Daily Current Affairs 23rd April, 2022

Daily Current Affairs 23 April 2022 for Banking/Insurance/SSC and other related exams.

NATIONAL NEWS

All 100 smart cities to get integrated command-control centre by Aug 15
Union Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri said that 80 out of the 100 Smart Cities in the country have Integrated Command and Control Centres and the remaining will get them by August 15.

• Further, Puri said that all the projects worth around Rs 200,000 crore have been tendered, while projects worth around Rs 63,000 crore or so have been completed.
• Gujarat is very well placed in terms of most urban infrastructure in smart cities,he added.

Shivamogga Airport To Be Named After BS Yediyurappa: Karnataka Chief Minister
The airport that is coming up at Sogane near will be named after former chief minister B S Yediyurappa, Karnataka CM Basavaraj Bommai said.

• The airport, with international standard facilities, will be inaugurated in December this year.

Sikkim : SSDMA Inks Pact With GSI For Developing ‘Regional-Level Early Warning System’
The Sikkim State Disaster Management Authority (SSDMA) and Geological Survey of India (GSI) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for developing a Regional Level Early Warning System based on Rainfall Threshold; at the chamber of Secretary-cum-Relief Commissioner of Land Revenue & Disaster Management Department.

• The landslide susceptibility maps at a scale of 1:50000 have been developed for 17 states, including Sikkim, and that around 3 lakh square kilometres of land have been mapped throughout the country, resulting in a database for about 60,000 landslides.

NITI Aayog partners with UNICEF India to focus on child development goals
National Institution for Transforming India (NITI Ayog) and United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) are collaborating to work to achieve the United Nations’ sustainable development goals concerning children in India.

• As per an official statement, the two organisations have inked a Statement of Intent that focuses on children.
• UNICEF India and NITI Aayog are developing detailed measures to gain an understanding of the multidimensional attainments and deprivations among children across health and nutrition, education, water and sanitation, and household living standards, in order to achieve the SDGs’ child development priorities.

Tripura inks MoU with NIXI-CSC to set up International Data Centre
The Tripura government has inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with NIXI-CSC Data Services Centre to establish an international standard Data Centre.

• National Internet Exchange of India (NIXI) and CSE e-governance services Ltd, have floated a joint venture – NIXI-CSC Data Services Centre to set up the proposed Data Centre.
• The joint venture company will invest Rs 150 crore for setting up the Data Centre while the state government will provide only space.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Navy chief unveils jointly produced navigation chart in Maldives
Continuing with what has been New Delhi’s approach on strengthening bonds with countries in the Indian Ocean Region, Chief of Naval Staff (CNS) Admiral R Hari Kumar has visited Seychelles and Maldives.

• This was his first outing as Navy Chief. He handed over jointly developed survey maps to the navy officials of Seychelles and Maldives. Admiral Hari Kumar was in Seychelles from April 21 to 23. Before that, he was in Maldives from April 18 to 20. He met the top political and military officials of the two nations.
• Admiral Hari Kumar presented a navigation chart of Port Victoria (Seychelles), prepared by the National Hydrographic Office  of India. He also reminisced his experiences as the then Naval Advisor to the Government of Seychelles in 2001-02.

BANKING & FINANCE

India Post Payments Bank launches ‘Fincluvation‘
State-owned India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) announced the launch of Fincluvation, a joint initiative to collaborate with the financial technology (fintech) start-up community to co-create and innovate solutions for financial inclusion.

• Fincluvation mentors will work closely with the start-ups to tweak products to the customer needs and align the go-to-market strategies with operating models of IPPB and DoP.
• Fincluvation is a step in this direction, an industry-first initiative to create a powerful platform to mobilise the start-up community towards building meaningful financial products aimed at financial inclusion.

Dhanlaxmi Bank signs MoU with CBDT and CBIC for tax collection
Dhanlaxmi Bank said it has signed a memorandum of understanding with Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) and Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) for collection of taxes.

• The bank has been authorised by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) based on the recommendation from the Controller General of Accounts for collection of various taxes.

BHIM UPI goes live at NEOPAY terminals in UAE 
NPCI International Payments Ltd (NIPL), the international arm of the National Payment Corporation of India, has said BHIM UPI is now live on NEOPAY terminals, across the UAE.

• This initiative will empower millions of Indians who travel to the UAE to safely and conveniently make payments using BHIM UPI across NEOPAY enabled shops and merchant stores.
• NIPL and NEOPAY, the payment subsidiary of Mashreq Bank, partnered last year, to create the acceptance infrastructure in the UAE.

BUSINESS & ECONOMY

OneWeb signs pact with ISRO arm for satellite launches 
Bharti-backed OneWeb has inked an agreement with New Space India Ltd (NSIL), the commercial arm of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), to launch its low-earth orbit (LEO) satellites.

• The upcoming launches will add to OneWeb’s total in-orbit constellation of 428 satellites, 66% of the planned total fleet, to build a global network that will deliver high-speed, low-latency satellite broadband services in rural and remote regions globally, including in India.
• OneWeb is setting up a global constellation of 648-odd LEO satellites.

