NATIONAL

Indegeneously developed Armoued Vehicle inducted

• The first set of indigenously developed next generation Armoured Engineer Reconnaissance Vehicle was inducted to Indian Army.
• The vehicle was designed by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and manufactured by Ordnance Factory Medak & Bharat Electronics Limited, Pune.
• The vehicle is capable of carrying out reconnaissance of water obstacles and boggy patches for execution of engineer tasks with capabilities to carry out reconnaissance and provide real time update to force commanders.
• The system will enhance existing engineer reconnaissance capabilities of Indian Army and would be a major game changer in support of mechanised operations in future conflicts.

Fund transferred to SHG’s under Kanya Sumangala Scheme

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi has transferred an amount of Rs 1000 crore in the bank account of Self Help Groups (SHGs) under the Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana - National Rural Livelihood Mission (DAY-NRLM) during visit to Prayagraj
• This transfer will benefit around 16 lakh women members of the SHGs belonging to 80,000 Self Help Groups receiving Community Investment Fund (CIF) of Rs 1.10 lakh per SHG and 60,000 SHGs receiving Revolving Fund of Rs 15,000 per SHG.
• The programme also included to encourage Buisness Correspondent (B.C.-Sakhis), by transferring Rs 4000 as first month's stipend in account of 20,000 B.C.-Sakhis.
• He also transferred a total amount of over Rs 20 crore to more than 1 lakh beneficiaries under the Kanya Sumangala Scheme and laid foundation stone of 202 Supplementary Nutrition Manufacturing Units.

Additional Fact-

1. Kanya Sumangala Scheme was launched by Uttar Pradesh Govt, which aims to provide Rs 15,000 to every family where a girl child is born which will be released in a phased manner.
2. A web portal named Kanya Sumangala portal was also launched .

Government launches Open Acreage Licensing Programme(OALP)

• Government has launched the Open Acreage Licensing Programme(OALP)Bid Round-VII for International Competitive Bidding for petroleum and natural gas exploration.
• The bids can be submitted through a dedicated online e-bidding portal till February 15, 2022 and the Award of these blocks are expected to be completed by the end of March 2022.
• Successful award of Round-VII Blocks would add further 15,766 sq. km of exploration acreage and cumulative acreage under OALP will be increased to 207,692 sq. km.
• The Hydrocarbon Exploration and Licensing Policy (HELP) was approved in March 2016 aimed to reduce the dependency of oil and gas imports, now the focus of HELP has been shifted from 'revenue' to 'production' maximization’.
• Eight blocks under present bid round are spread across 6 Sedimentary Basins and include five Onland blocks (four in Category-I Basins and one in Category-III Basin), two shallow Water blocks (both in Category-I Basin) and one Ultra Deep Water block (Category-I Basin).
• It is expected that OALP Round VII would generate immediate exploration work commitment of around USD 300-400 million.
• The bidding documents and details of this bid round are available on https://online.dghindia.org/oalp.

Multi Agency HADR exercise inaugurated

• Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has inaugurated an equipment display on the second day of PANEX-21, a Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) Exercise for BIMSTEC member nations.
• The equipment display is organised at College of Military Engineering in Pune, Maharashtra, in association with Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI),
• The Defence Minister witnessed demonstration of the capabilities of the Indian Armed Forces to launch swift, coordinated and incremental relief efforts in case of occurrence of any natural calamity in a particular region.
• Many innovative solutions, capabilities and range of products to assist government agencies in planning, preparation and conduct of HADR operations were demonstrated to the delegates of member nations of BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation).

Additional Fact-

1. PANEX 21 is a Multi Agency Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief exercise, for the member nations of Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation(BIMSTEC).
2. It is aimed to foster joint planning and build regional cooperation during the natural disasters, The members of the exercise include-Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Thailand.

INTERNATIONAL

US appoints New Special Coordinator for Tibetan Issues

• The United States has appointed an Indian Origin Uzra Zeya as its Special Coordinator for Tibetan Issues.
• She has been assigned to promote Substantive Dialogue between China and Dalai lama or his representatives to support negotiated agreement on Tibet.
• She will retain her current position as the Under Secretary for Civilian Security Democracy and Human Rights.

Turkey announces new measures to safeguard its local currency

• The Currency of Turkey-Lira saw an extreme volatility in the past weeks and saw continual fluctuations in its value.
• The Turkey President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has announced certain new measure to safeguard deposits in the national currency against currency fluctuations.
• The lira hit an all-time low of 18.36 against the U.S.dollar, Monday but rebounded to a high of 11.09 Tuesday morning after the President announced new measures.
• The President has informed that the government would cover losses incurred by lira deposit holders in cases where the lira's depreciation against foreign currencies exceeds the banks' interest rates.
• He also promised exporters that they would get foreign exchange forward rates from the central bank to mitigate volatility risks, and increased government contribution to private pensions from 25% to 30%.

BANKING, FINANCE AND ECONOMICS

Import Duty cut on Refined Palm Oil

• The Government has reduced the basic customs duty on refined Palm Oil from 17.5% to 12.5 %, aimed to reduce the higher prices of cooking oils.
• The Solvent Extractors Association of India has informed that the reduction in basic custom duty, the levy would come down from 19.25% to 13.75%.
• As per the data of consumer affairs ministry, The average retail prices of groundnut oil on was at Rs 181.48, mustard oil at Rs 187.43, Vanaspati Stood at Rs 138.5%, Soyabean oil at Rs 150.78, Sunflower oil at Rs 163.18 and Palm oil at Rs 129.94.

CCI increases equity share of IRB infrastructure

• The Competition Commission of India (CCI) approves acquisition up to 16.94% equity share capital of IRB Infrastructure Developers Limited (IRB / Target) by Bricklayers Investment Pte. Ltd.
• The proposed combination relates to GIC Investor’s proposed acquisition of up to 16.94% of the share capital of the Target on a fully diluted basis and non-fully diluted basis, through the subscription of new shares issued by way of a preferential issue on a private placement.
• The proposed combination is in the nature of an acquisition and falls under Section 5(a) of the Competition Act, 2002.

Mastercard and G-Pay partners on Tokenization

• Mastercard and Google announced the rollout of tokenization that will enable Google Pay users to safely transact using their Mastercard credit and debit cards.
• Through tokenization, Mastercard cardholders can make payments through a secure digital token without having to share their credit or debit card details such as card number and expiry date with a merchant.
• The G-Pay Android users can scan and pay across all Bharat QR-enabled merchants, tap-and-pay, and make in-app transactions through their Mastercard debit and credit card. For registration, users will do a one-time setup by entering their card details and their OTP to add their card on the Google Pay app.
• This would enables an additional layer of security for payments, which reduces friction and improves the shopping experience.

MISCELLANEOUS

• Dec 22 is observed as the National Mathematics day, to commemorate the birth anniversary of  renowned mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujam.