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By admin: Dec. 7, 2022

Opening Ceremony of International Year of Millets 2023 held in Rome, Italy

Tags: place in news International News

The United Nations agency Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) hosted an opening ceremony of the International Year of Millets – 2023 (IYM2023) in Rome, Italy on 6 December 2022 in a hybrid mode.

An Indian delegation led by Shobha Karandlaje, Minister of State, Agriculture & Farmers Welfare along with other senior officials were present at the opening ceremony. 

Shobha Karandlaje conveyed PM Modi’s compliments to the United Nations for declaring the Year 2023 as the International Year of Millets. PM, through his message, thanked the global community for supporting India’s proposal to mark the International Year of Millets (IYM).

PM Modi said that “India will steer the IYM2023 celebrations worldwide and organise campaigns to promote the cultivation and consumption of Millets, both in India and abroad during the next year.”

Speaking on the occasion, Director General, FAO Mr. QU Dongyu said the IYM2023 will provide us with a unique opportunity to give visibility to crops that have great potential to strengthen global nutrition, food security.

Millets and India 

According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), India is the largest producer of millet in the world. 

• The total production of millets in India in 2020-21 was 17.96 million tonnes which was nearly 41% of the world production.
• Rajasthan was the largest millet producing state in India.
• Millets are grown in about 21 states in the country including Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Telangana, Uttarakhand, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, and Haryana.
• India was the 5th largest exporter of millet in the world in 2020 .

FAO (Food and Agricultural Organisation) 

• The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations is a specialized agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger and improve nutrition and food security.
• It was founded in 1945.
• Its headquarters is in Rome (Italy).
• It was conferred with the Nobel Peace Prize in 2020

Director General: QU Dongyu

TRAI decides no charges for SMS and Cell Broadcast Alerts during disasters

Tags: National

The Telecom sector regulator TRAI (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India) in an order issued on 7 December 2022 has decided that no charges will be levied on SMS/message broadcasted through Common Alerting Protocol (CAP) during the time of disasters. CAP is a platform that enables an SMS or a cell broadcast to be targeted at a particular region or area.

The TRAI order came after the Department of Telecom, under the Union Ministry of Communications requested TRAI to suggest a charge for the SMS broadcasted through the CAP during both at the times of disaster and non-disaster. 

TRAI said that considering the significance of alerts or messages sent as per direction issued under the Disaster Management Act, 2005, the authority has decided that no charges will be levied for such SMS/cell broadcast alerts or messages.

According to TRAI order, the SMS or cell broadcast sent during the disaster or non-disaster situation without any direction issued under the Disaster Management Act, 2005, will carry a charge of 2 paise per SMS.

Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI)

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India was set up by the Government of India in 1997 under the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Act, 1997.

It was set up to regulate telecom services, including fixation/revision of tariffs for telecom services which were earlier vested in the Central Government.

Headquarters: New Delhi 

Current Chairman: Ram Sewak Sharma

Volodymyr Zelensky and “Spirit of Ukraine” is the is Time Magazine's 2022 Person of the Year

Tags: Person in news International News

The prestigious American magazine ‘Time’ has named Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky and "the spirit of Ukraine" as its 2022 Person of the Year.

The Time person of the year award goes to an event or person deemed to have had the most influence on global events over the past 12 months. In 2021 Elon Musk was the Time person of the Year.

The Time magazine editor Edward Felsenthal wrote that "spirit of Ukraine" referred to Ukrainians around the world, including many who "fought behind the scenes" against the Russian invasion.

The magazine said Mr Zelensky had inspired Ukrainians and was recognised internationally for his courage in resisting the Russian invasion.

Time Heroes of the Year 

Women in Iran were named the Time Heroes of the Year. Iranian women who are protesting for over three months against the custodial death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini. She was arrested for not wearing hijab publicly and she died while in the custody of the Iranian morality police. Her death has triggered a mass protest from the Iranian women against public wearing of Hijab and the morality police.

