1. Nepal organises 19th Handicraft Trade Fair and 17th Craft Competition in Kathmandu
Tags: International News
The Federation of Handicraft Associations of Nepal (FHAN) organised 19th Handicraft Trade Fair and 17th Craft Competition in Kathmandu from December 9 to 13.
Important facts
The objective of this trade fair is to promote the development and market of handicraft products.
The basic objective of the event is to emphasise the need to preserve and protect the traditional arts, which are in danger of disappearing with the advent of modern technology.
Businessmen and sculptors from 17 districts, including the Kathmandu Valley, participated in the fair, in which about 150 stalls were set up.
This trade fair is attracting local people as well as foreign tourists.
2. US prints first banknotes with women's signatures
Tags: Economy/Finance Person in news International News
The U.S. The Treasury (United States of America's Finance Ministry) has printed the first US banknotes (currency notes) with two women's signatures. The new currency notes of $1 and $5 value carry the signature of the Secretary of Treasury (American Finance Minister) Janet Yellen and Lynn Malerba. The United States currency notes are popularly called as Greenback.
Lynn Malerba is Native American and is the chief of the Mohegan Tribe, who holds the position of Treasurer of the United States within the Department of Treasury, United States government.
Janet Yellen is a former chairman of the United States Central Bank, Federal Reserve of New York. She was the first female head of the Federal Reserve.
In the United States the currency notes are printed by the Treasury Department's Bureau of Engraving and Printing and the Federal Reserve decides how much currency notes will be printed.
The Treasury Department's Bureau of Engraving and Printing has note printing facilities at Fort Worth, Texas and another in Washington.
India
In India the government of India issues currency notes of one Rupees and the Coins under the Coinage act 1906(as amended in 2011).
Notes in the denomination of Rs 2 to Rs 10,000 are issued by the Reserve Bank of India under the Reserve Bank of India act 1934.
In India Currency notes issued by the RBI are called bank notes. The Bank notes are signed by the governor of RBI. Till date there has been no women governor in RBI.
The One rupee note is signed by the Secretary in the Ministry of Finance, Government of India.
Printing of notes in India
Bank notes are printed at four currency presses, two of which are owned by the Government of India through its Corporation, Security Printing and Minting Corporation of India Ltd. (SPMCIL) and two are owned by the Reserve Bank, through its wholly owned subsidiary, Bharatiya Reserve Bank Note Mudran Private Ltd. (BRBNMPL).
The currency presses of SPMCIL are at Nasik (Maharashtra) and Dewas (Madhya Pradesh).
The two presses of BRBNMPL are at Mysuru (Karnataka) and Salboni (West Bengal).
3. India ranked 5th in the 2022 Hurun Global 500 list of valuable companies
Tags: Economy/Finance International News
According to the recently released Hurun Global 500 list 2022, India, with 20 most valuable companies in the world, has moved into the fifth position among countries that are home to the world’s top 500 firms. Last year India was ranked 9th with 8 companies.
The list, released by the Hurun Research Institute, is a compilation of the 500 most valuable non-state-controlled companies in the world. Companies were ranked according to their market capitalization (for listed companies) and valuations for non-listed companies.
Top ranked Indian companies
The top ranked Indian companies in the Hurun 500 list are as follows;
- Reliance Industries Limited was the top ranked Indian company. It was ranked 34th in the world.
- Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) was ranked second , and
- HDFC bank was ranked third.
For the first time, 4 Adani group companies also made to the list. These companies are; Adani Transmission, Adani Green Energy, Adani Enterprises and Adani Total Gas.
Top ranked company in the world
US based Apple was the top ranked company followed by Microsoft, Alphabet (owner of Google), Amazon and Tesla.
Country wise ranking
- The United States of America with 260 companies came at the top. It was followed by
- China with 35 companies,
- Japan with 28 companies,
- The United Kingdom with 21 companies ,
- India and Canada were at the 5th position with 20 companies each.
Of the 20 Indian companies featured on the list this year, 11 are based in Mumbai, four in Ahmedabad and one each in Noida, New Delhi, Bengaluru and Kolkata.
