World Hearing Day observed globally on 3rd March by WHO
World Hearing Day is held on 3rd March each year by World Health Organisation (WHO). The day aims to raise awareness on how to prevent deafness and hearing loss and promote ear and hearing care across the world. On World Hearing Day 2022, WHO will focus on the importance of safe listening as a means of maintaining good hearing across the life course. In 2021, WHO launched the World report on hearing that highlighted the increasing number of people living with and at risk of hearing loss. It highlighted noise control as one of the seven key H.E.A.R.I.N.G. interventions and stressed the importance of mitigating exposure to loud sounds.
Theme of the day:
The World Hearing Day 2022 with the theme “To hear for life, listen with care” will focus on the importance and means of hearing loss prevention through safe listening.
History of the day:
The WHO, on March 3 in 2007, observed World Hearing Day for the first time. In 2016, they decided to declare this day as World Hearing Day. It was known as International Ear Care Day before that. Communication is a fundamental human right and people with disorders and difficulties find it difficult to connect. Across the world, 360 million people suffer from disabling hearing loss. Educating people and teaching them about their rights will help them.
Important takeaways for all competitive exams:
- WHO Established: 7 April 1948;
- WHO Director General: Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus;
- WHO Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland.
Akshaye Widhani named as Chief Executive Officer of Yash Raj Films
Film production and distribution company Yash Raj Films (YRF) has named Akshaye Widhani as chief executive officer. Widhani was serving as senior vice-president, finance and business Affairs and head of operations at YRF Studios. He used to head corporate and business development activities for YRF, including finance, business extensions, strategic alliances, joint ventures, co-productions.
About the Akshaye Widhani:
Widhani joined YRF 17 years ago, has been responsible for setting up and running several business verticals for the company. His first stint was as studio manager, in charge of setting up operations for YRF Studios in 2005. Later, he took up leadership roles in corporate finance, strategy and operations. A graduate from Kelley School of Business, Indiana University with a dual major in finance and entrepreneurship, Widhani has also been spearheading recent initiatives for The Yash Chopra Foundation.
History of Yash Raj Films:
Yash Raj Films is one of India’s biggest film production houses. Aditya Chopra is the Chairman and MD of Yash Raj Films. Yash Raj Films was founded by Yash Raj Chopra, in the year 1970.
MoS Annpurna Devi gives National ICT Award 2020 & 2021
Smt Annpurna Devi, who is the union MoS for Education has given National ICT Awards to 49 teachers from all over the country. In her speech on this event, she told that the NEP-2020 emphasizes on the efficient use of technology in the field of teaching, which will remove the language barriers and increase access for DIVYANG students.
KEY POINTS (Speech OF MoS for Education)
- The Information and Communication Technology [ICT] intervention under Samagra Shiksha also has inclusions to provide technological upgradations to schools and Teacher Education Institutes (TEIs).
- DIKSHA, school MOOCs on SWAYAM, PMeVIDYA, ePathshala, ICT Curriculum for Teachers and Students and National Initiative for School Heads’ and Teachers’ Holistic Advancement integrated teacher training programme through online mode are among the flagship projects to bridge the digital divide.
- The role of teachers in nation-building is appreciable and a Guru (teacher) is given the most respectful person in Indian Society.
- The recent budget announcements by the Govt. of India have provided the impetus to each and every digital education initiative.
AIM OF ICT AWARDS:
- Recognition in the form of a National Award for ICT in Education for school teachers indirectly motivates instructors to utilise ICT extensively and significantly in their classrooms by combining content pedagogy and technology.
- It has now been foreseen to extend this Award to the Teacher Educators for the States & UTs for their best educational practices.
- These ICT Awardees are also given the task of serving as ICT Ambassadors, expanding the reach of ICT in Education through their ongoing efforts to mentor other teachers.
