Current Affairs in English – December 16 2022

December 16, 2022

National Events:

Byadgi Taluk Kannada Sahitya Sammelan:

• The sixth Byadgi Taluk Kannada Sahitya Sammelan will be held on 16 December 2022 at Byadgi taluk in Haveri district of Karnataka. Writer and former DDPI Prakash Mannangi has been chosen as the Sarvadhyaksha of the literary event.
• President of Kannada Sahitya Parishat Mahesh Joshi will inaugurate the event. Various literary sessions and cultural programmes will be held as part of the sammelan.

Mumbai and San Francisco:

• Union Minister of Civil Aviation and Steel Jyotiraditya M.Scindia inaugurated a direct flight between Mumbai and San Francisco on 15 December 2022.
• The newly-inducted Boeing 777-200LR aircraft will operate the flights on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday.
• The launch of the Mumbai-San Francisco route will be followed by Mumbai-New York City (JFK), Mumbai-Frankfurt, and Mumbai-Paris.

GSDP:

• The Centre will set the borrowing limit for states in FY24 at 3.5 % of gross state domestic product (GSDP).
• Another 50 bps (basis points) window for states will be given if they carry out reforms in the power sector, taking the total space to 4 %.
• For states, the 15th Finance Commission had recommended a fiscal deficit limit of 4 % for FY22, 3.5 % in FY23 and 3 % during FY24-26.

KIFF:

• The 28th edition of the Kolkata International Film Festival (KIFF) organized by the Information and Cultural Affairs Department, Government of West Bengal is being held between 15-22 December, 2022 in Kolkata.
• The KIFF started in the year 1995. It had drawn inspiration from film legends Satyajit Ray, Ritwik Ghatak and Mrinal Sen who have contributed to world cinema.

Agni-V:

• India test fired Agni-V, ballistic missile with a range of over 5,000 km, on 15 December 2022. The test-firing of the missile was done from the Abdul Kalam Island off Odisha coast. It is long-range surface-to-surface Nuclear Capable Ballistic missile.
• The missile which uses a three-stage solid fuelled engine, has been developed by the Defence Research and Development organisation (DRDO).

Bharti Airtel & Tech Mahindra:

• Bharti Airtel entered into agreement with Tech Mahindra in the private 5G network space. The two would deploy the new technology solution at Mahindra and Mahindra’s auto plant at Chakan in Maharashtra.
• This will make the Chakan plant the country’s first 5G-enabled auto manufacturing unit. The partnership will unlock opportunities across industries, improve productivity, and spur innovation.

15-point strategy:

• The Haryana government has decided to opt for a 15-point strategy to reduce road accidents by 20 % in a year. It includes fixing of illegal road cuts on highways made by dhaba and petrol pump owners and keeping a watch on illegal liquor vends on roads.
• Till November 2022 almost 9951-road accidents, 4500 – people lost their lives and nearly 8,500 people were injured.

Youth Co: Lab:

• NITI Aayog’s Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) and UNDP(United Nations Development Programme) India on 15 Dec 2022, launched the 5th edit of ‘Youth Co: Lab’ to support young social entrepreneurs.
• Launched in 2019, Youth Co: Lab is an UNDP India initiative that aims to establish a common agenda for Asia-Pacific countries to invest in and empower youths. The Youth Co: Lab initiative, till date, has been implemented in 28 countries.

CCI & TEXPROCIL:

• The Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) Limited and TEXPROCIL have signed an MoU on branding, traceability and certification of “Kasturi Cotton India’’.
• It will provide complete traceability of Cotton from the origin farm level, QR Code based Certification technology at each stage.
• Ministry of Textiles had announced the “Kasturi Cotton India” Brand of cotton on World Cotton Day on 7 Oct 2020.

PM VIKAS:

• Central government has renamed the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Ko Kaam Karyakram (PMKKK) as Pradhan Mantri Virasat Ka Samvardhan (PM VIKAS) Scheme in December 2022.
• It converges five erstwhile schemes of the Ministry viz Seekho aur Kamao, USTTAD, Hamari Dharohar, Nai Roshni and Nai Manzil. It is a skill development initiative of the union govt for recognition and standardisation of skills.

