NATIONAL NEWS
Surat first station to be constructed on bullet train routeSurat will be the first station to be constructed between Mumbai- Ahmedabad route, set for the country’s first bullet train, informed an official privy to the developments.
- The work on the four stations (Vapi, Bilimora, Surat, Bharuch) has expedited and they will be ready by December 2024. Of these four, Surat will be the first one to be ready,” said an official from National High Speed Rail Corporation Ltd. (NHSRCL). The NHSRCL is the implementing agency for the project.
- An official from the railway ministry said that apart from the four stations, a 237-km long viaduct will also be constructed. A viaduct is a specific type of bridge that consists of a series of arches, piers or columns supporting a long-elevated railway line or road.
Foreign Minister of Sri Lanka Prof G L Peiris arrived in New Delhi a three-day visit to India.
- Foreign Secretary Harshvardhan Shringla call on Mr Peiris. External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar hold meeting with his Sri Lankan counterpart.
- In their talks, the two foreign ministers are expected to delve into ways to further expand bilateral cooperation in diverse areas, including trade and investment.
- The contentious fishermen issue is also likely to figure in the talks.
The foundation stone of the world's third largest cricket stadium was laid on the Jaipur-Delhi bypass . Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and BCCI president Sourav Ganguly laid the foundation stone of the project virtually.
- A stadium each will be built in Jodhpur and Udaipur as well, the statement said. Seven out of the 10 big stadiums in the world are in India, and this new stadium of Rajasthan will be in the third place.
- An International Cricket Stadium is being built on 100 acres of land in Jaipur. It will be the second largest stadium in the country and the third largest in the world. In this, the seating capacity of 75000 spectators will be developed. The stadium will be constructed in 2 phases. This stadium will have 11 cricket pitches, 2 practice grounds, a cricket academy besides hostel, parking, sports club, hotel and gym facilities, which will be of international level.
induced blindness Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel launched a drive to make the state free from cataract and cataract-induced blindness.
- Under the special drive launched, the teams will search out those who are blind due to cataract and those who have less than 3-meter vision in both eyes, in an attempt to free them from blindness.
- He said the state government facilitated free-of-cost operations through phacoemulsification, which would otherwise cost up to Rs.50 thousand in private hospitals. He said that Gujarat is the only state in the country that offers free-of-cost hydrophobic intraocular lenses.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Bangladesh signs agreement to purchase 420 broad-gauge railway wagons from IndiaThe Bangladesh railways will procure 420 broad-gauge wagons from India. The agreement was signed in Dhaka between the project director of Bangladesh railways Mizanur Rahman and the Hindustan Engineering and Industries Limited.
- The agreement worth Tk. 231 crore will be implemented within 27 months of the signing of the contract.
- This project is being implemented with the joint funding of the Government of Bangladesh and Asian Development Bank (ADB) under the Rolling Stock Operation Improvement Project.
- These are high speed bogies with automatic air brake systems so that the general and specialised products like various food grains, fertilisers, stones, wood etc. can reach the destination safely at low cost and in less time. The wagons are equipped with a stainless steel body.
India scored the highest on digital readiness among the 19 countries surveyed as part of the Salesforce Global Index.
- The index measures global employee sentiments and readiness to acquire the key digital skills needed by businesses today and over the next five years.
- India had the highest digital readiness score of 63 out of 100, with 72% respondents saying they were actively learning digital skills to prepare themselves for the future of work.According to IDC, the “Salesforce economy” or Salesforce and its partner ecosystem in India will create 1.3 million jobs and $66.4 billion in new business revenues by 2026.
BANKING & FINANCE
ADB lends record USD 4.6 bn loans to India in 2021The Asian Development Bank (ADB) said it provided a record USD 4.6 billion loans to India in 2021, including USD 1.8 billion towards coronavirus response.
- The Asian Development Bank committed a record USD 4.6 billion in sovereign lending to India in 2021 for 17 loans, including USD 1.8 billion for the country's coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic response.
- Of the COVID-19-related assistance, USD 1.5 billion was towards vaccine procurement and USD 300 million to strengthen primary health care in urban areas and the country's future pandemic preparedness.
Ahead of its much-awaited initial public offering (IPO), state-owned insurance behemoth Life Insurance Corporation (LIC), has tied up with insurance aggregator Policybazaar.com for distribution of its products.
- This is LIC’s first association with an insurance aggregator, and otherwise relies heavily on its large agency force of 1.33 million agents for distributing its products.
- This affiliation aims at facilitating seamless digital distribution of life insurance products across the nation”, the company said.
The Government of India to smoothen its liability profile has done a conversion transaction with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on January 28, 2022 for an amount of ₹1,19,701 crore (face value).
- The transaction involved buying back securities maturing in FY 2022-23, FY 2023-24 and FY 2024-25 from the Reserve Bank and issuing fresh securities for equivalent market value, to make the transaction cash neutral.
- The transactions were carried out using Financial Benchmarks India Pvt. Ltd. (FBIL) prices as on January 28, 2022.
BUSINESS & ECONOMY
KVIC cancels license of oldest Khadi Institution “Khadi Emporium” in MumbaiKhadi & Village Industries Commission (KVIC) has cancelled the ‘Khadi Certification’ of Mumbai’s 68-year-old and famed ‘Khadi Emporium’, and banned it from sale of khadi products henceforth.
