17th January, 2023

1. India and the UAE have signed an agreement on green hydrogen development.
2. India is committed to eliminate Lymphatic Filariasis (LF) by 2027, three years ahead of the global target through mission mode through the five-pronged roadmap.
3. Siemens (the German engineering company) has signed a 3-billion-euro ($3.25 billion) contract to supply and service freight trains in India.
4. National Aquifer Mapping and Management programme, which aims to identify aquifers and water availability, is set to be completed in one year.
5. Government e Marketplace (GeM) has launched “Womaniya on GeM” initiative to empower women entrepreneurs and women self-help groups (WSHGs) to sell their products directly to various government ministries, departments, and institutions.
6. The first edition of the Chennai International Book Fair kicked off at the YMCA Grounds in Nandanam.
7. Kollam, Kerala has become the country’s first constitution literate district.
8. 21st Edition of the Bilateral Naval Exercise between India and France – Exercise VARUNA commenced on the Western Seaboard.
9. World’s first agri-focused satellite has been launched by South Africa. It is expected to generate over USD 100 million in revenue for South Africa.
10. Russian VTB bank, Russia’s second largest bank, has launched direct payments in rupees to boost bilateral trade and investments.
11. US and Japan have signed an agreement for collaborating in space exploration.
12. Russia and Belarus began joint military exercises in Belarus military airfields.
13. According to the Knight Frank’s Wealth Report, 88% of India’s ultra-wealthy individuals saw increase in wealth in 2022.
14. First “District Good Governance Index” has been prepared by the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG), in collaboration with Jammu and Kashmir government.
15. The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) has allowed the Jalan-Kalrock Consortium (JKC) to take over Jet Airways.
16. Aditya Birla Health Insurance Co. Ltd. (ABHICL) has signed a bancassurance partnership with Punjab & Sind Bank for distribution of health insurance products through the bank’s network of branches across India.
17. The Odisha government has initiated the process to divest 49% stake in Odisha Power Generation Corporation (OPGC), a profit-making PSU that operates 1,740 MW thermal power plant at Banharpalli in Jharsuguda district.
18. Merchandise exports for the period April-December 2022 registered a growth of 9% to $332.76 billion on a year-on-year basis.
19. RBI has proposed a framework for adoption of an expected loss-based approach for provisioning by banks in India.
20. January 14 – Armed Forces Veterans Day (7th edition)
21. Miss R’Bonney Gabriel from USA has won the Miss Universe 2022 in USA.
22. National Awards were given to 82 best agri-preneurs who were trained under the Central Sector Scheme – Agri-Clinics and Agri-Business (AC&ABC) of Government of India for their significant contribution to farmers through agri-clinic and agribusiness services.
23. Bhavin Rabari, the lead child actor in Pan Nalin’s Oscar-nominated Gujarati film Chhello Show (The Last Film Show), bagged the International Press Academy (IPA) award in the ‘Best Breakthrough Performance’ category at the 27th Satellite Awards held in the United States.
24. 10th-16th January – Startup India Innovation week
25. Akane Yamaguchi and Viktor Axelsen won the women’s and men’s singles at the Malaysia Open Super 1000 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
26. Yonex- Sunrise India Open 2023 (badminton) is all set to start in New Delhi.
27. India has defeated Sri Lanka by 317 runs at the Greenfield Stadium in Thiruvananthapuram.
28. “Come: Let’s Run” is the English version of the Tamil book authored by Tamil Nadu Health Minister- Ma. Subramaniam.
29. Lok Sabha MP from Jalandhar constituency Santokh Singh Chaudhary died after suffering a cardiac arrest during the Bharat Jodo Yatra.
30. Scientist A. D. Damodaran has passed away. He was the former Director of the CSIR – National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology (NIIST), Thiruvananthapuram.

National News

1. India and the UAE have signed an agreement on green hydrogen development.
   • Both countries also laid undersea cable connecting India to the UAE under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘One Sun, One World, One Grid initiative’.
2. India is committed to eliminate Lymphatic Filariasis (LF) by 2027, three years ahead of the global target through mission mode through the five-pronged roadmap.
   • Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, Telangana, and Bihar account for about 60% Lymphedema cases in India.
   • The elimination of the disease will be achieved via multi-drug administration (MDA) campaign which aims to administer drug to children twice a year synchronized with national deworming day (February 10 and August 10).
     • Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya made this announcement during the National Symposium on India’s roadmap to eliminate LF.

