17th-19th December, 2022

1. At the “India SatCom 2022” event in New Delhi, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s Chairman PD Vaghela has announced to conduct the world’s first auction of satellite communication spectrum.
2. WHO’s Global Centre for Traditional Medicines in Jamnagar, Gujarat is the first and only global centre for traditional medicines and it will soon emerge as the Centre of Global Wellness.
3. India and Finland have signed a joint declaration of Intent on migration and mobility to arrive at a mutually beneficial arrangement on migration and mobility between the two countries.
4. Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has recently conducted the maiden blow-down test of their all-new wind tunnel, installed at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC).
5. Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) Startup Hub and Google have announced to train 100 early to mid-stage homegrown startups under the Appscale Academy program of 2023.
6. Sri Lankans can now hold $10,000 worth of the Indian rupee in a physical form, though the INR would not be legal tender in Sri Lanka after India approved a Sri Lankan request to designate the INR as the foreign currency.
7. Ministry of Tribal Affairs implemented a dedicated Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS) “Scheme of Development of Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups”.
8. Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA) has signed a loan agreement with SJVN Green Energy for financing over ₹4,000 crore for 1,000 MW solar power project at Bikaner, Rajasthan.
9. The Department of Commerce has expanded the scope of the Remission of Duties and Taxes on Exported Products (RoDTEP) scheme to include iron & steel, chemicals and pharmaceuticals.
10. The 5th edition of Youth Co:Lab, Asia Pacific’s largest youth innovation movement, was jointly launched by Atal Innovation Mission (AIM), NITI Aayog and UNDP India.
11. Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has launched Orunodoi 2.0, one of the largest DBT schemes in the country.
12. Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma has inaugurated the Football Stadium at PA Sangma Sports Complex in Tura.
13. Tamil Nadu chief minister M K Stalin has launched the “Friends of Library” scheme to promote reading by delivering books to people who are unable to visit state-run libraries.
14. ICAR-Indian Agriculture Research Institute developed a drought-tolerant variety of Chickpea named ‘Pusa JG 16’.
15. Indian Air Force (IAF) will conduct an exercise in the Eastern Sector of the country.
16. Ministry of Agriculture and Farmer Welfare and the Department of Space have signed an MOU to develop a Krishi-Decision Support System (Krishi-DSS) using satellite data.
17. Cotton Textiles Export Promotion Council – Texprocil and the Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) has signed an MoU for branding and traceability of Indian-grown Kasturi Cotton during the two-day Textile Conclave in Varanasi, UP.
18. National Highways & Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd (NHIDCL) has signed an MOU with NIT Manipur for bringing innovation in highway construction.
19. ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel India has signed an MOU with the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) to provide digital skill training to more than 1,600 young people across the country.
20. Russia and India have signed an MOU to assist local entrepreneurs and enterprises to find and promote investment projects on the territories of two countries.
21. Equitas Small Finance Bank Ltd has signed an MOU with the Controller General of Defence Accounts, under the Ministry of Defence to allow itself to be a SPARSH (System for Pension Administration (Raksha) service centre to provide data verification for pensioners.
22. United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has released the Global Trade Update- December 2022.
23. NASA astronauts Josh Cassada and Frank Rubio successfully installed Roll-Out Solar Array on the starboard truss structure of the space station.
