Mrs World 2022: Mrs America Shaylyn Ford Takes The Crown
37 Years old Shaylyn Ford was crowned as the winner of Mrs World 2022. She was crowned by the outgoing queen Kate Schneider from Ireland. Mrs Jordan Jaclyn Stapp & Mrs UAE Debanjali Kamstra were the runner up. Shaylyn Ford represented America in the pageant and battled out 57 other contestants from across the globe to claim the title. This is the 8th time an American representative won the title of Mrs. World.
About Shaylyn Ford:
Shaylyn Ford hails from Granville, Ohio, USA. She won the annual Mrs American pageant on November 19, 2021. She is a professional makeup artist, who has worked in every setting, from movie sets to make-a-wish projects. She has been married to her pastor husband for the past seven years and has three children. She also serves as a charitable director and does a lot of volunteer work to bring services to special needs families.
Padma Shri winning social activist Shanti Devi passes away
Odisha’s social worker and Padma Shri awardee Shanti Devi, who was remembered as the voice of the poor, has passed away. She was 88. She was also called Lugdi Devi. She was known for her dedication towards the underprivileged community and restoring peace in the Maoist-affected areas in Odisha. She has received the prestigious Padma Shri award from President Ram Nath Kovind on November 9, 2021.
Russia’s Aslan Karatsev wins Sydney Tennis Classic
In tennis, Aslan Karatsev defeated Andy Murray by 6-3, 6-3, to win men’s single title at the Sydney Tennis Classic final, to claim his third ATP Tour title. The women’s single title was claimed by Spanish world number nine Paula Badosa, who defeated Barbora Krejcikova 6-3 4-6 7-6(4), to capture her third career title.
The winner’s list of Sydney Tennis Classic 2022
- Men’s Single: Aslan Karatsev (Russia)
- Women’s Single: Paula Badosa (Spain)
- Men’s Double: John Peers (Australia and Filip Polášek (Slovakia)
- Women’s Double: Anna Danilina (Kazakhstan) and Beatriz Haddad Maia (Brazil)
Former Mali’s President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita passes away
The former President of Mali, Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, who was ousted in a military coup, has passed away. Mr Keita had ruled Mali for seven years, since September 2013, till he was overthrown in a military coup in August 2020. He had also served as prime minister of the country from 1994 to 2000. He had promised to restore Mali’s honour as a model for democracy in West Africa as he campaigned as a unifying figure in his fractured country, pledging “zero tolerance” for corruption.
National Startup Awards 2021 announced
National Startup Awards 2021 is the second edition of the award ceremony, conceived by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT). A total of 46 Startups have been recognized as winners of the National Startup Awards 2021 along with 1 incubator and 1 accelerator, by the Government of India. They have been felicitated for their contribution in their respective sectors.
Some winners in the list:
- State-wise, Karnataka bagged the highest number of awards, which included 14 out of 46 national startup awards.
- In fintech category’s financial inclusion sub-sector, Bengaluru-based Naffa Innovations Private Limited (ToneTag) was declared the winner.
- In fintech category’s insurance sub-sector, Umbo Idtech Private Limited won the award.
- In Robotics sub-sector, Sagar Defence was declared the winner.
- In the women-led start-up category, Jaipur-headquartered Frontier Markets was honoured.
Key points of the award:
- Over 2,177 applications were invited across 15 sectors and 49 sub-sectors for the award.
- These applicants were evaluated against six broad parameters namely Innovation, Scalability, Economic Impact, Social Impact, Environmental Impact, and Inclusiveness and Diversity.
- The National Startup Awards recognize and reward outstanding Startups and ecosystem enablers that are building innovative products or solutions and scalable enterprises.
PM Narendra Modi virtually address WEF’s Davos Agenda 2022 Summit
India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi has addressed the World Economic Forum’s (WEF’s) Davos Agenda Summit 2022, through video-conferencing. The “Davos Agenda 2022” summit is being held digitally from January 17 to January 21, 2022, due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The theme of the event is “The State of the World.”
About the Summits:
The week-long digital summit will begin with a special address by Chinese President Xi Jinping.
The ‘Davos Agenda 2022’ will be the first global platform for Heads of state and government as well as CEOs and other leaders to share their visions for 2022 on critical collective challenges and how to address them. This is the second consecutive year that the event is being held virtually.
Important takeaways for all competitive exams:
- World Economic Forum Founded: January 1971;
- World Economic Forum Founder & Executive Chairman: Klaus Schwab;
- World Economic Forum Headquarters: Cologny, Switzerland.
Sumit Bhale won gold medal at the International Folk Art Festival
Lavni artist from Maharashtra, Sumit Bhale of Fulbari taluka has won a gold medal at the International Folk Art Festival in Dubai. With his splendid performance, Maharashtra’s splendour has been widely appreciated at the international platform. Lavani is a genre of music popular in Maharashtra and is a combination of traditional song and dance, which is particularly performed to the beats of Dholki, a percussion instrument.
Oxfam India released ‘Inequality Kills’ Report
According to Oxfam India, “Inequality Kills” report, the wealth of India’s richest families reached to a record high in 2021. In the report, India was described as a ‘very unequal,’ country, as the top 10 people in India holds 57 per cent of the wealth. On the other hand, the share of the bottom half is 13 per cent.
