5th January, 2022 Current Affairs

Sakshi Education

NATIONAL
National Educational Alliance for Technology (NEAT) 3.0 announced

On January 3, 2022, Union Education Minister & Skill Development Minister Dharmendra Pradhan launched “National Educational Alliance for Technology (NEAT) 3.0.
NEAT 3.0 was launched as a single platform for providing the best-developed ed-tech solutions and courses to the students in India.
On the occasion, minister also launched AICTE prescribed technical books in regional languages. Learning in regional languages will help in developing critical thinking capacity as well as enable youth to become global citizens.
NEAT is an initiative for providing the use of best-developed technological solutions in education sector for enhancing the employability of youth on a single platform for the convenience of learners.
These solutions make use of artificial intelligence for a customised and personalised experience for better learning outcomes and skill development across niche areas.

KhanijBidesh India Ltd (KABIL)

KABIL has been created in a bid to ensure India’s mineral security and to attain self-reliance in the area of strategic and critical minerals.
KABIL has been mandated to identify and acquire overseas mineral assets like Lithium, Cobalt etc. KABIL ensure mineral security of the nation as well as help in realizing overall objective of import substitution.
Ministry of Mines has created a joint venture (JV) company called “KhanijBidesh India Ltd (KABIL)” with participating interest from Hindustan Copper (HCL), National Aluminium Company (NALCO), and Mineral Exploration Corporation (MECL).
The equity participation ratio of the JV company is- 40 (NALCO): 30 (HCL) :30 (MECL).
This move by government aims to ensure a committed supply of raw materials, particularly for renewable energy (RE) and e-mobility sectors.
India is currently working on acquiring mines of strategic minerals like cobalt and lithium in producing countries including Argentina, Australia, Bolivia and Chile.
India has now decided to acquire lithium & cobalt mines in South America and Australia.

INTERNATIONAL
India, Japan to celebrate 70th anniversary of establishment of diplomatic relations this year

India and Japan will celebrate the 70th anniversary of establishment of diplomatic relations this year. The two countries established diplomatic relations on 28th April 1952. To mark this historic occasion, India and Japan have decided to have special logos. The Japanese side had launched its logo earlier this year.
The Ministry of External Affairs had launched a logo design contest in September last year to design the Indian logo. Entries were invited from the public through the MyGov portal. A total of one thousand 131 entries were received. A Screening Committee assessed these entries based on contest parameters and chose a logo as the first prize winning entry.
The logo depicts a Peacock and a Green Pheasant, which are national birds of India and Japan. The logo symbolizes the bond of friendship between the two countries. It has been created by AnupDeoPurty who studied Master of Computer Application at Sardar Patel University, Gujarat. He has wide experience in e-learning, UI and website design.
To mark the 70th anniversary, a number of events are planned to be held in India and Japan throughout the year. These include cultural activities, exhibitions and seminars, covering diverse areas of India-Japan bilateral relations.

South Sudan’s President dismisses central bank governor, appoints replacement

South Sudan’s President SalvaKiir has dismissed the central bank governor and appointed a replacement.
The dismissal of Dier Tong Ngor was announced in a presidential decree read on the national broadcaster. No reasons were given for his sacking.
He was replaced by Moses Makur Deng who has been a director-general in charge of banks’ supervision and research at the bank.
South Sudan’s economy is driven by oil, which accounts for nearly 90% of the country’s national budget. The economy is in a bad shape due to the conflict and the drop in global oil price as a result of Covid-19 pandemic.
Some South Sudanese online have welcomed the appointment of Mr. Deng and urged him to improve the economy.

Lithuania recently allowed Taiwan to open an embassy equivalent office in its soil.

Lithuania recently allowed Taiwan to open an embassy equivalent office in its soil. This angered China. According to China, Taiwan is not a separate country and is an integral part. U.S. and B9 countries are supporting Lithuania actions.
Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014. The B9 was formed condemning the annexation. The B9 members were either a part of Soviet Union before its disintegration or a sphere of influence. The B9 has proposed to extend the organisation eastward. It wants to include Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia. Ukraine is of great importance to US, EU and B9 because it is the buffer between the western world and Russia.
The Bucharest Nine Group comprises of Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Lithuania, Latvia, Hungary, Czech Republic, Bulgaria and Estonia.
The organisation was formed in 2015. It was formed under the initiative of Romania and Poland. It is also called Bucharest Format or B9. The group was formed at the Romania capital Rome and hence the name.

