Current Affairs in English – January 3 2023

National Events:

GST:

Goods and Service Tax (GST) collections for the month of December stood at over Rs 1.49 lakh crore, 15 % higher than the year-ago period.
In November, the collections were at nearly Rs 1.46 lakh crore, up 11 per cent from the year-ago period.
The collections had touched a record high of nearly Rs 1.68 lakh crore in April. The second – highest collection was Rs 1.52 lakh crore in October.

Coffee shipments:

Coffee shipments from India, Asia’s third-largest producer and exporter, rose 1.66 per cent to 4 lakh tonne in 2022 on rise in instant coffee exports and re-exports, according to the Coffee Board.
Exports stood at 3.93 lakh tonne in 2021.India ships both Robusta and Arabica varieties, besides instant coffee. Italy, Germany and Russia are the major export destinations for the Indian coffee.

‘Mission 929’:

Election Commission of India (ECI) has started ‘Mission 929’ in Tripura. It will focus on 929 polling booths across Tripura with a target to increase the voter turnout to 92 % in the next assembly elections.
These booths recorded a voter turnout of less than 89 % in the 2018 assembly polls. Except for these booths almost all the booths in the state recorded a voter turnout of 91 % or more.

DRDO:

DRDO celebrated its 65th foundation day on 1st January 2023. It was set up in 1958. Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) is a premier defence research and development agency under the Ministry of Defence.
Since inception, DRDO has made several breakthroughs in developing critical technologies. DRDO’s first project for the Indian military was surface-to-air missiles-Project Indigo. Headquarters-New Delhi. Chairman-Samir V Kamat.

Indian Library Congress:

Kerala CM inaugurates Indian Library Congress in Kannur, Kerala. The Indian Library Congress was organized by the People’s Mission for Social Development and Library Council from 1-3 January 2023.
Representatives from various states and foreign countries are participating. Earlier in December 2022, CM Pinarayi Vijayan announced that his constituency Dharmadam has become the first complete library constituency in India.

Himachal Pradesh government:

Himachal Pradesh government launches CM’s Sukhashray Sahayata Kosh. Himachal government announced to set up Rs 101 crore CM’s Sukhashraya Sahayata Kosh for the destitutes in the state.
All the Ministers and Congress MLA will contribute their first salary to the fund. The scheme will aim to provide the facility of higher education to needy children and destitute women. The state will bear the expenditure on skill development and education of such children.

Systemically Important Banks:

RBI tags SBI, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank as Systemically Important Banks. State Bank of India (SBI) and privately owned ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank continue to be Domestic Systemically Important Banks (D-SIB).
D-SIBS are institutions that are too big to fail. In 2015 and 2016, RBI had classified SBI and ICICI Bank as D-SIBs. Further, based on data collected from banks as on March 31, 2017, HDFC Bank was also classified as a D – SIB, along with SBI and ICICI Bank.

Odisha:

Odisha became the ever Indian state to have a separate registration process for vintage vehicles (both two and four wheelers).
A separate provision under Central Motor Vehicles (CMV) Rules, 1989 was made by the ministry of road transport and highways for this purpose.
Under the CMV, 50 years old vehicles from the date of their first registration would be defined as vintage motor vehicles.

‘SMART’:

Ministry of Ayush has launched ‘SMART’ (Scope for Mainstreaming Ayurveda Research in Teaching Professionals) program. It aims to boost scientific research in priority healthcare research areas through Ayurveda colleges and hospitals.
The proposed initiative is conceptualised with an objective to identify, support and promote innovative research ideas in healthcare research areas.

IVF:

Gujarat’s Amreli, India received its first In vitro fertilization (IVF) mobile device on January 1, 2023. Purushottam Rupala, union minister, launched the mobile IVF lab.
IVF is a complicated sequence of operations used to aid with fertility and child conception. It is a sophisticated reproductive technique used in animals to multiply better female germplasm at a faster pace.

Punjab and Sind Bank:

Public sector bank Punjab and Sind Bank (PSB) has partnered with SBI Card to launch co-brand credit cards for the bank’s customers.
PSB has also entered the credit card market as a new product segment in its portfolio as a result of this collaboration.
Three card variants-the PSB SBI Card ELITE, PSB SBI Card PRIME, and PSB SimplySAVE SBI Card-have been launched by both partners.

Carbon-neutral:

Railway Ministry has outlined a five-pronged plan to become carbon-neutral by 2030. The plan aims to reduce energy consumption through efficient operations and increase the use of renewable energy.
Components of the plan are installation of rooftop solar panels on all railway establishments, Sustainable Buildings, Energy Efficiency in Equipment and Appliances and Power Quality and Restoration.

International Events:

India & Austria:

India has signed a Comprehensive Migration and Mobility Partnership Agreement with Austria.
It has similar agreements with France, UK, Germany, and Finland.
India aims to finalise these agreements with European countries as a stepping stone to resolving issues over the long pending India-European Union Free Trade Agreement and facilitating Indian professionals working in these countries.

Sports Events:

BCCI:

BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) introduces new selection criteria for Team India. The new rule made Yo-Yo test (maximal aerobic endurance fitness test) mandatory for players to be selected for the national team.
Players must also take a ‘DEXA’ before being selected. Emerging players have to play enough domestic seasons to be eligible for selection in the national team.
The Yo-Yo test is an aerobic endurance fitness test. DEXA is a bone density test.