Test: March 2022 Weekly Current Affair - 1 - UPSC MCQ

The Government of India (GoI) has launched ‘Operation Ganga’ to evacuate Indian citizens from Ukraine, due to Ukraine’s war against Russia. The GoI has planned to help nearly 15,000 Indians to reach India with the help of Air India flights.
(i) With the help of the International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC) in Geneva, the GoI has guided the Indian citizens towards the border of Ukraine.
Assignment To The Ministries:
The Prime Minister of India has decided to send 4 Union Ministers to Poland and Romania to oversee the evacuation.

• Union Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs and Petroleum and Natural Gas – Hardeep Singh Puri
• Minister for Law and Justice – Kiren Rijiju
• Civil Aviation Minister – Jyotiraditya Scindia
• Minister of State for Road Transport and Highways and Civil Aviation – General V K Singh

The renowned Indian physicist and Emeritus Professor at the Department of Physics, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Pune, Prof Deepak Dhar will be conferred the prestigious Boltzmann Medal 2022 for contribution in the field of statistical physics.

• He became the first Indian to be awarded the Boltzmann Medal. He will share the medal with John J Hopfield of Princeton University.
• The medal presentation ceremony will be held during the StatPhys28 conference in August 2022 in Tokyo, Japan.

China claimed a domestic record for the most spacecraft launched by a single rocket by launching a ‘Long March-8 rocket’ to place 22 satellites in space from the ‘Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site’ in south China’s Hainan Province with the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC).
About China:
Capital – Beijing
Currency – Renminbi
President – Xi Jinping

National Protein Day is annually observed across India on 27th February to create public awareness and educate India about the health benefits of protein.

• The 27th February 2022 marks the observance of the 3rd National Protein Day in India.
• The theme of National Protein Day 2022 is “Food Futurism”.
• The first-ever National Protein Day was observed on 27th February 2020.

CCEA has approved the offering of coal (dry fuel) by coal companies via a common e-auction window of Coal India Limited which will replace the sector-specific auctions.

• CIL also has ambitious coal production plans for the future with an aim of producing 1 BT (Billion Tonne) coal by 2023-24.
• CCEA approves the national roll-out of Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare with a budget of Rs 1,600 crore for 5 years.

Japan and India have renewed the Bilateral Swap Arrangement (BSA) under which the 2 countries can swap their local currencies in exchange for the US Dollar of up to USD 75 billion with effect from 28th February 2022.
Signatories – The Bank of Japan which is acting as agent for the Minister of Finance of Japan, and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on behalf of the Government of India (GoI) signed the Amendment and Restatement Agreement of the BSA.
About Japan:
Capital – Tokyo
Currency – Japanese Yen
Prime Minister – Fumio Kishida

Digital India Corporation Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Abhishek Singh appointed as new CEO & President of National e-Governance Division (NeGD), Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY).
(i) Abhishek Singh will continue to hold the post of Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer, Digital India Corporation.
About National e-Governance Division (NeGD):
Established - 2009
Headquarters - New Delhi

The Russian born tennis player Daniil Medvedev (8615 points), has ranked the new ATP World number 1 in the Mexican Open ATP Feb, 2022.

• He overthrew the Serbian player Novak Djokovic (8465 points – current rank 2), who held the top spot in men’s tennis for a record 361 total weeks.
• Medvedev is the first player outside the ‘Big Four’, Djokovic, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray to hold the top spot in 18 years, three weeks and six days.

The Prime Minister (PM) of India Narendra Modi addressed a webinar on the vision of GatiShakti and its convergence with Union Budget 2022.

• It was organized by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MOCI). It was a platform for dignitaries, academicians and industry stakeholders to discuss the plans for improving India’s logistics sector.
• National logistics portal to be integrated with ULIP The Central Government announced that the National Logistics Portal (NLP) will be integrated with Unified Logistics Interface Platform- ULIP to formalize the methods and speed up the processes related to the overall trade.

India has slipped three spots to 120 from 117 in 2021 on the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted as a part of the 2030 agenda in 2015.
(i) Kerala ranked 1st followed by Tamil Nadu & Himachal Pradesh (HP) in the 2nd position under State/UT-wise preparedness category to meet SDGs by 2030.

