDFC at No.6, followed by HDFC Bank, TCS, Maruti Suzuki India, Vodafone Idea and ICICI Bank. NTPC is the highest-ranked state-owned firm on the list, coming in at No.13.
- The recognition to Reliance comes on the back of Exchange4Media Group's recognition recently to the billionaire Mukesh Ambani-led group as one of India's Brands with Best In-house Communications Professionals 2021.
SPORTS
Veteran spinner Harbhajan Singh retires from all forms of cricketVeteran off-spinner Harbhajan Singh, who became the first Indian bowler to grab a Test hat-trick in a memorable international career, announced retirement from all forms of cricket, saying that he is finally communicating what has been on his mind for the past few years.
- The 41-year-old from Punjab took 417 wickets in 103 Tests, 269 wickets in 236 ODIs and 25 scalps in 28 T20Is in his illustrious career, which began in 1998.
- Harbhajan, who made his India debut during an ODI against New Zealand at Sharjah in 1998, last played for the country in March 2016 during a T20I against the UAE at Dhaka
APPOINTMENTS
Harjinder Singh appointed as India's Chef de MissionThe Indian Olympic Association of India (IOA) appointed Ice Hockey Association of India’s general secretary, Harjinder Singh, as the Chef de Mission of the country’s contingent for the upcoming 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.
- Singh was the Chef de Mission of the Indian contingent for the 23rd Winter Olympic Games too, which was held in Pyeongchang, South Korea in 2018.
- The Beijing Games, the 24th edition of the showpiece that started way back in 1924, will be held from February 4 to 20.
AWARDS
IIT Roorkee bags first position among most innovative institutions as selected by CIIFor the second year in a row, IIT Roorkee has been selected by the prestigious Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) for the Industrial Innovation Awards.
- IIT Roorkee bagged the first position under the Most Innovative Research Institutions category this year.
- The second and third positions have gone to IIT Madras and the Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services, Hyderabad (INCOIS), respectively.
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
CM MK Stalin launches dashboard to access real-time data on Tamil NaduTamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin launched the ‘CM Dashboard Monitoring System’ at his office. It will enable him to track all welfare schemes, including the status of their implementation, fund allocation and the number of beneficiaries.
- It will help in proper monitoring, more efficiency, elimination of delays and prompt decisions. It will also update the Chief Minister on the storage in the key dams and rainfall patterns.
- Price mesh will monitor the prices of more than 25 foodgrains, vegetables and fruits and project a possible increase in the prices to facilitate government intervention. The status of the economy, including employment trends, and civil supplies will also be available on the dashboard.
Indian Army launched a contemporary messaging application named ASIGMA. ASIGMA stands for Army Secure IndiGeneous Messaging Application.
- It is a new generation, state-of-the-art, web based application developed entirely in-house by team of officers of the Corps of Signals of the Army.
- The application is being deployed on the Army’s internal network as a replacement of Army Wide Area Network messaging application which has been in service for past the 15 years.
- The application has been fielded on Army owned hardware. It meets all futuristic user requirements and provides enhanced user experience. It has a variety of contemporary features including multi-level security, message prioritisation and tracking.
INS Khukri, the first of the indigenously built missile corvettes, was decommissioned after 32 years of service at a solemn ceremony held at Visakhapatnam.
- The corvette was built by the Mazagon Dock shipbuilders on August 23, 1989 and had the distinction of being part of both the Western and Eastern Fleets.
- During her service in the Indian Navy, the ship was commanded by 28 commanding officers and traversed a distance of over 6,44,897 nautical miles (a measurement used to measure distance in open sea), which is equivalent to navigating around the world 30 times or three times the distance between the Earth and the Moon.
On Goa Liberation Day, Mormugao, the Indian Navy's second indigenous stealth destroyer of the P15B class, proceeded on her maiden sea sortie.
- The ships name was dedicated to the maritime state of Goa with the goal to enhance the bonding between the Indian Navy and the people of Goa and tolink the ship's identity permanently to the crucial role the Navy played in nation-building.
- Mormugao is being built at Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Ltd (MDSL) as part of the Project 15B destroyers. The ship incorporates several niche indigenous technologies and is a shining example of Atma Nirbhar Bharat. She has provided thrust and impetus to the 'Make in India' initiative.
The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) successfully conducted a flight test of indigenously-developed high-speed expendable aerial target 'Abhyas' off the Chandipur coast in Odisha.
- Two boosters provided initial acceleration during launch and a small turbojet engine was used to sustain high subsonic speed with long endurance, it mentioned.
The security of the Offshore Development Area (ODA) in Krishna Godavari Basin on the East Coast of India was reviewed during exercise “Prasthan” conducted from 21 December to 22 December 21.
- The biannual exercise was coordinated and controlled by NOIC (APD) from Joint Operations Centre (JOC) Vizag under the aegis of Indian Navy to assess overall security architecture to provide support during an emergent situation at ODA and for the Oil Operators to validate their Standard Operating Procedures laid out for various contingencies related to ODA.
- Indian Naval Ships Kamorta, Tarmugli along with ISVs, T 36, T 38, T 39 and ICG ship Kanaklata Barua participated in the exercise along with MARCOS from INS Karna and naval helicopters from INS Dega. Oil Operators namely ONGC Ltd, Reliance Ltd & Vedanta Ltd, Coastal Police, Department of Port and Department of Fisheries also participated.
OBITUARIES
Legendary film-maker KS Sethumadhavan passes away at 90Award-winning legendary filmmaker KS Sethumadhavan, who helmed a handful of iconic and path-breaking movies in Malayalam, died at his residence in Chennai, film industry sources said. He was 90.
- A multi-time recipient of the national and state awards, Sethumadhavan directed over 60 movies in five languages during his career spanning many decades since early 1960s. Besides Malayalam, he directed movies in Tamil, Telugu and Hindi.
- Evergreen movies like "Odayil Ninnu", "Anubhavangal Palichakal", "Oppol", "Aranazhikaneeram", "Achanum Bappayum" and so on, which are considered landmark films in Malayalam, were the contributions of Sethumadhavan.
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