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By admin: Jan. 22, 2022

Justice Ayesha Malik: First Woman judge of Supreme Court of Pakistan

Tags: Person in news

Justice Ayesha Malik will be Pakistan's first-ever woman judge of the Supreme Court, a watershed moment in the judicial history of the conservative Muslim country.

• The historic development came just two days after the bipartisan Parliamentary Committee on the Appointment of Superior Judiciary approved the 55-year-old justice's nomination as the Supreme Court judge. The nomination was sent by the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) earlier this month.
• Justice Malik was appointed as a judge of the Lahore High Court in March 2012. She will now work as a Supreme Court judge until her superannuation in June 2031. She would be in the line to become the chief justice also in January 2030 on the basis of her seniority.
• Born in 1966, Malik completed her basic education from schools in Paris, New York, and Karachi.
• She studied law at Pakistan College of Law, Lahore and did her LLM from Harvard Law School, according to the Lahore High Court website.

Oscar 2022: Suriya's Tamil socio-drama 'Jai Bhim' nominated for Best Featured Film

Tags: Awards

Suriya's Tamil socio-drama Jai Bhim is India's entry into The Academy.

• The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences revealed the list of 276 films that are eligible for consideration at the 94th Oscars, on 20th January 2022.
• 'Jai Bhim', which has gained a nomination for best feature film, is in competition with other acclaimed flicks like 'Jockey,' 'Cruella,' 'Dune, 'Eternals,' 'Godzilla VS Kong,' 'King Richard,' among other movies.
• Jai Bhim is the fourth Indian film to get nominated for Oscars after Mother India, Salaam Bombay, and Lagaan.
• Malayalam superstar Mohanlal’s latest period drama Marakkar Arabikadalinte Simham has also officially made it to the Oscars 2021 list. The film has been nominated for the Global Community Oscar Awards 2021.

Himachal Pradesh-Haryana sign pact to revive Saraswati River

Tags: State News

The governments of Himachal and Haryana on 21st January 2022, signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for the construction of a dam on 77 acres in Himachal near the Adi Badri area of Yamunanagar for the revival of the Saraswati river.

• The MoU was signed at Panchkula by the Chief Secretaries of both states in presence of Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur and his Haryana counterpart Manohar Lal Khatar.
• The project would be useful for Himachal Pradesh as 3.92 hectare metre water per annum would be earmarked for the state for drinking purpose and 57.96 hectare metre for irrigation in the project affected habitations.
• The dam would not only be used primarily for the revival of the Saraswati river but also for water conservation in the region.
• Of the total proposed area, 31.16 hectares fall in Himachal (0.67 hectares of private landowners and 30.49 hectares of forestland).
• The dam would get 224 hectare metre water from the Somb river of Himachal that falls into the Yamuna near Adi Badri in Yamunanagar district.
• The HPPCL would be the executing agency for the Adi Badri dam and its related infrastructure.
• The project when completed would open avenues for tourism and also recharge groundwater.

Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose's grand statue to be installed at India Gate

Tags: National News

In order to commemorate the 125th birth anniversary of the great freedom fighter Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and as part of the year-long celebrations, the government has decided to install a grand statue of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose at India Gate. 

• The statue will be made of granite.
• The statue would be the symbol of the country’s indebtedness to him.
• Till the work for the statue is completed, a hologram statue of Netaji will be present at the same place. Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi will unveil the hologram statue of Netaji at India Gate on 23rd January 2022 (Parakram Diwas)
• The 3D hologram statue will be powered by a 30,000 lumens 4K projector and it will be projected on an invisible, high-gain, 90% transparent holographic screen which will not be visible to visitors. 
• The size of the hologram statue is 28 feet in height and 6 feet in width.
• On Parakram Diwas 2022, Prime Minister will also confer the Subhas Chandra Bose Aapda Prabandhan Puraskars, for the years 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022. 
• A total of seven awards will be presented during the ceremony.
• Union government has instituted the annual Subhas Chandra Bose Aapda Prabandhan Puraskar to recognize and honor the invaluable contribution and selfless service rendered by individuals and organizations in India in the field of disaster management. 
• The award is announced every year on 23rd January. The award carries a cash prize of Rs. 51 lakh and a certificate in case of an institution and Rs. 5 lakh and a certificate in case of an individual.

