07th-09th January, 2023

1. Varanasi Cantt railway station has been awarded a 5- star ‘Eat Right Station’ certification by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) for providing quality and nutritious food to passengers.
2. Minister of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry, and Dairying has inaugurated India’s first In-Vitro Fertilization (IVF) mobile unit for animals in Amreli, Gujarat.
3. National Genome Editing & Training Centre has been inaugurated at National Agri-food Biotechnology Institute (NABI) Mohali, Punjab.
4. Union Cabinet has approved continuation of Schemes of Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region, with an outlay of ₹12882.2 crore, for the balance period of the 15th Finance Commission (2022-23 to 2025-26).
5. Y20 (Youth) Summit, a part of the G20 meetings, will be hosted by India for the first time on five themes, which are future of work; climate change and disaster risk reduction; peacebuilding and reconciliation; and youth in democracy.
6. Indian Meteorological Organization has released the “Statement on Climate of India During 2022”, which claims 2022 to be the fifth hottest year since 1901.
7. Pradhan Mantri National Apprenticeship Mela will be conducted in 242 districts.
8. Himachal Pradesh CM Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu has launched the CM’s Sukhashray Sahayata Kosh for providing higher education to the children of needy people.
9. Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel celebrated the traditional Cherchera festival at Dudhadhari Math in the state capital Raipur.
10. Indian Army has signed MOU with 8 government medical colleges and hospitals to offer ex-servicemen contributory health scheme in Assam.
11. China’s CRRC Corporation Ltd. has launched a hydrogen urban train, and it is the first in Asia and the second such train in the world. Germany introduced green trains a few months back.
12. Ecuador, Japan, Malta, Mozambique, and Switzerland have joined United Nations Security Council as non-permanent members to replace India, Ireland, Kenya, Mexico, and Norway.
13. Start Me Up – a joint project with the UK Space Agency, Cornwall Council and Britain’s Royal Air Force – is the project to launch the first orbital satellites on a Boeing 747 of Virgin Orbit.
14. Axis Bank has partnered with OPEN to provide a fully native digital current account journey for its customers including SMEs (small and medium enterprises), freelancers, homepreneurs, influencers and more.
15. SEBI has granted a debt broker licence to GoldenPi Technologies (Bengaluru-based fintech company backed by Zerodha Broking Ltd.).
16. SEBI has given approval to Central Govt to reclassify its stake in IDBI Bank as a public holding.
17. RBI has announced opening of the Fourth Cohort under Regulatory Sandbox on the theme of ‘Prevention and Mitigation of Financial Frauds’.
18. Bombay Stock Exchange has partnered with the government of Goa for the development of SMEs (Small Medium Enterprises) in the state.
19. Union Minister for Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal has announced that the Bureau of Indian Standard’s “Portal for Mapping of Industrial Units and Laboratories”.
20. National Statistical Office (NSO), Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, has released the First Advance Estimates (FAE) of National Income at both Constant (2011-12) and Current Prices, for the financial year 2022-23.
21. National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) has raised close to Rs 5,000 crore via 3-year bonds.
22. Reserve Bank of India will issue sovereign green bonds (SGrBs) worth Rs 16,000 crore for mobilising resources for boosting green infrastructure.
23. Indian Bank has received the RBI’s approval to hold special rupee vostro accounts of three banks from Sri Lanka.
24. Surinder Chawla has been appointed as the new CEO of Paytm Payments Bank.
25. January 6 – World Day of War Orphans
26. The first edition of the KR Gouri Amma national award will be given to Cuban social activist Dr Aleida Guevara.
27. According to aviation analytics company Cirium, two Indian airports, Bengaluru and Delhi, have featured in the list of top ten global airports in terms of on-time performance (OTP).
28. Veteran actor-director Aparna Sen was honoured with the lifetime achievement award at the opening ceremony of the 15th edition of the Jaipur International Film Festival.
29. Digital India Awards 2022 have been announced by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.
30. International Hockey Federation (FIH) has signed a partnership with the JSW Group for the upcoming FIH Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup 2023 Bhubaneswar-Rourkela, which will start from January 2023.
31. Kewal Kiran Clothing Limited (KKCL), the retail giant which owns brands like Killer, Integriti, Lawmanpg3, Easies and Desi Belle announced plans to take its flagship brand ‘Killer’, into a strategic partnership with BCCI as the Indian cricket team’s “Official Sponsor”.
32. M Pranesh has become India’s 79th chess Grandmaster after winning the Rilton Cup, the first tournament of the FIDE Circuit, in Stockholm, Sweden.
33. FIH-certified Rourkela hockey stadium is the world’s largest in terms of seating capacity in Odisha.
34. Sania Mirza (tennis player) has announced retirement.
35. Novak Djokovic (Serbian) has won the Adelaide International Tennis Tournament.
36. Anahat Singh has won the Girls U-15 squash title at British Junior Open tournament in Birmingham, UK.
37. Veteran sinologist Janaki Ballabh has passed away.
38. Ex-CJI Ranjan Gogoi has released Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma’s book titled “Mukhyamantri Diary 1”

