1. Saurabh Choudhary wins gold at the ISSF World cup 2022
Saurabh Choudhary won the first gold medal for India in the ISSF (International Shooting Sports Federation) Rifle/Pistol world cup in Cairo, Egypt on 1 March 2022.
The 19-year-old Indian defeated Michael Schwald of Germany in the gold medal match of the Men’s 10m Air Pistol event.
In the women's 10m Air Pistol event, 17 years old Esha Singh of India won the silver medal and the gold medal was won by the Olympic champion Anna Korakaki of Greece.
The ISSF world cup is being held in Cairo, Egypt from 28 February to 8 March 2022.
ISSF World Cup
- The International Shooting Sports Federation (ISSF) organizes four world cups in a calendar year for rifle/pistol events .
- In 2022 the venue of the World cups in chronological orders are as follows:
- Jakarta (Indonesia), Cairo(Egypt), Rio de Janeiro (Brazil)and Baku(Azerbaijan).
- Headquarters of ISSF : Munich ,Germany
2. SWIFT link between Indian and Russian banks snapped
Tags: Popular Economics/Business
The transaction link between the Russian and the Indian banks has come to a halt after some of the key Russian banks were expelled from the SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication) network.
SWIFT is an international body which provides messaging facilities between its member banks and financial institutions for International financial transactions.
The decision to de- link the Russian banks from the SWIFT was taken by the western countries led by the United States of America to protest the Russian President's decision to invade Ukraine and to punish the Russians for it.
The Russian financial system has been targeted by the western countries by imposing sanctions on Russian banks, the Central Bank of Russian Federation so as to cripple Russian ability's to wage war .
Impact on India
Since most of the international trade is settled in American dollars the role of the American banks are crucial in settling the trade. After the imposition of the sanction by the American government on Russian banks and companies the American banks cannot participate in settling the international trade which is settled in American dollars. It will be virtually impossible for the Indian importers or exporters to pay or receive money from the Russian. It will virtually halt trade between India and Russia.
India is a major importer of oil, coal, potash, defence equipment from Russia.
Indian Russia Trade and problem areas
Russia is the 32nd largest export destination of India and it was the 20th largest import destination of India. In 2020-21 the total trade between the two countries was $ 8.1 billion. Indian exports were $2.6 billion and imports were $ 5.48 billion.
India’s share of exports to Russia as a proportion of its total exports is 0.8%, while India’s imports from Russia constitute 1.5% of its total imports. (Source ministry of commerce and Industry).
Likely sector to be impacted due to war and sanctions
Edible oils
India imports 70% of its sunflower oil from Ukraine and 20% from Russia. Any supply disruption will lead to price rise in India.
Fertilisers
Russia is the world's largest producer of nitrogen and second largest producer of potash and third largest exporter of phosphate in the world. Nitrogen, Potash and Phosphate are used in making fertilisers.
India is one of the biggest importers of fertilisers in the world and it is totally dependent on import for phosphatic fertilisers. Any disruption of supplies from Russia will have a very negative effect on Indian agriculture.
Crude Oil
Russia is a leading exporter of oil and gas in the world and India imports a substantial quantity of oil from Russia.
Coking Coal
Russia is a major supplier of coking coal which is used in the production of steels. In October 2021 Indian and Russian signed an agreement for collaboration in the steel and mining sector with focus on importing Russian coking coal.
SWIFT
Society for Worldwide International Financial Telecommunication was set up by 239 banks from 15 countries in Belgium. It went live in 1977 .At present it is present in all the continents with 200 plus countries and territories and more than 10,500 institutions as its client.
Function
It provides instant communication between the networked member banks for cross-border international fund transfer. The communication is secured and standardised.
Its headquarters : La Hulpe, Belgium.
For a detailed and clear understanding of SWIFT Kindly see our blog on SWIFT
3. First Indian casualty in Russia-Ukraine war
Tags: Popular Person in news
A 21 year old Indian medical student Naveen Gyannagoudar was killed in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv on 1 March 2022. He was from Karnataka and was waiting outside a grocery store to buy food. He was killed when the grocery store was hit by Russian shelling .
