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Current Affairs January 25 2022 PDF by AffairsCloud 1
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AFFAIRSCLOUD TODAY
Current Affairs 25 January 2022 : Headlines
1. Union Minister Amit Shah releases India’s First ‘District Good Governance Index’; J&K 1st Indian
UT with GGI
2. Giriraj Singh Releases Revised Rural Area Development Plan Formulation and Implementation
Guidelines
3. WEF’s Global Cybersecurity Outlook 2022: Advances in Digitalization led to Increasing Cyber
Incidents
4. Brookings’ Study: India is among the Top 10 Global AI Adopters
5. Fullerton India and One97 Communications tie up to Provide Lending Products
6. World Bank Approves Rs 1000 crore Loan to WB for Social Protection Services
7. Indipaisa Partners with Hitachi Payment to Develop Fintech Platform for MSMEs
8. Former Japan PM Shinzo Abe honoured with Netaji Award 2022
9. Indian Movie Koozhangal Won the Best Film (Asian) Award at 20th Dhaka International Film
Festival
10. Armenian President Armen Sarkissian resigns
11. Finance Ministry Appoints Vinodanand Jha as New Chairperson to PMLA Adjudicating Authority
12. CCI Approves Acquisition by GSKCHOL and GSKCHUKTL by GSKAPL
13. Syed Modi International Badminton Title 2022: PV Sindhu, Ishaan Bhatnagar & Tanisha Castro
Wins Title
14. TN Archaeologist & Epigraphist R Nagaswamy Passes Away
15. International Day of Education 2022 – January 24
16. National Girl Child Day 2022 – January 24
17. Parakram Diwas 2022 – January 23
NATIONAL AFFAIRS
Union Minister Amit Shah releases India’s First ‘District Good Governance Index’; J&K 1st Indian
UT with GGI
On January 21, 2022, Union Minister Amit Shah, Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) virtually released the India’s
First ‘District Good Governance Index (DGGI)’ in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) , prepared by Department of
Administrative Reforms & Public Grievances (DARPG) in collaboration with Government of J&K.
Giriraj Singh Releases Revised Rural Area Development Plan Formulation and Implementation
Guidelines
Giriraj Singh, Union Minister of Rural Development & Panchayati Raj has released the revised Rural Area
Development Plan Formulation and Implementation(RADPFI) Guidelines prepared by the Ministry of Panchayati
Raj.
• He called upon the Panchayati Raj Institutions to take RADPFI Guidelines as “Sankalp Patra” by leveraging an
active ownership approach.
• All Panchayat Raj Institutions have a vision for their respective panchayats for the next 25 years up to the
Independence Century of India in 2047.
INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS
WEF’s Global Cybersecurity Outlook 2022: Advances in Digitalization led to Increasing Cyber
Incidents
The annual report titled ‘Global Cybersecurity Outlook 2022’ which was released by the World Economic
Forum (WEF) during the virtual Davos Agenda summit 2022 revealed that advances in digitalization and their
growth due to the COVID-19 have led to increasingly frequent, costly, and damaging cyber incidents.
• Background: The WEF’s five-day online Davos Agenda summit 2022 was held from 17 to 21 January 2022.
The summit is being convened on the theme of ‘The State of the World’. Click here to know more
• India ranks 6th in terms of spending and investments on AI made by the public, governmental initiatives, as
well as private institutions and organisations.
• In the list of top 10 AI adopters, United States, China, the United Kingdom, France, Japan and Germany are
leading AI achievements ahead of India and Canada, South Korea and Italy are behind India.
Key Points of the Report:
i.India is outside the top 10 in terms of commercial and research initiatives.
ii.Among democratic countries, those with an immature technical environment are more likely than those with a
mature one to address ethics and governance.
iii.The study measures the peak computing power that each country has, along with the number of papers
published and patents filed in the field of AI.
McKinsey Analytics: The December 2021 report by McKinsey Analytics about India’s state of AI in 2021 found
India as the leading adopter of AI among emerging economies, from a commercial, business standpoint.
Deloitte Report: As per the December 2021 report by Deloitte, the Indian retail industry was the highest adopter
of AI technologies and services, followed by telecom and fintech.
Note – There are close to 1,09,000 AI personnel working in India across enterprises and sectors.
• Under this partnership, Paytm Postpaid/buy-now-pay-later or innovative merchant loan products will
be offered to consumers on the Paytm platform while utilising Fullerton’s risk assessment capabilities, and
understanding of the segment.
