Current Affairs for BANK, IBPS Exams - 09 January 2022

::National::

Hyderabad gets India's first open rock museum

On the first day of his two-day visit, Union Minister of State for Science and Technology DrJitendra Singh inaugurated India’s first Open Rock Museum in Hyderabad, displaying around 35 different types of rocks from different parts of India with ages ranging from 3.3 billion years to around 55 million years of the Earth’s history.
He later addressed the Hyderabad Scientists at the CSIR-National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI).
The Open Rock Museum, set up with the aim of educating and enlightening the masses about several lesser-known facts, displays around 35 different types of rocks from different parts of India with ages ranging from 3.3 billion years to around 55 million years of the Earth’s history.
These rocks also represent the deepest part of the earth, up to 175 kms from the surface of the earth.
The rocks have been sourced from Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand, Jharkhand, Jammu & Kashmir and others.
Addressing the galaxy of eminent scientists, DrJitendra Singh said that ‘Big Earth data’ occupies the strategic high ground in the era of knowledge economies and India is fully exploiting this new frontier, contributing to the advancement of Earth science. He further said that geosciences is contributing significantly towards self-reliance and national priorities in ‘New India’.

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::International::

Justice Ayesha Malik to be the first woman Supreme Court judge of Pakistan

Pakistan’s top judicial commission has nominated a female judge to the supreme court for the first time in the country’s history.
The move to pave the way for Justice Ayesha Malik to join the court has been widely praised by lawyers and civil society activists as a defining moment in the struggle for gender equality in Pakistan.
The parliamentary secretary for law and justice, MaleekaBokhari, called it a “shattering of the glass ceiling”.
“An important and defining moment in our country as a brilliant lawyer and decorated judge has become Pakistan’s first female SC [supreme court] judge,” Bokhari, a junior minister of the ruling Tehreek-e-Insaf party, wrote on Twitter.
The 55-year-old’s appointment has been supported by the chief justice of Pakistan, Gulzar Ahmed, and now goes to a parliamentary panel for confirmation.
The decision has not been without opposition, with one group of lawyers threatening to strike if Malik joined the supreme court bench. The nine-member commission turned down her appointment to the court last year, but this time the decision of the panel of judges was five votes to four in her favour.
A number of lawyers and judges said her selection violated the rules in terms of seniority, maintaining that she was not among the top three senior judges in the court from which she was nominated – the Lahore high court, where Malik has served since 2012.

::Economy::

Center sets up help desk to ensure supply of goods and essentials without any restrictions in times of covid

Centre has established help desks and control rooms to ensure supplies of delivery of goods and essential commodities continue without any restrictions during Covid times.
The phone numbers are 011- 23063554 and 23060625. Commerce and Industry Ministry said, these telephone numbers will remain functional from 9 AM to 9 PM.
Department of Commerce and Directorate General of Foreign Trade, DGFT have also undertaken to monitor the status of export and imports and difficulties being faced by trade stakeholders in view of the surge of COVID-19 cases.
DGFT has operationalized a COVID-19 Helpdesk to support and seek suitable resolutions to issues arising in respect of International Trade.

DPIIT and commerce ministry to organize Startup India Innovation Week

The Centre will organise the first-ever Startup India “Innovation Week" from Monday to bring together the country’s key startups, entrepreneurs, investors, incubators, funding entities, banks, policymakers, etc under one platform to celebrate entrepreneurship and promote innovation, and to showcase the spread and depth of entrepreneurship across India, an official statement said.
According to the Commerce and Industry Ministry statement, the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) is organising the virtual week-long innovation celebration, from January 10 to 16, which also aims to commemorate the 75th year of India’s independence ‘AzadiKaAmritMahotsav’ and is designed to showcase the spread and depth of entrepreneurship across India. Interestingly, in the startup world, 2021 has been recognised as the ‘year of unicorns,’ with 40+ unicorns added in the year.
India is emerging as a global innovation hub, boasting the world’s third-largest startup ecosystem. The DPIIT has recognised more than 61,000 startups as on date. These startups, representing 55 industries and spread across 633 districts with at least one startup from every state and UT, have created over 6 lakh jobs since 2016. As many as 45 per cent of the startups are from Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities and 45 per cent of them are represented by women entrepreneurs.
With the participation of states/UTs and various departments of the Central government, the week-long programme will address key aspects of the startup ecosystem through interactive sessions, workshops, and presentations based on themes such as Academia & Mentorship Support to Startups, Incubation and Acceleration Support to Startups, Market Access through Corporates & Government to Startups, and Funding & International Avenues to Go Global.

::Science and tech::

ICMR approves India's first Omicron kit 'Omisure'

In a successful attempt to cut down delays in genome sequencing to detect the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV2 (Covid-19), the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has approved a made in India ‘Omisure’ test kit.
This RT-PCR test kit has been developed by Tata Medical and Diagnostics to specifically detect the Omicron variant of Covid-19.
Currently, Omicron patients are detected only after genome sequencing. However, the Omisure test kit helps to eliminate this step and detects the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV2 in the nasopharyngeal/oropharyngeal specimens during the RT-PCR tests.
TATA MD has fixed the cost of the Omisure test kit at Rs 250 per test, which is cheaper than current test kits available in the market.
However, additional charges by labs for testing may be added as it is not a home-based test.
As per reports, the Omisure test kit is likely to be available on the market for procurement by private or state labs in the next 7 to 10 days, most probably on January 12.

::Sport::

Mohammad Arif Khan, who is going for the Winter Olympics, included in the target Olympic podium plan

The Sports Ministry’s Mission Olympic Cell has approved the inclusion of Alpine Skiing athlete MdArif Khan in the Target Olympic Podium Scheme Core group, until the Winter Olympics, scheduled this February in Beijing, China.
Khan will take part in the Winter Olympics in the Slalom and Giant Slalom events. He has also been approved an amount of Rs 17.46 Lakh under TOPS towards training in Europe and procurement of equipment, ahead of the grand event in China.