01st-02nd January, 2023

1. A new British Indian Army Memorial, commemorating the sacrifice of millions of Indian soldiers who fought for the British during the two World Wars, is set to be built in the Scottish city of Glasgow.
2. Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi flagged off the 7th Vande Bharat Express, connecting Howrah to New Jalpaiguri at the Howrah Railway Station.
3. Union Minister of Home and Cooperation, Shri Amit Shah addressed the ‘Cooperative Beneficiaries Conference’ in Bengaluru, Karnataka.
4. The Minister of State for Electronics & Information Technology and Skill Development & Entrepreneurship, Shri Rajeev Chandrasekhar has announced that the Government of India is going to launch a Digital India Innovation Fund that will support Deep-tech Start-ups.
5. Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) has released the “Road accidents in India- 2021”.
6. Ministry of Railways has launched a new policy “Amrit Bharat Station” scheme for modernization of railway stations.
7. Union Minister Shri Anurag Thakur has released the Official Government of India Calendar for the year 2023.
8. India will assume the chairmanship of the plenary of the Wassenaar Arrangement for 1 year during the 26th annual plenary of the Wassenaar Arrangement held in Vienna, Austria.
9. Ministry of Railways has released a five-pronged plan to become carbon-neutral by 2030 to reduce energy consumption through efficient operations and increase the use of renewable energy.
10. Assam State Cabinet led by CM Himanta Biswa Sarma has given industry status to the tourism sector in the state.
11. A tripartite agreement was signed by the Indian Government, Manipur Government and an insurgent group called Zeliangrong United Front (ZUF).
12. The 14-km-long Angul-Balram rail link, constructed at a cost of Rs 3 billion, has been inaugurated in Odisha.
13. Delhi government has approved its draft Solar Policy 2022, which aims to increase installed solar capacity target 6,000 MW by 2025.
14. Meghalaya commemorated the 160th death anniversary of U Kiang Nagbah on December 30, 2022.
15. Election Commission of India (ECI) has commenced the process of delimitation of state assembly and parliamentary constituencies of Assam.
16. Union Home and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah inaugurated Mega Dairy at Mandya in Karnataka.
17. According to the provisional data by the Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics (DGCI&S), the exports of agricultural and processed food products increased by 16% in the eight months (April-November) of the current Financial Year 2022-23 in comparison to the corresponding period of FY 2021-22.
18. Indian Army has received a 3D Printed House Dwelling Unit, which is a disaster-resilient structure that complies with Zone-3 earthquake specifications and green building norms, in Ahmedabad Cantt.
19. According to Save the Children’s Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) data, Afghanistan has the highest number of people facing severe levels of hunger.
20. United Arab Emirates and Iran have started their annual military drill in the coastal area of the Gulf of Oman and near the strategic Strait of Hormuz.
21. A new species of bush tomato, named as Garrarnawun bush tomato (Solanum scalarium), has been discovered in Australia.
22. Tata AIA Life Insurance has launched the Emerging Opportunity Fund, which will invest in mid-cap companies and emerging market leaders.
23. IDBI Mutual Fund has signed an agreement with LIC Mutual Fund to transfer its schemes to the latter.
24. Asian Development Bank (ADB) has sanctioned a long-term funding of $100 million to Shriram Finance Ltd to provide credit towards the purchase of new and used vehicles throughout India.
25. Punjab & Sind Bank (PSB), a public sector bank, has partnered with SBI Card, the country’s largest pure-play credit card issuer, to launch co-brand credit cards for the bank’s customers.
26. RBI has released its ‘Trends and Progress of Banking in India 2021-22’ report.
27. RBI has also released the “Financial Stability Report for December 2022”.
28. Tata Motors’ arm Tata Passenger Electric Mobility Ltd (TPEML) would acquire Ford India Pvt Ltd’s (FIPL) Sanand Plant in Gujarat for Rs 725.7 crore.
29. SEBI has announced to make the Investor Risk Reduction Access (IRRA) platform effective from October 1, 2023.
30. Eicher Motors Ltd, parent company of Royal Enfield, has announced a strategic collaboration with Spain-based Stark Future SL to expand in the space of electric vehicles.
31. India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI) processed a record 82 billion transactions in December 2022, worth a total of Rs 12.82 trillion ($174.6bn).
32. RBI has released the Utkarsh 2.0 – Medium-Term Strategy Framework (2023-25). Utkarsh 1.0 was launched in 2019.
33. Lieutenant General Arvind Walia has been appointed as the next Engineer-in-Chief of the Indian Army.
34. January 1 – Birth Anniversary of Indian physicist Satyendra Nath Bose (known for his work on quantum mechanics)
35. State-owned Bank of Baroda has bagged an EAG Laureate award in the International Olympiad of Financial Security held at Sochi, Russia.
36. Tamil Nadu’s 16-year-old L. Dhanush bagged a gold medal in the youth men’s 49Kg section of the National (junior, youth & senior) weightlifting championships at the Ponjesly College of Engineering in Tamil Nadu.
37. Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo has joined Saudi Arabian club Al Nassr for 2.5 years.
38. Hockey Haryana’s women’s team won the Khelo India Youth Games 2022 Women’s Under 18 Qualifiers after defeating Madhya Pradesh (2-0) in the final at Bhubaneswar.
39. Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has mandated the Dexa Bone density test for Indian players to be selected for the national team.
40. “The World: A Family History” book has been authored by Manu S. Pillai.
41. An unprecedented bomb cyclone has hit the US and Canada, affecting over millions of people in the region.
42. Confuciusornis Shifan is a 119-million-year-old beaked bird, whose fossils were discovered recently in China.

