PREFACE
It gives us great pleasure to release the monthly edition of the PRAVAHINI - Monthly e-Compendium & Weekly e-Periodicals of Current Affairs. The magazine’s members have shown considerable cooperation as well as devotion. We at successmantra.in work tirelessly to create this magazine and bring it to you with a great sense of gratitude.
The PRAVAHINI January-2022 eBook covers the current events that happened in the month of January. Current Affairs is a crucial component of any competitive exams including CLAT, AILET, DU-LLB, HM, CAT, IAS, PCS, SSC, Banking, MBA and various other competitive examinations.
Current Affairs play the bigger role in many competitive and government exams. It holds the power of making or breaking your chance of success. Therefore, the candidates should cover the Current Affairs thoroughly and smartly.
The PRAVAHINI January-2022 eBook is divided into different sections keeping in mind the need of various exams. The sections covered namely International, National, Economy, Ecology and Environment, Science & Technology, Legal Affairs, Sports, States News Makers and few others.
We would also be pleased to receive any suggestion that could assist us with the upcoming editions.
Success Mantra (GTB Nagar, Delhi)
Website: www.successmantra.in
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. National Affairs
2. International Affairs
3. Appointments
4. Awards And Honors
5. Important Dates & Sports
6. Reports And Indexes
7. Science & Technology
NATIONAL AFFAIRS
50TH STATEHOOD DAY OF MANIPUR, TRIPURA & MEGHALAYA
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 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.
Formation: In 1947, the north eastern region of India comprised Assam plains, North Eastern Frontier Tracts and hill districts.
Later in 1949, the princely states 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 the 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.
Tripura: The Hindu Bengali people are the major ethno – linguistic people in Tripura. 30% of the Tripura population is made of scheduled tribes.
Kokborok is the major ethnic language of Tripura. Around 19 tribes speak the language. Climate of Tripura is tropical savannah.
Manipur: The other names of Manipur are Sanaleibak and Kangleipak. Manipur holds three million populations. This includes Kuki, Meetei, Pangal and Naga.
In 1949, the Maharaja of Manipur Budhachandra signed the Treaty of Accession and merged Manipur with India.
The main language of Manipur is Meetelion. It is also called Manipuri. They also speak Sino – Tibetan languages.
Meghalaya: Meghalaya means “Abode of Clouds”. The districts of Assam namely Garo, Khasi and Jaintia hills joined together to form Meghalaya. 70% of the state is covered by forest. The state is the wettest region in India
ASSAM-MEGHALAYA BORDER DISPUTE
Ahead of Meghalaya’s 50th Statehood Day celebration on 21st January, the Home Minister is expected to seal the final agreement to end the dispute in six areas of the Assam-Meghalaya boundary.
Assam and Meghalaya share an 885-km-long border. As of now, there are 12 points of dispute along their borders.
The Assam-Meghalaya border dispute are the areas of Upper Tarabari, Gazang reserve forest, Hahim, Langpih, Borduar, Boklapara, Nongwah, Matamur, Khanapara-Pilangkata, Deshdemoreah Block I and Block II, Khanduli and Retacherra.
Meghalaya was carved out of Assam under the Assam Reorganisation Act, 1971, a law that it challenged, leading to disputes.
A major point of contention between Assam and Meghalaya is the district of Langpih in West Garo Hills bordering the Kamrup district of Assam.
Langpih was part of the Kamrup district during the British colonial period but post-Independence, it became part of the Garo Hills and Meghalaya.
Assam considers it to be part of the Mikir Hills in Assam. Meghalaya has questioned Blocks I and II of the Mikir Hills -now Karbi Anglong region - being part of Assam.
Meghalaya says these were parts of erstwhile United Khasi and Jaintia Hills districts.
Assam and Border Issues:
The states of the Northeast were largely carved out of Assam, which has border disputes with several states. Assam's border disputes with Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland are pending in the Supreme Court.
Assam's border disputes with Mizoram are currently in the phase of resolution through negotiations.
NATIONAL TECHNICAL TEXTILES MISSION
Recently, the Ministry of Textiles cleared 20 strategic research projects worth Rs 30 crores in the areas of Specialty fibers and Geotextiles under the Programme ‘National Technical Textiles Mission.’
