ASIGMA: Indian Army launched in-house messaging app
Indian Army has launched a contemporary messaging application named ‘ASIGMA’ (Army Secure IndiGeneous Messaging Application). It is a new generation web-based application developed entirely in-house by a team of officers of the Corps of Signals of the Army. It works as an alternative to Army Wide Area Network (AWAN) messaging application which has been in service for the past 15 years. The application has been sent out on Army-owned hardware and will cater to the army from this time forward, lending itself to lifetime support with future upgrades.
Why Indian Army launch this app?
The messaging application is designed to meet all futuristic requirements for the army and boasts of an enhanced user experience. It comes with a variety of contemporary features including multi-level security, dynamic global address book, message prioritisation, and tracking, and options to meet the requirements of the army at present. This future-ready messaging application will meet the real-time data transfer and messaging requirements of the Army, especially in the backdrop of the current geopolitical security environment. ASIGMA has been developed in line with the Government of India’s, Make in India initiative.
Important takeaways for all competitive exams:
- Chief of the Army Staff: Manoj Mukund Naravane.
Federal Bank & Vayana Network won the ‘Most Effective Bank-Fintech Partnership’ award
Vayana Network, one of India’s largest trade finance platforms, and Federal Bank, a leading Private Sector Bank have been awarded the ‘Most Effective Bank-Fintech Partnership: Agile and Adaptable’ at the IBSi-Global Fintech Innovation Awards 2021. The award was conferred in recognition of Vayana Network’s partnership with Federal Bank, for automating and simplifying Supply Chain Finance. This year, the Innovation Awards attracted global attention with over 190 participants from 48 countries.
About the partnership:
Federal Bank partnered with Vayana Network to provide a seamless onboarding experience to dealers through their unique ‘Full Stack’ tech infrastructure – that facilitates end to end digital solution including client supply chain account set up, monitoring, digital authentication of documents on the transaction platform and notification to customers at every step.
Important takeaways for all competitive exams:
- Federal Bank Headquarters: Aluva, Kerala;
- Federal Bank MD & CEO: Shyam Srinivasan;
- Federal Bank Tagline: Your Perfect Banking Partner.
Paytm Payments Bank tie-up with MoneyGram to enable international fund transfer
Paytm Payments Bank has partnered with MoneyGram, a peer-to-peer remittance company to enable international fund transfer directly to Paytm Wallet. Under the Partnership, MoneyGram users abroad can now transfer money to any full Know Your Customer (KYC)-compliant Paytm wallet. MoneyGram transactions in India received digitally stands at nearly 50 per cent of all transactions received in the country. This is MoneyGram’s first mobile wallet partnership in India.
About the MoneyGram:
MoneyGram transactions in India received digitally currently represent nearly 50 per cent of all transactions received in the country. The number of transactions sent directly to bank accounts is up about six times from just under 10 per cent two short years ago.
Important takeaways for all competitive exams:
- Paytm Payments Bank Founded: 2015;
- Paytm Payments Bank Headquarters: Noida, UP;
- Paytm Payments Bank Founder & CEO: Vijay Shekhar Sharma.
Malayalam Director KS Sethumadhavan passes away
Legendary Malayalam filmmaker KS Sethumadhavan has passed away at the age of 90 years. He directed over 60 movies in five languages including Tamil, Telugu, and Hindi during his career. He directed popular movies such as Odayil Ninnu, Anubhavangal Palichakal, Oppol, Aranazhikaneeram, Achanum Bappayum, etc. He has won 10 National Film Awards, 9 Kerala State Awards among others.
M Venkaiah Naidu released a book titled “The Turnover Wizard – Saviour Of Thousands”
Vice-President of India M Venkaiah Naidu has released the book titled “The Turnover Wizard – Saviour Of Thousands”, an autobiography of Arup Roy Choudhury, the former Chairman and Managing Director of NTPC Limited and NBCC (India) Limited. The book consolidates Arup Roy Choudhury’s learnings from life and brings out the management lesson from his life. The book is also endorsed by E Sreedharan, The Metro Man of India.
