DAILY GK: 11 , 12 JAN 2022
1. KOCHI BECOMES INDIA’S FIRST CITY WITH WATER METRO PROJECT
·
Kochi
(Kerala) has become India’s first city to have a Water Metro Project after the
launch of its first boat in December 2021, namely ‘Muziris,’ among the 23
battery-powered electric boats being manufactured by Cochin Shipyard Limited.
·
This
launch is a part of Rs 747-crore project which is operated by Kochi Water Metro
Ltd (KWML). The boats will be called
Water Metros.
2.
RBI SETS UP SEPARATE DEPARTMENT FOR FINTECH
·
The Reserve
Bank of India (RBI) sets up a separate internal department for fintech
(Financial technology) by subsuming the fintech division of DPSS (department of
payment and settlement systems), Central Office (CO). to facilitate innovation,
and help identify, address challenges and opportunities in the fintech sector.
·
Ajay
Kumar Choudhary, who was recently promoted as the Executive Director of RBI was
appointed as head of the department.
·
All
matters related to inter-regulatory and international coordination on fintech
will be dealt with by the department and it will report to the RBI’s
centralised administration division.
3.
RBL BANK COLLABORATES WITH GOOGLE FOR IMPROVING CUSTOMER
EXPERIENCE
·
RBL
Bank and Google announced a strategic collaboration to improve the bank’s
customer experience strategy through the digital
platform, Abacus 2.0.
·
This
collaboration will enable better customer data management and analytics.
·
Aim –
To provide a one-stop solution to its existing and new customers, to
effortlessly deliver different product offerings.
4.
FORMER RBI GOVERNOR URJIT PATEL APPOINTED AS VICE PRESIDENT
OF AIIB FOR 3-YEAR TERM
·
Former
Governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Urjit Patel is appointed as a Vice
President of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) for a three year
tenure (2022-2025) starting from 1st February.
·
Urjit
Patel will succeed previous Vice President D J Pandian.
·
He
will be one of the five Vice Presidents of the AIIB, which is headed by the
President and Chair of the Board of Directors Jin Liqun (China).
·
India
is the second largest shareholder in the bank, only after China.
·
The
bank has given approval for around USD
500 million for a COVID-19 Emergency Response Fund and Health Systems
Preparedness Project.
·
AIIB Headquarters- Beijing, China
5.
OPEC APPOINT KUWAIT’S HAITHAM AL GHAIS AS ITS NEW SECRETARY
GENERAL
·
The
Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) appointed Kuwait’s oil
executive Haitham Al Ghais as the new Secretary General (SG). He will
succeed Nigeria’s Mohammad Barkindo
·
He is
appointed for a three year tenure (2022-2025) and will take the charge as the
SG from 1st August 2022.
·
OPEC It
is a permanent, intergovernmental Organization. It was created at the Baghdad
Conference in September 1960, by Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and
Venezuela.
·
13
Member Countries- Algeria, Angola, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Iran, Iraq,
Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Venezuela
·
Headquarters–
Vienna, Austria
6.
BHARATH SUBRAMANIYAM BECOMES INDIA’S 73RD CHESS GM
·
The
Vergani Cup Open 2022, a 9-round Swiss tournament was held on January 2-9, 2022
in Cattolica, Italy. In this, a 14-year old Chess Player, Bharath Subramaniyam
from Chennai, Tamil Nadu became India’s 73rd chess Grandmaster (GM) by securing
the third and final GM norm of the tournament. He scored 6.5 points and ranked
7th overall.
·
Indian
player Musunuri Rohit Lalith Babu (29) emerged winner in the tournament i.e.
ranked 1st with seven points.
·
In
November 2020, Mitrabha Guha became India’s 72nd GM & Sankalp Gupta became
India’s 71stGM.
7.
TENNIS-RAFAEL NADAL WINS MELBOURNE SUMMER SET 1 TROPHY 2022
·
Rafael
Nadal, from Spain defeats American Maxime Cressy, in the Men’s Singles final of
the Melbourne Summer Set 2022 Set 1, ATP 250 in “Hard-Court” at Rod Laver
Arena, Melbourne.
·
2022
Melbourne Summer Set was a series of two simultaneous tennis tournaments
organized by Tennis Australia at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia.
8.
26TH DECEMBER AS VEER BAAL DIWAS
·
The
Government of India (GoI) has decided to proclaim December 26th of every year
from 2022 as the Veer Baal Diwas to honour the sacrifice of Sahibzada Zorawar
Singh and Sahibzada Fateh Singh, the 3rd and 4th sons of the 10th Sikh Guru,
“Guru Gobind Singh”, to defend the dignity and honour of Sikhism.
·
Prime
Minister (PM) Narendra Modi made the announcement regarding the observance of
Veer Baal Diwas on 9th January 2022, the 355th birth anniversary (Parkash
Purab) of the 10th Sikh Guru, “Guru Gobind Singh”.
·
The
first ever Veer Baal Diwas will be observed on 26th December 2022.
9.
