DAILY GK: 04 , 05 JAN 2022

DAILY GK: 04 , 05  JAN 2022

1.       MAJOR DHYAN CHAND SPORTS UNIVERSITY IN MEERUT, UP

·         The Prime Minister of India, Narendra Damodardas Modi laid the foundation stone of  Rs 700 Crore Major Dhyan Chand Sports University in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh (UP).

 

2.       100-DAY READING CAMPAIGN ‘PADHE BHARAT’ LAUNCHED

·         Dharmendra Pradhan, Union Minister of Education, launched a 100-day reading campaign “Padhe Bharat” to encourage the reading habit among students and to improve the learning levels of the students with a focus on children studying in Balvatika to Grade 8.

·         The campaign is in line with the National Education Policy(NEP) 2020 which promotes joyful reading culture among students.

·         It is also aligned with the vision and goals of the Foundational Literacy and Numeracy mission.

·         International Mother Tongue Day which will be celebrated on 21st February 2022 has also been integrated into the campaign and the day will be celebrated with the activity of “Kahani Padho Apni Bhasa Main” (Reading story in own language) across India.

 

3.       SHANGHAI BECOMES LONGEST METRO LINE IN THE WORLD 

·         Shanghai, the biggest city in China, has opened 2 new driverless metro lines and retained its titles as the World’s longest Metro line. With the inclusion of the 2 new driverless lines, the total length of Shanghai’s metro network is extended to 831 km. 

·         Shanghai is followed by Beijing(China) and Delhi(India) in the 2nd and 3rd spot on the list of cities with the largest metro network.

 

4.       VINAY KUMAR TRIPATHI APPOINTED AS NEW CHAIRMAN AND CEO OF RAILWAY BOARD

·         The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has approved the appointment of Vinay Kumar Tripathi as a  Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Railway Board, New Delhi.

·         Appointments Committee of the Cabinet Chairman – Prime Minister

 

5.       SUDAN’S PM ABDALLA HAMDOK RESIGNS

·         The Prime Minister (PM) of Sudan, Abdalla Hamdok Al-Kinani announced resignation due to political deadlock and protests in the capital city Khartoum, Sudan. This protest comes amid Sudan’s political transition to democracy.

·         The protest arose against the deal signed by the PM in November 2021 for  sharing of power with the army.

·         In October 2021, the army had staged a military coup in Sudan and placed the PM under house arrest. Later the civilian and military leaders had signed a power-sharing agreement.

·         Sudan is the third largest country by area in Africa .Capital- Khartoum

 

6.       MOHAMMAD HAFEEZ ANNOUNCES RETIREMENT FROM INTERNATIONAL CRICKET

·         Veteran Pakistan all-rounder Mohammad Hafeez , who captained his national team in every format of the game, has announced his retirement from international cricket.

 

7.       HIMACHAL PRADESH BECOMES 1ST LPG ENABLED & SMOKE FREE INDIAN STATE

·         Himachal Pradesh (HP) has become the first LPG (Liquefied petroleum gas) enabled and smoke free Indian state.

·         This success is backed by the Central Government’s Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) scheme and HP Government’s Mukhya Mantri Grihini Suvidha Yojana (GSY).

·         While the PMUY scheme aims to get rid of the diseases caused by smoke and freeing women of the country from indoor pollution, the GSY objective is to cover those families which are not covered under PMUY.

 

8.       NBBL LAUNCHES UPMS TO SIMPLIFY RECURRING BILL PAYMENTS

·         2022 NPCI Bharat BillPay Limited (NBBL), the wholly-owned subsidiary of National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), launched a Unified Presentment Management System (UPMS), which will enable users to set up standing instructions on their recurring bill payments across all modes of digital payments.

·         The bills will be automatically fetched from the billers and presented to customers for their action, in terms of auto-debit and bill payment management.

·         Customers can now avoid making double payments due to delays in payment confirmation or getting erroneous payment-due reminders.

·         UPMS will be available to customers through the centralized infrastructure and application support provided by Bharat BillPay Central Unit (BBPCU)

·         UPMS enables the providers of the digital payments ecosystem to run through this innovative feature in the sandbox environment of Bharat Bill Payments System (BBPS).

 

9.       CRYPTOWIRE LAUNCHES INDIA’S 1ST INDEX OF CRYPTOCURRENCIES ‘IC15’ 

·         India’s 1st index of cryptocurrencies named ‘IC15’ was launched by CryptoWire, a global crypto super app, to empower knowledge on the cryptocurrency and blockchain ecosystem.

·         IC15 Index which is a rule-based broad market index by market capitalization will measure the performance of 15 widely traded liquid cryptocurrencies listed on exchanges across the world.

·         It will monitor the crypto assets such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Binance coin, Solana, Cardano, Ripple, Terra, Dogecoin, and Shiba inu.

·         Coins Weights  (As of January 01, 2022) Bitcoin 51.57,Ethereum 25.79,Binance coin 5.03,Solana 3.1,Cardano 2.58

·         The index will be monitored, administered, and rebalanced every quarter of a financial year by the CryptoWire’s index governance committee, comprising domain experts, industry practitioners and academicians.

 

10.    APPLE BECOMES FIRST COMPANY TO TOUCH $3 TRILLION MARKET CAP

·         Apple Inc.’s stock market value raised above USD 3 trillion and became the first company to achieve this milestone.

·         The stock first reached USD 1 trillion in mid-2018 and achieved USD 2 trillion in August 2020.

·         About Apple Inc CEO – Tim Cook,Headquarters – California, United States

 

11.    CAPTAIN HARPREET CHANDI BECOMES 1ST WOMAN OF COLORS TO MAKE SOLO TRIP TO SOUTH POLE

·         The Indian-origin British Sikh Army officer, Captain Harpreet Chandi became the 1st woman of colour to make a solo unsupported trek to the earth’s South Pole.Captain Harpreet Chandi is a 32 years old physiotherapist, who was popularly known as ‘Polar Preet’.

·         Antarctica is the southernmost continent where the Earth’s magnetic South Pole is located. it’s a completely  ice-covered landmass.

·         There are three permanent research base stations in Antarctica, named Dakshin Gangotri (1983), Maitri (1988) and Bharati (2021).

 

12.    G ASOK KUMAR APPOINTED AS THE NEW DIRECTOR GENERAL OF NMCG

·         G Asok Kumar was appointed as the new Director General of National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) under the Ministry of Jal Shakti. He succeeded Director General, Rajiv Ranjan Mishra.

·         He is popularly known as ‘the Rain Man of India’ for his excellent work in rainwater harvesting under the “Jal Shakti Abhiyan: Catch the Rain” campaign.

·         National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) was registered as a society in 2011 under the Ministry of Jal Shakti, towards purification of River Ganga.Its Aim is to clean river Ganga by providing financial and technical assistance.

 

13.    ONGC APPOINTS ALKA MITTAL AS ITS 1ST WOMAN CMD

·         Alka Mittal is appointed as the 1st woman Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of ONGC

·         ONGC is a Maharatna company, which is the highest order for categorization of the CPSEs (Central Public sector Enterprises).

 

14.    WORLD BRAILLE DAY 2022 – JANUARY 4 

·         The United Nations(UN)’s World Braille Day is annually observed across the globe on 4th January to create awareness about the importance of braille as a means of communication in the full realization of human rights for blind and partially sighted people across the globe.

·         4th January also marks the birth anniversary of 19th-century French educator, Louis Braille, who invented Braille