Current Affairs Quiz 2nd February 2022 : Daily GK Update Quiz

Exp. Torgya Festival celebrated in Arunachal Pradesh at Tawang Monastery

The three days long Torgya Festival of the Monpa tribal community of Arunachal Pradesh celebrated at Tawang Monastery, Arunachal Pradesh.

This year is the ‘Dungyur Torgya’ festival, which marks special occasion as every 3rd year, the festival is organised on a broader level with the name Dungyur Festival during which Dalai Lama offers blessings (also known as Tse-Boom) to other lamas by sending Feb Jum which is a holy item to be used in rituals.

The main attractions of the festival is the ‘Sha-na Cham’, the ritual dance performed by monks to showcase the Choe-gyal Yap & Yum Tsa-Munde deity.

Exp. Global Center of Excellence in Affordable and Clean Energy launched in IIT Dharwad

A Global Center of Excellence in Affordable and Clean Energy has been launched at the IIT Dharwad, Karnataka.

The center is supported by the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) donation from Honeywell Hometown Solutions India Foundation (HHSIF).

The first phase of the CSR project with HHSIF is to establish equipment for the GCoE-ACE mainly as skill development, fabrication, and R&D equipment.

Exp. Tata Sky rebranded itself as ‘Tata Play’

Tata Sky (founded in 2006) has dropped the ‘sky’ brand name and rechristened itself as ‘Tata Play’.

One of the largest Direct to Home (DTH) platforms has joined hands with Netflix to offer new OTT (over the top) content-centric channel packs as well.

‘Tata Sky’ is a joint venture between the Tata Sons (60%) and The Walt Disney Company (30%), with Temasek Holdings, Singapore (10%).

Exp. Dubai will launch World’s first Hydrogen-powered Flying Boat ‘The Jet’

THE JET ZeroEmission announced the launch of the World’s first hydrogen powered flying boat ‘THE JET’ in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

THE JET will have its inaugural flight during the COP28, which is scheduled to be held in Dubai, UAE in 2023.

This announcement comes as a result of the agreement signed between Swiss startup THE JET ZeroEmission, UAE-based Zenith Marine Services and US-based DWYN to manufacture and operate ‘The Jet’ in Dubai.

The boat can silently fly over the waters at a cruising speed of 40 knots and also has a capacity of carrying 8-12 passengers.

Exp. Samsung surpassed Intel to become World’s top semiconductor company in 2021

South Korean electronics manufacturing giant, Samsung Electronics surpassed U.S chipmaker Intel to become the world’s leading chipmaker by revenue in 2021, according to a report released by research firm Counterpoint Technology Market Research.

Memory vendors continued to lead the industry with SK Hynix and Micron taking the third and fourth positions, followed by IC design vendors, including Qualcomm and NVIDIA. The year saw 19% YoY revenue growth.

While Intel posted relatively flattish results, Samsung took the lead with a strong DRAM and NAND flash market performance in 2021. Samsung also saw solid momentum in logic chips this year.

Exp. NSO First Revised GDP estimates FY21: Indian economy contracts by 6.6% in 2020-21

The National Statistical Office (NSO), Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) released the First Revised Estimates of National Income, Consumption Expenditure, Saving and Capital Formation for the financial year 2020-21.

The data showed that the Indian economy contracted by 6.6 percent in 2020-21 as against the earlier estimate of 7.3 percent in May 2021. The real GDP for 2020-21 is 135.58 lakh crores rupees. Nominal GDP for the 2020-21 is 198.01 lakh crores rupees.

The NSO has also revised downward the real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth number for 2019-20 to 3.7 percent as against the earlier estimate of 4 percent.

Under the 1st revision released in January 2021, real GDP or GDP at constant (2011-12) prices for 2019-20 stood at Rs 145.69 lakh crore with 4 percent growth.

Exp. Center setting up National Land Monetisation Corporation

The government is setting up the National Land Monetisation Corporation (NLMC) to carry out the monetization of the land and other non-core assets.

Initial authorized share capital of NLMC will be ₹5000 crores and subscribed share capital of ₹150 crores.

So far, CPSEs have referred 3,400 acres of land and other non-core assets for monetisation from CPSEs including MTNL, BSNL, BPCL, B&R, BEML, HMT Ltd, Instrumentation Ltd.

