Daily Current Affairs: January 14 & 15, 2022

Daily Current Affairs (January 14 & 15, 2022) like many other sections is inevitable and this also helps to score in the Banking awareness, Static GK, and Financial Awareness sections. Remember, Banking Awareness, and Static Awareness Questions are asked from the General Awareness section. This will also help you to ride your preparations for the forthcoming exams.

Also, Don’t forget to attend the Daily Current Affairs Quiz – January 14 & 15, 2022, now @ our Bankersdaily Tests.

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Check: Previous – Daily Current Affairs – Banking Exam

Important Days

Army Day (India) – 15 January

• Army Day (India) is observed on 15 January to honour each soldier in the Indian Armed Forces for their selfless service for India and its citizens.
• This year (2022) marks the 74^th Army Day (India).
• On 1 April 1895, the British Indian Army was founded within the British administration and was known as the British Indian Army. After India became independent in 1947, it was not until 15 January 1949, that India received its first-ever Indian chief for the Indian Army.
• The world’s largest Indian national flag made from khadi was displayed along the India–Pakistan international border in Rajasthan’s Longewala on the occasion of 74^th Army Day (India)

Thiruvalluvar Day – 15 January

• Thiruvalluvar Day is observed on 15 January to mark the birth anniversary of Tamil poet and philosopher Thiruvalluvar.
• Thiruvalluvar is most known for his poetry collection Thirukkural, which is a compilation of couplets about politics, love, ethics and economics. Thirukkural is regarded as one of Tamil literature’s most important works.

National News

Union Government inaugurates India’s first coal-to-methanol plant built by BHEL

• Union Minister for Heavy Industries Mahendra Nath Pandey dedicated India’s first coal-to-methanol (CTM) pilot plant built by Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) to the nation as a part of the ongoing ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’ celebrations.
• The 0.25 TPD (tonnes per day) capacity CTM pilot plant that has been indigenously designed, developed and installed by BHEL is currently producing methanol with a purity of more than 99 per cent from high-ash Indian coal.
• He also inaugurated an exhibition on ‘Products Developed under Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ organised at BHEL’s Hyderabad unit.

State News

Kachai Lemon Festival begins in Manipur’s Ukhrul

• The eighteenth edition of the two-day-long Kachai Lemon Festival began in Manipur on 13 January at the local ground of Kachai village in the Ukhrul district.
• Kachai lemon of Manipur has been accorded the Geographical Indication (GI) tag and is widely grown in the Kachai village of the Ukhrul district.
• The Kachai Lemon Festival is organised annually to promote this unique kind of lemon fruit and to encourage lemon farmersof Manipur.
• This year (2022) the festival is organised under the theme ‘Organic Kachai Lemon for Safe Environment and Rural Transformation’.

Manipur

• Capital: Imphal
• Chief Minister: Biren Singh
• Governor: Najma Heptulla

Banking & Economy

Paytm Payments Bank leads the Unified Payment Interface Beneficiary Chart in December 2021

• Paytm Payments Bank has emerged as the biggest receiver of Unified Payments Interface (UPI) amount with 926.17 million transactions in December 2021.
• State Bank of India (SBI) topped this chart for being the biggest remitter in December 2021, according to the data released by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI).
• According to the NPCI data, Standard Chartered Bank had the highest approval rate of 96.74 per cent in remittance of UPI transactions, while Citi Bank registered the highest approval rate of 99.84 per cent among UPI beneficiaries.

Paytm Payments Bank

• Headquarters: New Delhi, India
• MD & CEO: Satish Kumar Gupta

YES Mutual Fund was renamed as White Oak Capital Mutual Fund

• Yes Mutual Fund was renamed as White Oak Capital Mutual Fund.
• White Oak was granted a mutual fund licence. White Oak Capital Group provides investment management and advisory services for over ₹42,000 crores in equity assets.
• In September 2021, GPL Finance and Investments, a subsidiary of the White Oak Capital Group, gained authorisation from the capital markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to acquire Yes Asset Management from Yes Bank.

