Current Affairs Quiz 5th January 2022 : Daily GK Update Quiz

Exp. Himachal Pradesh became 1st LPG enabled & smoke free Indian state

Himachal Pradesh has become the first LPG (Liquefied petroleum gas) enabled and smoke free Indian state.

This success is backed by the Central Government’s Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) scheme and HP Government’s Mukhya Mantri Grihini Suvidha Yojana (GSY).

Exp. Telangana topped in highest number of ODF villages

Telangana stood first in the country in the list of the 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 on 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%).

Exp. Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan launched NEAT 3.0 ed-tech solutions

Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has launched NEAT (National Educational Alliance for Technology) 3.0, a single platform to provide best-developed ed-tech solutions, courses to students.

He also launched AICTE (All India Council for Technical Education) prescribed technical books in regional languages.

It will help more than 12 lakhs socially and economically disadvantaged students have received free ed-tech course coupons worth over Rs 253 crore.

It is a Public-Private Partnership model between the Government (through its implementing agency AICTE) and the Education Technology companies.

Exp. Azure Power commissioned 600 MW soler project by SECI in Bikaner, Rajasthan

Azure Power Global, a leading independent sustainable energy solutions provider in India, commissioned a 600 Megawatts (MWs) Interstate Transmission System (ISTS) connected solar project allocated by Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) in Bikaner, Rajasthan.

This is the largest solar power project in India, owned and operated at a single location by any developer.

Azure Power has commissioned the project in phases. Now on Jan, 2022 they had commissioned the last 100 MWs making the total to 600 MWs.

Exp. Apple became world’s first company to touch $3 trillion M-Cap

Apple Inc. became the world’s first company to touch $3 trillion Market Cap. The market cap of Apple hit $182.86 per share, which made it the world’s first company to touch the $3 trillion mark.

However shortly after hitting the mark, the share value dipped below it and did not rise again until the market closed. The iPhone maker passed $2 trillion in 2020 and over $1 trillion in 2018.

Exp. Airtel Payments Bank got scheduled bank status from RBI

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced the inclusion of Airtel Payments Bank in the second schedule of the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934.

Being a Scheduled Payments Bank, Airtel Payments Bank can take part in government and other large corporations issued Request for Proposals (RFP), primary auctions, fixed-rate and variable rate repos, and reverse repos, along with participation in Marginal Standing Facility.

About Airtel Payments Bank:

Founded: January 2017

Headquarters: Delhi

MD & CEO: Anubrata Biswas

Exp. SBI, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank continue to remain Domestic Systemically Important Banks

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said that SBI, ICICI and HDFC banks will continue to be identified as Domestic Systemically Important Banks (D-SIBs), under the same bucketing structure as in the 2020 list of D-SIBs.

SIBs are perceived as banks that are ‘too big to fail (TBTF)’. This perception of TBTF creates an expectation of government support for these banks in times of distress.

Exp. RBI issued framework for facilitating small-value digital payments in offline mode

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) issued a framework for facilitating small-value digital payments in offline mode using cards, wallets, mobile devices, etc, to push digital transactions in rural and semi-urban areas.

The upper limit of an offline payment transaction was fixed at Rs 200, with a total limit of Rs 2,000 at any point in time.

The framework will enable the Authorised Payment System Operators (PSOs) and Payment System Participants (PSPs), Acquirers and Issuers (banks and non-banks) to conduct small value offline digital payments.

Exp. NBBL launched UPMS to simplify recurring bill payments

NPCI Bharat BillPay Limited (NBBL), the wholly-owned subsidiary of National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), launched a Unified Presentment Management System (UPMS), which will enable users to set up standing instructions on their recurring bill payments across all modes of digital payments.

The bills will be automatically fetched from the billers and presented to customers for their action, in terms of auto-debit and bill payment management.

UPMS will be available to customers through the centralized infrastructure and application support provided by Bharat BillPay Central Unit (BBPCU).

About NPCI Bharat BillPay Ltd (NBBL):

Founded: 2021

Headquarters: Mumbai, Maharashtra

CEO: Noopur Chaturvedi

Exp. Ajay Kumar Choudhary and Deepak Kumar appointed as new Executive Directors of RBI

Deepak Kumar and Ajay Kumar Choudhary have been promoted as new executive directors of Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

Prior to this, Deepak Kumar was heading the Department of Information Technology of RBI, while Choudhary was Chief General Manager-in-Charge, Department of Supervision.

As executive director, Deepak Kumar will look after Foreign Exchange Dept, Dept of Communication and Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation, wholly owned subsidiary of RBI.

Exp. Alka Mittal appointed as the 1st woman CMD of ONGC

Human Resources (HR) Director of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), Alka Mittal was appointed as the 1st woman Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of ONGC, on additional charge.

Alka Mittal succeeded Subhash Kumar who retired on December 31 2021.  She will hold the position as the CMD for 6 months or until a regular appointment for the post is announced.

Exp. G Asok Kumar appointed as Director General of National Mission for Clean Ganga

The Additional Secretary under the Ministry of Jal Shakti, G Asok Kumar was appointed as the new Director General of National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) under the Ministry of Jal Shakti.

He succeeded Director General, Rajiv Ranjan Mishra. He is popularly known as ‘the Rain Man of India’ for his excellent work in rainwater harvesting under the “Jal Shakti Abhiyan: Catch the Rain” campaign.

National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) was registered as a society in 2011 under the Ministry of Jal Shakti, towards purification of River Ganga.

Exp. Harpreet Chandi became 1st woman of colour to make solo unsupported trek to South Pole

The Indian-origin British Sikh Army officer, Captain Harpreet Chandi became the 1st woman of colour to make a solo unsupported trek to the earth’s South Pole.

Captain Harpreet Chandi is a 32 years old physiotherapist, who was popularly known as ‘Polar Preet’. She completed her 700 miles solo expedition to the South Pole in 40 days.

Exp. Three-time Olympic Gold winning Triple Jump Champion Viktor Saneyev passed away

The Olympic triple jump 3-time gold medalist and former world record holder, Viktor Danilovich Saneyev passed away in Australia at the age of 76 years.

He was a triple long player who represented the Union of Soviet Socialist Republic (USSR) in the Olympic games. Later he worked as a coach in Australia. He secured gold medals in European Games organized in 1969 Athens and 1974 Rome.

Exp. 1971 Indo-Pak war veteran Vice Admiral Sree Harilal Sarma passed away

The Indian Navy’s 1971 Indo-Pak war veteran Vice Admiral Sree Harilal Sarma (SH Sarma), the senior-most living war veteran has passed away at his residence in Bhubaneswar, Odisha.

Vice Admiral SH Sarma, a Param Vishisht Seva Medal (PVSM) awardee, has served as the Flag Officer Commanding Eastern Fleet (FOCEF) during the 1971 Indo Pakistan War.

He was also a veteran of the 1965 Indo Pak war and the 2nd World War. He published his autobiography titled “My Years at Sea” in 2017.