• Jharkhand and Bihar are the least prepared to meet the SDGs by the target year 2030. Among the Union Territories (UTs), Chandigarh was ranked 1st, followed by Delhi, Lakshadweep and Puducherry in the 2nd place and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands on the 3rd.

(ii) As per report, India is now behind all south Asian nations except Pakistan, which stands at 129. The south Asian countries ahead of India are Bhutan ranked 75, Sri Lanka (87), Nepal (96) and Bangladesh (109).

Edelweiss Housing Finance Limited (EHFL) and Standard Chartered Bank signed a strategic co-lending agreement for extending property loans to Micro Small Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).
(i) Under the partnership, EHFL will originate, process, service the loans and retain 20% of the loan on its books and remaining 80 % will be on the books of Standard Chartered Bank.
Edelweiss Housing Finance Limited (EHFL):
MD & CEO-Rajat Avasthi
Headquarters- Mumbai, Maharashtra

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has successfully launched the third in a series of ‘Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES)-R’ weather satellites namely GOES-T through United Launch Alliance Atlas V 541 rocket from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, United States (US).

• It was launched for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
• The first two of the GOES-R series were launched in 2016 and 2018 viz. GOES-16 and GOES-17 respectively.
• Once GOES-T is positioned in a geostationary orbit 22,300 miles above Earth, it will be renamed GOES-18.

The Polio National Immunization Day 2022 (NID) was organised across India on 27th February 2022.

• Annually India conducts one nationwide NID and 2 Sub-National Immunization Day (SNIDs) for polio with an aim to maintain the population immunity against wild poliovirus and to sustain its polio-free status.
• On 26th February 2022, Dr Mansukh Mandaviya, Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare launched the National Polio Immunization Drive for 2022 and administered polio drops to children below five years of age.

India ranked 3rd in billionaire population globally while United States (US) Tops with most billionaires.

• The number of ultra-high-net-worth-individuals (UHNWIs) globally increased by 9.3 percent in 2021 to 6,10,569, from 5,58,828 in 2020.
• Amongst the Indian cities, Bengaluru witnessed the highest growth in the number of UHNWIs followed by Delhi.
• The declining countries in UHNWI population are Malaysia, Vietnam.
• In India, the UHNWI population is expected to grow by 39 percent between 2021 and 2026

The survey has been initiated with around 3,000 assessors of Ipsos Research Pvt. Ltd., an Assessment Agency headquartered in Paris France.

• Swachh Survekshan 2022 is designed with the notion of ‘People First’ as its driving philosophy.
• Another new indicator, “Swachh Technology Challenge,” was added to SS 2022, which was launched by MoHUA on December 6, 2021.

Sanjay Verma, Secretary (West) in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and Marten van den Berg, Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to India released a joint “Special logo” to mark 75 years of Indo-Netherlands Diplomatic Relations.

• 2022 marks the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between India and the Netherlands.
• The Netherlands was one of the first European countries to have bilateral relations with India. The official relations between India and the Netherlands were established in 1947.

About the logo:

• The logo features a lotus and a tulip, the national flowers of India and the Netherlands respectively and has a Chakra in the middle which depicts the bond of friendship between both countries.
• The flag colours of both the countries in the logo enhance the existing connections between the people.

IIFL Finance Limited, a non-banking financial company collaborated with fintech NIRA to strengthen its digital footprint by providing personal loans.
Aim – To provide credit to largely unbanked and underbanked borrowers and small entrepreneurs.
(i) Through this partnership, salaried customers can avail a personal loan of up to Rs. 1 lakh from IIFL Finance by downloading the NIRA app from Google’s Play store.
About IIFL Finance Limited:
Establishment – 1995
Headquarters – Mumbai, Maharashtra
Chairman – Nirmal Jain

Indian Para Archer, Pooja Jatyan (World Rank 21) won the silver medal in Recurve Women Open at the Dubai 2022 World Archery Para Championships (13th edition of the World Archery Para Championships), held at Dubai Club for People of Determination, Dubai, United Arab Emirates(UAE) from 19th to 27th February 2022.

