Daily Current Affairs 5th January, 2022

Daily Current Affairs 5 January 2022 for Banking/Insurance/SSC and other related exams.

NATIONAL NEWS

Exercise Milan 2022: India to host 46 nations mega naval wargames
India has invited a total of 46 friendly foreign countries to participate in the multinational naval exercise Milan in Visakhapatnam, scheduled from February 25, 2022.

• The theme of this 11th edition of exercise Milan is camaraderie, cohesion and collaboration. This exercise was initiated in 1995 and held biennially and conducted with friendly navies.
• The countries that have been extended invitations for participation include Russia, the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Israel, Iran, France, Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, Bangladesh, Brazil, United Arab Emirates, among others.

Number of subscribers of Atal Pension Yojana has reached 3.68 cr so far: Govt
Finance Ministry said, over 65 lakh have been enrolled in Atal Pension Yojana in the current financial year so far.

• Apart from enrolments, male to female subscription ratio of 56:44 is improving and asset under management is around 20 thousand crore rupees.

Telangana tops in highest number of ODF villages
Once again, Telangana stood first in the country in the list of highest number of open defecation free (ODF Plus) villages under the Swachh Bharat Mission (Grameen) Phase-II programme till December 31, 2021.

• As many as 13,737 out of 14,200 villages in the State are in the ODF Plus list, which is 96.74%. This was followed by Tamil Nadu with 4,432 villages (35.39%) and Karnataka with 1,511 villages (5.59%). Gujarat took the 17th position with only 83 villages (0.45%).

Himachal becomes first smoke-free state of the country
Ujjwala and Himachal Grihini Suvidha scheme of Centre and State government prove boon for the people of the state and making Himachal Pradesh the first state in the country to become a smoke-free state.

• Ujjwalla Yojna was started by the Centre government with the view to free the women of the country from indoor pollution.
• Along with this, the Himachal government also started the Grihini Suvidha Yojana to benefit as many women as possible, under the scheme.

Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh releases Special Postage Stamp commemorating 75th Platinum Jubilee year of CSIR-National Physical Lab
Science and Technology Minister Dr Jitendra Singh released a Special Postage Stamp commemorating the 75th Platinum Jubilee year of CSIR-National Physical Laboratory in New Delhi.

• The Minister also dedicated the nation LED Photometry Laboratory to fulfill Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision to develop energy-efficient illumination technology.
• He said the Platinum Jubilee celebration is coinciding with the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He said science and technology is going to be the main currency for the inclusive growth of India in the coming decades.

BANKING & FINANCE

RBI releases framework on offline digital payments
The Reserve Bank of India released framework to enable small value digital payments in offline mode using cards, wallets and mobile device. As per the new rules payment system operators, will be able to allow offline payments in face to face mode only.

• Such payments that will happen without the use of internet or the telecom network will be capped at Rs 200 per transaction and will be offered without additional factor.
• As per the rules, the upper limit of an offline payment transaction will be Rs 200. The total limit for offline transactions on a payment instrument will be Rs 2,000 at any point in time. The regulator also stated that payment instruments will be enabled for offline transactions based on explicit consent of the customer.
• The RBI also said that the acquirer will incur all liabilities arising out of technical or transaction security issues at merchant’s end.

SBI, ICICI and HDFC Bank continue to be systemically important banks: RBI
The Reserve Bank of India said that State Bank of India, HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank will remain as D-SIBs) and therefore will have to maintain additional common equity tier 1 (CET1) capital ratios in the same manner prescribed in 2020.

• For SBI, the additional CET1 requirement is maintained at 0.6% of the bank’s risk weighted assets, while for HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank, the requirement is kept at 0.2%.
• The additional CET1 requirement is in addition to the capital conservation buffer and was prescribed to strengthen these bank’s capital. The capital conservation buffer, at 2.5% of a bank’s total exposures, is in addition to the 4.5% minimum requirement for Common Equity Tier 1 capital.

