1. HS Prannoy beats Viktor Axelsen in BWF World Tour finals
Tags: Sports Sports News
In badminton India's HS Prannoy, on 9 December, registered a magnificent win over Olympic and world champion Viktor Axelsen in his final BWF World Tour Finals 2022 match in Bangkok.
Important facts
Prannoy prevailed 14-21, 21-17, 21-18 over Axelsen in 51 minutes. It is his second win over the Dane shuttler in seven meetings.
After losing the first game, Prannoy fought back to win the two games and the match in 51 minutes.
Seeded third in the tournament, Prannoy had lost his earlier two Group A matches. In both matches, the Indian shuttler lost after playing a three-game contest.
Prannoy was the lone Indian player competing at the 2022 season-ending BWF World Tour Finals - where only the top 8 players/pairs of the year take part.
About BWF World Tour
The BWF World Tour is a Grade 2 badminton tournament series, sanctioned by Badminton World Federation (BWF).
It is a competition open to the top world ranked players in singles (men's and women's) and doubles (men's, women's and mixed).
The competition was announced on 19 March 2017 and came into effect starting from 2018.
2. A UN panel has recommended that Australia's Great Barrier Reef be listed as a World Heritage Site
Tags: Environment International News
A United Nations panel recommended on November 29, 2022 that Australia's Great Barrier Reef should be listed as a World Heritage Site that is "in danger".
Important facts
The world's largest coral reef ecosystem has been greatly affected by climate change and ocean warming.
Frequent bleaching events and La Nina are threatening the reef.
Bleaching occurs when water gets too warm, causing corals to expel the colourful algae living in their tissues and turn white.
Australia's recently elected government has pledged to spend A$1.2 billion ($800 million) over the coming years to protect the reef.
What are Coral reefs?
Coral reefs are one of the most biologically diverse marine ecosystems on Earth.
They play an important role in marine ecosystems and support habitats for flora and fauna in the ocean.
Each coral is called a polyp and thousands of such polyps live together to form a colony.
About Great Barrier Reef
It extends for 1400 miles along the north-east coast of Queensland, Australia and is the world's most extensive and rich coral reef ecosystem.
It is made up of more than 2,900 reefs and more than 900 islands.
It is the largest single structure in the world made by living organisms.
This reef was selected as a World Heritage Site in 1981.
3. ‘Pramod Bhagat’ and Manisha wins gold medal at the BWF Para World Championships 2022
Tags: Sports Person in news
Paralympic champion Pramod Bhagat and teenager Manisha Ramadass won gold for India at the BWF Para Badminton World Championship 2022. The BWF Para Badminton World Championship 2022 for badminton players with disabilities was held in Tokyo, Japan from 1-6 November 2022.
Pramod Bhagat who won the gold medal at the 2019 edition of the BWF Para Badminton World Championship, successfully defended his singles title by defeating Nitesh Kumar of India in the SL3 category.
17 year old Manisha Ramadass won her first gold medal at the event by defeating Japanese Mamiko Toyoda in the women's singles SU5 finals.
India ended the championship with 16 medals.
4. Chirag Shetty-Satwiksairaj Rankireddy wins the French open Badminton men’s doubles title
Tags: Sports Person in news
The Birmingham Commonwealth gold medallist pair of Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy won the French Open Badminton 2022 men’s doubles title on 30 October 2022. It was also their first BWF Super 750 title.
The French open Badminton 2022 was held in Paris, France from 25-30 October 2022.
The Indian badminton pair defeated Chinese Taipei’s pair of Lu Ching Yao and Yang Po Han in the final on 30 October 2022.
This was also the first time since Partho Ganguli and Vikram Singh’s triumph in 1983 that an Indian men’s doubles pair won the French Open badminton title.
This was Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy’s fourth BWF World Tour title. They won the Hyderabad Open 2018, the Thailand Open 2019 and India Open 2022.
The win also makes Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy the first Indian doubles pair to clinch a BWF Super 750 crown.
BWF (Badminton World Federation )
It is an international governing body of Badminton in the world .