Technical textiles are functional fabrics that have applications across various industries including automobiles, civil engineering and construction, agriculture, healthcare, industrial safety, personal protection etc.
Technical Textile products derive their demand from development and industrialization in a country.
Based on usage, there are 12 technical textile segments: Agrotech, Meditech, Buildtech, Mobiltech, Clothtech, Oekotech, Geotech, Packtech, Hometech, Protech, Indutech and Sportech.
For example, ‘mobiltech’ refers to products in vehicles such as seat belts and airbags, airplane seats; geotech, which is incidentally the fastest growing sub-segment, used to hold back soil, etc.
It was approved in 2020 by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) with the aim to position the country as a global leader in technical textiles and increase the use of technical textiles in the domestic market.
It aims at taking the domestic market size from USD 40 billion to USD 50 billion by 2024.
Ministry: A Mission Directorate is operational in the Ministry of Textiles.
SC EXPANDED MEANING OF VULNERABLE WITNESSES
Recently, the Supreme Court (SC) expanded the meaning of vulnerable witnesses to also include among others sexual assault victims, those with mental illness and people with speech or hearing impairment.
The SC referred to a verdict of 1996 in which it had passed similar directions, then in 2004 and in 2017, when it had asked all the High Courts of the country to adopt the guidelines prepared by the Delhi High Court in 2017 for vulnerable witnesses.
Vulnerable Witnesses: Vulnerable witnesses will not be limited to mean only child witnesses. It will also include
• Age-neutral victims of sexual assault.
• Gender-neutral victims of sexual assault, under section 377 IPC (unnatural offences).
Witnesses suffering from mental illness as defined in Mental Healthcare Act, 2017. Witnesses with threat perception and any speech or hearing impaired individual or person suffering from any other disability.
Vulnerable Witness Deposition Centre (VWDC): The SC directed that all High Court’s (HC) adopt and notify a Vulnerable Witness Deposition Centre (VWDC) scheme within a period of two months.
VWDC will provide a safe and barrier-free environment for recording the evidence of vulnerable witnesses.
The SC asked HC’s to ensure that there is one VWDC in each district. These VDWC should be established in close proximity to Alternate Dispute Resolution (ADR) centres.
Witness Protection in India
In 2018, the SC approved the Witness Protection Scheme 2018 which aimed at enabling a witness to depose fearlessly and truthfully. Under the Judgement, SC held that:
Right of witnesses to testify freely in courts is part of Article 21 (Right to Life). The scheme will be the law under Article 141/142 of the Constitution of India.
The bench has also asked all States and UTs to set up vulnerable witness deposition complexes.
While the scheme is pending in the Parliament, the SC had ordered to implement the scheme immediately in all the states and the scheme would be the law of the land.
CHHATTISGARH GOVT. LAUNCHED ROZGAR MISSION
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.
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.
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 the minor forest produce federation of the state.
Unemployment in Chhattisgarh: According to a 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.
INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS
ALIKHAN SMAILOV AS NEW PM OF KAZAKHSTAN
The parliament of Kazakhstan has unanimously approved the appointment of Alikhan Smailov as the new Prime Minister of the country.
His name was nominated by Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev on January 11, 2022.
Prior to this, the 49-year-old Smailov served as the country’s finance minister from 2018 to 2020. He became the first deputy prime minister in the Cabinet in 2019.
• Kazakhstan Capital: Nur-Sultan.
• Kazakhstan Currency: Kazakhstani tenge.
NATO-RUSSIA COUNCIL TALKS OVER UKRAINE
Recently, the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) and Russia discussed the ongoing situation in Ukraine and its implications for security in Europe at the NATO-Russia Council (NRC) in Brussels.
Talks between representatives of NATO and Russia concluded without a clear outcome.
NATO-Russia Council: NRC was established at the NATO-Russia Summit in Rome (Rome Declaration) on 28 May 2002.
It replaced the Permanent Joint Council (PJC), a forum for consultation and cooperation created by the 1997 NATO-Russia Founding Act on Mutual Relations.