Bharat BillPay launches UPMS to simplify recurring bill payments
NPCI Bharat BillPay announced the launch of a Unified Presentment Management System (UPMS), which will enable users to set up standing instructions on their recurring bill payments across all channels and modes of digital payments.

• Under the system, bills will be automatically fetched from the billers and presented to customers to take action in terms of auto-debit and bill payment management.
• The idea is to enable all the Bharat BillPay Operating Units to make this facility available to their customers through the centralized infrastructure and application support provided by Bharat BillPay Central Unit (BBPCU), NBBL said in its statement. UPMS will help in democratizing recurring bill payments and making them further convenient for customers.

BUSINESS & ECONOMY

Apple becomes first company to touch $3 trillion market cap
Apple Inc became the first company to hit a $3 trillion stock market value, before ending the day a hair below that milestone, as investors bet the iPhone maker will keep launching best-selling products as it explores new markets such as automated cars and virtual reality.

• On the first day of trading in 2022, the Silicon Valley company’s shares hit an intraday record high of $182.88, putting Apple’s market value just above $3 trillion. The stock ended the session up 2.5% at $182.01, with Apple’s market capitalization at $2.99 trillion.
• The world’s most valuable company reached the milestone as investors bet that consumers will continue to shell out top dollar for iPhones, MacBooks and services such as Apple TV and Apple Music.

India`s exports up 37% to record USD 37.29 bn in Dec; trade deficit widens to USD 22 bn
The country’s exports in December 2021 surged 37 per cent on an annual basis to USD 37.29 billion, the highest-ever monthly figure, on the back of healthy performance by 1sectors like engineering, textiles and chemicals, even as the trade deficit widened to USD 21.99 billion.

• Imports in December too rose by 38 per cent to USD 59.27 billion on account of an increase in oil imports, which soared 65.17 per cent to USD 15.9 billion, government data showed.
• Gold imports expanded by 4.5 per cent to USD 4.69 billion.
• Exports in December 2020 stood at USD 27.22 billion, while imports aggregated to USD 42.93 billion. Trade deficit was at USD 15.72 billion.

APPOINTMENTS

Alka Mittal becomes first woman to head ONGC as CMD
Alka Mittal has been appointed as the interim chairman and managing director of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), making her the first woman to head the country’s largest oil and gas producer.

• She replaces Subhash Kumar, another interim head who retired after reaching superannuation age on December 31.
• She became the first woman to head an oil and gas exploration and production company. Earlier, Nishi Vadudeva was the first company to head an oil company when she took over the reins of oil refiner and fuel marketing company Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) in 2014.

G Asok Kumar takes over as DG, National Mission for Clean Ganga
Senior IAS officer, G Asok Kumar posted as additional secretary, Union ministry of Jal Shakti assumed the charge as Director General of National Mission for Clean Ganga, Ministry of Jal Shakti.

• Kumar, a 1991 batch of IAS officer has earlier also served in Civil Aviation and Power ministries and was also executive director of projects in National Mission for Clean Ganga.

AWARDS

Captain Harpreet Chandi becomes first Indian-origin woman to trek solo to South Pole
An Indian-origin British Army Captain, Harpreet Chandi, has become the first woman of colour to trek solo unsupported to the South Pole.

• The 32-year-old who is widely famous as Polar Preet is also a trained physiotherapist.
• She completed the 700 miles (1127 kilometres) in just 40 days.

Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism awards: Full list of winners
Manorama News Senior Correspondent S Mahesh Kumar is among the winners of the Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Awards.
Mahesh Kumar bagged the award for investigative journalism. He won the coveted award for the news series “Operation Nepal Gold”.

• The award carries a cash prize of Rs 1 lakh and a citation. The award will be given away at a function to be held in March.