It was set up as the International Badminton Federation in 1934 and later converted into the World Badminton Federation in 2006.
Currently it has 176 member countries.
Headquarters : Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
5. Sankar Muthusamy settles for a silver medal at the BWF World Junior Championships 2022
Tags: Sports Person in news
S Sankar Muthusamy Subramanian had to settle for a silver medal at the 22nd World Junior Badminton Championships 2022 after losing in the men’s singles final in Santander, Spain on 30 October 2022. In the final he lost to Chinese Taipei’s Kuo Kuan-lin.
The 22nd BWF World Junior Badminton Championships 2022 was held at Santander in Spain from 17-30 October 2022.Players under 19 years of age participates in the tournament.
Medals for India in the championships
India has won an overall 10 medals at the Junior World Badminton Championship.
It has won one gold, four silvers and five bronze medals at the event .
Saina Nehwal is the sole Indian player to have won a gold medal at the championship. She won the gold medal in the 2008 World Junior Championship held at Pune, India.
The last medal for India was won by Lakshya Sen in 2018 when he won the Bronze medal.
BWF (Badminton World Federation)
It is an international governing body of Badminton in the world.
It was set up as the International Badminton Federation in 1934 and later converted into the World Badminton Federation in 2006.
Currently it has 176 member countries.
Headquarters: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
6. African swine fever confirmed in Kannur, Kerala
Tags: State News
Recently, African Swine Fever has been confirmed for the first time in a private pig farm in Kerala, in the last ten days more than 15 pigs died on the farm due to the disease.
About African Swine Fever
African swine fever is a highly contagious hemorrhagic viral disease of domestic and wild boars.
It was first found in Africa in the 1920s.
Historically, infections have been reported in Africa and parts of Europe, South America, and the Caribbean.
However, since the year 2007, the disease has been reported in domestic and wild pigs in several countries in Africa, Asia and Europe.
It has a mortality rate of around 95-100% and there is no cure for this fever, so the only way to stop its spread is to kill animals.
African swine fever does not pose a threat to humans, as it only spreads from animal to animal.
African swine fever is a disease listed in the Animal Health Code of the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE).
World animal health organisation
It is an intergovernmental organisation responsible for improving the health of animals around the world.
It currently has a total of 182 countries as its members. India is one of its member countries.
It develops standard documents relating to the rules by which member states can protect themselves from diseases and pathogens. One of these is the Regional Animal Health Code.
Its standards are recognized by the World Trade Organisation (WTO) as reference to the organisation's International Sanitation Rules.
Its headquarter is located in Paris (France).
7. Singapore Open : PV Sindhu wins first Super 500 title
Tags: Sports News
India's PV Sindhu defeated China's Wang Zhiyi in the women's singles final to clinch the Singapore Open Badminton Super 500 tournament title.
Important facts
Sindhu defeated Saina Kawakami of Japan in the semi-finals to secure her place in the final.
This is Sindhu's third title of the current season. He won two Super 300 tournaments, the Syed Modi International and the Swiss Open.
PV Sindhu won her second Asian bronze medal at the Asia Badminton Championship 2022 in Manila on April 30, 2022.
Sindhu has won a gold, two silver and two bronze medals at the World Championships apart from a silver and bronze medal in the Olympics.
Other Category Winner
Category | Winner | Country |
Men's singles | Anthony Sinisuka Ginting | Indonesia |
Men's doubles | Leo Rolly Carnando/ Daniel Marthin | Indonesia |
Women's doubles | Apriyani Rahayu/ Siti Fadia Silva Ramadhanti | Indonesia |
Mixed doubles | Dechapol Puavaranukroh/ Sapsiree Taerattanachai | Thailand |
Singapore Badminton Open
The Singapore Open is a badminton competition held annually in Singapore since 1929.
In 2023, the tournament will be upgraded to a Super 750 event.
The 2022 Singapore Badminton Open was held from 12 to 17 July 2022 at the Singapore Indoor Stadium in Singapore.
In 2007, the Singapore Open became part of the BWF Super Series event.