Other Awards 

The South Korean K-pop band Blackpink were recognised as Time's Entertainer of the year.

American baseball player Aaron Judge has been recognised as the Athlete of the Year and Malaysian actress Michelle Yeoh is the Icon of the Year.

 Indian to be named the Time person of the Year

Mahatma Gandhi is the only Indian to be named TIME Person of the Year, having been given the honour in 1930. The magazine described him as 'Saint Gandhi' and later named him as one of the 25 Political Icons of all time. 

The tradition of naming Time person of the year started in 1927. Initially it was named the Time Man of the Year. Other past winners have included the former dictator of Germany, Adolf Hitler in 1938, and Russian President Vladimir Putin, who was 2007's Person of the Year.

Arun Kumar Singh appointed as the new Chairman of ONGC

Tags: Economy/Finance Person in news

The Government of India has appointed former chairman of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL), Arun Kumar Singh, as the new chairman of the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) on 7 December 2022.  He has been appointed for a term of three years.

ONGC has been without a regular chairman and managing director since April 2021.

Vetsa Rama Krishna Gupta has taken over the additional charge of Chairman and Managing Director of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL)

Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC)

It is a public sector company owned by the government of India. 

It is a Maharatna company and is the largest crude oil and natural gas company in India, contributing around 71 per cent to Indian domestic production. 

It was set up as the Oil & Natural Gas Commission on 14th August 1956. It was later converted to Oil & Natural Gas Corporation in 1994. 

It has three subsidiary companies. They are:

• ONGC Videsh,
• Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited (MRPL) and 
• Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL)

Headquarters: New Delhi

RBI allows blocking of funds for multiple auto-debits in UPI, expanded BBPS to non-recurring payments

Tags: Economy/Finance

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das has announced that the scope of Unified Payments Interface (UPI) transactions will be expanded to allow 'single-block-and-multiple-debits'. Also the scope of Bharat Bill Payments System (BBPS) will now be expanded to handle both recurring and non-recurring payments for both businesses and individuals.  The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) will implement these changes for both UPI and BBPS in the next six months.

These were announced as part of the monetary policy announced by the governor on 7 December 2022.

Proposed changes in the UPI 

• UPI currently includes functionality to process payment mandates for recurring as well as single-block-and-single-debit transactions. 
• The new facility will enable a customer to block funds in his/her account for specific purposes, which can be debited whenever needed. 
• It means that customers can now allot a certain amount to a specific purpose or merchant by giving their consent. 
• For future transactions, money can be debited by the merchant without the additional requirement of authentication, making payments faster.
• Over the past year, the RBI expanded the scope of UPI to allow transactions in offline mode as well as through feature phones.
• In June this year, RBI allowed linking of RuPay credit cards to UPI. 

BBPS scope expanded to non-recurring payments

• RBI also said that the scope of Bharat Bill Payments System (BBPS) will now be expanded to handle both recurring and non-recurring payments for both businesses and individuals.
• At present, BBPS handles recurring bill payments (like fess, water bill, telephone bills etc.) for merchants and utilities and does not cater to non-recurring bills. 
• It also does not cater to bill payments or collections such as payment of fees for professional services, education fees, tax payments, rent collections, etc. for individuals even if those are recurring in nature.
• Now BBPS is being enhanced to include all categories of payments and collections, both recurring and non-recurring, and for all categories of billers (businesses and individuals).

On Know Your Customer 

• The RBI governor Shaktikanta Das also said customers do not need to visit the bank to update their KYC (Know Your Customer) details.
• He said that customers can re-KYC (know your customer) online except where there is a change of address. He said that if the banks are forcing the customer to come to the branch then the customer can complain against the bank with the RBI.
• As per RBI’s KYC norm guidelines, banks need to periodically update customer identification documents of their account holders.