Aanchal Thakur won bronze medal at FIS Alpine Skiing Competition 2021
Indian skier Aanchal Thakur has bagged a bronze medal at the International Ski Federation (FIS) Alpine Skiing Competition in Montenegro. She finished 3rd with an overall timing of 1:54:30. With this, Aanchal has become the first Indian Ski athlete to win two medals at the international level. She has previously won the bronze medal in the 2018 FIS Alpine 3200 Cup held in Turkey Georgia Epiphaniouwon silver medal and was just 2 seconds ahead of Anchal.
Croatia’s Dora Ljutic (1:50.61) won the gold medal while Cyprus skier Georgia Epiphaniou (1:52.71) clinched silver.
Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh announced retirement from cricket
Senior Indian off-spinner, Harbhajan Singh has announced retirement from all forms of cricket. He was the 1st Indian Cricketer to take Hat-trick wickets in Test Cricket. He took 417 wickets in 103 Tests and is the 4th highest wicket-taker for India in Test cricket. He made his debut to the national cricket team, during an ODI (One Day International) against New Zealand at Sharjah in 1998 and lastly represented India in 2016 during a T20 against the UAE at Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Indian Navy decommissioned INS Khukri after 32 years
INS Khukri (Pennant number 49), the first indigenously built Missile Corvette, was decommissioned after 32 years of service at Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. The warship was built by the Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders (MSD) and commissioned on 23rd August 1989 and had been part of both the Western and Eastern Fleets. The ship was commissioned in Mumbai by Shri Krishna Chandra Pant, the then Raksha Mantri and Mrs Sudha Mulla, wife of late Capt Mahendra Nath Mulla. Commander (now Retired Vice Admiral) Sanjeev Bhasin was the first Commanding Officer.
Important takeaways for all competitive exams:
- Chief of Naval Staff: Admiral R Hari Kumar;
- Indian Navy Founded: 26 January 1950.
NASA’s launched world’s largest telescope named James Webb Space
NASA’s $10 billion telescopes James Webb Space Telescope designed to capture the first glimpse of the universe just shortly after the Big Bang is targeted for blastoff from the European Space Agency’s Kourou, French Guiana. The revolutionary world’s first-of-its-kind space-science observatory of the next decade will capture the earliest galaxies believed to have formed during the early universe’s formation. The new telescope will help scientists to probe the structures and origins of our universe and our place in it.
Dimensions of the telescope:
The telescope is unequalled in size and complexity. Its mirror measures 6.5 metres (21 feet) in diameter — three times the size of the Hubble’s mirror — and is made of 18 hexagonal sections. It is so large that it had to be folded to fit into the rocket.
Key Facts:
- Webb will be the premier space observatory for astronomers worldwide to extend the discoveries of the Hubble Space Telescope.
- It will be the largest telescope ever placed in space and 100 times more powerful than Hubble.
- The telescope will peer back in time over 13.5 billion years to see the first galaxies born after the Big Bang.
- It will be the biggest telescope ever launched into space with a total mass of 6200 kg.
- Webb can see water vapour in extrasolar planet atmospheres.
- They detect the heat signature of a bumblebee at the distance of the moon and can see details of the size of a US penny at the distance of about 24 miles (40 km).
Important takeaways for all competitive exams:
- NASA administrator: Bill Nelson;
- Headquarters of NASA: Washington D.C., United States;
- NASA Founded: 1 October 1958.
DRDO successfully conducted flight test of HEAT ‘Abhyas’
Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has successfully conducted a flight test of Indigenously developed High-speed Expendable Aerial Target (HEAT) ‘Abhyas’ from Integrated Test Range at Chandipur off Odisha coast. During its trial, a high subsonic speed trajectory at a very low altitude with high endurance was demonstrated. It is Developed by Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE), DRDO laboratory along with other laboratories.
About the HEAT Abhyas:
- HEAT Abhyas demonstrated a high subsonic speed trajectory at a very low altitude with high endurance during the flight test. The two boosters provided initial acceleration during launch and a small turbojet engine was used to sustain the high subsonic speed with long endurance.
