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Assam & NE Current Affairs & GK – January 2022

( Covers all important Current Affairs & GK topics for the month of January 2022)

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Assam partners with National Dairy Development Board to set up Rs 2,000-cr dairy joint venture

• The Assam Govt and National Dairy Development Board signed an agreement to create a Rs 2,000-crore joint venture for holistic development of the sector in the state.
• A Memorandum of Understanding was signed in Guwahati in the presence of Union Animal Husbandry & Dairying Minister Parshottam Rupala, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, state Agriculture Minister Atul Bora and other senior officials.
• As per the MoU, a joint venture company will be set up for Rs 2,000 crore with a target of processing 10 lakh litres of milk through six new units in seven years.
• Milk from more than 4,100 dairy cooperative societies will be processed, packed and marketed.
• This will benefit more than 1,75,000 farmers associated with dairy farms in Assam and increase their earnings, Sarma said.
• Two cattle feed and organic manure manufacturing units will also be set up as per the agreement.
• The milk producers will be provided subsidies for market price fluctuation of their produce and urged all the cooperatives to engage in healthy competition for the economic growth of Assam.
• As part of the dairy development project, more than 15,000 high milk-yielding Gir cows will be brought to Assam to ensure high returns to the farmers of Assam.
• This joint venture will be guided and managed by NDDB, and it will introduce technological innovations.
• The foundation stone of Guwahati-based Purabi Dairy’s expansion initiative was laid under the World Bank-funded Assam Agribusiness and Rural Transportation Project.As part of the expansion project, Purabi Dairy’s processing capacity will be upgraded from the existing 60,000 litres per day to 1.5 lakh litres.

 

Urjit Patel appointed as Vice-President of AIIB

• Former Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor Urjit Patel has been appointed as a vice-president of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), a Beijing based multilateral development bank.He will be one of the five Vice Presidents of the AIIB with a three-year tenure.
• Urjit Patel was the 24th Governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) succeeding Raghuram Rajan in September 2016 and was with RBI till December 2018.

AIIB & India

• India is a founding member of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) with the 2nd highest voting share after China.
• India has emerged as AIIB’s biggest beneficiary by obtaining $6.8 billion funding for 29 projects.
• AIIB has funded projects across sectors in India especially in transport and energy sectors.

Members of AIIB

• Except the US and Japan, most of the developed and developing countries have joined the bank. In late December, the AIIB approved the application of Iraq to join, becoming the bank’s 51st regional member to bring its membership to 105.
• Jin Liqun is the current President of AIIB.

 

India State of Forest Report 2021 – Highlights

TheUnion Ministry for Environment, Forest and Climate Change has released the biennial ‘India State of Forest Report 2021’ prepared by the Forest Survey of India (FSI).

The ISFR-2021 provides information on forest cover, tree cover, mangrove cover, growing stock, carbon stock in India’s forests, forest fire monitoring, forest cover in tiger reserve areas, above ground estimates of biomass using SAR data & climate change hotspots in Indian forests.

(OF: Open Forest; MDF: Moderately Dense Forest; VDF: Very Dense Forest)

Major Findings

Forest and Tree Cover

• The total forest and tree cover of the country is 80.9 million hectare which is 62 per cent of the geographical area of the country.
• Increase in Forest & Tree Cover: As compared to the assessment of 2019, there is an increase of 2,261 sq kmin the total forest and tree cover of the country. Increase in forest cover has been observed in open forest followed by very dense forest.
  • Forest Cover:1,540 sq km
  • Tree Cover:721 sq km.
• Top Three States Showing Increase in Forest Cover:Andhra Pradesh (647 sq km) followed by Telangana (632 sq km) and Odisha (537 sq km).
• Area-wise Largest Forest Cover: Madhya Pradesh has the largest forest cover in the country followed by Arunachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha and Maharashtra.
• Forest Cover as Percentage of Total Geographical Area: In terms of forest cover as percentage of total geographical area, the top five States are Mizoram (84.53%), Arunachal Pradesh (79.33%), Meghalaya (76.00%), Manipur (74.34%) and Nagaland (73.90%).
• 17 states/UT’s have above 33 Percent of the Geographical Area Under Forest Cover: Out of these states and UT’s, five states/UTs namely Lakshadweep, Mizoram, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya have more than 75 per cent forest cover while 12 states/UTs namely Manipur, Nagaland, Tripura, Goa, Kerala, Sikkim, Uttarakhand, Chhattisgarh, Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu, Assam, Odisha, have forest cover between 33 per cent to 75 per cent.

