Current Affairs in English – December 14 2022

December 14, 2022

National Events:

ZCC:

• Ministry of Culture has set up seven Zonal Cultural Centres (ZCCs) with headquarters at Patiala, Nagpur, Udaipur, Prayagraj, Kolkata, Dimapur and Thanjavur.
• These centres aim to conserve and develop art, culture and crafts across the country. The government provides regular annual grant-in-aid for conducting various activities and programmes to ZCCs.

Sri Chandrasekarendra Saraswathi National Eminence Award:

• Former Vice President Venkaiah Naidu has been conferred with the 25th Sri Chandrasekarendra Saraswathi National Eminence Award.
• Other awardees are Arif Mohammed Khan, Ratan Tata, Dr Marthanda Varma Sankaran Valianathan, Ajay Sood and Vishakha Hari.
• The awards were instituted by the South Indian Education Society in 1998 in memory of the late Seer of Kanchi, Sri Chandrasekharendra Saraswati.

Aurobindo Ghose:

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi participated in a program commemorating Sri Aurobindo’s 150th birth anniversary, on 13th December 2022. Aurobindo Ghose was born in Calcutta on 15th August 1872.
• He was a nationalist, poet, educationist, and philosopher. From 1902 to 1910, he participated in India’s freedom movement. PM Modi released a commemorative coin and postage stamp in honor of Sri Aurobindo.

DARPG:

• The grievance Redressal Index was published by the Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances Department (DARPG) in December 2022.
• It aims to assist the Ministries/Departments to review and streamline the Grievance Redressal System and have a comparative assessment with other Ministries/Departments.
• It has two dimensions: Timely Disposal of Grievances and Quality Disposal of Grievance.

Water Impact summit:

• The seventh edition of the India Water Impact summit will commence on December 15, 2022. Organized by NITI Aayog, the event will showcase new technological innovations, research, policy frameworks, and investment models from around the world within India.
• It will focus on select aspects of “Mapping and Convergence of 5P’s (People, Policies, Plans, Programmes, and Projects)”.

UIDAI:

• The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has been ranked first among all Group A Ministries, Departments, and Autonomous Bodies in the resolution of public grievances rankings for November 2022.
• This is the fourth month in a row that UIDAI has topped the rankings. UIDAI’s Customer Relationship Management system is enhancing user experience and improving service delivery to residents.

RRR:

• SS Rajamouli-directed period movie ‘RRR’ has been nominated in two categories at the Golden Globe Awards to be held in January 2023.
• The film has been nominated in two categories for Best Non-English Language Film and the film’s song ‘Naatu-Naatu’ for Best Original Song.
• Recently, director SS Rajamouli has also received the New York Film Critics Circle Best Director Award for the film.

G20:

• The G20 Finance Track, led by Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors of G20 countries in Bengaluru was held in December 2022.
• This is a precursor to the G-20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting to be held between February 23 and 25, 2023 in Bengaluru. A seminar on the role of Central Banks in Green Financing is also part of the event.

L1 frequency:

• ISRO is introducing the L1 frequency in all its future satellites with an aim to promote the civilian use of NAVigation with the Indian Constellation (NavIC). L1 frequency is one of the most commonly used frequencies in the GPS.
• It will increase the use of the regional navigation system in wearable devices, security systems and personal trackers that use low-power, single-frequency chips.

National Health Ministers Conclave:

• 2 day National Health Ministers Conclave on Universal Health Coverage Day(12 December) 2022 concluded in Varanasi in December 2022. Uttar Pradesh governor Anandiben Patel inaugurated the conclave.
• Union Minister of Health & Family Welfare, Dr Mansukh Mandaviya launched operational guidelines for AB-HWCs and Tele-MANAS along with training modules for CHOS and SASHAKT portal at the inaugural ceremony.

IISF:

• IISF (India International Science Festival) 2022 will be held in Bhopal in January 2023. IISF is the initiative of the Ministry of Science & Technology and the Ministry of Earth Science in association with Vijnana Bharati.
• The IISF 2022 is the eighth edition since its inception in 2015. The 1st and 2nd IISF were held in New Delhi, the third in Chennai, 4th in Lucknow, 5th in Kolkata, 6th through virtual mode and 7th one in Goa.

PMAAGY:

• Government starts Pradhan Mantri Adi Adarsh Gram Yojna(PMAAGY). Under PMAAGY, the Ministry of Tribal Affairs aims to develop 36,428 villages with at least 50 % tribal population and 500 Scheduled Tribes into model tribal villages.
• It is a modified version of ‘Special Central Assistance to Tribal Sub-Scheme’ and will be implemented during 2021-22 to 2025-26. The objective is to achieve integrated socio-economic development of selected villages.

National Energy Conservation Day: 14 December:

• Since 1991, it is celebrated every year on 14 December by the Bureau of Energy Efficiency , under the Ministry of Power. It aims to raise awareness about the need for energy and its conservation in daily life.
• President will felicitate the winners of the National Energy Conservation Awards, and National Energy Efficiency Innovation Awards and also launch the EV Yatra Portal on the occasion.

Tamil Nadu Events:

Udhayanidhi Stalin:

• Udhayanidhi Stalin was inducted into the Tamil Nadu cabinet on 14 December 2022. Tamil Nadu Governor R.N.Ravi administered him the oath of office and secrecy at a function held at Raj Bhavan.
• Udhayanidhi has been allocated Youth Welfare and Sports Development portfolio. He was elected as an MLA from Chepauk constituency.

State’s Climate Action Plan:

• Tamil Nadu has become the first state to launch its own climate change mission to protect the natural resources in the state as well as to restore them. The State’s Climate Action Plan will be implemented by the TNGCC (Tamil Nadu Green Climate Company).
• Tamil Nadu has decided to stop any additions to its existing coal power capacity as the mission sought to generate half of its electricity through renewable sources by 2030.

International Events:

2022 Hurun Global 500:

• India’s rank jumped to 5th position from 9th position with 20 companies featured in the 2022 Hurun Global 500 List released in December 2022. According to the list, Reliance Industries is the most valuable company followed by TCS and HDFC Bank.
• The US topped the 2022 Hurun Global 500 list, whereas China ranked second with 35 companies, and was followed by Japan, UK, India and Canada.

Finland & India:

• Finland and India on 13 Dec 2022, signed a Joint Declaration of Intent to facilitate greater mobility and to combat irregular migration.
• Both countries agreed to work jointly towards developing a common framework of arrangement to facilitate the mobility of students, academics, and professionals.
• On May 4, PM Modi met Finland PM Sanna Marin during the 2nd India-Nordic Summit in Copenhagen.

Nuclear fusion:

• US researchers announced a historic nuclear fusion breakthrough on December 13, 2022. For the first time in history, American scientists carried out a nuclear fusion reaction in California, USA, due to which pure energy (carbon-free energy) was produced just like the Sun.
• This breakthrough could bring unlimited clean energy and could help in the fight against climate change.

Dr.Jeremy Farrar:

• World Health Organization (WHO) announced Dr.Jeremy Farrar as its new Chief Scientist. He is a clinician scientist who, before joining Wellcome Trust in 2013, spent 17 years as Director of the Clinical Research Unit at the Hospital for Tropical Diseases in Vietnam.
• He will oversee the Science Division, bringing together the best brains in science and innovation from around the world.

ILO:

• The 17th Asia Pacific Regional Meeting (APRM) of the International Labour Organization (ILO) was held in Singapore in December 2022.
• It brings together representatives of governments, employers and workers organizations from Asia, the Pacific and the Arab states. The meeting concluded with the launch of the ‘Singapore Statement’.