Daily Current Affairs 12th February, 2022

Daily Current Affairs 12 February 2022 for Banking/Insurance/SSC and other related exams.

NATIONAL NEWS

Telangana govt, British Council renew partnership for research, innovation
British Council, an international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural exchange, and the Telangana government signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to renew their partnership in education, English and arts to create opportunities for the youth of Telangana.

• Under the extended three-year MoU between the Telangana government and the British Council, a fresh pact has been agreed upon between Research and Innovation Circle of Hyderabad (RICH) and the British Council that would see both the organisations work to engineer new partnerships among universities, research institutions and centres of excellence in the UK and in Telangana, a press release from the British Council said.

Central Scheme SMILE launched to provide welfare measures to marginalised people
Union Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment Virendra Kumar launched the Central Sector Scheme “SMILE: Support for Marginalised Individuals for Livelihood and Enterprise. 

• This umbrella scheme, under the aegis of the Department of Social Justice and Empowerment, is designed to provide welfare measures to the transgender community and the people engaged in the act of begging, the ministry said.
• ‘SMILE’ includes two sub-schemes – ‘Central Sector Scheme for Comprehensive Rehabilitation for Welfare of Transgender Persons’ and ‘Central Sector Scheme for Comprehensive Rehabilitation of engaged in the act of Begging’.

Govt allocates funds to National Institute of Siddha to enhance infrastructure and increase in research facilities: Sarbananda Sonowal
Ayush Minister Sarbananda Sonowal said the ministry has allocated sufficient funds to the National Institute of Siddha to enhance infrastructure including an increase in the strength of doctors and research facilities.

• Mr. Sonowal said in 2020-21, over 47 crore rupees were allocated. Replying to questions in the Lok Sabha, the minister said a clinical trial to evaluate the safety and efficacy of Siddha Medicine nandhi Mezhugu in stage one and two breast cancer patients has been initiated in collaboration with All India Institute of Ayurveda, New Delhi.
• The minister said Ayush ministry has established the Central Council for Research in Siddha (CCRS), the apex body for research in Siddha system of Medicine.

AIM, NITI Aayog, and UNDP India launches Community Innovator Fellowship
Atal Innovation Mission (AIM), NITI Aayog in collaboration with UNDP, India launched the Community Innovator Fellowship (CIF).

• The fellowship is developed as a pre-incubation model which will provide youth with an opportunity to establish their social enterprise focusing on Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) based solutions for solving community issues.
• This fellowship is a year-long program that aims to provide young community innovators necessary infrastructure and knowledge building in their entrepreneurial journey. This is a propelling initiative to harness the creativity and the innovation potential that the grassroots of India hold.

Maharashtra’s Health Minister announces “Hope Express” will be launched to prevent cancer
Maharashtra’s Health Minister Rajesh Tope announced that “Hope Express” will be launched in the state to prevent cancer. He was speaking at the launch of a state-of-the-art Mosaic-3D radiation machine at a private hospital in Kolhapur.

• This is the first such machine in India. The State Health Minister also promised to take initiative to start Hope Express in every district of the state through district planning.
• He also inaugurated the Oncoprime Cancer Center online at the Hattarki Hospital in Gadhinglaj. The center will benefit patients in rural areas.

Centre to invest Rs Five lakh crore in road infrastructure sector of Bihar in next five years: Union Minister Nitin Gadkari
Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari said that five lakh crore rupees will be invested in the road infrastructure sector of Bihar in the next five years.

• Addressing a function in Munger in Bihar via video conference Mr. Gadkari said that his ministry will complete road projects worth 25,000 crore rupees during 2022-23.
• The union minister said 18 new bridges will be constructed with an expenditure of 27, 000 crore rupees, and 700 crore rupees has been earmarked for Road Over Bridges (ROBs) in the state.

BANKING & FINANCE

Paisabazaar ties up with RBL bank to offer credit card 
Paisabazaar.com, a digital platform for consumer credit, has tied up with RBL Bank to offer ‘Paisa on Demand’ (PoD), a credit card.

• The credit card will be exclusively available on the Paisabazaar platform. As per a press release, the credit card from RBL Bank will be lifetime free with a digital onboarding process.
• Along with features of a credit card, the product will provide customers the option of availing personal loans from RBL Bank, using the same credit limit at normal personal loan rates.

HDFC ERGO partners with Visa to offer insurance covers for Visa’s Platinum cardholders
HDFC Ergo General Insurance announced its partnership with Visa to offer curated insurance covers for Visa’s Platinum cardholders for select public sector banks.

• The company said that the usage of cards as a form of payment has witnessed an increase and seen tremendous acceptance as a preferred mode of payment during the pandemic.

Paytm has highest penetration in digital payments
Paytm, which got listed in bourses in November last year, continues to lead digital payments iith over 45 per cent penetration in Fintech, reveals a Comscore report.

• Paytm is closely followed by Google Pay (mobile App) at 43 per cent penetration (reach as percentage of total digital population), the report showed.
• The Comscore report revealed that financial services was among the top online content categories, accounting for 80 per cent of the total internet audience in the country.

BUSINESS & ECONOMY

SEBI revamps advisory committee on Investor Protection and Education Fund
Capital markets regulator SEBI has restructured its advisory committee on Investor Protection and Education Fund (IPEF).

