DAILY GK: 21 , 22 JAN 2022

 DAILY GK: 21 , 22 JAN 2022

1.     INDONESIA REPLACES SINKING JAKARTA WITH NEW CAPITAL CITY NUSANTARA

·         The Indonesian Parliament has passed a law to relocate its capital from Jakarta to East Kalimantan, situated to the east of Borneo island. 

·         The new capital city of the country will be called Nusantara, which is a symbol of the identity of the nation, and also a new centre of economic gravity.

·         Cause for change in Capital:Jakarta is prone to flooding & climate change which also suffers from congestion and air pollution.

·         According to the World Economic Forum (WEF), Jakarta is one of the fastest-sinking cities on Earth which has been dropping into the Java Sea due to the over-extraction of groundwater.

·         The name of the new city Nusantara (also called IKN) has been chosen by President Joko Widodo, it is a Javanese term translated as ‘archipelago’ in the Indonesian language.

 

2.     UNCTAD’S INVESTMENT TRENDS MONITOR

·         As per the United Nation Conference on Trade and Development’s (UNCTAD) ‘Investment Trends Monitor’ published in January 19, 2022, the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) flows to India in 2021 had decreased by 26 percent mainly because large Mergers & Acquisition (M&A) offers recorded in 2020 were not repeated.

·         The world’s overseas direct funding flows have rebounded in 2021, which rose at 77 percent to an estimated USD 65 trillion, from USD 929 billion in 2020.

·         Greenfield investment project in India had contracted by 19 percent to USD 24 billion and the number of new projects in global value chains (GVCs) including industries, such as electronics were decreased.

 

3.     15TH BRICS STI STEERING COMMITTEE MEETING

·         15th meeting of the BRICS Science Technology Innovation (STI) Steering Committee decides that India will host five events in 2022.During the meeting, India handed over the chairmanship to China. China will be the Chair for 2022.

·         Theme  for BRICS 2022 -“Foster High-Quality BRICS Partnership Usher in a New Era for Global Development”.

·         Out of 25 events that is to be conducted in 2022 by China, India will host five. The Department of Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) is the main executing agency for the BRICS Startups Forum and creation of innovation Knowledge Hub.

·         The British Economist Jim O’Neill coined the term BRIC (without South Africa) in 2001, claiming that by 2050 the four BRIC economies would come to dominate the global economy by 2050.

·         Currently the BRICS comprises five major emerging economies Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa (joined in 2010).

 

4.     RBI RELEASED RBI-DPI FOR SEPTEMBER 2021

·         The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) released the RBI – Digital Payments Index (RBI-DPI) for September 2021, as per the index the digital payments increased by 39.64 percent to 304.06 as against 217.74 in September 2020.

·         It is the index launched by RBI in January 2021 with March 2018 as the base period (ie. DPI score for March 2018 is set at 100) to identify the extent of digitisation of payments across the country. The index will be released semi-annually with a lag of 4 months.

·         Index Parameters: The index has 5 different parameters and sub-parameters to represent the adoption and deepening of digital payments across India over different time periods.

·         The 5 parameters include – Payment Enablers, Payment Infrastructure – Demand-side factors, Payment Infrastructure – Supply-side factors, Payment Performance, and Consumer Centricity.

 

5.    NSE REMAINS WORLD’S LARGEST DERIVATIVES MARKET FOR 3RD STRAIGHT YEAR

·         The National Stock Exchange of India (NSE) has emerged as the world’s largest derivatives exchange for the third consecutive year in 2021 in terms of the number of contracts traded, based on the statistics maintained by the Futures Industry Association (FIA).

·         As per the statistics maintained by the World Federation of Exchanges (WFE) for 2021, the NSE exchange was ranked 4th by the number of trades in cash equities.

·         At the instrument level, NSE ranks first in index options and currency options by the number of contracts traded.

·         On the NSE, the trading in index options contracts on the Nifty Bank index ranks 1st and the Nifty 50 index ranks 2nd globally within the index options category by the number of contracts traded.

·         NSE Indices, the National Stock Exchange’s index services subsidiary, launched Nifty India Defence index to track the performance of a portfolio of stocks that broadly represent the Defence theme.

·         NSE Headquarter – Mumbai.

 

6.    SMRITI MANDHANA NAMED IN 2021 ICC T20I WOMEN’S TEAM OF THE YEAR

·         Indian cricketer Smriti Mandhana was named in 2021 ICC (International Cricket Council) Women’s T20I team of the year.

·         No Other Indian Player named in Men’s as well Women’s List.

