DAILY GK: 30 , 31 DEC 2021

 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 net loss to the Indian economy (due to COVID-19) during FY 2021-23 is estimated at Rs 39.3 lakh crore, in real terms.
·        In Q2 FY2022, the volumes of 7 of the 13 high frequency indicators rose above their pre-COVID-19 levels in October-November 2021.

·         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

·         Also Sikkim Governor Ganga Prasad Inaugurated ‘Narendra Modi Marg’, Road Named After PM Modi Ganga Prasad.The Narendra Modi Marg is the 2nd road connecting the Tsomgo lake and Nathula border pass with Gangtok, Sikkim.

 

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.