DAILY GK: 30 , 31 DEC 2021
1.
INDIAN
ARMY ESTABLISHED QUANTUM LAB AT MCTE, MHOW IN INDORE, MP
·
The Indian Army has
established the Quantum Lab at the Military College of Telecommunication
Engineering(MCTE), in Military Headquarters Of War(Mhow), Indore, Madhya
Pradesh(MP).
·
The Quantum Lab was
established with the support of the National Security Council Secretariat
(NSCS) to spearhead research and training in this key developing field.
·
Indian Army has also
established an Artificial Intelligence (AI) Centre at the MCTE, Mhow with more
than 140 deployments in forward areas and active support of industry and
academia.
· Quantum
TechnologyThe researches undertaken by the Indian
Army in the field of Quantum Technology will advance into next generation
communication and transform the current system of cryptography in the Indian
Armed Forces to Post Quantum Cryptography (PQC).
2.
RBI’S
REPORT ON BANKING IN INDIA 2020-21
·
The Reserve Bank of
India (RBI) released the ‘Report on Trend and Progress of Banking in
India 2020-21’, which presents the performance of the banking sector,
including co-operative banks, and non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) during
FY21 and FY22 (till December 2021).
·
The
gross non-performing assets (GNPA) ratio of SCBs
(Scheduled Commercial Banks) declined from 8.2% at end of March 2020 to 6.9% at end-September 2021.
·
The
share of RSA (Restructured Advances)
has increased to 1.8 percent at end
September 2021 (from 0.8 percent as at end-March 2021 due to the restructuring
scheme 2.0 for retail loans and MSMEs which does not entail an asset
classification downgrade.
·
The increased in
deposit insurance from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 5 lakh augmented the share of co-operative depositors’ coverage from 42.7 percent (at end
March 2019) to 69.4 percent (at
end-March 2021).
3.
ICRA
PROJECTED INDIA’S REAL GDP GROWTH TO 9% IN FY22 & FY23
·
The Information and
Credit Rating agency (ICRA) projected India’s real Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
growth of 9 percent each in FY22 & FY23 despite the uncertainty developed
by the Omicron variant of Covid-19.
·
The Agency is expecting
the Cost Price Inflation (CPI) to an
average of 4.5-5.0 Percent in FY23 from 5.5 Percent in FY22.
·
The volumes of 6 of the
13 high frequency indicators contracted in October-November 2021.
4.
PETA
INDIA NAMED ALIA BHATT AS “PERSON OF THE YEAR 2021”
·
People for the Ethical
Treatment of Animals (PETA) India has named Indian Bollywood actress Alia Bhatt
as the ‘Person of the Year’ 2021 to celebrate her work in supporting the
animal-friendly fashion industry and her advocacy for dogs and cats in need.
·
Alia Bhatt has invested
in Phool.co, an Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur-backed biomaterial
startup, that develops ‘fleather’ – bio-degradable vegan leather.
·
PETA has recognised
actors Akshay Kumar and Bhumi Pednekar as the ‘Most Beautiful Vegetarian
celebrity’ of 2021.
5.
RUSSIA
LAUNCHED 1ST VERSATILE NUCLEAR POWERED ICEBREAKER ‘SIBIR’
·
Russia has launched its
first in the series Project 22220
versatile nuclear-powered icebreaker known as ‘Sibir’, which will support the growing fleet of icebreakers to keep the Northern Sea Route open for year-round shipping through the Arctic
and enable a wider presence of India in the arctic region.
·
Project 22220
nuclear-powered icebreakers are the most powerful and the largest in the world.
·
India expressed its interest
in collaborating with Russia on the Northern Sea route during the 21st India
Russia Summit held on 6 December 2021, in New Delhi.
6. 3RD ARIIA 2021: IIT-MADRAS TOPS FOR 3RD CONSECUTIVE YEAR
·
Indian
Institute of Technology Madras (IIT
Madras) ranked 1st & recognized as the Most Innovative Educational
Institute in India in the 3rd edition of Atal
Ranking of Institutions on Innovation Achievements (ARIIA) 2021.
·
ARIIA
is a joint initiative of the Ministry of Education and All India Council for
Technical Education (AICTE)
·
The rankings were made
under two categories: Technical and Non-Technical. The technical category
included 5 sub-categories.The non technical category included two
sub-categories
·
Institute
of National Importance, Central Universities & CFTIs:IIT
Madras followed by IIT Bombay and IIT Delhi.
·
In
government and government-aided universities:
Panjab University
·
Govt.
and Govt. Aided College/Institutes: College of
Engineering Pune
·
Private
or Self-Financed Universities: Kalinga Institute of
Industrial Technology Khordha
·
Private
or Self-Financed College/Institutes:
G H Raisoni College of Engineering, Nagpur
·
Institute
of National Importance, Central Universities & CFTIs (non-technical):
Indira Gandhi National Open University
·
General
(Non-Technical): Entrepreneurship Development
Institute of India
7.