The NRC is a mechanism for consultation, consensus-building, cooperation, joint decision and joint action, in which the individual NATO member states and Russia work as equal partners on a wide spectrum of security issues of common interest.
Highlights of the Meet: NATO rejected Russia's demand for a new security settlement in Europe, challenging Russia to withdraw troops deployed near Ukraine and join talks on reducing the threat of open conflict.
For the US and EU, Ukraine acts as a significant buffer with Russia. Ukraine is also building a naval base in Ochakiv and another in Berdyansk, which Russia is not happy about.
The Western allies received no promise that Russia will stand down its forces — which Moscow insists pose no threat to its already partially occupied neighbour — despite the threat of economic sanctions
INDIA & PHILIPPINES BRAHMOS EXPORT ORDER
India and Philippines are expected to sign a $374.9 million deal in the last week of January 2022, for ‘BrahMos shore-based supersonic cruise missile systems’ supply.
This deal will be signed as part of Philippines’ plan to strengthen its defence amid territorial conflict with China. The deal would involve an unspecified number of missiles & launchers, payment schedule, spare parts, and delivery & training schedule.
Prior to this, the Philippines' Department of National Defence published a ‘Notice of Award’, asking BrahMos to sign the contract.
This means, the Philippines has accepted the Indian proposal and is now looking to sign the contract. To sign the deal, an Indian delegation is scheduled to visit Manila. With this deal, first export order for the BrahMos cruise missile will be made, which has a range of 290 km.
This deal is for a shore-based variant of the anti-ship missile system. It will help in boosting Philippines’ defence capability, in the backdrop of increasing Chinese aggression.
INDIAN & RUSSIAN NAVY UNDERTOOK PASSEX EXERCISE
Indian Navy and Russian Navy undertook PASSEX exercises at the port of Cochin, in the Arabian Sea.
The Indian Navy’s indigenously designed and built guided-missile destroyer, INS Kochi, took part in the exercise. The Russian Federation Navy was represented by RFS Admiral Tributs.
Two other Russian naval ships, Russian Naval Missile Cruiser Varyag, and Russian Tanker Boris Butoma were also accompanied.
The exercise showcased cohesiveness and interoperability between the two navies and included tactical manoeuvres, cross-deck helicopter operations and seamanship activities.
About the exercises: These exercises are aimed at enhancing interoperability, improving understanding and imbibing best practices between both the friendly navies, and this will involve advanced surface and anti-submarine warfare exercises, weapon firings, seamanship exercises and helicopter operations, Navy officials said, adding that these exercises are conducted regularly with units of friendly foreign navies, whilst visiting each other’s ports or during a rendezvous at sea.
PM MODI ADDRESSED WEF'S DAVOS AGENDA SUMMIT
India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi has addressed the World Economic Forum’s (WEF’s) Davos Agenda Summit 2022, through video-conferencing.
The “Davos Agenda 2022” summit is being held digitally from January 17 to January 21, 2022, due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The theme of the event is “The State of the World.”
The week-long digital summit will begin with a special address by Chinese President Xi Jinping.
The ‘Davos Agenda 2022’ will be the first global platform for Heads of state and government as well as CEOs and other leaders to share their visions for 2022 on critical collective challenges and how to address them.
This is the second consecutive year that the event is being held virtually.
• World Economic Forum Founded: January 1971.
• World Economic Forum Founder & Executive Chairman: Klaus Schwab.
• World Economic Forum Headquarters: Cologny, Switzerland.
INDONESIA TO MOVE ITS CAPITAL TO NUSANTARA
Indonesia will move its capital to mineral-rich East Kalimantan, an Indonesian province on the island of Borneo.
The name of the new capital will be Nusantara, which means “archipelago” in Javanese. It will be based in the regions of North Penajam Paser and Kutai Kartanegara. The new project is likely to cost around 466 trillion rupiah ($32 billion).
The heavily populated city of Jakarta is home to 10 million people (30 million if you include the greater metropolitan area) and has been facing the growing issue with the overuse of groundwater by home drilling due to large-scale city developments.
