Current Affairs Quiz 11th February 2022 : Daily GK Update Quiz

Exp. Telangana govt signed MoU with British Council to expand higher education globally

The Government of Telangana and the British Council, an international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural exchange, have signed a 3-year MoU to renew the partnership in education, English and arts.

Aim: To facilitate research between institutions and assist to expand higher education globally, to offer global opportunities for the youth of Telangana.

Under the extended 3-year MoU, the British Council has also signed an agreement with the Research and Innovation Circle of Hyderabad (RICH) to work closely to engineer new partnerships between universities, research institutions and centres of excellence in the UK and in Telangana.

Exp. NABARD launched ‘JIVA Programme’ to promote natural farming

National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) launched the ‘JIVA programme’ to promote natural farming under its existing watershed and wadi programmes in 11 states.

Aim: To effectively implement the principles of agroecology long-term sustainability and transform the pre-existing social and natural capital towards efficient farming.

JIVA is an agroecology-based programme, an amalgamation of several projects under the watershed programme of NABARD and will be implemented in 11 states covering five agro-ecological zones, which are in ecologically fragile and rain-fed areas.

The JIVA programme will be implemented with investment of Rs 50,000 per hectare.

Exp. Karnataka developed “Nanna Shale Nanna Koduge” app to help in addressing infrastructure needs of government schools

Department of Primary & Secondary Education in Karnataka developed an app titled “Nanna Shale Nanna Koduge”, which will be launched by Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on February 14, 2022.

Nanna Shale Nanna Koduge app, (Meaning ‘My School, My contribution’ app) will be launched to help in addressing infrastructure needs of government schools, optimal use of hearing aids, shortage of teachers, and utilisation of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) funds.

This app will provide assistance to several department in about 80 organisations, that are working to improve schools and school education in Karnataka. It will provide details of any government school on the app.

Under the programme, an investment of Rs 875 crore will be required, wherein Rs 200,000 will be dedicated to each school. Department seeks to develop at least 100 schools by 2024-25 academic year.

Exp. THDCIL signed agreement to set up 10,000MW solar projects in Rajasthan

State-owned THDC India Ltd (THDCIL) has signed a pact to build 10,000-megawatt (MW) solar power projects entailing an investment of Rs 10,000 crore in Rajasthan.

“THDC India Limited (THDCIL) signed the letter of intent (LoI) of 10,000 MW in Rajasthan with an estimated investment of Rs 40,000 crore for the establishment of renewable energy parks/ projects of 10,000 MW.

This will contribute towards the RE capacity addition target of 500 gigawatts (GW) by 2030.

Exp. TomTom Traffic Index Ranking 2021: Mumbai 5th most-congested city

TomTom Traffic Index Ranking 2021 has been released covering 404 cities across 58 countries.

As per the TomTom Traffic Index Ranking 2021, Mumbai has been ranked 5th, Bengaluru is ranked 10th, New Delhi has been ranked at 11th place, and Pune ranked 21st in terms of most congested cities in the world in 2021.

Istanbul, Turkey has been declared as the most congested city in the world as per the ranking. while Moscow came in second.

Exp. India to help Sri Lanka launch a ‘Unitary Digital Identity framework’ modelled on the Aadhaar card

India has agreed to provide grant to Sri Lanka to implement ‘Unitary Digital Identity framework’, apparently modelled on Aadhaar card.

It will be categorized as a national level programme. This will provide personal identity verification device based on biometric data, digital tool that can represent identities of individuals in cyberspace, and identification of individual identities that can be accurately verified in digital and physical environments.

Exp. RBI’s Monetary Policy Committee kept key interest rates unchanged for the 10th consecutive time

On February 10, 2022, RBI’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) kept key interest rates unchanged. It retained the accommodative stance in its first policy after Union Budget 2022.

MPC kept the repo rate unchanged at 4% for the 10th consecutive time while maintaining an ‘accommodative stance’ as long as necessary. The reverse repo rate will continue to be 3.35 %.

The central bank had last revised the policy rate on May 22, 2020, in an off-policy cycle to perk up demand by cutting the interest rate to a historic low.

Reserve Bank of India conducted the 6th and the last Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting for 2021-22 between February 8-10, 2022. The next meeting of the MPC is scheduled during April 6-8, 2022.