 

7.    2022 GENESIS PRIZE

·         The Genesis Prize Foundation has named Dr Albert Bourla, Chief Executive Officer(CEO) and Chairman of Pfizer as the 2022 Genesis Prize Laureate for his efforts in leading the development of the COVID-19 vaccine.

·         The Genesis Prize, is dubbed the “Jewish Nobel”.

·         The prize is awarded to the winner for their professional achievements and contribution towards humanity and their commitment to Jewish Values.

 

8.     INDIA SUCCESSFULLY TEST-FIRES NEW VERSION OF BRAHMOS SUPERSONIC CRUISE MISSILE

·         India successfully test-fired a new version of the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile at Chandipur, off Odisha coast.

·         BrahMos is the main weapon system of the Indian Navy warships.

·         An underwater version is also being developed which will be used by the submarines of India.

·         The BrahMos is a universal long range supersonic cruise missile system developed by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and the Russian Federation’s NPO Mashinostroyeniya.

·         BrahMos was named after two major rivers of India and Russia: Brahmaputra and Moskva.

·         It is equipped with Stealth Technology, Advanced guidance system, High Target Accuracy (irrespective of weather conditions), Constant supersonic speed.

·         BrahMos can be launched from land, aircraft, ships, and even submarines. BRAHMOS Weapon Systems has been inducted and is operational with the Indian Navy (IN) as well as the Indian Army (IA).

 

9.     PM LAUNCHES ‘AZADI KE AMRIT MAHOTSAV SE SWARNIM BHARAT KI ORE’ 

·         Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the new Circuit House near Somnath Temple in Gujarat through video conferencing.

·         PM emphasised Swachcha Bharat Abhiyaan (cleanliness), convenience of the people, facilities and modern thinking to boost India’s domestic tourism.

·         The PM insisted on adopting ‘vocal for locals’ that includes local tourism.

·         PM Narendra Modi also launched ‘Azadi Ke Amrit Mahotsav se Swarnim Bharat Ki Ore’ via video conferencing.

·         The launch event was held on the occasion of the 53rd Ascension Anniversary of Pitashri Prajapita Brahma, Founding Father of Brahma Kumaris.

 

10.  INDIAN NAVY’S P-8I AIRCRAFT PARTICIPATED IN ASW EXERCISE SEA DRAGON-22 AT GUAM, US

·         P-8I long-range maritime reconnaissance aircraft of the Indian Navy has participated in the multinational Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) Exercise Sea Dragon-22 held at Guam is an unincorporated territory of the United States (US).

·         Sea Dragon is an annual multinational high-end exercise hosted by the US Navy.

·         Quad countries, Canada and South Korea have participated in the 2-week exercise which began on 5th January and concluded on 20th January 2022.

 

11.  EXISTING NBFC-ICCS WITH ASSET SIZE OF RS 1,000CR & ABOVE ALLOWED UNDERTAKING FACTORING BUSINESS: RBI

·         the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) issued the following regulations after exercising its powers conferred under the Factoring Regulation Act, 2011.

·         Registration of Factors (Reserve Bank) Regulations, 2022.

·         It permits all existing non-deposit taking Non-Banking Finance Company-Investment and Credit Companies (NBFC-ICCs) with asset size of Rs 1,000 crore and above to undertake factoring business, subject to certain conditions.

·         This will increase the number of NBFCs eligible to undertake factoring business significantly from 7 to 182.

·         Other NBFC-ICCs can also undertake factoring business by registering as NBFC-Factor.

 

12.  MIA AMOR MOTTLEY SWORN IN AS PM OF BARBADOS

·         the Prime Minister (PM) of Barbados, Mia Amor Mottley, was sworn in for a second term.

·         She became Barbados’ eighth and first female Prime Minister elected in 2018.She is also the first female PM of Barbados to lead a second term as the PM.

·         Barbados is a Caribbean island and an independent British Commonwealth nation situated in North America. Capital– Bridgetown.

 

13.  RAGHUVENDRA TANWAR WAS APPOINTED AS THE CHAIRMAN OF ICHR

·         The government of India(GoI) has appointed Raghuvendra Tanwar, Professor emeritus of Kurukshetra University(KU), as the chairman of the Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR) for a period of 3 years from the day he assumes office or until further orders.

 

14.  ACC U-19 ASIA CUP CRICKET 2021

·         India under 19(U-19) cricket Team, led by Yash Dhull has won the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) U-19 Asia Cup 2021, a record eighth title, defeating Sri Lanka by 9 wickets at the match held at Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai, United Arab Emirates(UAE).

·         The ACC U-19 Asia Cup is organised by the Asian Cricket Council(ACC).

·         The first-ever U19 Asia Cup was held in 1989 in Bangladesh.