- This MKVIA was running the popular “Khadi Emporium” at Metropolitan Insurance House, Mumbai since 1954.
- KVIC has canceled the license of MKVIA as the latter had started selling fake Khadi products, which was against the “zero tolerance” policy of KVIC against the sale of spurious/non-Khadi products.
Ather Energy, an electric scooter manufacturer, has signed an MoU with ESCOMs (Electric Supply Companies) of Karnataka to jointly establish fast charging for two-wheelers in 1,000 locations in the state.
- As part of the MoU, the state-owned power transmission and distribution company ESCOM will be the nodal agency to provide l support to the implementing agency. All govt. agencies would coordinate with ESCOMs to share their available spaces for charging stations.
SPORTS
AFCON championship: Senegal beat Egypt in penalty shoot-out to win maiden titleIn Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) football championship, Senegal beat Egypt in the final on penalties and won the title. The final ended 0-0 after 120 minutes with a major opportunity coming from a penalty for Senegal that was missed by Sadio Mane just seven minutes into the match.
- After a tense shootout, Senegal's most precious player and forward Mane scored the winning spot-kick as Senegal beat Egypt 4-2 on penalties to win their first-ever AFCON trophy.
In the ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup, India lifted a record fifth title after beating England by four wickets in the summit clash at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua.
- Earlier, batting first after winning the toss, England posted 189 runs losing all wickets in 44.5 overs with the help of James Rew's 95-run knock. For India, Raj Bawa picked up a 5-wicket haul while Ravi Kumar took four.
- Earlier, India had won the U19 World Cup in 2000, 2008, 2012, and 2018.
APPOINTMENTS
Prof Santishree Pandit appointed as Vice-Chancellor of JNUProf Santishree Dhulipudi Pandit of Savitribai Phule Pune University, Maharashtra has been appointed as the Vice-Chancellor of Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi for a period of five years. She is the first female Vice-Chancellor of JNU.
- Former Vice-Chancellor of Jawaharlal Nehru University Jagadesh Kumar has been appointed as the Chairman of University Grants Commission UGC.
NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg will take over as Norway’s central bank Governor at the end of the year, officials said, a controversial choice that has already raised concerns about the bank’s independence.
- The appointment comes amid escalating tensions between the West and Russia. Western nations fear Moscow has plans to invade Ukraine, which aspires to join the NATO alliance.
- But Mr. Stoltenberg, a 62-year-old trained economist, insisted he would stay on as NATO Secretary General until the end of his term in October.
AWARDS
CII presents DX 2021 award to Karnataka BankConfederation of Indian Industry (CII) awarded the prestigious Digital Transformation award, ‘DX 2021’ to Karnataka Bank.
- The award is in recognition of best practices in digital transformation, including the ‘KBL Vikaas'.
- The bank has recently launched digital transformation journey ‘KBL NxT’ as part of wave 2.0 of KBL Vikaas with an objective of taking the digital initiatives to the next level and eventually emerge as ‘The digital bank of future’.
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
India's first AI-based job platform for persons with disabilities launchedThe Indian Institute of Technology (IIT-Hyderabad) has launched the beta version of ‘Swarajability’, a job portal powered by artificial intelligence that helps people with disabilities acquire relevant skills and find jobs.
- The platform will analyse the profiles of the job seekers and suggest the skills they would require to become eligible.
- The institute has developed the platform in association with Youth4Jobs, Visual Quest and Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd.
- While IIT-H offers its expertise in AI, Visual Quest India has developed the platform. Youth4Jobs provides skilling services to the jobseekers. The project is funded by Kotak Mahindra Bank.
ENVIRONMENT
Cyclone Batsirai: Madagascar battered by second major storm in two weeksStrong wind and rain have hit the east coast of Madagascar as Cyclone Batsirai made landfall, the second major storm in less than two weeks. Gusts hit speeds of 235km/hour and high waves battered coastal areas. Many people have been moved to shelters and local officials fear that landslides and flooding could leave tens of thousands more homeless.
- Storm Ana caused widespread destruction when it hit the Indian Ocean island nation last month, killing 55 people. Cyclone Batsirai made landfall near the south-eastern city of Mananjary, around 530 kilometres from the capital Antananarivo.
OBITUARIES
Legendary singer Lata Mangeshkar passes awayLegendary singer Lata Mangeshkar, known by the affectionate moniker ‘Nightingale of India’, passed away aged 92.
- Lata Mangeshkar, a recipient of the Bharat Ratna, Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Dadasaheb Phalke Awards, was an icon of Indian cinema, having sung playback for an extensive list of Hindi films; she also sang in several regional languages including Marathi and Bengali.
- Known as the ‘Queen of Melody’, Ms. Mangeshkar, a veritable music institution, sang thousands of songs in several Indian languages in a record-breaking career of 73 years beginning at age 13 in the 1942 Marathi film Kiti Hasaal.
Chandupatla Janga Reddy (87), the first Lok Sabha MP for the BJP from south India passed away.
- Reddy was one of the only two BJP Lok Sabha MPs elected in the 1984 general elections, conducted after the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.The other was A K Patel. He was elected to the Legislative Assembly in undivided Andhra Pradesh thrice.
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