DAILY GK: 15, 16 FEB 2022
1.
EIU’S DEMOCRACY
INDEX 2021: INDIA’S RANKED 46TH; NORWAY TOPPED
·
The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU)
released its report titled ‘Democracy Index 2021’ across 165 independent
countries and two territories (totally 167).
·
India is ranked 46 on the global index with
an overall score of 6.91.
·
Norway topped the Democracy Index 2021 with
an overall score of 9.75 and Afghanistan is the least democratic country with
an overall score of 0.32.
·
The report is based on five findings –
electoral process and pluralism, functioning of the government, political
participation, political culture, and civil liberties.
·
Based on the indicators, Countries have
been classified into four types of regime, full democracy – 21 countries ;
Flawed democracy – 53 countries (India is under the ‘Flawed Democracy); Hybrid
democracy – 34 countries;, Authoritarian regimes – 59 countries.
2.
GERMAN
PRESIDENT FRANK WALTER STEINMEIER RE-ELECTED FOR THE SECOND TERM
·
The Incumbent President of Germany, Frank
Walter Steinmeier, was re-elected by the parliamentary assembly for the next
five years (2022-2027).
·
Germany Capital-Berlin,Currency-Euro,Chancellor-Olaf Scholz
3.
ILKER AYCI
APPOINTED AS THE MD AND CEO OF AIR INDIA
·
Tata Sons have appointed Ilker Ayci, former
Turkish Airlines Chairman as the new MD and CEO of Air India and he will resume
his responsibilities on or before April 1, 2022.
·
Ilker Ayci was awarded the Order of the
Rising Sun and Golden Rays with a Neck Ribbon by The Emperor of Japan.
·
Talace (company set up by the Tata Group to
acquire Air India) won the bidding of Air India for Rs 18,000 crores. As part
of the deal, Talace paid Rs 2,700 crore in cash and took over Rs 15,300 crore
debt of the airline.
4.
BOOK BIOGRAPHY
“ATAL BIHARI VAJPAYEE”
·
Senior journalist and columnist, Sagarika
Ghose, launched her new book, a biography of Atal Bihari Vajpayee, former Prime
Minister (PM) of India, titled “Atal Bihari Vajpayee”.
·
The book has been prepared by referring to
the Parliament speeches from the 1950s to 90s, speeches and written works of
Vajpayee and the number of bills he moved in the parliament.
5.
WORLD RADIO DAY
2022 – FEBRUARY 13
·
The United Nations (UN)’s World Radio Day
(WRD) is annually observed across the globe on 13th February to keep the
popularity of radio alive and to promote the use of it among everyone.
·
The theme of the World Radio Day 2022 is
“Radio and Trust”
·
UNESCO marks the observance of the WRD 2022
with 3 sub-themes,
1. Trust in radio
journalism: Produce independent and high-quality content;
2. Trust and
accessibility: Take care of your audience;
3. Trust and viability
of radio stations: Ensure competitiveness.
6.
NATIONAL WOMEN’S
DAY 2022 – FEBRUARY 13
·
National Women’s Day of India is annually
observed on 13th February to commemorate the birth anniversary of Sarojini
Naidu, popularly known as the “The Nightingale of India” or “Bharat
Kokila”.
·
13th February 2022 marks the 143rd birth
anniversary of Sarojini Naidu.
·
National Women’s Day also celebrates the
economic, cultural, and political achievements of women.
·
The day also recognises the powerful voices
of women in India’s history.
·
Sarojini Naidu became the first woman
president of the Indian National Congress in 1925.
·
After India’s Independence, she was
appointed as the 1st woman governor of the United Provinces (now Uttar
Pradesh), and she became the first Woman to be appointed as the Governor of a
state in Independent India.
7.
CENTRAL GOVT CONSTITUTED KEN-BETWA LINK PROJECT AUTHORITY
·
i.The
Central Government has constituted a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) i.e.
Ken-Betwa Link Project Authority (KBLPA) for the implementation of the
Ken-Betwa interlinking of rivers (ILRs) project.
·
It
also formed a 20-member National Steering Committee (SC) which will monitor the
implementation.
·
The
SPV will be headed by a CEO (Chief Executive Officer) of additional secretary
rank.
·
On the
other hand, the committee will be chaired by the Secretary (Currently- Pankaj
Kumar), Ministry of Jal Shakti.
