NATIONAL NEWS
Lunar New Year 2022.
The Lunar New Year 2022 will be observed on February 1, 2022. The Lunar New Year is also known as Chinese New Year and it begins with the rising of the second new moon after the winter solstice on December 21st. The Chinese New Year is associated with the 12 animals representing the 12 zodiac signs. The year 2022 is the year of tiger.
Budget session 2022 begins
The budget session of the Parliament began on January 31, 2022 with the address by President Ram Nath Kovind in a joint sitting of the two houses- Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. The budget session will conclude on April 8th. It will take place in two parts, the first of which will conclude on February 11, followed by a break till March 13.
India’s GDP projected to grow by 8-8.5 percent in FY 2023
India’s GDP is projected to grow by 8-8.5 percent in Fiscal Year 2022-23, as per Economic Survey 2021-22. The Economic Survey 2022 was tabled by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the Lok Sabha. The survey report has been prepared by Principal Economic Adviser Sanjeev Sanyal and his team of advisors.
BharatPe Firm begins Independent Audit
BharatPe has started an independent audit of the company’s internal processes and systems. This comes a week after BharatPe’s co-founder Ashneer Grover took a voluntary leave till March-end after a controversy over an audio clip, in which he was heard verbally abusing a Kotak Mahindra Bank employee. His wife Madhuri Jain Grover, who is the Head of Controls, has also gone on leave.
Check PKL 8 League Stats and Records 2022
Check out the Season 8 PKL Updated and latest 2022 stats, player records, tackle points, top raiders and defenders. Pawan Sehrawat of Bengaluru Bulls is PKL 2021-22 season’s top raider so far with 168 successful raids, followed by Jaipur Pink Panther’s Arjun Deshwal with 138 successful raids and Bengal Warriors skipper Maninder Singh with 135 successful raids. Pawan Sehrawat also has the highest player points with 214 Raider points
Vistara cancels several flights for February
Vistara airlines has cancelled several flights for February month and many more have been rescheduled due to low demand. The cancellation and rescheduling of flights have affected several passengers. Addressing one such complaint, Vistara Spokesperson informed on January 31st that the airlines will offer a waiver of change fee for one-time rescheduling on all direct bookings until March 31. The spokesperson said that after a sharp decline in demand for air travel, due to an increase in COVID-19 cases and restrictions imposed by various state governments, the airlines is observing a marginal increase in traffic in February in comparison to January.
Road Safety World Series 2022 to be hosted by four venues across India
The Road Safety World Series will be played across four venues in India this year. The tournament organisers are looking to host the series in Indore, Hyderabad, Lucknow and Vishakhapatnam. The tournament that features cricket legends from across the world will kick start in the last week of February. The series will be hosted between February and March. The matches will be held in Lucknow only after March 10 after the culmination of the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections 2022. The inaugural edition of the Road Safety World Series had witnessed participation from teams from India, Sri Lanka, England, South Africa and West Indies. India legends had defeated Sri Lanka legends by 14 runs in the final to win the series last year.
Delhi airport implements one-hand bag rule.
The Delhi airport has implemented a one-hand bag rule, as per which a domestic passenger is only allowed to carry one piece of luggage or handbag as cabin luggage. The rule has been implemented with some exceptions. The exclusions include ladies handbag, overcoat or wrap, rug or blanket, umbrella, walking stick, camera or binoculars, infant’s feed or carrying basket or a reasonable amount of reading material or a gift item purchased from duty-free shops and a laptop bag. The one-bag rule has been enforced as passengers carrying 2-3 hand baggage create congestion at the security checkpoint and increase security screening time, resulting in inconvenience for passengers.
Justice Munishwar Nath Bhandari elevated as Chief Justice of Madras High Court
The Supreme Court Collegium recommended the elevation of Justice Munishwar Nath Bhandari, Judge of Madras High Court as the Chief Justice of the court during its meeting on December 14, 2021 and January 29, 2022. The SC Collegium has also approved the proposal for the elevation of seven advocates as Judges in the Andhra Pradesh High Court. The advocates who are being elevated as Judges include Venkateswarlu Nimmagadda, Gannamaneni Ramakrishna Prasad, Vaddiboyana Sujatha, Konakanti Sreenivasa Reddy, Satti Subba Reddy, Tarlada Rajasekhar Rao and Ravi Cheemalapati. The Collegium also approved the proposal to elevate three advocates as judges in the Madhya Pradesh High Court. The advocates include Maninder Singh Bhatti, Milind Ramesh Phadke and Dwarka Dhish Bansal. The Collegium also approved the elevation of advocates Biraja Prasanna Satapathy, V Narasingh, Raman Murahari and Sanjay Kumar Mishra as Judges in the Orissa High Court.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Roger Federer slips to 30th rank, hits 21-year low, Djokovic retains world no.1
Roger Federer, 20-time Grand Slam champion has slipped down 13 places to the 30th position in the latest ATP Rankings published on January 31, 2022, which is his lowest rank in 21 years. The last time Federer was ranked this low in ATP Rankings was way back in January 2001 when he was just 19 years old and yet to win his first tour title. The 40-year-old is currently ranked 30 with 1,665 points. He slipped down 13 places after missing the Australian Open 2022. Federer gave the tournament a miss as he is still in recovery mode from his knee surgery last year. He had last competed at Wimbledon 2021. Novak Djokovic continues to rule as world no. 1 for the 358th week. He is followed by Russia’s Daniil Medvedev. Rafael Nadal, who recently won his record-breaking 21st Grand Slam title, continues to remain at the 5th position.
UNSC to meet on Russia-Ukraine conflict today as US intends to highlight mounting tensions
The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is set to meet on Monday to discuss the Ukraine conflict with Norway chairing the council. According to TASS News, in the upcoming meeting, the United States plans on underscoring the situation near Ukraine to the council. The UNSC meeting comes after US Ambassador to the United Nations (UN) Linda Thomas-Greenfield confirmed that the mission had requested an open UNSC meeting to discuss the situation around Ukraine. This comes as the West accuses Russia of ramping up its military presence at the Ukraine border. The US envoy to the UN had also said that she was looking forward to direct and purposeful discussions on 31 January, according to Sputnik News. In a statement on Thursday, Thomas-Greenfield said, ‘Today, after weeks of close consultation with Ukraine and partners on the Security Council, the United States called an open meeting of the Security Council to discuss a matter of crucial importance to international peace and security: Russia’s threatening behaviour against Ukraine and the build-up of Russian troops on Ukraine’s borders and in Belarus’, as per the report.
Biden Calls for Release of US Navy Veteran Hostage in Afghanistan.
President Joe Biden on Sunday called for the release of U.S. Navy veteran Mark Frerichs, who was taken hostage in Afghanistan nearly two years ago. Frerichs, a civil engineer and contractor from Lombard, Illinois, was kidnapped in January 2020 from the capital of Kabul. He is believed to be in the custody of the Taliban-linked Haqqani network. Threatening the safety of Americans or any innocent civilians is always unacceptable, and hostage-taking is an act of particular cruelty and cowardice, President Joe Biden said in a statement to mark the second anniversary of the kidnapping on Monday. The Taliban must immediately release Mark before it can expect any consideration of its aspirations for legitimacy. This is not negotiable. The statement came as Afghanistan faces a thorny humanitarian crisis following the U.S. withdrawal in August. The Taliban quickly seized control of much of the country and the foreign aid that been flowing into the country largely halted, putting at risk the lives of millions of Afghans who could starve or freeze to death.
