Former RBI Governot Urjit Patel Appointed Beijing-based AIIB Vice-president
Former Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor Urjit Patel was appointed as the vice-president of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB).
The noted Indian economist will take over as vice-president at a time when AIIB is expanding its footprint in developing countries especially India.
Currently headed by China's Jin Liqun, AIIB currently has five vice-presidents.
India is AIIB's largest borrower since it was set up six years ago.
Indonesia, Turkey, Bangladesh and China are the next four borrowers from the bank with over $7 billion investment.
Xi Jinping Appoints top Xinjiang Police Officer as Hong Kong PLA Chief
A former senior paramilitary officer posted in Xinjiang has been appointed as the People's Liberation Army (PLA) garrison chief in Hong Kong, the latest sign of Beijing taking an increasingly hardline stand on security in the financial hub.
Major General Peng Jingtang was the deputy chief of staff of China's paramilitary police force, the People's Armed Police, national broadcaster, CCTV said in a report late on Sunday night, adding that his appointment was signed into order by Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Peng was previously also chief of staff of the armed police force in Xinjiang, where western countries and international rights groups say Beijing is committing genocide against the minority Uighur community.
Myntra Elevates Achint Setia as the Head of Marketing
Walmart-owned online fashion retailer Myntra announced the appointment of Achint Setia, who currently leads the organisation's social commerce business, as its head of marketing.
In his new role, Setia will lead Myntra's marketing function while continuing to oversee the social commerce business. With this, his core responsibilities will include, scaling the Myntra brand, developing the marketing strategy including for large consumer-centric events, strengthening customer loyalty, and applying research-based insights into the business to fuel its growth.
TCS Bags Phase 2 of Centre's Passport Plan
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) again chose Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) to implement the second phase of the Passport Seva Program, the country's largest mission critical e-governance programme till date. TCS will be managing the project for another nine-and-a-half years, which can be extended for two more years.
As per reports, the deal could be in the range of Rs. 6,000-8,000 crore.
In the next phase of the programme, TCS will refresh existing facilities and systems, and develop new solutions to enable the issuance of e-passports using technologies such as biometrics, artificial intelligence, advanced data analytics, chatbots, auto-response, natural language processing, and the cloud.
Adani Group Set up New Subsidiary ANIL for New Energy Business
Billionaire Gautam Adani's logistics-to-energy conglomerate has set up a new subsidiary, Adani New Industries Ltd (ANIL) to undertake green hydrogen projects, generation of low carbon electricity and manufacture of wind turbines, solar modules and batteries as it looks to become the world's largest renewable energy company and produce the cheapest hydrogen.
ANIL will undertake business of developing and operating projects for the synthesis of low carbon fuels and chemicals, generation of low carbon electricity and the manufacture of key components/material for projects including generation of green hydrogen, related downstream products, electricity generation, manufacture of wind turbines.
China's Chang'e 5 Lunar Probe Finds First on-site Evidence of Water on Moon's Surface
China's Chang'e 5 lunar lander found the first-ever on-site evidence of water on the surface of the moon, lending new evidence to the dryness of the satellite.
The study revealed that the lunar soil at the landing site contains less than 120 parts-per-million (ppm) water or 120 grams water per ton, and a light, vesicular rock carries 180 ppm, which are much drier than that on Earth.
The presence of water had been confirmed by remote observation but the lander has now detected signs of water in rocks and soil.
A device on-board the lunar lander measured the spectral reflectance of the regolith and the rock and detected water on the spot for the first time.
Fourteen-year old Bharath Subramaniyam became India's 73rd chess Grandmaster, securing the third and final GM norm at an event in Italy.
The Chennai-based player scored 6.5 points from nine rounds along with four others to finish seventh overall in the event held at Cattolica.
He obtained his third GM norm and also touched the requisite 2,500 (Elo) mark.
Bharath achieved his first GM norm after securing 11th place at the Aeroflot Open in Moscow in February 2020. He secured the second norm after placing 4th in the Junior Roundtable Under 21 tournament in Bulgaria with 6.5 points in October 2021.
Rohan Bopanna, Ramkumar Ramanathan Win Adelaide International Crown
Rohan Bopanna and Ramkumar Ramanathan began 2022 on a high, winning the Adelaide International ATP 250 men's doubles title. Teaming up for the first time on the ATP tour, the Indian due won the title with a hard-fought 7-6 (6), 6-1 win over the top-seeded pairing of Ivan Dodig and Marcelo Melo in Adelaide.
It was Rohan Bopanna's 20the ATP title while Ramkumar won his maiden title on the tour as the two Indian players warmed up to the Australian Open 2022 with a big win.
Senior IPS officer Viresh Kumar Bhawra was appointed as the new director-general of Punjab police.
The order came just hours before the announcement of the dates for the assembly elections in five states including Punjab.
Bhawra, who was the DGP of Punjab Home Guards, replaced officiating DGP Siddharth Chattopadhyaya.
The Charanjit Singh Channi government selected the 1987 batch officer Bhawra out of a panel of three officers shortlisted by the Union Public Service Commission.
