India’s Lakshya Sen secured his maiden Super 500 title by winning “Yonex-Sunrise India Open”, on January 16, 2022.

Key Facts

• 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.
• He produced a fine performance of 24-22 21-17 in the summit clash. The clash lasted for 54 minutes.

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

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 event was inaugurated in 2007 in Hyderabad, however the it was cancelled amid Hyderabad bombings. The first three editions of the India Open were designated as Grand Prix Gold events. It was upgraded to BWF superseries tournament in 2011. In between 2011-2019, the event was held annually at the Siri Fort Sports Complex in New Delhi. India open is categorised as one among seven BWF World Tour Super 500 events by BWF since 2018

Government of India announced the winners of “National Start-up Awards 2021” and felicitated 46 start-ups for their contribution in their respective sectors.

Key Facts

• Government also conferred an incubator and an accelerator with the award during this ceremony.
• This marked the second edition of National Start-up Awards.
• Applications were invited from 15 sectors and 49 sub-sectors, ranging from agriculture to animal husbandry and from enterprise technology to fintech.

National Start-up Awards 2021

National Start-up awards seek to recognise start-ups contributing towards economic dynamism by encouraging innovation and injecting competition. It focuses on following start-ups:

1. That build innovative products or solutions
2. That are scalable enterprises, with high potential of wealth creation or employment generation
3. That demonstrates measurable social impact.

Number of applications

Ministry received 2,177 applications from start-ups across 49 sub-sectors. There were applications from 53 incubators and 6 accelerators as well, for the ecosystem enablers categories. Out of these, 863 were women-led start-ups and 253 were start-ups, which were working in rural areas of India.

What parameters were used to decide winners?

Six parameters were used to decide the winners:

1. Innovation
2. Scalability
3. Economic impact
4. Social impact
5. Environmental impact, and
6. inclusiveness and diversity.

Who are the winners?

• In fintech category’s financial inclusion sub-sector, Bengaluru-based Naffa Innovations Private Limited was declared the winner. The start-up, also called ToneTag, was founded in 2013. It provides for mobile payments using sound and near-field communication (NFC), without using internet.

The Chhattisgarh Government is to launch an employment mission called the Rojgar Mission. The mission aims to create 15 lakh job opportunities in the state in the next five years.

Key Features

The mission will leverage experts from IITs, IIITs, IIMs. It is to be headed by the Chief Minister of the state. The others taking active roles in the mission are chief secretary and principal secretary of the state.

Implementing committee

The chief minister is the chairman. The Chief Secretary of the state is the vice chairman and the principal secretary will act as Chief Executive Officer. The committee will also include the managing director of minor forest produce federation of the state.

Outcomes

The mission is expected to create 12 to 15 lakhs of job opportunities in the next five years. The state has already excelled in minor forest produce. In 2021, Chhattisgarh secured ten national awards for good procurement, processing and performance. It has also excelled in implementing Van Dhan Yojana. The committee is to focus more on this area. This will help boost the employment around minor forest produces and will help the tribals largely.

Unemployment in Chhattisgarh

According to report released by the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) in 2022, the unemployment rate in Chhattisgarh is 2.1%. The state ranks fourth among the states with lowest unemployment rate.

The United States Government has recently proposed a bill to end China’s “chokehold” on rare – earth metal supplies.

Why the bill?

After China’s artificial Sun reached temperatures five times hotter than the Sun, China is ready with its first artificial moon. Scientists have built an “artificial moon” research facility. The facility will help them in conducting low-gravity environments using magnetism.

Artificial moon research facility

The artificial moon research facility is scheduled for official launch in the year 2022. It will use powerful magnetic fields inside a vacuum chamber of 2-foot-diameter, for making gravity disappear. To develop this research facility, scientists were inspired by a previous experiment, in which magnets were used to levitate a frog.

How will this facility mimic moon’s surface?

The research facility will be filled with rocks and dust to resemble it with the lunar surface.

Features of the research facility

It is first of its kind research facility in the world. It is capable of maintaining low-gravity conditions for as long as scientists want.

What is the use of this facility?

Scientists have planned to use this facility to test technology in prolonged low-gravity environments, before sending it to the moon, where gravity is one-sixth of Earth’s gravity. This experiment will help scientists to resolve technical issues and test whether some structures will survive on the moon’s surface. It will also help in assess viability of human settlement on the moon.

An underwater volcano erupted in Tonga (a country in the Pacific Ocean) recently. It is called the “Hunga Tonga Hunga Haapai” volcano. The eruption was huge and loud. Though the volcano was located under water and 2,383 km away, it was heard in Tonga. Also, the eruption created tsunami waves.

About the volcano

The volcano had been erupting for some days now. This was identified through the smell of ammonia and sulphur in some areas. The volcano is located in a seismically active area.

Meteo-tsunami waves

The volcanic eruption created tsunami waves in the nearby beaches and also in the regions around the Pacific. The tsunami waves caused by this type of volcano are called meteo tsunami waves. It is caused due to collapse of a part of the volcano. The meteo – tsunami waves are caused by instant changes in pressure that leads to displacement of large amount of water.