24. The 54-member UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) adopted a resolution to remove Iran from the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) for the remainder of its four-year term ending in 2026.
25. NASSCOM Foundation has launched the “Aspirational Districts Programme” for digitally enabling and skilling more than 3.5 million lives by March 2024, thus empowering the marginalized in remote and backward sectors of India.
26. According to a new study published in Nature Astronomy, two exoplanets – Kepler-138c and Kepler-138d – have been found by NASA in Kepler 138, which is 218 light years away from Earth in the constellation named Lyra.
27. SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket has launched the Swot (surface water and ocean topography) satellite into orbit to provide information about the water bodies on Earth and help researchers better understand climate breakdown.
28. Swedish think-tank Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) has released the list of top 100 arms-producing companies.
29. International Energy Agency has released the “Coal 2022: Analysis and forecast to 2025”
30. HDFC Bank has announced to acquire 7.75% stake in fintech startup Mintoak Innovations for Rs 31.14 crore in cash.
31. Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has given partial relief to non-resident taxpayers by exempting them from mandatory electronic filing of Form 10F until March 2023.
32. Maruti Suzuki India has showcased the Wagon R Flex Fuel prototype model in Delhi.
33. Microsoft has partnered with global communications company Viasat to deliver satellite internet access to 10 million people across the world by 2025.
34. Indian Energy Exchange (IEX) became India’s first carbon-neutral power exchange.
35. Tata AIA Life Insurance has launched the Emerging Opportunities Fund.
36. Reliance General Insurance Company Ltd. (RGICL) launched a premium health insurance product – Reliance Health Infinity Policy that claims to offer limitless benefits.
37. SIDBI has partnered with M1xchange as the financier to bring liquidity to MSMEs at competitive interest rates.
38. Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) signed an MOU with Energy Conservation Mission of The Institution of Engineers (India) to propagate the importance of energy conservation in Telangana.
39. Employees State Insurance Corporation has announced to invest up to 15% of its surplus funds into equity through exchange traded funds.
40. HDFC Securities has launched “Roots”, a dedicated platform providing comprehensive investor education and market analysis.
41. AU Small Finance Bank, India’s leading small finance bank, has signed a bancassurance agreement with HDFC Life Insurance to sell the insurance products to bank’s customers.
42. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has imposed curbs on RazorPay and Cashfree Payments for on-boarding new merchants till they get the final Payment Aggregator (PA) licence.
43. The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has introduced performance benchmarking and categorisation for the portfolio management services (PMS) industry.
44. Rajeev Kumar Vishnoi has taken additional charge of the post of Chairman and Managing Director of NHPC Limited.
45. Mette Frederiksen has been re-elected as the Prime Minister of Denmark.
46. Sonakshi Sinha has been named as PETA Person of The Year 2022 after featuring in a campaign against the use of animal leather.
47. December 17 – International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers
48. According to the ‘Sixth Bloomberg 50’ report, businessman and philanthropist Gautam Adani has topped the list of people whose wealth witnessed the maximum rise globally in 2022.
49. London-based Association of Tennis Professionals (men’s tennis organization) has announced ATP Awards 2022.
50. Tata Steel Ltd has signed an MOU with Hockey India to become an Official Partner of the FIH Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup 2023.
51. “Bravehearts of Bharat: Vignettes from Indian History” book has been authored by historian Vikram Sampath.

