Current Affairs 14 March 2022

1. Shri Hardeep Singh Puri launches ‘India Water Pitch-Pilot-Scale Start-up Challenge’ under AMRUT 2.0
2. RBI lifts restrictions on HDFC Bank’s new digital business generation, allows lender’s Digital 2.0 programme
3. Prime Minister Narendra Modi Dedicated the National Defence University to the Nation
4. Prime Minister Sh. Narendra Modi Inaugurates 11th Khel Mahakumbh in Ahmedabad
5. India, Sri Lanka sign agreement to build solar power plant in island nation
6. Provident fund interest rate for FY22 lowered to four-decade low of 8.1%
7. IREDA inks MoU with CIPET for Solarization of CIPET academic campuses
8. Union Home & Cooperation Minister Shri Amit Shah addressed the 37th Foundation Day celebrations of National Crime Records Bureu
9. IMF Approves $1.4 Billion Emergency Support For Ukraine
10. NaBFID to be regulated as AIFI under RBI Act
11. India gets first Virtual Smart Grid Knowledge Centre in Manesar
12. Haryana CM Khattar Announces Sushma Swaraj Award, Scheme for Women in Budget 2022
13. Justice Vipin Sanghi appointed as acting chief justice of Delhi High Court
14. RBI bars Paytm Payments Bank from signing new customers; asks company to conduct IT audits

1. Shri Hardeep Singh Puri launches ‘India Water Pitch-Pilot-Scale Start-up Challenge’ under AMRUT 2.0

• Union Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) & Petroleum and Natural Gas Shri Hardeep Singh Puri launched the ‘India WaterPitch-Pilot-Scale Start-up Challenge’ under the Ministry’s Atal mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) 2.0.
• Government will select hundred start-ups across the country to empower sustainable economic growth and generate employment.

2. RBI lifts restrictions on HDFC Bank’s new digital business generation, allows lender’s Digital 2.0 programme

• In a major relief for HDFC Bank, the Reserve Bank of India lifted all restrictions on new digital business generating operations.
• RBI has removed all restrictions from HDFC’s Digital 2.0 programme.
• It should be noted that the restrictions were imposed by the Reserve Bank of India in December, 2020.

3. Prime Minister Narendra Modi Dedicated the National Defence University to the Nation

• Prime minister Narendra Modi dedicated the National Defense University to the nation & addressed its first convocation at Gandhinagar, Gujarat.
• Union Home and Cooperation Minister Shri Amit Shah attended the convocation ceremony.
• Many dignitaries, including the Governor of Gujarat, Shri Acharya Devvrat & Chief Minister of Gujarat, Shri Bhupendra Patel, were present.

4. Prime Minister Sh. Narendra Modi Inaugurates 11th Khel Mahakumbh in Ahmedabad

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the 11th Khel Mahakumbh at Sardar Patel Stadium in Ahmedabad.
• It is an annual sports competition organized here by the Gujarat government.
• Khel Mahakumbh started in 2010 with 16 sports and 13 lakh participants, and it increased to 36 general sports and 26 para sports in 2019.

5. India, Sri Lanka sign agreement to build solar power plant in island nation

• India and Sri Lanka have signed an agreement for developing a 100 megawatt solar power plant in the island nation’s eastern port district of Trincomalee, as part of the efforts to strengthen bilateral economic partnership, including through cooperation in the renewable energy sector.

6. Provident fund interest rate for FY22 lowered to four-decade low of 8.1%

• Interest rate on employees’ provident fund deposit was cut to a four-decade low of 8.1 per cent for the 2021-22 fiscal from 8.5 per cent in the previous year.
• This is the lowest interest rate since 1977-78 on deposits that employees make towards their retirement fund. Interest rate on employees provident fund that year stood at 8 per cent.

7. IREDA inks MoU with CIPET for Solarization of CIPET academic campuses

• Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency Ltd. (IREDA) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Central Institute of Petrochemicals Engineering & Technology (CIPET), to provide its techno-financial expertise for solarization of CIPET campuses.
• The two organisations are under the Ministry of New & Renewable Energy and the Ministry of Chemicals & Fertilizers.

8. Union Home & Cooperation Minister Shri Amit Shah addressed the 37th Foundation Day celebrations of National Crime Records Bureu

• Union Minister of Home Affairs and Minister of Cooperation, Shri Amit Shah attended the 37th Foundation Day celebrations of National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) as the Chief Guest in New Delhi.
• The Crime and Criminal Tracking & Network Systems (CCTNS) Hackathon has also been inaugurated.
• NCRB has a big role in handling the internal security of the country.

9. IMF Approves $1.4 Billion Emergency Support For Ukraine

• The International Monetary Fund said its executive board has approved $1.4 billion in emergency financing for Ukraine.
• The fund has been approved to help meet urgent spending needs and mitigate the economic impact of Russia’s military invasion.
• The Russian military invasion of Ukraine has been responsible for a massive humanitarian and economic crisis.

10. NaBFID to be regulated as AIFI under RBI Act

• NaBFID shall be regulated and supervised as an All India Financial Institution (AIFI) by the Reserve Bank under Sections 45L and 45N of the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934.
• The National Bank for Financing Infrastructure and Development (NaBFID) Act, 2021, received the assent of the President on March 28, 2021.
• It came into force with effect from April 19, 2021.
• It shall be the fifth AIFI after EXIM Bank, NABARD, NHB and SIDBI, said the apex bank.

11. India gets first Virtual Smart Grid Knowledge Centre in Manesar

• The Union minister for power has launched the Virtual Smart Grid Knowledge Center (Virtual SGKC) and Innovation Park.
• The initiative, part of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav Programme, will be one of the leading Centers of Excellence globally to foster innovation, entrepreneurship and research in smart grid technologies.

12. Haryana CM Khattar Announces Sushma Swaraj Award, Scheme for Women in Budget 2022

• Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar has presented the Budget 2022-23 in the state’s Assembl.
• He announced the ’Sushma Swaraj Award’ for women for their significant contribution or achievements in different walks of life in national and international spheres.
• Besides, he also announced the Haryana Matrushakti Udyamita Scheme to provide support to women.

13. Justice Vipin Sanghi appointed as acting chief justice of Delhi High Court

• A notification issued by the Department of Justice in the Law Ministry said Justice Sanghi has been asked to perform the duties of the office of the chief justice of Delhi High Court with effect from March 13 consequent upon the retirement of Justice Dhirubhai Naranbhai Patel.

14. RBI bars Paytm Payments Bank from signing new customers; asks company to conduct IT audits

• Reserve Bank of India in exercise of its powers, inter alia, under section 35A of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949, directed Paytm Payments Bank Ltd to stop, with immediate effect, onboarding of new customers,”
• RBI has also asked One 97 Communications Ltd’s Paytm Payments Bank Action to appoint an IT audit firm to conduct a comprehensive System Audit of its IT system.

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