Mangrove Cover

• Total mangrove cover in the country is 4,992 sq km.
• An increase of 17 sq Km in mangrove cover has been observed as compared to the previous assessment of 2019.
• Top three states showing mangrove cover increaseare Odisha (8 sq km) followed by Maharashtra (4 sq km) and Karnataka (3 sq km).
• Carbon Stock
• Total carbon stock in country’s forest is estimated to be 7,204 million tonnes and there an increase of 79.4 million tonnes in the carbon stock of country as compared to the last assessment of 2019.
• The annual increase in the carbon stock is 39.7 million tonnes.

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Kerala’s Kumbalangi village is India’s first sanitary-napkin-free panchayat

• Kumbalangi village in Cochin is all set to become India’s first sanitary-napkin-free panchayat. The village has previously won acclaim as India’s first model tourism village.
• This move is a part of ‘Avalkayi’ initiative, which is being implemented in the Ernakulam parliamentary constituency, in association with “Thingal Scheme” of HLL Management Academy’s and Indian Oil Corporation.

 

Avalkayi Initiative

• Under this initiative, menstrual cups will be distributed to women aged 18 and above in Kumbalangi village. 5000 menstrual cups will be distributed under it.

Model Village

• In the same event, Governor will also declare Kumbalangi village as a model village. The model village project is implemented as a part of ‘Pradhan Mantri Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana (PM-SAGY)’.

About Kumbalangi village

Kumbalangi is an island village, located in the outskirts of Kochi city of Kerala. It is a major tourist attraction and is famous for the Chinese fishing nets. It is situated amidst backwaters, about 12 km from the city center. The village is also the first eco-tourism village in India.

Kumbalangi Integrated Tourism Village project

This project seeks to transform the tiny island of Kumbalangi into a model fishing village and tourism spot. Project is being implemented by panchayat (village council) while state Govt is providing financial assistance. This project was started in 2003 to help the local people, economy and locality through tourism.

 

Assam to expansion of Orang National Park

• The Assam Govt has recently decided to increase the size of Orang National Park. The park is to be expanded thrice.
• Assam is to add 200.32 square kilometre to the Orang National Park. The area to be added consists of Brahmaputra river. It also includes sandbars and islands of the river.
• Tigers and Rhinos are using the islands and sandbars that are being included. Orang region in the northern bank of Brahmaputra is essential to Kaziranga Orang Riverine Landscape. This is because animals move between the Orang and Kaziranga stretch through these lands. This stretch is 180 km. It is a corridor connecting two habitats.
• The rhinos and Gangetic Dolphins are to be benefitted greatly with the addition of this extra land. It will also benefit 16 species of turtles.
• Orang NP is a major rhino habitat. It became a tiger reserve in 2016.
• The other seven national parks in Assam are Dehing Patkai, Dibru – Saikhowa, Manas, Kaziranga, Nameri, Raimona.

 

Future plans for Kaziranga – Orang

• Gharials became extinct in the region six decades ago. The Assam Govt is planning to reintroduce gharial here.

 

National Parks and Wildlife Sanctuaries

• National Parks and Wildlife Sanctuaries are declared under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972. On the other hand, the Biosphere reserves are declared under UNESCO Man and Biosphere Reserve Programme, 1971.
• The Wildlife Protection Act says that the area comprised within the forest as decided by the State Govt is declared as the wildlife sanctuary and National Parks.
• The National Parks, Wild Life sanctuaries and other wildlife related subjects were moved to Concurrent List. Earlier it was under the state list. In 1976, the 42nd constitutional amendment moved these subjects to concurrent list.

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Lt Gen Manoj Pande appointed as next Vice Chief of Army Staff

• Eastern Army Commander Lieutenant General Manoj Chandrashekhar Pande has been appointed as the next Vice Chief of Army Staff.He will succeed Lt Gen CP Mohanty who is scheduled to superannuate on January 31, 2022.
• Lt Gen Manoj Pande has taken active part in Operation Vijay and Operation Parakram.

 

S Somnath appointed new Chairman of ISRO

• Dr S Somnath is to become the new chairman of ISRO. He is to succeed K Sivan.
• Currently he is the Director of Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC).