The problem is worsened when combined with rising sea levels. This shift of development is set to slow down the rate at which Jakarta sinks into the Java Sea.
ECONOMIC AFFAIRS
INDIA-UK FREE TRADE DEAL TALKS
On January 13, 2022, the UK government announced the launch of free trade agreement (FTA) negotiations with India.
This move is being described as a golden opportunity, of putting British businesses at the front of the Indian economy.
FTA is likely to take UK’s historic partnership with India to the next level.
With this FTA, sectors like Scotch whisky, financial services and cutting-edge renewable technology are set to benefit.
India-UK FTA is believed to create huge benefits for both countries. It has the potential to boost bilateral trade by GBP 28 billion a year by 2035.
The deal will also help in increasing the wages by GBP 3 billion across the UK.
Under the FTA, two trading partners significantly reduce or eliminate the import duties on the maximum number of goods traded between them.
India has a strong historical tie with the UK. Presently, the UK is one of the most important trading partners of India.
The UK is significant for India as an FDI investor, after Mauritius and Singapore which have been ranked second and first respectively.
Among G20 countries, the UK is also one among the largest investors in India. Bilateral trade between both the countries was 15.5 billion USD in 2019-20 as opposed to 16.87 USD billion in 2018-19.
India engages with the UK in sectors including textiles, pharma, leather, furniture, industrial machinery, and toys. India is further looking to the UK to support it with technology-based products like medical devices, automobiles and high-quality cameras.
PIERRE OLIVIER REPLACED GOPINATH AS IMF ECONOMIST
French-born economist Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas has been named as the next chief economist of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
He will succeed Gita Gopinath, the first woman to serve as the Fund’s chief economist.
He will take over as first deputy managing director of IMF from January 21 2022.
Initially, Gourinchas will join the IMF on a part-time basis from January 24, 2022. He will take upon a role on a full-time basis from April 1, 2022.
• International Monetary Fund Formed: 27 December 1945.
• International Monetary Fund Headquarters: Washington D.C., USA.
• International Monetary Fund Member countries: 190.
• International Monetary Fund Managing Director: Kristalina Georgieva.
TRADE VALUE B/W INDIA & CHINA
In 2021, the trade value between India and China was estimated to be over 125 billion dollars. India imported 100 billion dollars from China.
The majority of the import requests were for machinery. In 2021, India's trade deficit with China was 69.4 billion dollars.
This represents a 22 percent increase over the trade deficit in 2019. In 2021, overall imports from China outstripped total trade between the two countries.
India's imports from China increased by 20% in 2019 compared to the previous year. On either hand, India's exports to China surged by 56% between 2019 and 2021.
In 2021, India's exports to China totaled USD 28.1 billion. Nonetheless, India imports 100 billion dollars from China.
Though exports have increased significantly, they still appear to be insufficient. Cotton, iron ore, and raw material-based commodities were the top Indian exports to China in 2021.
Supplies such as air concentrators, active medicinal components, semiconductor devices, and electrical batteries are electrical and mechanical machinery examples.
The China General Administration of Customs has provided data on commerce between India and China (GAC). Chinese officials warned of global supply chain disruptions. This could be caused by Omicron.
FDI FLOWS TO INDIA FALLS BY 26% IN 2021: UNCTAD
Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) flows to India fell by 26 per cent in 2021, compared to 2020, as per the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) Investment Trends Monitor published.
In 2020, FDI to India was recorded at USD 64 billion. This was 27 per cent more compared to USD 51 billion in FDI in 2019.
UNCTAD said that low FDI in India was mainly because large cross-border mergers & acquisitions (M&A) deals recorded in 2020 were not repeated.
The global FDI flows increased by 77 per cent to an estimated USD 1.65 trillion in 2021, from USD 929 billion in 2020.
APPOINTMENTS
RBI'S URJIT PATEL APPOINTED IN AIIB
Mr. Patel will serve three-year tenure as one of the multilateral development bank's five vice presidents, succeeding former Gujarat Chief Secretary D.J. Pandian, who led the AIIB's investment operations as well as all sovereign and non-sovereign loans in South and Southeast Asia as Vice President.
Since its establishment in Beijing in 2015, the AIIB has granted more loans for India than any other member.
