Current Affairs Quiz 19th January 2022 : Daily GK Update Quiz

Exp. Telangana govt launched Mana Ooru Mana Badi programme

The Mana Ooru Mana Badi programme was launched by the Telangana Government to create school infrastructure in the state.

It is to be implemented at a cost of Rs 7,289 crores. More than 19.84 lakh children are to benefit from the programme.

In the first phase, the programme is to be launched in 9,123 local body schools and government. The permissions to build infrastructure under the programme will be provided by the respective district collectors.

Exp. MSDE signed MoU with IGNOU to link vocational education with higher education

Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship has signed MoU with Indira Gandhi Open University (IGNOU) to further strengthen the vocational and technical training framework.

The trainees attached to National Skill Training Institutes (NSTI), Industrial Training Institutes (ITI), PMKK and JSS.

Aim: to link vocational education and training with higher education, making India’s youth employable by creating avenues for them to access better work opportunities.

Exp. Odisha & WFP partnered to improve food security, farmers’ resilience

The Government of Odisha and the United Nations’ World Food Programme have partnered to improve the food security of small and marginal farmers of India by enhancing their resilience to climate change.

In a participatory pilot initiative, customised climate advisories will be made to enable the smallholder farmers to adapt to the impacts of climate change.

Smallholder farmers, who make up to 90% of farming communities in Odisha, will be able to choose the right farming and livelihood options to improve their food security and income.

Exp. Nusantara has been selected as the new capital of Indonesia

Indonesia passed a bill replacing its capital Jakarta with East Kalimantan, situated to the east of Borneo Island. The new capital city of the country will be called Nusantara.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo had first announced the plan to move the capital city from Jakarta in 2019.

Widodo had cited increasing environmental issues that Jakarta has been facing along with financial inequality while announcing the plan to change the capital in 2019. Jakarta has been the capital of Indonesia since 1949.

Exp. SIDBI sanctioned financial assistance of ₹650 crore to AU Small Finance Bank & Jana SFB

Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) sanctioned financial assistance of around ₹650 crore to AU Small Finance Bank and Jana Small Finance Bank.

The Small Finance Banks will use this assistance to support small-sized non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) and micro finance institutions (MFIs) and micro entrepreneurs.

The financial assistance will boost the demand in the  informal MSME sector, especially new to credit businesses, small retail trade, micro credit and other small household businesses in the remote areas.

Exp. Canara Bank partnered with Lendingkart to offer loans online for MSMEs

Fintech company Lendingkart announced a co-lending partnership with Canara Bank to provide low-cost business loans of up to Rs. 10 lakhs to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).

The Co-Lending agreement with Lendingkart Finance Limited bears the credit needs of MSMEs falling under the Micro Units Development and Refinance Agency (MUDRA) category.

Aim: To broaden the support provided to the MSME borrowers for enhancing financial inclusion under the Reserve Bank India’s (RBIs) Priority Sector initiative.

The loans will be originated and sanctioned through the digital platform ‘Lendingkart 2gthr’ using ‘zero touch’ technology.

Under the agreement, Canara Bank will leverage Lendingkart platforms ‘xlr8’ to originate and distribute MSME loans and ‘cred8’ to underwrite those loans.

Exp. MobiKwik partnered with NPCI Bharat BillPay to launch ClickPay services for bill payments

MobiKwik, a mobile wallet Fintech company, partnered with NPCI Bharat BillPay Ltd. (NBBL) to launch ‘ClickPay’ service to its customers.

With this, the customers of MobiKwik can pay recurring online bills, such as mobile, gas, water, electricity, DTH, insurance and loan EMIs using their mobile phone.

ClickPay is a two-factor authentication payment feature wherein the billers generate a unique payment link within the bill-pay message and allow customers to make payments directly on the payment page.

Exp. Malta’s Roberta Metsola became youngest President of EU Parliament

Centre-right Maltese lawmaker Roberta Metsola (43 years) has been chosen as youngest President of European Union (EU) Parliament.

She is the only 3rd woman to head European Parliament, despite controversy over anti-abortion stance. She is a member of the largest bloc, European People’s Party, who won large majority with 458 votes.

