CURRENT AFFAIRS SNIPPETS 01st April 2022

 

CURRENT AFFAIRS SNIPPETS

 

01st April 2022

National News

 

Manik Saha becomes BJP's first-ever Rajya Sabha MP from Tripura

Tripura BJP President Manik Saha was elected to the Rajya Sabha on Friday, making him the party's first-ever member in the Upper House of the Parliament from the state of Tripura. The dental surgeon-turned politician defeated his nearest rival CPI(M)’s Bhanulal Saha by 25 votes. Manik got 40 votes in his favour, 33 of which came from the BJP itself.

Nepalese PM arrives in India on 3-day visit, meets BJP chief Nadda

Nepalese PM Sher Bahadur Deuba arrived in India on Friday for his three-day visit to the country. BJP chief JP Nadda welcomed him at the party's headquarters in Delhi. Deuba also met External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar today, while on Saturday, he will meet PM Narendra Modi. Notably, this is Deuba's first visit to India since assuming office last year.

Centre sought ₹7.5 cr for military sent during Pathankot attack: Punjab CM

Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann on Friday alleged that he had received a letter from the Centre, saying that Punjab must pay ₹7.5 crore for the military that was sent during the 2016 Pathankot attack. "I went to Rajnath Singh. Told him to deduct from my MPLAD but give in writing that Punjab isn't the country's part," he added.

 

Cabinet approves increase in Dearness Allowance/Dearness Relief by 3% to 34% 

The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi has approved a hike in Dearness Allowance (DA) to Central Government employees and Dearness Relief (DR) to pensioners by 3 per cent to 34%, over the existing rate of 31% of the Basic Pay/Pension.  The hike announced will be effective from January 1, 2022, to compensate for the price rise. The combined impact on the exchequer on account of both Dearness Allowance and Dearness Relief would be Rs. 9,544.50 crore per annum.  This increase is in accordance with the accepted formula, based on the recommendations of the 7th Central Pay Commission. The hike will benefit about 47.68 lakh Central Government employees and 68.62 lakh, pensioners.

 

NV Ramana, the Chief Justice, launches a software named FASTER 

Chief Justice of India NV Ramana unveiled the 'Fast and Secured Transmission of Electronic Records' (FASTER), a digital platform that allows the supreme court to send interim orders, stay orders, and bail orders to the appropriate authorities via a secure electronic channel.  The online introduction of the FASTER programme was attended by CJI Ramana, Justices AM Khanwilkar, DY Chandrachud, and Hemant Gupta, as well as Chief Justices and Judges of High Courts.  The initiative 'FASTER' was initiated when a bench led by CJI Ramana took suo motu notice of delays in convicts' release even after they had been granted bail, citing reasons such as non-receipt or non-verification of legal orders.  The Registry, in partnership with the NIC, created the FASTER system on a war footing, according to a Supreme Court press release.

The government of Karnataka has introduced the Vinaya Samarasya initiative 

The Basavaraj Bommai government announced the Vinaya Samarasya Yojana as a public awareness campaign against caste prejudice in the state's gramme panchayats. It will be formally launched on April 14, the birth anniversary of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar.  The initiative was named after Vinay, a three-year-old Dalit kid who strayed into a temple in Miyapur hamlet in Karnataka's Koppal district to seek shelter from the rain in September 2021. His family has faced even greater hostility since being fined Rs 25,000 by village elders.  The area's 1,500 members, largely from the Ganiga group, had intensified their persecution of the Dalit family in the meantime, forcing Vinay's family to leave the village and abandon possessions, including agricultural land.

Maharashtra launches scheme to offer personal loans for prisoners

The Maharashtra government has introduced a scheme that allows prisoners to obtain personal loans from banks of up to Rs. 50,000 to help their families improve their living conditions and meet expenses related to their legal matters. It will be a first of its kind initiative in our country.  The Maharashtra State Co-operative Bank would provide loans up to 50,000 under the scheme at a 7% interest rate. The scheme would be implemented in Yerawada Central Jail in Pune, Maharashtra, on a pilot basis. This type of loan is called a “khavti” loan, and benefits approximately 1,055 prisoners.  Under the scheme, the loan facility will be decided on the basis of the prisoner, prisoner's loan limit, duration of punishment, possible relief from it, age, estimated annual working day and minimum daily income. The loan will not require a guarantor. There will be no need for a guarantor. It will be disbursed on a personal bond. The bank will decide the amount based on earnings, skill, daily wages.

Vishwas Patel re-elected as chairman of Payments Council of India 

Vishwas Patel has been re-elected as the Chairman of Payments Council of India (PCI) for the second time in 2022, previously he was elected as a Chairman of PCI in the year 2018. In 2013, he served as Co-Chairman of PCI.  PCI is a payment ecosystem industry body and is a part of the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI). PCI aims to promote a cashless transaction society and vision to grow digital payment in India.  The Payments Council of India works to promote the growth of the Indian payment industry and promote a cashless economy in the country. It works with other important financial and banking Institutions and Organisations to turn India into a ‘cashless society.  This industry body for digital operators in the country is said to be in its final stages of submitting its independent application to become a self-regulatory organisation (SRO) for digital payments, under the mandate of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).  PCI functions in line with the Digital India Initiative and closely works with the financial regulators of the country.