Koyla Darpan Portal

Tags: National News

Union Ministry of Coal has launched the “Koyla Darpan” Portal to  share Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) related to the Coal Sector

It was launched by Dr. Anil Kumar Jain, Secretary, Union Ministry of Coal.

As an initial step, the portal has the following KPIs - 

• Coal/Lignite Production
• Coal/Lignite Offtake
• Exploration Data
• Central Sector Schemes
• Status of Coal Stock in Thermal Power Plants
• Infrastructure Projects
• Allocation of Blocks (CMSP/MMDR)
• Monitoring of Major Coal Mines(CIL)
• Coal Price.

Pralhad Joshi is the Minister in Charge, Union Ministry of Coal. 

Fourth Asia Ministerial Conference on Tiger Conservation

Tags: International News

The 4th Asia Ministerial Conference on tiger conservation was organized jointly by the Government of Malaysia and the Global Tiger Forum (GTF).

• India is one of the Founding members of the intergovernmental platform of Tiger Range Countries – Global Tiger Forum
• The Asia Ministerial Conference on tiger conservation is an important event for reviewing progress towards the Global Tiger Recovery Programme and commitments to tiger conservation.
• Shri Bhupender Yadav, Minister for Environment, Forest, and Climate Change, represented India at this conference.
• India hosted the 3rd Asia Ministerial Conference (3 AMC) in New Delhi from 12th to 14th April 2016.
• India appreciated the efforts of the Government of Malaysia in creating a role model through its “Central Spine and landscape-level planning.”
• The proposed New Delhi declaration is expected to be finalized in the Global Tiger Summit, 2022 to be held at Vladivostok, Russia.
• India’s budgetary allocation for tiger conservation has increased from Rs 185 crore in 2014 to Rs 300 crore in 2022.
• 14 Tiger Reserves in India have already been awarded international CA|TS accreditation
• The government of India has extended Rs 2 lakh life cover to each frontline staff of tiger conservation under e-Sharm, an initiative of the Ministry of Labour and Employment  and Rs 5 lakh health cover under Ayushman Yojana.
• Approximately 4.3 million man-days of employment are being generated by 51 Tiger Reserves in India.
• Funds from Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA) are being utilized for promoting voluntary village resettlement from core areas of the Tiger Reserves.
• India is now replicating the model of doubling the tiger population with other animals such as lions, snow leopards and dolphins.

Jammu & Kashmir the first Union Territory in the country to have District Good Governance Index

Tags: State News

The Union Minister of Home and Cooperation Shri Amit Shah virtually released India’s First “District Good Governance Index” for 20 Districts of UT of Jammu and Kashmir, prepared by the Department of Administrative Reforms & Public Grievances (DARPG) in collaboration with the Government of Jammu & Kashmir, in the presence of the Lieutenant Governor of Jammu & Kashmir Shri Manoj Sinha at Convention Centre Jammu.

• This is in pursuance of the announcements made in the “Behtar e-Hukumat – Kashmir Aelamia” resolution adopted on July 2, 2021, in the Regional Conference on Replication of Good Governance Practices held at Srinagar.
• The National Good Governance Index 2021 indicated that Jammu and Kashmir had registered an increase of 3.7 percent in Good Governance Indicators over the 2019 to 2021 period with noticeable improvements in Commerce and Industry, Agriculture, and Allied Sectors, Public Infrastructure & Utilities, Judiciary, and Public Safety Sectors. 
• The District Good Governance Index has helped identify the impact of various governance interventions at the district level and provide a futuristic roadmap for improving district-level governance with targeted interventions.

