Q1. As per the ‘EIU Global Liveability Index’ 2022, which is the most liveable city in the world?
Vienna
Geneva
Pittsburgh
Auckland
Vienna
The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) launched its annual ranking of the world’s most liveable cities- Global Liveability Index for 2022.
A total of 173 cities were ranked based on a range of criteria, including infrastructure, availability to green space, political stability, crime rates, and health care.
Top three cities
Vienna (Austria)
Copenhagen (Denmark)
Zurich (Switzerland)
Q2. Which state runs the ‘Mo Bus service’ which was recently recognized by the UN’s Public Service Awards?
Odisha
Kerala
Telangana
Tamil Nadu
Odisha
Odisha’s Capital Region Urban Transport (CRUT) authority introduced the Mo Bus Service in 2018 to promote smart technologies and safe transportation for women riders.
It was recently recognised by the UN’s Public Service Awards for 2022.
Q3. T-Hub is a start-up incubator based in which state/UT?
New Delhi
Maharashtra
Tamil Nadu
Telangana
Telangana
Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao recently inaugurated the new facility of business incubator T-Hub in Hyderabad.
T-Hub 2.0 is claimed to be world’s largest innovation campus. The facility will support over 2,000 startups under one roof. Established in 2015, T-Hub (Technology Hub) is an innovation hub and ecosystem enabler based in the city of Hyderabad.
Q4. Which state will host the G-20 summit in 2023?
Uttar Pradesh
Himachal Pradesh
Uttarakhand
Jammu and Kashmir
Jammu and Kashmir
Jammu and Kashmir has been selected by the Ministry for External Affairs (MEA) for meetings during the G-20 summit, to be hosted by India in 2023.
The Jammu and Kashmir government has constituted a five-member high-powered panel for overall coordination of G20 meetings to be held in the union territory. This will be the first major international summit to be held in Jammu and Kashmir after the abrogation of its special status.
Q5. Recently ISRO has launched its PSLV-C53 mission with three Singaporean satellites, being launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota. Sriharikota is a barrier island off the Bay of Bengal coast in
Andhra Pradesh
Kerala
Odisha
West Bengal
Andhra Pradesh
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has launched three satellites from Singapore in its Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C53) mission.
It is being launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota. PSLV-C53 is also the second dedicated mission of NewSpace India Limited (NSIL), a corporate arm of the Department of Space. ISRO has successfully launched the PSLV-C52 mission in February 2022 by injecting Earth Observation Satellite (EOS-04)
Q6. Who has been appointed as the new Chief Executive Officer of NITI Aayog?
Parameswaran Iyer
Ajit Doval
Amitabh Kant
Subash Chandra Garg
Parameswaran Iyer
Parameswaran Iyer, a 1981 IAS officer of Uttar Pradesh cadre has been appointed as the Chief Executive Officer of NITI Aayog.
He is also the former Secretary of the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation, who led the Swachh Bharat Mission.
Q7.Raghurajpur is famous for which of the following types of paintings?
Madhubani
Pattachitra
Kalamkari Paintings
Warli Art
Pattachitra
Pattachitra painting is the traditional painting of Odisha and West Bengal. These scroll paintings trace their origin to 12th century. They mainly depict Hindu mythology and are closely related to Jagannath and Vaishnava sect.
Q8. ‘CAPSTONE’ satellite was recently launched by which space agency?
NewSpace India Limited (NSIL)
Rocosmos
NASA
SpaceX
NASA
NASA has recently launched a 25-kg satellite ‘CAPSTONE’, which is short for Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment.
The satellite is designed to test a unique and elliptical lunar orbit. CAPSTONE will enter an elongated orbit called a near rectilinear halo orbit (NRHO). It will provide data about operating in an NRHO and showcase key technologies.
Q9. Who has sworn in as the new Chief Minister of Maharashtra?
Devendra Fadnavis
Vinayak Raut
Eknath Shinde
Pravin Darekar
Eknath Shinde
Shiv Sena rebel leader Eknath Shinde sworn in as Maharashtra CM while BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis sworn in as the Deputy Chief Minister.
Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari administered the oath of office and secrecy to the leaders.
Q10. Who is appointed as the President of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF)?
Urjit Patel
T Raja Kumar
Dr. Raghuram Rajan
Dr. D. Subbarao
T Raja Kumar
T Raja Kumar of Singapore has been appointed as the president of Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the anti-money laundering watchdog.
