NATIONAL NEWS

India’s First Graphene Innovation Center

• It was recently reported that India’s first innovation center for graphene will be set up in Kerala by the Digital University Kerala (DUK), along with Center for Materials for Electronics Technology (C-MET) in Thrissur, for an investment of Rs 86.41 crore (over USD$11.5 million).

• Tata Steel Limited is set to be the industrial partner of the center.

Decommissioned 'Khukri' to be Handed Over to Diu Administration

• INS Khukri, lead ship of the Indian Navy’s Khukri class corvettes and an indigenous surface-to-surface missile fitted vessel that had the distinction of being part of both the Western and Eastern Fleets, is scheduled to be handed over to the Diu Administration.

• Built by Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders, the ship was decommissioned on 23rd December 2021.

'Grama One' Programme

• On the occasion of 73 rd Republic Day Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai's ambitious programme 'Grama One', aimed at providing government services at the doorstep of people, was launched in 3,026 gram panchayats .

• It would be extended all over Karnataka by the end of March, the CM said. Speaking after launching the programme virtually in 12 districts, he said that the 'Grama One' was launched with an objective of taking the government services to the doorstep of the people to save them from spending time and money.

• It seeks to provide government services under one roof in rural areas.100 government services are being offered under this Grama One.

Brain Health Initiative

• Karnataka has launched 'Brain Health Initiative', a first-of-its-kind in the country, undertaken by National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences( NIMHANS) in association with NITI Aayog in the state. This initiative aims to help people to cope with mental health issues.

• Under this programme, the doctors will be trained in screening and treating mental health patients.

• The initiative is being rolled out in Bengaluru, Kolar and Chikkaballapur districts on pilot basis.

Mana Ooru Mana Badi Programme

• Telangana to launch ‘Mana Ooru Mana Badi’ to strengthen govt schools.

• A meeting of the Cabinet approved ‘Mana ooru mana badi’ programme aimed at all round development and creation of effective basic infrastructure in schools across the Telangana State.

• The programme will be implemented in three years with a budget of ₹7,289 crore to benefit 19.84 lakh children of 26.065 schools.

Kerala gets its First ever Scientific Bird Atlas

• The Kerala Bird Atlas (KBA), the first-of-its-kind state-level bird atlas in India, has created solid baseline data about the distribution and abundance of various bird species across all major habitats giving an impetus for futuristic studies.

• It is being conducted as a citizen science-driven exercise with the participation of over 1000 volunteers of the bird watching community, KBA was prepared based on systematic surveys held twice over 60 days a year during the wet (July to September) and dry (January to March) seasons between 2015 and 2020.

4th Tiger Reserve of Rajasthan

• Ramgarh Vishdhari Wildlife Sanctuary, which is among the proposed five sites in the country, is expected to be formally notified as tiger reserve (TR) soon before the Global Tiger Summit, which is to be held at Vladivostok, Russia.

• The Center also announced the development during the 4th Asia ministerial conference on tiger conservation. The Center has already given its approval of granting tiger reserve status to Ramgarh Vishdhari Wildlife Sanctuary, along with MM Hills in Karnataka, Guru Ghasidas National Park in Chhattisgarh.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

CHIRU-2022 Exercise

• Iran, Russia, and China began the 2022 Marine Security Belt naval drills in the northern Indian Ocean in the Gulf of Omen.

• China has sent the missile destroyer Urumqi, the comprehensive supply ship Taihu, shipborne helicopters, and 40 marines to participate in the drills.

• The participants in the drill will practice various tactics and operations, such as rescuing ablaze vessels, saving hijacked vessels, shooting at targets, nocturnal shooting at aerial targets, and other tactical maneuvers.

BANKING

PMC Bank - Unity SFB Amalgamation

• The amalgamation will come into force with effect from the date of the notification of the scheme on January 25, 2022. All the branches of the PMC Bank will function as branches of Unity Small Finance Bank Ltd

• Following the amalgamation, depositors of PMC Bank will get their money back over a period of 3-10 years. It said the transferee bank (Unity) will first make the payment of up to Rs 5 lakh or less received from DICGC to eligible depositors.

• For the remaining amount, the bank will pay up to Rs 50,000 above the payment already made at the end of two years, followed by an amount of up to Rs 1 lakh at the end of three years, Rs 3 lakh at the end of four years and Rs 5.5 lakh at the end five years.

• Unity SFB limited is promoted by Centrum Financial Services Limited along with Resilient Innovation Private Limited.

ABOUT PMC Bank:

• PMC Bank Chairman : S . Balbir Singh Kochhar.