3. Siemens (the German engineering company) has signed a 3-billion-euro ($3.25 billion) contract to supply and service freight trains in India.
   • Siemens will deliver 1,200 electric locomotives and provide servicing for 35 years under the agreement, also its biggest ever in India.
4. National Aquifer Mapping and Management programme, which aims to identify aquifers and water availability, is set to be completed in one year.
   • The announcement was made during a conference on ‘Water Reclamation and Reuse’, which was organized by the FICCI and the International Water Association (IWA) in Chennai.
   • The announcement was made by Asok Kumar, Director General of the National Mission for Clean Ganga, Union Ministry of Jal Shakti.

5. Government e Marketplace (GeM) has launched “Womaniya on GeM” initiative to empower women entrepreneurs and women self-help groups (WSHGs) to sell their products directly to various government ministries, departments, and institutions.
   • It contributes towards the SDG 5: Gender Equality.
   • The initiative is represented by artist Anukta M Ghosh’s artwork “Magan”, an illustration of women empowerment and grace.
   • CEO of GeM – S Radha Chauhan

State News

1. The first edition of the Chennai International Book Fair kicked off at the YMCA Grounds in Nandanam.
2. Kollam, Kerala has become the country’s first constitution literate district.
   • Kollam, also known as Quilon, is an ancient port city located on the banks of the Ashtamudi Lake in the Indian state of Kerala.

Defence News

1. 21st Edition of the Bilateral Naval Exercise between India and France – Exercise VARUNA commenced on the Western Seaboard.

International News

1. World’s first agri-focused satellite has been launched by South Africa. It is expected to generate over USD 100 million in revenue for South Africa.
   • The satellite named AgriSAT-1 has been launched Dragonfly Aerospace on a Space X Falcon 9 rocket.
   • Many ‘Firsts’ attached to the satellite –
   • First ever-commercial satellite licensed in South Africa
   • First microsatellite to be manufactured in south africa since 2009
   • First satellite of the EOS SAT constellation
   • First agri-focused constellation in space
2. Russian VTB bank, Russia’s second largest bank, has launched direct payments in rupees to boost bilateral trade and investments.
   • The mechanism of direct settlements allows to fix the price of a product and the payment in the national currency, and to receive individual quotes on market terms.
   • Nine Russian banks, including VTB, opened special vostro accounts in India to facilitate Russian-Indian trade in November 2022. Certain Indian banks opened special Vostro accounts for trade with Russia.
3. US and Japan have signed an agreement for collaborating in space exploration.
4. Russia and Belarus began joint military exercises in Belarus military airfields.

Reports and Indices

1. According to the Knight Frank’s Wealth Report, 88% of India’s ultra-wealthy individuals saw increase in wealth in 2022.
   • Globally, the report noted that 40% of ultra-wealthy individuals saw a rise in their wealth in 2022, whereas 15% noted no change in wealth status in 2022 as against 2021.
   • In general, Indian ultra-rich class own 5.1 residential properties compared to the global average of 4.2 units.
2. First “District Good Governance Index” has been prepared by the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG), in collaboration with Jammu and Kashmir government.
   • Total – 22 districts of J&K
   • Top – Jammu district has emerged at the top, followed by districts of Doda, Samba, Pulwama and Srinagar in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir
   • Parameters – 10 governance sectors having 58 indicators with 116 data points
   • This index is inspired from the State Good Governance Index, which is prepared at the national level. All the below-mentioned governance parameters are taken from State Good Governance Index.