Saikhom Mirabai Chanu wins silver at Weightlifting World Championship in Colombia

Tags: place in news Sports Person in news

Former world champion Mirabai Chanu had to settle for a silver medal in the women’s 49kg division at the World Weightlifting Championships 2022 being held in Bogota, Colombia.

Mirabai Chanu lifted a total weight of 200kg (87kg snatch + 113kg clean and jerk) for her second world championships medal. She won the gold in 2017 and finished fourth in the 2019 edition.

Jiang Huihua of China won her third world championship gold medal with a combined lift of 206 kg (93kg+113kg). Tokyo 2020 Olympic champion Hou Zhihui of China won the bronze medal.

The World Weightlifting Championships 2022 are the first in the series of qualifying events for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. It is being held in Bogota, Colombia from 5-15 December 2022.

International Civil Aviation Day

Tags: Important Days

Every year 7 December is observed as International Civil Aviation Day. This day is observed to raise awareness about the importance of civil aviation and its contribution in the world. The day honours civil aviation workers, air traffic controllers and everyone who works towards keeping flights and flying safe for passengers.

Background to the Day 

The first Civil Aviation day was observed on 7 December 1994 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Chicago convention. 

The Chicago convention held on 7 December 1944 led to the establishment of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).  The ICAO is a United Nations agency which was formally established on 4 April 1947.

Later in 1996, the UN General Assembly passed a resolution to observe 7 December as an International Civil Aviation Day. Since then, the day has been observed on a global scale.

Theme of the International Civil Aviation Day 

In 2019 the ICAO decided that till 2023 the theme of the International Civil Aviation Day will be “Advancing Innovation for Global Aviation Development”.

Three Indian Gautam Adani, Shiv Nadar and Ashok Soota in the Forbes Asia Heroes of Philanthropy list

Tags: Person in news

Three Indian billionaires Gautam Adani, Shiv Nadar, and Ashok Soota were named in the 16th edition of Forbes Asia's Heroes of Philanthropy list released on 6 December 2022. It also included Malaysian-Indian businessman Brahmal Vasudevan and his lawyer wife Shanthi Kandiah.

Asia’s richest man Gautam Adani has pledged Rs 60,000 crore to charity. The money will be used in healthcare, education, and skill development. The money will be channelled through the family's Adani Foundation, which was founded in 1996.

Co-founder of HCL Technologies, Shiv Nadar has donated Rs 11,600 crore this year to the Shiv Nadar Foundation. The foundation has helped set up educational institutions such as schools and universities and it also promotes art and culture. 

Ashok Soota, founder of Happiest Mind software company has pledged Rs 600 crore (USD 75 million) to the medical research trust he founded in April 2021 for the study of ageing and neurological illnesses.

Malaysian-Indian Brahmal Vasudevan, founder and CEO of Kuala Lumpur-based private equity firm Creador, and his lawyer wife, Shanthi Kandiah, support local communities in Malaysia and India through the Creador Foundation, a non-profit they co-founded in 2018.

Priyanka Chopra, Sirisha Bandla, Geetanjali Shree and Sneha Jawale included in the BBC’s list of 100 influential women of 2022

Tags: Person in news

In the annual  BBC(British Broadcasting Services) ‘100 influential  Women of the year 2022 list’ four India’s women , Priyanka Chopra Jonas, aeronautical engineer Sirisha Bandla, Booker-winning author Geetanjali Shree and social worker Sneha Jawale have been included .

The annual list celebrates the achievements of women internationally, from grassroots volunteers to global leaders, and is used by the broadcaster to focus on women's experiences around the world through a dedicated series of interviews and documentaries.

This year was the first time when BBC asked some of the previous ‘100 Women’ on the list to nominate the ones they believe deserve a place on the 2022 list and whose stories need to be told.

Priyanka Chopra is a former Miss World (2000) and a leading Bollywood actress.

Geetanjali Shree  is the first Indian to win the International Booker Prize award 2022 for her Hindi novel “Ret Samadhi," or ‘Tomb of the Sand’.