·
The
river Betwa or Betravati which is also called river Vetrawati in Sanskrit one
of the major river basins of Madhya Pradesh (MP). It is a tributary of the
Yamuna. It rises in the Vindhya Range just north of Hoshangabad in MP and flows
north-east through MP and Orchha to UP.
·
Ken
River is one of the major rivers in the Bundelkhand region of central India. It
is also a tributary of the Yamuna. The river originates near the Village
Ahirgawan in Jabalpur District of MP and joins the Yamuna River, near Chilla
Village in UP.
8.
GOI BANS IMPORT OF DRONES; EXCEPTIONS FOR R&D, DEFENCE
& SECURITY PURPOSES
·
The
Government of India (GoI) has announced a ban on import of foreign manufactured
drones, with exceptions for research and development (R&D), defence &
security purposes. This move is made by GoI to strengthen the domestic drone
manufacturing industry under ‘Made in India Drones’ by the Directorate General
of Foreign Trade (DGFT).
·
Union
Budget FY23 has proposed the Drone Shakti scheme to facilitate the use of
‘Drones as a Service’ (DrAAS).
·
The
Production Linked Incentive scheme (PLI) of September 2021 provides up to 20%
incentive to drone manufacturers, with an allocation of Rs 120 crore for 3
financial years. This is aligned with India’s aim of becoming a “global drone
hub by 2030”.
·
The
DGFT issued an order prohibiting the import of drones in Completely-Built-Up
(CBU), Semi-knocked-down (SKD) or Completely-Knocked-down (CKD) forms
·
Drone Certification Scheme Rules In August 2021, Ministry of Civil Aviation has notified
‘Drone Rules 2021’ replacing the United Aircraft Systems (UAS) rules.
·
The
Civil Aviation Ministry launched an airspace map of India, demarcating areas
where drones can be used without permission and areas in which drones cannot be
operated without obtaining prior permission from authorities.
9.
INDIA BLOCKS 54 CHINESE MOBILE APPS OVER SECURITY THREAT,
PRIVACY RISKS
·
The
Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology(MeitY) issued interim
directions to ban 54 mobile applications of Chinese origin. The ban was
recommended by the Ministry of Home Affairs(MHA), as these apps pose a threat
to India’s security. The 54 apps allegedly obtain various critical permissions
and collect sensitive user data.
·
The
banned apps include Garena Free Fire; Beauty Camera: Sweet Selfie HD; Rise of
Kingdoms: Lost Crusade; Viva Video Editor; Tencent Xriver among others.
·
Garena
Free Fire is a Singapore-based app and the developer is not from China.
·
MeitY
had banned the apps under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act 2000
which empowers to issue directions for blocking for public access of any
information through any computer resource.
·
India
has banned a total of 321 Chinese apps since May-June 2020
10.
NSO DATA: INDIA’S RETAIL INFLATION REACHED A 7-MONTH HIGH OF
6.01% IN JANUARY 2022
·
National
Statistical Office (NSO), Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation
(MoSPI), has released the All India Consumer Price Index (CPI) on Base 2012=100
and corresponding Consumer Food Price Index (CFPI) for Rural (R), Urban (U) and
Combined (C) for January 2022.
·
As per
the NSO data, the Retail inflation rate based on CPI has increased to a
seven-month high of 6.01 percent in January 2022, crossing the 6 percent mark.
·
Inflation Target–
The government has directed RBI (Reserve Bank of India) to retain the
medium-term target for CPI inflation of 4 percent within a band of +/- 2
percent (i.e. with the lower and upper tolerance levels of 2 percent and 6 percent).
·
The
CPI inflation in December 2021 has been revised to 5.66 percent from 5.59
percent. The retail inflation in January 2021 was about 4.06 percent and the
previous high CPI inflation was 6.26 percent in June 2021.
·
As per
the NSO data, the inflation in the food basket was 5.43 percent in January 2022
as against 4.05 percent in December 2021.
11.
CBSE APPOINTS IAS VINEET JOSHI AS NEW CHAIRMAN
·
He
will succeed former CBSE Chairman Manoj Ahuja, who was appointed as the OSD in
the Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare.
·
Currently,
he also serves as the Director-General of the National Testing Agency
(NTA).
·
CBSE is a
national level board of education in India for public and private schools,
controlled and managed by the Government of India.
·
Parent organization-Ministry of Education,Headquarters- New Delhi
