Current Affairs in English – December 27 2022

December 27, 2022

National Events:

Sports Science Centre:

• Union Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports, Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur inaugurated the Sports Science Centre in Udupi on 24 December 2022. It has been set up by the government of Karnataka.
• The state government has set up two such centers at Udupi and Bengaluru. These centers will conduct research on diets and rehabilitation measures for sportspersons.

“Civil Military Integration: The Way Forward”:

• Centre for Land Warfare Studies (CLAWS), an independent think tank, conducted a two-day Seminar on the theme of “Civil Military Integration: The Way Forward”, at New Delhi.
• General Anil Chauhan, CDS and General Manoj Pandey, COAS addressed the event. It is being held to discuss the role of the military and bureaucracy in adopting a whole nation approach to deal with security challenges.

5G:

• Reliance Jio has launched its 5G services in Andhra Pradesh with an investment of Rs 6,500 crore, starting with the cities of Tirumala, Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada and Guntur.
• Andhra IT minister G.Amarnath launched the Jio 5G services on 26 Dec 2022. Since the launch of 5G services on October 1, the telecom operators have expanded their 5G coverage in 50 Indian cities (till December 7).

Power Ministry & DRDO:

• Power Ministry and the Defence Research and Development Organisation, DRDO, have signed an MoU for implementation of Early Warning System for Vulnerable Hydro Projects and Power Stations on 27 December 2022.
• It is to work jointly towards developing suitable mitigation measures against avalanches, landslides, and other geo-hazards. Government has taken the initiative of implementing EWS in Hilly regions.

“Dance to Decarbonize”:

• The Petroleum and Natural Gas ministry has organised a one-day event the “Dance to Decarbonize” to produce renewable energy on 23 December 2022. The renewable energy produced by dance will be utilized to charge electric vehicles.
• Through the use of dance and music, the event hopes to increase participation in the sustainability topic. India has set a goal of attaining net-zero emissions by 2070.

Ranking system for MSME borrowers:

• Credit information company Trans Union Cibil launched a ranking system for MSME borrowers on 26 December 2022.
• The ‘FIT Rank’ launched by Trans Union Cibil in association with Online PSB Loans, will rate the over 6 crores MSMEs by drawing inputs from their current accounts.
• It will score between 1-10 to rate a borrower after taking consent to draw the relevant data.

“Physical and functional access”:

• Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud has constituted a committee headed by SC judge Justice S Ravindra Bhat to conduct an audit of “physical and functional access” of the Supreme Court premises in December 2022.
• It 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.

SBIFML:

• SBI Funds Management Limited (SBIFML) has announced the appointment of Shamsher Singh as its new MD & CEO in December 2022. SBIFML is a joint venture between State Bank of India and Amundi, Europe’s largest asset manager.
• He has more than 32 years of rich experience working with State Bank of India in various verticals He joined State Bank of India as Probationary Officer in June 1990.

Anil Kumar Lahoti:

• Anil Kumar Lahoti has been appointed as the Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Railway Board on 26th December 2022. He was a former general manager of Central Railway. He was appointed as a member of the board in December 2022.
• He will take over the chairmanship from Vinay Kumar Tripathi on January 1, 2023. He is a 1984 batch Indian Railway Service of Engineers (IRSE) officer.

Garuda Aerospace:

• Garuda Aerospace has become the first drone startup in India on 25 December 2022 to receive ‘Type Certification’ and ‘Remote Pilot Training Organisation’ (RTPO) approval by the DGCA for its indigenously designed Kisan drone.
• Kisan Drone has been designed keeping in mind the works related to agriculture. India introduced type certification in August 2021 under the Drone Rules.

Maharashtra:

• Maharashtra passes unanimous resolution to include Belagavi areas. Belagavi region is one of the oldest and well cultured historical places in the Western Ghats. Its early name, Venugrama, was derived from bamboo characteristic the region.
• In 1956, It was incorporated into Karnataka state with the passage of the States Reorganization Act. As per the 2011 census, 68.40 % speak Kannada, 18.70 % Marathi, and 9.79 % Urdu as their first language.

