DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS

By admin: Feb. 15, 2022

Mehmet İlker Aycı to take charge of Air India

Tags: Person in news

Tata Sons has appointed former Turkish Airlines chairman Mehmet Ilker Ayci as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Managing Director (MD) of Air India.

Mehmet Ilker Ayci will take charge of Air India on or before 1 April 2022.

Mehmet Ilker Ayci is a Turkish businessman.

Tata Sons 

It is the holding company of the Tata group of companies like TCS, TaTa Steel ,Tata Motors,Tata Finance,   etc.

Chairman of the Tata Sons : N. Chandrasekaran 

Air India Disinvestment 

On 25 October 2021, Government of India signed an agreement with Tata Group for selling off its entire 100% share in Air India to Talace Pvt Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Tata Sons.

• The deal was of Rs 18,000 crore of which Tata will pay Rs 2,700 crore to the government and Tata will take over the Rs 15,300 crore of the Air India debt.

• On 27 January 2022,Air India was formally taken over by the Tatas from the Government of India. 

•  Air India finally returned to Tata after almost 69 years .

Air India and Tata Group

Air India was founded by JRD Tata in 1932 as Tata Airlines . 

• It was converted into a public company and named Air India in 1946 .

• In 1953 the Nehru Government nationalised all the private airlines in India and created Indian Airlines for domestic operations and Air India for International operations .

• Later both Indian Airlines and Air India were merged and finally Air India was created in 2010.

Rajasthan to start sand mining

Tags: State News

 River sand bed (bajri) mining will start in Rajasthan after it received clearance from the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.

• The Supreme Court had on November 16, 2017, restrained 82 large lease holders in the State from carrying out mining of riverbed sand as it affected the river ecosystem.

• The Supreme Court in its order banned the sand bed mining until a scientific replenishment study was completed and the Union Ministry of Environment and Forest granted the clearance.

• After the clearance from the Union Environment ministry, mining will start in almost all riverbeds of the State after the completion of necessary formalities. 

River Bed Sands or Bajri 

River sand bed is mixed with cement for construction of buildings. River sand is preferred for construction because it requires less processing and has better quality than other sources. 

 Ecological Problems 

Indiscriminate river sand bed mining  comes at a huge cost to the river and those living around it.

•  Excessive sand mining can alter the river bed, force the river to change course, erode banks and lead to flooding.

• It also destroys the habitat of aquatic animals and micro-organisms besides affecting groundwater recharge.

• Government rules say that the amount of sand which is to be extracted shall be equal to the replenishment level. 

• Replenishment Rate is the rate at which Bajri is transported into the river channel, which is subjected to sand extraction. 

Justice M N Bhandari sworn in as the new Chief Justice of Madras High Court

Tags: Person in news

Justice M N Bhandari was  sworn in as the Chief Justice of Madras High Court by the Tamil Nadu Governor R.N. Ravi on 14 February 2022. He was administered the oath of office by the state governor, R.N.Ravi 

Madras High Court is the third oldest High Court in India .

Madras High court is the High Court of Tamil Nadu and Union Territory of Puducherry .

Fact files 

High Courts in India were set up under the High Court act 1861 ,passed by the British Parliament for India .

• The first  High Court to be set up in India was the Calcutta High Court or the High Court of Judicature at Fort William. It started functioning from 1st July, 1862. 

• The second High Court in India was the Bombay High Court which started functioning from 14 August 1862 .

• The third High Court in India was the  Madras High Court which started functioning from 15 August 1862 . 

•  There are 25 High Courts in India .

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Important Points 

The Chief Justice of a High Court is appointed by the President of India in consultation with the Chief Justice of India and the Governor of the state, under article 217 of the Indian constitution.  

 Under article 219 of the constitution oath to the Chief Justice of the High Court or the judge of the High Court is administered by the State Governor or by a person appointed by the Governor. 

Vedanta to set up a semi conductors plant in India

Tags: Economics/Business

World largest electronic manufacturing company Foxconn will set up a joint venture with Vedanta group, to set up a semiconductor manufacturing plant in India . Foxconn is a Taiwanese company.

• Vedanta will hold the majority stake in the new company and Anil Aggarwal of Vedanta will be the chairman of the new company. 

• Vedanta  is the first company to announce an investment in the semiconductor space after the government of India announced a production linked incentive scheme for semiconductor and display board production in the country.

• The Government of India announced a production linked incentive scheme and committed Rs 76,000 crore for semiconductor production in the next 5-6 years. 

• The programme aims to incentivise companies/consortiums focused on Silicon Semiconductor Fabs, Display Fabs, Compound Semiconductors / Silicon Photonics / Sensors Fabs, Semiconductor Packaging, Semiconductor Design.

 For detail about semiconductor policy kindly click on the link below 

Vedanta Group  

• It is a multinational company headquartered in London, England.
• Vedanta Limited is an Indian subsidiary of Vedanta Resources, which is the holding company of Vedanta Group.
• It is in the business of Zinc-Lead-Silver, Iron ore, Steel, Copper, Aluminum, Power, Oil and Gas.
• The Chairman of Vedanta group: Anil Aggarwal 

Economics data at a glance

Tags: Economics/Business

Shallot export (small onion)

• India's export of Shallots has seen a boom with a growth of 487% since 2013. Exports rose from USD 2 Million in April-December 2013 to USD 11.6 Million in April-December 2021. 
• Major export destinations during April-December 2021 were Sri Lanka (35.9%), Malaysia (29.4%), Thailand (12%), U A E (7.5%) & Singapore (5.8%). 

Pineapple export 

• India’s export of Pineapple also rose by almost 100% to USD 3.26 Million during April-December 2021 compared to USD 1.63 Million during April-December 2013. 
• Major export destinations for Pineapple during April-December 2021 were UAE (32.2%), Nepal (22.7%), Qatar (16.6%), Maldives (13.2%) & U S A (7.1%). 

First Global Summit on Reimagining Museums in India

Tags: Summits National News

Minister of Culture, Tourism and Development of Northeastern Region (DoNER), Govt. of India Mr  G. Kishan Reddy ,inaugurated the two day Global Summit on  ‘Reimagining Museums in India” in Hyderabad on 15 Janaury 2022.

• The summit will be held on 15 and 16 February 2022.

• The global summit is being organised by the Union Ministry of Culture 

• The summit is being attended by the delegates of  India, Australia, France, Italy, Singapore, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom online .

S.Jaishankar visit to Philippines

Tags: International News

Indian external affairs minister, S. Jaishankar visited the Philippines from February 13 to 15 2022. It was his first visit to the Philippines after becoming the External Affairs Minister.

• He met his counterpart, Teddy Locsin Jr ,Secretary of Foreign Affairs of the Philippines (Foreign Minister of Philippines).

•  Philippines became the first country in the world to buy India -Russia developed Brahmos missiles from India. 

• The $375 million deal was signed between the two countries on January 28, 2022. The Philippines Navy will receive the first of these missiles by the end of 2022.

Fact File 

Philippines 

It is an archipelago consisting of more than 7000 islands . It is a part of South East Asia in the Western Pacific Ocean.

Capital : Manila 

Currency : Philippine Peso

President: Rodrigo Duterte

Asian Development Bank  has its headquarter at Manila 

ICC January player of the month 2022

Tags: Sports News

International Cricket Council (ICC) has announced its player of the January month 2022.

Men player of the month : South African batter Keegan Petersen 

Women player of the month : England team captain , Heather Knight

ICC

Headquarters of ICC: Dubai, United Arab Emirates 

Chairman of ICC: Greg Barclay of New Zealand 

CEO of ICC: Geoff Allardice of Australia