National News

1. Varanasi Cantt railway station has been awarded a 5- star ‘Eat Right Station’ certification by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) for providing quality and nutritious food to passengers.
   • Other Eat Right Stations in India (total six) –
   • Anand Vihar Terminal Railway Station (Delhi); Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (Mumbai); Mumbai Central Railway Station, (Mumbai); Vadodara Railway Station, Chandigarh Railway Station and Bhopal Railway Station.
2. Minister of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry, and Dairying has inaugurated India’s first In-Vitro Fertilization (IVF) mobile unit for animals in Amreli, Gujarat.
3. National Genome Editing & Training Centre has been inaugurated at National Agri-food Biotechnology Institute (NABI) Mohali, Punjab.
   • NGETC is a one-roof state-of-the-art facility that will serve as a national platform to cater to the regional needs to adapt different genome editing methods, including CRISPR-Cas mediated genome modification.
   • At the same time, a 4-day International Conference on Food and Nutritional Security 2023 (iFANS) was inaugurated.
   • Organizers of iFANS – National Agri-Food Biotechnology Institute (NABI), Centre for Innovative and Applied Bioprocessing (CIAB), National Institute of Plant Biotechnology (NIPB), and International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB)
4. Union Cabinet has approved continuation of Schemes of Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region, with an outlay of ₹12882.2 crore, for the balance period of the 15th Finance Commission (2022-23 to 2025-26).
5. Y20 (Youth) Summit, a part of the G20 meetings, will be hosted by India for the first time on five themes, which are future of work; climate change and disaster risk reduction; peacebuilding and reconciliation; and youth in democracy.
6. Indian Meteorological Organization has released the “Statement on Climate of India During 2022”, which claims 2022 to be the fifth hottest year since 1901.
7. Pradhan Mantri National Apprenticeship Mela will be conducted in 242 districts.
   • The candidates who are Class 5th to Class 12th pass outs and have skill training certificates, or ITI Diploma holders or graduates can apply in this apprenticeship mela.

State News

1. Himachal Pradesh CM Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu has launched the CM’s Sukhashray Sahayata Kosh for providing higher education to the children of needy people.
   • A budget of Rs 101 crores has been outlined for the scheme.
2. Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel celebrated the traditional Cherchera festival at Dudhadhari Math in the state capital Raipur.

Defence News

1. Indian Army has signed MOU with 8 government medical colleges and hospitals to offer ex-servicemen contributory health scheme in Assam.
   • This will facilitate the cashless and capless treatment of Army personnel in Assam’s hospitals.

International News

1. China’s CRRC Corporation Ltd. has launched a hydrogen urban train, and it is the first in Asia and the second such train in the world. Germany introduced green trains a few months back.
   • The hydrogen trains have a speed of 160 km per hour and the operational range without refueling is 600 km.
2. Ecuador, Japan, Malta, Mozambique, and Switzerland have joined United Nations Security Council as non-permanent members to replace India, Ireland, Kenya, Mexico, and Norway.
3. Start Me Up – a joint project with the UK Space Agency, Cornwall Council and Britain’s Royal Air Force – is the project to launch the first orbital satellites on a Boeing 747 of Virgin Orbit.

Banking and Economy

1. Axis Bank has partnered with OPEN to provide a fully native digital current account journey for its customers including SMEs (small and medium enterprises), freelancers, homepreneurs, influencers and more.
   • This has been the bank’s first-ever partnership with a fintech player to launch a fully digital current account.
   • Customers can open their digital accounts through video-KYC.
2. SEBI has granted a debt broker licence to GoldenPi Technologies (Bengaluru-based fintech company backed by Zerodha Broking Ltd.).
   • GoldenPi Technologies became the first online bond platform to obtain a debt broker licence.
3. SEBI has given approval to Central Govt to reclassify its stake in IDBI Bank as a public holding.
   • The government, which owns 45.48% of IDBI Bank, is looking to divest a 30.48% stake in the lender, alongside state-owned Life Insurance Corp of India (LIC), which will sell a 30.24% stake from its holding of 49.24% in the bank.
4. RBI has announced opening of the Fourth Cohort under Regulatory Sandbox on the theme of ‘Prevention and Mitigation of Financial Frauds’.
   • A total of six entities have been selected for this cohort.

