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By admin: Dec. 21, 2022

Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar becomes only University in India to get A grade by NAAC

Tags: National State News

The Guru Nanak Dev University ,Amritsar, Punjab has become the first University in India to get A grade by scoring 3.85 in National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) grading. 

 National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC)

The National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) was established in 1994 as an autonomous institution of the University Grants Commission (UGC) with its Headquarter in Bengaluru.

The NAAC conducts assessment and accreditation of Higher Educational Institutions such as colleges, universities or other recognised institutions to derive an understanding of the 'Quality Status' of the institution.

Guru Nanak Dev University (GNDU)

Guru Nanak Dev University was established at Amritsar on November 24, 1969 to mark the 500th birth anniversary of Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji. It was set up by an act passed by the Punjab state legislature.

The University has also been conferred with the status of “University with Potential for Excellence” by UGC.

 GNDU has been awarded the prestigious Maulana Abul Kalam Azad trophy for overall excellence in sports for a record 23 times.

Vice Chancellor of the University: Dr Jaspal Singh Sandhu

New Delhi to host the 36th Asian Wrestling Championships 2023 from 28 March to 2nd April: United World Wrestling

Tags: Sports

The United World Wrestling (UWW) announced on 20 December 2022 that the 36th Asian Wrestling Championships 2023 will be held in New Delhi, India from 28 March to 2 April 2023. New Delhi will be hosting the event for the 7th time. 

The Asian Wrestling Championship will offer ranking points to the wrestlers which will determine their seedings for the World Championships to be held in September 2023. 

The World Wrestling Championships is scheduled to take place in Belgrade, Serbia from 16 to 24 September 2023.

The first edition of the Asian Wrestling Championships in 1979 was also held in India with Jalandhar as the host city. Mumbai hosted it once in 1987.

At the 35th Asian Wrestling Championships 2022 held in Mongolia Indian wrestlers won 17 medals - one gold, five silver and 11 bronze. 

Tokyo 2020 silver medallist Ravi Kumar Dahiya won India’s only gold medal while Tokyo 2020 bronze medallist Bajrang Punia settled for silver. 

Japan topped the medals tally with 21 medals, including 10 gold medals. Iran came second with 17 medals, which included 10 golds. 

Apart from announcing India as the venue for Asian Championships, the UWW also finalised the host cities for the four ranking series tournaments. 

Zagreb (Croatia) and Cairo (Egypt) will host the first and second events in February while Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan,) and Budapest (Hungary) will host the next two in June and July, respectively.

United World Wrestling 

It is the international governing body of amateur wrestling in the world. It was earlier known as the FILA (Fédération Internationale des Luttes Associées) or International Federation of Amateur Wrestling.

Headquarters: Corsier-sur-Vevey, Switzerland

President: Nenad Lalovic 

India’s manned Space flight Gaganyaan to be launched in in the fourth quarter of 2024: Union Minister Jitendra Singh

Tags: National Science and Technology

Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology; Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh said that India’s maiden human space flight mission is targeted to be launched in the fourth quarter of 2024. He gave this information in the Lok Sabha on 21 December 2022.

Gaganyaan Mission of ISRO 

Gaganyaan project envisages demonstration of human spaceflight capability by launching a crew of 3 members to an orbit of 400 km for a 3 days mission and bring them back safely to earth, by landing in Indian sea waters.

The Gaganyaan project was conceived in 2007 and it was formally started in 2018 with a budget of Rs 10,000 crore. Initially the plan is to launch two unmanned missions in December 2020 and July 2021 before the final launch of the manned mission in December 2021. 

Now according to the Minister the first unmanned mission will be launched in the last quarter of 2023 followed by the second unmanned mission in the second quarter of 2024.

 Gaganyaan Astronauts 

Four Indian Air Force pilots have been identified as crew for the mission who are undergoing training in Russia. An astronaut training facility was set up in Bengaluru in May this year. Here the four astronauts will go through theory, physical fitness, flight suit training, microgravity, among other things.

Aim of Gaganyaan mission

According to the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) LMV3 rocket will be used as a launch vehicle for the Gaganyaan mission. It will take the crew 16 minutes to reach space, where they will spend three days conducting scientific experiments. During the return, the crew module in which the crew will live will separate at an altitude of 120 km. It will splash down in the sea nearby 36 minutes after separation.

Human Space Flight 

At present only three countries, the United States, Russia and China have the capability to launch manned space missions.

 The first person to go into space was Yury Gagarin of the Soviet Union on 12 April 1961 onboard the Vostok Rocket.

The first woman to go into space was Valentina Tereshkova of the Soviet Union on 16 June 1963 onboard the Vostok 6 Rocket.

Wing Commander Rakesh Sharma is the only Indian to go into space. He was part of the Soviet mission aboard Soyuz T-11 on 3 April 1984. 

Humans who travel in space are called astronauts. The Chinese call them Taikonauts and the Russians call them Cosmonauts.

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) 

It was set up on 15 August 1969

It is India's national space agency.