The report states that 84% of Indian households witnessed an income decline amid the covid-19 pandemic. The richest 98 Indians own the same wealth as the bottom 552 million people. The number of Indian billionaires increased from 102 to 142, during 2021. The wealth of the top 100 families is Rs 57.3 trillion.
GoI launches stamp to mark 1 year of Covid vaccination
The government of India has released a commemorative postal stamp on the Covid-19 vaccination on Sunday to mark the first anniversary of the country’s national immunization programme against the virus. The commemorative stamp design features a healthcare worker inoculating a senior citizen with COVID-19 vaccine, along with an image of ‘COVAXIN’ vial. This stamp signifies the remarkable work done by our frontline healthcare workers and scientific community across the country in protecting the people against the COVID pandemic.
Former PM of Japan Toshiki Kaifu passes away
The former Prime Minister of Japan, Toshiki Kaifu has passed away at the age of 91 years in Japan. He served as the PM from 1989 to 1991. He is known for sending the Maritime Self-Defense Force to the Persian Gulf in 1991. After the Gulf War, the Japanese Self-Defense Force were deployed to the Gulf region to conduct minesweeping operations during Kaifu’s term of office.
9th women National Ice Hockey Championship-2022 begins
In Himachal Pradesh, the 9th women National Ice Hockey Championship-2022 was inaugurated at Ice Skating Rink, Kaza in Lahaul Spiti district. For the first time in the state, Ice Hockey competition & development camp is being organized at the national level. Teams from Himachal Pradesh, Telengana, Ladakh, ITBP Ladakh, Chandigarh & Delhi are participating in this mega event.
The state Chief Minister, Jai Ram Thakur inaugurated the Championship. This is the first time that National Level Ice Hockey Competition and Development Camp was being held in the State. In 2019, the first Basic Ice Hockey ten days Coaching Camp was organized at Kaza by State Youth Services and Sports Department, in collaboration with the Ladakh Women Ice Hockey Foundation. The State Government has already announced the High-Altitude Sports Center at Kaza with an estimated cost of Rs. 16 crore.
Poet Maya Angelou becomes the first black woman to appear on US coin
The US Treasury has minted coins featuring poet Maya Angelou – the first black woman ever featured on the US 25-cent coin known as a quarter. Angelou, a poet and activist, was the first black woman to write and perform a poem at a presidential inauguration. In 2010, she was given a Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest US civilian award by President Barack Obama.
The new coin still features George Washington’s visage on the “heads” side, while the “tails” side honours Angelou by evoking one of her most famous works, the autobiography “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.”
South Africa Launches 1st ‘made In Africa’ Satellites
South Africa has launched its first satellite constellation developed entirely in the continent of Africa. Three locally produced nanosatellites, which made up the country’s first Maritime Domain Awareness Satellite (MDASat) constellation, were launched from Cape Canaveral in the United States, as part of American aerospace company SpaceX’s Transporter-3 mission.
Transporter-3, SpaceX’s third dedicated rideshare mission, carried a total of 105 spacecraft for various organisations and governments, including CubeSats, microsats, PocketQubes and orbital transfer vehicles.
Minister of State Subhas Sarkar launches Swachh Vidyalaya Puraskar
Minister of State for Education, Subhas Sarkar has launched the Swachh Vidyalaya Puraskar (SVP) 2021 – 2022 virtually. The Swachh Vidyalaya Puraskar recognises, inspires and awards schools that have undertaken exemplary work in the field of water, sanitation and hygiene while also providing a benchmark and a roadmap for schools to make further improvements in future. The Swachh Vidyalaya Puraskar was first distributed by the Department of School Education and Literacy, in 2016-17 to create self-motivation and awareness about sanitation.
Who can participate?
All categories of schools, that is, government, government-aided and private schools in both rural and urban areas can participate in the Swachh Vidyalaya Puraskar 2021-22.
How will the schools be assessed?
The participating schools will be assessed via an online portal and mobile app in 6 subcategories where the system will generate their overall score and rating automatically. These sub-categories are Water, Sanitation, Hand Washing with soap, Operation and Maintenance, behaviour change and capacity building and the newly added category on COVID-19 preparedness and response.
What will the winners receive?
A total of 40 schools will be selected under the overall category this year at the national level. The award money has been increased from Rs 50,000 to Rs. 60,000 per school under the Samagra Shiksha scheme. Additionally, 6 sub-category awards have been introduced for the first time and entail award money of Rs. 20,000/- per school.
Narendra Kumar Goenka named as new chairman of AEPC
Narendra Kumar Goenka has been appointed as the new chairman of the Apparel Export Promotion Council, AEPC. Former chairman Padma Dr A Sakthivel handed over the charge to him. Mr. Goenka has been associated with the Council for more than two decades. He was the Vice Chairman of the apex body of Indian apparel exporters before taking charge as Chairman of AEPC.
AEPC is the official body of apparel exporters in India, under the aegis of the Ministry of Textiles, that provides invaluable assistance to Indian exporters as well as importers/international buyers.
Important takeaways for all competitive exams:
- Apparel Export Promotion Council Established: 1978;
- Apparel Export Promotion Council HQ: Gurgaon.