8. Defence Ministry launches 75 newly Artificial Intelligence products in New Delhi
Tags: Defence National News
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurated the first-ever ‘Artificial Intelligence in Defence’ (AIDef) symposium and exhibition, organised by the Department of Defence Production, Ministry of Defence, at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi on 11 July.
Important facts
The event featured an exhibition showcasing the latest AI-enabled solutions developed by research organisations, industry and start-ups and innovators and the launch of AI products for the market.
This is a major event where 75 newly developed AI products/technologies in Defence were launched as part of 'Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav'.
These products will promote the ‘Aatmanirbharta’ initiative in Defence.
These products are being tested and will soon be deployed in the security of the nation.
Apart from the 75 products being launched, another 100 are in various stages of development.
Panel discussions on 'Deploying AI in Defence', 'GenNext AI Solutions' and 'AI in Defence - Industry Perspective' were also held at the event.
Products are in the following domains-
Automation/unmanned/robotics systems
Cyber security and human behaviour analysis
Intelligent monitoring system
Logistics and supply chain management
Control, Communication, Computer and Intelligence
Surveillance and Reconnaissance (C4ISR) systems
Operational data analytics
Artificial Intelligence in defence
The AI Task Force on Defence was set up in 2018 to provide a road map for promoting AI in defence.
A Defence AI Council, headed by the Defence Minister, is working in this direction.
The Defence Minister had announced that "25 defence-specific AI products" would be developed by 2024.
A Defence AI Project Agency (DAIPA) has also been created under the defence production secretary for AI-enabled projects.
The Navy is also building an AI Centre of Excellence at INS Valsura in Jamnagar, which already has a modern laboratory on AI and Big Data analysis.
What is Artificial Intelligence?
It is a broad branch of computer science that deals with the creation of smart machines capable of performing tasks that typically require human intelligence.
9. Sunil Chhetri becomes joint 5th highest goalscorer in international football history
Tags: Sports News
Indian men's football team captain Sunil Chhetri has become the joint fifth highest goalscorer in international football history.
Sunil Chhetri scored his 84th international goal against Hong Kong during the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup 2023 Qualifier and achieved the feat by equaling the record held by Real Madrid and Hungarian football legend Ferenc Puskas.
He is now behind only Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo and Argentina's Lionel Messi among active footballers.
He is at number three after Ronaldo and Messi in the list of active footballers with international goals.
Cristiano Ronaldo tops the list of highest goalscorers in international football.
Top 5 International Goal Scorers in the World
Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal) - 117 goals
Ali Dei (Iran) - 109 goals
Mokhtar Dahari (Malaysia) - 89 goals
Lionel Messi (Argentina) - 86 goals
Sunil Chhetri (India) and Ferenc Puskas (Hungary) - 84 goals
10. YSR Yantra Seva Scheme launched by Andhra Pradesh
Tags: Government Schemes State News
YSR Yantra Seva Scheme has been launched by the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, YS Jagan Mohan Reddy.
About the Scheme
Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy started this scheme from the village of Chuttugunta.
Under this scheme, tractors and combine harvesters will be provided to the farmers at low rates.
The total cost of this scheme is 2016 crores.
The government will give a 40 percent subsidy on all machinery and loans will also be provided to the farmers.
Apart from this, it was also decided by the state government to set up custom hiring centres in the entire state.
In this program, an amount of Rs 175 crore was sent to the accounts of 5260 farmers under the Ritu Bharosa scheme.
The Andhra Pradesh government aims to set up a total of 10,750 YSR Yantra Seva Kendras (CHCs).
About Andhra Pradesh State
Historically, Andhra Pradesh has been called the "Rice Bowl of India".
Andhra Pradesh was formed on 1 November 1956.
Kuchipudi is the most famous classical dance form of the state.
Capital- Amravati
Official language - Telugu
Governor- Biswa Bhushan Harichandan
Chief Minister- Jagan Mohan Reddy (Congress)
Legislative Assembly seats- 176
Rajya Sabha Seats - 11
Lok Sabha seats - 25
