Current Affairs in English – November 12 2022

November 12, 2022

National Events:

(ONGC) U-field:

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 12 November 2022 laid foundation stones for seven development projects worth Rs 10,742 crore.
• He dedicated to nation, U – field onshore deep water block project of Oil and Natural Gas Commission (ONGC) developed at a cost of Rs 2,917 cr.
• He laid the foundation stone of Srikakulam Angul Natural Gas Pipeline Project of GAIL with a capacity of around 6.65 MMSCMD.

Acharya Kripalani’s birth anniversary: 11th November:

• On 11th Nov 2022, the country observed the birth anniversary of freedom fighter Acharya Kripalani. His original name was Jivatram Bhagwandas Kripalani but was popularly known as Acharya Kripalani.
• He participated in movements like Non – Cooperation Movement, Quit India Movement & Salt Satyagraha. He was the president of the Indian National Congress when India gained independence in 1947.

Nitin Gadkari:

• Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari has announced new projects of 1.6 lakh crores rupees in North – East.
• These projects include Roads, Ropeways, and major Bridges across the river Brahmaputra and other water bodies.
• Northeast states: Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura and Sikkim. Guwahati is called the Gateway to the North East.

Sri Nadaprabhu Kempegowda:

• PM Modi on 11th Nov 2022 unveiled a 108 – feet tall bronze statue of Sri Nadaprabhu Kempegowda in Bengaluru.
• The ‘ Statue of Prosperity ‘ has been built to commemorate the contribution of Nadaprabhu Kempegowda, the founder of Bengaluru.
• It has been conceptualised & sculpted by Ram V Sutar, sculptor of Statue of Unity. 98 tonnes of bronze & 120 tonnes of steel have gone into making this statue.

Moody’s:

• Moody’s on 11th Nov slashed India’s GDP growth projection for 2022 to 7 %.
• This is the second time in as many months that Moody’s Investors Service has cut India’s growth estimates for 2022.
• In September , it had cut projection for the year 2022 to 7.7 % from 8.8 % pegged in May. The Asian Development Bank too has cut its projection to 7 %, from 7.5 % earlier.

Public Service Broadcasting Day: 12 November:

• Public Service Broadcasting Day was observed on 12 November 2022. The day is celebrated every year to commemorate the only visit of Mahatma Gandhi to the studio of All India Radio, Delhi in 1947.
• The Father of the Nation addressed the displaced people, who had temporarily settled at Kurukshetra in Haryana after partition.

RFCL:

• PM Narendra Modi dedicated Ramagundam Fertilizers and Chemicals Limited ( RFCL ) to the nation on 12 November 2022.
• After two decades of the closure of the FCI plant, the revived RFCL has been developed as one of the major fertilizers plants in the country.
• Besides, he also inaugurated the new railway line, Bhadrachalam Road – Sattupalli , completed at a cost of about 1000 crore rupees.

South India’s first Vande Bharat Express:

• PM Modi flagged off two much – awaited trains from Krantiveera Sangolli Rayanna Railway Station in Bengaluru on Nov 11 – south India’s first Vande Bharat Express between Mysuru & Chennai & Bharat Gaurav Kashi Darshan train.
• The Vande Bharat Express is part of the 75 such trains expected to be running all across India by the end of 2023. Vande Bharat has a maximum commercial speed of 160 km / h.

Madhu Kankariya and Dr Madhav Hada:

• Noted writers Madhu Kankariya and Dr Madhav Hada have been awarded the 31st and 32nd Bihari Puraskar, respectively.
• Kankariya has been awarded for her 2018 novel ‘ Hum Yahan The ‘ while Hada has been awarded for his 2015 book ‘ Pachrang Chola Pahar Sakhi Ri ‘.
• Bihari Puraskar is given every year for an outstanding work published in the last 10 years in Hindi or Rajasthani. Instituted in: 1991.

First hydrogen fuel cell catamaran:

• Cochin Shipyard has signed an MoU with Inland Waterways Authority of India to build the country’s first hydrogen fuel cell catamaran vessel for Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh.
• It will have a seating capacity for 100 passengers.
• The Shipyard also signed another MoU for the construction of six electric catamaran vessels for Uttar Pradesh and two such vessels for Guwahati.