UP’S JHANSI RAILWAY STATION RENAMED AS ‘VEERANGANA LAXMIBAI
RAILWAY STATION’
·
Government
of UP has renamed the Jhansi Railway Station, in Jhansi, UP as “Veerangana
Laxmibai Railway Station” after Rani Laxmibai
8.
MHA EXTENDS AFSPA, 1958 IN NAGALAND
·
In
exercise of the powers conferred by Section 3 of the Armed Forces (Special
Powers) Act (AFSPA), 1958 (No.28 of 1958) the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA)
declared the entire Nagaland as a ‘disturbed area’ for six more months w.e.f.
December 30, 2021 till June 30, 2022.
·
This
decision came days after the Union Government constituted a 7-member high-level
committee headed by secretary-level officer Vivek Joshi to examine the
possibility of withdrawing the controversial AFSPA, 1958 from Nagaland which
has been operational since decades, and it has not been withdrawn despite a
framework agreement signed in August 2015 by Naga insurgent group NSCN-IM and the
Central Government.
·
In
December 2021, a unit of Army personnel killed 14 unarmed civilians claiming
that they mistook them for armed insurgents. After that, Nagaland Assembly
unanimously adopted a resolution to repeal AFSPA.
·
It
should be noted that AFSPA empowers security forces to conduct operations and
arrest anyone without any prior warrant. It also gives immunity to the forces
if they shoot someone dead.
9.
RBI EXTENDS DEADLINE FOR PERIODIC KYC UPDATE TILL MARCH 31,
2022
·
The
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has extended the deadline for periodic Know Your
Customer (KYC) updation in bank accounts till March 31, 2022, from the previous
deadline of December 31, 2021, due to the Omnicron variant of the COVID-19 in
India.
·
Periodic
updation of KYC needs to be carried out at least once every 2 years for
high-risk customers, once in every 8 years for medium risk customers and once
in every 10 years for low risk customers from the date of opening of the
account or last KYC updation.
·
KYC is
a process under which banks gather their customers’ information while opening
an account including Permanent Account Number (PAN), address proof such as
Aadhaar, passport etc., latest photograph and other details as requested by the
bank.
10.
INDIA’S PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE AT UN CONFERENCE ON
DISARMAMENT IN GENEVA
·
Senior
diplomat Dr Anupam Ray, a 1994 batch of Indian Foreign Service(IFS) officer,
has been appointed as India’s next permanent representative(PR)//Ambassador to
the United Nations(UN) Conference on Disarmament(CD) in Geneva, Switzerland.
·
He is
currently serving as the joint secretary in the Ministry of External
Affairs(MEA).
·
The Conference on Disarmament (CD), was recognized by the 10th Special Session on
Disarmament (SSOD) (1978) of the United Nations General Assembly(UNGA) as
single multilateral disarmament negotiating forum of the international
community.
·
Its Aim is to
negotiate arms control and disarmament agreements.
·
Members: 65 member States, including the 5 Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT)
nuclear-weapon States and 60 other States of key military significance.
11.
NEW ZEALAND’S ROSS TAYLOR ANNOUNCED RETIREMENT
·
Senior
cricket player of New Zealand, Ross Taylor announces to retire from
international cricket after playing in the Two-Test series against Bangladesh
and his last ODIs (One Day Innings) against Australia and the Netherlands in
March 2022.
·
Ross
Taylor was the World’s 1st player to play 100 international matches in all 3
formats of cricket.
·
In
Indian Premier League (IPL), he was a part of the Royal Challengers Bangalore
season from 2008 to 2010 and then became a part of Rajasthan Royals team.
12. INDIA WELCOMES
EGYPT AS MEMBER OF NEW DEVELOPMENT BANK OF BRICS
·
India welcomed
Egypt as the fourth new member of the New Development Bank (NDB) that was established
by BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South-Africa) in 2015.
·
Members – The NDB admitted Bangladesh,
United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Uruguay as its new members in September 2021
whereas Brazil, Russia, India, China and South-Africa were admitted in July
2015.
·
NDB Headquarters – Shanghai, China
13. RBI’S 24TH FSR
2021: BANKS GNPA MAY RISE TO 8.1% BY SEPTEMBER 2022
·
Reserve Bank of
India (RBI) released the 24th issue of its bi-annual Financial Stability Report
(FSR) 2021.
·
It estimated the
Scheduled Commercial Banks (SCBs) Gross Non-Performing Assets (GNPAs) to rise
from 6.9 percent in September 2021 to 8.1 percent of total assets by September
2022(under a baseline scenario) and to 9.5 percent (under severe stress
scenario).
·
FSR is the bi-annual collective assessment of the
Sub-Committee of the ‘Financial Stability and Development Council’ (FSDC-SC) on
risks to financial stability.