National News

1. A new British Indian Army Memorial, commemorating the sacrifice of millions of Indian soldiers who fought for the British during the two World Wars, is set to be built in the Scottish city of Glasgow.
   • The memorial is visualised as Scotland’s first permanent memorial wall to recognise the service and sacrifice of the British Indian Army during the world wars.
2. Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi flagged off the 7th Vande Bharat Express, connecting Howrah to New Jalpaiguri at the Howrah Railway Station.
   • List of Vande Bharat Express –
     • New Delhi-Varanasi
     • New Delhi- Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra
     • New Delhi- Amb Andaura (Himachal Pradesh)
     • Mumbai-Gandhinagar
     • Chennai-Mysuru
     • Bilaspur-Nagpur
     • Howrah- New Jalpaiguri
3. Union Minister of Home and Cooperation, Shri Amit Shah addressed the ‘Cooperative Beneficiaries Conference’ in Bengaluru, Karnataka.
4. The Minister of State for Electronics & Information Technology and Skill Development & Entrepreneurship, Shri Rajeev Chandrasekhar has announced that the Government of India is going to launch a Digital India Innovation Fund that will support Deep-tech Start-ups.
   • It was announced by the Minister during the New India for Young India: Techade of Opportunities program at the Catholic Bishop House Campus, Thamarassery, Kerala.
5. Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) has released the “Road accidents in India- 2021”.
   • The total number of road accidents in 2021 across India stood at 4,12,432. Of these, 1,53,972 people lost their lives and 3,84,448 people faced injuries.
   • Over 19,400 road accidents reported due to loss of control by the driver in 2021. The main reasons for the mishap included high speed and distraction or misjudgement of a turn by the driver.

6. Ministry of Railways has launched a new policy “Amrit Bharat Station” scheme for modernization of railway stations.
   • Objective: To prepare Master Plans of the Railway stations and implement Master Plan in phases to enhance the facilities including and beyond Minimum Essential Amenities.
   • Coverage: It envisages infrastructural development of more than 1,000 stations.
   • Implementation: It will be implemented as per needs and patronage of the railway stations.
7. Union Minister Shri Anurag Thakur has released the Official Government of India Calendar for the year 2023.
   • 12 themes for the 12 months have been identified for the calendar, which reinforce the idea of Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas.
   • The underlying theme of the 2023 calendar is ‘Naya Varsh, Naye Sankalp’ to showcase the commitment of the government.

8. India will assume the chairmanship of the plenary of the Wassenaar Arrangement for 1 year during the 26th annual plenary of the Wassenaar Arrangement held in Vienna, Austria.
   • Ireland’s ambassador Eoin O’Leary handed over the chairmanship to India’s ambassador Jaideep Mazumdar, who is the permanent representative to the UN and international organisations in Vienna.
   • India joined the Wassenaar Arrangement in 2017 as its 42nd participating state.

9. Ministry of Railways has released a five-pronged plan to become carbon-neutral by 2030 to reduce energy consumption through efficient operations and increase the use of renewable energy.
   • The plan aims to ensure that buildings are compliant with the Shunya standards of net-zero emissions set by the Bureau of Energy Efficiency.