Sirisha Bandla was part of Virgin Galactic’s first fully crewed sub-orbital spaceflight in 2021. The mission was known as Unity 22 mission. She is the second Indian born woman after Kalpana Chawla to go into space. Till date three Indian origin women have gone to space but astronaut Sunita Williams, who is an American of Indian descent was born in the United States of America. 

Sneha Jawale, the fourth Indian on the list, is a domestic abuse victim turned social worker.

Bank of Baroda wins EAG Laureate award on Financial Security

Tags: Economy/Finance Awards

State-owned Bank of Baroda on 6 December 2022 has said it has bagged an EAG Laureate award in the International Olympiad of Financial Security held at Sochi, Russia on 10 October 2022. 

The Eurasian group on combating money laundering and terrorism (EAG) is a FATF type regional which comprises of 9 members including India.

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) is the global anti- money laundering and anti- terrorist financing body.  

Bank of Baroda 

It is the second largest public sector bank in India after State Bank of India (SBI).

The banks in which the government of India holds 51% or more equity shares are called public sector banks in India.

Chairman of the Bank: Hasmukh Adia

Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO): Sanjiv Chadha 

 The Headquarters of the bank: Vadodara, Gujarat  

Tagline of the Bank: India’s International Bank 

Aam Aadmi Party's Bobby elected first transgender member of MCD

Tags: Person in news

Bobby Kinnar, popularly known as Bobby Darling, from Sultanpur became the first transgender member of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) after winning from Sultanpuri A on December 7.

Important facts

• It will also be the first time that the MCD will have a transgender member.

• She won the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) seat from Sultanpuri. Bobi defeated Congress candidate Varuna Dhaka by a margin of 6,714 votes.

• Bobi is famous in Sultanpuri because of her extensive social work. Bobi is the president of the Delhi unit of the Hindu Yuva Samaj Ekta Awam Anti-Terrorism Committee.

• At the age of 14-15, Bobi was taken by the transgender community and then she became a wedding dancer. From there, her/their journey to politics was through social work.

• In Delhi Municipal Corporation election Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has crossed the 126 majority mark to unseat Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP)'s 15 year dominance. 

Meghalaya Government launches ‘Asia's first Drone delivery hub for easy access to healthcare’

Tags: Science and Technology State News

The  Meghalaya  government in partnership with Startup TechEagle has unveiled Asia's first drone delivery hub and network Meghalaya Drone Delivery Network (MDDN), which is aimed at providing universal access to healthcare for the people in the state.

The Meghalaya Drone Delivery Network (MDDN) project is aimed at delivering vital supplies like drugs, diagnostic samples, vaccines, blood and blood components quickly and safely to different regions of the state using a dedicated drone delivery network.

The first official drone flight took off from Jengjal Sub Divisional Hospital on 5 December 2022, which acts as the hub, and delivered medicines to Padeldoba primary health centre in less than 30 minutes, which would otherwise have taken 2.5 hours by road.

 It expected that the Meghalaya Drone Delivery Network (MDDN) would bring universal access to healthcare for 2.7 million people of Meghalaya. 

Now with the help of drones, it will be possible to overcome the problem of lack of visibility, high delivery costs, outdated technology and inaccessibility through roads and railway networks and deliver better healthcare facilities to people of Meghalaya.

State of Meghalaya 

It is also known as the abode of clouds. It is one of the 8 North Eastern states of India.

It became a state on 21 January 1972.

Governor: B.D.Mishra 

Chief Minister: Conrad Sangma 

Capital: Shillong

NSIC signs MoU with Walmart

Tags: Economy/Finance National News

An MoU was signed between Walmart Global Sourcing India Private Limited and The National Small Industries Corporation (NSIC) Limited on 6th December, 2022.

Important facts

• The MoU was signed at the Walmart Vriddhi Seller Summit in New Delhi.