China is the company's largest stakeholder, followed by India. Its 104 members do not include the United States or Japan.
The AIIB has invested $6.7 billion in 28 projects in India. Apart from infrastructure, it has recently emphasised green projects and assisting public health activities during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Under the ADB's Asia Pacific Vaccine Access Facility (APVAX) project, India asked for loans from the AIIB and the ADB in October to purchase 667 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines, with the ADB likely to lend $1.5 billion and the AIIB roughly $500 million.
RAGHUVENDRA TANWAR APPOINTED AS CHAIRMAN OF ICHR
Professor emeritus, Kurukshetra University, Raghuvendra Tanwar has been appointed as chairman of the Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR).
Tanwar appointment is for a period of three years from the day he assumes the office of the Chairman of the Council or until further order.
Tanwar, who joined Kurukshetra University as a lecturer in August 1977, has an outstanding academic record, with two gold medals in MA History.
About the ICHR: The primary aim and objective of the Indian Council of Historical Research is to promote and give directions to historical research and to encourage and foster objective and scientific writing of history.
Enhancing the academic standard of the output of ICHR activities has been the foremost objective in it’s agenda.
• Indian Council of Historical Research Founded: 27 March 1972.
• Indian Council of Historical Research Headquarters: New Delhi.
AWARDS & HONOURS
GOLDEN GLOBE AWARDS 2022 ANNOUNCED
The Golden Globe Awards 2022 ceremony was held to recognise excellence in film, both American and international, and American television.
This was the 79th edition of the annual event, which honoured the best in American television, as well as film in 2021 as chosen by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association.
Two of the films namely The Power of the Dog and the West Side Story, won the most number of awards with 3 each.
List of winners in the Motion Picture category:
• Best Film (Drama): The Power of the Dog
• Best Film (Musical or Comedy): West Side Story
• Best Actor (Drama): Will Smith for King Richard as Richard Williams
• Best Actress (Drama): Nicole Kidman for Being the Ricardos as Lucille Ball
NATIONAL STARTUP AWARDS 2021
National Startup Awards 2021 is the second edition of the award ceremony, conceived by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT).
A total of 46 Startups have been recognized as winners of the National Startup Awards 2021 along with 1 incubator and 1 accelerator, by the Government of India. They have been felicitated for their contribution in their respective sectors.
Some winners in the list:
State-wise, Karnataka bagged the highest number of awards, which included 14 out of 46 national startup awards.
In the fintech category’s financial inclusion sub-sector, Bengaluru-based Naffa Innovations Private Limited (ToneTag) was declared the winner.
In the fintech category’s insurance sub-sector, Umbo Id Tech Private Limited won the award. In the Robotics sub-sector, Sagar Defence was declared the winner.
In the women-led start-up category, Jaipur-headquartered Frontier Markets was honoured.
Key points of the award: Over 2,177 applications were invited across 15 sectors and 49 sub-sectors for the award.
These applicants were evaluated against six broad parameters namely Innovation, Scalability, Economic Impact, Social Impact, Environmental Impact, and Inclusiveness and Diversity.
The National Startup Awards recognize and reward outstanding Startups and ecosystem enablers that are building innovative products or solutions and scalable enterprises.
SPORTS
VIRAT KOHLI STEPPED DOWN AS TEST CAPTAIN
Virat Kohli has stepped down as the Test captain of the Indian national cricket team after seven years. He first led the national side in Test cricket in 2014 against Australia.
He guided the team to an unprecedented back-to-back Test series wins Down Under.
In 2021, India also finished as the runners-up in the inaugural ICC World Test Championship.
Kohli had recently stepped down as India’s T20I captain and was subsequently removed as the ODI captain ahead of the South Africa tour. India also became a top-ranked Test side in the world.
TATA REPLACES VIVO AS IPL SPONSOR
The Chairman of the Indian Premier League (IPL) Brijesh Patel confirmed on January 11, 2022, that Tata will replace Vivo as the title sponsor of ipl 2022 which will be an upcoming edition of the tournament.
Vivo still has two years left in its sponsorship deal with IPL and as a result, during this period, Tata Group will remain the main sponsor.