Knight Frank: India ranks 3rd in billionaire population globally
India is ranked 3rd in terms of most number of billionaires’ population globally in 2021, as per Knight Frank’s latest edition of The Wealth Report 2022. The number of ultra-high-net-worth-individuals (UHNWIs) in India increased by 11% YoY in 2021 to 145 billionaires, the highest percentage growth in the Asia Pacific (APAC) region. UHNWIs are individuals with net assets of US$ 30m or more (Rs 226 crore).
Globally:
- The list has been topped by the United States (748) and China (554) respectively.
Indian City-wise:
Bengaluru recorded the highest growth in the number of UHNWIs in 2021 at 17.1% to 352 billionaires. It was followed by Delhi (12.4% to 210) and Mumbai (9% to 1596) in 2021.
Top 5 countries with the most number of billionaires in 2021:
| Billionaires | 2021 |
| United States | 748 |
| China | 554 |
| India | 145 |
| Germany | 136 |
| Russia | 121 |
Google and MeitY to train 100 Indian startups under Appscale Academy programme
The MeitY Startup Hub, an initiative of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), and Google have announced a cohort of 100 early to mid-stage Indian startups as a part of Appscale Academy programme. Appscale Academy is a new growth and development programme for startups launched by MeitY and Google to help and train early- to mid-stage startups across India on building high-quality apps and games for a global audience.
About the programme:
- These 100 startups were chosen from over 400 applications following an in-depth selection process.
- Under the six-month Appscale Academy programme, the 100 startups will be trained through a customised curriculum which includes virtual instructor-led webinars, self-learning material, and mentorship sessions with local and global industry professionals.
Important takeaways for all competitive exams:
- Minister of Electronics and Information Technology: Ashwini Vaishnaw;
- Google CEO: Sundar Pichai;
- Google Founded: 4 September 1998;
- Google Headquarters: Mountain View, California, United States.
Indian Air Force to conduct Exercise Vayu Shakti at Pokharan range, Rajasthan
Indian Air Force (IAF) will conduct the Exercise Vayu Shakti that will take place at Pokharan range in Jaisalmer, Rajasthan on March 7. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be the Chief Guest of this event. A total of 148 aircraft of the Indian Air Force (IAF) will participate in this exercise. Rafale aircraft will participate for the first time in this exercise. Exercise Vayu Shakti is organised by Indian Air Force once in every three years. The last Vayu Shakti Exercise took place in 2019.
Important takeaways for all competitive exams:
- Indian Airforce founded: 8 October 1932;
- Indian Airforce Headquarters: New Delhi;
- Indian Airforce Chief of Air Staff: Vivek Ram Chaudhari.
NASA launches next-generation GOES-T satellite to track hazardous weather
US space agency, NASA, successfully launched the third in a series of four next-generation weather satellites, Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES), from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida. The satellite is named as GOES-T. Once the satellite gets positioned in its geostationary orbit it will be renamed from GOES-T to GOES-18. GOES-T will be used by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to forecast weather and hazardous environmental conditions in the Western Hemisphere.
Important takeaways for all competitive exams:
- NASA administrator: Bill Nelson;
- Headquarters of NASA: Washington D.C., United States;
- NASA Founded: 1 October 1958.
- NOAA Headquarters: Washington, D.C., United States
- NOAA Founder: Richard Nixon
- NOAA Founded: 3 October 1970
Indian shooter Saurabh Chaudhary wins 10m air pistol gold at ISSF World Cup
Indian shooter, Saurabh Chaudhary has won the gold medal in Men’s 10m Air Pistol event at the ongoing 2022 International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup in Cairo, Egypt. The silver medal has been won by Germany’s Michael Schwald while Artem Chernousov of Russia claimed the bronze medal.
In the women’s 10m air pistol section, India’s Esha Singh lost to Anna Korakaki of Greece to win the silver medal. Esha, who had shot better than Anna in the semifinal stage, pushed Tokyo Olympics silver medallist Antoaneta Kostadinova to the bronze.
