Current Affairs 17 March 2022

1. DMRC employee enters Guinness world records for metro travel
2. Mobile broadband subscribers more than double to 765 million in 5 yrs: Nokia
3. Munish Varma, managing partner at SoftBank, resigns from Paytm board
4. Border Roads Organisation (BRO) signs MoU with GRSE for construction of 27 double-lane class 70 modular bridges in border areas
5. Chennai to host FIDE Chess Olympiad 2022 from July 26 to August 8
6. CCI approves acquisition of Micro Life Sciences Private Limited by South Elm Investments B.V.
7. CCI approves acquisition of equity stake in Future Generali India Insurance Company by Generali Participations Netherlands N.V
8. Razorpay acquires fifth payments tech startup IZealiant Technologies
9. HSBC Mutual Fund launches CRISIL IBX 50:50 Gilt Plus SDL April 2028 Index Fund
10. MV Ram Prasad Bismil, longest vessel to sail on Brahmaputra, completes pilot run
11. Pramod Bhagat wins two silver, one bronze in Spanish Para-Badminton International
12. Team India captain Mithali Raj makes history, breaks World Cup captaincy record
13. ISRO launches ‘Young Scientist Programme’ for Class 11 students; registrations begin
14. First ever GI-tagged Kashmir carpets flagged off to Germany
15. RailTel ranks 124 in Fortune India Next 500 list
16. Mission Indradhanush: Odisha tops list of full immunisation with 90.5% coverage
17. Greater investment in care services could create almost 300 million jobs : International Labour Organisation report

1. DMRC employee enters Guinness world records for metro travel

• A DMRC employee entered the Guinness Book of World Records for clocking the “fastest time to travel across all metro stations”.
• Prafull Singh has entered into the Guinness World Records for recording the ‘Fastest time to travel to all Metro stations’.
• This makes him the first person to travel to 254 stations covering 348 kms in just 16 hrs and 2 minutes.

2. Mobile broadband subscribers more than double to 765 million in 5 yrs: Nokia

• Mobile broadband subscribers in India more than doubled to 765 million from 345 million in the past five years and the average data traffic per user per month reached 17GB in 2021, said a new report by Finnish telecom equipment maker Nokia.
• India’s growing 4G networks carried almost all mobile broadband traffic in 2021.

3. Munish Varma, managing partner at SoftBank, resigns from Paytm board

• Munish Varma, managing partner at SoftBank, resigned from the board of One97 Communications, the parent firm of Paytm.
• Varma was a non-executive and non-independent director on the board of the company which owns the Paytm app.
• SoftBank currently holds a 17.4% stake in Paytm, recent shareholding data from BSE shows.

4. Border Roads Organisation (BRO) signs MoU with GRSE for construction of 27 double-lane class 70 modular bridges in border areas

• The MoU includes fabrication, supply, erection, and launching of 27 double-lane bridges of carriageway 7.5 meters of load class 70 along with the Northern and North Eastern border states.
• It has been inked by DG BRO Lt Gen Rajeev Chaudhry and Officiating Chairman and MD of Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE) Ltd. Commodore PR Hari IN (Retd) in New Delhi.

5. Chennai to host FIDE Chess Olympiad 2022 from July 26 to August 8

• India will host the 44th World Chess Olympiad 2022 at Chennai, tentatively between July 26 and August 8 after it was decided to pull the event from Russia due to the ongoing event.
• In the previous 43 times that the official FIDE Chess Olympiad has been organised since 1927 India has not once been able to be the host nation.

6. CCI approves acquisition of Micro Life Sciences Private Limited by South Elm Investments B.V.

• Competition Commission of India (CCI) approved the acquisition of Micro Life Sciences Private Limited by South Elm Investments B.V.
• The proposed combination pertains to the proposed acquisition of a minority stake in Micro Life Sciences Private Limited (Micro Life/ Target) by South Elm Investments B.V. (SEI/ Acquirer).
• SEI is an investment holding company incorporated under the laws of the Netherlands.