The easteren Ukrainian city of Kharkiv is known for its medical education and has a bulk of Indian students who are trapped there due to heavy Russian bombardment .
The Russian forces invaded Ukraine on 24 February after Russian President Vladimir Putin recognised the breakaway Ukrainian province of Donetsk and Luhansk as independent countries.
It was condemned by the world and no country recognises these regions of Ukraine as Independent countries.
The Ukrainian President is Voldoymyr Zelensky who was an actor and comedian before he won the Presidential election in 2019.
4. Mobile World Congress 2022
Mobile World Congress is an annual tech and smartphone event that generally takes place at the end of February month in Barcelona, Spain.
This year it is being held from 28 February to 3 March 2022.
The Congress focuses on the latest smartphone and on networking .
All major top smartphone companies like Samsung, Apple etc participate in the event.
Fact files Smartphone
The first smartphone was invented in 1992 by the IBM company of America It was called Simon Personal Communicator.
China is the largest smartphone market in the world.
India is the second largest smartphone market in the world and the United States of America is the third largest.
5. Hasmukh Adia re appointed Bank of Baroda Chairman
Tags: Popular Person in news
Government of India has reappointed former finance secretary Hasmukh Adia as the non-executive chairman of the Bank of Baroda for the next two years, starting from 1 March 2022.
He retired as the Finance Secretary, Government of India in 2018.
Bank of Baroda
It is the third largest public sector bank in India after State Bank of India (SBI)and Punjab National Bank (PNB).
The banks in which the government of India holds 51% or more equity shares are called public sector banks in India .
Managing Director(MD) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO): Sanjiv Chadha
The Headquarters of the bank: Vadodara,Gujarat
Tagline of the Bank : India’s International Bank
6. IPCC warns of irreversible impact of global climate change
Tags: Popular Science and Technology
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has warned of a grim future for earth if global warming continues and the global temperatures continue to increase beyond 1.5% .
The latest warnings have come in the second part of IPCC’s Sixth Assessment Report which talks about climate change impacts, risks and vulnerabilities, and adaptation options. The first part of the report was released in August last year.
The Assessment Reports, the first of which had come out in 1990, are the most comprehensive evaluations of the state of the earth’s climate. Later reports were released in 1995,2001,2007 and 2015.
The report highlights the increasing impacts that are expected as the rise in global temperatures, currently around 1.1C, heads to 1.5Cabove the 1850s level.
Highlights of the report
South Asia is the most vulnerable to severe climate change impacts due to its inequality and poverty .
The Ganga, Indus, Amu Darya river basins in Asia will face severe water scarcity by 2050.It will adversely affect agriculture and drinking water scarcity in the region .
Ahmedabad city faces a risk of urban heat island effect . It means that the average temperature in the city will be higher than the surrounding areas.
Mumbai is at a high risk of rising sea level and consequent flooding
If the temperature increases by 1-4 degree centigrade then rice production in the world can fall by 10-30% and maize production can fall by 25-70%.
If temperatures rise to between 1.7 and 1.8C above the 1850s level, then the report states that half the human population could be exposed to periods of life-threatening climatic conditions arising from heat and humidity.
Rising Sea Level
According to the IPCC report, global sea levels will likely rise 44-76 cm this century if governments meet their current emission-cutting pledges. With faster emission cuts, the increase could be limited to 28-55 cm.
But with higher emissions, and if ice sheets collapse more quickly than expected, sea levels could rise as much as 2 m this century and 5 m by 2150.
Wet Bulb Temperature
Lucknow and Patna ,Bhubaneswar, Chennai, Mumbai, Indore, and Ahmedabad , are among the cities predicted to reach wet-bulb temperature of 35°C if emissions continue to rise.
Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Punjab will be the most severely affected, but if emissions keep rising, all States will have regions that experience wet-bulb temperature of 30°C or more by the end of the century.
IPCC
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change was set up by the World Meteorological Organisation and the United Nation Environment Programme in 1988.
Aim of IPCC
It was set up to prepare a comprehensive review and recommendations with respect to
- the state of knowledge of the science of climate change;
- social and economic impact of climate change,
- potential response strategies and elements for inclusion in a possible future international convention on climate.
Its Headquarters : Geneva, Switzerland
Current Chairman : Hoesung Lee
It shared Nobel Peace Prize with the former American Vice-President Al Gore in 2007
Concept Clearing
What is Wet Bulb Temperature
Human body regulates our body temperature depending upon the external environment of heat and humidity. If the temperature is high then our body tries to lower down our body temperature by sweating. The more we sweat the faster the cooling. However if humidity (water vapour in air ) is high then the ability of our body to cool also reduces . That’s why dry heat feels more tolerable than extreme humidity.
Wet-bulb temperature accounts for both heat and humidity, and reflects what that combination means for the human body’s ability to cool down.
The term wet bulb comes from a way the measurement can be taken, by wrapping a piece of wet cloth around the end of a thermometer to see how much evaporation can decrease the temperature.
35 degree centigrade is considered to be the maximum limit for a wet bulb temperature.
If the wet bulb temperature reaches 35 degree centigrade then a normal healthy human being cannot lose its body heat by sweating and will suffer heat stroke leading to death if they remain outdoors for a considerable period of time.
With the continuous rise in earth temperature the risk of wet bulb temperature phenomena is expected to become common.
7. India International Jewellery Show (IIJS) Signature 2022 inaugurated by Piyush Goyal
The Minister for Commerce & Industry, Textiles, Consumer Affairs and Food & Public Distribution Shri Piyush Goyal inaugurated the India International Jewellery Show (IIJS) Signature at Mumbai on 18 February 2022.
The IIJS Signature event is being organised by the Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC).
The event will be held from 18 to 21 February 2022.
The Minister said that the Gems and Jewellery sector is likely to achieve the export target of $40 billion in 2021-22.
The total export of the Gems and Jewellery sector in 2021-22(April to January ) was $32.13 billion(source PIB)
The United States of America is the largest market for Indian Gems and Jewellery .
FACTS
India share in the total world export of Gems and Jewellery in 2020 was 3.5%
India was ranked the 7th Largest exporter of Gems and Jewellery in the world in 2020.
Switzerland is the largest exporter of Gems and Jewellery in the world.
India is the largest exporter of diamonds in the world
India is the largest exporter of cut and polished diamonds in the world . Surat in Gujarat processes about 90% of the cut and polished diamonds of the world .
India is the 4th largest exporter of Gold Jewellery in the world
India is the largest exporter of silver jewellery in the world
Source : Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC)
Note : Gems & Jewellery include Gold, Silver & Pearls, precious & Semi-precious stones.
Know this also
Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC)
It was set by the Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry in 1966
It was set up to promote the export of Gems and Jewellery in India Its Headquarters : Mumbai
8. G. Ashok Kumar appointed as the first National Maritime Security Coordinator
Tags: Popular Person in news National News
The Government of India has appointed Vice Admiral (retd) G Ashok Kumar as India’s first National Maritime Security Coordinator(NMSC).
The Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) headed by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave its approval to create the post in November 2021.
The NMSC will be responsible for coordinating the various agencies which are involved in coastal security of India like the Indian Navy, Coast Guard, State Police and other agencies.
He will directly report to the National Security Advisor Ajit Doval.
India has a coastline of 7516.6 Km which encompases 13 States and Union Territory.
Why the need of such a post
On November 26, 2008, 10 Pakistani terrorists sneaked into Mumbai through the sea, arriving by boat from Karachi and created a havoc in Mumbai killing around 166 people. This terrorist incident in Mumbai brought into light the complete lack of coordination amongst the security agencies.
