NATIONAL NEWS
Torgya Festival held at Tawang Monastery, Arunachal PradeshThe traditional Torgya Festival of the Monpa community in Arunachal Pradesh has held.
- This year it marks a special occasion as its ‘Dungyur Torgya’ which comes after 3 years gap.
- Torgya Festival of the Monpa community in Arunachal Pradesh is a festival that welcomes a healthy and prosperous new year.
India and Nepal signed an Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the construction of a motorable Bridge over the Mahakali River connecting Dharchula (India) with Darchula (Nepal), under Indian grant assistance.
- The project will improve cross-border connectivity between Nepal’s Sudurpaschim province and India’s Uttarakhand state, where close people-to-people ties exist between communities on both sides of the border.
- This is in line with both governments’ shared goal of increasing cross-border connectivity to facilitate commercial, cultural, and people-to-people exchanges.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
World's first hydrogen-powered flying boat, ‘THE JET,’ set to launch in DubaiWorld's first hydrogen-powered flying boat is all set to be manufactured and launched in Dubai.Swiss startup THE JET ZeroEmission has signed an agreement with UAE-based Zenith Marine Services and US-based DWYN to manufacture and operate 'The Jet'.
- THE JET' features cutting-edge characteristics and technologies, making it capable of flying in silence over the waters at a cruising speed of 40 knots.
- The luxurious boat has a capacity of 8/12 passengers, and is equipped with two fuel cells and an air conditioner as well as other clean-tech, environmentally friendly technologies that help reduce carbon emissions.
BANKING & FINANCE
Banks to transfer 15 accounts worth Rs 50,000 crore to NARCL in FY22Lenders are set to transfer 15 large-ticket stressed accounts worth Rs 50,000 crore to the National Asset Reconstruction Company Limited (NARCL) in the first tranche by the end of the current financial year.
- Overall, 38 such accounts totalling Rs 83,000 crore have been identified for transfer to the bad bank, Dinesh Kumar Khara, chairman, State Bank of India (SBI), said.
- NARCL will acquire and aggregate the identified non-performing asset (NPA) accounts from the banks, while the IDRCL, under an exclusive arrangement, will handle the debt resolution process. This exclusive arrangement will be as per the scope defined in the debt management agreement being executed between the two entities.
State Bank of India (SBI) said it has entered into an agreement with Tata Power Solar Systems for financing of solar projects. The lender has also set up a dedicated centralized processing cell - 'Surya Shakti Cell', at the Ballard Estate in Mumbai.
- The cell will process all the loan applications for solar projects (capacity up to 1 MW) sourced from across the country, for installation by business entities as well as households.
- The bank aims to provide an end-to-end platform for digital and hassle-free journey to the loan applicants for financing solar projects.
BUSINESS & ECONOMY
Indian Economy Contracts By 6.6% In 2020-21: Nso DataIndian economy contracted by 6.6 per cent in 2020-21 as against the earlier estimate of 7.3 per cent decline, showing that the COVID-19 pandemic hit economy did not perform as badly as was initially worked out.
- As per the provisional estimates released in May 2021, the GDP had contracted by 7.3 per cent during 2020-21 on account of the outbreak of COVID-19 and subsequent nationwide lockdown to contain the pandemic.
- The National Statistical Office has also revised downward the real GDP growth number for 2019-20 to 3.7 per cent as against the earlier estimate of 4 per cent.
Tata Sky has rebranded itself as Tata Play as it looks to expand its television-cum-OTT (over-the-top) offerings in combined packages.
- The direct-to-home (DTH) platform has added Netflix to 13 OTT services, including Amazon Prime Video and Disney+Hotstar, as part of its so-called Binge packs.
- Starting at ₹399 per month, the new combo packs effective from 27 January and will be promoted through a nationwide campaign featuring actors Kareena Kapoor Khan and Saif Ali Khan in national markets, and R. Madhavan and Priyamani in the South.
South Korean electronics manufacturing giant Samsung Electronics surpassed U.S chipmaker Intel to become the world's leading chipmaker by revenue in 2021, according to a report released by research firm Counterpoint Technology Market Research.
- While Intel posted relatively flattish results, Samsung took the lead with a strong DRAM and NAND flash market performance in 2021. Samsung also saw solid momentum in logic chips this year.
- In terms of semiconductor sales in 2020, Samsung was at the second position behind Intel(approximately $62 billion revenue versus Intel's $76 billion). By the end of 2020, Samsung had also emerged as the second biggest player (by revenues) in the overall electronics industry (approximately $220 billion revenue versus Apple's $260 billion).