Apple announces new partnership to protect mangroves in Raigad district
Apple announced a new partnership with the Applied Environmental Research Foundation and Conservation International to protect the mangrove ecosystem and the livelihoods that depend on it in the Raigad district of Maharashtra.

• Apple awarded a grant to the Applied Environmental Research Foundation (AERF) in 2021 to work with the local community to protect a 2,400-hectare mangrove forest in the region.The region provides an important buffer against the most dangerous impacts of climate change.

SPORTS

West Indies’ Kieron Pollard announces retirement from international cricket
West Indies cricketer Kieron Pollard has announced his retirement from international cricket.

• Pollard, who was the captain of West Indies’ limited-overs teams, played a total of 123 ODIs and 101 T20Is. He has been an integral part of the Mumbai Indians team in the Indian Premier League for several years now and was retained by the franchise ahead of the mega auction in February this year.
• He was part of the West Indies team that won the 2012 ICC WT20 and missed out on his second T20 World Cup title in 2016 as he missed the tournament due to injury.

APPOINTMENTS

Eminent physicist Ajay Kumar Sood appointed principal scientific advisor
Eminent physicist Ajay Kumar Sood has been appointed as the principal scientific advisor (PSA) to the government, a personnel ministry order issued.

• Sood, a member of the Science, Technology and Innovation Advisory Council to the prime minister, has been appointed to the post for a period of three years to succeed renowned biologist K VijayRaghavan.

Babita Singh named as the New Global Peace Ambassador 2022
Serial entrepreneur Babita Singh has been conferred as a Global Peace Ambassador for promoting Peace through Education, Sports, Art, Culture & Diplomacy at the India International Conclave 2022 held in collaboration with Asia Africa Consortium (AAC) that took place in Shangrila, New Delhi.

• Babita Singh has been awarded this honour because she is one of the very few people who have dedicated their lives to practises that promote Universal Moral Values, Interreligious cooperation, and International Harmony in accordance with the United Nations Human Rights Charter in order to improve the lives of billions of people around the world.

José Ramos-Horta declares victory in Timor-Leste presidential election
Independence leader and Nobel laureate Jose Ramos-Horta has declared victory in East Timor’s presidential election, calling for unity and dialogue after a final count showed he had secured 62 percent of the vote.

• Ramos-Horta squared off against incumbent Francisco “Lu Olo” Guterres, also a veteran of the country’s resistance against Indonesian occupation, in the second round of voting.
• Ramos-Horta was previously president from 2007 until 2012 and has also held the post of prime minister.

AWARDS

Ukrainian Prez Zelenskyy gets John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award for protecting democracy
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is among five people named as recipients of the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award for acting to protect democracy.

• The John F. Kennedy Library Foundation said that he was chosen because of the way he has “marshaled the spirit, patriotism and untiring sacrifice of the Ukrainian people in a life-or-death fight for their country.

Sir David Attenborough earns prestigious UN ‘Champion of the Earth’ award
The much-loved British broadcaster Sir David Attenborough has been officially recognized as a “Champion of the Earth” by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). The natural history icon is just the fifth person to receive the award for lifetime achievement.

• For decades, Attenborough has narrated jaw-dropping, inspiring and eye-opening nature documentaries using his signature soothing tones. Some of his most famous documentaries include Planet Earth, Blue Planet, Life on Earth and Our Planet.
• He has also become a leading advocate for protecting the natural world and has strongly condemned world leaders for their inaction on climate change.

Indian-American defence expert Vivek Lall to receive Entrepreneur Leadership Award
In recognition of his contribution in the defence sector, Indian-American chief executive of General Atomics Global Corporation Vivek Lall has been selected for the prestigious Entrepreneur Leadership Awards by the Indo-American Chamber of Commerce.

• Lall, who has worked for Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and now General Atomics, has played a key role in advancing defence trade.He was recently named a Kentucky Colonel, the highest honour bestowed by the state.
• Others who have received this honour include former US presidents George Bush, Jimmy Carter, Lynden Johnson, and Ronald Reagan.

Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah among Wisden’s Five Cricketers of the Year
India captain Rohit Sharma and pacer Jasprit Bumrah have been named among the “Five Cricketers of the Year” in the 2022 edition of the Wisden Almanack.

• England fast bowler Ollie Robinson, South African women’s player Dane van Niekerk and New Zealand opener Devon Conway are the others to have made the cut.
• Former England captain Joe Root has been named Leading Cricketer in the World, South Africa’s Lizelle Lee the Leading Woman Cricketer in the World and Pakistan’s Mohammad Rizwan the Leading T20 Cricketer.

BOOKS & AUTHORS

Naveen Patnaik releases two books: The Magic of Mangalajodi, compilation of Sikh History of East India
Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has released two books. The first one is the coffee table book titled “The Magic of Mangalajodi” by Avinash Khemka and the second one is a compilation of the Sikh history of eastern India, “The Sikh History of East India”.

• The coffee table book provides a bird’s-eye view of Mangalajodi in Chilika through fabulous images and descriptions. It also inspires readers to visit and enjoy this spectacular place on earth.

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