National News

1. At the “India SatCom 2022” event in New Delhi, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s Chairman PD Vaghela has announced to conduct the world’s first auction of satellite communication spectrum.
   • The India SatCom 2022 event is the 8th edition of the international summit of the Broadband India Forum.

2. WHO’s Global Centre for Traditional Medicines in Jamnagar, Gujarat is the first and only global centre for traditional medicines and it will soon emerge as the Centre of Global Wellness.
   • AYUSH Minister Sabarnanda Sonowal made this announcement.
3. India and Finland have signed a joint declaration of Intent on migration and mobility to arrive at a mutually beneficial arrangement on migration and mobility between the two countries.
   • This will facilitate mobility of students, academics, researchers, business people, and professionals and to combat irregular migration.
   • India has signed similar agreements with many countries.

4. Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has recently conducted the maiden blow-down test of their all-new wind tunnel, installed at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC).
   • The Trisonic Wind tunnel facilitates testing under three conditions – subsonic (below the speed of the sound), at the speed of sound and supersonic (faster than the speed of sound).

5. Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) Startup Hub and Google have announced to train 100 early to mid-stage homegrown startups under the Appscale Academy program of 2023.
   • At present, nearly 50% of startups in India come from Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities in India.
   • MeitY Startup Hub and Google furthermore will launch a multi-city roadshow aiming to engage over 1,000 startups in cities such as Surat, Indore, Coimbatore, Gangtok, and Jaipur.

6. Sri Lankans can now hold $10,000 worth of the Indian rupee in a physical form, though the INR would not be legal tender in Sri Lanka after India approved a Sri Lankan request to designate the INR as the foreign currency.
   • Sri Lankan residents will now be able to convert the INR into another currency and to enable this, Sri Lankan banks must sign an agreement with an Indian bank to open “INR Nostro accounts” which means the accounts that banks hold in a foreign currency in another bank.
   • India has also allowed offshore banking units (OBU) of Lankan banks to accept savings, time and demand deposits from non-residents.
7. Ministry of Tribal Affairs implemented a dedicated Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS) “Scheme of Development of Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups”.
   • The scheme aims at planning for the socio-economic development of the PVTGs tribal communities in a comprehensive manner while retaining their culture and heritage by adopting a habitat development approach to fill in the critical gaps in development.
   • The scheme aims to fill the gap in education, housing, livelihood, drinking water, agricultural development, roads, health, installation of non-conventional sources of energy, conservation of culture and traditional practices, etc.
   • The projects/activities taken up under this scheme are demand-driven in nature.
8. Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA) has signed a loan agreement with SJVN Green Energy for financing over ₹4,000 crore for 1,000 MW solar power project at Bikaner, Rajasthan.

9. The Department of Commerce has expanded the scope of the Remission of Duties and Taxes on Exported Products (RoDTEP) scheme to include iron & steel, chemicals and pharmaceuticals.
   • The expanded list of items will be applicable for exports made from December 15.
   • The outlay for the scheme is estimated to be Rs 1,000 crore. It is not specified whether the outlay is for the current year or not.

10. The 5th edition of Youth Co:Lab, Asia Pacific’s largest youth innovation movement, was jointly launched by Atal Innovation Mission (AIM), NITI Aayog and UNDP India.
    • Youth Co: Lab is an initiative launched in 2019 by UNDP India in partnership with Atal Innovation Mission, NITI Aayog.
    • It aims to establish a common agenda for Asia-Pacific countries to invest in and empower youth to accelerate the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through leadership, social innovation, and entrepreneurship.
    • The Youth Co: Lab initiative, till date, has been implemented in 28 countries and territories.
    • The 5 focus thematic areas for Youth Co: lab 2022-23 are
      • Digital and Financial Literacy for Youth
      • Gender Equality and Women Economic Empowerment
      • Developing FinTech Solutions focused on Biodiversity Conservation
      • Promoting Biodiversity-friendly Lifestyles through Technological Solutions in Finance
      • Accelerating Circular Economy through Upcycling Innovations
      • Behavioural Nudges for LiFE (Lifestyle for Environment)

State News

1. Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has launched Orunodoi 2.0, one of the largest DBT schemes in the country.
   • Orunodoi 2.0 aims to empower women of economically vulnerable families, aged men, specially-abled citizens and those belonging to the third gender with a minimum monthly cash flow.
   • The scheme commits a monthly transfer of Rs 1,250 to more than 27 lakh beneficiaries, which is directly transferred to their bank accounts on the 10th day of every month for procuring medicines, pulses, and sugar.
   • This scheme will cost over Rs 4,000 crore to govt.
2. Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma has inaugurated the Football Stadium at PA Sangma Sports Complex in Tura.
3. Tamil Nadu chief minister M K Stalin has launched the “Friends of Library” scheme to promote reading by delivering books to people who are unable to visit state-run libraries.
   • Tamil Nadu has also launched a sanitary workers’ development scheme to focus on the holistic development of sanitation workers and their family members with the help of urban local bodies.
   • Under the scheme, safety kits like gloves and boots will be distributed to 53,301 sanitary workers in the state.
   • The state launched a mobile application called SHWAS (Sanitation Workers Health Welfare and Safety).
   • Tamil Nadu is the 2^nd state in India, after Odisha, to implement such a scheme and mobile application for sanitation workers.

Agriculture and Rural Development

1. ICAR-Indian Agriculture Research Institute developed a drought-tolerant variety of Chickpea named ‘Pusa JG 16’.
   • Collaborators – Jawaharlal Nehru Krishi Vishwa Vidyalaya (JNKVV) Jabalpur, Rajmata Vijayaraje Scindia Krishi Vishwa Vidyalaya, Gwalior and ICRISAT, Patancheru, Hyderabad
   • The variety will enhance productivity in the drought-prone areas of Central Zone consisting of Madhya Pradesh, Bundelkhand area of Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Southern Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Gujarat, where terminal drought is a major problem and sometimes leads to 50-100% loss of yield.

Defence News

1. Indian Air Force (IAF) will conduct an exercise in the Eastern Sector of the country.
   • As per sources, this will be a command-level exercise planned by the eastern command to test the capabilities of IAF on the China front.
   • Air bases in Assam’s Tezpur, Chhabua, Jorhat and West Bengal’s Hashimara are likely to be activated in the exercise. Hasimara air base is home to the Rafale fighter jets.

Memorandum of Understanding

1. Ministry of Agriculture and Farmer Welfare and the Department of Space have signed an MOU to develop a Krishi-Decision Support System (Krishi-DSS) using satellite data.
   • Krishi-DSS is being developed on the lines of Gati Shakti, using RISAT-1A and VEDAS of the Department of Space.
   • RISAT-1A data will be extremely useful in developing decision support systems for agriculture, bioresources, environment, water resources and disaster management.
   • The system will also integrate the MOSDAC and BHUVAN (Geo-platform) of ISRO and systems of ICAR.

2. Cotton Textiles Export Promotion Council – Texprocil and the Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) has signed an MoU for branding and traceability of Indian-grown Kasturi Cotton during the two-day Textile Conclave in Varanasi, UP.
   • The Textile Conclave coincided with the Kashi Tamil Samagam event in Varanasi.
   • Union Minister for Textiles, Commerce and Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Piyush Goyal has entrusted Texprocil with the responsibility of being the implementing agency for branding the premium Indian cotton Kasturi.

3. National Highways & Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd (NHIDCL) has signed an MOU with NIT Manipur for bringing innovation in highway construction.
   • In 2022-23, NHIDCL has signed MOUs with various prestigious institutes like IIT Roorkee, IIT Kanpur, CSIR-CRRI, NSDC, IIT Patna, NIT Srinagar, NIT Agartala, NIT Silchar, NIT Uttarakhand, NIT Nagaland NIT Sikkim, IIT Kharagpur, IIT Mandi, IIT Bombay, IIT Guwahati and NIT Jote, Arunachal Pradesh for innovation.
4. ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel India has signed an MOU with the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) to provide digital skill training to more than 1,600 young people across the country.

5. Russia and India have signed an MOU to assist local entrepreneurs and enterprises to find and promote investment projects on the territories of two countries.
   • Signatories to the MOU –
     • Party I – Minister of the Moscow City Government, Head of the Department for External Economic and International Relations of Moscow (DEEIR), Chairman of the Board of the Business Council for Cooperation with India (BCCI) and
     • Party II – Indian Chambers of International Business (ICIB)
6. Equitas Small Finance Bank Ltd has signed an MOU with the Controller General of Defence Accounts, under the Ministry of Defence to allow itself to be a SPARSH (System for Pension Administration (Raksha) service centre to provide data verification for pensioners.
   • This makes Equitas the first small finance bank inducted by the government for the SPARSH programme.

International News

1. United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has released the Global Trade Update- December 2022.
   • Global trade is set to reach almost US $32 trillion in 2022, but its growth has turned negative during the second half of 2022.

2. NASA astronauts Josh Cassada and Frank Rubio successfully installed Roll-Out Solar Array on the starboard truss structure of the space station.
3. The 54-member UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) adopted a resolution to remove Iran from the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) for the remainder of its four-year term ending in 2026.

4. NASSCOM Foundation has launched the “Aspirational Districts Programme” for digitally enabling and skilling more than 3.5 million lives by March 2024, thus empowering the marginalized in remote and backward sectors of India.
   • Under the programme, NASSCOM Foundation is tapping into more than 100 aspirational districts out of which 55 districts have been identified as of now across 23 states.
5. According to a new study published in Nature Astronomy, two exoplanets – Kepler-138c and Kepler-138d – have been found by NASA in Kepler 138, which is 218 light years away from Earth in the constellation named Lyra.
   • United States Air Force (USAF) has successfully tested its first prototype hypersonic missile named AGM-183A Air-launched Rapid Response Weapon, or ARRW (“Arrow”).
6. SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket has launched the Swot (surface water and ocean topography) satellite into orbit to provide information about the water bodies on Earth and help researchers better understand climate breakdown.
   • The satellite has been jointly launched by NASA and the French space agency CNES, in partnership with the British and Canadian space agencies.
   • It will make the world’s first-ever global survey of the Earth’s surface water.

Reports and Indices

1. Swedish think-tank Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) has released the list of top 100 arms-producing companies.
   • Two Indian defence PSUs, Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL) at 42th rank and Bharat Electronics (BEL) at 63rd rank have figured in this list.
   • India has set an ambitious target of a $26 billion turnover in manufacturing of aerospace and defence goods, with exports of $5 billion, by 2025.
   • The USA has the maximum number of companies (at 40) in the top 100, which account for $299 billion in arms’ sales in 2021.
   • Top 3 Producers – Lockheed Martin ($60 billion arms sales in 2021), Raytheon ($42 billion) and Boeing ($33 billion)

2. International Energy Agency has released the “Coal 2022: Analysis and forecast to 2025”
   • By 2025, India’s coal production would exceed 1 billion tonnes.
   • Coal markets have been shaken severely in 2022, with traditional trade flows disrupted, prices soaring and demand set to grow by 1.2%, reaching an all-time high and surpassing 8 billion tonnes for the first time.

Banking and Economy

1. HDFC Bank has announced to acquire 7.75% stake in fintech startup Mintoak Innovations for Rs 31.14 crore in cash.
2. Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has given partial relief to non-resident taxpayers by exempting them from mandatory electronic filing of Form 10F until March 2023.
   • Filing this form is required to claim the benefits of tax treaty.
   • The Form 10F is signed physically by non-resident taxpayers and furnished along with the tax residency certificate to resident payers for the purpose of determining withholding tax implications.
3. Maruti Suzuki India has showcased the Wagon R Flex Fuel prototype model in Delhi.
   • It is India’s first mass-segment flex-fuel car, which is designed to run on any ethanol-petrol blend between 20% ethanol and 85% petrol.
4. Microsoft has partnered with global communications company Viasat to deliver satellite internet access to 10 million people across the world by 2025.
   • Viasat is the first satellite partner to work with Microsoft’s Airband Initiative.
   • The companies will provide and pilot technologies including, satellites (both geostationary orbit and low earth orbit) and fixed wireless.
   • These companies will combine their expertise and assets to help enable telehealth, distance learning and education, precision agriculture, clean power and other services to reach new areas through the transformational provision of power and connectivity.
5. Indian Energy Exchange (IEX) became India’s first carbon-neutral power exchange.
   • The IEX will use market-based tradable instruments to offset its carbon emissions.
   • EKI Energy, India’s leading pre-eminent global service provider in the sphere of Energy, Carbon Credit & Quality Management, was the sustainability partner by providing advisory & consultancy services in this climate action exercise.
6. Tata AIA Life Insurance has launched the Emerging Opportunities Fund.
   • The new fund will invest in mid-cap companies and emerging market leaders with the potential to generate significant future growth for its investors.
7. Reliance General Insurance Company Ltd. (RGICL) launched a premium health insurance product – Reliance Health Infinity Policy that claims to offer limitless benefits.
   • This first-of-its-kind policy comes loaded with high-sum insured up to ₹5 crore that includes features like more Global cover, maternity cover, OPD cover, unlimited restoration of sum insured, and 15 plus useful add-on benefits.
8. SIDBI has partnered with M1xchange as the financier to bring liquidity to MSMEs at competitive interest rates.
   • M1xchange offers early liquidity to MSMEs within 24 hours through its online bidding platform through end-to-end digital process.
   • M1xchange is a Trade Receivables Discounting System (TReDS).

9. Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) signed an MOU with Energy Conservation Mission of The Institution of Engineers (India) to propagate the importance of energy conservation in Telangana.
   • EESL and Energy Conservation Mission have partnered with the aim to conduct awareness sessions on ‘Energy Conservation’ across 30 schools in the state.
10. Employees State Insurance Corporation has announced to invest up to 15% of its surplus funds into equity through exchange traded funds.
    • Labour minister Bhupender Yadav is the chairman of ESIC.

11. HDFC Securities has launched “Roots”, a dedicated platform providing comprehensive investor education and market analysis.
    • The site offers multiple forms of valuable information, including articles, bite-sized tips, podcasts by experts, video tutorials and explainers, and live social media feed on the Indian financial markets.
    • The biggest USP of the platform is that it produces content which are being searched on Google by current or prospective investors and traders.
12. AU Small Finance Bank, India’s leading small finance bank, has signed a bancassurance agreement with HDFC Life Insurance to sell the insurance products to bank’s customers.
13. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has imposed curbs on RazorPay and Cashfree Payments for on-boarding new merchants till they get the final Payment Aggregator (PA) licence.
14. The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has introduced performance benchmarking and categorisation for the portfolio management services (PMS) industry.
    • It will help investors assess and compare the performance of service providers. The move will come into effect from April 1, 2023.
    • SEBI directed portfolio managers to adopt an additional layer of broadly defined investment strategies categorised as equity, debt, hybrid, and multi-asset.
    • SEBI has laid out a framework for the orderly winding down of critical operations and services of clearing corporations (CC).
    • Under this framework, CCs will have to develop standard operating procedures (SOPs) detailing about their essential services so as not to cause any disruption to the financial system after the winding up of the corporation.

Appointments

1. Rajeev Kumar Vishnoi has taken additional charge of the post of Chairman and Managing Director of NHPC Limited.
2. Mette Frederiksen has been re-elected as the Prime Minister of Denmark.
3. Sonakshi Sinha has been named as PETA Person of The Year 2022 after featuring in a campaign against the use of animal leather.

Important Days

1. December 17 – International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers

Awards

1. According to the ‘Sixth Bloomberg 50’ report, businessman and philanthropist Gautam Adani has topped the list of people whose wealth witnessed the maximum rise globally in 2022.
   • He has become the world’s third-richest person behind Bernard Arnault and Elon Musk.
2. London-based Association of Tennis Professionals (men’s tennis organization) has announced ATP Awards 2022.

Sports

1. Tata Steel Ltd has signed an MOU with Hockey India to become an Official Partner of the FIH Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup 2023.
   • FIH Men’s World Cup 2023 will take place from January 13 – 29, 2023 in Bhubaneswar and Rourkela in Odisha.

Miscellaneous

1. “Bravehearts of Bharat: Vignettes from Indian History” book has been authored by historian Vikram Sampath.

Start Quiz of 17th-19th December 2022 on Mobile

Start Quiz of 17th-19th December 2022 on Desktop