Daily GK Update: 1st January 2022

State Affairs

Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu inaugurated two Colleges of Arts & Sciences in Kadmat and Androth islands on his first State visit to Lakshadweep Union Territory.
Courses of two colleges will help the students of the islands, especially girl students to overcome the geographical constraints of the region and pursue quality higher education with employment potential.
Both the colleges are affiliated to Pondicherry University.

National & International Appointments

Director General VS Pathania took over as the 24th Chief of Indian Coast Guard with effect from 31st December 2021
He is an alumnus of Defence Services Staff College, Wellington and National Defence College, New Delhi.
He was elevated to the rank of Additional Director General in Nov 2019 and took over the reins as Coast Guard Commander (Eastern Seaboard) at Visakhapatnam.
Awards: President’s Tatrakshak Medal for Distinguished Service, Tatrakshak Medal for gallantry

Sports

India lifted under-19 Asia cricket Cup by defeating Sri Lanka by nine wickets in a rain-interrupted One-Day International final in Dubai through Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method.
In the match, Sri Lanka opted to bat first and scored 106 for nine in the stipulated 38 overs.
Raghuvanshi and Rasheed has stitched an unbeaten 96-run stand to take India home in the summit
Earlier, opting to bat first, Sri Lanka got off to the worst possible start as the side lost two wickets

National & International Appointments

Vinay Kumar Tripathi (1983 Batch of Indian Railway Service of Electrical Engineers) has been appointed as new Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Railway Board with effect from January 1, 2022.
He is presently working as General Manager, Northeastern Railway to the post of Chairman of Railway Board.
Indian Railway Board is the apex body of the Indian Railways, which reports to parliament through the Ministry of Railways.

National Affairs

Centre has notified new rules for Consumer Protection (Jurisdiction of the District Commission, the State Commission and National Commission) Rules, 2021
Revised pecuniary jurisdiction for entertaining consumer complaints shall be up to Rs50 lakh for District Commissions, more than 50 lakh to 2 crore for State Commissions and more than 2 crore for National Commission.
Consumer Protection Act, 2019 promulgates a three-tier quasi-judicial mechanism for consumer disputes

National Affairs

Union Education Minister, Dharmendra Pradhan has launched 100 days reading campaign 'Padhe Bharat'.
It is in alignment with National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 which emphasizes on promotion of joyful reading culture for children by ensuring availability of age appropriate reading books.
The campaign will focus on children studying in Balvatika to Grade 8.
It will be organized for 100 days (14 weeks) starting from 1st January 2022 to 10th April 2022.

National Affairs

Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) has announced opening of Urban Geospatial Data Stories Challenge to foster adoption of geospatial technologies, promoting innovation in India’s urban ecosystem
It has been organized with select Smart Cities that will be publishing high quality GIS datasets
More than 1000 geospatial datasets have been made available to registered participants
It will commence for registered participants on 1st Jan 2022 till January end 2022.

Schemes

PM Narendra Modi has released 10th installment of financial benefit under Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi Scheme.
More than Rs 20 thousand crore have been transferred to over than ten crore farmer families.
Under PM-KISAN scheme, financial benefit of six thousand rupees per year is provided to the eligible family of farmers.
The fund is transferred directly to the bank accounts of the beneficiaries.
It is a centrally sector scheme, which was launched in 2019.

National & International Appointments

Amir Subhani (1987-batch IAS officer) has been appointed as the chief secretary of Bihar by Chief minister Nitish Kumar with effect from 31st December 2021
He will replace Tripurari Sharan.
He is Bihar's first chief secretary belonging to the minority community and will retire in April 2024.
He was development commissioner of Bihar before his elevation at this post.
Atul Prasad has been made development commissioner in place of Subhani.

International Affairs

India and Pakistan have exchanged the list of nuclear installations and facilities, covered under Agreement on Prohibition of Attack against Nuclear Installations and Facilities between India and Pakistan
Agreement provides that India and Pakistan inform each other of nuclear installations and facilities to be covered under Agreement on 1st January of every calendar year.
This is the 31st consecutive exchange.
First one took place on January 1, 1992.