• The Walmart Vriddhi Seller Summit is an event to achieve a record 20,000 MSMEs who have completed their training under the Walmart Vriddhi Supplier Development Program (Walmart Vriddhi) of which Swasti is a program partner.

• The MoU was signed by Gaurang Dixit, Chairman and Managing Director, NSIC and Prameela Mallaiah, Director and Hub Leader, Walmart in the presence of Union Minister of MSME Narayan Rane.

• The MoU aims to jointly accelerate capacity building for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) across India.

• The partnership is also aimed at supporting MSMEs in their journey to become a part of retail supply chains, locally and globally.

• The partnership with NSIC will enable a large number of small businesses and entrepreneurs in India to access the Vriddhi program.

• The Vridhi program provides training and an end-to-end learning platform, along with access to the support needed to grow and expand businesses.

National Small Industries Corporation (NSIC)

• It is an ISO 9001:2015 certified Government of India Enterprise under Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME).

• It is working to promote and assist the development of micro, small and medium enterprises in the country.

• It was established in 1955.

• Headquarters - New Delhi

IPL remains the most searched query on Google in India on 2022

Tags: Reports National

According to Google’s annual yearend report titled “Year in Search 2022," on 7 December 2022, the Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket tournament remained the top trending query for the third consecutive year.

 It was followed by CoWIN, a government web portal that facilitates registrations and appointments for COVID-19 vaccines and issues digital vaccine certificates.

The third most searched trending topic in India was the FIFA World Cup, which kicked off on November 20 in Qatar. 

The fourth and fifth positions too were occupied by sports events namely the Cricket Asia Cup and ICC Men's T20 World Cup, respectively. Bollywood blockbuster Brahmastra: Part One – Shiva secured the sixth rank.

Most searched personalities in India in 2022

The most searched personalities in India in 2022 included suspended BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma, who bagged the first spot. 

She was followed by President of India Droupadi Murmu, new United Kingdom Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, and at the 4^th spot was Lalit Modi.

Deepika Padukone to unveil FIFA World Cup Trophy during final in Qatar

Tags: Sports Person in news Sports News

Deepika Padukone will unveil the FIFA World Cup trophy in Qatar before the World Cup final on December 18.

Important facts

• The 36-year-old Dipika will be the first actor to receive such an honour at the world's most-watched sporting event.

• The FIFA World Cup final will be held on December 18 at the Lusail Iconic Stadium in Qatar.

• A few months back, Deepika represented India at the Cannes Film Festival as a jury member.

• Nora Fatehi, an actor and dancer, performed last week at the FIFA World Cup 2022 Fan Festival at Al Bidda Park in Doha.

• She performed on the World Cup anthem "Light the Sky." She also performed some of her hits, such as 'O Saki.'

• Deepika will be seen in the film Pathan alongside Shahrukh Khan and John Abraham.

Armed Forces Flag Day celebrated in India

Tags: Important Days National News

The Armed Forces Flag Day is observed on 7th of December every year to honour the martyrs and the Armed Forces personnel who safeguard the motherland. 

Important facts

• The day is dedicated towards collection of funds from people for the welfare of the Armed Forces personnel.

• The fund collected on this day is also used for the welfare of the serving personnel and ex-servicemen.

• The day also pays tribute to the thousands of men who have died defending the country.

• This day is observed to honour Indian soldiers, sailors, and pilots.

• The day also reminds the citizens to care for the living heroes who were either wounded in action or retired from service at a fairly young age.

Background of the day

• The Defense Minister's Committee on August 28, 1949, created the Armed Forces Flag Day Fund.

• Hence, a committee was set up on August 28, 1949 that decided a Flag Day shall be celebrated annually on December 7. 

• The reason it was called a flag day was because small flags were distributed across the country among the general population which served two purposes – collection of welfare funds and creating a sense of camaraderie and harmony between the Army and citizens.

