Daily GK Update: 2nd January 2022

National & International Appointments

Vinod Kannan took over as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Vistara airline.
He replaced Leslie Thng, who was the CEO from July 2017 to December 31, 2021.
He started his stint with Vistara as Chief Strategy Officer in June 2019 and took over as Chief Commercial Officer in January 2020
Deepak Rajawat has been elevated to the role of Vistara’s chief commercial officer
Vistara is a 51:49 joint venture between Tata Sons Private Limited and Singapore Airlines (SIA).

Honours & Awards

Indian women’s team cricketer Smriti Mandhana has been nominated for the prestigious Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy for ICC Women’s Cricketer of the Year-2021 award.
She has scored 855 runs in 22 internationals, at an average of 38.86 with one century and five half-centuries
Besides her, other 3 cricketers - England’s Tammy Beaumont, Australia’s Lizelle Lee and Ireland’s Gaby Lewis are also being nominated
She was named as Best Indian Women's International Cricketer in 2018

State Affairs

Chairperson of the Supreme Court's e-Committee, Justice D Y Chandrachud has virtually inaugurated e-filing module of the Kerala High Court.
He also urged states to make e-filing mandatory and suggested that training on e-services should be made available free of cost to the litigants.
Chief Justice of the Kerala High Court Justice S Manikumar also inaugurated e-office initiative on the occasion
It will save time, and speed up the process of court proceedings

Sports

Kargil District Disaster Management Authority, DDMA, has canceled Kargil Winter Expedition due to the rising of Covid 19 cases in Ladakh region
About Kargil Winter Expedition:
- It is a 7-day tryst, starting from Leh, crossing some of the highest mountain passes and covering Kargil's gorgeous sectors like Aryan, Batalik, Drass and Suru
- It includes events like Snow Horse Polo, Snow Soccer, Snow Bashing etc
- It was scheduled to begin from 22nd January.

State Affairs

Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare, Bharati Pawar will inaugurate Central Government Health Scheme, CGHS Wellness Centre in Nashik, Maharashtra
After this, Nashik will be the 4th city in Maharashtra to have CGHS Wellness Centre, after Mumbai, Pune and Nagpur
It will provide OPD Treatment including issue of medicines, indoor treatment at Govt and Empanelled Hospitals, cashless facility for treatment in empanelled centers for pensioners, etc.

State Affairs

PM Narendra Modi will inaugurate and lay the foundation stone of 22 Developmental Projects worth over Rs 4,800 crore in Imphal.
He will also inaugurate 13 Projects worth around Rs 1,850 crore and lay the foundation stone of nine projects worth around two thousand 950 crore rupees.
These projects relate to diverse sectors such as Road Infrastructure, Drinking Water Supply, Health, Urban Development, Housing, Skill Development, Art and Culture, among others.

State Affairs

Govt of Maharashtra has decided to implement the decision of Purchasing or Renting only Electric Vehicles for Govt/ Urban Local Bodies/ Corporations from 1st January 2022 instead of 1st April 2022
As per Maharashtra EV policy, 2021, adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) contributes to a wide range of sustainability goals.
It includes better air quality, reduced noise pollution, enhanced energy security, and reduced greenhouse gas emissions.

National & International Appointments

Senior diplomat Anupam Ray (1994-batch Indian Foreign Service officer) has been appointed as the India's next permanent representative to the UN Conference on Disarmament
He is currently serving as a joint secretary in the MEA's headquarters in Delhi.
He will succeed Pankaj Sharma, who has been appointed as India's next ambassador to Mexico.
UN Conference on Disarmament is a multilateral disarmament forum based at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.

State Affairs

Governor of Sikkim Ganga Prasad has officially inaugurated Second road linking Tsomgo lake and Nathula border pass with Gangtok has been christened as 'Narendra Modi Marg'
The older route is known as Jawaharlal Nehru Road
Alternative double-lane road at 51 Kyongasala gram panchayat unit, spanning 19.51 km has been operational for almost a year now
It has been constructed by Border Roads Organization and has reduced the distance between Gangtok and Tsomgo lake by 15 km

State Affairs

Centre has released over Rs 830 crore to Odisha to expedite the implementation of Jal Jeevan Mission in the state.
Odisha has planned to become Har Ghar Jal State in 2024.
Out of around 85 lakh rural households in the state, around 41% households have tap water supply in their homes.
Jal Jeevan Mission was announced on 15th August 2019, with the aim to provide assured tap water supply to every rural home by 2024.

Schemes

Information Technology Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has launched India Semiconductor Mission (ISM)
The schemes have been notified and uploaded on the IT website with dedicated portal
Interested companies can tap Rs 76,000-crore incentives earmarked by Centre for development of semiconductors and display manufacturing ecosystem in India can begin applying for the same from 1st January
ISM is a specialized and independent business division within Digital India Corporation