To prevent such security failure in future and for better coordination amongst security agencies this post has been created.
Important Full form for Exams
CCS : Cabinet Committee on Security
NMSC: National Maritime Security Coordinator
NSA: National Security Advisor
9. ISRO launches first satellite of the 2022
Tags: Popular Science and Technology National News
The Indian Space Research Organisation- (ISRO) successfully launched a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle -C52(PSLV-C52) on 14 February 2022 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh.
The PSLV-C52 rocket carried three satellites EOS-04 ,INSPIR Esat-1and INS-2TD)
Satellites carried by PSLV-C52
ESO-04 Satellite
It is a Radar Imaging Satellite designed to provide high quality images under all weather conditions for applications such as Agriculture, Forestry and Plantations, Soil Moisture and Hydrology and Flood mapping.
It is a 1,710 kg satellite which was built at the UR Rao Satellite Centre in Bengaluru.
It will be deployed into a sun synchronous polar orbit of 529 km.
INSPIREsat-1
It is a micro satellite made by students of Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology ,Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala in association with Laboratory of Atmospheric and Space Physics at University of Colorado, Boulder, Nanyang Technology University (NTU), Singapore and National Central University(NCU),, Taiwan.
INS-2TD
It is a technology demonstrator satellite which is a forerunner to the India-Bhutan satellite INS 2-B
Fact about ISRO PSLV Mission
Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle is a four stage rocket of ISRO which was launched on 30 September 1993 for the first time .
This was the 80th launch vehicle mission from SDSC SHAR, Sriharikota;
It was the 54th flight of PSLV;
It was the 23rd flight of PSLV in the XL configuration (6 strap-on motors).
Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)
ISRO was set up on 15 August 1969
Chairman of ISRO: S Somnath
Headquarters of ISRO : Bengaluru, Karnataka
Space Station from where ISRO launches rockets
Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) SHAR, Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh.
Full form for Exam
ISRO: Indian Space Research Organisation
PSLV : Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle
EOS : Earth Observation Satellite
SDSC: Satish Dhawan Space Centre
- SHAR :Sriharikota Range
10. Quad Foreign Ministers Meeting
Tags: Popular International News
Australia hosted the third in- person foreign minister’s meeting of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue also known as QUAD in Melbourne on 11 February 2022. Earlier in person foreifn ministers’ meetings were held in Tokyo in October 2020 and the inaugural meeting in New York in September 2019.
The Melbourne meeting was attended by the Indian Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken , Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi and the Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payn.
A joint statement was issued after the end of the meeting .The main highlights of the statement were as follows :
For the first time the QUAD mentions the terrorist incident of 2008 Mumbai attack of 26/11 and the attck on Pathankot air base 2016 and called for bringing the prepartotrs to justice .
The foreign ministers of India, Australia, Japan and the US reviewed the Quad Vaccine Partnership, which was launched in March last year, during their meeting in Melbourne. The partnership envisages the production of at least 1 billion doses of US-developed vaccines in India with American and Japanese funding.
Indian company Biological E is producing corona vaccine developed by U.S Texas Children’s Hospital scientists Drs Peter Hotez and . Maria Bottazzi. The vaccine is called Corbevax. This vaccine will be supplied to poor countries through Quad Vaccine Partnership.
Australia will hold an Indo-Pacific Clean Energy Supply Chain Forum meeting in mid-2022 to establish responsible and resilient clean-energy supply chains
QUAD
Quad or Quadrilateral Security Dialogue is a group of four countries US, Japan, Australia and India. The concept of QUAD was given by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in 2007 for maritime cooperation between these countries after the Indian ocean Tsunami disaster in 2004.
Now the group is mainly seen as a group to counter the Chinese influence in the region .
The first virtual summit meeting of the leader of QUAD was held in March 2021.
The First in person summit meeting of the leaders of the four countries was held by the United States in September 2021 in Washington attended by the Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga
The next summit meeting will be held in Japan in 2022.