- The indigenous unmanned aerial target system has been developed by DRDO’s Bengaluru-based laboratory- Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE). Other DRDO laboratories also supported its development to ensure it meets the requirement of the aerial targets of the Indian Armed forces.
Important takeaways for all competitive exams:
- Chairman DRDO: Dr G Satheesh Reddy.
- DRDO Headquarters: New Delhi.
- DRDO Established: 1958.
BOB Financial and Indian Navy unveil co-branded credit card
BOB Financial Solutions Ltd. (BFSL), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Bank of Baroda (BoB) and the Indian Navy have introduced a co-branded credit card for the personnel of the Indian Navy. The card will be equipped with contactless features and offered on the RuPay platform.
Eligibility:
- Indian Navy personnel up to the age of 64 would be eligible to choose from three variants of the card.
- While the base variant will be offered as a lifetime free credit card, the other two variants will be offered at joining and annual fees, with welcome gifts and easily achievable spend-based fee reversal/waiver.
- As an introductory offer, the joining fee will be waived off for applications in the first three months of launch. The top variant will offer unlimited complimentary domestic airport lounge access and reduced markup on international spends.
Tokenisation RBI : Extends card tokenisation deadline till June 2022
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has extended the card-on-file (CoF) tokenization deadline by 6 months i.e., to June 30, 2022. Earlier the deadline was fixed till December 31, 2021. In March 2020, RBI had issued guidelines for the regulation of payment aggregators and payment gateways, prohibiting payment aggregators and merchants to store customer card credentials within their database or server from 30 June 2021.
In September 2021, RBI extended the scope of tokenization from device-based tokenization to CoF tokenization services and barred merchants from storing actual card data while online transactions. RBI has fixed the deadline for card tokenization to January 1, 2022.
Tamil Nadu Govt launched monitoring system “CM Dashboard Tamil Nadu 360”
Tamil Nadu government has launched the Chief Minister (CM) Dashboard monitoring system, “CM Dashboard Tamil Nadu 360” in Chennai. It will enable CM to track all welfare schemes, including the status of their implementation, fund allocation, and the number of beneficiaries along with updates on the storage of water in dams and rainfall patterns.
About the dashboard:
- This dashboard will provide real-time information on all State government departments, storage levels of key reservoirs, rainfall patterns, price mesh, which monitors the price stability over 25 foodgrains/vegetables/fruits, and it will provide projections on possible increases in price, enabling government intervention.
- Apart from this, the first batch of dashboards will also cover current employment trends to indicate the status of the economy, civil supplies, Chief Minister’s Helpline, and status of CM in Your Constituency petitions, health-related information, daily police reports of major crimes in the State with reference to districts that require attention, housing progress for the urban and rural poor and progress of water supply schemes, particularly tap connections to all households.
Important takeaways for all competitive exams:
- Tamil Nadu Capital: Chennai;
- Tamil Nadu Chief minister: M. K. Stalin;
- Tamil Nadu Governor: R. N. Ravi.
Kamlesh Gandhi named new Co-Chairman of FIDC
Finance Industry Development Council (FIDC) has announced fresh appointments to its board of directors. Kamlesh Gandhi, CMD of MAS Financial Services has been appointed as Co-Chairman, FIDC in addition to Umesh Revankar, CEO and MD of Shriram Transport Finance Group. Sanjay Chamria has resigned as the Co-Chairman and Director, FIDC.
Finance Industry Development Council (FIDC), which is a representative body of asset and loan financing NBFCs, has announced fresh appointments to its board of directors. Dinanath Dubhashi, MD and CEO, L&T Finance Holdings has been appointed as an additional Director of FIDC. The appointments were approved at a board meeting of FIDC on December 21.
Important takeaways for all competitive exams:
- FIDC was formed in 2004;
- FIDC is Headquartered in Mumbai.
Anukrti Upadhyay’s Kintsugi wins the Sushila Devi Award 2021
Anukrti Upadhyay has won the Sushila Devi Award 2021 for the Best Book of Fiction for her novel, Kintsugi, which was published by the Fourth Estate imprint. The Ratanlal Foundation and the organizing Committee of the Bhopal Literature and Art Festival announced the winner, for this notable award for fiction written by a woman author and published in 2020. This prize has been instituted by the Shri Ratanlal Foundation.