Jharkhand assembly:

• The Jharkhand assembly, on 11 Nov 2022, cleared 2 bills, one fixing 1932 land records determining people’s domicile status & another increasing reservation to 77 % from 60 %.
• As per the 2nd bill, the reservation of the ST would go up to 28 % (from 26 %), OBC would get 27 % (from 14 %) and 12 % for the SC (from 10 %). The government has decided to get these two bills in the Ninth Schedule of Constitution.

Tamil Nadu Events:

India’s first multi – modal logistics park:

• Union Road Transport Ministry has awarded the contract of setting up India’s first multi – modal logistics park (MMLP) at Mappedu in Thiruvallur district of Tamil Nadu to Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL).
• The estimated project cost is 1,424 cr & it will be developed in an area of 184.27 acres. MMLP is a key policy initiative of the Government to improve the country’s freight logistics sector.

Wildlife sanctuary:

• The Tamil Nadu government has notified the Cauvery South Wildlife Sanctuary on 68,640 hectares as the state’s 17th wildlife sanctuary.
• The sanctuary, covering reserve forest areas in Krishnagiri and Dharmapuri districts, is home to 35 species of mammals & 238 species of birds.
• Earlier, the government had notified Kazhuveli Bird Sanctuary in Villupuram and Cuddalore districts.

International Events:

Venki Ramakrishnan:

• Nobel laureate Professor Venki Ramakrishnan has been awarded the prestigious Order of Merit by Britain’s King Charles III in recognition of his distinguished service to science.
• He received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2009 for his work on ribosomal structure and was knighted by the Queen in 2012.
• The Order of Merit is an exclusive mark of honour conferred by the British sovereign.

India & Cambodia:

• Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen exchanged 4 MoUs signed in areas of culture, wildlife and health.
• These included one in the field of health and medicine between the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare of India and Ministry of Health, Cambodia.
• The second MoU was signed regarding reintroduction of tigers in Cambodia.

Countering Financing of Terrorism – No Money for Terror:

• Home Ministry will organise the third Ministerial Conference on Countering Financing of Terrorism – No Money for Terror.
• It will be held in New Delhi on 18 November 2022. The two – day conference aims to progress the discussions on combating terrorist financing held by the international community in the previous two Conferences in Paris and Melbourne.

United States Department of Treasury:

• The United States Department of Treasury has removed India from its Currency Monitoring List. Along with India, the United States also removed Italy, Mexico, Thailand and Vietnam from the list.
• China, Japan, Korea, Germany, Malaysia, Singapore, and Taiwan are a part of it. The countries that have been removed from the list have met only one out of three criteria for two consecutive reports.

World Pneumonia Day: 12th November:

• World Pneumonia Day is observed every year on 12 Nov to raise awareness about Pneumonia disease. Any infection causing an inflammatory response in the lung is referred to as pneumonia.
• It is responsible for the majority of death of children below 5 around the world. This day was first observed in 2009 by Global Coalition against Child Pneumonia. 2022 Theme: ‘ Pneumonia Affects Everyone ‘.

Sports Events:

Virat Kohli:

• Virat Kohli becomes the first to score 4000 T20I runs. He was also the first to breach the 3000 run mark in the shortest format for India.
• Star Indian batter Suryakumar Yadav on 6th Nov 2022 became the first Indian player to score 1,000 T20 International runs in a calendar year.
• Virat Kohli becomes 1st player to register a hat – trick in the history to mark the continuous three Half Century.

ICC:

• The ICC board has unanimously re – elected Greg Barclay as the Independent Chair of the International Cricket Council (ICC) for a second two – year term.
• Barclay was originally appointed as the ICC Chair in November 2020. He was previously the Chair of New Zealand Cricket (NZC) and was a director of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2015.

Neeraj Chopra:

• Switzerland Tourism has appointed Olympic gold medalist Neeraj Chopra as its ‘ Friendship Ambassador ‘ to showcase and promote locations in the country to Indian travellers.
• Chopra had also donated his gold – winning javelin to The Olympic Museum in Lausanne, Switzerland, in September 2022.
• Mary Kom’s gloves as well as Dhyan Chand’s hockey are a part of the exhibits at the museum.