Adani Green gets LOA for setting-up 150 MW solar power plant
Adani Green Energy Ltd stated that its subsidiary Adani Renewable Energy Holding Fifteen Limited has obtained a letter of award (LOA) to build a 150-megawatt solar power plant. For a period of 25 years, the fixed rate for this project capacity is $2.34/kWh.
Important Points:
- According to a statement issued by the Adani Group company said in a stock exchange filing, Adani Renewable Energy Holding Fifteen Limited, a Wholly-owned Subsidiary of Adani Green Energy Limited, participated in a Tender which was issued by the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited for the acquisition of 250 MW Solar Power from ground-mounted grid-connected solar PV power plants and has received the Letter of Award for setting up a 150 MW Solar Power Project.
- Adani Green presently has a totally renewable energy project portfolio of 20.434 MWac capacity, with 5.410 MWac of operational projects. According to the firm, 11,591 MWac projects are now under construction, with 3.433 MWac projects nearing completion.
- Adani Green Energy Limited is an Indian renewable energy firm headquartered in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, and is part of the Adani Group. In a year, Adani Green Energy shares have returned over 61 per cent, while the company has surged more than 36 per cent in 2022 (year-to-date or YTD) thus far, compared to a 5% drop in the benchmark BSE Sensex.
CDSL becomes first depository to register more than 60 million Demat accounts
On the 1st of March, 2022, the Central Depository Services (India) announced that it now has more than six crores (i. e. equivalent to 60 million) active Demat accounts. A Demat account is a kind of account that can be used to keep online copies of securities and shares. A Demat account is a dematerialized account in its entire form. The main purpose of a Demat account is to keep shares that have been bought or dematerialized (that means conversion from physical to electronic form of shares), making online share trading easier for users.
KEY POINTS:
- The sole listed depository in India is Central Depository Services (India) Limited (CDSL).
- Ananta Barua, Whole Time Member, Securities and Exchange Board of India, said at a ceremony to commemorate the achievement that Dematerialisation has arose as a result of the issues that physical shares had with them.
- Barua also said that the new milestone demonstrates that access to the Indian securities market has become safe, convenient, and simple.
- Furthermore, Barua stated that new investors must be educated about the Indian securities market, the role of market infrastructure organisations, and investor protection in order to make well-informed judgments.
The reaction of B. V. Chaubal (Chairman of CDSL):
B.V. Chaubal issued two statetments:
- While we now have 6 crore demat accounts, we still only have a proportion of the population’s demat accounts, so there is a huge scope for growth given that a major portion of our country’s population is still outside the Indian securities markets.
- It’s encouraging to see that the focus of new demat account registration is changing from metros to tier II and tier III locations, indicating the Indian Capital Market’s expanding.
Strandja Memorial Boxing Tournament: Nikhat Zareen & Nitu wins gold for India
Indian boxers Nikhat Zareen (52kg) and Nitu (48kg) has won gold medals at the 73rd Strandja Memorial Boxing Tournament, held in Sofia, Bulgaria. The Indian contingent ended their campaign at the tournament with three medals including two golds and one bronze.
Nikhat Zareen
Nikhat bagged her second gold medal at Europe’s oldest international boxing tournament with a 4-1 win in the women’s 52kg final. She had previously won the Strandja Memorial title in 2019.
Nitu
Nitu outpunched the reigning Youth World Championships bronze medallist Italy’s Erika Prisciandro 5-0 without breaking a sweat in the women’s 48 kg final.
Nandini
With Nandini also finishing on the podium in the 81kg category and signing off with a bronze medal, the Indian contingent concluded their campaign with three medals at the tournament, which was part of India’s first exposure trip this year.
T S Ramakrishnan named as new MD and CEO of LIC Mutual Fund
LIC Mutual Fund has announced the appointment of TS Ramakrishnan as its Managing Director & CEO, effective. Ramakrishnan, as the MD and CEO, LIC Mutual Fund Asset Management, will succeed Dinesh Pangtey, its former Wholetime Director and CEO.