Hurun
It was set up in the United Kingdom by Rupert Hoogewerf in 1999. Hurun is a research, media and investments group, which publishes a series of research reports.
The Company is headquartered in Shanghai, China.
4. Japan, Britain and Italy to jointly build sixth generation fighter jets
Tags: Defence International News
Japan, Britain and Italy are merging their next-generation jet fighter projects to build an advanced front-line 6th generation fighter into operation by 2035. It is for the first time that Japan is collaborating in a defence project without the participation of the United States of America since World War Two. It is seen as a move by Japan to counter an increasingly assertive China and Russia in the region.
The project will merge the British-led Future Combat Air System project, also known as Tempest, with Japan's F-X programme in a venture called the Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP).
Britain's BAE Systems, Japan's Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Italy's Leonardo will lead design of the aircraft, which will have advanced digital capabilities in AI and cyber warfare.
The newly developed fighter plane will replace Britain’s Typhoon fighters and Japan’s F -22 fighter plane.
Britain, Italy and Japan are part of the US fifth-generation F-35 stealth fighter program and parts of the planes are assembled in Italy and Japan. The new jet is not expected to affect the F-35 program.
China and Russia also are developing the 6th generation fighter plane. At present China has 5th generation fighter planes J-20 and J-31, while the Russian 5th generation planes are Su-57.
India which has the Rafale fighter plane is considered to be a 4.5 generation plane.
5. DCGI allows the export of SII made Ebola vaccine for export to Uganda
Tags: Science and Technology International News
The Drugs Controller General of India (DGCI) on 8 December 2022 approved the export of India’s first Ebola vaccine manufactured by Serum Institute of India (SII) to Uganda.
The vaccine has been developed by SII in collaboration with Oxford University, United Kingdom. This vaccine will be used for solidarity clinical trials in Uganda.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has sought collaboration with manufacturers of Ebola vaccines for the prevention of the disease and has selected ChAdOx1 biEBOV as a potential vaccine for participation in a solidarity clinical trial in Uganda.
Oxford University signed an agreement with Serum Institute of India to manufacture ChAdOx1 biEBOV.
Serum Institute of India situated in Pune is the largest vaccine manufacturer in the world. SII makes vaccines for Covid-19, diphtheria, BCG, measles, rubella and others.
CEO of SII: Adar Poonawala
Ebola Virus
It was first reported in 1972 in South Sudan and in a village near Ebola River in Democratic Republic of Congo. Hence it is called the Ebola virus.
The virus can spread through direct contact with an infected animal (bat or nonhuman primate) or a sick or dead person infected with Ebola virus.
6. Nirmala Sitharaman among 6 Indians on Forbes list of world's most powerful women
Tags: Reports International News
Forbes on December 7 released its annual list of the 100 Most Powerful Women in the World, 2022, in which six women from India feature.
Important facts
It includes Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman along with Biocon Executive Chairperson Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, HCL Tech Chairperson Roshni Nadar Malhotra and Nykaa CEO Falguni Nair along with two more names.
The Finance Minister of India has been included in this list for the fifth time in a row.
This list also includes 39 CEOs and 10 heads of state, apart from this it includes 11 billionaires, whose total assets are $ 115 billion.
The list was determined by four main metrics: money, media, impact and spheres of influence.
Name of six Indians
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitaraman - ranked 36, is on the list for the fourth time in a row.
Roshini Nadar Malhotra, Chairperson of HCLTech - ranked 53rd.
Madhabi Puri Buch, Chairperson of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) -ranked 54th.
Soma Mondal, Chairperson of the Steel Authority of India - ranked 67.
Mazumdar-Shaw, executive chairperson and founder of Biocon Limited and Biocon Biologics Limited - ranked 72.
Falguni Sanjay Nayar, the founder and CEO of the beauty and lifestyle retail company Nykaa - ranked 89th.
Top 3 women in the world in Forbes list
The list was topped by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who played a key role in handling COVID -19 crisis, the Russia-Ukraine war, etc.
European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde stood at second position on the list.