The rights of IPL title sponsorship were transferred to Vivo, the Chinese Smartphone manufacturer, for Rs. 200 crores in 2016 after Pepsi terminated its deal of sponsorship with BCCI in October 2015.
In 2020, Vivo got out of the sponsorship rights because of the military standoff between India and China. In 2021, Vivo bagged the sponsorship rights of IPL again for Rs. 439.8 crores.
The two new teams of the Indian Premier League- CVC Capital's Ahmedabad Team and Sanjiv Goenka's RPSG Group for the Lucknow Franchise on January 11, 2022, received formal clearance from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).
The formal clearance to the two new IPL teams was given after a meeting of the IPL Governing Council.
IPL 15 will see the expansion of the league with an addition of two new franchises which will make it the second season to have 10 teams, after the 2011 tournament.
Chennai Super Kings (CSK) are the defending Champions having won their fourth title in IPL 2021.
IMPORTANT DAYS AND DATES
74TH INDIA ARMY DAY: 15TH JANUARY
74th Indian Army Day is being celebrated in India on January 15, 2022.
Indian Army Day is celebrated to honour soldiers of the armed forces in India, for their selfless service. The day is celebrated at all army command offices across India as well as the headquarters in New Delhi.
The day is marked on January 15, every year because on this day Lieutenant General KM Cariappa was appointed to the post in 1949.
He became the first Indian to head the forces. Since then, this day has become a significant day for Indian history. It was the first time an Indian soldier took the reins of the armed forces.
How is the day celebrated?
Indian Army Day marks the celebration of not only the brave soldiers, but also marks the transfer of power from British rule to India.
Apart from this, the Day also involves a showcase of all the weapons in the Indian Army arsenal. The latest kind of weapons, helicopters, drones, etc are displayed with great pride.
The Indian Army is professionally headed by the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), who is a four-star general. Indian Army in its current form was founded on February 26, 1950.
NATIONAL START-UP DAY DECLARED ON 16TH JANUARY
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has declared 16th January as ‘National Start-up Day’.
The announcement was made by PM Modi on January 15, 2022, via video conferencing during a week-long event “Celebrating Innovation Ecosystem” as a part of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav. The Prime Minister interacted with more than 150 startups across different sectors, during the event.
The startups, categorised under six groups, gave presentations to the Prime Minister on six themes — ‘growing from roots', ‘nudging the DNA’, ‘from local to global', ‘technology of future’, ‘building champions in manufacturing’ and ‘sustainable development'.
The Prime Minister was of the view that Indian startups can easily make it to the global stage and reach other countries and told the young entrepreneurs: “Don’t just keep your dreams local, make them global. Remember this mantra — let’s Innovate for India, innovate from India”.
REPORTS AND INDEXES
HENLEY PASSPORT INDEX 2022
Henley Passport Index 2022 was recently released. The latest edition shows record-breaking levels of travel freedom for the top-ranking countries, Japan and Singapore.
The report also reveals that there was the widest recorded global mobility gap since the index was created 17 years ago.
Passport holders of two Asian nations, Japan and Singapore, can now enter 192 destinations worldwide visa-free. It is 166 more than Afghanistan.
Afghanistan has been listed at the bottom of this index.
As per the Index, in the first quarter of 2022, India has improved its passport power. India has climbed seven places up and has been ranked at 83rd position. In 2021, it was ranked at 90th position.
Now, India has access to 60 countries without a prior visa. In 2021, visa free scope was valid for just 58 countries. Oman and Armenia have been recently added to the list of prior visa requirements.
Japan and Singapore have been ranked 1st, with passport holders having access to 192 destinations visa-free.
Germany and South Korea have been placed at 2nd position, with passport holders able to access 190 destinations visa-free.
Finland, Italy, Spain and Luxembourg shared 3rd place with a score of 189. Austria, Denmark, Sweden, France and Netherlands are in 4th place, with a visa-free score of 188.
Passports of US and UK regained their previous strength and now placed at the 6th place with visa-free or visa-on-arrival score of 186. In 2020, they had slipped to 8th place, lowest in the 17-year history of the index.
