Current Affairs 20 March 2022

1. BWF German Open 2022: Lakshya Sen Loses To Kunlavut Vitidsarn In Final
2. I-T dept has made highest tax collection in its history: CBDT Chairman
3. China develops laser weapon that could destroy satellites in space
4. RBI gives 3-month extension to RBL Bank’s interim MD & CEO Rajeev Ahuja
5. IFSCA announces winners of Hackathon “Sprint03: InsureTech” under I-Sprint’21
6. Indian Railways prepare ‘National Rail Plan’ for India– 2030
7. Country’s first Digital Water Bank ‘AQVERIUM’ launched in Bengaluru aims to provide clean drinking water & sanitation
8. ISRO successfully carried out ground test of solid booster stage for SSLV
9. Shreyas Iyer, Amelia Kerr voted Players of the Month for February 2022
10. Axis Bank bags IFR Asia’s Asian Bank of the Year and India Bond House Award
11. Mumbai becomes first South Asian city to detail net-zero roadmap
12. India breaks into world’s top five club in terms of market capitalisation

1. BWF German Open 2022: Lakshya Sen Loses To Kunlavut Vitidsarn In Final

• World Championships bronze medallist Lakshya Sen’s giant-killing run ended with a straight-game loss to Thailand’s rising star Kunlavut Vitidsarn in the summit clash of German Open Super 300 badminton tournament in Muelheim An Der Ruhr.
• World number 12 Sen came into the match with a 3-3 head-to-head record against Vitidsarn.

2. I-T dept has made highest tax collection in its history: CBDT Chairman

• The I-T department has made the highest collection in its history, CBDT Chairman J B Mohaptra said when the direct tax mop up jumped over 48% in the current fiscal backed by a 41% surge in advance tax payments.
• The net collection numbers as on Mar 17 is Rs 13.63 lakh cr which is against Rs 11.18 lakh cr of 2018-19, Rs 10.28 lakh cr of 2019-20 and Rs 9.24 lakh cr of 2020-21.
• FY 2021-22 estimates: the proportion of direct tax to the gross tax revenue would be 49%.

3. China develops laser weapon that could destroy satellites in space

• Researchers in China have developed a microwave machine “Relativistic Klystron Amplifier (RKA)”, that could jam or destroy satellites in space.
• The device can generate a wave burst measuring 5-megawatts in the Ka-band, a portion of the electromagnetic spectrum increasingly used for both civil and military purposes.
• Directed Energy Weapons (DEW) use concentrated electromagnetic energy rather than KE.

4. RBI gives 3-month extension to RBL Bank’s interim MD & CEO Rajeev Ahuja

• The Reserve Bank of India has approved the extension of the term of Rajeev Ahuja, interim managing director and CEO of RBL Bank for three months with effect from March 25, 2022, or till the appointment of a regular MD & CEO.
• Earlier the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had given the appointment of Rajeev Ahuja as interim MD and CEO for three months on December 30, 2021.
• RBL Bank, formerly known as Ratnakar Bank, is a private bank headquartered in Mumbai.

5. IFSCA announces winners of Hackathon “Sprint03: InsureTech” under I-Sprint’21

• International Financial Services Centres Authority, in its endeavour to support a World Class FinTech Hub at GIFT IFSC, had launched I-Sprint’21, the global FinTech Hackathon as part of InFinity Forum 2021. “Sprint03:InsureTech” under the banner of I-Sprint’21 was launched with a focus on the Insurance Sector and was hosted by IFSCA and GIFT city in collaboration with FICCI.
• InFinity Forum is IFSCA’s flagship financial technology event.

6. Indian Railways prepare ‘National Rail Plan’ for India– 2030

• The NRP is aimed to formulate strategies based on both operational capacities and commercial policy initiatives to increase the modal share of the Railways in freight to 45%.
• The objective of the plan is to create capacity ahead of demand, which in turn would also cater to future growth right up to 2050 and also increase the modal share of railways to 45% in freight traffic

7. Country’s first Digital Water Bank ‘AQVERIUM’ launched in Bengaluru aims to provide clean drinking water & sanitation

• The country’s first Digital Water Bank ‘AQVERIUM’ was launched in Bengaluru.
• It is formed by AquaKraft Group Ventures, next-generation sustainability, and impact enterprise focused on providing clean drinking water & sanitation.Clean Water & Water security is the key for India to become a USD 5 trillion economy.
• The Digital Startup AQVERIUM is headquartered in Bengaluru.

8. ISRO successfully carried out ground test of solid booster stage for SSLV

• The newly developed Solid Booster Stage (SS1) motor is a three-segmented solid propulsion stage incorporating various new technologies and innovative processes which includes a bond-free joint between the segments, high power electromechanical actuator with digital control electronics, optimized ignitor and simultaneous propellant casting of all segments, have been tested.
• The Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV) is developed to launch small satellites.

9. Shreyas Iyer, Amelia Kerr voted Players of the Month for February 2022

• Shreyas Iyer and New Zealand all-rounder Amelia Kerr were voted ICC Players of the Month for February 2022, the International Cricket Council (ICC) announced.
• Iyer pipped fellow nominees, UAE’s Vriitya Aravind and Nepal’s Dipendra Singh Airee to claim the award.
• Kerr was chosen ahead of fellow nominees, India captain Mithali Raj and all-rounder Deepti Sharma for the award.

10. Axis Bank bags IFR Asia’s Asian Bank of the Year and India Bond House Award

• Axis Bank, India’s third-largest private sector bank has been awarded IFR Asia’s Asian Bank of The Year, for its breadth of coverage and depth of expertise in the Asian investment banking space.
• The award acknowledges the bank’s outstanding performance in equity and debt issuance, across all major products and segments.
• Axis has also won the ‘Best DCM House in India’ Award at the Finance Asia’s Country Award.

11. Mumbai becomes first South Asian city to detail net-zero roadmap

• Mumbai announced detailed plans to zero out carbon emissions by 2050, a target that puts it two decades ahead of India’s national goal and makes it the first city in South Asia to set such a timeline.
• It has proposed exhaustive changes to the way it manages energy, water, air, waste, green spaces and transport for its 19 million residents.

12. India breaks into world’s top five club in terms of market capitalisation

• India’s equity market has broken into the world’s top five clubs in terms of market capitalisation for the first time.
• The country’s total market cap stands at $3.21 trillion, which is higher than that of the UK ($3.19 trillion), Saudi Arabia ($3.18 trillion), and Canada ($3.18 trillion).
• India has climbed two positions, despite a 7.4 per cent drop in its market cap.
• 1st- USA, 2nd- China, 3rd-Japan, 4th- Hong Kong, 5th- India, 6th- UK, 7th- Saudi Arabia.

*******