Headquarters: Bengaluru

Chairman: S.Somanath

iDEX sets record with signing its 150th contract

Tags: Economy/Finance National News

Innovation for Defense Excellence (IDEX), a flagship initiative of the Department of Defense Production, has set a milestone with the signing of its 150th contract on December 21, 2022 in New Delhi.

Important facts

• The contract was signed by Joint Secretary (Defence Industries Production) & Additional CEO/DIO Anurag Bajpai with CEO, Altair Infrasec Pvt Ltd Anil Anand in the presence of Defence Secretary Giridhar Aramane.

• iDEX achieved this milestone within five months of signing its 100th contract on July 26, 2022.

• The contract relates to an Indian Navy project of the Defence India Start-up Challenge (DISC 7) SPRINT edition. 

• The challenge was titled ‘Expendable Mobile Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) Training Target (EMATT) capable of simulating the sound and movement of a submarine’ and the winner was Altair Infrasec Pvt Ltd, Pune.

• It envisaged the development of a training target capable of being deployed on platforms from P8I aircraft, MH60R helicopters, ships with speeds of up to 10 knots and other remotely operated aircraft, requiring EMATT to be launched.

About iDEX framework

• It was launched by the Prime Minister in 2018 with the objective to provide a platform of co-creation and co-development in the defence sector, engage start-ups and develop defence and aerospace set up in the country.

• It is being implemented by the Defence Innovation Organisation (DIO), established under the Department of Defence Production.

• Till date, iDEX has received over 6,500 applications from individual innovators, MSMEs and start-ups under DISC, PRIME and OC.

• It has also been able to create thousands of jobs and attract India's talent back to the country.

• It has also been awarded the prestigious Prime Minister Award for Public Policy in Innovation Category for the year 2021. 

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Government set a target of 205 lakh tonnes Nutri Cereals production for the year 2022-23

Tags: National Economy/Finance

The Government of India has set a target of production of 205 lakh tonnes of Nutri Cereals in the country by 2022-23.  This information was given by the Union Minister of State for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Ms. Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha on 21 December 2022.

Nutri-cereals refers to a group of crops comprising sorghum (Jowar), pearl millet (Bajra), finger millet (Ragi/Mandua), and small millets like little millet (Kutki), kodo millet (Kodo), barnyard millet (Sawa/Jhangora), foxtail millet (Kangni/Kakun), and proso millet (Cheena). They are highly nutritious and government is trying to promote the usage and productions of millets as Nuti Cereals. 

Effort to increase the production of Nutri- Cereals in India 

India declared 2018 as the National Year for Millets to promote millets for nutrition security. 

The Government of India has launched NFSM-Nutri Cereals, a sub scheme under the National Food Security Mission. It is being implemented from the year 2018-19 in 212 districts of 14 states.

Rajasthan is the largest producer of nutri-cereals in India followed by Maharashtra and Karnataka.

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

The United Nations has declared 2023 as the International Year of the Millets.

SEBI extends suspension on futures trade in key Agricultural commodities by a year

Tags: Economy/Finance

The Capital and Commodity Market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has extended the suspension of trading in derivative contracts of Agricultural commodities until December 20, 2023. Last year SEBI had banned the futures trading in key farm commodities till 20 December 2022.

In a notification issued by SEBI on 21 December 2022, SEBI said the suspension of trading in futures contracts would continue for a year on soybean and its derivatives, crude palm oil, wheat, paddy rice, chickpea, green gram and mustard.

The government fears that the speculation in the future trading in these agricultural commodities will lead to rise in the prices of the agricultural commodities which will further increase food inflation in India.

Future Trading 

• A futures contract is an agreement between two parties to buy or sell an asset at a future date at a price agreed upon by both.
• Futures trading with the means of futures contracts can be done with any asset traded in a financial market. These could be stocks, currency, bonds, commodities or market index.

Commodity Exchange 

• Commodities exchanges are those exchanges where commodities derivatives contracts are traded. They are different from normal stock markets where shares or bonds of a company are traded.
• Commodities are mostly used as inputs in the production of other goods or services. Grains, Gold, Crude Oil, Copper, and Natural Gas are some examples of commodities.
• Generally, the commodities traded in commodity derivatives market are classified into two broad categories viz. Agricultural Commodities (as chana, cotton, guar seed, maize, soybean, sugar, etc) and Non-Agricultural Commodities (gold, silver, oil, aluminium, copper etc).  

Commodity Exchanges in India 

 There are two national level commodities exchange in India 

• Multi Commodity Exchange. Headquarters , Mumbai
• National Commodity & Derivatives Exchange Ltd. (NCDEX) Headquarters, Mumbai.

SEBI Chairperson: Madhabi Puri Buch 

Indian Government to close its overseas tourism offices by March 31 next year

Tags: National

The Union Ministry of Tourism has decided to shut down its seven overseas offices tasked with tourism promotional activities by 31st March 2023.

At present, the ministry runs tourism offices in London, Tokyo, Beijing, Dubai, Singapore, New York and Frankfurt.

According to the report, "The government feels that the expenses incurred on the functioning of these offices are not worth the promotions that the Indian tourism sector gets abroad.” The government feels that digital medium and existing embassies can be good alternatives.