Banking and Economy

1. The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) has allowed the Jalan-Kalrock Consortium (JKC) to take over Jet Airways.
2. Aditya Birla Health Insurance Co. Ltd. (ABHICL) has signed a bancassurance partnership with Punjab & Sind Bank for distribution of health insurance products through the bank’s network of branches across India.
   • Mayank Battwal is the CEO of Aditya Birla Health Insurance (a joint venture between the Aditya Birla Group and MMI Holdings of South Africa since August 2015).
3. The Odisha government has initiated the process to divest 49% stake in Odisha Power Generation Corporation (OPGC), a profit-making PSU that operates 1,740 MW thermal power plant at Banharpalli in Jharsuguda district.
4. Merchandise exports for the period April-December 2022 registered a growth of 9% to $332.76 billion on a year-on-year basis.
   • Overall imports during April-December grew to $551.70 billion.
   • More than $6 billion worth of smartphones were exported during the period April-November 2022.
5. RBI has proposed a framework for adoption of an expected loss-based approach for provisioning by banks in India.
   • The RBI proposes to adopt the Expected Credit Loss (ECL) approach used in International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) 9 for prescribing guidelines for loss provisioning by banks.
   • At present, banks use incurred loss approach and this will be changed to ECL approach, 1 year after announcing the final guidelines.
   • Salient features –
     • Banks will classify financial assets (primarily loans, including irrevocable loan commitments, and investments classified as held-to-maturity or available-for-sale) into one of the three categories — Stage 1, Stage 2, and Stage 3, depending upon the assessed credit losses on them, at the time of initial recognition as well as on each subsequent reporting date and make necessary provisions.
     • Regional rural banks and smaller cooperative banks (based on a threshold) are proposed to be kept out of the above framework.
     • Banks would be allowed to design and implement their own models for measuring ECL for the purpose of estimating loss provisions in line with the proposed principles.
     • Banks will be given an option to phase out the effect of increased provisions on CET1 capital, over a maximum period of five years.

Important Days

1. January 14 – Armed Forces Veterans Day (7th edition)
   • The Armed Forces Veterans’ Day is celebrated on 14th January every year, as on this day in 1953, the First Indian Commander-in-Chief of Indian Army Field Marshal KM Cariappa, who led the Indian forces to victory in the 1947 war, formally retired from the Service.

Awards

1. Miss R’Bonney Gabriel from USA has won the Miss Universe 2022 in

2. National Awards were given to 82 best agri-preneurs who were trained under the Central Sector Scheme – Agri-Clinics and Agri-Business (AC&ABC) of Government of India for their significant contribution to farmers through agri-clinic and agribusiness services.
   • These awards were given on the National Youth Day (January 12).

3. Bhavin Rabari, the lead child actor in Pan Nalin’s Oscar-nominated Gujarati film Chhello Show (The Last Film Show), bagged the International Press Academy (IPA) award in the ‘Best Breakthrough Performance’ category at the 27th Satellite Awards held in the United States.
   • The film is the first Indian film to be shortlisted for the Oscars in the ‘Best International Feature Film’ category after 21 years.
4. 10th-16th January – Startup India Innovation week
   • January 16 – 7th National Startup Day (celebrates the launch of Startup India scheme (2016)
   • A webinar was organized on this day on the theme of “Founders of Today, Leaders of Tomorrow”.
   • Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has presented National Startup Awards 2022 at the end of Startup India Innovation week.
   • Mentorship, Advisory, Assistance, Resilience, and Growth (MAARG) portal helps start-ups in many ways including fine-tuning ideas and accessing the funding ecosystem.
   • At the event, 41 startups, two incubators, and one accelerator were recognised as winners.
   • The NSA 2022 focused extensively on diversity, inclusion, and innovation. The winning startups will receive INR 5 Lakh each, while the winning incubator and accelerator will be awarded INR 15 Lakh each.

Sports

1. Akane Yamaguchi and Viktor Axelsen won the women’s and men’s singles at the Malaysia Open Super 1000 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
2. Yonex- Sunrise India Open 2023 (badminton) is all set to start in New Delhi.
   • The tournament, being held in India since 2008, will be the first time when India Open will be held in the super 750 status category.
3. India has defeated Sri Lanka by 317 runs at the Greenfield Stadium in
   • India has broken New Zealand’s 15-year-old record for the largest victory margin in ODI cricket.

Miscellaneous

1. “Come: Let’s Run” is the English version of the Tamil book authored by Tamil Nadu Health Minister- Subramaniam.
   • The English translation was done by Geeta Padmanaban, along with J. Joicy and Sharon.
2. Lok Sabha MP from Jalandhar constituency Santokh Singh Chaudhary died after suffering a cardiac arrest during the Bharat Jodo Yatra.
3. Scientist A. D. Damodaran has passed away. He was the former Director of the CSIR – National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology (NIIST),

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