Worst passports to hold in 2022: North Korea has been ranked at 104th spot with access to 39 destinations. Nepal and Palestinian territories are at 105th spot, with the score of 37.
Pakistan has been ranked at 108th position with a score of 31. Afghanistan with access to just 26 countries, emerged as the worst performer.
The Henley Passport Index: The index provides ranking to 199 passports in accordance with the number of destinations their holders can access visa-free or visa-on-arrival.
The index is updated in real time throughout the year. It is prepared on the basis of exclusive data provided by the International Air Transport Association (IATA).
GLOBAL RISKS REPORT 2022 BY WEF
The World Economic Forum recently released the Global Risks Report 2022. Cybersecurity, pandemic, climate change and space advancements are the emerging risks to the global economy.
The global economy is to shrink by 2.3% by 2024. However, in developing countries this is to be 5.5%. In rich countries, it will be 0.9%
Digital security: The online platforms have increased tremendously during the pandemic. The COVID has brought in major work shifts. People are now attending classes online. This has increased the security risks.
Cyber Threats: The cyber threats are growing at insanely uncontrollable rates. The criminals are using tougher tactics and therefore, the cyber threats are becoming more aggressive day by day.
Cryptocurrencies are creating an easy path of escape for the cyber criminals. Today 90% of the ransomware attacks are paid in cryptocurrencies.
Space: The costs of rocket launching technologies are falling. This has led to a new space race, not between countries, but between government and private companies.
While private launchers such as Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos are launching satellites and astronauts, governments are focusing on military satellites.
This is creating friction in the orbit. The risks of debris collision, congestion are increasing.
Climate change: The three top climate risks are loss of biodiversity, extreme weather and failure to act on climate change.
While economies are trying to move towards zero emissions, rapid actions are required. The report calls the climate actions by world countries as “Disorderly”. Faster shift from the intense carbon polluters is the need of the moment.
INDIA STATE OF FOREST REPORT 2021
Recently, the Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC) released the India State of Forest Report-2021.
In October, 2021 an amendment was proposed by MoEFCC to the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 to bring significant changes to forest governance in India.
It is an assessment of India’s forest and tree cover, published every two years by the Forest Survey of India. The first survey was published in 1987, and ISFR 2021 is the 17th.
India is one of the few countries in the world that brings out such a survey every two years, and this is widely considered comprehensive and robust.
The ISFR is used in planning and formulation of policies in forest management as well as forestry and agroforestry sectors.
Three categories of forests are surveyed – very dense forests (canopy density over 70%), moderately dense forests (40-70%) and open forests (10-40%). Scrubs (canopy density less than 10%) are also surveyed but not categorised as forests.
New Features of ISFR 2021: It has for the first time assessed forest cover in tiger reserves, tiger corridors and the Gir forest which houses the Asiatic lion.
The forest cover in tiger corridors has increased by 37.15 sq km (0.32%) between 2011-2021, but decreased by 22.6 sq km (0.04%) in tiger reserves.
Forest cover has increased in 20 tiger reserves in these 10 years, and decreased in 32.
Buxa (West Bengal), Anamalai (Tamil Nadu) and Indravati reserves (Chhattisgarh) have shown an increase in forest cover while the highest losses have been found in Kawal (Telangana), Bhadra (Karnataka) and the Sundarbans reserves (West Bengal).
Pakke Tiger Reserve in Arunachal Pradesh has the highest forest cover, at nearly 97%.
RBI'S RELEASED DIGITAL PAYMENT INDEX
The RBI’s Digital Payment Index, which shows the deepening of payments through digital modes in India, rose by 39.64 per cent to 304.06 in September 2021 against 217.74 in the year-ago month.
The RBI-DPI Index continues to demonstrate significant growth in adoption and deepening of digital payments across the country.
RBI has introduced Digital Payments Index in January 2021 with March 2018 as the base year to capture the extent of digitisation of payments across the country. This means that the DPI score for March 2018 is set at 100.
RBI has started publishing the Digital Payments Index (DPI) on a semi-annual basis from March 2021 onwards with a lag of 4 months.
