1. Sitiveni Rabuka becomes the new Prime Minister of Fiji
Tags: Person in news International News
Sitiveni Rabuka became Fiji's prime minister on 24 December 2022 after a coalition of parties voted narrowly to install him as leader of the country. It also signals the end of the former Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama's 16 years in power. In the 55 member Parliament of Fiji, Sitiveni Rabuka secured 28 votes against Bainimarama's 27 votes.
Rabuka now heads a three-party coalition government consisting of his People's Alliance, the National Federation Party led by Biman Prasad and the Sodelpa Party, led by Viliame Gavoka.
Fiji will have three deputy prime ministers in Biman Prasad (finance), Viliame Gavoka (tourism), and Manoa Kamikamica (external trade) under the coalition arrangement.
Republic of Fiji
It is an archipelago of 300 islands and 500 islets in the South Pacific Ocean near New Zealand.
It gained Independence from Great Britain in 1970.
About two-fifths of the Fijian populations are Indins who were brought as indentured labourer by the British from North India to work in the sugar fields of Fiji.
English, Fijian, and Fijian Hindi are the official languages of the country.
The Parliament of Fiji is unicameral and consists of 55 members. The term of the Fijian parliament is of four years.
Capital of Fiji: Suva
Currency: Fijian Dollar
President: Jioji Konrote
2. US President nominates Indian American Richard Verma to top diplomatic position in State Department
Tags: Person in news
US President Joe Biden on 23 December nominated Indian American Richard R Verma to a top diplomatic position in the US Department of State.
Important facts
- Biden announced his intention to nominate Verma as Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources.
- Verma is the Chief Legal Officer and Head of Global Public Policy at Mastercard.
- He was the United States Ambassador to India and Assistant Secretary of State for Legislative Affairs during the Obama Administration.
- Prior to that he was National Security Advisor to United States Senator Harry Reid (D-NV).
- He has also been Democratic Whip, Minority Leader, and then Majority Leader of the United States Senate.
- He has served as Vice Chairman of The Asia Group, Partner and Senior Counselor at Steptoe & Johnson LLP, and Senior Counselor at the Albright Stonebridge Group.
- He received numerous awards and decorations, including the Distinguished Service Medal from the State Department, the International Affairs Fellowship from the Council on Foreign Relations, and the Meritorious Service Medal from the United States Air Force.
3. Tamil Nadu government announces Rs 1000, rice and sugar to ration holders on the occasion of Pongal
Tags: Festivals Person in news State News
The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin has announced that the ration card holders in the state will get Rs 1000, one kg of rice and sugar each on the occasion of pongal harvest festival to be held in January 2023.
According to the state government all ’Rice’ ration card holders will be eligible for including the families residing in Sri Lankan Rehabilitation Camps.
It is expected to benefit 2.19 crore ration card holders and the government will entail an additional expenditure of Rs 2,356.67 crore.
The chief minister will launch the Pongal Gift scheme on January 2. The festival will be celebrated on 15 January 2023.
Pongal festival
Pongal is a harvest festival celebrated by the Tamil community. It is a celebration to thank the Sun, Mother Nature and the various farm animals that help to contribute to a bountiful harvest. Celebrated over four days, Pongal also marks the beginning of the Tamil month called Thai, which is considered an auspicious month. It usually falls on the 14th or 15th of January each year.
Pongal is also the name of the dish made and eaten during this festival. It is a mixture of boiled sweet rice. It is derived from the Tamil word pongu, which means “to boil over”.
First day of pongal is called Bhogi Pongal. The second day is called Surya Pongal where Sun god is worshiped. The third day is called Maatu pongal where the cattles (Maatu) are worshiped and the 4th day is observed as Kaanum Pongal.
4. CJI D Y Chandrachud constitutes a committee to conduct accessibility audit of Supreme Court premises for disabled
Tags: committee National Person in news
The Chief Justice of India (CJI) D Y Chandrachud has set up a committee to conduct an audit of “physical and functional access” of the top court premises to make them disabled friendly.
The committee which was set up on 22 December 2022 will be headed by the Supreme Court Judge S Ravindra Bhat.
The committee will prepare a report on the accessibility audit, result of the survey of persons with disability and recommendations/proposals geared towards removing the barriers to access.
