Daily Current Affairs – 06 January 2022

Daily Current Affairs 06 January 2022: This post contains the current affairs for 06 January 2022 that are important for competitive exams like IBPS PO and Clerk, SBI PO and Clerk, RBI Assistant and Grade B, other Insurance exams. You can also attempt our Current Affairs Quiz after reading our daily current affairs.

National

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Ayush Minister Sarbananda Sonowal lays foundation stone for Heartfulness International Yoga academy in Hyderabad

• The Union Ayush Minster Shri Sarbananda Sonowal laid the foundation stone for the Heartfulness International Yoga academy on January 03, 2022 at Hyderabad.
• The Heartfulness International Yoga Academy comprises Yoga halls that can accommodate 100 Yoga students in each hall.
• Apart from this the academy has therapeutic Yoga rooms for consultation, one to one training spaces or small group classes; pre-natal Yoga rooms; a lecture hall with  200 sitting capacity; a full-fledged recording studio with editing suites for pre-recorded wellness programs; a recording Yoga hall fully equipped for Live online Yoga Classes; a Yoga library with books from every Yoga Institutions and access to Yoga research articles.
• The Academy will play key role to set new benchmarks in yoga training.

Telangana declared top state for having highest number of ODF plus villages

• As per the latest report of the Central government, Telangana has bagged the top position among all other States of the country in having the highest number of ODF plus villages under the Swachh Bharat Mission (Grameen) Phase-II programme.
• Telangana reported which is 96.74% ODF plus villages, which means, 13,737 villages among total 14,200 villages were declared as ODF plus, till December 31, 2021.
• Telangana is followed by Tamil Nadu (35.39 percent), Kerala (19.78 percent), Uttarakhand (9.01 percent), Haryana (5.75 percent ), Karnataka (5.59 percent) and Andhra Pradesh (4.63 percent).
• Jammu and Kashmir, Bihar, West Bengal, Nagaland, Mizoram, Tripura and Goa have been placed at the bottom of the list with zero progress.
• Under Phase-2 of the nationwide Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM), about 26,138 villages out of the 5,82,903 villages in the country have been declared ODF as on December 31, 2021.

RBI Gives Scheduled Bank Status to Airtel Payments Bank

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has included Airtel Payment Bank in the ‘Second Schedule to the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934’ on January 04, 2022.
• This means that Airtel Payments Bank has now been categorised as ”Scheduled Commercial Bank”.
• The Airtel Payments Bank can now bid for government-issued Requests for Proposals (RFPs) and primary auctions.
• It can also undertake both central and state government business, and participate in government-run welfare schemes.

State Bank of India invests USD20 million in payment solutions provider Pine Labs

• India’s largest lender, the State Bank of India has invested $20 million (Rs 150 crore) in Pine Labs Pvt Ltd.
• Pine Labs is an Indian merchant commerce platform company. It provides financing and last-mile retail transaction technology,  and makes software for point of sale machines.
• Pine Labs will invest the new funds in scaling Plural, its newly launched brand of online payment products. This will allow the company to offer payment services for both in-store as well as online payments.
• The IPO-bound online payments company is looking to list in the United States in the first half of 2022.

CryptoWire launches India’s first cryptocurrencies index IC15

• The global cryptocurrency app CryptoWire has launched India’s first index of cryptocurrencies named IC15.
• IC15 is a rule-based broad market index that will track and measure the performance of the top 15 widely traded liquid cryptocurrencies globally, in terms of market capitalization, listed on leading crypto exchanges of the world
• The base value of the index is set at 10,000.
• The base date is set at April 01, 2018.
• The index will be maintained, monitored and administered by the governance committee of CryptoWire, which will rebalance the index every quarter.
• Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum, Binance coin, Solana, Cardano, Ripple, Terra, Dogecoin and Shiba inu will be monitored by the platform.

Business

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Google acquires Israeli cybersecurity startup Siemplify for $500 mn

• Alphabet Inc-owned Google has acquired Israeli cybersecurity startup Siemplify, in a deal worth $500 million. This acquisition will expand U.S. tech giant’s security offerings in the country amid rising cyber attacks.
• Siemplify will be integrated into Google Cloud’s Chronicle operation.
• As a part of Google Cloud’s security team, Siemplify will help companies better manage their threat response.
• This purchase marks fourth acquisition of an Israeli company by Google and its first in the cybersecurity industry outside the US.
• Siemplify was founded in 2015 by Amos Stern (CEO), Alon Cohen (CTO) and Garry Fatakhov (COO). It has offices in Tel Aviv and headquarters in New York.
• Siemplify specializes in end-to-end security services for enterprises, typically referred to as security orchestration, automation and response (SOAR) services.

Appointment

Atul Keshap appointed as President of US-India Business Council (USIBC)

• Indian-origin American diplomat Atul Keshap has been appointed as the President of the U.S.-India Business Council (USIBC) by the US Chambers of Commerce. His term is effective from January 05, 2022.
• The US Chambers of Commerce is the parent body of USIBC.
• Atul Keshap replaces Nisha Desai Biswal.
• Prior to this, Keshap served in Delhi as United States Chargé d’Affaires to India, leading US Embassy team.
• The USIBC represents top global companies operating across the United States, India, and the Indo-Pacific.

Obituary

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Sindhutai Sapkal popular as ‘Mother of Orphans’ passes away

• Social worker Sindhutai Sapkal, who was called as ‘Mother of Orphans’ passed away on January 04, 2022 at the age of 73 years due to heart attack. She was also referred to just as ‘Sindhutai’ or ‘Mai’
• Sindhutai Sapkal was awarded the Padma Shri in 2021 in the Social Work category. Apart from this, she had received more than 750 awards and honours in her lifetime. She adopted close to 2,000 orphans and is grandmother to even more.
• She was from Maharashtra. A biopic on her life titled “Mee Sindhutai Sapkal“ was released in the year 2010.

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