• Themes of the earlier cohorts –
  • 1st – Retail Payments
  • 2nd – Cross Border Payments
  • 3rd – MSME Lending
• The theme of the 5th cohort will be “Neutral”.

5. Bombay Stock Exchange has partnered with the government of Goa for the development of SMEs (Small Medium Enterprises) in the state.
   • Besides, the exchange will also provide training and capacity-building support to District Industries Centre officials and facilitates SMEs with respect to registration/listing on the platform.
   • BSE is the largest SME Exchange in India with over 400 companies listed on the platform.
6. Union Minister for Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal has announced that the Bureau of Indian Standard’s “Portal for Mapping of Industrial Units and Laboratories”.
   • The portal is a centralised platform for information on industrial units and laboratories across India.
   • BIS has also launched several transformational initiatives including Standards National Action Plan (SNAP) 2022 – 27 and setting up around four thousand Standards Clubs across the country.
7. National Statistical Office (NSO), Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, has released the First Advance Estimates (FAE) of National Income at both Constant (2011-12) and Current Prices, for the financial year 2022-23.

8. National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) has raised close to Rs 5,000 crore via 3-year bonds.
   • The coupon for the three-year bond was 7.63%.
   • The issue by NABARD had a base size of Rs 2,000 crore plus a green-shoe option of Rs 3,000 crore.
9. Reserve Bank of India will issue sovereign green bonds (SGrBs) worth Rs 16,000 crore for mobilising resources for boosting green infrastructure.
   • These bonds will be issued in two tranches of Rs 8,000 crores each.

10. Indian Bank has received the RBI’s approval to hold special rupee vostro accounts of three banks from Sri Lanka.
    • Mechanism of Vostro Account ­–
      • Indian importers would deposit their payments (due to Sri Lankan exporters) in Indian Rupees in these Vostro Accounts.
      • Indian exporters would receive the payments (accrued from Sri Lankan importers) in Indian Rupees through these Vostro Accounts.
    • Impact – This will reduce burden of spending dollars on Sri Lanka.

Appointments

1. Surinder Chawla has been appointed as the new CEO of Paytm Payments Bank.

Important Days

1. January 6 – World Day of War Orphans

Awards

1. The first edition of the KR Gouri Amma national award will be given to Cuban social activist Dr Aleida Guevara.
   • K. R. Gouri (14 July 1919 – 11 May 2021), commonly known as Gouri Amma, was an Indian politician from Alappuzha in central Kerala.
2. According to aviation analytics company Cirium, two Indian airports, Bengaluru and Delhi, have featured in the list of top ten global airports in terms of on-time performance (OTP).
   • Similarly, three Indian airlines — IndiGo, AirAsia India, and Vistara — have been listed among the top ten airlines in Asia-Pacific.

3. Veteran actor-director Aparna Sen was honoured with the lifetime achievement award at the opening ceremony of the 15th edition of the Jaipur International Film Festival.
4. Digital India Awards 2022 have been announced by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.

Sports

1. International Hockey Federation (FIH) has signed a partnership with the JSW Group for the upcoming FIH Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup 2023 Bhubaneswar-Rourkela, which will start from January 2023.
   • The group supports and promotes Olympics in India and has created an Olympic Training Institute in the Inspire Institute of Sport as well as has Olympic training centres across the country.
2. Kewal Kiran Clothing Limited (KKCL), the retail giant which owns brands like Killer, Integriti, Lawmanpg3, Easies and Desi Belle announced plans to take its flagship brand ‘Killer’, into a strategic partnership with BCCI as the Indian cricket team’s “Official Sponsor”.
   • This move will see the brand displayed on the right upper chest of the Team India jersey.
3. M Pranesh has become India’s 79th chess Grandmaster after winning the Rilton Cup, the first tournament of the FIDE Circuit, in Stockholm, Sweden.
4. FIH-certified Rourkela hockey stadium is the world’s largest in terms of seating capacity in Odisha.
   • Odisha has also launched “Mo Bus” services in Rourkela.
5. Sania Mirza (tennis player) has announced retirement.
6. Novak Djokovic (Serbian) has won the Adelaide International Tennis Tournament.
7. Anahat Singh has won the Girls U-15 squash title at British Junior Open tournament in Birmingham, UK

Miscellaneous

1. Veteran sinologist Janaki Ballabh has passed away.
2. Ex-CJI Ranjan Gogoi has released Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma’s book titled “Mukhyamantri Diary 1”.

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