The other two officers in the panel were senior IPS officers Dinkar Gupta and Prabodh Kumar.
GoI Extends Navrang Saini's Term as Interim Chief of IBBI
The Government of India extended the tenure of Navrang Saini as interim Chairperson of Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) for three more months till March 05, 2022. Mr. Saini, who is a Whole Time Member of IBBI, was assigned additional charge of Chairperson in addition to his existing duties in October 2021 for three months till January 2022. The post of full-time Chairperson has been lying vacant after M.S. Sahoo retired upon completing a five-year tenure on September 30, 2021.
Elections to Start from Western UP on February 10
Voting for the high-stakes Uttar Pradesh assembly elections will be held in seven phases, starting from the western part of the politically crucial state on February 10 and moving eastwards.
Punjab (117 seats), Uttarakhand (70 seats) and Goa (40 seats) will have single-day voting on February 14, coinciding with the second phase of polls in UP.
For Manipur, the poll panel has decided to conduct voting in two phases - 38 seats on February 27 and 22 seats on March 3.
World Hindi Day is observed on January 10 to honour the language. The theme of this day is to make Hindi a part of public opinion, although it doesn't necessarily mean that one has to leave their mother tongue.
The first World Hindi Day conference was organised on January 10, 1975, in Nagpur, a city in the state of Maharashtra. The grand event registered the participation of 122 representatives from 30 countries. The day is observed in India from the year 2003. The Ministry of External Affairs began the tradition of celebrating World Hindi Day in other nations in 2006 with an aim to promote this language across the world.
December 26 to be Observed as 'Veer Baal Diwas'
Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced his government's decision to mark December 26 every year as Veer Baal Diwas in memory of the sons of Guru Gobind Singh.
Modi's announcement came on the day of the birth anniversary of the Sikh guru.
This is a fitting tribute to the courage of the 'sahibzadas' and their quest for justice.
Veer Baal Diwas will be on the same day Sahibzada Zorawar Singh Ji and Sahibzada Fateh Singh Ji attained martyrdom after being sealed alive in a wall. These two greats preferred death instead of deviating from the noble principles of Dharma.
9th Edition of North East Festival Concludes
The 9th edition of the North East Festival concluded in Guwahati, Assam. The main purpose of this festival is to promote and highlight the commercial and tourism potential of the North East region. The festival was organised in the format of a carnival with live music and dance performances, engaging the visitors throughout the day in the open area while serious discussions on business, economic, socio-political issues of the region engrossed the intellectuals in the conference halls.
The festival aimed at integrated marketing of the entire North-East to attract tourists and investments. The closing day was graced by Assam's Agriculture Minister Atul Bora, who interacted with entrepreneurs participating from across the North-East region.
The National Water Awards is presented annually by Union Ministry of Jal Shakti. The third round of the awards, for the year 2020 was announced.
Uttar Pradesh was awarded the first prize. Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu were awarded the second and third prizes.
Muzzafarnagar of Uttar Pradesh was presented the "Best District".
In the North Zone, Shahid Bhagat Singh Nagar of Punjab was awarded the best district.
Thiruvananthapuram: South Zone
Indore, Madhya Pradesh: West Zone
East Champaran, Bihar: East Zone
Goalpara, Assam and Siang, Arunachal Pradesh: North East Zone
The awards are presented by the Department of Water Resources, Ministry of Jal Shakti. The ministry presents 57 awards. They are presented in 11 different categories. They are best district, best state, best village panchayat, best industry, best urban local body, best institution, best NGO, best water user association, best industry for Corporate Social Responsibility.
International Craft Award 2021
The Kerala Arts and Crafts Village near Kovalam has won the 2021 International Craft Award for the best craft village of the year.
The Kerala Arts and Crafts Village is an institution established by the Uralungal Labour Contract Co-operative Society for the state tourism department.
The international craft award aims at honouring organization, councils, governments, teachers, artists, designers and individuals around the world who have made significant contributions to the sustainable and comprehensive development of the handicraft industry. The ´Kraf Komuniti Ku´ craft village in Malaysia was was selected as the best village for the previous year.
Hundred New Sainik Schools to Provide Opportunity to Girl Students to Join Armed Forces
According to Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, the government's decision to set up 100 new Sainik schools will provide an opportunity for girl students to join the armed forces and contribute to national security.
Singh said that the government is for increasing the role of women in the armed forces and a series of steps have been taken in that direction, including clearing the way for their admission in Sainik schools and providing permanent commission to women officers.
The defence minister exuded confidence that the decision to establish new Sainik schools will encourage girls to realise their dreams of serving the country.
A New Book Titled "Mamata Beyond 2021" Authored by Jayanta Ghosal
HarperCollins Publishers India is set to publish a new book titled "Mamata: Beyond 2021", authored by political journalist Jayanta Ghosal and translated by Arunava Sinha. The announcement about the release of the book was made in January 2022, the birthday of Mamata Banerjee, the Chief Minister (CM) of West Bengal and the leader of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) party. The book explores and examines why the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lost the 2021 West Bengal Election.
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