The complete list of winners:
Hindi (Print): Anand Choudhary, Dainik Bhaskar
Hindi (Broadcast): Sushil Kumar Mohapatra, NDTV India
Regional Languages (Print): Aniket Vasant Sathe, Loksatta
Regional Languages (Broadcast): Sunil Baby, Media One TV
Environment, Science And Technology Reporting (Print): Team Pari (People’s Archive Of Rural India), comprising Shalini Singh, Sanket Jain, Ritayan Mukherjee, Vishaka George, Kavitha Muralidharan, Medha Kale, Parth M N, Urvashi Sarkar, Namita Waikar, Chitrangada Choudhury, Aniket Aga, Jaideep Hardikar, M Palani Kumar and Subuhi Jiwani and P Sainath.
Environment, Science And Technology Reporting (Broadcast): Team Scroll, comprising Nooshin Mowla, Sujit Lad, Omkar Phatak, Swati Ali, Dewang Trivedi, Shibika Suresh and Sannuta Raghu.
Uncovering India Invisible (Print): Shiv Sahay Singh, The Hindu
Uncovering India Invisible (Broadcast): Tridip K Mandal,The Quint
Business And Economic Journalism (Print): Sumant Banerji, Business Today
Business And Economic Journalism (Broadcast): Ayushi Jindal, India Today TV
Reporting On Politics And Government (Digital): Dheeraj Mishra, The Wire
Reporting On Politics And Government (Broadcast): Seemi Pasha, Thewire.in
Sports journalism (Print): Nihal Koshie, The Indian Express
Sports journalism (Broadcast): Team NewsX, which included Aishvarya Jain, Siddharth Reg, Riyanka Choudhary and Prerna Sandilya
Investigative Reporting (Print): Kaunain Sheriff M, The Indian Express
Investigative Reporting (Broadcast): S Mahesh Kumar, Manorama News
Reporting On Arts, Culture And Entertainment: Uday Bhatia, Mint
Prakash Kardaley Memorial Award for Civic Journalism: Chaitanya Marpakwar, Mumbai Mirror
Photo journalism: Zishaan A Latif, The Caravan
Books (Non-Fiction): Arun Mohan Sukumar

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Azure Power commissions 600 MW solar project in Rajasthan
Azure Power said it has commissioned a 600 MW solar power project in Bikaner.

• According to a statement, the power generated from the project, located in Rajasthan, will be supplied to SECI at a tariff of Rs 2.53 per kWh for 25 years.
• This is the largest solar power project in India, owned and operated at a single location by any developer, it claimed.

OBITUARIES

Three-Time Olympic Triple Jump Champion Viktor Saneyev passes away 
The three-time Olympic triple jump champion and former world record-holder Viktor Saneyev has died at the age of 76, the World Athletics said.

• The Soviet Union man won his Olympic titles in three consecutive Games, first in Mexico City in 1968 and then again in Munich, 1972 and followed by Montreal in 1976. He won an Olympic silver medal four years later in Moscow. He also won two European titles in 1969 and 1974.
• Saneyev’s started his Olympic career at 23 years of age, and he made his debut by securing gold with a world record leap of 17.39m, which was his second world record of the day on a day that the record was recorded newly four times.

Indo-Pak 1971 war veteran Vice Admiral SH Sarma passes away 
The Indian Navy’s 1971 Indo-Pak war veteran Vice Admiral S.H. Sarma died, at the age of 100.

• Sarma was the Flag Officer Commanding Eastern Fleet during the 1971 war. India had defeated Pakistan in the 1971 war leading to the creation of Bangladesh.
• Sarma also served as Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief (FOC in C) of the Eastern Naval Command.

Famed fossil hunter and conservationist Richard Leakey passes away
A world-renowned Kenyan conservationist and fossil hunter, Richard Leakey has died at the age of 77, said President Uhuru Kenyatta.

• The legendary paleoanthropologist is credited for the discovery of ‘Turkana Boy’ in 1984 which led to groundbreaking discoveries proving that humankind evolved in Africa.

IMPORTANT DAYS

Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh launches theme of National Science Day 2022
Union Science and Technology Minister, Dr Jitendra Singh launched the theme of National Science Day 2022.

• The theme of this year is ‘Integrated Approach in Science and Technology for Sustainable Future’.
• The National Science Day is observed every year on 28th February to mark the discovery of the Raman effect.

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