She first elected to as a Member of European Parliament in 2013, representing Malta, and became First VP of European Parliament in Nov 2020.

Exp. Shashank Goel appointed as Additional Secretary in Employment Ministry

Shashank Goel, a 1990 batch IAS officer, has been appointed as the Additional Secretary in Ministry of Labor and Employment.

Prior to this, he was serving as the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Telangana. Apart from him, Shailesh Kumar Singh (IAS of 1991 batch) has been appointed as Additional Secretary and Development Commissioner, Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises.

Manish Kumar Gupta has been appointed as Vice-Chairman, Delhi Development Authority.

Exp. The Best FIFA Football Awards 2021: Robert Lewandowski won Best FIFA Men’s Player 2021

The Best Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) Football Awards 2021 ceremony was held as a virtual TV show from the Home of FIFA in Zurich, Switzerland.

It has crowned Bayern Munich’s Polish striker Robert Lewandowski as Best FIFA Men’s Player 2021 and Barcelona’s Spanish midfielder Alexia Putellas as Best FIFA Women’s Player 2021.

Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) conducted the FIFA Football Awards 2021 virtually in Zurich, Switzerland for the 6th Time on 17th January 2022 and the first award ceremony was held in 2017.

Exp. 19 January: NDRF Raising Day

National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) celebrates its Raising Day every year on January 19, since it came into existence on January 19, 2006.

In 2022, the NDRF is observing its 17th Raising Day. There are 12 NDRF battalions located in different parts of the country and comprises as many as 13,000 NDRF personnel who work to build a safer country.

NDRF is an Indian specialized force under the National Disaster Management Authority, constituted under the Disaster Management Act, 2005, to carry out the special responses in situations of threatening disaster.

NDRF has saved more than One lakh lives in its 3100 operations and rescued/evacuated over 6.7 lakh people during disasters.

Exp. 17-21 January 2022: Open Data Week

The Open Data Week will be conducted during the third week of January, from 17th to 21st January 2022, by the Smart Cities Mission, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) to encourage the adoption of open data and promote innovation across India’s urban ecosystem.

The Open Data Week is undertaken by MoHUA to promote awareness and use of open data.

Aim: To highlight the benefits of open data: Increased efficiency, Transparency, a spur in innovation, and Economic growth.

Exp. Legendary Bengali comics artist, writer & illustrator, Narayan Debnath passed away

Legendary Bengali comics artist, writer and illustrator, Narayan Debnath, has passed away after a prolonged illness.

The celebrated cartoonist was the creator of popular Bengali comic strips like Handa Bhonda (1962), Bantul the Great (1965) and Nonte Phonte (1969).

He holds the record of longest-running comics by an individual artiste for the Handa Bhonda comics series which completed its continuous 60 years of running. In 2021, Debnath was awarded Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award in India.

Other Awards:  Sahitya Academy Award, President’s Special Recognition Award (2007), Banga Bibhushan (2013), D. Litt. by Rabindra Bharati University (2015).

Exp. Legendary Collarwali Tigress passed away in Pench Tiger Reserve, MP

India’s Supermom tigress, popularly known as ‘Collarwali’ (16 years) passed away at Pench Tiger Reserve (PTR) in Madhya Pradesh. She became the first tigress in the park to be fitted with a radio collar in 2008.

The Collarwali tigress was born in 2005.  She was known for giving birth to 29 cubs during her lifetime, which is believed to be a world record.

Official name given to the tigress by forest department was T-15 but she was fondly called ‘Collarwali’ by the native people.

Exp. Padma Bhushan awardee mountaineer Major Ahluwalia passed away

Founder of the Indian Spinal Injuries Centre (ISIC) that was set up at Vasant Kunj, Delhi in 1993, a professional mountaineer, and Padma Shri recipient, Major HPS Ahluwalia (Retired) passed away at the age of 85.

At the age of 26, Major Ahluwalia was part of the first Indian expedition to summit Mount Everest in 1965, and he climbed the summit on May 29, 1965.

He was awarded the Padma Bhushan (2002) and Padma Shri (1965) for his contributions and received India’s second-highest sporting honour, the Arjuna Award (1965). He also received the Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award (2009).