current affairs 14 january 2022

PM Narendra Modi inaugurates 25th National Youth Festival in Puducherry.

• The festival was organized to commemorate the National Youth Day, the birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda.
• As a part of the programme, the Prime Minister inaugurated the following in Puducherry:
• Technology Center of Ministry of MSME, approx Rs. 122 crores.
• Perunthalaivar Kamarajar Manimandapam, an auditorium with an open-air theatre.
• It has been constructed by the Government of Puducherry at a cost of around Rs.23 crores.

India ranks 83rd in the Q1 Henley Passport Index 2022.

• India has improved its position by seven places to rank 83rd among 111 countries in the latest Henley Passport Index released for the 1st quarter of 2022.
• India ranked 90th out of 116 countries in the 4th quarter of 2021 in October.
• Indian passports have visa-free access to 60 destinations across the world in Q1 2022 as compared to 58 destinations in the fourth quarter of 2022.
• Oman and Armenia are the latest destinations where Indian passport holders can travel without obtaining a visa.
• Japan and Singapore have retained the joint top position in the Henley Global Mobility Report 2022 Q1.
• Their passports holders are allowed to travel visa-free to 192 countries.
• Afghanistan has the world’s least powerful passports, with a visa-free score of 26.

Tata Group to replace Vivo as IPL title sponsors from 2022.

• Tata group is going to replace Chinese mobile maker Vivo as the title sponsor of the Indian Premier League from 2022.
• The multinational conglomerate will pay Rs. 300 crores per year as the title sponsor of IPL for the next two seasons.
• This is almost 60% of what Vivo paid for.

DRDO successfully test-fires the final deliverable configuration of MPATGM.

• DRDO in its final deliverable configuration successfully test-fired a Man-Portable Anti-Tank Guided Missile (MPATGM).
• The MPATGM will be manufactured by Bharat Dynamics Limited at its facility in Bhanur, Telangana.
• The aim of the missile test was to check its consistent performance over a minimum range, which is 200-300 metres.
• The MPATGM has already completed a similar successful test for a maximum range of 4,000 meters.
• With this successful trial of MPATGM, the system is now ready for mass production in India.

Supreme Court appoints a 5-member panel headed by former Justice Indu Malhotra to probe into PM Modi's security breach in Punjab.

• The Supreme Court has constituted a five-member committee to probe the security breaches during the recent visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Punjab.
• The committee will be headed by former apex court judge Justice Indu Malhotra.
• Other members of the panel include Inspector General of National Investigation Agency (NIA), Director General of Police, Chandigarh, Registrar General of Punjab and Haryana High Court and Additional DGP (Security) Punjab.