ECONOMY
RBI Framework on Offline Digital Payments

On January 3, 2022, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) released a framework for small-value offline transactions in digital mode.
As per framework, offline payments can be made using any channel or instrument such as wallets, mobile devices or cards. However, they shall be made in proximity, or in face-to-face mode only.
Authorised payment system operators (PSOs) and payment system participants (PSPs) including banks and non-banks, which wants to offer payments in offline mode will require to comply with the requirements under the prescribed framework.
Offline payment transactions can be offered without additional factor of authentication (AFA).
Payment instruments shall be enabled for offline transactions on the basis of explicit consent of the customer. Such transactions through cards shall be allowed without the need of switching on contactless transaction channel.
Upper limit of an offline payment transaction should be 200.
Total limit for offline transactions on a payment instrument should be Rs. 2,000 at any point in time.
Replenishment of the used limit should be allowed only in online mode with AFA.
Bank or non-bank issuer have been mandated to send transaction alerts to users as soon as transaction details are received. However, there is no compulsion to send alert for each transaction.
Payment instruments will be enabled for offline transactions only after receiving explicit consent of the customer.

Science and Technology
New Covid-19 variant ‘IHU’

Scientists in France have identified a new and more mutated strain of SARS-CoV-2 virus, causing covid-19 disease.
New virus was identified, when the world is still grappling with highly mutated strain of coronavirus, called Omicron.
Omicron has already been leading to surge in covid-19 cases worldwide.
First case with new variant was detected in December, 2021.
New variant of the coronavirus has been named IHU or the B.1.640.2 variant. It was discovered by the academics at institute IHU Mediterranee Infection.
It comprises of 46 mutations, more than Omicron, making it more resistant to vaccines and infectious.
The new variant comprises of 14 amino acid substitutions, including N501Y and E484K.
Apart from that, 9 deletions are located in the spike protein. This genotype pattern led to creation of new Pangolin lineage named B.1.640.2. It is a phylogenetic sister group to the old B.1.640 lineage.

Indian SARS – CoV – 2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG)

INSACOG is a multi-lab agency. It was established by the Government of India in 2020 to monitor the genomic variations of COVID-19. In the beginning, there were ten labs. The number has now increased largely.
The labs identify and expand the genome sequences of COVID-19 virus. Through this they understand how the virus evolves and spreads. It was established by the Health Ministry. The other establishing partners of INSACOG are CSIR (Council of Scientific and Industrial Research), Department of Biotechnology and Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). The genome sequencing is essential because it helps to understand the immune escape of the virus and how its infection increases.
It aims to ensure the status of Variants of Concern and Variants of Interest.
Also, it aims to establish the surge surveillance and sentinel surveillance mechanisms. These mechanisms help in early detection of the virus. The labs will find out the presence of variants in the areas reporting higher infection.

ISRO targets launch of un-crewed flights under Gaganyaan mission before Independence Day

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is targeting the launch of first of the two planned un-crewed flights under the Gaganyaan mission before Independence Day this year.
ISRO chairperson Dr. K Sivan said the third lunar mission Chandrayaan-3 will be launched by middle of the next year. In a letter encouraging the scientists at the organization, Dr Sivan said, launch of EOS-4 and EOS-6 onboard PSLV and launch of EOS-02 onboard maiden flight of SSLV are immediate tasks at hand this year.
There is a directive to launch the first unmanned mission before the 75th anniversary of Country's independence i,e, August 15th this year and all the stakeholders are putting their best effort to meet the schedule.
Chandrayaan-3 design changes incorporating and testing has seen huge progress and the mission could be launched by the middle of next year.
The launch of the three earth observation satellites - EOS-02, EOS-04, and EOS-06 have been delayed for several months now. All big-ticket scientific missions, including India’s first solar mission Aditya-L1, which were to take place in 2021 were pushed when the launch schedule was revised after the second wave of the pandemic.

SPORTS
BCCI postpones Ranji Trophy, Col CK Nayudu Trophy and Senior Women's T20 League for 2021-22 season in the wake of the rising Corona cases

Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has announced the postponement of the Ranji Trophy, Col CK Nayudu Trophy and Senior Women's T20 League for the 2021-22 season in the wake of the rising Corona cases in the country.
The Ranji Trophy and Col CK Nayudu Trophywere scheduled to begin this month, while the Senior Women's T20 League was scheduled to commence in February.
The Board said that it does not want to compromise the safety of the players, support staff, match officials and other participants involved and hence, has decided to put the three tournaments on hold till further notice.
The BCCI also said it will continue to assess the situation and take a call on the start of the tournaments accordingly.

Published date : 05 Jan 2022 05:39PM