SPORTS
Manika Batra Breaks into Top-50 of Latest ITTF RankingsManika Batra has jumped six places to enter the top-50 of the women’s singles world rankings for the first time.Batra has reached a career high 50th in the latest ITTF rankings.
- In the men’s singles rankings, G Sathiyan has moved up places to reach 33rd position while Sharath Kamal has slipped two places to be 34th.
- Batra and Sathiyan have also moved up to 11th in the mixed doubles rankings. Batra and Archana Kamath have moved up four places to sixth in the women’s doubles rankings.
Mithali Raj has reached the no. 2 spot in the latest Women's ODI Batting Rankings released by ICC, ahead of the upcoming ICC Women's Cricket World Cup 2022. Mithali Raj has a total of 738 points to her credit and sits second to Australian player Alyssa Healy with 750 points.
- Alongside Mithali, opener Smirti Mandhana is the only other Indian player to find herself in the top 10 rankings.
- As per the latest rankings, Mandhana sits sixth on the list with a total of 710 points to her credit. Mandhana was recently awarded the ICC Women's Cricketer of the Year 2021 for her brilliant performances for the Women in Blue across all formats.
The 2022 Asian Games will take place from September 10 to September 25, 2022, in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China and there will be five co-host cities.
- The multi-sporting event will feature 40 sports with a total of 61 disciplines, including Olympic sports like swimming, archery, athletics, badminton, equestrian, fencing, football, hockey, judo, kabaddi, and much more.
- E-sports and breakdancing will debut in the 2022 Asian Games as full medal sports after being approved by the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) this year, while Cricket will be back at Asian Games in T20 format to raise the excitement of the viewers.
Netherlands batter Ben Cooper announced his retirement from international cricket at the age of 29.
- The left-hand batter has featured in 70 international matches for the Netherlands, since making his debut back in 2013 against Canada in an ODI match.
- Cooper, who is the Netherlands' top run-scorer for the country in the shortest format of the game has scored 1,239 runs from 58 T20I matches. His average in T20Is is 28.16 and has a strike rate of 124.77.
- In ODIs, Cooper featured in 13 matches and scored 187 runs with an average of 18.7 and a strike rate of 90.4.
APPOINTMENTS
Govt extends tenure of LIC's chairman for 1 yearThe government has extended the LIC chairman’s term by one year. The current term of M R Kumar, chairman of LIC, was to end on March 13, 2022.
- Earlier, his term was extended by nine months in June last year. Raj Kumar, MD, has also been given a year’s extension. He was to retire in January 2022.
Dhiraj Malhotra, BCCI’s General Manager for Game Development, has resigned from the post and is likely to head back to IPL franchise Delhi Capitals.
- Malhotra was appointed by the BCCI in February last year, replacing former India player and selector Saba Karim.
Italy's current president Sergio Mattarella has been re-elected for a second mandate, speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, Robert Fico, announced.
- The 80-year-old emerged as the most popular choice after six days of often tense voting in Rome.
- Mattarella was reconfirmed with a broad majority, namely 759 votes in favor from a total of 983 lawmakers and regional representatives actively taking part in the ballot.
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
North Korea confirms test of Hwasong-12 missile capable of striking GuamNorth Korea confirmed it had fired a Hwasong-12 "mid-range ballistic missile", state media reported, the first time it has tested a weapon that powerful since 2017.
- This is the seventh ballistic missile test conducted by North Korea this month.The test was meant to confirm the “accuracy, safety, and operational effectiveness” of the ballistic missile.
- The ballistic missile flew about 800 kilometres and reached an altitude of 2,000 kilometres before landing in the sea between the Korean Peninsula and Japan, according to the estimate made by South Korea and Japan.
OBITUARIES
ASG Rupinder Singh Suri passes awaySenior advocate and Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Rupinder Singh Suri died.
- Suri was appointed the ASG in June 2020.He served as standing counsel in the Supreme Court for Punjab for about 15 years.
- Suri was designated as senior advocate in 2009 and also served as the President of the Supreme Court Bar Association and the Supreme Court Advocates on Record Association.
Actor and filmmaker Amitabh Dayal has died due to a massive heart attack,at the age of 51.
- Dayal worked in films such as Kagaar: Life on the Edge (2003) with Om Puri, Amitabh Bachchan-starrer Virrudh, Raj Babbar’s Dhuaan (2013) among others.
No comments:
Post a Comment