• She became the first Indian to win a silver medal in Individual Category in a Para Championships.
• Indian compound para archers Shyam Sundar Swami (World Rank 20) and Jyoti Baliyan (World Rank 28) have won silver in the compound mixed team event at the 13th World Archery Para Championships.

Indian Hotels Company Limited (IHCL) has partnered with The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to help preserve and promote the intangible cultural heritage of India, as part of an initiative which aims to transform the travel landscape in the post pandemic world.

• IHCL & UNESCO Partnership is the Industry’s first collaboration to work towards preserving India’s intangible cultural heritage.
• IHCL and UNESCO will offer experiential tours for travellers at various IHCL hotels and enable them to better experience the living heritage of India.
• IHCL & UNESCO Partnership is the Industry’s first collaboration to work towards preserving India’s intangible cultural heritage.

PayU has collaborated with VTEX, one of the largest global digital commerce platforms, to offer multiple payment solutions to VTEX merchants.

• Through this collaboration, PayU platform will be available for VTEX’s merchants that includes global players operating in different industries in India and provides seamless access to PayU’s payment solutions.

Aim – To simplify payment methods for the merchants using VTEX platform.

The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry (ASSOCHAM) awarded its Award for Sustainability Excellence in Energy Management to CtrlS, a DataCenter Company in Hyderabad, Telangana.
About CtrlS Datacenter (DC):

• Asia’s largest and India’s only Rated 4 Hyperscale Datacenter(DC) which is at the forefront of innovation and sustainability. CtrlS became world’s 1st DC to Win Golden Peacock Eco-Innovation Award.

Founder and CEO: Sridhar Pinnapureddy, The Green Man of Indian Data Centers. Founded: 2008

Former Australia cricketer (wicketkeeper) Rodney William Marsh (Rod Marsh) has passed away in Adelaide Australia.

• Rod Marsh played 96 test matches for Australia from 1970 to 1984 and 92 One-Day Internationals (ODIs) for Australia and later retired from top-flight cricket in February 1984.
• He was the 1st Australian wicketkeeper to score a century in test cricket, and finished his career with 3 centuries.
• He was named as one of Wisden’s Cricketer of the Year in 1982.He received an Australian Sports Medal in 2000 and a Centenary Medal in 2001.

The Government of India (GoI) has approved ‘Modernisation Plan-IV for Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs)’ scheme to improve the overall operational efficiency and preparedness of the CAPFs with a financial outlay of Rs 1,523 crore.

• The Ministry of Home Affairs under guidance of Union Home Minister, Amit Shah will implement the scheme from 1st February 2022 to 31st March 2026. This approval was made as a continuation of ‘Modernisation Plan-III for CAPFs’.

About Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA):
Union Minister – Amit Shah (Gandhi Nagar, Gujarat).
Minister of state – Nityanand Rai (Ujiarpur, Bihar); Ajay Kumar Mishra (Kheri, Uttar Pradesh); Nisith Pramanik (Coochbehar, West Bengal).

Kotak Mahindra Bank Limited (KMBL) and Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) Limited launched the Indian Oil Kotak co-branded fuel credit card that will offer more value to customers in the form of an enhanced rewards programme.

• The program gives customers value on fuel spends and on special non-fuel & frequent-spend categories, such as fuel, dining and groceries.
• This partnership will help IOC and KMBL to further strengthen their brand reach and deepen customer engagement.

About Kotak Mahindra Bank Limited (KMBL):
Establishment – 2003
Headquarters – Mumbai, Maharashtra
Managing Director (MD) & CEO – Uday Kotak
Tagline – Let’s Make Money Simple

The Central Govt. has appointed Justice Dhirubhai Naranbhai Patel, Chief Justice of Delhi High Court, as the Chairperson of Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) for the period of 4years.

• The Ministry of Law and Justice issued a notification regarding the approval of his appointment by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC).

About Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT):
Created in accordance with the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Act (TRAI), 1997 (Amended in 2000) authorized by TRAI.
Establishment: 2000
Headquarters: New Delhi, Delhi (NCT)