Key Points:
i.Both entities will expand their product offerings to include instant end-to-end digitally originated personal
loans.
ii.They will also establish a wide network to cater MSMEs (Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises ) across small
cities to help them grow their business.
iii.Customers will also be able to repay the loans on this platform.
About Fullerton India:
CEO & MD– Shantanu Mitra
Headquarter– Mumbai, Maharashtra
World Bank Approves Rs 1000 crore Loan to WB for Social Protection Services
The World Bank has approved a loan of USD 125 million (around Rs 1,000 crore) to the government of West
Bengal (WB) to support its effort towards social protection service access to the poor and vulnerable groups
• The loan will be sanctioned under the ‘WB Building State Capability for Inclusive Social
Protection’ operation which will strengthen the access to social assistance and targeted service for poor and
vulnerable groups.
Under the Loan Agreement:
i.The loan will help in improving services such as medical help through telemedicine, support for the elderly and
differently-abled, financial inclusion of citizens with digital payments and disbursement of benefits for public
schemes.
• There are around 400 programmes in WB that provide social assistance, services and jobs.
ii.The WB government has been running a ‘government at your doorstep’ initiative named ‘Duare Sarkar’, the
programme which offers several government schemes’ benefits at the ‘doorstep’.
• The funding will also help in improving the monitoring of doorstep benefit delivery.
About West Bengal:
Governor – Jagdeep Dhankhar
National Parks – Gorumara National Park, Sundarban National Park, Jaldapara National Park
Wildlife Sanctuaries – Jorpokhri Wildlife Sanctuary, Senchal Wildlife Sanctuary, Chapramari Wildlife Sanctuary
Indipaisa Partners with Hitachi Payment to Develop Fintech Platform for MSMEs
On 24th January 2022, Hitachi Payment Services partnered with Indipaisa to develop a new Fintech platform
for India’s 63 million Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).
• Objective – To offer a high-quality digital platform for fintech services at affordable prices for the Indian
MSME market.
About the Partnership:
i.The partnership helps in financial inclusion for the marginalised MSMEs with technological know-how,
centralised infrastructure and expansive network
ii.Hitachi Payment Services will provide a superior technology framework with its future-ready, digital payment
capabilities, for the new Fintech platform for India’s MSMEs.
iii.Indipaisa will offer a range of payment solutions to help India’s MSMEs in growing their businesses and also
comply with government tax laws.
About Hitachi Payment Services:
It is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hitachi Ltd.
Headquarters – Mumbai, Maharashtra
CEO, Digital Business – Anuj Khosla
Managing Director (MD) – Rustom Irani
Indian Movie Koozhangal Won the Best Film (Asian) Award at 20th Dhaka International Film
Festival
Indian movie titled Koozhangal(Tamil) directed by P S Vinothraj has won the best film award in the Asian Film
Competition category at the 20th Dhaka International Film Festival(DIFF) 2022 in Dhaka, Bangladesh from 15th
to 23rd January 2022.
• The 20th DIFF 2022 was organised by the Rainbow Film Society established in 1977.
• The best film award carries Taka 1 lakh along with a crest and certificate.
Hasan Mahmud Bangladesh’s Information and Broadcasting Minister, Chief Guest of the concluding session of the
20th DIFF, presented the award to the winners.
Other awards to the Indian film fraternity:
i.Malayalam Actor Jayasurya won the Best Actor award in the Asian Film Competition Section for the film titled
“Sunny” directed by Ranjith Sankar.
ii.Indian Film, Semkhor (Dimasa language), directed by Assamese actor Aimee Baruah, has won the Special
Audience Award.
• Semkhor was the first-ever film in the Dimasa language to be screened in the Indian Panorama Section of
the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) 2021
iii.Indranil Roychowdhury and Sugata Sinha have won the Best Script Writer for the India-Bangladesh film Mayar
Jonjal, directed by Indranil Roychowdhury.
Click here for the list of 2022 Award winners
About DIFF:
i.The 20th DIFF 2022 featured more than 225 films drawn from 70 countries across the globe.
ii.The 20th DIFF also hosted the 8th edition of the ‘Women in Cinema’ international conference, and the 4th
edition of the ‘West meets East’ screenplay lab.
Note:
The Dhaka International Film Festival (DIFF) was started in 1992.