The other members of the committee include Dr Sanjay Jain, professor of National Law School of India University, Bengaluru, Shakti Mishra, librarian nominated from the apex court, V Sridhar Reddy, advocate nominated by the Supreme Court Bar Association and Nilesh Singit, independent accessibility expert nominated by the Centre for Disability Studies (NALSAR University of Law).
5. England's Sam Curran breaks Indian Premier League auction record
Tags: Sports Person in news
England all-rounder Sam Curran became the Indian Premier League's (IPL) most expensive ever buy in the players' auction held on 23 December 2022.
The Punjab Kings bought Sam Curran for Rs 18. 5 crore ($2.23 million) following a bidding war involving the Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians.
Curran, who was player-of-the-series in England's T20 World Cup triumph in Australia this year, previously featured for the Punjab Kings in 2019.
The earliest highest bid for a player in the IPL was that of South African all-rounder Chris Morris. He was bought by Rajasthan Royals last year for Rs 16.25 crore.
The previous record fee paid for Morris was broken once more with Mumbai Indians paying Rs 17.5crore for Australian all-rounder Cameron Green.
The highest paid Indian player at the IPL has been Yuvraj Singh. He was bought for Rs 16 crore by the Delhi Daredevil in 2015.
Gujarat Titans are the current IPL champion team. The first IPL was held in 2008 which was won by the Rajasthan Royals team.
There are currently 8 teams in the IPL. They are Chennai Super Kings, Delhi Capitals, Gujarat Titans, Kolkata Knight Riders, Lucknow SuperGiants, Mumbai Indians, Punjab Kings, Rajasthan Royals, Royal Challengers Bangalore and Sunrisers Hyderabad.
IPL Chairman: Arun Dhumal
6. Harmanpreet singh to captain Indian team at the FIH men’s world cup 2023
Tags: place in news Sports Person in news
Hockey India has announced Dragflicker Harmanpreet Singh as the captain of the Indian men’s Hockey team for the FIH Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup 2023. Amit Rohidas has been named as the vice-captain of the squad. The team coach is Graham Reid.
The FIH Men’s Hockey World Cup is held every four years and the 2022 event was postponed to 2023 due to the corona pandemic .The last 14th FIH Men’s World Cup Hockey was also played in Odisha in 2018.
The 15th FIH men’s world cup will be held at the Kalinga Stadium Bhubaneswar and at the newly built Birsa Munda International Hockey Stadium, Rourkela from 13-20 January 2023. The newly built Birsa Munda stadium is the largest hockey stadium in India with a seating capacity of 20,000 people
The final match will be played at the Kalinga Stadium on 29 January 2023.
This is the fourth time India is hosting the FIH men’s world cup. It has hosted it in 1982, Bombay, 2010 New Delhi, 2018 Bhubaneswar and 2023 in Bhubaneswar and Rourkela.
15th FIH Men’s’ World Cup
A total of 16 teams are participating in the World cup and they have been divided into 4 pools.
Pool A: Australia, South Africa, France, Argentina
Pool B: Belgium, Japan, Korea, Germany
Pool C: Netherlands, Chile, Malaysia, New Zealand
Pool D: India, Wales, Spain, England
Belgium are the defending team having won the 1028 edition.
India has won the world cup only once in 1975 at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. They defeated Pakistan in the final and the Indian team was led by Ajit Pal Singh.
Pakistan is the most successful team having won it 4 times. However the Pakistani team has failed to qualify for the 2023 edition.
FIH
FIH (Fédération Internationale de Hockey) is the governing body of men’s and women’s International hockey.
Headquarters: Lausanne, Switzerland
President:Mohammad Tayyab Ikram
Members: 137 countries
7. Noted Telugu actor, producer, director Kaikala Satyanarayana no more
Tags: Person in news State News
Veteran Telugu actor, producer and director Kaikala Satyanarayana died on 23 December 2022 in Hyderabad due to age related ailments. He was 87 years old.
Kaikala Satyanarayana, also known as Navarasa Natana Sarvabhouma, was born on July 25, 1935, in the Krishna district of Andhra Pradesh
He acted in around 750 movies and was known for 'Kurukshetramu' (1977), 'Daana Veera Soora Karna' (1977) and 'Sri Krishnarjuna Yudham' (1963).