Manipur govt tie-up with Samsung to start Sports Digital Experience Centre

The state government of Manipur has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Samsung Data System India Pvt Ltd and Abhitech IT Solutions Pvt Ltd for setting up a world-class "Sports Digital Experience Centre" as a domain of Manipur Olympian Park and Khuman Lampak Sports Complex.  The MoU was exchanged in the presence of chief minister N Biren Singh at the cabinet hall of the Chief Minister's Secretariat.  With the setting up of the Digital Experience Centre, various achievements of Olympians from Manipur will be digitally displayed making the public aware about their achievements.  Such initiatives will help in improving and enhancing the performance of sporting talents through the latest technologies like sports analytics, virtual reality and mixed reality among others, he maintained, adding that it will also motivate younger generations to opt for sports as a career.

 

INTERNATIONAL

 

On my way to Kyiv: European Parliament President amid conflict

European Parliament President Roberta Metsola on Friday tweeted that she is travelling to Ukraine's capital Kyiv in a show of support for the country amid the Russian invasion. Further details of Metsola's trip have been withheld due to security reasons, her spokesperson said. Metsola "will pass a message of support and hope on behalf of...European Parliament", the spokesperson added.

PM meets Russian Foreign Minister in Delhi, briefed about situation in Ukraine

PM Narendra Modi on Friday met Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov during the latter's official two-day visit and was briefed on the situation in Ukraine, including the ongoing peace negotiations. The Prime Minister's Office said PM reiterated his call for early cessation of violence and conveyed India's readiness to contribute in any way to the peace efforts.

Banking , Business and Economy

Central Bank of India partnered with Kwik.ID to ​digitize customer onboarding 

Central Bank of India partnered with ID to implement digital Know Your Customer (KYC), video KYC and eKYC for its network across India. The aim of the partnership is to bring seamless onboarding and provide efficient digital facilities to customers across India.  ID is India’s fastest and first-ever AI-based fully compliant Video KYC solution and a flagship product by Think360.ai. It has the target to digitize 10 million customers’ onboarding annually and streamline its end-to-end processes.  Central Bank of India had an eight-month-long gruelling evaluation process on technology and product experience followed by a reverse auction commercial round for this selection.  This partnership will support the bank in driving its digital transformation agenda and supporting digital finance initiatives championed by the government.

RBI extended the deadline for banks to utilise lockable cassettes in ATMs by a year

The Reserve Bank of India has delayed the deadline for banks to use lockable cassettes in their ATMs that can be swapped during cash replenishment by a year, till March 31, 2023.  The decision was made after the RBI received representations from various banks and the Indian Banks' Association noting the difficulty in achieving the deadline, according to a notification released yesterday.  It has instructed the banks to establish an internal roadmap that has been approved by the Board in order to meet the extended deadline and submit a quarterly status report, and it has requested the banks' boards to monitor progress to assure compliance.

Maruti Suzuki exports hit record high of 2.38 lakh units in FY22

India's largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki revealed that its exports surged to 2.38 lakh units in FY22, the highest in any financial year. The company exported 26,496 units during March 2022, clocking its highest ever monthly exports. For the full financial year 2021-22, the company posted a total sales of 16.5 lakh units with a growth of 13.4% over FY 2020-21.

 

 

Amazon has destroyed us: Future Retail to Supreme Court

Advocate Harish Salve, appearing for Future Retail in the Supreme Court, said, "Amazon wanted to destroy us...they've destroyed us." He was referring to the Amazon's litigation to block the ₹27,000-crore asset sale deal between Future and Reliance Retail. The court was hearing Amazon's plea to restrain Future from alienating its retail assets until arbitration between the companies concluded.

Google Pay, Pine Labs tieup to offer ‘Tap to Pay’ for UPI users

Google Pay has launched ‘Tap to Pay for UPI’, new functionality to bring the seamless convenience of Tap to Pay to Unified Payments Interface (UPI). The initiative has been launched in collaboration with Pine Labs.  To complete a payment, all a user will need to do is tap their phone on the POS terminal and authenticate the payment from their phone, using their UPI PIN, making the process virtually instantaneous, as compared to scanning a QR code or entering the UPI-linked mobile number.  The functionality will be available to any UPI user who wants to use their NFC-enabled Android smartphone to transact using any Pine Labs Android POS terminal across the country. This was piloted with Reliance Retail and will now be available at other large merchants such as Future Retail and Starbucks.

HDFC ERGO launched “VAULT” digital customer engagement and rewards program

HDFC ERGO General Insurance Company has launched its VAULT program. It is India’s first industry-based digital customer engagement and rewards program. This program is an experiment to test a new idea under the Regulatory Sandbox of IRDAI (Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India).  The testing period will be till 14th May 2022 and further continuance of the product beyond the testing period will be subject to IRDAI approval.  VAULT program is a customer engagement-based membership program. Under the program, eligible customers will be incentivized by way of reward points on meeting the specified criteria or actions.  Maximum customer enrolments under this program will be 10,000. This reward program will cover Optima Restore health insurance customers.