Biography: S Somnath

• Somnath completed his college pre – degree in Maharaja College, Ernakulam.
• He studied his engineering in TKM College of Engineering. He joined the VSSC centre in 1985. He completed his master’s in Indian Institute of Science in aerospace engineering.
• He was associated with PSLV project in its early phases. Under his leadership, the experimental test flight of LVM3-X/CARE was completed.
• In 2010, he became the Associate Director of ISRO. He was the project director of GSLV Mk – III.
• In 2014, he acted as the Deputy Director of Propulsion and space Ordinance Entity. In 2015, he was made the director of Liquid propulsion system centre at Valiamala, Thiruvananthapuram.

About Chairman of ISRO

• The chairman of ISRO is the secretary to the Govt of India. He is an executive of Department of Space. The Department reports to the prime minister directly.
• Vikram Sarabhai is the longest serving chairman of ISRO. He served for 12 years. In 1962, he urged Nehru to establish INCOSPAR (Indian National Committee for Space Research) under Department of Atomic Energy. INCOSPAR became ISRO in 1969.

 

Lakshya Sen won “Yonex-Sunrise India Open” Badminton title

• India’s Lakshya Sen secured his maiden Super 500 title by winning “Yonex-Sunrise India Open”, on January 16, 2022.
• He secured the title with a stunning straight-game victory over reigning world champion from Singapore, Loh Kean Yew in the men’s singles final.
• 20-year-old Lakshya had earlier claimed his maiden world championships medal with a bronze in Spain in December 2021.

Doubles’ final

• In the doubles’ final, top doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty won against three-time world champions Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan from Indonesia. The pair become India’s first men’s team to win the Yonex-Sunrise India Open. The world no. 10 Indian pair had won its first Super 500 tournament in 2019 in Thailand.

India Open Badmintor tournament

• India Open is an annual badminton event. It has been held in India since 2008. It is a BWF World Tour Super 500 Grade international badminton tournament.
• The first three editions of the India Open were designated as Grand Prix Gold events. It was upgraded to BWF superseries tournament in 2011. India open is categorised as one among seven BWF World Tour Super 500 events by BWF since 2018.

 

Indonesia’s New Capital at Nusantara

• The Indonesians are moving to a new capitalcalled ‘Nusantara’, it is East Kalimantan. Till now, Jakarta was the capital of Indonesia.
• Nusantarais located in the Borneo island. The plan to shift the capital here was announced in 2019.It was announced by President Joko Widodo.
• Jakarta has been the capital of Indonesia since 1949. Jakarta is facing environmental and financial issues. Pollution is increasing in Jakarta and it has been consistently ranked as one of the most polluted cities in the world.
• Currently, Jakarta is densely populated, also, Jakarta is sinking. By 2050, most of the Jakarta is expected to go under water. This is mainly because Jakarta is surrounded by several rivers. These rivers are prone to frequent floods. Between 2019 and 2020 many cities in Jakarta sank up to 10.7 cm.

The other countries that recently changed its capital are as follows:

• Brazil changed from Rio De Janeiro to Brasilia. Brasilia is more centrally located. The country changed in 1960.
• In 1991, Nigeria changed its capital from Lagos to Abuja.
• Kazakhstan changed its capital from Alamty to Nur – sultan.
• In 2005, Myanmar changed its capital from Rangoon to Naypyidaw.

 

SEBI’s Saa₹thi mobile app about security markets

• The Securities and Exchange Board of India, SEBI launched the Saarthi mobile application. The application provides information about security markets. It is highly useful for investors.
• The application provides explanation about mutual funds, its working, trading and settlement, KYC (Know Your Customer) processes, developments in the market, etc. Also, the application includes grievance redressal mechanism.
• The application uses both Hindi and English. It is available for both iOS and android users. In future, the app will be made available in local languages as well.
• Recently, the number of individual investors entering the market is increasing. The app was launched to help these individual investors. Also, the new investors are using smart phones to do trading. Thus, they are being assisted through mobile apps.

Security Markets

• Security markets are those markets where the securities are bought and sold. Securities are nothing but guarantees. The securities are forfeited when the concerned person fails to repay the money.
• In simple terms, the securities are the tradable financial instruments that raise capital in public and private markets.