WORLD HINDI DAY OR VISHWA HINDI DIWAS – 10TH JANUARY 2022
·
World
Hindi Day, also known as Vishwa Hindi Diwas, is annually observed across the
globe on 10th January to promote the worldwide use of the Hindi language.
·
The
first ever World Hindi Day was observed on 10th January 2006.
10.
PRAVASI BHARATIYA DIWAS – 9TH JANUARY 2022
·
Pravasi
Bharatiya Diwas (PBD), also known as the “Non-Resident Indian (NRI) Day” is
annually celebrated on 9th January to mark the contribution of the Overseas
Indian community to the development of India.
·
On 9th
January 1915, Mahatma Gandhi returned to India from South Africa and became the
greatest ‘Pravasi’.
11. 79TH ANNUAL GOLDEN GLOBE AWARDS 2022
·
The Hollywood
Foreign Press Association(HFPA) announced the winners of the 79th edition of
the Annual Golden Globe Awards (2022) in Beverly Hilton, Beverly Hills,
California, United States of America(USA).
·
Jane
Campion won the Best Director Motion Picture for “The Power of the Dog”.
·
Actor
Will Smith won the “Best Actor-Motion Picture Drama”, his first-ever Golden
Globe, for his performance in “King Richard.”
·
Michaela
Jaé Rodriguez won the Best Television Actress – Drama Series for Pose and
became the 1st transgender actress to win a Golden Globe.
12.
ALIKHAN SMAILOV NAMED AS KAZAKHSTAN’S NEW PRIME MINISTER
·
Kazakhstan
President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev nominated Alikhan Smailov, 49 years as the
Prime Minister (PM) of Kazakhstan and the lower house of parliament also voted
in favour of him.
·
Alikhan
Smailov has served as First Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Kazakhstan
in 2019.
·
Kazakhstan: Capital – Nur-Sultan ,Currency – Tenge.
13.
DANIEL ORTEGA SWORN IN AS PRESIDENT OF NICARAGUA
·
Nicaraguan
President Daniel Ortega, leader of the Sandinista National Liberation Front
(FSLN), was sworn in for a new presidential term. This marks his 5th term and
4th consecutive term as the President of Nicaragua.
·
He
received the presidential sash from Gustavo Porras, head of the National
Assembly.
·
He has
been serving as the president of Nicaragua since 2007. Previously he served as
the president of Nicaragua for the first time from 1985 to 1990.
·
After
the retirement of Fidel Castro (former President of Cuba) in 2008, Daniel
Ortega is one of the longest-serving non-royal rulers in the world and the
longest-serving non-royal leader in the Americas.
·
Nicaragua Capital– Managua
14.
INDIA SUCCESSFULLY TEST-FIRES BRAHMOS SUPERSONIC CRUISE
MISSILE
·
India
successfully test-fired an advanced sea to sea variant of BrahMos Supersonic
Cruise missile from INS (Indian Navy Ship) Visakhapatnam warship off the west
coast.
·
BrahMos
missiles, which has a combination of the names of Brahmaputra (India) and Moskva
(Russia) rivers, are designed, developed and produced by BrahMos Aerospace,
which is an India-Russian joint venture that produces supersonic cruise
missiles that could be launched from submarines, ships, aircraft, or from land
platforms.
·
BrahMos
missile flies at a speed of 2.8 Mach or almost three times the speed of sound.
·
The
Indian Navy received its first indigenous INS Visakhapatnam, a P15B (Project 15
Bravo) class stealth guided-missile destroyer from Mazagon Dock shipyard
Limited (MDL), Mumbai on October 28 2021.
·
Visakhapatnam’
is the first of the 4 destroyers; the three other upcoming ships in the class
are INS Mormugao, INS Imphal and INS Surat.
15.
SOUTH AFRICAN CRICKET ALL-ROUNDER CHRIS MORRIS ANNOUNCES
RETIREMENT
·
South
African (Proteas) all-rounder Chris Morris announced retirement from all forms
of cricket at the age of 34,
·
Morris
is the most expensive buy in the history of IPL 2021 auction, bagging Rs 16.25
crores by Rajasthan Royal.
16.
KARNATAKA TO HOST KHELO INDIA GAMES IN 2023
·
Karnataka
Minister for Youth Empowerment and Sports, K.C. Narayana Gowda announced that
Karnataka will host the next Khelo India Games in 2023.
·
Khelo
India Games for 2021 is scheduled to be held in February 2022 at Panchkula,
Haryana.
17.
“INDOMITABLE” THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ARUNDHATI BHATTACHARYA
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“Indomitable:
A Working Woman’s Notes on Life, Work and Leadership” is the autobiography of
Arundhati Bhattacharya, retired Indian banker and former Chairperson of the
State Bank of India(SBI).
·
Arundhati
Bhattacharya is the chairperson and the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of
salesforce India, a cloud-based Software as a service (SaaS) company
headquartered in San Francisco, California, United States of America.
·
She
served as the first-ever woman Chairperson of the SBI, India’s largest bank and
a Fortune 500 company, from 2013 to 2017.