The Sectors covered are-

• Agriculture and Allied Sector – Universal coverage has been achieved in the Kisan Credit Card scheme, Soil Health Card Scheme, and Animal Vaccination. 
• Commerce and Industry Sector – There is a 109 percent increase in credit to handicrafts in the 2019-2021 period.
• Human Resources Development Sector – In almost 10 districts 100 percent of skill training have been imparted to registered students.
• Public Health Sector – Full Immunization represents a significant success story,
• Public Infrastructure and Utilities Sector – Ganderbal and Srinagar achieved 100 percent access to safe drinking water, 18 districts achieved 100 percent access to sanitation facilities.
• Social Welfare and Development Sector – 80 percent Aadhar seeding of ration cards represents a major milestone.
• Financial Inclusion Sector – Financial inclusion under Jan Dhan Yojana has achieved universal coverage.
• Judicial and Public Safety Sector- Disposal of court cases has gone up significantly.
• Citizen-Centric Governance Sector – Almost 100 percent progress in grievance redressal.

Highlights-

• The Jammu district has topped the composite ranking, followed by Doda and Samba districts of the Jammu Division. 
• Srinagar district has come at the fifth position
• There is very marginal difference among the 20 districts in their composite score, showing all-round development in the UT
• Jammu district ranked best on the ‘Commerce and Industry sector, while Srinagar district ranked best on the ‘Public Infrastructure and Utilities’ sector.
• Kishtwar topped in ‘Agriculture and Allied Sector’, Pulwama topped in ‘Human Resource Development', Reasi topped in ‘Public Health’, Ramban topped in ‘Social Welfare and Development’, and Ganderbal topped in the ‘Financial Inclusion’ sector.

Indian Start-ups raised a record $24.1 billion in 2021

Tags: Economics/Business

According to the Nasscom-Zinnov report released on 21st January 2022, Indian startups raised a record $24.1 billion in 2021, a two-fold increase over pre-Covid levels, while $6 billion were raised via public markets with 11 startup IPOs.

• The Indian tech startup base continues to witness steady growth, adding over 2250 startups in 2021, which is 600 more than 2020.
• India, accounting for 70 unicorns, added a record number of new unicorns (42) in 2021 across 18 sectors, third-highest after the US and China, with a cumulative valuation of newly-added unicorns standing around $90 billion.
• “In comparison to 2020, there was a 3X increase in the number of high-value deals (deals over $100 million), demonstrating investor confidence,” according to the Nasscom-Zinnov report.
• The US remains the leading source of foreign direct investment in start-ups.
• The start-up ecosystem saw a 2X gain in cumulative valuation from 2020 to 2021, with an estimate of $320-$330 billion, demonstrating the sector’s development and recovery throughout the pandemic.
• In comparison with the United Kingdom, the United States, Israel and China, 2021 has been an outstanding year for the Indian Start-up ecosystem.
• Established start-up centres like Delhi-NCR, Bengaluru, Chennai, Pune, Hyderabad and Mumbai account for 71 percent of all startups.
• Outside of the developing start-up centres like Jaipur, Kochi, Kolkata, Chandigarh, and others, 29 percent of all startups are located.
• At least one-woman founder/co-founder is present in 12-15 percent of start-ups and 10 unicorns.
• In terms of maturity and investments, BFSI, Retail and Retail Tech, Enterprise Tech, and EdTech reign supreme.

About Nasscom

The National Association of Software and Service Companies (Nasscom) is an Indian non-governmental trade association and advocacy group focused mainly on the technology industry of India.

Chairperson: U.B. Pravin Rao

President: Debjani Ghosh

Headquarters: New Delhi

About Zinnov

Zinnov is a global management consulting and strategic advisory firm that works across the globe in the areas of Globalization, Digital Engineering, Global Talent, and Transformative Technologies.

CEO and Founder: Pari Natarajan

Headquarters: Santa Clara, California, USA