1. 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
2. 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.
3. 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
4. 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.
5. India - France Partnership on Kaziranga Project
Tags: Environment National News
India and France are collaborating under the Kaziranga Project in the Kaziranga National Park in Assam.
Important facts
With France and India technical and financial support, the Indo-Pacific Parks Partnership will facilitate partnership activities for natural parks of the Indo-Pacific region.
These activities include biodiversity conservation, wildlife management and engagement with local communities.
About the Kaziranga project
The Kaziranga project is a part of a larger Assam Project on Forest and Biodiversity Conservation (APFBC) for which the Agence Française de Développement (AFD) has committed funding of €80.2 million for a 10-year period, between 2014-2024.
The project envisages afforestation of 33,500 hectares of land by 2024 and training of 10,000 community members in alternative livelihoods.
The AFD program has been most effective in skill development in the area, especially in the forest dwelling communities.
The Assam government has started a massive reforestation drive with the help of AFD.
About Kaziranga National Park
It is a national park in the state of Assam, India. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is spread over an area of 42,996 hectares.
Two-thirds of the world's one-horned rhinoceros are found in this sanctuary.
Kaziranga is home to the highest density of tigers among protected areas in the world, and was declared a Tiger Reserve in 2006.
It is the largest undivided representative area of Brahmaputra valley floodplain grassland.
It has been recognized by BirdLife International as an Important Bird Area.
6. India to become 8th largest advertising market in 2023; GroupM
Tags: Reports National Economy/Finance
India is expected to overtake Brazil become the eighth-largest advertising market in 2023, according to GroupM’s global end-of-year forecast.
In 'This Year, Next Year 2022' report, GroupM has ranked India as the ninth-largest advertising market globally.
It says India's total advertising revenue in 2022 has grown by 15.8% to touch $14.9 billion, led by growth in pure-play digital advertising. In 2023, it is expected to grow by 16.8%
According to the report, the retail media in India is estimated at $551 million in 2022 and is expected to nearly double by 2027. TV advertising, representing 36% of the advertising market share, is expected to grow 10.8% this year and continue growing double digits, driven by strong growth in both traditional and connected TV.
Top Advertising market in the world
The United States is the largest advertising market in the world followed by (2) China, (3) Japan, (4) the United Kingdom, (5) Germany, (6) France, (7) Canada, (8) Brazil and (9th) India.
7. HAL and BEL in the top 100 defence companies list of SIPRI
Tags: Reports Defence International News
Two Indian government owned defence companies Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) have been included by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute((SIPRI) in its list of 100 top defence companies in the world 2021. In a report released by SIPRI on 5 December 2022 HAL was ranked 42nd with $3.3 billion in arms sales and HAL was ranked at 63rd Rank with $1.8 billion sales in 2021.
HAL is the manufacturer of fighter aircrafts like LCA Tejas, Su-30MKI, helicopters like LCH Prachand etc, and trainer aircrafts for the Indian Air Force. BEL manufactures advanced electronics equipment for the armed forces.
Last year apart from HAL and BEL, Indian Ordnance Factories were included in the top 100 defence companies.
Highlights of SIPRI report
In 2021, the total arms sales of the world’s Top 100 totalled $592 billion in 2021, marking an increase of 1.9 per cent in their arms sales compared with 2020.
The United States has 40 companies in the top 100 defence companies in the world.
The top 5 companies are all American.
China has 8 companies in the top 100 companies.
Country-wise, in the 2021 list,
- US companies topped with a share of 51 per cent of the total arms sales, followed by Chinese companies with 18 per cent,
- UK firms with 6.8 per cent, and
- French companies with 4.9 per cent share.
Russian companies garnered only 3 per cent of the global share.
India is the world’s second-biggest importer of weapons after Saudi Arabia and is also the world’s third-biggest spender on defence after the US and China.
Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI)
SIPRI is an independent international institute dedicated to research into conflict, armaments, arms control and disarmament. It is funded mainly by the Swedish Government.
It was set up in 1966
Headquarters: Solana, Sweden
8. Narendra Singh Tomar inaugurates integrated ‘Agriculture Investment Portal’
Tags: National News
Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Narendra Singh Tomar inaugurated the integrated ‘Agriculture Investment Portal’ on 6 December.
Important facts
Agriculture Investment Portal will prove to be a milestone in terms of investment in the agriculture sector.
It will be a centralised one stop portal for agri-investors to avail benefits of various government schemes implemented by various departments related to agriculture and allied sectors.
This portal would prove to be handy for the investors, they would get a lot of help from it.
The Co-Chairperson of Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Melinda French Gates held a meeting with the Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Narendra Singh Tomar in New Delhi.
The government believes that if the power of the farmers increases, then as a result, the agriculture sector will improve and production will also increase.
With the aim to further increase investment in agriculture, the government has allocated a special package of over ₹1.5 lakh crore for agriculture and allied sectors under the ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan’.
Work on these provisions has started, including the Rs 1 lakh crore Agriculture Infrastructure Fund. Once these are implemented, the Indian agriculture sector will be rejuvenated.
9. 18th Joint Working Group meet between India, Bangladesh on security, border management
Tags: International Relations International News
A two-day 18th Joint Working Group (JWG) meeting on security and border management between India and Bangladesh started on 5 December in Delhi.
Important facts
Both sides will discuss strengthening the bilateral mechanism to deal with the menace of terrorism and extremism in all its forms.
Both sides will also discuss issues to develop mechanisms to further hasten the process of verification of nationality, and status of prisoners lodged in jails of either country.
The Indian delegation for the JWG meeting is being led by Piyush Goyal, Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).
An Additional Secretary level officer is also heading the group of eight-member Bangladeshi delegation which will discuss the issues of common concern of the two neighbouring countries that share a 4,096 km border.
This Additional Secretary level meeting is related to the preparation in advance for the Home Secretary level talks between India and Bangladesh.
The 17th Home Secretary level talks between India and Bangladesh and the meeting of the Joint Working Group between the two countries were held in Dhaka on November 16-17, 2015 to discuss the security and border management-related issues.
The Indian delegation was led by the then Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi and the Bangladesh delegation was led by the then Senior Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs, Dr Md. Mozammel Haque Khan.
10. 18th Joint Working Group meet between India, Bangladesh on security, border management
Tags: International Relations International News
A two-day 18th Joint Working Group (JWG) meeting on security and border management between India and Bangladesh started on 5 December in Delhi.
Important facts
Both sides will discuss strengthening the bilateral mechanism to deal with the menace of terrorism and extremism in all its forms.
Both sides will also discuss issues to develop mechanisms to further hasten the process of verification of nationality, and status of prisoners lodged in jails of either country.
The Indian delegation for the JWG meeting is being led by Piyush Goyal, Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).
An Additional Secretary level officer is also heading the group of eight-member Bangladeshi delegation which will discuss the issues of common concern of the two neighbouring countries that share a 4,096 km border.
This Additional Secretary level meeting is related to the preparation in advance for the Home Secretary level talks between India and Bangladesh.
The 17th Home Secretary level talks between India and Bangladesh and the meeting of the Joint Working Group between the two countries were held in Dhaka on November 16-17, 2015 to discuss the security and border management-related issues.
The Indian delegation was led by the then Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi and the Bangladesh delegation was led by the then Senior Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs, Dr Md. Mozammel Haque Khan.
