- The Election Commission of India has increased the existing election expenditure limit for candidates in Parliamentary and Assembly constituencies seeing the inflation. The new limits will be applicable in all upcoming elections in the country. The last major revision in the election expenditure limit was done in 2014. This was further increased by 10% in 2020. The Election Commission had constituted a committee to study the cost factors and other related issues and make suitable recommendations. Election Expenditure Limit for Parliamentary Constituencies: Parliamentary election expenditure limit has been increased from 70 lakhs to 95 lakhs in large states and from 54 lakhs to 75 lakhs in small states. The election expenditure limit in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir has been increased to 95 lakhs. Election Expenditure Limit for Assembly Constituencies: The expenditure limit for assembly constituencies has been increased from Rs 28 lakh to Rs 40 lakh in large states and from Rs 20 lakh to 28 lakh in smaller states.
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced that from the year 2022, 26 December will be celebrated every year as ‘Veer Baal Diwas’. The day will be observed as a tribute to the courage of 4 Sahibzadas-four sons of Guru Gobind Singh ji, who attained martyrdom in the 17th century. The announcement was made on January 09, 2022, on the occasion of the birth anniversary of the 10th Guru of the Sikhs and the founder of the Khalsa community. 26 December is the day on which Sahibzada Zorawar Singh Ji and Sahibzada Fateh Singh Ji attained martyrdom at the young age of 6 and 9 years.
- The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has approved a test kit to detect the Omicron variant of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus. The COVID kit developed by Tata is called ‘OmiSure’ and will be an enhancement to Omicron variant detection. The kit has been manufactured by Tata Medical and Diagnostics. Tests have been performed according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Batch-to-batch compatibility is the responsibility of the manufacturer. Tata Medical and Diagnostics has developed a kit ‘Omisure’ which can detect the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV2 in nasopharyngeal/oropharyngeal samples during RT-PCR tests.
Read more: UNENDING PANDEMIC: A NEW VARIANT NAMED DELMICRON IS NOW HAUNTING THE WORLD; KNOW ALL ABOUT IT
- To cheer the spirit of young entrepreneurship, Prime Minister Modi has announced to mark January 16 as ‘National Start-up Day’. The announcement was made by PM Modi on January 15, 2022 through video conferencing during a week-long event “Celebrating Innovation Ecosystem” as a part of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav. During the program, the Prime Minister interacted with more than 150 startups in various sectors.
- Indian GDP forecast: According to the United Nations World Economic Situation and Prospects (WESP) 2022 report, India’s GDP growth is projected to grow at 6.5 percent in fiscal year 2022. Earlier it was estimated to be 8.4%. WESP is a major report produced by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN-DESA). On the other hand, the World Bank has projected the Indian economy to grow at at 8.3 per cent in its ‘Global Economic Prospects’ report released on January 11, 2022. The World Bank retained its FY22 growth forecast for India, but raised it to 8.7 per cent for FY23 from 7.5 per cent previously projected, improving growth prospects, especially as a Citing the revived private capex cycle. The National Statistical Office (NSO) has projected India’s GDP to grow at the rate of 9.2 percent in the current financial year 2021-22. The NSO released its first advance estimates of economic output on January 07, 2022. The GDP estimate for the financial year 2020-21 was projected by the NSO at a contraction of 7.3 per cent.
- According to a report by NGO Oxfam India, while the income of 84 percent of households in India declined in 2021, the number of Indian billionaires increased from 102 to 142. Oxfam India has released the Annual Inequality Survey on this occasion. According to this, the total wealth of Indian billionaires doubled during the Corona period. Due to Corona, inequality has increased so much that 10% of the richest people of the country have 45% of the country’s wealth. At the same time, 50% of the poor population of the country has only 6% wealth. According to this inequality report, the total wealth of the country’s 142 billionaires is $ 719 billion. The 98 richest people have the same wealth as 55 crore poor people. This is about $ 657 billion. The total wealth of these 98 families is about 41% of the total budget of the Government of India.
- Union Environment Minister, Bhupendra Yadav launched the 17th edition of the biennial India State of Forest Report (ISFR) 2021. The ISFR is issued by the Forest Survey of India (FSI) every two years since 1987 to assess the country’s forest resources. India’s forest and tree cover increased by 2,261 square kilometers in ISFR 2021 as compared to the 2019 estimate. This includes an increase of 1,540 square kilometers in forest area and an increase of 721 square kilometers in tree cover.
- In a recent move, the central government of India is set to become the largest shareholder in Vodafone Idea. The company’s board approved conversion of interest of Rs 16,000 crore into equity. India’s third largest network Vi or Vodafone Idea Limited (VIL) has approved interest on spectrum and Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) dues in government equity. VIL accepted a four-year moratorium as well as accepted equity conversion, which means the Indian government will hold around 35.8% stake in VIL, followed by Vodafone Group at 28.5 percent and Aditya Birla Group at 17.8%. will be part.
- In an unprecedented move, few days back, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) released a mobile number for Punjab voters to choose the CM candidate for the party. Now, AAP has formally announced the CM face. Party convener Arvind Kejriwal announced the name of Bhagwant Mann. 21.59 lakh people gave their opinion in 3 days. About 15 lakh people have chosen the name of Bhagwant Mann. With this result, Kejriwal announced the name of Bhagwant Mann and said that Mann got 93.3% and Sidhu got only 3.6% votes.
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- A blast took place in the internal compartment of the warship INS Ranvir at the Indian Navy Dockyard in Mumbai on Tuesday. Three Indian Navy personnel have died in the blast, while 11 soldiers have also been injured. The injured have been admitted to the local Naval Hospital. A fire broke out in the compartment after the blast, which was brought under control shortly after. The reason for the blast is not yet clear. In the Eastern Naval Command, INS Ranvir was on operational deployment in the coastal area since November 2021 and was to return to the base port shortly after, when the explosion took place.