• The Sports Ministry has approved the appointment of Mauritian Aveenash Pandoo as the first High Performance Director (HPD) for weightlifting until the 2024 Paris Olympics.
• His appointment was recommended by the Sports Authority of India’s (SAI) Foreign Coach Selection Committee in conjunction with officials of the Indian Weightlifting Federation (IWF).

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi has declared to mark January 16 as ‘National Start-up Day’.
• The announcement was made by PM Modi on January 15, 2022, via video conferencing during a week-long event “Celebrating Innovation Ecosystem” as a part of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav.
• The Prime Minister interacted with more than 150 startups across different sectors, during the event.

• The name of YES Asset Management has been rechristened as White Oak Capital Asset Management and therefore the name of YES Mutual Fund has been changed to White Oak Capital Mutual Fund
• The change in the names are effective from January 12, 2022.
• In November 2021, White Oak Capital group, through its subsidiary, GPL Finance and Investments, acquired the mutual fund business, Yes Asset Management, of Yes Bank.
• The White Oak Capital group provides investment management and advisory services for Indian equity investors.

• Nicaragua President Daniel Ortega has been sworn in for a fourth consecutive five-year term.
• The 76-year-old Nicaraguan politician is serving as President of Nicaragua since 2007.
• Along with Ortega, the first lady Rosario Murillo was also sworn in for her second term as vice president.
• Nicaragua Capital: Managua; Currency: Nicaraguan cordoba.

• As per the United Nations World Economic Situation and Prospects (WESP) 2022 report, The GDP growth forecast of India in fiscal 2022 is estimated to grow at 6.5%
• Earlier it was estimated at 8.4%.
• The WESP is a flagship report produced by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN-DESA).
• UN has projected the growth rate for fiscal 2023 (FY 2022-2023) at 5.9%.

• Leading bakery foods company Britannia Industries announced the appointment of Amit Doshi as its Chief Marketing Officer.
• He would take over from Vinay Subramanyam, who had left the company in December last year.
• Britannia Industries owns popular household brands, which include - Good Day, Tiger, NutriChoice, Milk Bikis, Marie Gold and Little Hearts.

• Virat Kohli has stepped down as the Test captain of the Indian cricket team after the series defeat against South Africa.
• Under him, India won 40 out of 68 Test matches.
• Kohli was appointed Test captain back in 2014 when M.S. Dhoni stepped down in the middle of the series against Australia.

• India’s under-19 shuttler Tasnim Mir has become world number-1 badminton player in the women’s singles category of Under-19, in the latest Badminton World Federation (BWF) junior rankings.
• With this feat the 16-year-old Tasnim has become the first Indian to top the under-19 girls’ singles world rankings.
• Tasnim is at the top of the pile with 10,810 points.
• She hails from Mehsana, Gujarat.

• A group of entrepreneurs have joined together to form a new organisation, Canadian Hindu Chamber of Commerce (CHCC), which is aimed at the “unification of Canadian Hindus and their economic interests”.
• The formation of the CHCC was welcomed by Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in a message to the organisers delivered at the inauguration of the Chamber.

• Rear Admiral K.P. Arvindan has taken charge as the Admiral Superintendent of the naval dockyard in Mumbai, the Indian Navy stated on 15th January.
• Arvindan replaced Rear Admiral B. Sivakumar in this position. He took charge on 14th January.
• In a career spanning over 34 years, Arvindan has served in various capacities, including at command headquarters, training establishments, the marine gas turbine overhaul centre INS Eksila, and Mumbai's naval dockyard.

Download Daily GK PDF of 16 January 2022