About Armenia:
Capital – Yerevan
Currency – Armenian Dram
Finance Ministry Appoints Vinodanand Jha as New Chairperson to PMLA Adjudicating Authority
The Union Finance Ministry appointed Vinodanand Jha, a 1983-batch retired IRS officer as the chairperson of the
Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA) Adjudicating Authority, New Delhi, Delhi till the completion
of his tenure i.e. upto 22nd June 2023.
GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare UK Trading Limited (GSKCHUKTL) under Section 31(1) of the
Competition Act, 2002.
• The proposed transaction involves the collective acquisition of 100% shares in GSKAPL by GSKCHOL and
GSKCHUKT.
• Prior to the proposed combination, the GSKAPL will acquire the trademarks pertaining to “Iodex” and
“Ostocalcium” brands in India along with the legal, economic, commercial and marketing rights of such
brands and other associated assets (collectively referred to as GSK Consumer Brands) from GlaxoSmithKline
Pharmaceuticals Limited.
Key Points:
i.GSKCHOL is a wholly-owned subsidiary of GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare Holdings (No.2) Limited (GSK
CH HoldCo).
ii.GSKCHUKTL is a part of the overall GSK group and is a wholly-owned subsidiary of GSK CH HoldCo.
iiiIt is involved in the distribution and sale of consumer healthcare products, manufacturing, marketing, providing
management services to the consumer healthcare group and providing research and development services to
other consumer healthcare companies within the GSK group.
CCI approved the acquisition of FGLIC by Generali Participations Netherlands N.V
CCI has approved the acquisition of shares of Future Generali India Life Insurance Company Limited (FGLIC) by
Generali Participations Netherlands N.V (GPN), this acquisition will increase its shareholding 49% to
approximately 71%.
• The Proposed Acquisition relates to an increase in shareholding of an existing shareholder GPN in FGLIC
i.GPN is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Assicurazioni Generali S.p.A (Generali Group), the ultimate parent entity of
the Generali group of companies. The Generali Group is a global insurance provider and is present in the Indian
life insurance industry in India through FGLIC. GPN in engaged in the provision of life insurance services in India
through FGLIC.
ii.FGLIC is a life insurance company engaged in the provision of life insurance services/products in India. FGLIC
provides simplified solutions for the financial security of customers, to deliver relevant and accessible insurance
solutions.
SPORTS
Syed Modi International Badminton Championship 2022: India’s PV Sindhu, Ishaan Bhatnagar &
Tanisha Crasto Wins Title
Badminton World Federation (BWF) organised Syed Modi International Badminton Championship 2022 at
the Babu Banarasi Das Indoor Stadium, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh (UP) with the prize money of USD 150,000 from
18th – 23rd January 2022.
Winners:
Women’s Singles:
The two-time Olympic medalist PV Sindhu won the women’s singles final of the Syed Modi Badminton
Championship 2022 against Malvika Bansod (India).
• PV Sindhu became 2nd Indian after Sushil Kumar and 1st Indian woman to win 2 Olympic medals
Men’s Singles:
The men’s singles final which was to take place on 23rd January 2022 between Arnaud Merkle (France) and Lucas
Claerbout (France) was declared as a ‘no match’ after one of the finalists tested positive for COVID-19.
Women’s doubles
Anna Ching Yik Cheong and Teoh Mei Xing (Malaysia) emerged as the champions after defeating Treesa Jolly and
Gayatri Gopichand of India in the women’s doubles final of the Syed Modi International tournament.
• This was their first higher-level tournament in the World Tour tournament. They have won the Czech Open
title in 2021.
Men’s Doubles:
Man Wei Chong (Malaysia) & Kai Wun Tee (Malaysia) has won the Men’s Doubles championship against Krishna
Prasad Garaga (India) & Vishnuvardhan Goud Panjala (India)
Mixed Doubles:
The mixed doubles title was won by the Indian duo of Ishaan Bhatnagar and Tanisha Crasto against Hema
Nagendra Babu (India) and Srivedya Gurazada (India).
Overview of 2022 Syed Modi International Winners:
Event Winners
Men’s Singles No Match
Women’s Singles PV Sindhu (India)
Men’s Doubles Man Wei Chong (Malaysia) & Kai Wun Tee (Malaysia)
Women’s Doubles Anna Ching Yik Cheong (Malaysia) and Teoh Mei Xing (Malaysia)
Mixed Doubles Ishaan Bhatnagar (India) and Tanisha Crasto (India)
About Syed Modi International Badminton Championships:
i.The Syed Modi International Badminton Championships is held annually by the HSBC BWF World Tour super
300 tournament in India.