He also had a brief political career and was a Member of Parliament for the Telugu Desam Party (TDP).
Mr Satyanarayana received several awards including the Raghupati Venkaiah Award (2011), Filmfare Lifetime Achievement award for Telugu cinema (2017) and the Andhra Pradesh government's Nandi film awards.
8. Suhel Ajaz Khan appointed India's new ambassador to Saudi Arabia
Tags: Person in news
The Government of India has appointed senior diplomat Suhel Ajaz Khan as India’s new ambassador to Saudi Arabia. Suhel Ajaz Khan is a 1997-batch Indian Foreign Service officer and is presently serving as Indian ambassador to Lebanon.
Khan worked at the Indian Embassy in Riyadh between September 2017 and June 2019 as Deputy Chief of Mission.
India Saudi Arabia Relations
Saudi Arabia which is the largest exporter of crude oil in the world and is the custodian of two of holiest mosques of Islam, Al Haram in Mecca and Al-Haram or forbidden mosques in Medina.
During the visit of Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh to Saudi Arabia in 2010 elevated the India-Saudi Arabia tie to ‘Strategic Partnership’.
During PM M0di visit to Saudi Arabia in 2019 Strategic Partnership Council Agreement was signed, which established a high-level council to steer the Indo-Saudi relationship.
Saudi Arabia is India’s fourth largest trading partner after the United States of America, China and the United Arab Emirates.
More than 18% of India’s crude oil imports are sourced from Saudi Arabia. During April -December 2022, bilateral trade was valued at US$29.28 billion. During this period, India’s imports from Saudi Arabia were valued at US$22.65 billion and exports to Saudi Arabia were worth US$6.63 billion.
There are about 22 lakhs Indians living in Saudi Arabia and they constitute the largest expatriate community in Saudi Arabia.
Capital of Saudi Arabia: Riyadh
Currency: Saudi Riyal
King of Saudi Arabia: King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud
9. Aloke Singh appointed head of Air India's low cost airline business
Tags: National Economy/Finance Person in news
Tata Group has appointed Aloke Singh as the chief of its low cost airline business from 1 January 2023. The Low Cost Carrier business will comprise AirAsia India and Air India Express.
Currently the Tata group operates four air lines. They are Air India, Air India Express, AirAsia India and Vistara. Vistara is a joint venture of Tata with Singapore Airlines.
On 29 November 2022, Tata group announced the merger of Vistara with Air India under a deal wherein Singapore Airlines will also acquire a 25.1 per cent stake in Air India. The deal, which will make Air India the country's largest international carrier and second-largest domestic airline, is expected to be completed by March 2024, subject to regulatory approvals.
The Tata group intends to merge budget carrier AirAsia India with Air India Express and the merger is likely to be completed by the end of 2023.
After Merger the company will be called Air India Express.
AirAsia India was launched in 2014 while Air India Express started operations back in 2005.
Low cost airlines or budget airlines or no-frill airlines do not provide traditional services like food, drinks or other premium services and their fares are also usually low. Some of the major low cost airlines operating in India are Go Air, Indigo, Air India Express, and Spice Jet.
Air India Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer: Campbell Wilson
10. Antim Panghal nominated for the United World Wrestling 2022 Rising Star of the Year award
Tags: Sports Person in news
Indian women’s wrestler Antim Panghal has been nominated for United World Wrestling 2022 Rising Star of the Year award. Japan’s Nonoka Ozaki, USA’s Amit Elor, Sweden’s Emma Malmgren and Andreea Ana of Romania are the other in the five-woman nominees list for the United World Wrestling 2022 Rising Star of the Year award.
Antim Panghal created history this year by winning India’s first-ever gold medal at the World U20 Wrestling Championships 2022 in August. The 18-year-old freestyle wrestler from Haryana is also the reigning Asian champion in the same age category. She also won the senior category event, Zouhaier Sghaier Ranking Series.
19 year old Nonoka Ozaki of Japan has won gold medals in the senior world championships and the Asian championship this year in the 62 kg category.
18 year old American wrestler Amit Elor, is the reigning U23 and the senior world champion in 72kg.
21 year old Emma Malmgren of Sweden is world No. 4 in 53kg and is the European champion in seniors. Andreea Ana of Romania is the senior European champion in the 55kg.
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 Lalović