This means that the DPI will be released by RBI for March and September every year in the months of July and January respectively.
About the RBI-DPI: The RBI-DPI comprises five broad parameters that enable measurement of deepening and penetration of digital payments in the country over different time periods, viz. payment enablers (with 25 per cent weight), payment infrastructure—demand-side factors (10 per cent), payment infrastructure—supply-side factors (15 percent), payment performance (45 per cent) and consumer centricity (5 percent). These parameters have sub-parameters which, in turn, consist of various measurable indicators.
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
S. SOMANATH BECOMES NEW CHAIRMAN OF ISRO
Dr S Somnath is to become the new chairman of ISRO. He is to succeed K Sivan. He is the fourth Keralite to occupy the top most places in ISRO. The previous Keralites were K Radhakrishnan, Madhavan Nair and K Kasturirangan.
Somnath was nominated way back in 2019. He was nominated based on his seniority. However, the term of Sivan was extended for one year.
Somnath completed his college pre – degree in Maharaja College, Ernakulam. He studied his engineering in TKM College of Engineering.
He was associated with the 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. Currently he is the Director of Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC).
Chairman of ISRO: The chairman of ISRO is the secretary to the Government of India. He is an executive of the 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 the Department of Atomic Energy. INCOSPAR became ISRO in 1969.
DRDO TEST-FIRED MPATG MISSILE
The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) flight tested the Man Portable Anti-Tank Guided Missile (MPATGM), successfully.
During the flight test, final deliverable configuration of the MPATGM was tested. MPATGM is an indigenously developed anti-tank missile, a low weight and a ‘fire and forget’ missile.
It was launched from a launcher, which was man portable. It was integrated with thermal sight.
During the test, the missile impacted designated target with precision and destroyed it.
In the modern-day battlefields, since World War I, development of ammunition which can beat the armours of tanks is an ongoing race, because of strategic importance of tanks and armoured vehicles.
Background: Indian Army has been mainly using several imported anti-tank guided missiles in the past while DRDO has been working on ATGMs, which can be launched from different platforms under the Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme.
In the recent past, indigenously developed MPATGM, Helicopter launched ATGM Nag or Helina and ATGM Nag have been successfully tested.
In December 2019, Indian government also procured Anti-Tank Spike missiles from Israel along with allied systems for meeting the operational requirements of Indian Army.
What is MPATGM?
The MPATGM, dubbed as “Man Portable Anti-Tank Guided Missile”, is a third-generation fire-and-forget anti-tank guided missile. It has been derived from Nag ATGM.
It has been developed by DRDO in association with Indian defence contractor VEM Technologies Private Limited. It is a low weight, long cylindrical missile, comprising of four fins across its mid-section.
The missile is fitted with high-explosive anti-tank (HEAT) warhead. It has a length of 1,300 mm and diameter of 120 mm. It has a weight of 14.5 kg. Command launch unit (CLU) of the missile is of 14.25 kg. Missile can cover a minimum range of 200-300 m and maximum range of 4 km.
CHINESE ARTIFICIAL MOON AFTER ARTIFICIAL SUN
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.
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.
The research facility will be filled with rocks and dust to resemble it with the lunar surface.
Chinese scientists got inspired to develop this facility from Andre Geim, who is a physicist at University of Manchester in the U.K. He won “satirical Ig Nobel Prize in 2000” for conducting an experiment in which a frog was made to float with a magnet.
The levitation trick used in his experiment comes from an effect dubbed as “diamagnetic levitation”. Same trick is being used in the “Artificial Moon research facility”.
SOUTH AFRICA LAUNCHES 1ST 'MADE IN AFRICA' SATELLITE
South Africa has launched its first satellite constellation developed entirely in the continent of Africa.
Three locally produced nanosatellites, which made up the country’s first Maritime Domain Awareness Satellite (MDASat) constellation, were launched from Cape Canaveral in the United States, as part of American aerospace company SpaceX’s Transporter-3 mission.
Transporter-3, SpaceX’s third dedicated rideshare mission, carried a total of 105 spacecraft for various organisations and governments, including CubeSats, microsats, Pocket Cubes and orbital transfer vehicles.