RBI has also projected the real GDP growth for 2022-23 at 7.8% with 17.2 percent at Q1; 7.0 percent at Q2; 4.3 percent at Q3; and 4.5 percent at Q4. For the current fiscal year, RBI projected real GDP growth of 9.2% and expects that it will take the economy above the pre-pandemic level.

For the current fiscal year, RBI retained its retail inflation projection at 5.3%. The CPI inflation projection for FY23 is at 4.5% with 4.9 percent at Q1 ,5.0 percent at Q2, 4.0 percent at Q3, and 4.2 percent at Q4. MPC has been given the mandate to maintain annual inflation at 4% until March 31, 2026, with an upper tolerance of 6% and lower tolerance of 2%.

Currently, RBI has proposed to increase the limit on amount for e-RUPI vouchers issued by Governments to Rs 1,00,000 per voucher and allow use of the voucher multiple times (until the amount of the voucher is completely redeemed). Read More

Policy Repo Rate  4.00%

Reverse Repo Rate  3.35%

Marginal Standing Facility (MSF) Rate  4.25%

Bank Rate  4.25%

CRR  4.00%

SLR  18.00%

Exp. RBI reopened Voluntary Retention Route with investment limit of ₹2,50,000 crores

The Reserve Bank of India had introduced the Voluntary Retention Route (VRR) for investments by Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) in debts in 2019 with an investment limit of Rs. 1,50,000 crores.

Out of this, around Rs. 1,49,995 crores have been availed so far in three tranches. Now RBI has increased this investment limit in VRR from Rs. 1,50,000 crores to Rs. 2,50,000 crores.

This increased limit shall be open for allotment from April 1, 2022. The investment limit available for fresh allotment shall accordingly be Rs 1,04,800 crore (net of extant allotments and adjustments); and shall be allotted under the VRR–Combined category.

The minimum retention period shall be three years. Investment limits shall be available ‘on tap’ and allotted on a ‘first-come, first-served basis. The ‘tap’ shall be kept open till the limit is fully allotted.

Exp. SEBI restructured Advisory Committee on Investor Protection and Education Fund; chaired by G Mahalingam

Securities and Exchange Board of India restructured its advisory committee on Investor Protection and Education Fund (IPEF), under the chairmanship of G Mahalingam.

The advisory committee on IPEF is an eight-member committee which will take G Mahalingam, former Whole Time Member of SEBI, as its new Chairperson.

In 2013, the committee was established by the SEBI to find out ways and means to best utilize the investor protection and education fund. Earlier the committee was headed by Abraham Koshy, former professor of Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM-A), Gujarat.

The committee is mandated to recommend investor education and protection activities for utilization of the SEBI IPEF.

Members of Committee: Vijay Kumar Venkataraman, Mrin Agarwal, A Balasubramanian, M G Parameswaran, GP Garg, N Hariharan and Jayanta Jash.

Exp. SBI partnered with NSE Academy to offer financial literacy courses

The State Bank of India partnered with NSE Academy to launch five online courses to promote financial literacy courses through NSE Knowledge Hub platform, an online Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) platform.

Aim: To provide a deeper understanding of different aspects of banking to banking professionals, students and other learners.

These courses are a mixture of theory and operational aspects. It will provide an effective understanding of fundamentals of banking, compliance, lending norms and a host of other topics.

courses curated by SBI are “Banking Fundamentals”, “MSME Lending in a Nutshell”, “Electronic Payment System in India”, “Priority Sector Lending Norms”, “NRI Business & Compliance”.

Exp. RNEL bought additional 10.37% stake in Sterling & Wilson Renewable

Reliance New Energy Limited (RNEL) has acquired an additional 10.37% stake in Sterling & Wilson Renewable Energy Limited (SWREL), formerly known as Sterling & Wilson Solar Limited for Rs. 738 crores from its promoters.

The promoters include Shapoorji Pallonji and Company Private Limited (1.53 crore equity shares of SWREL) and Khurshed Daruvala (42.86 lakh equity shares of SWREL).

After the acquisition, RNEL holds 40.00% of the total paid-up equity share capital of SWREL which is an aggregate of 19667750 equity shares of face value of INR 1 each.

Reliance will use this technology at its proposed energy storage giga-factory, the world’s largest refining complex in Jamnagar, Gujarat.

Exp. S. Kishore appointed as new chairman of Staff Selection Commission

Senior bureaucrat S. Kishore has been appointed as Chairman of Staff Selection Commission (SSC).