Reserve Bank of India authorises South Indian Bank to collect direct and indirect taxes

• The Reserve Bank of India has authorised South Indian Bank to collect direct and indirect taxes on behalf of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) and the Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs (CBIC).

South Indian Bank

• Headquarters: Thrissur, Kerala
• MD & CEO: Murali Ramakrishnan

Appointments

Raghuvendra Tanwar was appointed as the Chairman of the Indian Council of Historical Research

• Professor Emeritus of the Kurukshetra University Raghuvendra Tanwar was appointed as the Chairman of the Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR) for a period of three years.
• He was appointed as the director of the Haryana Academy of History and Culture in 2016 and is known for his study on India’s partition, particularly Punjab.

Daniel Ortega was elected as the Nicaraguan President for a fourth consecutive term

• Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega was sworn into office for a fourth consecutive term.
• He will be the President of Nicaragua until 2027.
• Rosario Murillo was elected as the Vice-President of Nicaragua for a second term.

Republic of Nicaragua:

• President: Daniel Ortega
• Capital: Managua
• Currency: Nicaraguan Cordoba

Awards and Recognitions

NIRAMAI and InnAccel receive World Bank and Consumer Technology Association’s Global Women’s Health Tech Awards

• NIRAMAI Health Analytix Private Limited and InnAccel Technologies Private Limited, two startups supported by Department of Biotechnology’s Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (DBT-BIRAC), have received the World Bank Group and the Consumer Technology Association’s Global Women’s Health Tech Awards.
• These awards recognise innovative startups that leverage technology to improve women’s health and safety in emerging markets.
• NIRAMAI Health Analytix Private Limited was selected for its novel software-based medical device that detects early-stage breast cancer in a simple and private way in women belonging to all age groups.
• InnAccel Technologies Private Limited was adjudged as a winner for Fetal Lite. It is a next-generation, AI-powered fetal heart rate monitor based on fetal ECG signal extraction technology for mothers in labour or post 37 weeks of gestation.

Agreements and MoUs signed

Google Pay partners with Indifi to offer instant digital credit to MSMEs

• Google Pay has joined hands with Indifi Technologies to provide instant digital loans to medium, small and micro enterprises (MSMEs) on the Google Pay platform.
• These loans will be in the range of ₹5 lakhs to ₹3 lakhs.
• Indifi has already partnered with many companies, including Amazon, Zomato and Swiggy.
• Indifi has been effective in bridging the credit gap for these disadvantaged enterprises by combining data and technology to mitigate the underwriting issues associated with MSMEs.

POWERGRID ties up with Africa50 to develop a transmission project in Kenya

• Power Grid Corporation of India Limited has signed a joint development agreement with Africa50 to develop the Kenya Transmission Project on a public-private partnership (PPP) basis.
• The 400 kV Lessos–Loosuk and 220 kV Kisumu–Musaga transmission lines will be developed, financed, built and operated as part of this PPP project.
• This project will be Kenya’s first Independent Power Transmission (IPT) and will serve as a benchmark in Africa as the first PPP-based financing of transmission lines, once it gets completed.
• This project will also increase power transmission supply and reliability in Western Kenya, as well as serve as a model for private sector investment in Africa’s power transmission networks, which is crucial for closing the Africa’s electricity access gap.

Obituary

Former Japanese Prime Minister Toshiki Kaifu passed away

• Former Prime Minister of Japan Toshiki Kaifu passed away at the age of 91.
• He was elected as a the Japan Premier in August 1989 and served until November 1991.
• He was best known for sending the Maritime Self-Defense Force to the Persian Gulf in 1991.
• He was elected to the House of Representatives in 1960 and went on to hold important government positions such as Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary as well as Education Minister until becoming Japan’s Prime Minister in August 1989.

Daily CA- 14 & 15 January One Liners

Can you score 20/20 in Today’s Current Affairs Quiz? Attempt the Current Affairs Quiz of  January 14 & 15, 2022, now from the link given below.