Exp. Banks will transfer 15 NPA accounts worth Rs 50,000 crores to NARCL in FY22

As per SBI Chairman Dinesh Kumar Khara, National Asset Reconstruction Company Ltd (NARCL) or bad bank and India Debt Resolution Company Ltd (IDRCL) are ready to commence operations.

A total of 38 NPA accounts worth Rs 82,845 crore have been identified to be transferred to NARCL initially. In the Phase I, 15 stressed assets (i.e. Non-Performing Asset accounts) worth Rs 50,000 crore will be transferred to NARCL in the current financial year.

Public Sector Banks have taken a majority stake in NARCL, IDRCL will be majorly owned by private sector banks.

Exp. Vedanta tied up ₹8000 crores facility with Union Bank of India to take over syndicated facility

Vedanta Ltd has tied up a facility of Rs 8,000 crores (replacement facility) with Union Bank of India at 7.75% to take over majority of the syndicated facility after discussions with lenders.

During 2020, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Vedanta Ltd had tied up a syndicated facility of ₹10Kcr with State Bank of India as the lead bank at a running cost of 10.5 per cent.

This replacement facility was availed on December 28, 2021 to take over the existing Syndicated facility to reduce the overall interest cost of the company and to prepay high-cost debt raised at over 10% two years ago.

Exp. SBI launched ‘Surya Shakti Cell’ in partnership with Tata Power Solar Systems

State Bank of India has collaborated with Tata Power Solar Systems Ltd. for financing solar power projects in the Ballard Estate in Mumbai.

SBI has launched a dedicated centralized processing cell named ‘Surya Shakti Cell’ with the objective of strengthening the existing financing arrangement for solar power projects.

The Surya Shakti Cell will process all the loan applications for Solar Projects from across India by Tata Power Solar Systems Ltd (max capacity of up to 1 MW).

Exp. GAV Reddy appointed as new Head of Defence Intelligence Agency

Lieutenant General GAV Reddy has been appointed as the new head of the Defence Intelligence Agency.

General Reddy would be succeeding Lt Gen KJS Dhillon. Lieutenant General KJS Dhillon retired after serving in various strategic positions during his 39-year career in the Indian Army.

The Director-General of the Defence Intelligence Agency is the head of the organisation and is among the principal advisors on intelligence to the Minister of Defence and the Chief of Defence Staff.

Exp. India’s 1st-ever season style book titled ‘The Class of 2006: Sneak Peek into the Misadventures of the Great Indian Engineering Life’, written by Akash Kansal

India’s first-ever season style book titled ‘The Class of 2006: Sneak Peek into the Misadventures of the Great Indian Engineering Life’, written by Akash Kansal a management professional.

The book was virtually launched at one of the biggest book launch ceremonies at IIT Kanpur, & Delhi Technological University. “The Class of 2006” consists of 18 different episodes that recall the times spent in College.

The book was released on Amazon Kindle by R. Madhavan, an Indian film actor, writer, director, and producer.

Exp. 2 February: World Wetlands Day

World Wetlands Day is observed on February 2 every year to raise global awareness about the importance of wetlands, not only for people but the planet Earth as well. The day also marks the date of the adoption of the Convention on Wetlands on February 2, 1971 in the Iranian city of Ramsar on the shores of the Caspian Sea.

This is the first year when the World Wetlands Day will be observed as a United Nations international day, following its adoption by the UN General Assembly on August 30, 2021.

The UN defines wetlands as ecosystems where water is the primary factor controlling the environment and the associated plant and animal life.

Theme 2022: Wetlands Action for People and Nature

Exp. 2 February: Rheumatoid Arthritis Awareness Day

Rheumatoid Arthritis Awareness Day is observed on February 2 every year to raise awareness about the Rheumatoid disease.

Rheumatoid disease, also known as rheumatoid arthritis (RA), is an autoimmune condition in which the body believes the linings of the joints are foreign tissue, and it attacks and damages them, resulting in inflammation and pain.

The day was created in 2013 by the Rheumatoid Patient Foundation (RPF) to help raise awareness for all of the people who function daily with both pain and misconceptions about this chronic disease.

Exp. Actor & filmmaker Amitabh Dayal passed away

Actor and filmmaker Amitabh Dayal has passed away after suffering a heart attack.

Mr Dayal has worked in films like Kagaar: Life on the Edge (2003) with Om Puri, Bhojpuri film Rangdari (2012) and Raj Babbar’s Dhuaan (2013), Amitabh Bachchan’s Virrudh (2005).