02nd December, 2022

1. ‘Vayu-The Vital Life Force’ Conference was held in Bhubaneswar, Odisha to celebrate the spirit of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav in the 75th year of Independence and channel dialogue on the need for clean air in the country
2. India has provided financial assistance of $100 million to the Maldives in the form of budgetary support to tide over the difficult economic situation.
3. Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR) has partnered with Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to work together “to trace India’s legacy in the field of science and technology” and find out if India was a ‘Vishwa Guru’ in science in ancient times.
4. Registrar General of India has released the Special Bulletin in Maternal Mortality in India 2018-20.
5. United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is helping the people working in the waste segregation industry in India to move into formal economy, by helping them access government welfare programmes.
6. Ministry of Finance has amended the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002.
7. The Kirit Parikh committee has submitted its report on gas pricing.
8. Meghalaya Mental Health & Social Care Policy has been launched for addressing the issues of mental health and social care through collaborative engagement with communities.
9. Assam government will soon introduce a scheme under which all female students pursuing post-graduate courses in the state will be provided a yearly stipend of Rs 10,000 each.
10. Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) signed an MOU with top six engineering institutes of India for establishment of ‘BIS Standardization Chair Professor’ at these institutes.
11. Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s (JAXA) water-powered CubeSat spacecraft, EQUilibriUm Lunar-Earth point 6U (EQUULEUS), was launched on its way by NASA’s Orion spacecraft.
12. A UNESCO’s taskforce has recommended that Australia’s Great Barrier Reef should be added to a list of “in danger” World Heritage sites.
13. United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has released the “Review of Maritime Transport 2022” report.
14. TurtleFin, India’s leading insurtech platform, has partnered with YES BANK, to create a comprehensive technology platform – EasyNsure.
15. SBM Bank India and OPEN Financial Technologies Pvt Ltd has announced a strategic partnership for launching Asia’s first end-to-end Embedded Finance platform– EasyNsure.
16. SEBI has increased the investment limit of mutual funds (MFs) in debt instruments issued by a single issuer to 12% of the net asset value from 10%.
17. Private sector lender Tamilnad Mercantile Bank (TMB) has been authorised by the Reserve Bank of India to undertake government business on behalf of the RBI.
18. November 27 – National Organ Donation Day (13th edition)
19. November 30 – Day of Remembrance for all Victims of Chemical Warfare
20. Magnus Carlsen has won the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour 2022 held at San Fransisco, USA.
21. Industrialist and Toyota Kirloskar Motor vice-chairman Vikram Kirloskar has passed away.

National News

1. ‘Vayu-The Vital Life Force’ Conference was held in Bhubaneswar, Odisha to celebrate the spirit of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav in the 75th year of Independence and channel dialogue on the need for clean air in the country
   • Objective: To build upon the multidimensional efforts taken by Governments to achieve air quality targets as set in National Clean Air Program by uniting all the important stakeholders.
   • Organising Ministry: Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change.
   • It focused on varied air quality issues ranging from scientific discussions on climate change and pollution control, to enriching understanding on air quality from ancient scriptures/texts.

2. India has provided financial assistance of $100 million to the Maldives in the form of budgetary support to tide over the difficult economic situation.

3. Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR) has partnered with Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to work together “to trace India’s legacy in the field of science and technology” and find out if India was a ‘Vishwa Guru’ in science in ancient times.

4. Registrar General of India has released the Special Bulletin in Maternal Mortality in India 2018-20.
   • The Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) of India has declined from 130 per lakh live births in 2014-16 to 97 per lakh live births in 2018-20.
   • India has witnessed a progressive reduction in MMR from 130 in 2014-2016, 122 in 2015-17, 113 in 2016-18, 103 in 2017-19 and to 97 in 2018-20.
   • With this, it has accomplished National Health Policy, 2017 target for MMR of less than 100/lakh live births.
   • It is on the right track to achieve Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) – Target 3.1 of MMR less than 70/ lakh live births by 2030.
   • 8 States have achieved SDG Target 3.1 of MMR: Kerala (19), Maharashtra (33), Telangana (43), Andhra Pradesh (45), Tamil Nadu (54), Jharkhand (56), Gujarat (57) and Karnataka (69).
5. United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is helping the people working in the waste segregation industry in India to move into formal economy, by helping them access government welfare programmes.
   • As part of the initiative, the United Nations Under-Secretary-General Usha Rao-Monari would distribute the ‘Jan Dhan’ account kits to waste segregation workers during her first visit to the country, on December 1.
   • The programme also ensures the well-being and financial inclusion of the `Safai Sathis’ or waste-pickers, by linking them to the social protection schemes.
6. Ministry of Finance has amended the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002.
   • The list has been amended in exercise of its powers under Section 66 of the PMLA, in the public interest.
   • The ministry has also added 15 bodies that are bound to share information with Enforcement Directorate under PMLA.
   • The agencies added to the list are the National Investigating Agency (NIA), Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO), State Police, Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), National Intelligence Grid, Central Vigilance Commission (CVC), Defence Intelligence Agency, National Technical Research Organisation (NTRO), Military Intelligence, and Wildlife Crime Control Bureau.
7. The Kirit Parikh committee has submitted its report on gas pricing.
   • As per the report, India should have completely free and market-determined pricing of natural gas extracted from legacy fields, which is over 70% of the total natural gas produced in India.
   • The panel also recommended to link the price of gas produced from legacy fields to imported crude oil prices rather than benchmarking them to gas rates in global markets. The arrived rates will be subject to a floor and ceiling.