RBI's monetary policy - RBI hikes repo rate by 35 basis points (bps)

Tags: Economy/Finance National News

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 7 December raised its key repo rate, or the key lending rate, by 35 basis points (bps) to 6.25%, to curb lingering inflation pressures. This is the fifth time in a row that the RBI has increased the repo rate this year.

Important facts

• The decision was announced by the six-member Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) headed by Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das.

• Earlier, the RBI had increased the repo rate by 40 bps in May and 50 bps each in June, August and September.

• The RBI policy rate is now at its highest level since August 2018.

• The RBI also cut the growth forecast for the current financial year to 6.8 per cent. 

• Standing deposit facility (SDF) rate stands adjusted to 6.00 per cent.

• The marginal standing facility (MSF) rate and the bank rate have been kept at 6.50 per cent.

• In FY23 Consumer Price Index (CPI) estimate at 6.7 per cent. It remains unchanged.

Delhi Police to design high-frequency radio system

Tags: Science and Technology State News

Delhi Police is set to design, install and supply the ‘Open Standard Digital Trunking Radio System’ (OS-DTRS) and will phase out the current tetranet wireless network services. 

About Rs 100 crore will be spent on this project, for which tenders were issued on 2 December.

About OS-DTRS System

• It will be a more efficient internal communication system, aimed at a faster exchange of information and bigger networks. 

• This system provides multiple channels and common groups for policemen. 

• It will also have a voice logger system, which can be used to describe a crime scene, interrogation details and evidence. 

• The project’s master site will be at the Delhi Police Head Quarters. 

• Police are looking for private companies to run the system on 800 MHz frequency band and microwave links.

• The master site will have OS-DTRS control and switching equipment, a network management system, 90 IP-based logger systems and a large LED display.

• Around 15,000 concurrent radio sets will be made first and later expanded to 30,000 over time. 

• This system will run for at least 10 years and will fix network problems faced by police personnel.

Mallika Sarabhai became the Chancellor of Kerala Kalamandalam Deemed University

Tags: Person in news

The Kerala Government on 6 December appointed well known classical dancer Mallika Sarabhai as the chancellor of the Kerala Kalamandalam deemed university.

Important facts

• Last month the government amended the rules of the university to remove Governor Arif Mohammad Khan from the post of its chancellor. 

• Since it is deemed to be university, norms of the University Grants Commission will not be applicable to it.

• The amended rules of the deemed university also stated that the governance system and management structure of the Kerala Kalamandalam shall be in accordance with the decision of the state government. 

• Born as the daughter of renowned dancer Mrinalini Sarabhai and space scientist Vikram Sarabhai, Mallika Sarabhai is a world renowned Bharatanatyam and Kuchipudi performer.

• Apart from being a dancer, she has also proved her mettle in the fields of theatre, film and television and has also established herself as a writer, publisher and director.

IIT Madras researchers develop technology to generate electricity from Sea Waves

Tags: Science and Technology

Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras Researchers have developed an 'Ocean Wave Energy Converter' that can generate electricity from sea waves.

Important facts

• The trials of this device were successfully completed during the second week of November 2022.

• The system, named 'Sindhuja-I', was deployed by the researchers about six kilometres off the coast of Tuticorin in Tamil Nadu, where the sea depth is about 20 metres.

• Sindhuja-I can currently produce 100 watts of power. It will generate one megawatt of power in the next three years.

• The research team plans to deploy a remote water desalination system and a surveillance camera at the location by December 2023. 

What is Sindhuja-I system?

• The system has been named 'Sindhuja-1', which means 'originating from the ocean'.

• The system consists of a floating buoy, a spar and an electrical module.

• As the wave moves up and down, the buoy moves up and down. In the current design, a balloon-like system called a 'buoy' has a central hole that allows a long rod called a spar to pass through.

• The spar can be attached to the seabed, and passing waves will not affect it, while the buoy will move up and down and generate relative motion between them.

• Relative motion drives an electric generator to generate electricity. In the current design the spar floats and a mooring chain keeps the system in place.