He has replaced Marcus Pleyer and will discharge his service for next two years. As per FATF, the President will focus on enhancing the effectiveness of global anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing measures, improving asset recovery and other initiatives.
Q11. Which Union Ministry released the ‘States’ Start-ups Ranking 2021’?
Ministry of Commerce and Industry
Ministry of Corporate Affairs
Ministry of Foreign Trade
Ministry of Finance
Ministry of Commerce and Industry
The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Ministry of Commerce and Industry has released ‘Start-ups Ranking 2021’.
Gujarat, Karnataka and Meghalaya were categorised as best performers
Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Mizoram and Ladakh have an emerging start-up ecosystem. Kerala, Maharashtra, Odisha, Telangana and Jammu and Kashmir were ranked as the top performers.
Q12. The institution in India to issue ‘Electoral bonds’ is
Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation
Election Commission of India
RBI
State Bank of India
State Bank of India
The government has approved the issuance of the 21st phase of sale of electoral bonds through authorised SBI branches from July 1.
State Bank of India (SBI) is the only authorised institution to issue and encash Electoral Bonds through its 29 Authorized Branches. The Electoral bonds are interest-free bearer instruments, which can be encashed by the party through a Bank account within 15 days.
Q13. The recently instituted Dr. Rajendra Prasad Memorial Award is associated with which field?
Science & Technology Innovation
Entrepreneurship
Social Service
Public Administration
Public Administration
Union Ministery of Science and Technology Dr. Jitendra Singh announced setting up of Dr. Rajendra Prasad Memorial Award in public administration in the field of academic excellence.
He announced the award in memory of the first President of India, while he chaired the meeting of Executive Council of Indian Institute of Public Administration (IIPA) in New Delhi.
Q14. The recently adopted Lisbon Declaration is associated with the conservation of which entity?
Oceans
Poles Glaciers
Air
Mountains
Oceans
The UN Ocean Conference 2022 concluded with the unanimous adoption of the Lisbon Declaration “Our Ocean, our future, our responsibility.”
The Lisbon Declaration takes into account the capacity challenges being faced by the developing countries, mainly the Small Island Developing States and Least Developing Countries.
Q15. Which group of nations recently issued a statement title ‘2022 Resilient Democracies Statement’?
UNGA
G-7
QUAD
BRICS
G-7
Leaders of the powerful G7 grouping and its five partner countries, including India issued a joint statement titled ‘2022 Resilient Democracies Statement’.
The leaders affirmed that they are committed to open public debate and the free flow of information online and offline while guarding the freedom, independence and diversity of civil society actors.
Government of Assam approves identification of five Muslim sub-groups as indigenous Assamese Muslim communities.
The government of Assam approved the identification of five Assamese Muslim sub-groups as indigenous Assamese Muslim communities.
These include Goriyas, Moriyas, Julhas, Deshis, and Syeds as indigenous Assamese Muslim communities.
The decision to identify five sub-groups as indigenous was taken in line with recommendations of seven sub-groups/committees formed by the state government last year to discuss issues concerning Assamese Muslim community.
The ‘indigenous’ status to Assamese-speaking Muslim communities will distinguish them from Bengali-speaking Muslims, who migrated from East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) to Assam.
This classification has been a long-standing demand of Assamese Muslim communities. The classification is also important because to identify the people from minority communities who are the original residents of Assam and have not migrated to the state.
Delhi will host a world-class ‘Delhi Shopping Festival’ in 2023
Delhi will host its first ever world-class ‘Delhi Shopping Festival’ from January 28 to February 26, 2023. This major announcement was made by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.
The Delhi Shopping Festival was one of the ambitious projects proposed in the Rozgaar Budget 2022-23 presented by deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia in March this year.
About the festival
The festival will be organised from January 28-February 26, 2022.
The festival will have a special opening and closing ceremony.
All major markets and malls will be decorated. It will offer an unparalleled shopping experience to people.
There will be at least 200 concerts over the span of 30 days.
Exhibitions will be organised on different themes including spirituality, gaming, technology, health and wellness.
The festival will have a lot to offer for the youth, children and families.
All markets and shops will offer heavy discounts on products during this festival.
There will be a lot of entertainment programmes involving top artists from across the country.
Odisha has ranked number one in State Ranking Index for NFSA 2022
Recently, the Union Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution has released the 1st edition of ‘State Ranking Index for NFSA’.
Key Points
Odisha bagged the first position for implementation of the National Food Security Act (NFSA). Uttar Pradesh is ranked second and Andhra Pradesh is ranked third.