GoI keeps interest rates on Small Savings Schemes unchanged for Q1 (April-June 2022)

The Ministry of Finance has decided to keep the interest rates unchanged on small savings schemes or post office schemes for the Quarter -1 of FY2022-23 (April-June 2022). The interest rates on the various instruments for April-June 2022 range from 4.0 per cent to 7.6 per cent.  It must be noted that the Government notifies the Interest rates for small savings schemes on a quarterly basis. This is the eighth consecutive quarter when the interest rates on small savings instruments remained unchanged.

Interest Rates for Quarter-1 (April-June) of 2022-23 are listed below:

 

Small Savings Instruments	Interest Rate For Apr-June 2022	Compounding frequency
Savings deposit	4.0%	Annually
One-year time deposit	5.5%	Quarterly
Two-year time deposit	5.5%	Quarterly
Three-year time deposit	5.5%	Quarterly
Small Savings Instruments	Interest Rate For Apr-June 2022	Compounding frequency
Five-year time deposit	6.7%	Quarterly
Five-year recurring deposit	5.8%	Quarterly
Senior Citizen Savings Scheme	7.4%	Quarterly and Paid
Monthly Income Account	6.6%	6.6%
National Savings Certificate	6.8%	Annually
Public Provident Fund Scheme	7.1%	Annually
Kisan Vikas Patra	6.9%	Annually
Sukanya Samriddhi Account Scheme	7.6%	Annually

 

Science and Technology News

Microsoft launches ‘Startups Founders Hub’ platform

Microsoft launched a new digital and inclusive platform for startup founders in India. The platform called as ‘Microsoft for Startups Founders Hub’ in India, will support startup founders in India at every stage of their startup journey.  This platform will offer over USD 300,000 worth of benefits and credits to startups, including free access to the technology, tools, and resources from the tech giant and partners. The initiative will help the Startups to gain mentorship and skilling opportunities with industry experts and Microsoft Learn.  Microsoft for Startups Founders Hub was created following extensive research and conversations with hundreds of founders who explicitly shared their need for access to a digital ecosystem that promotes opportunities and democratises innovation regardless of background, location, progress, or passions.  Microsoft for Startups Founders Hub is designed specifically for early-stage startups to lower the barriers of business creation, act as a catalyst for entrepreneurship and innovation, and contribute to easing the journey from an idea to a unicorn.

Sports News

Adidas Unveils Official Al Rihla FIFA World Cup Ball for Qatar 2022

Al Rihla – the Official Match Ball for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 has been revealed by Adidas. It is Adidas' 14th World Cup ball, and it is designed to accommodate the fastest game speeds possible, since it flies quicker in flight than any other World Cup ball.  Al Rihla provides the highest level of precision and reliability on the field of play, having been designed from the inside out utilising data from extensive testing in Adidas labs, wind tunnels, and on-pitch.  The ball was also created with the environment in mind, with all components carefully considered, and Al Rihla being the first World Cup ball to be constructed entirely of water-based inks and glues.

Important Days

Odisha Day or Utkal Divas is celebrated on 1st April 2022

Utkal Divas or Utakala Dibasha or Odisha Day is celebrated on April 1st every year to remember the formation of the Odisha state after a struggle to be recognised as an independent state. The state was originally called Orissa but the Lok Sabha passed the Orissa Bill, and Constitution Bill (113rd amendment), in March 2011 to rename it Odisha.  History beckons that the present-day Odisha used to form a major portion of the ancient Kalinga. The region witnessed the epic “Kalinga War” led by King Ashoka who invaded and conquered the region in 260 BC. Later, the state was invaded and taken over by the Mughals till the British took over the administrative powers of the region and divided it into small units in 1803.  After decades of struggle under the leadership of Odisha’s eminent leaders, the new province came into existence on the 1st of April 1936. The state saw another facelift, now in terms of its name being changed from Orissa to Odisha.  The earlier capital city of Odisha was Cuttack whereas the current capital city is Bhubaneswar. In terms of tribal population, Odisha is the 3rd state in the country. Various rulers ruled the state. More than 31% of the state has been covered with forests. On 9 November 2010, the Parliament of India renamed Orissa as Odisha. Oriya language was also retitled as Odia.

MISCELLANEOUS
Russia jamming commercial planes' satellite navigation: France

France's civil aviation authority DGAC has claimed Russia's military has been jamming satellite navigation systems used by commercial aircraft since the Ukraine invasion. Pilots have been reporting disruptions in regions around the Black Sea, eastern Finland and the Kaliningrad enclave. The equipment typically used to protect troops and installations against GPS-guided missiles is being targeted.

 

Govt not planning a law soon to regulate cryptocurrencies: Report

The government isn't planning a law soon to either regulate or tighten provisions relating to cryptocurrencies, Bloomberg reported on Friday. The Indian government will frame a law for cryptocurrencies only after a global consensus emerges on regulating such assets, the report added. During the Budget, the government announced a 30% tax on income from virtual digital assets from April 1.

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