Hunga tonga

It is a volcanic island. It is located in Tonga. Tonga is a Polynesian country. It is an archipelago. It consists of 169 islands. It is surrounded by New Caledonia and Vanuatu in the west, Fiji, Futuna and Wallis in the north west, Niue in the east and Kermadec (New Zealand) in the south west.

China is all set to implement a strategic agreement with Iran, in a bid to strengthen economic and political cooperation between both the countries.

Highlights

• In a meeting, China also reaffirmed its opposition to USA’s sanctions on Iran.
• Announcement for implementing “China-Iran Strategic agreement” was made at a meeting in east China’s Wuxi on January 14, 2022.

China-Iran Strategic agreement

• During the meeting, foreign ministers agreed to step up cooperation in energy, production capacity, infrastructure, science & technology, and medical & health care.
• Bilateral relations will also be expanded to sectors like agriculture, fisheries, third party market, cybersecurity, people-to-people as well as cultural exchanges in film, education, and personnel training.
• They have also agreed to make “adequate arrangements” for setting agreement in motion.

$400 billion agreement

‌‌China and Iran signed a $400 billion agreement on March 27, 2021 by then Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif and Wang. The agreement includes Economic & Cultural interaction between both the countries. It also opens up ways for Iran’s participation in Belt and Road initiative which is an infrastructure project running from East Asia to Europe. The project was launched with the aim of expanding China’s economic and political influence.

The retail inflation in India increased to 5.59% in December 2021. This is the highest in the last five months. The inflation data was released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation.

About the increase in retail inflation

The inflation rate is measured by Consumer Price Index. In December 2020, the retail inflation in India was 4.59%. Later in July 2021, the inflation increased to 5.59%. In October 2021, it was 4.49%. In November 2021, the retail inflation increased to 5.8%. With the December inflation at 5.59%, the Consumer Price Index has remained within the tolerance level set by the RBI. According to the target set by RBI, the inflation level is to remain between 2% and 6%.The target is being maintained for more than two years now.

Current Scenario

The food inflation has increased to 13.35% in November 2021. It was 14.35% in October 2021. In December 2020, the food inflation was 3.41%. The clothing and footwear inflation were at 8.3%. Housing inflation was at 3.61%. Fuel and light inflation was at 10.95%.

Reason for increase: Base effect

The inflation increased because of unfavourable base effect. Base effect happens when the choice of reference or base level impacts the comparison results between data. Say price index is 100, 150 and 200 in the period A, B and C respectively. Assume the increase is 50 in the period A to B. This gives 50% increase. Now the increase in period B to C is same. However, here the increase will be 33.33%. This is due to the large difference in bases, 100 Vs 150. Price Index is the average of prices of goods and services in a region.

On January 17, 2022, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to deliver a special address at the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Davos Agenda.

Highlights

• WEF Davos Agenda event is being held in virtual mode, amid the covid-19 pandemic, from January 17 to 21.
• Event will he addressed by several heads of state, including Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Indonesian President Joko Widodo, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, and EU Commission’s chief Ursua von der Leyen.
• It will also be participated by top industry leaders, international organisations and civil society. They will deliberate on critical challenges that the world is facing today and also discuss ways to address them.

Objective of the annual meeting

WEF virtual meeting will be aligned with the objective of “orienting global leaders on the imperatives of the year ahead”.

Davos Agenda Summit Venue

The WEF has been holding its annual meeting “Davos Agenda Summit” in Swiss ski resort of Davos every year. However, it has been deferred this year, and will be held in virtual mode, amid covid-19 pandemic.

Davos Agenda 2022

• Two virtual summits are expected in the online summit:

1. On Covid-19 and
2. On technology cooperation in the fourth industrial revolution.

• Online summit will also witness sessions on energy transition, Latin America outlook and scaling up climate innovation.
• It is the starting point for the dialogue required for global cooperation in 2022. It will provide crucial insights into several critical challenges, through special addresses.

Union government has started the process of making six airbags mandatory from October 1, 2022. Airbags will be made mandatory for all cars being sold in India.

Highlights

• Government issued a draft notification and asked for public comments and stakeholders’ comments on the proposed rule.
• This notification is a follow-up to appeal made by Union transport minister Nitin Gadkari on August 3, 2021, to car manufacturers for providing 2 airbags across all variants of vehicles, one for the driver and other for co-passenger in front seat.
• Rule for airbags for driver’s seat was made mandatory from July 1, 2019. Rule for one airbag for co-passenger came into effect from January 1, 2022.

GSR notification

Though, many Indian cars have six airbags in their top variants already. Now, government have approved a draft GSR notification for making minimum of 6 airbags compulsory. This decision was taken for minimising the impact of frontal and lateral collisions to the occupants seated in front as well as rear compartments.  4 additional airbags be mandated in M1 vehicle category.

M1 vehicle category refers

M1 vehicle category refers to passenger cars having a maximum of eight seats in addition to driver’s seat. It includes sedans, hatchbacks, MUVs and SUVs.

The Indian Army is to provide new uniform to more than 12 lakh military personnel. Unlike the old uniform, the new uniform has a combat T – shirt underneath.