State News

1. Meghalaya Mental Health & Social Care Policy has been launched for addressing the issues of mental health and social care through collaborative engagement with communities.
   • Meghalaya is the third state in the country to have a comprehensive policy on mental health and social care, paying attention to these issues, especially among children, adolescents and youth.
   • Kerala and Karnataka are the other two states in the country to have such policies.
   • In 2014, the Centre launched the first-ever National Mental Health Policy in an attempt to provide universal psychiatry care.
2. Assam government will soon introduce a scheme under which all female students pursuing post-graduate courses in the state will be provided a yearly stipend of Rs 10,000 each.

Memorandum of Understanding

1. Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) signed an MOU with top six engineering institutes of India for establishment of ‘BIS Standardization Chair Professor’ at these institutes.
   • Purpose – to introduce Indian standards as an integral part of the curriculum
   • The MoU was signed with IIT-Indore, IIT- Patna, IIT- Madras, IIT- BHU, Malaviya National Institute of Technology Jaipur, and National Institute of Technology Trichy.

International News

1. Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s (JAXA) water-powered CubeSat spacecraft, EQUilibriUm Lunar-Earth point 6U (EQUULEUS), was launched on its way by NASA’s Orion spacecraft.
   • This is the world’s first successful orbit control beyond low-Earth orbit using a water propellant propulsion system.
   • The EQUULEUS mission’s primary goal is to demonstrate low-energy trajectory control technologies for reaching deep space locations such as EML2 using less fuel.
2. A UNESCO’s taskforce has recommended that Australia’s Great Barrier Reef should be added to a list of “in danger” World Heritage sites.
   • Baguette — the staple French bread — was included in the UNESCO’s list of intangible cultural heritage (ICH).
   • The baguette is a long and thin loaf made of flour, water, salt and yeast, and is consumed as a staple in France. It is believed to be invented by August Zang, a baker and an entrepreneur from Vienna in 1839.

Reports and Indices

1. United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has released the “Review of Maritime Transport 2022” report.
   • For 2022, UNCTAD projects maritime trade growth to slow down to 1.4%, and for the period 2023–2027 to expand at an annual average of 2.1%, a slower rate than the previous three-decade average of 3.3%.

Banking and Economy

1. TurtleFin, India’s leading insurtech platform, has partnered with YES BANK, to create a comprehensive technology platform – EasyNsure.
   • EasyNsure, is a first-of-its-kind proposition for Yes Bank that will bring multiple insurance partners onto a common platform.
   • It will provide a host of benefits such as – a seamless single-point online insurance service, ability to compare and select a suitable insurance cover basis the customer’s need, as well as a facility to compare costs for rationalizing purchase decisions, among others.
2. SBM Bank India and OPEN Financial Technologies Pvt Ltd has announced a strategic partnership for launching Asia’s first end-to-end Embedded Finance platform–
   • Purpose – to offer a no-code, low-code and full-stack API solution that enables fintechs to build their own financial products using Zwitch’s technology stack
   • Furthermore, Zwitch is built and operated by Open– the world’s fastest-growing digital banking enterprise that serves more than 3 million businesses and processes annual transactions worth more than USD 30 billion.
3. SEBI has increased the investment limit of mutual funds (MFs) in debt instruments issued by a single issuer to 12% of the net asset value from 10%.
   • The single-issuer instruments will include money market securities and non-money market securities re-rated investment grade or above by a credit rating agency.
4. Private sector lender Tamilnad Mercantile Bank (TMB) has been authorised by the Reserve Bank of India to undertake government business on behalf of the RBI.
   • TMB is one of the oldest private sector banks with a history of over 100 years, having been established in 1921 as Nadar Bank.

Important Days

1. November 27 – National Organ Donation Day (13th edition)
   • August 13 – World Organ Donation Day
2. November 30 – Day of Remembrance for all Victims of Chemical Warfare

Sports

1. Magnus Carlsen has won the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour 2022 held at San Fransisco, USA.

Miscellaneous

1. Industrialist and Toyota Kirloskar Motor vice-chairman Vikram Kirloskar has passed away.

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