Tripura secured number one, Himachal Pradesh second and Sikkim is at the third position among special category states for the implementation of the National Food Security Act.
Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu scored the highest in terms of coverage, targeting and implementing provisions of NFSA.
Bihar, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana had the best delivery platform displaying the efficiency of the TPDS supply chain.
About National Food Security Act (NFSA)
The National Food Security Act (NFSA) was enacted on July 5, 2013.
It is an Indian Act of Parliament which aims to provide subsidized food grains.
Its aim is to ensure that everyone everywhere has enough good-quality food to lead a healthy life at affordable prices.
It includes the Midday Meal Scheme, Integrated Child Development Services scheme and the Public Distribution System.
The Act legally entitled up to 75% of the rural population and 50% of the urban population to receive subsidized food grains under the Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS).
The Act ensures nutritional support to women and children. Pregnant and lactating women would be entitled to nutritious meals, free of charge under the MDM and ICDS schemes.
The Act covers two-thirds of the entire population under two categories of beneficiaries: Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) households Priority Households (PHH).
Tanuja Nesari was awarded with the Ayurveda Ratna Award by the UK Parliament
Tanuja Nesari, Director of All India Institute of Ayurveda (AIIA) was awarded with the Ayurveda Ratna Award by the UK Parliament.
The UK’s All-Party Parliamentary Group on Indian Traditional Sciences (ITSappg) conferred the award for her contribution to promoting the growth of Ayurveda in India and abroad.
She has been honoured for her exceptional service of the highest order for the promotion of Ayurveda.
The All-Party Parliamentary Group on Indian Traditional Sciences was formed in 2014 with an aim to spread the knowledge of Ayurveda, Yoga, Jyotish, Vastu, Unani and Sangeetam in United Kingdom and abroad.
States’ Start-up Ranking 2021 released
The Ministry of Commerce and Industry has released the 3rd edition of Ranking of States on Support to Startup Ecosystems.
The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry has been conducting the States’ Start-up Ranking Exercise since 2018. The main objective is to facilitate the ease of building a start-up and doing business across the country.
Key Points
Evaluation Parameters: participants were evaluated across 7 broad Reform Areas consisting of 26 Action Points like–
Institutional Support
Fostering Innovation and Entrepreneurship
Access to Market
Incubation support
Funding Support
Mentorship Support
Capacity Building of Enablers
Participation: A total of 24 states and 7 Union Territories participated in the States’ Startup Ranking 2021 exercise. In States’ Startup Ranking 2020 exercise, only 25 states and UTs participated.
Categorization: For the purposes of the States’ Startup Ranking, States and Union Territories are classified into 5 Categories, viz.
Best Performers
Top Performers
Leaders
Aspiring Leaders
Emerging Start-up Ecosystems
States’ Startup Ranking 2021 Results
Gujarat and Karnataka appeared as the Best Performers in the States category.
Meghalaya top among UTs and North-eastern States category.
Kerala, Maharashtra, Orissa and Telangana won the Top Performers award among states category.
Jammu and Kashmir appeared as the Top Performer among UTs and NE states category.
Assam, Punjab, Tamil Nādu, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh were adjudged the winners in the Leaders category among states.
Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Arunachal Pradesh and Goa bagged the Leaders honour among the UTs and NE states.
Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan were declared as Aspiring Leadersamong the States.
Chandigarh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli & Daman and Diu, Himachal Pradesh, Manipur, Nagaland, Puducherry and Tripura were the Aspiring Leaders from the UTs and NE states.
Andhra Pradesh and Bihar from States category and Mizoram and Ladakh from the UTs/NE States were clubbed under the Emerging Start-up Ecosystem.
Michelle Poonawalla bags the coveted Shiromani Award
Michelle Poonawalla received the coveted Shromani Award at the NRI World Summit 2022, the United Kingdom for her contribution to the field of Art.
Poonawalla also unveiled her artwork at JMS Foundation Charity Gala Dinner at The Dorchester in London. Her film ‘Reserve’ marks water scarcity as a global crisis and accentuated pollution and contamination of water reserves.
The Shiromani Award was also awarded to Shri Sadhu Bhramvihari, Lord Rami Ranger, Rita Hinduja Chhabria, Dr. Kamel Hothi OBE and Falguni Shane Peacock.
Shiromani Award
The Shiromani Award was formed in 1977.
The award has been bestowed on Mother Teresa, Chief Marshal Manekshaw, Raj Kapoor, Sunil Gavaskar, Sachin Tendulkar, Kapil Dev, PT Usha, Leander Paes, Vishwanathan Anand, The Dalai Lama, Jaya Bachchan and Asha Bhosle in the past.