• PMC Bank HQ : Mumbai, Maharashtra.

City Union Bank Launches Fitness Watch Debit Card in tie-up with GOQii

• City Union Bank, the oldest Private Sector Bank in India, in association with smart-tech-enabled preventive healthcare platform GOQii and powered by National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), has launched a wearable payment solution called CUB fitness watch debit card.

• Customers need to hold this wristwatch in front of the PoS device during payment like tapping the card on PoS. For payments above Rs 5,000, customers need to tap and enter their PIN. The introductory price of a smartwatch debit card is Rs 3,499, as compared to an actual cost of Rs 6,499).

• Customers can set limits for their payments using Net / Mobile Banking. Payments made using this Debit Card in a Fitness Watch are safe and secure. For each transaction done using the watch, SMS will be sent to the registered mobile number.

ABOUT CUB:

• City Union Bank CEO : Dr N . Kamakodi.

• City Union Bank HQ : Kumbakonam.

Max Life and Policybazaar Policy to Enhance Homemakers' Financial Protection

• Max Life Insurance Company Limited has partnered with Policybazaar.com to offer its “Max Life Smart Secure Plus Plan” on Policybazaar platform as an independent insurance cover to homemakers.

• To make financial protection more accessible, the ‘Max Life Smart Secure Plus Plan’ will be available to consumers where household income is a minimum of Rs. 5 Lakhs per annum. Different variants of the plan, with mortality and all rider benefits, will be available to homemakers in the age group of 18 to 50 years.

• Homemakers are eligible to buy independent insurance cover from Rs.25 lakhs to Rs. 49 lakhs.

ABOUT Max Life:

• Max Life HQ : Gurugram, Haryana.

• MD & CEO of Max Life : Prashant Tripathy.

• Policybazaar.com HQ : Gurugram, Haryana.

• CEO : Sarbvir Singh.

INDICES, RANKS & REPORTS

Corruption Perceptions Index released

• The 2021 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) released by Transparency International shows that corruption levels remain at a standstill worldwide, with 86 percent of countries making little to no progress in the last 10 years.

• The CPI ranks 180 countries and territories by their perceived levels of public sector corruption on a scale of zero (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean).

• India has ranked 85th on the index with CPI score 40.

• The top countries on the Index are Denmark (88), Finland (88) and New Zealand (88), all of which also rank in the top 10 per cent in the world on the Democracy Index civil liberties score.

• Somalia (13), Syria (13) and South Sudan (11) remain at the bottom of the CPI.

World’s Valuable Brand in Brand Finance 2022

• Apple has retained its position as the most valuable brand in 2022 as well, according to the Brand Finance 2022 Global 500 report.

• The brand valuation of Apple was recorded at $355.1 billion in 2022, which is an increase of 35% from last year.

• This is the highest brand value ever recorded in the Brand Finance Global 500 ranking history.

• TikTok (18th) has been named the world’s fastest-growing brand in the list. Its brand value increased from US$18.7 billion in 2021 to US$59.0 billion in 2022.Tech remained the most valuable industry in the list in terms of sector. This was followed by Retail, Banking, Media and Telecoms in top 5 respectively.

Top Indian brand

• The Indian conglomerate Tata Group has emerged as the most valuable brand from India and also in South Asia. It is the only brand from the country in the top 100. The Global Rank of Tata Group 78. The brand value of Tata Group is US$23.9 billion.

IMPORTANT DAYS

International Holocaust Remembrance Day

• International Day of Commemoration in memory of the victims of the Holocaust (International Holocaust Remembrance Day) is observed on 27 January.

• In 2022, the theme guiding the United Nations Holocaust remembrance and education is “Memory, Dignity and Justice”. The objective of the day is to commemorate the anniversary of the tragedy of the Holocaust that occurred during the Second World War.

OBITUARY NEWS

Padma Shri Recipient Milena Salvini

• Kathakali dancer Milena Salvini of France passed away in Paris at the age of 84 years.

• Milena Salvini ran ‘Center Mandapa’, a school for Indian dance forms, in Paris.

• The Government of India conferred the Padma Shri on her in 2019 for her contribution in the field of performing arts.

Hockey legend Charanjit Singh

• Captain of India’s 1964 Tokyo Olympics gold medal-winning hockey team, Charanjit Singh, died at his home in Una, Himachal Pradesh after suffering a cardiac arrest that followed prolonged age-related illnesses.

• The Government of India honoured him with the Padma Shri Award in1964 in Sports and Arjuna Award in 1963 for hockey.