• In 2009, it was a BWF Grand Prix event and was temporarily shifted to Hyderabad in 2010.
• Later, In 2011, it was upgraded to the BWF Grand Prix Gold tournament.
ii.Uttar Pradesh Badminton Association (UPBA) started the championship in 1991 and was named in the memory
of the 1982 Commonwealth Games Men’s singles champion Syed Modi.
Note – In 2020 and 2021 BWF has cancelled the Championship due to COVID-19 pandemic.
About Badminton World Federation (BWF):
BWF is registered under the International Organisations (Privileges and Immunities) Act 1992 in Malaysia.
Establishment – 1934 (London)
Headquarters – Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
President – Poul-Erik Høyer Larsen
OBITUARY
TN Archaeologist & Epigraphist R Nagaswamy Passes Away
On 23rd January 2022, an archaeologist, art historian and Padma Bhushan awardee R. Nagaswamy passed away.
• He was the 1st director of Tamil Nadu (TN) government’s Department of Archaeology (1966 – 1988)
• He was a great scholar in Tamil and Sanskrit and was known as the ‘Father of Tamil Archaeology’.
Contributions of Nagaswamy:
i.Nagaswamy was an expert witness in a London court in the famous Pathur Nataraja case and has also filed an
affidavit in the famous Ayodhya case.
ii.Nagaswamy founded the ‘Institute of Epigraphy and Archaeology’ in 1973 and he played a key role in
bringing back the Chola-era bronze Nataraja to TN.
iii.According to the Nagaswamy’s webpage, ‘Tamil Arts Academy’, he became a consultant for the Central
government in the Documentation of Cultural property, Thanjavur Brihadeeswara Project (United Nations
Development Programme’s (UNDPs) project)
About Nagaswamy:
i.Nagaswamy, who is an authority in archaeology, architecture, epigraphy, numismatics, iconography, South
Indian bronzes, and temple rituals, was born at Kodumudi in Erode, TN. He had completed postgraduate (PG) in
Sanskrit language and doctorate in Indian arts.
ii.He has excavated many sites in TN including Korkai, the ancient Pandyan port and has published numerous
research papers on the art of ancient Tamil country.
iii.He has written over 40 books in Tamil, English and Sanskrit including ‘Masterpieces of Early South Indian
Bronzes’. He had also published over 100 books through the department.
iv.Awards: He was awarded the Padma Bhushan (2018) for his outstanding contribution to archaeology. He
was also awarded the TN government’s ‘Kalaimamani Award’.
IMPORTANT DAYS
International Day of Education 2022 – January 24
The United Nations (UN)’s International Day of Education is annually observed across the globe on 24th
January to celebrate the role of education for peace and development. The day highlights the importance of
inclusive and equitable education and opportunities for all.
• 24th January 2022 marks the observance of the 4th International Day of Education.
The theme of the 2022 International Day of Education is “Changing Course, Transforming Education”.
Background:
i.The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) has adopted the resolution A/RES/73/25 on 3rd December 2018
and proclaimed the 24th January as the International Day of Education to acknowledge the importance of
ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education at all levels.
ii.The resolution was co-authored by Nigeria and 58 other Member States.
iii.The first ever International Day of Education was observed on 24th January 2019.
Significance of 2022 International Day of Education:
The day provides a platform to showcase the important transformations that nurture to realise the fundamental
rights to education and build more sustainable, inclusive and peaceful futures.
Importance of Education:
i.According to the UN, Education is a human right, a public good and a public responsibility.
ii.The right to education is enshrined in article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
iii.The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development adopted in 2015 recognised that education is essential for the
success of all 17 of its goals.
iv.Sustainable Development Goal(SDG) 4 aims to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote
lifelong learning opportunities for all by 2030.
Key Points:
i.Around 258 million children and youth do not attend school; 617 million children and adolescents cannot read
and do basic mathematics.
ii.Around 40% of girls in sub-Saharan Africa complete their lower secondary school and around 4 million children
and youth refugees are out of school.
iii.The right to education of these children is being violated.