NITI Aayog and World Food Program have released a report titled ‘Take Home Ration-Good Practices across the State/Union Territories’.
The report presents a set of good and innovative practices adopted in the implementation of the Take Home Ration value chain by the States and UTs.
Key Points
In this report, various good practices at the State/UTs level have been identified and are documented which would serve as a guidebook to policymakers and administrators in strengthening their Take-Home Ration system.
Take-Home ration is provided by Government of India, under Supplementary Nutrition component of Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS).
It is provided to fill the gap in nutrition among children as well as Pregnant and Lactating Women (PLW).
To generate a document on good practices under the programme, aspects related to production, distribution, formulation, packaging, labelling, quality assurance, monitoring, and social & behavioural change have been reviewed.
This document will help in adopting good practices in Take-Home Ration programmes across states and UTs.
Recommendations made by the report:
In order to realize the full potential of the THR, all components of this value chain need to function at optimum.
Building a robust system for procurement, supply chain management and monitoring that ensures complete transparency, standardized process, sustainability, full coverage, leverages local ties, fosters a culture of collaboration and builds trust within a community.
About World Food Program
The World Food Program was founded in 1961 by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) headquartered in Rome, Italy.
It is the food-assistance branch of the United Nations.
It is the world’s largest humanitarian organization in the world, saving lives in times of need and utilising food aid to help people recover from war, natural disasters, and the effects of climate change create a road to peace, stability, and prosperity.
The WFP was given the Nobel Peace Prize in 2020 for its efforts to provide food assistance in areas of conflict, and to prevent the use of food as a weapon of war and conflict.
It is is an executive member of the United Nations Sustainable Development Group.
India’s Largest Floating Solar Power Project Commissioned
Recently, the National Thermal Power Corporation(NTPC) has commissioned India’s largest floating solar power project at Ramagundam, Telangana.
Key Points
It is a 100-megawatt(MW) floating solar power photovoltaic project commissioned by the National Thermal Power Corporation(NTPC).
It is endowed with advanced technology as well as environment friendly features.
The floating platform comprises a transformer, inverter and a HT breaker.
The project spreads over 500 acres of its reservoir divided into 49 blocks and each block has a capacity of 2.5MW and each block comprises one floating platform and a matrix of 11,200 solar modules.
The solar modules are kept on floaters which are manufactured with HDPE (High Density Polyethylene) material.
Benefits of this project
Minimum land requirement mostly for associated evacuation arrangements.
With the presence of floating solar panels, the evaporation rate from water bodies is reduced, thus helping in water conservation.
The water body underneath the solar modules helps in maintaining their ambient temperature, thereby improving their efficiency and generation.
World Cities Report 2022
Recently, United Nations-Habitat(UN-Habitat) has released the World Cities Report 2022.
Key Points
The UN-Habitat World Cities Report 2022 highlights that, rapid urbanization in India was delayed temporarily due to the covid-19 pandemic.
According to the report, the urban population in India is estimated to reach 675 million in 2035. It will be the second-highest figure, behind China’s one billion.
In lower income countries, existing urban populations continuing to increase naturally with increasing birth rates. Urban population is expected to grow from 56 percent of the world’s total in 2021 to 68 per cent by 2050.
In last two decades, India and China experienced rapid urbanisation and economic growth which led to massive reduction in the number of people living in poverty.
India’s urban population is likely to reach 675,456,000 in 2035, as compared to 483,099,000 in 2020.
The percentage of the population in urban areas of India will be 43.2 percent, by 2035.
About UN-Habitat
The United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) was established in 1978 headquartered at the United Nations Office at Nairobi, Kenya.
It is a member of the United Nations Development Group.
It is the United Nations programme for human settlements and sustainable urban development.
It is mandated by the United Nations General Assembly to promote socially and environmentally sustainable towns and cities with the goal of providing adequate shelter for all.
IIE, Guwahati signs MoU with IIM, Shillong to boost entrepreneurship ecosystem in North Eastern Region
The Indian Institute of Entrepreneurship (IIE), Guwahati, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Incubation and Enterprise Support Centre of Indian Institute of Management Shillong (IIMS) to boost the entrepreneurial ecosystem in the North Eastern Region (NER).
Objectives
To encourage entrepreneurship, incubation, and startups in the North Eastern Region.
To support professional development in the areas of management, entrepreneurship, and skill development.