• The panel is mandated to recommend investor education and protection activities that may be undertaken directly by the markets regulator, or through any other agency, for utilisation of the SEBI Investor Protection and Education Fund.
• The eight-member committee will now be chaired by G Mahalingam, former Whole Time Member of SEBI, according to the latest update with the markets watchdog.The panel was earlier headed by Abraham Koshy, former professor of IIM-Ahmedabad.

SPORTS

Tasnim Mir Wins Iran Fajr International Challenge
Junior World No 1 Tasnim Mir notched a three-game win over Yulia Yosephine Susanto of Indonesia in the final to claim the women’s singles title at the Iran Fajr International Challenge. 

• The 16-year-old from Gujarat, who became the first Indian woman shuttler to claim the world no 1 status in u-19 singles, beat second seed Susato 21-11, 11-21, 21-7 in 51 minutes.

APPOINTMENTS

Krishi Network ropes in actor Pankaj Tripathi as ambassador 
With a view to reaching out to farmers to its agritech platform, Krishi Network has roped in film actor Pankaj Tripathi as a brand ambassador.

• The actor has also invested in the start-up. The start-up said the fresh funds would be used to expand their AI-based technology platform across India and grow rapidly.

N Chandrasekaran reappointed Tata Sons’ Chairman for another 5 years
The salt-to-software Tata Group will see continuation of leadership as N Chandrasekaran remains executive chairman for another five years. The board of directors at the holding company, Tata Sons, met to reappoint Chandrasekaran as chairman.

• Group patriarch and Tata Trusts chairman Ratan Tata, who was present at the board meeting as a special invitee, recommended renewal of Chandrasekaran’s term as executive chairman of Tata Sons.

AWARDS

7 AAI airports chosen for Voice of Customer recognition 2021
The Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) said seven airports that participated in the ACI-ASQ survey in 2021 have been chosen for ‘Voice of Customer Recognition’ under Airports Council International (ACI) World’s Voice of the Customer initiative.

• These Airports Authority of India (AAI) airports to be named under the scheme are: Chennai, Kolkata, Goa, Pune, Patna, Bhubaneswar & Chandigarh, the ministry said.ASQ Awards recognise those airports around the world that deliver the best customer experience in the opinion of their own passengers.
• Airports Council International has initiated the ‘Voice of the Customer’ initiative to acknowledge and recognise airports that continued to prioritise their customers and are committed to ensuring their voice was heard, even during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Rishabh Pant, Shaheen Afridi, Kate Cross and Kane Williamson win ESPNcricinfo awards for 2021
India’s dashing keeper-batter Rishabh Pant won top ‘Test batting’ prize for his series-winning knock of 89 against Australia in Brisbane last year while New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson was adjudged ‘Captain of the Year’ at the 15th Annual ESPNcricinfo awards.

• The Test bowling award went to Kyle Jamieson for his 5 for 31, which helped New Zealand become the first World Test champions.
• England fast bowler Ollie Robinson was named Debutant of the Year for his 37 wickets at 21.16 in eight Tests, which made him England’s second highest wicket-taker in Tests in 2021.
• Saqib Mahmood’s 4 for 42 in a nine-wicket win over Pakistan got him the top ODI bowling prize. Jos Buttler won the T20I batting award for his unbeaten 101 off 67 balls on a challenging surface in Sharjah against Sri Lanka at the T20 World Cup.
• The ODI batting and T20I bowling awards went to Pakistan. Fakhar Zaman won the top batting prize for his 155-ball 193 against South Africa at the Wanderers, the highest score in an ODI chase and the second highest ever in a losing cause.
• And, Shaheen Afridi won the T20I bowling award for his annihilation of India in the 10-wicket win for Pakistan at the T20 World Cup.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 

SpaceX launches Italian Earth-observation satellite, lands rocket
After four days of delay, SpaceX has finally launched Italy’s Earth-observation satellite. A two-stage SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket topped with the Cosmo-SkyMed Second Generation FM2 (CSG-2) satellite lifted off from Florida’s Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

• The Cosmo-SkyMed programme consists of two satellites, which are designed to observe Earth using synthetic aperture radar (SAR), the report said.
• CSG is an enhanced follow-on to the original Cosmo-SkyMed system.

Manoj Sinha launches QR code-based mechanism for certification, labelling of handmade carpets of J-K
Jammu and Kashmir lieutenant governor Manoj Sinha launched a QR code-based mechanism for certification and labelling of handmade carpets of the union territory.

• With the QR-based application, which is the first of its kind in the country, customers can check and verify the authenticity and other requisite details of carpets produced in Jammu and Kashmir, read an official statement from the administration.

OBITUARIES

French virologist who co-discovered HIV virus passed away
French virologist Luc Montagnier, who won a Nobel Prize for his part in discovering the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) that causes AIDS, has died.

• Montagnier, who was 89, shared half of the 2008 Nobel Prize for Medicine with fellow French scientist Francoise Barre-Sinoussi for their role in discovering the virus. The other half was awarded to German cancer researcher Harald zur Hausen.
• He was the Director of the World Foundation for AIDS Research and Prevention in Paris.

BOOKS & AUTHORS

“India-Africa Relations: Changing Horizons” book by Rajiv Bhatia
The book titled “India-Africa Relations: Changing Horizons” written by Rajiv Bhatia has been launched recently. 

• This book which explores the emergence and assertion of Africa as a significant actor and stakeholder in global affairs and the transformation of the relationship between India and Africa.

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