About the new uniform

The previous uniform has been in use since 2008. The new uniform has the same colour of the older one. That is, earthen shades and olive green colour. The pattern is digital. The new uniform is made of light, sturdy and more breathable fabric. The fabric was chosen considering the different terrains the army men have to cross and serve. The cotton to polyester ratio of the fabric is 70:30. This makes it more comfortable to wear in hot and humid conditions. As compared to the old uniform, the new uniform is 15% lighter and 23% stronger.

Components of style

The army men will not tuck in the new uniform as that of the older uniforms. The shirt to be worn over the T-shirt is called jacket. The jacket has top angular pockets. It also has lower pockets with vertical opening. There is one another pocket on the left sleeve. The knife pleats are located in the back. The jacket also has improved quality buttons and a pen holder on the left fore arm. The trousers of the uniform are double layered at the groin. They are adjustable at the waist with buttons and elasticity. The girth of the caps is adjustable. The army logo printed on the caps is of better quality as compared to the previous uniform.

Women uniforms

No separate uniform for the women officers. However, the uniform has been designed considering the requirements and comfort of the lady personnel. This is the first time such considerations are being made in designing and developing army uniform.

Who designed?

It was designed by a team of twelve designers from National Institute of Fashion Technology. It included seven professors and three students and also two alumni.

On January 17, 2022, the Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal flagged off the first electric bus of the Delhi Transport Corporation. The E – buses are to run on 27 – km long route. These buses were manufactured by the JBM Auto Limited.

About the buses

These electric buses are low floor buses. They are fully air conditioned. These buses were acquired under the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and electric Vehicles in India, that is, FAME – II. The first fleet of 300 buses is ready. First a few electric buses are to run from Pragati Maidan to IP Depot. It is a 27 – km long route. It will cover places like ITO, Safdarjung and Ashram on its way. This is a prototype. This is being flagged off to check how long the batteries in the bus last. It will also check for technical problems. After this test run, the rest of the buses in the fleet will be added.

Target

The Delhi Government has planned to release fifty more electric buses by February 2022. The target is to add fifty electric buses per month. In the pipeline set earlier, the Delhi Government will launch 2,300 electric buses. Of these, 1,300 are to be procured by the DTC. The rest of the thousand is to operate under the cluster scheme.

Charging stations

The Delhi Government is to install charging stations in the bus depots. The charging stations are to be built in phased manner.

National Award for e-Governance 2020-21 (Silver) was recently conferred to Mon District Administration of Nagaland.

Key Facts

• Award was presented at 24th National Conference on e-Governance at Hyderabad.
• Award was handed over to Deputy Commissioner of Mon district, Thavasselan K, by union Minister of State (MoS) Dr. Jitendra Singh.

Objective of the award

The National Award for e-Governance was presented under the category 6 of “Use of ICT in the Management of Covid-19” to Mon district. It was aimed at recognizing the initiatives undertaken by district administration.

Which project was selected for the award?

Project titled “Technology in Aid to Administration” was initiated in Mon district, for mitigating the hardships caused to public while enforcing Covid-19 Appropriate Behaviour (CAB) to restrict the spread of infections. This project is helping in reducing hardship of people, keeping people safe from Covid and increasing effectiveness of administration.

Other entries for the award

A total of 231 entries were received from India in this category. But only two districts were awarded. There were 1377 entries, with top 26 initiatives awarded across six different categories.

National Award for e-Governance

National Award for e-Governance is presented to recognise and promote excellence in implementation of e-Governance initiatives. It is presented during the National conference on e-Governance. It is presented by Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG). The National Award for e-Governance was announced in December 2021. It comprises of a trophy, certificate, and cash prize of Rs. 1 lakh

Under “Chip to Start-up (C2S) Programme”, central government is seeking application from 100 start-ups, MSMEs, R&D organisations and academia to train 85,000 engineers in very-large-scale integration (VLSI) and embedded system design areas.

Chip to Start-up (C2S) Programme

• The C2S programme will result in development of 175 ASICs (application-specific integrated circuits), IP core repository and working prototypes of 20 systems on chips (SoC), for a period of five years.
• It will be a step towards leapfrogging in Electronics System Design & Manufacturing (ESDM) space by infusing the culture of SoC/System Level Design at Bachelors, Masters and Research level.
• It will also help in the growth of Start-ups involved in fabless design.
• The programme also addresses each entity of value chain in electronics namely, quality manpower training, research & development, System design, hardware IPs design, Prototype design, application-oriented R&D, and deployment.

Three categories of the proposals

Under C2S programme, three proposals are invited in three categories, on the basis of institutions’ expertise, technology readiness level (TRL) and design experience:

1. Design and development of SoCs/systems/ASICs/Reusable IP Core(s)
2. Development of application-oriented working prototype of IPs/SoCs/ASICs.
3. Proof of concept-oriented R&D of ASICs/FPGAs.

Which is the nodal agency to implement C2S programme?

The nodal agency for implementation of C2S programme is C-DAC (Centre for Development of Advanced Computing). C-DAC is a scientific society operating under MeitY.