To meet the larger demand for capacity building and entrepreneurship promotion in the North Eastern Region.
By collaborating on this initiative, both institutes will benefit from each other’s strengths in promoting skill development in the NER and the country at large.
The institutes will together conduct certified courses on entrepreneurship development and also train startups and incubates under the Incubation and Enterprise Support Centre, IIM Shillong. They will also promote educational lectures, workshops, exhibitions, and other knowledge dissemination programmes in the region.
ISRO launches PSLV-C53 satellites
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully launched the PSLV-C53 with three Singapore Satellites onboard.
Key Points
PSLV-C53 is the second dedicated commercial mission of New Space India Limited (NSIL), the commercial arm of ISRO. This was ISRO’s 55th mission of PSLV.
The rocket placed the three customer satellites in the precise orbit of 570 km with a 10 degree inclination.
The four-stage, 44.4-metre-tall rocket had a lift-off mass of 228.433 tonnes.
The launch vehicle has carried three satellites – DS-EO, a 365 kg and NeuSAR, a 155 kg satellite and 2.8 kg Scoob-1 satellite.
DS-EO carries an Electro-Optic, multi-spectral payload which will provide full colour images for land classification, and for serving humanitarian assistance and disaster relief needs.
NeuSAR satellite will provide images in day and night and under all weather conditions and the Scoob-I satellite is the first satellite in the Student Satellite Series (S3-I), which is a hands-on student training programme.
Forest (Conservation) Rules, 2022
Recently, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) has issued the Forest (Conservation) Rules, 2022, under the Forest (conservation) Act, 1980.
Provisions of Forest (conservation) Rules 2022
It constituted an Advisory Committee, a regional empowered committee and a screening committee at each of the integrated regional offices and a screening committee at State/Union Territory (UT) government-level.
The Advisory Committee is restricted to advise or recommend with regards to grant of approval under relevant sections in respect of proposals referred to it and any matter connected with the conservation of forests referred to it by the Central government.
Integrated Regional Office will be set up to examine all the linear projects (Highways and roads) on land up to 40 hectares and those projects using forest land up to 0.7 canopy density. These rules provide for a fixed time for reviewing each project quickly.
States are given the responsibility of settling forest rights of forest dwellers (Forest Rights Act, 2006) and allowing diversion of forest land. They will also allow diversion of forest land.
Compensatory afforestation (CA) will now be allowed in other states. If the state already has over two-thirds area under green cover or over one-third area under forest cover, then CA could be taken in other states/UTs where the cover is less than 20%.
The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) has also proposed the removal of imprisonment as a penalty for the “less severe’’ contraventions and replace it with a monetary penalty. However, serious violations of EPA which lead to grievous injury or loss of life shall be covered under the provision of Indian Penal Code.
Sini Shetty crowned Femina Miss India 2022
Karnataka’s Sini Sadanand Shetty won the Femina Miss India 2022. She will now represent India at the 71st Miss World pageant.
Sini Shetty hails from Karnataka. Shetty was born in Mumbai in 2001. The 21-yr-old, who holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting and financing, is currently pursuing a course in Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA).
Femina Miss India 2022’s first runner-up is Rubal Shekhawat from Rajasthan, while the second runner-up is Shinata Chauhan, who hails from Uttar Pradesh.
Femina Miss India 2022 was the 58th edition of the Femina Miss India beauty pageant.
Raja Kumar has been appointed as the president of Financial Action Task Force (FATF)
T. Raja Kumar has been recently appointed as the president of Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the anti-money laundering watchdog.
Raja Kumar, who hails from Singapore has replaced Marcus Pleyer. He will discharge his service for next two years.
He has been working against global terror financing for quite a long time. As soon as he took over the charge, he presented his objectives for the coming Plenary period (July 2022 -June 2024) to strengthen the FATF.
During the Singapore Presidency, the FATF will continue its core work of identifying and analysing money laundering and terrorist financing methods and trends, developing and refining the FATF Standards, and evaluating and supporting the assessments of countries within the Global Network.
About Financial Action Task Force
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) is an intergovernmental organisation. Headquarters at Paris, France.
It is also known by its French name, Groupe d’action financière (GAFI).
It was founded in 1989 on the initiative of the G7 to develop policies to combat money laundering.
The objectives of FATF are to set standards and promote effective implementation of legal, regulatory and operational measures for combating money laundering, terrorist financing and other related threats to the integrity of the international financial system.
In 2001, its mandate was expanded to include terrorism financing.