US Vice President Kamala Harris ranked third on the list.
Iran's Zina "Mahsa" Amini was posthumously ranked 100th on the influential list. His death in September sparked one of Iran's worst public protests.
7. U.N. Convention on Biological Diversity, COP 15 commences in Montreal, Canada
Tags: Environment place in news Summits International News
The United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity, known as Conference of Parties (COP-15) commenced in Montreal, Canada on 7 December 2022. The two weeklong conference (7-19 December 2022) was originally scheduled to be held in Kunming, China in October but was shifted to Montreal, Canada due to covid situation in China.
This is the second part of the COP15. The first part was hosted by China on 18 August 2021 virtually and the second part was to be held in a face to face conference but it has been shifted from China to Canada. However the host of the COP15 in Montreal is still China.
The Conference focuses on saving the nature
The Biological diversity conference focuses on nature. It is different from the UNFCCC (United Nation Framework Convention on Climate Change ) organised Conference of Parties(CoP) which focuses on the problem of global warming and climate change due to emission of greenhouse gasses.
The Biological Diversity conference will focus on nature and how to stop and reverse the degradation of our nature by 2030.
Main issues that will be discussed at the Montreal conference are;
- One of the most notable draft targets is to conserve 30% of land and sea areas globally by 2030.
- It will aim to adopt a global framework for biodiversity to halt and reverse losses of the world's plants, animals, and ecosystems.
- Fair and equitable sharing of the benefits of natural genetics resources.
United Nation Convention on Biological Diversity
It is a multilateral treaty which was signed by the countries at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. It came into force on 29 December 1993. At present 194 countries are its signatories.
It has 3 main objectives:
- The conservation of Biological diversity
- The sustainable use of the components of biological diversity
- The fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising out of the utilization of genetic resources.
Conferences of the Parties/COP
- Countries which have signed the conventions are called Conferences of the Parties. The meeting of the Conferences of the Parties is also called COP
- The first COP -1 was held in Nassau, Bahamas 1994.
- The 14th meeting was held in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt (17-19 November 2018)
- It is held after every two years but due to covid it was held in 2021.
8. Indiana sues social media app 'TikTok' over data security, inappropriate content
Tags: International News
Indiana's attorney general on 7 December sued Chinese-owned social media app TikTok, claiming it misled its users, particularly children, about the level of inappropriate content and security of consumer information.
Important facts
Indiana's attorney general Todd Rokita has accused TikTok's parent company ByteDance of violating the state's consumer protections laws.
Indiana is a US state in the Midwestern United States.
Two lawsuits have been filed in the US on Tiktok. The first lawsuit claimed the app provided inappropriate content to young users.
The second complaint alleges that TikTok does not disclose the Chinese government's ability to access sensitive consumer information.
The announcement of the lawsuits comes after other US states drafted legislation to ban TikTok.
Meanwhile, Texas, South Dakota and South Carolina have banned the use of TikTok from being used on state government equipment.
About TikTok
This is owned by ByteDance, a Chinese company that moved its headquarters to Singapore in 2020.
The app has been targeted by Republicans who say the Chinese government could access its user data like browsing history and location.
US armed forces also have prohibited the app on military devices.
Tiktok has been banned in India too in 2021.
9. Dina Boluarte assumes office as first female President of Peru
Tags: Person in news International News
Peru's President Pedro Castillo has been impeached. In his place, Vice President Dina Boluarte has been sworn in as President on 7 December. Dina is the first female President of the country. She will hold the post till 2026.
Important facts
In the 130-member parliament, 101 voted in favor of the motion, while only 6 voted in support of the president. 10 MPs abstained from voting.
Francisco Morales, head of Peru's constitutional court, ordered Vice President Dina Boluaarte to assume the presidency in a speech before parliament voted on an impeachment motion.
Police have taken Pedro Castillo into custody in the capital Lima.
Pedro Castillo was elected as the President of Peru in July 2021.
While in office, he faced an investigation over allegations of corruption.
About Peru
President - Dina Boluarte
Capital - Lima
Currency - sole
10. 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.