Rise in individual investor in India

• In India, the individual investors have been increasing. Their share was 39% in 2020. In 2021, it has increased to 45% according to NSE (National Stock Exchange) data.
• The interest rates in the banks are reducing. The Fixed Deposit rates are varying between 2.9% and 5.4%.Thus, the returns from such investments is very low. There is increase in global liquidity. Also, people are spending more time at home because of the pandemic.
• The market capitalization at BSE (Bombay stock Exchange) increased by 1.8 times. It increased by 1.6 times in Russia. The other countries with significant increase are China, France and South Africa.
• It is evident that market capitalization is higher in India as compared to other countries.

Waterfowl Census in Kaziranga National Park

• The Kaziranga National Park is a Tiger Reserve and a World Heritage site. The park recently conducted its water fowl census.
• The census is conducted in the 52 wetlands in the parks. In 2021, the bird count increased to 93,491. It was 34,284 in 2020. The bird count has increased by 175% in one year.
• Around 126 species were spotted during the census. The census used point count method.
• The census reported 868 deers. This includes 173 males, 557 females and 138 yearlings. Unfortunately, the deer population has decreased. Earlier it was 907. The population of deers in the park decreased mainly because of floods.
• 66,776 wetlands birds were reported. Of this 42,205 were counted in the national park area. 24,571 were counted in Burhachapori Wildlife sanctuary and Laokhowa.
• Of all the animals, the bar headed geese were in greatest numbers. There were 16,552 bar headed geese. Also, the census reported 5,631 common teal, 9,493 northern pintail and 2,236 ferruginous ducks.
• 40,000 hog deers were reported. They are the main food for the tigers in the park.
• 35 elephants were spotted.

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Omo Kibish I is the oldest Human Fossils

• As per a recent study, one of the oldest known Homo sapiens fossils, Omo Kibish I, may be around 35,000 years older than it was previously thought.
• Omo Kibish I was first unearthed in Ethiopia in 1967.The study used volcanic ash to date the fossils and thus there were 22,000-year margin of error.
• New minimum age for Omo I is consistent with most recent theories of human evolution. Study also brings it closer to the age given to oldest Homo sapiens remains, which were discovered in 2017 in Morocco. Remains in Morocco were dated to 300,000 years ago. Omo I is the only fossil, with all the morphological characteristics of modern man.

 

Manipur, Meghalaya, Tripura celebrated Statehood Day January 21

• Every year, the states of Manipur, Meghalaya and Tripura celebrate their statehood day on January 21. These states were formed under the North Eastern Region (Reorganization) Act, 1971.
• The princely states of Manipur and Tripura were joined with India in 1949. They were then granted the union territory status.
• In 1972, Meghalaya and Tripura were granted complete statehood. The states were formed under the North Eastern Region (Re-organization) Act, 1971.
• In 1947, the north eastern region of India comprised of Assam plains, North Eastern Frontier Tracts and hill districts. Later in 1949, the princely states of merged with India. They were made as union territories. The state of Nagaland was formed in 1963.
• In 1969, the Assam Reorganization (Meghalaya) Act was enacted. Under the act, Meghalaya was carved out of Assam and was made an autonomous state. This was done under the sixth schedule of Indian constitution.
• In 1972, the North Eastern Reorganization act was enacted. It granted full statehood to Meghalaya and Tripura. Also, under the act, the NEFA and Mizo hills of Assam were made the union territories.
• The Mizo Accord was signed in 1986. The state of Mizoram was created in 1987.
• In 1987, NEFA, that is, Arunachal Pradesh was granted full statehood.

 

 

 

Assam’s Shakuntala Choudhary and Dhaneswar Engti conferred Padma Awards 2022

• ·         Ms. Shakuntala Choudhary and Shri Dhaneswar Engti from Assam receive the Padma Shri Award for the year 2022. The Padma Awards were announced on Tuesday 25 January by the Indian government.
• ·         Shakuntala Choudhary from Assam has been selected for her contribution to social work for the welfare of society.Shakuntala Choudhary was earlier honored by the government of India with the National Awards for Senior Citizens – Vayoshestha Samman in the year 2021. She works as the supervisor at the Kasturba Ashram located in Guwahati and is recognized as a well-known social worker of the state. She has immense contribution to the well-being and empowerment of women across the country.
• ·         Dhaneswar Engti from Karbi Anglong district is a well-known lyricist and a writer who is widely recognized for his contribution to the field of Karbi music and Karbi literature. He has been selected for the most prestigious award in the field of Literature and Education. Notably, the renowned writer has earlier received the prestigious award of Kristinandan Literary in the year 2017.
• ·         Six esteemed personalities from the Northeast will be receiving the fourth highest civilian award, Padma Shri for the year 2022.
• ·         On 25^th January, 2022, on the eve of 73^rd Republic Day, Padma Awards were declared. The President has approved conferment of 128 Padma Awards including 2 duo case (in a duo case, the Award is counted as one) – 4 Padma Vibhushan, 17 Padma Bhushan and 107 Padma Shri Awards. 34 of the awardees are women and the list also includes 10 persons from the category of Foreigners/NRI/PIO/OCI and 13 posthumous awardees.