State News

1. Assam State Cabinet led by CM Himanta Biswa Sarma has given industry status to the tourism sector in the state.
2. A tripartite agreement was signed by the Indian Government, Manipur Government and an insurgent group called Zeliangrong United Front (ZUF).
   • The Zeliangrong United Front is an insurgent group, which was established in 2011. The group claims to safeguard the interests of Zeliangrong Naga tribes in Manipur, Assam and Nagaland.
   • They want to create a ‘Zeliangrong’ state within the Indian territory, covering the Zeliangrong Naga tribe’s area in the three north-eastern states.
3. The 14-km-long Angul-Balram rail link, constructed at a cost of Rs 3 billion, has been inaugurated in Odisha.
   • The Angul-Balram rail link was constructed by the Mahanadi Coal Railway Limited (MCRL).
4. Delhi government has approved its draft Solar Policy 2022, which aims to increase installed solar capacity target 6,000 MW by 2025.
   • This will increase the share of solar energy in Delhi’s electricity demand from the current 9% to 25% in 3 years – the highest in India.
5. Meghalaya commemorated the 160th death anniversary of U Kiang Nagbah on December 30, 2022.
   • U Kiang Nangbah was a freedom fighter who led the Jaintias’ rebellion against the British colonial government.
   • Kiang Nangbah belonged to the Jaintia tribal ethnic community.

6. Election Commission of India (ECI) has commenced the process of delimitation of state assembly and parliamentary constituencies of Assam.
   • The last delimitation in Assam happened in 1976. The current delimitation exercise is being conducted based on the 1971 Census.

Agriculture and Rural Development

1. Union Home and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah inaugurated Mega Dairy at Mandya in Karnataka.
   • The mega dairy was developed at a cost of Rs 260 crore to process 10 lakh litre of milk per day and increase it up to 14 lakh litre per day.
   • Nandini (a brand of Karnataka Milk Federation (KMF), which is a government-run cooperative) and Amul Cooperative will work together for establishing primary dairies in every village of Karnataka in next three years.
   • The National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) and the Ministry of Cooperation will establish a primary dairy in every panchayat of the country in the next three years.
2. According to the provisional data by the Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics (DGCI&S), the exports of agricultural and processed food products increased by 16% in the eight months (April-November) of the current Financial Year 2022-23 in comparison to the corresponding period of FY 2021-22.
   • The overall export of Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) products increased to USD 17.43 billion during April-November 2022 from USD 15.07 billion over the same period of the last fiscal.
   • For the year 2022-23, an export target of USD 23.56 billion has been fixed for the agricultural and processed food products basket.

Defence News

1. Indian Army has received a 3D Printed House Dwelling Unit, which is a disaster-resilient structure that complies with Zone-3 earthquake specifications and green building norms, in Ahmedabad Cantt.
   • It has been constructed by the Military Engineering Services (MES) in collaboration with MiCoB Pvt Ltd incorporating the latest 3D Rapid Construction Technology.

International News

1. According to Save the Children’s Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) data, Afghanistan has the highest number of people facing severe levels of hunger.
   • The number of people facing hunger increased to 6.6 million in 2022 from 2.5 million in 2019.
   • Yemen has the second largest number of people experiencing emergency levels of food insecurity, including acute malnutrition, with this number increasing from 3.6 million to 6 million, an increase of 66% in the past two years.
   • Afghanistan, Central African Republic, DRC, Haiti, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, and Yemen had the highest numbers of people facing emergency and catastrophic levels of hunger and malnutrition, between 2019 and 2022.
   • The IPC classifies food insecurity levels from 1 to 5, with IPC4 and IPC5 indicating emergency and catastrophic levels of hunger and even in some areas famine-like conditions.
2. United Arab Emirates and Iran have started their annual military drill in the coastal area of the Gulf of Oman and near the strategic Strait of Hormuz.

3. A new species of bush tomato, named as Garrarnawun bush tomato (Solanum scalarium), has been discovered in Australia.
   • It belongs to Genus Solanum. This genus includes 3 food crops – potato, tomato and eggplant (brinjal) – having high economic value.

Banking and Economy

1. Tata AIA Life Insurance has launched the Emerging Opportunity Fund, which will invest in mid-cap companies and emerging market leaders.
   • The applications for ULIP (Unit Linked Insurance Plan) plans with New Fund Offering (NFO) window will remain open till 31 December.
   • In addition, the Fund will also be attached to Tata AIA’s Param Rakshak Solutions. This offers consumers the unique opportunity to benefit from the long-term growth potential of equity while securing their loved ones with the protection of a life insurance cover.
2. IDBI Mutual Fund has signed an agreement with LIC Mutual Fund to transfer its schemes to the latter.
3. Asian Development Bank (ADB) has sanctioned a long-term funding of $100 million to Shriram Finance Ltd to provide credit towards the purchase of new and used vehicles throughout India.
   • The External Commercial Borrowing (ECB) is a 5-year loan and is under SFL’s Social Finance framework.
   • Besides the ADB loan, SFL has also successfully raised $250 million from US Development Finance Corporation
4. Punjab & Sind Bank (PSB), a public sector bank, has partnered with SBI Card, the country’s largest pure-play credit card issuer, to launch co-brand credit cards for the bank’s customers.