7. CCI approves acquisition of equity stake in Future Generali India Insurance Company by Generali Participations Netherlands N.V

• The Competition Commission of India (CCI) approves acquisition of equity stake in Future Generali India Insurance Company Limited by Generali Participations Netherlands N.V. Generali Participations Netherlands N.V. (GPN / Acquirer) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Assicurazioni Generali S.p.A (“Generali Group”), the ultimate parent entity of the Generali group of companies.

8. Razorpay acquires fifth payments tech startup IZealiant Technologies

• Fintech unicorn Razorpay announced its acquisition of IZealiant Technologies, a leading Fintech startup that provides payments technology solutions for banks, for an undisclosed amount.
• The acquisition of IZealiant will further strengthen Razorpay’s Banking Solutions Arm to build innovative payment banking technologies for partner banks.
• IZealiant is a Pune-based startup founded in 2015.

9. HSBC Mutual Fund launches CRISIL IBX 50:50 Gilt Plus SDL April 2028 Index Fund

• HSBC Mutual Fund (MF) has launched HSBC CRISIL IBX 50:50 Gilt Plus SDL April 2028 Index Fund, an open-ended Target Maturity Index fund.
• The target maturity fund has a fixed tenure.
• The securities maturing on or before the maturity date follow a predefined index.
• According to the fund house, the fund is focused on the short end versus the rich stability of the curve.

10. MV Ram Prasad Bismil, longest vessel to sail on Brahmaputra, completes pilot run

• MV Ram Prasad Bismil, the longest vessel to set sail on the Brahmaputra, completed its pilot run of heavy cargo movement.
• The 90 meter long flotilla started from Haldia Dock in Kolkata and anchored at Pandu port in Guwahati.
• The pilot run laid down the path for commencement of barging operation from Kolkata to Guwahati through Indo-Bangladesh Protocol Route (IBRP).

11. Pramod Bhagat wins two silver, one bronze in Spanish Para-Badminton International

• Pramod Bhagat won two silver and a bronze medal and Sukant Kadam ended up with a Bronze in Spanish Para-Badminton International 2022.
• World champion Pramod Bhagat won the men’s singles SL3 Silver and mixed doubles SL3-SU5 Bronze at the Spanish Para-Badminton International 2022.

12. Team India captain Mithali Raj makes history, breaks World Cup captaincy record

• India’s ODI skipper Mithali Raj has broken the record for most matches captained in the ICC Women’s World Cup, surpassing former Australian counterpart Belinda Clark.
• Mithali, 39, led the country in 24 World Cup games, claiming 14 victories, 8 losses and one no result.
• Clark had captained her side in 23 matches.

13. ISRO launches ‘Young Scientist Programme’ for Class 11 students; registrations begin

• The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is organising a special programme for school children called “YUva VIgyani KAryakram” (YUVIKA) or “Young Scientist Programme” to impart basic knowledge on space technology, space science and space applications to young students, especially for those from rural areas.

14. First ever GI-tagged Kashmir carpets flagged off to Germany

• The Jammu and Kashmir government has finally started a Geographical Indication (GI) registry for the famed Kashmiri carpet with a quick response (QR) code with details of artisans and the material used.
• The first ever consignment of GI-tagged carpets were exported to Germany from New Delhi.

15. RailTel ranks 124 in Fortune India Next 500 list

• RailTel jumped 67 positions to rank 124th in the recently announced ‘Fortune India Next 500 list of Year 2022’.
• It was ranked 197 in the 2021 list of top midsize companies operating in India.
• RailTel is one of the largest neutral telecom infrastructure services providers in the country.

16. Mission Indradhanush: Odisha tops list of full immunisation with 90.5% coverage

• Odisha has become the only state in the country to achieve 90.5% of immunization apart from the successful vaccination against Covid-19 infection under Mission Indradhanush 4.0.
• The Intensified Mission Indradhanush (IMI) 4.0 Has Been Rolled Out In The State From March 7 For Boosting Full Immunization Coverage Of The Targeted Women And Children.

17. Greater investment in care services could create almost 300 million jobs : International Labour Organisation report

• Persistent & significant gaps in care services & policies have left hundreds of millions of workers with family responsibilities without adequate protection and support, yet meeting these needs could create almost 300mn jobs by 2035.
• ILO revealed the information in a new report titled “Care at work: Investing in care leave & services for a more gender-equal world of work”.

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