 

19 January observed as Kokborok Day in Tripura

• On 19 January 2022 Tripura observed 44th Kokborok Day, also known as the Tripuri Language Day.
• The day commemorates the initial recognition of Kokborok as the official language in 1979.
• The state Govt. is stressing more on regional languages and renamed Baramura hills to Hatai Kotor two years ago.
• Govt in Tripura officially rechristened two more locations with Kokborok names while observing the 44th Kokborok Day – Gandacherra was renamed as Ganda Twisa, where the picturesque Dumbur Lake is there and Atharomura range to Hachuk Berem in Kokborok language.

 

India becomes the largest exporter of Cucumber and Gherkins

• India emerged as the ‘Pickle King of The World’, in a recent development.
• India crossed the exports of worth USD 200 million of agricultural processed product, pickling gherkins, cucumber or cornichons, in the financial year 2020-2021.
• With this, India became the largest exporter of cucumbers and gherkins worldwide.
• India exported 1,23,846 metric tonnes (MT) of cucumber and gherkins, with a value of USD 114 million during April-October 2021.
• In 2020-21, India shipped 2,23,515MT of cucumber and gherkins with value worth USD 223 million.
• India meets 15 percent of total global requirement of demand of gherkins. Indian plants are of international standards and have been made to cater to the requirements of foreign countries.
• Export of pickled cucumber – Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh process and export the pickled cucumber across the world. Pickled cucumbers are imported by more than 20 countries, namely, USA, France, South Korea, Japan, Israel, Canada, Germany etc.
• Gherkin is also known as pickled cucumber. It is a cucumber that has been pickled in vinegar, brine, or other solution and left to ferment for some time.

 

Steps by APEDA to promote export

• Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) has also undertaken several initiatives in infrastructure development, product promotion in international market and food safety management systems across processing units. The gherkin manufacturing and exporting companies are ISO, IFS, BRC, FSSC 22000 or HACCP certified or they possess all the certifications.

 

National Girl Child Day celebrated on January 24

• Every year the National Girl Child Day is celebrated on January 24. The day is celebrated to promote the rights of girl child in the country. Also the day aims to spread the importance of education, health and nutrition of the girl child.
• The first national girl child day was celebrated in 2008. It is an initiative of Ministry of Women and Child Development.
• International Girl Child Day is celebrated on October 11. It is celebrated by the United Nations and several other international organisations. The United Nations celebrated the first International Day of Girl Child in 2012.
• 8 percentage of girls are married before the age of 18 years. The under five mortality rate of girl children is 40 per 1000 livebirths. This is 11% higher than that of the under five mortality rate of boy child.

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Govt of Assam conferred its highest award ‘Assam Baibhav’ on Ratan Tata

• Govt of Assam conferred its highest civilian award ‘Assam Baibhav’ on Ratan Tata, on January 24, 2022. However, Ratan Tata did not attend the event personally because of Covid-19 situation. Award was received by his representative during a programme held in Guwahati.
• Chief Minister of Assam, Himanta Biswa Sarma announced to confer Assam Baibhav, Assam Saurav and Assam Gaurav Awards, for the year 2021.
• Assam Saurav award was conferred on Professor Dipak Chand Jain, Lovlina Borgohain, Professor Kamalendu Deb Krori, Dr Lakshmanan S, and Neel Pawan Baruah.
• Assam Gaurav award was conferred on Manoj Kumar Basumatary, Munindra Nath Ngatey, Dharanidhar Boro, Hemoprabha Chutia, Dr Basanta Hazarika, Kaushik Baruah, Khorsing Terang, Akash Jyoti Gogoi, Namita Kalita, Dr Asif Iqbal, Kalpana Boro, Boby Hazarika, and Bormita Momin.

