Lt Gen Manoj Pande appointed as next Army Vice Chief
General Pande would be the successor to Lt Gen CP Mohanty who is scheduled to superannuate on January 31. General Pande was commissioned into the Corps of Engineers (The Bombay Sappers) in December 1982. He was Director-General at Army Headquarters dealing with subjects of discipline, ceremonial and welfare.
Important takeaways for all competitive exams:
- Indian Army Founded: 1 April 1895,
- Indian Army Headquarters: New Delhi
- Indian Army Chief: Manoj Mukund Naravane
- Indian Army Motto: Service Before Self
The Union Cabinet approved infusion of 1500 crore rupees in IREDA
It will help generate 10,200 jobs a year and reduce carbon emissions equivalent to approximately 7.49 million tonnes per year. The IREDA played a big role in the field of renewable energy and its portfolio had increased from ₹8,800 crore to ₹28,000 crore in the past six years.
IREDA is a Non-Banking Financial Institution engaged in promoting, developing, and extending financial assistance for setting up projects relating to new and renewable sources of energy.
Important takeaways for all competitive exams:
- IREDA Founded: 1987
- IREDA Headquarters: New Delhi
- IREDA Chairperson: Pradip Kumar Das
TCS becomes title sponsor of Toronto Waterfront Marathon
TCS has partnered with Canada Running Series (CRS) to become the new title sponsor and official technology consulting partner of the Toronto Waterfront Marathon and Virtual Race through November 2026. Tata Consultancy Services and Canada Running Series aim to modernize marathon running in Canada through a new official race app.
It will offer a first-of-its-kind environmental impact calculator that will enable runners and spectators to track and offset their environmental impact. TCS will also work with CRS to create a hybrid and immersive race experience for all runners and spectators around the globe.
Important takeaways for all competitive exams:
- Tata Consultancy Services Founded: 1 April 1968
- Tata Consultancy Services Headquarters: Mumbai
- Tata Consultancy Services CEO: Rajesh Gopinathan
Professional mountaineer Major Hari Pal Singh Ahluwalia passed away
The well-known Professional mountaineer Major Hari Pal Singh Ahluwalia passed away recently. Major Hari Pal Singh Ahluwalia was the recipient of Arjuna Award-1965 Padma Shri-1965 Padma Bhushan-2002 and Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award for lifetime achievement in 2009.
He has written over 13 books including his autobiography “Higher Than Everest”. Major Ahluwalia has also been a former president of the Indian Mountaineering Foundation and the Delhi Mountaineering Association.
The MoHUA announced the initiation of the Open Data Week
The Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) announced the “Open Data Week” that will see participation from all the 100 smart cities, a move aimed at ensuring a collaborative effort towards making Indian cities “data smart”. The Open Data Week will be conducted during the third week of January from 17th January 2022 to 21st January 2022.
It is divided into two segments — first, uploading of datasets, visualisation, APIs and data blogs on the Smart Cities Open Data Portal from January 17 to January 20 and second, the celebration of a “Data Day” by all smart cities on January 21.
SEBI launches Saa₹thi mobile app on investor education
The new app aims to empower investors with accurate knowledge about the securities market. The app will cater largely to individual investors, who have recently entered the markets and carry out trading via their mobile phones. The app will be helpful in easily accessing all the relevant information like the basic concepts of Securities Market, KYC Process, trading and settlement, mutual funds, recent market developments, investor grievances redressal mechanism, etc. It is currently available in Hindi and English.
Important takeaways for all competitive exams:
- SEBI Founded: 12 April 1992
- SEBI Headquarters: Mumbai
- SEBI Chairperson: Ajay Tyagi
India tennis star Sania Mirza to retire after 2022 season
The 35-year-old had already bowed out of singles competitions in 2013. Sania has six Grand Slam titles in women’s doubles and mixed doubles to her name. Her last headline-grabbing win came with Chinese partner Shuai Zhang in women’s doubles at the Ostrava Open on September 26, 2021.
Sania’s career in numbers:
- Career-high doubles ranking: 1
- Career-high singles ranking: 27
- Titles: 43
- Grand Slam wins: 6 (women’s doubles 3, mixed doubles 3)
- Women’s doubles: Australian Open (2016), Wimbledon and US Open (2015)
- Mixed doubles: Australian Open (2009), French Open (2012), US Open (2014)
India successfully test fires BrahMos supersonic cruise missile
The launch was conducted by Brahmos Aerospace in close coordination with Defence Research and Development Organisation. This flight test was monitored by all the sensors of the range instrumentation including telemetry, radar and electro-optical tracking systems deployed across the eastern coast and the down range ships.
Brahmos was successfully test-fired from Integrated Test Range, Chandipur off the coast of Odisha on January 20, 2022.
The flight test is a major milestone in the way forward for BrahMos programme.
The highly maneuverable missile cruised at supersonic speed for its maximum range and all mission objectives were met.
BrahMos Aerospace, the joint venture between DRDO and NPO Mashinostroyeniya, Russia, has been continuously upgrading the powerful, highly versatile BrahMos to increase its effectiveness and lethality against sea and land targets.
Odisha and the United Nations World Food Programme to bolster food security of small farmers
In a participatory pilot initiative, climate advisories will be tailored to enable smallholder farmers to adapt to the impact of climate change. Smallholder farmers, who constitute 90 percent of farming communities in Odisha, will be able to select the right farming and livelihood options to improve their food security and incomes.
Important takeaways for all competitive exams:
- World Food Programme Founded: 1961
- World Food Programme Headquarters: Rome, Italy
- World Food Programme Head: David Beasley