‘Ekalabya Puraskar’:

• The ‘Ekalabya Puraskar’ for the year 2022 was presented to cyclist Swasti Singh on 24 December 2022. This award is given every year to encourage young sporting talents.
• Football player Pyari Xaxa and Hockey player Shilanda Lakra were also honored at the event. Billiards and snooker world champion Pankaj Advani was the chief guest while Pranati Mishra was the guest of honor at the event.

RuPay credit cards:

• The State Bank of India (SBI), ICICI Bank and Axis Bank have announced to issue RuPay credit cards on Unified Payment Interface (UPI) by March 2023.
• At present Union Bank of India, Punjab National Bank, Indian Bank and HDFC bank have gone live on the RuPay credit card segment on the UPI platform. In June 2022, the Reserve Bank of India allowed linking of credit cards to UPI.

An artificial heart:

• Researchers at IIT Kanpur have developed an artificial heart, which will prove to be helpful for people suffering from cardiac problems. After success in the trial, transplantation can be done in humans in the next two years.
• Artificial heart is being developed to reduce the sufferings of the patients. India imports 80 percent of equipment and implants from abroad.

Pralay:

• Indian Army to deploy Pralay missiles along China, Pakistan borders The Union Defence ministry approved a proposal on 25 December 2022 to buy around 120 ‘Pralay’ ballistic missiles to be deployed along the China, and Pakistan borders.
• The missile will be inducted first into the Indian Air Force and then into the Indian Army. It is a surface to-surface short range ballistic missile developed by the DRDO for battlefield use. It has a range of 150 to 500 km.

NIRMAN Accelerator Program:

• The Ministry of Science and Technology has announced that fifteen Startups selected for product accelerator program for innovators developing sustainable solutions in December 2022.
• Startup Incubation and Innovation Centre (SIIC) launched the NIRMAN Accelerator Program. It is the first cohort of the manufacturing accelerator program launched by IIT Kanpur.

CEBR:

• UK based Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) predicted in December 2022 that India will become the third – largest economy by 2037. Its annual report titled ‘World Economic League Table’ tracks macroeconomic developments globally.
• It expects the Indian economy to grow by 6.8 % in 2022-23. In the next 5 years, India’s annual economic growth is expected to average 6.4 %.

Dharmadam:

• The Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s constituency Dharmadam has become the first complete library constituency in India in December 2022.
• Kerala which was the first state to achieve 100 % literacy status in India is also the only state in India that has a library in every village. Puthuvayil Narayana Panicker of Kerala is known as the Father of the Library Movement in India.

‘Eat Right Campus’:

• The Food Safety and Standard Authority of India (FSSAI) awarded the Bulandshahr prison of Uttar Pradesh a five star rating and the tag ‘Eat Right Campus’ on 25 December 2022.
• Bulandshahr Jail is the second prison after Farrukhabad jail to get this tag from Uttar Pradesh. The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has been set up under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006.

Statue of Atal Bihari Vajpayee:

• The Madhya Pradesh government announced to build a huge statue of former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and a research center as part of his grand memorial in Gwalior.
• The government has allotted nearly 4,050 hectares of land to build a memorial of Vajpayee. It was announced during the ‘Gwalior Gaurav Diwas’ function to mark the 98th birth anniversary of Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

International Events:

New method for freezing and storing coral larvae:

• Scientists working on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef successfully tested a new method for freezing and storing coral larvae on 25 December 2022.
• Cryogenically frozen coral can be stored and later reintroduced into the wild but the process requires sophisticated equipment including lasers.
• A new lightweight “Cryomesh” could be manufactured more cheaply and better protect corals.

‘Bomb Cyclone’:

• Joe Biden declares emergency in New York due to ‘Bomb Cyclone’. A bomb cyclone, or bombogenesis, is a quickly intensifying storm that occurs when air pressure drops 20 millibars or more within 24 hours.
• It is formed when frigid Arctic air from the polar vortex met very warm air to the east. It can produce winds of 120 to 155 km / h.

Taste Atlas Awards:

• According to Taste Atlas Awards announced in December 2022, India ranks fifth on the list of best cuisines in the world for 2022. While the top spot has been secured by Italy, Greece is a close second, followed by Spain and Japan.
• However, among the world’s best ‘traditional’ dishes, Shahi Paneer from India made it under the top 50 ranking at the 28th spot.