FACTFILE: Assam Baibhav

• It is the highest civilian award of Assam. It was declared on the occasion of “Asom diwas” (Assam Day). The Award carries a cash prize of Rs 5 lakh. Furthermore, the recipient can avail medical treatment at Govt expense, throughout his life. Obverse of the award has an image of Jaapi and words “Assam Baibhav” has been inscribed in Assamese script, on the leaf of Hollong tree.

India rank 85^th in 2021 Corruption Perceptions Index

• The Transparency International recently released the Corruption Perception Index. According to the index, India ranked 85 among the world countries. The report said that the score of corruption has been stagnant for India over a decade.
• The rankings were created based on the corruption in the public sector of the countries. Based on this, the Corruption Perception Index is calculated. Here zero means highly corrupt, a score of 100 means the country is clean. India scored 40.
• India in the ranking:India scored 86th in the ranking in 2020. In 2019, India was ranked 80th. According to the report, the journalists in India are facing severe risks.
• Relative performance of India: Around 86% of the countries showed little or no improvement since 2012. India was one among them. India was in 94th position in 2012.
• Top Countries: Denmark topped the index followed by Denmark, New Zealand. Their scores were around 88.

India’s first Graphene Innovation Centre set up in Kerala

• The first Graphene innovation centre of the country is set up in Kerala. This is the first research and development centre being established for graphene.
• The central Govt has allocated Rs 86.41 crores of funds for the project. The centre is to be built along with the support of Kerala Govt. Tata steel is the industrial partner.
• The state Govt run Digital University Kerala and the Centre for Materials for Electronics will join hands along with the state and central Govts in implementing the project.

About Graphene

• Graphene is the strongest material in the world. Also, it is the thinnest material. Graphene has good electrical conductivity and chemical stability. It is transparent, light in weight and has a large surface area.
• Graphene has the ability to replace indium. It brings down the cost of Organic Light Emitting Diode. Graphene is an isotope of carbon. It has a two – dimensional honeycomb nanostructure.
• Graphene is addressed to as “Wonder material” for its electronic and electrical properties.
• Graphene is a zero gap semiconductor. This means the conduction band and the valence band are at the same energy level. For an element to conduct electricity, it should have free electrons in conduction band.

Applications of Graphene

• It is used to make tennis racquets. Also, graphene is used in making composite materials, biological engineering, energy storage and filtration. It is also used in lubricants, paints, functional fluids, batteries, coatings, oils, capacitors, display materials, solar cells.
• Graphene is also used to add strength to other materials. Adding a very little amount of graphene to metals, plastics or any other materials makes it highly stronger.
• As Graphene has high surface area to volume ratio, it is ideal to be used in making super capacitors.
• Graphene has anti – corrosion coatings. It is used in drug delivery, sensors, paints and solar panels.

James Webb Space Telescope succeeded the Hubble Space Telescope.

• The James Webb Space Telescope succeeded the Hubble Space Telescope. It was jointly built by NASA, European Space Agency and Canadian Space Agency. It uses infrared light to make observations.
• It was at first called the “Next Generation Space Telescope”. It was renamed in 2002. James Webb was a former NASA administrator. He played a major role in the Apollo programme of NASA. It has a large sized 6.5 metre mirror.
• The telescope is to be used to look deep into the cosmos. It will capture light from the very first star population. That is, the telescope will study stars that were formed 13.5 billion years ago.
• The main telescope used is Korsch telescope. The transponders in the James Webb Telescope use S – band for tracking. S – band is a part of the microwave band. It covers frequencies between 2 GHz and 4 GHz. Usually the S – band is used for communication between NASA and International Space Station. Also, S – band is used for airport surveillance, for weather monitoring, air traffic control.
• Orbit of the telescope is Halo Orbit. The halo orbit is an orbit near one of the Lagrange points. The Halo orbits exist only in three body system. For instance, in sun, earth and moon.
• The Space Telescope Science Institute located in Baltimore, Maryland operates as the Science and Operation Centre of the James Webb Space Telescope.

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Anantha Nageswaran appointed new Chief Economic Advisor

• The Govt of India has appointed Anantha Nageswaran as the new Chief Economic Advisor. He is a former member of Prime Minister Economic Advisory Council.

BIOGRAPHY :Anantha Nageswaran

• Nageswaran has taught in Business schools in India and Singapore. He is a visiting professor at Kre University. Krea University is one of the top private universities of the country. It is sponsored by IFMR. IFMR is Institute for Financial Management and Research.
• He has completed post-graduation from Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad. Also he has a doctoral degree from the Massachusetts institute.
• Nageswaran worked as a senior advisor to the International Financial Services Authority of India (IFSCA) between 2019 and 2021.
• Between 1994 and 2011, he worked as a currency economist at the Union Bank of Switzerland.