NMCG:

• The United Nations has recognised the Namami Gange initiative to rejuvenate India’s sacred River Ganga as one of the top 10 World Restoration Flagships to revive the natural world.
• NMCG receives award at a function in 15th conference of parties to the convention on biodiversity in Montreal, Canada. Namami Gange was selected from over 150 such initiatives from 70 countries across the globe.

1,000 MW Solar power project:

• Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency Ltd (IREDA) signed a loan agreement for Rs. 4,444.71 crore with SJV Green Energy Ltd. for a 1,000 MW Solar power project in December 2022.
• SJVN Green Energy Ltd will develop the project at Bikaner, Rajasthan. The project will support Government of India to achieve its targets of 50 percent share of energy from non-fossil fuels by 2030.

‘Iron Man of India’:

• Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel’s 72nd death anniversary was observed on 15 December 2022. He served as the first Deputy PM and Home Minister of India from 1947-50. He was appointed as the 49th President of the Indian National Congress.
• He is also known as the ‘Iron Man of India’ and is often called the “patron saint of India’s civil servants” for having established the modern All India Services system.

Vijay Diwas: 16 December:

• Vijay Diwas is celebrated on December 16 every year to honor the victory of Indian armed forces over Pakistan in the 1971 war. On December 16, 1971, India won the war against Pakistan after fighting for 13 days.
• The chief of the Pakistani forces, General A.K. Niazi surrendered to the joint forces of the Indian Army and Bangladesh’s Mukti Bahini, along with 93,000 Pakistani troops.

Open air museum:

• Karnataka CM Basavaraj Bommai announced that the government will develop an open air museum in Bengaluru where statues of all those who have contributed to Kannada and its cultural ethos will be installed.
• He also announced that a park and a road in Banashankari would be named after Late singher Shimoga Subbanna in honour of his memory. Karnataka Governor: Thawar Chand Gehlot.

HDSR:

• On 15 Dec 2022, the administration of the Union Territory of Ladakh has officially identified a Ladakh’s Hanle as India’s first dark sky reserve and will be known as the Hanle Dark Sky Reserve (HDSR).
• The UT has earmarked this area covering a cluster of six hamlets of Hanle revenue range. These hamlets include Bhok, Khuldo, Shado, Punguk, Naga and the Tibetan Refugee habitations.

Tandoor Red Gram:

• The Tandoor Red Gram has got Registered Gl tag in Telangana. With this, the number of Gl registrations increased to 16 in the state. Tandur Red Gram is a local variety of pigeon pea which is mainly grown in the rainfed areas of the Tandur.
• It contains about 24 % protein, which is almost three times that of cereals, and is popularly known for its very good taste, and better cooking quality.

International Events:

Mette Frederiksen:

• Mette Frederiksen has been re-elected as Denmark PM. She is the Danish politician who has been Prime Minister of Denmark since June 2019.
• She is also the youngest prime minister in Danish history. Denmark is a Scandinavian country comprising the Jutland Peninsula and numerous islands.

Kosovo:

• Kosovo’s Prime Minister Albin Kurti submitted a bid for Kosovo to join the European Union. PM Kurti presented the application in Prague to the Czech Republic, holders of the EU’s rotating presidency.
• Kosovo is the only country in its region which has not still applied to join the EU. Kosovo is not a member of the United Nations, and five EU state have refused to recognise its statehood.

UN women’s rights group:

• United Nations member states removed Iran from UN women’s rights group on 15 December 2022. The government of Iran is an Islamic theocracy that includes some elements of a presidential system.
• The resolution was proposed by the US to “remove with immediate effect the Islamic Republic of Iran from the Commission on the Status of Women for the remainder of its 2022-2026 term.
• A UN report released in March 2021 described Iranian women and girls as treated like second class citizens. Iran is a country in Western Asia. Capital: Tehran. President: Ebrahim Raisi. Official language: Persian.

‘Ex- Surya Kiran’:

• The 16th edition of Indo-Nepal joint training exercise ‘Ex- Surya Kiran’ will be conducted at Nepal Army Battle School, Saljhandi, Nepal from 16 December 2022. It aims to enhance interoperability in jungle warfare & counter terrorism operations in mountainous terrain.
• It was first started in 2011. The 15th edition of Surya Kiran had taken place on September 20, 2021, in Pithoragarh, Uttarakhand.