Important Current Affairs 6th February 2022

NATIONAL

Indian diplomats to boycott Beijing Winter Olympics

• The 2022 Winter Olympics has kicked off on February 04, 2022, in Beijing, China and will continue till February 20, 2022. The Opening Ceremony was held at Beijing’s National Stadium, also known as the Bird’s Nest. However, India had announced the diplomatic level boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympics opening and closing ceremony. This means that no Indian officials will attend the opening and closing ceremony. However, the country has sent one of its athletes, Arif Khan (skier), to attend the event.

• China has picked a Chinese soldier (Qi Fabao) as Olympic torchbearer, who was involved in the Galwan incident on June 15, 2020, which had resulted in the death of 20 Indian soldiers, including a Colonel.

Republic Day parade: Uttar Pradesh wins best tableau award

• The tableau of Uttar Pradesh has been picked as the best tableau among the 12 States/UTs which participated in the Republic Day parade on January 26, 2022. The theme of the tableau of Uttar Pradesh was ‘One District One Product and Kashi Vishwanath Dham’. A total of 12 states and union territories had participated in the Republic Day parade on January 26. The second place went to Karnataka for its tableau based on ‘cradle of traditional handicrafts’ while the third position went to Meghalaya for its tableau based on ‘Meghalaya’s 50 years of Statehood and its tribute to women-led cooperative societies & SHGs’.

• Best marching contingent among three Services: Indian Navy

• Best marching contingent among CAPF/other auxiliary forces: Central Industrial Security Force (CISF)

• The tableaux of the ministry of education and the ministry of civil aviation have been declared as joint winners in the category of central ministries and departments. The theme of the tableau of the ministry of education and the ministry of skill development and entrepreneurship was ‘National Education Policy. The tableau of the ministry of civil aviation was based on the theme ‘Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik’.

APPOINTMENT & RESIGNATION

Sonali Singh given charge of Controller General of Accounts

• The Government of India has appointed Sonali Singh to hold the additional charge of the Controller General of Accounts (CGA), under the Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance, with effect from February 01, 2022. She has been appointed in place of Dipak Dash, who superannuated on January 31, 2022.

• Sonali Singh is a 1987 batch officer of the Indian Civil Accounts Service (ICAS). She is serving as the Additional Controller General of Accounts since October 2019. Prior to that, she had also served as Additional Secretary at Central Vigilance Commission.

JNU VC M Jagadesh Kumar appointed as UGC head

• The government of India has appointed JNU (Jawaharlal Nehru University) Vice-Chancellor, M Jagadesh Kumar as the new Chairman of the University Grants Commission (UGC). He has been appointed for a period of five years or till he attains the age of 65 years, whichever is the earliest. The post of the UGC Chairman was vacant since December 07, 2021, after Prof D P Singh resigned upon attaining 65 years of age. He was appointed in 2018.

• Hailing from Mamidala village in Telangana’s Nalgonda district, 60-year-old Kumar holds a masters degree and a PhD from IIT-Madras. He also completed his post-doctoral research at the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Waterloo, at Ontario, Canada. He was a professor at the Department of Electrical Engineering at IIT-Delhi before being appointed as the JNU vice-chancellor in January 2016. He continued teaching at IIT-Delhi while serving as the JNU VC.

OBITURY

Veteran actor Ramesh Deo passes away at 93

• Prominent film personality Ramesh Deo, known for playing a diverse range of roles, in Marathi and Hindi movies, passed away due to a heart attack. During his career spanning several decades, the multi-faceted film personality has acted in over 450 Hindi and Marathi feature films, apart from working in several television shows and commercials.

• The evergreen Marathi actor is known for playing notable roles in 1956 ‘Andhala Magto Ek Dola’ and 1971 cult classic ‘Anand’, 1962 ‘Aarti’, 1974 ‘Aap Ki Kasam,’ celebrated his 93rd birthday on January 30.

• Deo, who made his acting debut in the form of a cameo in the 1951 Marathi film ‘Paatlaachi Por’ has worked in more than 200 Hindi films, 100 Marathi films and several Marathi dramas with over 200 showings in his long career.

• He also produced feature films, television serials and several ad films.In January 2013, the ‘Nivdung’ actor received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 11th Pune International Film Festival (PIFF).

BOOKS & AUTHOR

Novel ‘Atharva’: The Origin’ authored by Ramesh Thamilmani

• Virzu Studios in association with MIDAS Deals Pvt Ltd has released the motion poster of its upcoming graphic novel, Atharva – The Origin. Cricketer Mahendra Singh Dhoni has been portrayed as the superhero Atharva in this graphic novel. The motion poster features a rugged looking Dhoni, giving fans a glimpse into the world of Atharva and also a sneak peek into the first look of him as a superhero.

• The graphic novel authored by Ramesh Thamilmani features over 150 lifelike illustrations which present the gripping, racy narrative. It is produced by Vincent Adaikalaraj and Ashok Manor. Reportedly, the makers are also planning to make a web-series based on the novel.

Book ‘Golden Boy Neeraj Chopra’ authored by Navdeep Singh Gill

• A short biography of Indian athlete Neeraj Chopra has titled ‘Golden Boy Neeraj Chopra’ authored by sports author Navdeep Singh Gill has been released. Neeraj Chopra won a Gold medal in Javelin Throw at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The biography on Tokyo Olympics-2021 gold medalist Neeraj Chopra was released by the chairperson of Punjab Kala Parishad Surjit Patar and president of Punjabi Sahit Akademi Lakhwinder Singh Johal, amid the presence of the author and his family members.

• The book has 72 pages and covers the life history and achievements of Neeraj Chopra right from his childhood to the Tokyo Olympics. The book very aptly covers his sporting techniques, numerous awards and contemporaries in different chapters with coloured photos in each chapter.

RANKING

India's unemployment rate drops to 6.57% in Jan, lowest since March 2021: CMIE

• The unemployment rate in India in January 2022 fell sharply to 6.57%, according to the data from the economic think-tank, the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE). This is the lowest rate witnessed since March 2021. In December 2021, the unemployment rate rose to a four-month high of 7.91%, compared to 6.97% in November. CMIE is a Mumbai-based independent non-government entity that serves both as an economic think-tank as well as a business information company.

• Telangana recorded the lowest unemployment rate in January at 0.7%.

• This was followed by Gujarat at 1.2%, Meghalaya at 1.5%, Odisha at 1.8% and Karnataka at 2.9%.