1. Former athlete PT Usha nominated to Vice-chairman panel in Rajya Sabha
Tags: Person in news
Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar has nominated legendary former athlete and MP PT Usha to the panel of Vice chairpersons in the Upper House.
Important facts
This is the first time that a nominated member has been appointed to the panel of Vice Chairman of Rajya Sabha. Along with him, YSRC MP Vijay Sai Reddy has also been nominated.
Other Vice Chairmen in the panel are Bhubaneswar Kalita, Saroj Pandey and Surendra Singh Nagar (BJP), Sukhendu Sekhar Ray (Trinamool Congress), L Hanumanthaiah (Congress), Sasmit Patra (BJD) and Tiruchi Siva (DMK).
PT Usha was also elected as the president of the Indian Olympic Association recently.
The 58-year-old Usha, a multiple Asian Games gold medallist and fourth-place finisher in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics 400m hurdles final.
2. Rajasthan Government to provide LPG cylinder at Rs 500 per cylinder; Ashok Gehlot
Tags: Person in news State News
The Rajasthan Government will provide 12 LPG cylinders per year to the poor families at Rs 500 per cylinder from 1 April 2023. This was announced by the Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot at the Bharat Jodo Yatra in Alwar on 19 December 2022.
He said the decision was taken to provide relief to the people suffering from unprecedented inflation and unemployment.
Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY)
‘Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana’ (PMUY) was launched by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 1 May 2016 in Ballia, Uttar Pradesh.
Under the scheme a poor household headed by a woman is provided with a free LPG gas stove and free first LPG Cylinder.
However under the scheme the beneficiaries have to buy the subsidized LPG cylinder.
The target of the PMUY was to release 8 crore LPG connections by March 2020 which was achieved on 7 September 2019.
PMUY 2.0
It was launched virtually by PM Modi on 10 August 2021 at Mahoba, Madhya Pradesh.
It aims to provide additional 1.6 crore LPG connections with special focus on migrant households.
Connection is provided to an adult woman belonging to a poor household.
The beneficiaries should belong to any of the following categories:
- Eligible as per Socio Economic Caste Census 2011 list,
- Belongs to SC/ST households, be a beneficiary of Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY), Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY), Forest dwellers, Most Backward Classes (MBC), Tea and Ex-Tea Garden Tribes, People residing in river Islands.
3. Major General Mohit Seth takes over as GoC Kilo Force
Tags: Defence Person in news
Major General Mohit Seth took over as the General Officer Commanding (GOC) of the Counter Insurgency Force Kilo on 20 December.
Important facts
Major General Sanjiv Singh Slaria on relinquishing the command, moves to Headquarter Northern Command, Udhampur.
Major General Sanjiv Singh Slaria’s tenure saw the Kilo Force take distinctive steps towards peace and stability in North Kashmir.
In December 1991 the General Officer was commissioned in the 3 Madras Regiment.
An alumnus of the National Defense Academy, the General Officer attended the prestigious NDC at New Delhi.
In his distinguished military career spanning over three decades, the General Officer has held various prestigious staff and command appointments in J&K, North East and Army Headquarters.
He has also served as the Indian Army Liaison Officer, High Commission of India, United Kingdom.
4. Gujarat CM unveils Urban G20 logo, website and social media handle
Tags: place in news Summits Person in news
Chief Minister of Gujarat Bhupendra Patel unveiled the logo, website and social media handles of the Urban-20 conference in Gandhinagar on 19 December 2022. The ceremony was attended virtually by the Union Minister for Urban Development and Urban Housing Hardeep Singh Puri.
Urban 20
The UNESCO heritage city Ahmedabad will host the Urban 20 meetings as part of G 20 meetings between Februarys to July 2023.
In July 2023, the U20 mayor’s summit will be held in Ahmedabad to discuss urban development issues.
The Urban 20 will provide a platform for the G20 cities to facilitate discussions on important issues of urban development including climate change, social inclusion, sustainable mobility, affordable housing, and financing of urban infrastructure to propose collective solutions.
Indian Presidency of G 20
India officially assumed the Presidency of G20 on 1 December 2022 from Indonesia. The summit meeting of the Head of the States and the leaders of the G20 is scheduled to be held in September 2023 in New Delhi.
To prepare for the summit meeting a series of meetings is to be held by India.
The first meeting was the G-20 Sherpa meeting held in Udaipur in the first week of December 2022.
G-20
The G-20 was founded back in 1999 after the Asian financial crisis.
The Group of Twenty (G-20) comprises 19 countries (Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkiye, the United Kingdom, and the United States) and the European Union.
The G-20 members represent around 85 per cent of the global GDP, over 75 per cent of the global trade, and about two-thirds of the world population.
5. India ranked 3rd globally in the publication of scientific papers; Union Minister Jitendra Singh
Tags: Reports National Science and Technology Person in news
According to the Union Minister for Science & Technology Dr Jitendra Singh India has been ranked 3rd globally in the publication of scientific papers. Quoting the National Science Foundation (NSF)’s Science & Engineering Indicators 2022 report of the United States, India’s position globally in scientific publications, has improved from 7th position in 2010 to 3rd position in 2020. He also said that India’s scholarly output increased from 60,555 papers in 2010 to 1, 49,213 papers in 2020.