With this appointment, Kishore, a 1989-Batch IAS officer of West Bengal cadre, has been given a secretary-equivalent rank and pay by temporarily upgrading the post. Prior to the latest posting, he was serving as Special Secretary, Department of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

Exp. Ahmedabad IPL team to be called Gujarat Titans

Ahmedabad’s IPL franchise, which is owned by CVC Capital, has been named Gujarat Titans, ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 mega auction.

The team has roped-in Hardik Pandya as their captain, Ashish Nehra as the head coach of the team and Vikram Solanki as the director. It has also signed Afghanistan spinner Rashid Khan and Shubman Gill.

Gujarat Titans is debuting in the 15th season of the IPL. Prior to this in January 2022, Lucknow’s IPL team was renamed as Lucknow Super Giants by its owner RPSG Group.

Exp. A new book titled “India-Africa Relations: Changing Horizons” authored by Rajiv Bhatia

Ambassador Rajiv Kumar Bhatia, a Distinguished Fellow, Foreign Policy Studies Programme at Gateway House, has authored a new book (his 3rd book) titled “India-Africa Relations: Changing Horizons” 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.

The book also provides a detailed exploration of India–Africa partnership in all its critical dimensions.

The book describes the historical backdrop and shared colonial past to focus on and contextualise the evolution of the India – Africa engagement.

Exp. 11 February: International Day of Women and Girls in Science

International Day of Women and Girls in Science is observed ever year on 11 February throughout the world.

The 7th International Day of Women and Girls in Science Assembly, taking place on 11 February 2022, aims to recognize the role of women and girls in science, not only as beneficiaries but also as agents of change, including in view of accelerating progress towards the achievement of SDG 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation).

The Day is implemented by UNESCO and UN-Women in collaboration with institutions and civil society partners that aim to promote women and girls in science.

In December 2015, the United Nations adopted a resolution to celebrate February 11 as the International Day of Women and Girls in Science. 2016 is the first time it was celebrated.

Theme 2022: “Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion: Water Unites Us”

Exp. 11 February: World Unani Day

World Unani Day is observed on February 11 every year to mark the birth anniversary of “Hakim Ajmal Khan”, an eminent Indian Unani physician.

The first Unani Day was celebrated in 2017 at the Central Research Institute of Unani Medicine (CRIUM), Hyderabad.

The main objective is to spread the awareness in masses and action about healthcare delivery through the Unani system of medicine worldwide through its preventive and curative philosophy.

The theme for the international conference of 2022 is ‘Diet and Nutrition in Unani Medicine for good health and well-being’. The conference will be held on 10 and 11 February in hybrid virtual mode due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Exp. RBI’s Monetary Policy Committee kept key interest rates unchanged for the 10th consecutive time

On February 10, 2022, RBI’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) kept key interest rates unchanged. It retained the accommodative stance in its first policy after Union Budget 2022.

MPC kept the repo rate unchanged at 4% for the 10th consecutive time while maintaining an ‘accommodative stance’ as long as necessary. The reverse repo rate will continue to be 3.35 %.

The central bank had last revised the policy rate on May 22, 2020, in an off-policy cycle to perk up demand by cutting the interest rate to a historic low.

Reserve Bank of India conducted the 6th and the last Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting for 2021-22 between February 8-10, 2022. The next meeting of the MPC is scheduled during April 6-8, 2022.

RBI has also projected the real GDP growth for 2022-23 at 7.8% with 17.2 percent at Q1; 7.0 percent at Q2; 4.3 percent at Q3; and 4.5 percent at Q4. For the current fiscal year, RBI projected real GDP growth of 9.2% and expects that it will take the economy above the pre-pandemic level.

For the current fiscal year, RBI retained its retail inflation projection at 5.3%. The CPI inflation projection for FY23 is at 4.5% with 4.9 percent at Q1 ,5.0 percent at Q2, 4.0 percent at Q3, and 4.2 percent at Q4. MPC has been given the mandate to maintain annual inflation at 4% until March 31, 2026, with an upper tolerance of 6% and lower tolerance of 2%.

Currently, RBI has proposed to increase the limit on amount for e-RUPI vouchers issued by Governments to Rs 1,00,000 per voucher and allow use of the voucher multiple times (until the amount of the voucher is completely redeemed). Read More

Policy Repo Rate  4.00%

Reverse Repo Rate  3.35%

Marginal Standing Facility (MSF) Rate  4.25%

Bank Rate  4.25%

CRR  4.00%

SLR  18.00%