5. RBI has released its ‘Trends and Progress of Banking in India 2021-22’ report.
   • As per the report, the non-performing assets (NPAs) recovered by scheduled commercial banks (SCBs) improved to 18.4% of the amount involved in FY22 against 14% in FY21.
   • SCBs recovered ₹89,661 crore via multiple channels — Lok Adalats, Debt Recovery Tribunals (total 39 DRTs), Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest (SARFAESI) Act of 2002, and Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), 2016 — in FY22 against ₹4,87,062 crore involved.
6. RBI has also released the “Financial Stability Report for December 2022”.
   • Banks’ asset quality has shown significant improvement in the first half ending September 30, 2022 period for FY23.
   • As per the FSR, banks gross NPA continued to decline and stood at a seven-year low of 5% in September 2022.
   • The net NPA stood at a ten-year low of 1.3% under which private bankers’ net NPA was below 1%.
7. Tata Motors’ arm Tata Passenger Electric Mobility Ltd (TPEML) would acquire Ford India Pvt Ltd’s (FIPL) Sanand Plant in Gujarat for Rs 725.7 crore.
8. SEBI has announced to make the Investor Risk Reduction Access (IRRA) platform effective from October 1, 2023.
   • The platform aims to help investors in case there is a disruption of services caused by systems belonging to trading members.
   • The IRRA service would support multiple segments across multiple exchanges.
   • Once IRRA service is authorised, the investors concerned can square off/close the open positions across segments and exchange/s and/or cancel the orders across segments, which are pending at the exchange/s, in case of any disruption.
9. Eicher Motors Ltd, parent company of Royal Enfield, has announced a strategic collaboration with Spain-based Stark Future SL to expand in the space of electric vehicles.
10. India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI) processed a record 82 billion transactions in December 2022, worth a total of Rs 12.82 trillion ($174.6bn).
11. RBI has released the Utkarsh 2.0 – Medium-Term Strategy Framework (2023-25). Utkarsh 1.0 was launched in 2019.
    • Structure of the Utkarsh 2.0 policy –

• Number of strategies under each vision –

Appointments

1. Lieutenant General Arvind Walia has been appointed as the next Engineer-in-Chief of the Indian Army.

Important Days

1. January 1 – Birth Anniversary of Indian physicist Satyendra Nath Bose (known for his work on quantum mechanics)
   • February 4 – Death Anniversary of Indian physicist Satyendra Nath Bose

Awards

1. State-owned Bank of Baroda has bagged an EAG Laureate award in the International Olympiad of Financial Security held at Sochi, Russia.
   • The Eurasian Group on Combating Money Laundering and Terrorism (EAG) is a FATF-type regional organization which comprises of 9 members including India.
   • It is the second largest public sector bank in India after State Bank of India (SBI).

Sports

1. Tamil Nadu’s 16-year-old Dhanush bagged a gold medal in the youth men’s 49Kg section of the National (junior, youth & senior) weightlifting championships at the Ponjesly College of Engineering in Tamil Nadu.
2. Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo has joined Saudi Arabian club Al Nassr for 2.5 years.
3. Hockey Haryana’s women’s team won the Khelo India Youth Games 2022 Women’s Under 18 Qualifiers after defeating Madhya Pradesh (2-0) in the final at Bhubaneswar.
4. Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has mandated the Dexa Bone density test for Indian players to be selected for the national team.
   • The Yo-Yo Test is mandatory for the team’s preparation for the India ICC ODI World Cup 2023.
   • DEXA, or dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry, is a method of determining bone mineral density using spectral imaging.
   • The Yo-Yo test is a fitness test that is used to measure a person’s endurance. It involves running back and forth between two cones placed 20 meters apart.

Miscellaneous

1. “The World: A Family History” book has been authored by Manu S. Pillai.
2. An unprecedented bomb cyclone has hit the US and Canada, affecting over millions of people in the region.
3. Confuciusornis Shifan is a 119-million-year-old beaked bird, whose fossils were discovered recently in China.

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