Ramakrishnan is a Bachelor of Commerce (Hons.) and PGDIM and has been awarded Fellowship from the prestigious Insurance Institute of India. He has experience of over 34 years at LIC and its subsidiaries/associate companies, the release said. He joined LIC Mutual Fund AMC on April 28, 2021.
About the LIC Mutual Fund:
LIC Mutual Fund is one of the oldest and leading mutual funds operating in India. offer a complete basket of 26 products covering debt, equity, hybrid, passive and solution-oriented schemes. The Average Assets under Management (AAuM) is Rs 18,625.52 crores as on January 31, 2022.
India, Pakistan: Most vulnerable to climate change
Extreme climatic conditions are threatening the food security in South Asia with escalated floods and droughts making India and Pakistan the most vulnerable to climate change, cautioned the latest IPCC report released.
If emissions are not dramatically reduced, ‘wet bulb’ temperatures in India, which measure both heat and humidity, will exceed 31 degrees Celsius, which is fatal for humans, according to the paper. Despite the fact that India is one of the South Asian countries with the greatest urban adaptation measures, these plans are hampered by inequitable funding and “priority,” with larger cities receiving more attention.
Important Points of the report:
- The report was the result of 207 scientists analysing over 34,000 documents. The policymakers’ summary, which summarised the report’s main findings, was negotiated with 65 nations for two weeks before being issued on Monday.
- Before the report’s release, the Indian government sent a delegation to participate in negotiations. Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav said in a statement that India “welcomed” the report’s findings.
- According to the IPCC study, melting glaciers in the Hindu Kush mountain range may improve river water flow temporarily, but this will be short-lived due to a long-term loss in glacier mass.
- Changes in the monsoon will have a negative impact on agriculture and fishery, which account for around 20% of India’s GDP.
- Climate change and human action have damaged 69 per cent of commercially important species in Indian fisheries, according to the report.
- By 2050, the production of rice, wheat, pulses, and coarse grains is expected to plummet by 8.62 per cent, having a “serious” impact on the Indian economy.
- By 2080, the golden apple snail, an invasive alien species, is likely to pose a danger to crop yields.
GST collections in Feb stand at Rs 1.3L cr
Goods and Services Tax (GST) collection crossed the Rs 1.30-lakh crores mark for the fifth time in February 2022. The gross GST revenue collected in the month of February 2022 is Rs 1,33,026 crore of which CGST is Rs 24,435 crore, SGST is Rs 30,779 crore, IGST is Rs 67,471crore (including Rs 33,837 crores collected on import of goods) and cess is Rs 10,340 crore (including ₹638 crores collected on import of goods).
The February mop-up was impacted by the Omicron wave that swept through the country and hence, the gross sales tax collection was lower than the record Rs 1,40,986 crore netted in January. The revenues for the month of February 2022 are 18% higher than the GST revenues in the same month last year and 26% higher than the GST revenues in February 2020.
List of previous months GST Collection:
- January 2022: Rs 1.38 Lakh crores
Assam government declared the entire state as a “Disturbed Area 2022
The Assam government has extended the contentious Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958 (AFSPA) in the state for six more months. The notification came into effect from February 28. Initially, it was the Assam Disturbed Area Act of 1955 during the agitation by Nagas in undivided Assam. This Act gave freehand to some extent to the Army that was repealed with the incorporation of the Armed Forces (Special Power) Act, 1958. AFSPA was imposed in Assam in November 1990 and has been extended every six months since then after a review by the government.
About the AFSPA:
AFSPA, which gives sweeping powers to the security forces to maintain public order in ‘disturbed areas’, has been a contentious issue in the north-east states. Civil society members and activists have claimed that AFSPA gives security personnel a free hand to carry out excesses.
Important takeaways for all competitive exams:
- Assam Capital: Dispur;
- Assam Chief Minister: Himanta Biswa Sarma;
- Assam Governor: Jagadish Mukhi.