About the Anukrti Upadhyay:
About the novel:
Kintsugi — named after the ancient Japanese art of mending broken objects with gold — is a novel about young women breaching boundaries, overcoming trauma, and challenging the social order. And about men surprised by women who are unconventional, unafraid and independent. It is the story of Meena, rebellious and unexamined, and Yuri, as complex as Meena is naive. Of Hajime, an outsider to two cultures, and Prakash, unable to see beyond his limited horizons.
Mohammed Ben Sulayem elected FIA president
Mohammed Ben Sulayem of the United Arab Emirates has been elected successor to Jean Todt as the first non-European president of motorsport’s world governing body, the International Automobile Federation (FIA). The FIA is the governing body for Formula One, the World Rally Championship, World Endurance and Formula E among other series. The 60-year-old Dubai-born former rally driver was standing against British lawyer Graham Stoker, who has been Todt’s deputy president for the sport since 2009.
Important takeaways for all competitive exams:
- International Automobile Federation Headquarters location: Paris, France;
- International Automobile Federation Founded: 20 June 1904.
Former Chief of Army Staff, Gen. Nirmal Chander Vij releases his new book
A new book by former Indian Army Chief of Staff Gen. Nirmal Chander Vij (ret) claims to offer a “full picture” of the conflicts in Jammu and Kashmir and the way forward. The book published by HarperCollins India, the book of General Vij, The riddle of “Kashmir: the quest for peace in a troubled land”.
In the book, General Vij argues that the conflicts in Jammu and Kashmir are “symptomatic of Indo-Pakistani rivalry” after the partition, and contextualizes the issue by beginning the book with a summary of the history of the region. General Vij had been Director General of Military Operations during the Kargil War. After his retirement in 2005, he was founding vice president of the National Disaster Management Authority and director of the think tank Vivekananda India Foundation.
RBL Bank: Rajeev Ahuja appointed new MD
The RBL Bank board has appointed Rajeev Ahuja, who’s currently working as the Executive Director at the bank, as interim Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer of the bank with immediate effect, subject to the regulatory and other approvals. The board of directors at its meeting has accepted the request of Vishwavir Ahuja, Managing Director and CEO of the bank, to proceed on leave with immediate effect.
Important takeaways for all competitive exams:
- RBL Bank Founded: 1943;
- RBL Bank Headquarters: Mumbai, Maharashtra;
- RBL Bank Tagline: Apno Ka Bank.
World Sangeet Tansen festival organized in Madhya Pradesh
In Madhya Pradesh, the 97th edition of the World Sangeet Tansen festival started in Gwalior. A five-day World Sangeet Tansen festival starts from December 25 to December 30 in the city. The stage of the program has been constructed on the theme of the Siddhanath temple situated in Omkareshwar. Many artists not only from India but also from abroad will participate in the music festival.
The first seven concerts were held at the stage prepared at the mausoleum of Tansen and the tomb of Mohammad Ghaus. The eighth concert will be held on the banks of the Jhilmil river, in Behat (Birthplace of Tansen) on December 30. The last brief concert will be held at Gwalior Fort on the same day.
Important takeaways for all competitive exams:
- Madhya Pradesh Capital: Bhopal;
- Madhya Pradesh Governor: Mangubhai C. Patel;
- Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister: Shivraj Singh Chouhan.
Docprime tech launched India’s first ABDM integrated Health Locker
Docprime tech has launched India’s first health locker integrated with Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM). ABDM was launched in August 2020 for developing an integrated digital health infrastructure in the country. ABDM integrated Health Locker will provide users a digital and self-consented health data management system without any charges. It will store and manage health records electronically.
About the Health Locker:
- Users can create digital Health IDs for themselves and for their family members on ABDM integrated Health Locker.
- Health Locker received the ABDM Sandbox approval for activating their ABDM integrated Health Locker.
- The users can also fetch and store their Cowin vaccination certificates through the ABDM integrated Health Locker.