They say that the first tourism office was opened in 1952 in New York with a purpose to promote Indian culture, heritage and monuments and in the later years, 25 such centers were opened in different countries.

According to the Union Tourism Ministry, the number of Foreign Tourists visiting India during 2021 was 1.52 million. India received maximum foreign tourists from the United States of America followed by Bangladesh, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Nepal.

Union Minister for Tourism: G Kishan Reddy 

India-Indonesia Investment and Business Forum meeting held in Port Blair

Tags: place in news Summits

A meeting of the Joint Task Force Committee of "India-Indonesia Investment and Business Forum" to identify new areas of cooperation, develop infrastructure, tourism, trade and connectivity to enhance business relations was held in Port Blair, Andaman and Nicobar  on 20 December 2022.

This is the second meeting of the Task Force Committee. The first meeting was held in the Indonesian Capital of Jakarta on November 25, 2019.

Indonesia's Sabang port in Aceh is around 90 nautical miles from Andaman and Nicobar Islands. India is keen to expand trade and tourism with Indonesia.  

The meeting with Indonesian delegates was attended by Andaman and Nicobar Lieutenant Governor D K Joshi, Director for South and Central Asian Affairs of the Indonesian government, Jatmiko Heru Prasetyo.

During Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Indonesia in 2018, he called for a Joint Task Force Committee from both sides to boost bilateral investments.

According to the Ministry of External Affairs Indonesia is the second largest trading partner of India amongst the ASEAN (Association of SouthEast Asian Nations).  Singapore is the largest trading partner of India amongst ASEAN countries.

India is one of the largest buyers of coal and crude palm oil from Indonesia and imports minerals, rubber, pulp & paper and hydrocarbons reserves. India exports refined petroleum products, commercial vehicles, telecommunication equipment, bovine meat, animal feed, agriculture products, steel and plastics to Indonesia.

Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs wins Platinum Icon in Digital India Awards 2022

Tags: Awards

The Smart Cities Mission of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs has won the Platinum Icon at the Digital India Awards 2022 for their initiative "DataSmart Cities: Empowering Cities through Data".

Important facts

• The award was announced under the ‘Data Sharing and Use for Socio-Economic Development’ category. 

About Data smart Cities Initiative

• The DataSmart Cities Initiative is a key step in creating a robust data ecosystem that enables evidence-based decision-making in cities. 

• It aims to harness the power of data for better governance in India’s 100 Smart Cities.

• It is based on a ‘People, Platform, Process’ strategy, which is helping in the convergence of the Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs' efforts for performance management, empowerment of communities, and research, co-creation & open innovation.

• The initiative has institutionalised a Data Ecosystem in cities through 100 City Data Offices and more than 50 Data Policies.

About Digital India Awards 2022

• It is a prestigious National competition that seeks to encourage and honour innovative digital solutions by government entities in realising the Digital India vision.

• These are conducted by the National Informatics Centre (NIC) under the Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY).

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Peru orders Mexico's ambassador to leave country within 72 hours

Tags: International News

Peru declared Mexico's ambassador in Lima "persona non grata" and ordered him to leave the country on December 20, Peru's foreign minister announced, amid heightened tensions between the two countries after Pedro Castillo was ousted as president.

Important facts

• The order gives Mexico's envoy to the South American country just 72 hours to leave the country.

• Castillo was removed from office earlier this month after trying to dissolve parliament. He is being investigated in Peru on charges of rebellion and conspiracy.

• Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador called Castillo's removal from office undemocratic.

• The Peruvian government last week declared a 30-day nationwide state of emergency. 

• Protests have rocked the country in the tumultuous days since President Pedro Castillo was removed from office on charges of rebellion and conspiracy last week. 

• Castillo remains in government custody for 18 months.

• Castillo was prevented from taking refuge at the Mexican embassy in Lima. The lawmakers then swore in 60-year-old Dina Boluarte as the new president.

About Peru

• Peru is the third largest country in South America, after Brazil and Argentina.

• President: Dina Boluarte

• Capital: Lima

• Currency : Nuevo Sol

• Major Mountain Ranges: Andes

• Major Rivers: Amazon, Ucayali, Madre de Dios

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MIB directs YouTube to take down three channels for spreading fake news

Tags: National News

The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has directed YouTube to remove three channels, Aaj Tak Live, News Headlines and Government Updates, for spreading fake news in the country.

Important facts

• The action was taken as the channels were declared peddlers of fake news by the Fact Check Unit of the Press Information Bureau on 20 December.

• In a series of over 40 fact-checks, the PIB Fact Check Unit (FCU) busted these three YouTube channels which were spreading false information in India.

• These channels have around 33 lakh subscribers and their videos, almost all of which were found to be false, have been viewed more than 300 million times.

• These YouTube channels were engaged in spreading false and sensational claims regarding the Supreme Court of India, Chief Justice of India, Government schemes, Electronic Voting Machine (EVM), farm loan waiver etc.

• In the last one year, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has banned over one hundred YouTube channels for spreading fake news.

Union Minister of Information and Broadcasting - Anurag Singh Thakur