Chief Economic Advisor

• The post of CEA was lying vacant after Dr Krishnamurthy Subramanian left office in December 2021. He succeeded Arvind Subramanian in 2018.
• The CEA reports to the Finance Minister of India.The post is equivalent to Secretary in India.
• The CEA is the head of the Department of Economic Affairs that operates under Ministry of Finance.

PM Economic Advisory Council

• It is an independent body. Nageswaran had led the council for PM Modi. Currently Dr Bibek Debroy is the Chairman of the council. The council advises the PM on national and international economic issues.

IFSCA

• IFSCA aims to bring a strong global connect between India and rest of the world. It was created in 2020 at the GIFT city, Gandhinagar, Gujarat.
• IFSCA develops and regulates financial services and financial products. It is governed by nine members. Each member from IRDAI, SEBI, RBI, PFRDA.Two members from Ministry Finance and two members as recommended by the selection committee. It is led by a chair person.

 

 

Rafael Nadal won his 21st Grand Slam at Australian Open

• Rafael Nadal won his 21st Grand Slam title as he beat Daniil Medvedev at the Australian Open Final to grab his Grand Slam.
• Roger Federer of Switzerland and Novak Djokovic of Serbia have won 20 Grand slams.

Asteroid named after Nadal

• In 2003, the 128036 astroid in the main asteroid belt was named after him. The asteroid is now called the Rafale Nadal asteroid. The asteroid was named by the International Astronomical Union.

BIOGRAPHY: Rafael Nadal

• Nadal is ranked at fifth place by the ATP ranking. He was ranked number one for 209 weeks. Nadal has won 62 ATP singles titles. This includes 13 French open titles.Also, he has won Olympic gold medal, five Davis Cup titles.
• He has continuously won 81 matches on clay. This is the world longest single surface win.
• He was the first person to win on all the three different surfaces such as clay, grass and hard surface.
• He is the youngest to win Grand Slam. He won his first grand slam when he was 24 years old.
• The top level tennis players Roger Federer, Noval Djokovic and Rafael Nadal are addressed to as the Big three. Nadal is the only left – handed player of the big three.

 

 

Rapid Train connectivity in Manipur – First freight train to enter Manipur

• On January 27, 2022, the first goods train reached the Rani Gaidinliu station of Manipur. This is the first freight train to enter Manipur after 75 years. This shows the rapid transformation happening in the state of Manipur.
• Manipur is a hilly state. The new railway line built in the state is 111 km long. It runs from Jiribam to Imphal. The Jiribam railway station is 17 km from the Assam – Manipur border.
• The Railway department is to construct 46 tunnels along the new rail line. Also, it includes 153 bridges. The world tallest bridge is in this line. It is in Noney district. The bridge is 141 metres high.
• The Railways has spent Rs 14,000 crores in constructing the railway line so far. The construction started in 2013. The line was to be constructed up to Imphal. Now, there are plans to extend up to Moreh. Moreh is a trading centre located in Manipur-Myanmar border.

 

India’s First Geo Park in Jabalpur, MP

• The first geological park of India will be built in Lamheta, Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh.
• Park will be constructed with an investment of Rs 35 crores, over five-acre land.
• The geological park will be built in Lamheta, because this place is among significant places in world, from geological point of view. In 1928, William Henry Sleeman had discovered Dinosaur fossil from this area. UNESCO has also recognised Lamheta as geo heritage site.
• Geopark is a unified area, which advances the protection and use of geological heritage in sustainable manner. It also promotes the economic well-being of the people living there.
• Lamheta Formation is also called as Infratrappean Beds. It is a sedimentary geological formation found in Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Gujarat. It is associated with the Deccan Traps. It is of Maastrichtian age and is known for dinosaur fossils.

FACTFILE: Geological Survey of India (GSI)

• GSI was founded in 1851. It is a scientific agency of India, working under ministry of Mines organisation. It is one of the oldest organisations worldwide and the second oldest survey organisation in India, following Survey of India. The Survey of India was founded in 1767.
• It was set to conduct geological surveys and studies of India. It also acts as prime provider of basic earth science information to general public, industry and Govt besides official participant in coal, steel, cement, metals, power industries and international geoscientific forums.

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