UNESCO Reports:
i.The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation(UNESCO)’s new global report on the
Futures of Education entitled Reimagining our futures together: A new social contract for education, aimed to
speed up the global debate on the role of education in shaping peaceful, just and sustainable common futures.
ii.The new report titled “The State of the Global Education Crisis: A Path to Recovery” shows that in low- and
middle-income countries the share of children living in Learning Poverty could become 70% due to school
closures and ineffectiveness of remote learning.
Background:
i.The Ministry of Women and Child Development(MoWCD) initiated the observance of National Girl Child Day in
2008.
ii.The first ever National Girl Child Day was observed on 24th January 2008.
Note:
The NGCD is observed around the anniversary of the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao(BBBP) scheme which was launched
by the Hon’ble Prime Minister on 22nd January 2015 in Panipat, Haryana to address the decline in Child Sex Ratio
(CSR) and related issues of empowerment of girls and women over a life cycle continuum.
Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar-2022:
On the occasion of the National Girl Child Day, as a part of the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, a virtual function was
organised to recognise the exemplary achievements of children by facilitating Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal
Puraskar(PMRBP)-2022 awardees.
29 children were awarded PMRBP 2022 for their exceptional achievements in Innovation (7), Social Service (4),
Scholastic (1), Sports (8), Art & Culture (6) and Bravery (3) categories.
Click here for the list of 2022 winners
The winners of the PMRBP 2022 were awarded a cash prize of Rs 1 lakh.
Note:
i.The winners of PMRBP 2021 were also felicitated during the event.
Events 2022:
Smriti Zubin, Union Minister of Women and Child Development interacted with the few marginalised identities
from across India over an online event ‘Kanya Mahotsav’- Ladkiyan Jahan Khushiyan wahan organised by United
Nations Children’s Fund(UNICEF) as part of Azadi Ka Amrut Mahotsav.
Efforts of the Indian Government:
The government of India has launched several initiatives to improve the condition of girls which includes,
• Save the Girl Child.
• Beti Bachao Beti Padhao
• Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana
• CBSE Udaan Scheme
• Free or subsidized education for girl child
• Reservation for women in colleges and universities
• National Scheme of Incentive to Girls for Secondary Education
23rd January 2022 marks the observance of the 2nd Parakram Diwas.
Background:
i.In 2021, the government of India has decided to celebrate the 23rd January of every year as Parakram Diwas.
ii.The first ever Parakram Diwas was observed on 23rd January 2021.
• In 2021, the Ministry of Culture announced that the year-long celebrations to commemorate the 125th birth
anniversary year of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose will formally commence on 23rd January 2021.
Hologram statue:
i.Prime Minister(PM) Narendra Modi unveiled a hologram statue of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose at India Gate.
ii.The hologram of 28×6 feet is powered by a 4K projector capable of delivering 30,000 lumens of brightness will
be replaced by a 28-feet granite statue, once it is completed.
iii.The graphic model of the statue has been designed by the team from the National Gallery of Modern
Art(NGMA) led by Adwaita Gadanyak, Director-General of the NGMA.
Subhas Chandra Bose Aapda Prabandhan Puraskar 2022:
Gujarat Institute of Disaster Management(GIDM) and Professor Vinod Sharma of Sikkim State Disaster
Management Authority has been honoured with the Subhas Chandra Bose Aapda Prabandhan Puraskar 2022 for
their excellent work in disaster management.
• GIDM has been selected for the award under the Institutional category and Prof Vinod Sharma won the
award under the individual category.
Note:
The 2022 awards will be presented along with awardees of the year 2019, 2020 and 2021.
About GIDM:
i.Gujarat Institute of Disaster Management(GIDM), established in 2012 has been working on enhancing the
Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) capacity of Gujarat.
ii.GIDM has trained around 12,000 professionals on diverse issues related to multi-hazard risk management and
reduction during the pandemic through a series of strategically designed capacity building programs.
About Professor Vinod Sharma:
Prof Vinod Sharma is a senior professor at the Indian Institute of Public Administration and Vice-Chairman of the
Sikkim State Disaster Management Authority. He was the founder coordinator of the National Centre of Disaster
Management, which is now known as the National Institute of Disaster Management.
Subhas Chandra Bose Aapda Prabandhan Puraskar:
i.The Government of India via National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) that works under Ministry of
Home Affairs (MHA) instituted an annual award named ‘Subhash Chandra Bose Aapda Prabandhan Puraskar’.
ii.The award carries a cash prize of Rs. 51 lakh and a certificate in case of an institution and Rs. 5 lakh and a
certificate in case of an individual.
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