1. NSIC signs MoU with Walmart
Tags: Economy/Finance National News
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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
2. IPL remains the most searched query on Google in India on 2022
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 4th spot was Lalit Modi.
3. 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.
4. RBI's monetary policy - RBI hikes repo rate by 35 basis points (bps)
Tags: Economy/Finance National News
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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.
5. 51st Maitiri Diwas’ marking recognition of Bangladesh by India celebrated in Dhaka
Tags: place in news Important Days International News
The 51st anniversary of ‘Maitri Diwas’ marking the recognition of Bangladesh by the Government of India in 1971 was celebrated in the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka on 6th December 2022 The event was organized by the Indian High Commission in Bangladesh. Bangladeshi Minister for Liberation War Affairs of A.K.M Mozammel Haque was the Chief Guest on the occasion.
Indian High Commissioner Pranya Verma said that the decision to observe December 6 as ‘Maitri Diwas’ was taken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina during the state visit of Prime Minister Modi to Bangladesh in March 2021.
However, Bangladesh which was known as East Pakistan was liberated on 16 December when the Pakistani forces led by Lt.Gen Niazi surrendered to a combined force of the Indian Army led by Lt. General Jagjit Singh Arora and Mukti Bahini (Bangladeshi freedom fighters). As many as 93,000 Pakistani troops laid down their arms on 16-17 December 1971 in Bangladesh. It was the largest surrender in war after the Second World War.
6. India will resume e-Visa facility for UK citizens after 2 years
Tags: National International News
The Indian High commissioner to the United Kingdom (UK) Vikram K Doraiswami has announced on 5 December 2022 that India will shortly resume the e-Visa facility for UK citizens travelling to India.
The e visa facility was suspended in March 2020 due to the outbreak of covid.
What is E-Visa?
According to the Ministry of External Affairs the e-Visa is granted to a foreigner whose sole objective of visiting India is recreation, sightseeing, casual visit to meet friends or relatives, attending a short term yoga programme, medical treatment including treatment under Indian systems of medicine and business purpose and no other purpose/ activity.
Earlier in August, UK Immigration Statistics said that Indian nationals were issued the largest number of UK study, work and visitor visas. India has now overtaken China as the largest nationality being issued sponsored study visas in the UK.
United Kingdom
It is an empire consisting of England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland.
Great Britain consists of England, Wales and Scotland.
Head of State: King Charles III
Prime Minister: Rishi Sunak
Currency: Pound Sterling
Capital: London
7. India will resume e-Visa facility for UK citizens after 2 years
Tags: National International News
The Indian High commissioner to the United Kingdom (UK) Vikram K Doraiswami has announced on 5 December 2022 that India will shortly resume the e-Visa facility for UK citizens travelling to India.
The e visa facility was suspended in March 2020 due to the outbreak of covid.
What is E-Visa?
According to the Ministry of External Affairs the e-Visa is granted to a foreigner whose sole objective of visiting India is recreation, sightseeing, casual visit to meet friends or relatives, attending a short term yoga programme, medical treatment including treatment under Indian systems of medicine and business purpose and no other purpose/ activity.
Earlier in August, UK Immigration Statistics said that Indian nationals were issued the largest number of UK study, work and visitor visas. India has now overtaken China as the largest nationality being issued sponsored study visas in the UK.
United Kingdom
It is an empire consisting of England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland.
Great Britain consists of England, Wales and Scotland.
Head of State: King Charles III
Prime Minister: Rishi Sunak
Currency: Pound Sterling
Capital: London
8. IMD issue warning of formation of Cyclone Mandous over Bay of Bengal
Tags: Environment National
According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), a new tropical cyclone is likely to form over the Bay of Bengal and is going to impact Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Andhra Pradesh on 6-8 December 2022. The cyclonic storm has been named 'Cyclone Mandous' which means a treasure box in the Arabic language. The name of the cyclone has been given by the United Arab Emirates.
According to the IMD a low pressure area that has formed over the south Andaman Sea is likely to concentrate into a depression over Southeast Bay of Bengal.
The coastal areas are going to receive heavy rainfall due to the formation of the cyclonic storm.
'Cyclone Mandous' will be the third tropical storm to rise in Bay of Bengal this year after 'Cyclone Sitrang' which hit the Bangladesh coast in the month of October. The name Sitrang was given by Thailand.
The first cyclonic storm of the season was Asani which formed in the Bay of Bengal in May month. The Asani name was given by Sri Lanka to the cyclonic storm.
What is a Cyclone?
A cyclone is a large system of winds that circulates about a centre of low atmospheric pressure in a counter clockwise direction north of the Equator and in a clockwise direction to the south.
Cyclonic winds move across nearly all regions of the Earth except the equatorial belt and are generally associated with heavy rain or snow.
9. Google launches anti-misinformation campaign in India
Tags: National
Social media giant Google's subsidiary Jigsaw is launching a new anti-misinformation project in India. The project aims to prevent the misleading information that has been blamed for inciting violence and deaths. Like other countries, misinformation spreads rapidly across India, mostly through social media, creating political and religious tensions.
The government of India has repeatedly called upon the social media giants like YouTube, Google, Meta (Facebook) and Twitter to take steps to counter the spread of fake news.
The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has repeatedly invoked "extraordinary powers" to block Google owned YouTube channels, and some Twitter and Facebook accounts, used to spread harmful misinformation.
Google's initiative will use "prebunking" videos. Prebunking videos are designed to counter false claims before they become widespread .It will be used on YouTube platforms and other social media sites.
Jigsaw in collaboration with a German NGO Alfred Landecker Foundation and philanthropic investment firm Omidya Network India, and a number of smaller regional partners has produced five videos in three different languages.
Initially the videos will be in Bengali, Hindi and Marathi.
Google is an American multinational company formed by Larry Page and Sergey Brin in 1998. In 2015, Google was reorganized as a wholly owned subsidiary of Alphabet Company.
It is an American multinational technology company that focuses on search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing etc.
Chief Executive Officer: Sundar Pichai
10. Hyderabad gets India’s first real-time Gold ATM
Tags: Economy/Finance National News
Hyderabad-based Goldsika Pvt Ltd has installed a Gold ATM, which is claimed to be the country's first real-time gold dispensing machine.
Important facts
This is India’s first and the world’s first real-time Gold ATM.
Each ATM has a capacity of holding upto 5kgs of gold which is worth around Rs.2-3 crores.
The ATM machine dispenses coins ranging from 0.5 grams to 100 grams.
There are 8 available options, including 0.5 grams, 1 gram, 2 grams, 5 grams, 10 grams, 20 grams, 50 grams and 100 grams.
People can come here and get the coins directly instead of going to jewellery shops.
These coins are 24-carat gold and 999 certified. The customers will get their investment returns at a live price without any wastage.
The important feature of the ATM is prices are updated live.
About India's first gold ATM in Hyderabad
Gold ATM has a diverse set of uses, is easy to use, is available 24x7, and allows you to buy gold within your budget.
Gold ATMs allow customers easier access so that everyone can use their debit card for credit card for making transactions.
Through these Gold ATMs, buyers can instantaneously purchase actual gold using any credit or debit card.
It work like every other ATM.