China leads the world in the publication of the maximum number of scientific papers followed by The United States of America.
Dr Jitendra Singh also said that India now ranks 3rd in terms of the number of PhDs in science and engineering.
The National Science Foundation is an independent agency of the United States government that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering.
6. Leo Varadkar re-elected as the Prime Minister of Ireland
Tags: Person in news International News
Indian origin Leo Varadkar was elected as the prime minister of the Republic of Ireland for the second time on 17 December 2022. He took over from Michael Martin under an arrangement struck between their two parties under a 2020 coalition pact. Michael Martin has become the deputy Prime minister and Foreign minister.
Earlier in a special session in the lower house of the Irish parliament, Dail voted to approve Leo Varadkar’s nomination as the prime minister. It was later also confirmed by the Irish President Michael D. Higgins.
After the 2020 general election Martin’s Fianna Fail party and Varadkar's Fine Gael party entered into a coalition deal under which powers were to be shared between the two parties.
Leo Varadkar was earlier Prime Minister of Ireland from 2017 to 2020.
Republic Of Ireland
The Republic of Ireland is a western European country which shares a boundary with Great Britain.
The Parliament of Ireland is called the Oireachtas. The lower house of the parliament is called Dail and the upper house is called Seanad Éireann (Senate).
The term of Dail is five years.
President of Ireland: Michael D. Higgins
Currency: Euro
Capital: Dublin
7. M P government set up a task force to recommend regulation of online gambling and gaming
Tags: committee Person in news State News
In an order issued on 16 December 2022 the Madhya Pradesh government has constituted a high-level task force, which will make recommendations about regulating online gambling and gaming in the state after examining the technical and legal aspects.
This task force will be headed by the state chief secretary Iqbal Singh Bains.
The task force has been constituted to examine various judicial precedents, legal situations and technical aspects related to prevention and controlling online gambling and gaming and make recommendations to the state government.
The government took this step after a number of incidents were reported in the state where children addicted to online games were committing suicide after being scolded by parents.
Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh: Shivraj Singh Chauhan
8. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar host a millet based lunch in New York for Top UN diplomats
Tags: place in news Person in news International News
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar hosted a millets based lunch in New York on 15 December 2022 for the United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres and other top diplomats of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) member states to commemorate the International Year of Millets 2023 (IYM 2023).
The External Affairs minister was in New York to chair two key UNSC debates being held under the Presidency of India. India is the President of the UNSC for the month of December 2022. India’s 2 year term as the non -permanent member of the UNSC ends on 31 December 2022.
The United Nations General Assembly at its 75th session in March 2021, had adopted an Indian sponsored resolution to declare 2023 as the International Year of Millets.
In his message at the opening ceremony of the International Year of Millets at Rome, the Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said that “India will steer the IYM 2023 celebrations worldwide and organise campaigns to promote the cultivation and consumption of millets,"
Millet is one of the oldest known foods to humans .They are called a superfood as they are rich in nutrients such as copper, magnesium, phosphorus, and manganese. They are low on glycaemic index.
9. Cindy Hook appointed CEO of 2032 Olympic organising committee
Tags: Person in news Sports News
American executive Cindy Hook has been appointed as CEO of the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The organising committee announced her appointment.
Important facts
She is currently a member of the Great Barrier Reef Foundation and the Singapore Economic Development Board.
US-born Cindy Hook, 58, led Deloitte's Asia Pacific branch for nearly three years before stepping down in June this year with the intention of retiring from corporate work.
She previously worked for the international professional services network in the U.S. and in Australia, moving to Sydney in 2009 to lead the auditing practice for six years and later becoming CEO of the Australian operation in 2015.
Brisbane 2032 chairman Andrew Liveris described Hooke as someone who knows what it takes to run a multi-billion dollar business on time and on budget.
The International Olympic Committee in July last year decided to host the 2032 Games in Brisbane as part of a revised process.
Australia has twice previously hosted the Summer Olympics, at Melbourne in 1956 and Sydney in 2000.
10. Neeraj Chopra becomes the most written-about athlete in 2022
Tags: Sports Person in news
According to the World Athletics, Tokyo Olympics gold medalist javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra of India was the most written about track and field athlete in 2022, displacing the Jamaican legend Usain Bolt from the top lists.
Quoting the data collated by media Analysis Company Unicepta the World Athletics body on 16 December 2022 said that there were 812 articles written about Neeraj Chopra in 2022.
Neeraj Chopra was followed by Jamaican trio of Olympic champion Elaine Thompson-Herah (751 articles), 100m world champion Shelley-Ann Fraser-Pryce (698 articles) and 200m world champion Shericka Jackson (679 articles).
Neeraj Chopra had a very successful 2022. He won the silver medal at the World Athletic Championships 2022 in Eugene, Oregon, becoming only the second Indian to win a worlds medal after Anju Bobby George’s bronze in the women’s long jump in 2003.
Neeraj Chopra also became the first athlete from India to win the Diamond League final this year.
