PM Modi to host first-ever India-Central Asia Summit

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will host the first-ever India-Central Asia Summit virtually on January 27, 2022. The virtual event will see participation from Presidents of five central Asian nations- Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and the Kyrgyz Republic. The key focus of the summit is likely to be regional security, Afghanistan issue and trade and connectivity, culture, development partnership and people-to-people ties. This will be the first such high-level engagement between India and the Central Asian countries.

Neeraj Chopra conferred Padma Shri

Tokyo Olympics Gold Medalist Neeraj Chopra was conferred the Padma Shri on January 26, 2022, the fourth-highest civilian award of India. The 24-year-old had created history by becoming the first Indian to win Olympic gold in athletics. He also got the Param Vishisht Seva Medal by the 4 Rajputana Rifles for his distinguished service. Chopra is a Subedar in the Indian Army.

ICC ODI Rankings: Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma retain second, third spot

Indian batsmen Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma retained their rankings on ICC Men's ODI Player Rankings. South Africa's wicketkeeper-batsman Quinton de Kock moved up four places and broke into the top five for the first time and batsman Rassie van der Dussen moved up 10 places to reach his career-best 10th rank after they helped their team achieve a memorable 3-10 whitewash in the ODI series against India.

SpaceX Rocket Junk to crash into Moon in March: Experts

A chunk of a SpaceX rocket, which had blasted off seven years ago and was abandoned in space after completing its mission, is expected to crash into the Moon in March 2022. The rocket was launched in 2015 to put into orbit NASA's Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR). The second stage of the rocket has been floating in space in a chaotic orbit, according to astronomers.

Padma Awards 2022: Gen Bipin Rawat, Neeraj Chopra among awardees; Full list of Padma Awards recipients

Padma Awards 2022 winners: The Home Ministry on January 25, 2022, announced the list of recipients of the Padma Awards which is one of the highest civilian awards of India. Padma Awards 2022 has been conferred upon a total of 128 people in three categories- Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan, and Padma Shri. The three Padma Awards are later conferred by the President of India at a ceremonial function that will be held at Rashtrapati Bhawan around March or April every year.

Some of the eminent names announced for Padma Awards 2022 are India’s first Chief of Defence Staff Bipin Rawat who died in December 2021 in a horrific chopper crash. He has been honoured posthumously with Padma Vibhushan.

Olympic Gold Medalist Neeraj Chopra and Singer Sonu Nigam have been awarded Padma Shri while the heads of Microsoft and Google Satya Nadella and Sundar Pichai have been named for Padma Bhushan.

View full list here

Andhra Pradesh  gets 13 new districts; Check full AP new districts list

Andhra Pradesh government has announced the formation of 13 new districts under the AP Districts Formation Act, Section 3(5). The new districts in Andhra Pradesh have been formed based on the Parliamentary constituencies. They are carved out from the 13 existing districts, bringing the total number of districts in the state to 26.

The YS Jagan Mohan Reddy Government has announced that the temple town of Tirupati will become a new district and it will be named after the Presiding deity Lord Sri Balaji.

In another significant political move, the state government has decided to name the Vijayawada district after the founding president of Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and the former Chief Minister NT Rama Rao (NTR). Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy had promised to name a district after NT Rama Rao during the election campaign.

Find the names of old districts and the new districts in Andhra Pradesh in the table below:

COVID-19 vaccine: DCGI grants conditional market approval for Covishield and Covaxin

The Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) granted regular market approval for the COVID-19 vaccines Covishield and Covaxin for use in the adult population subject to certain conditions. The approval has been granted under the New Drugs and Clinical Trials Rules, 2019. 

Earlier on January 19, 2022, the Subject Expert Committee of the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) had recommended the regular market approval of Bharat Biotech and Serum Institute of India for their COVID-19 vaccines COVAXIN and Covishield with conditions for the adult population in the country.

As per India’s Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO), SEC had recommended the upgrade of Covaxin and Covishield status from the restricted use in an emergency situation to grant new drug permission with certain conditions in the adult population. The Drugs Controller General of India was to further evaluate the recommendations and will give its decision.

Air India successfully handed over to Tata Group

The Government of India successfully handed over Air India to the Tata Group on January 27, 2022, nearly 69 years after it was taken from the TATAs. According to the officials, the airline was handed over to the conglomerate as all the formalities were close to completion.

The Tata Group, as part of the deal with the Government, are also handed over the Air India Express and a 50% stake in the ground handling arm of Air India SATS.

While this will be the Government of India’s first privatization since 2003-2003, Air India will be the third airline brand in Tata’s stable as the conglomerate holds a majority interest in AirAsia India and Vistara. It is a joint venture by Singapore Airlines Ltd.

Plinth construction starts at Ram Temple in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh

The third phase of the construction of the Ram Temple started at Ramjanmabhoomi in Ayodhya on January 24, 2022, with a laying of granite stones for the plinth. With an aim of achieving physical strength and other physical and chemical features and consequent longevity, the work of plinth with granite stone has begun. Digital instrumentation is also being used for monitoring the safety parameters of the temple and the data of these instruments will be used to study the behaviour of the structure in respect of earthquake, loading, etc. On the basis of the judgment of the Supreme Court on November 9, 2019, Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust was entrusted to undertake the work of Ram Temple construction in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh.

England ends face mask rules and COVID restrictions

England lifted the face mark rules and most of the COVID-19 restrictions on January 26, 2022. The move came after the British Government announced that its vaccine booster roll-out plan has successfully reduced serious illness and COVID-19 hospitalizations. Health officials in Britain have also been saying that they are planning a longer-term post-pandemic strategy that treats COVID-19 more like the flu. Earlier, the World Health Organisation had warned against the dangers of treating Coronavirus like the flu and dropping pandemic restrictions.