18th January, 2023

1. Sports Authority of India and the Indian Railways have established their National Centre for Excellence at Coochbehar, West Bengal.
2. Scheme for Financial Support for Project Development Expenses of PPP Projects – India Infrastructure Project Development Fund Scheme (IIPDF) was approved in November 2022 with an outlay of Rs 150 crores for a period of 3 years from 2022-23 to 2024-25.
3. Union Minister of State Dr Jitendra Singh has announced that the entire country will be covered by Doppler Weather Radar Network by 2025.
4. Jammu and Kashmir Government has declared the whole Union Territory as a “Free Area” for purposes of the Prevention and Control of Infectious and Contagious Diseases in Animals Act, 2009.
5. NTPC Renewable Energy Ltd (NTPC REL) has signed an MOU with Government of Tripura for the developing floating and ground mounted based renewable energy projects in the state.
6. Indo-Russian Rifles Private Limited (Indo-Russian joint venture) has started manufacturing Kalashnikov AK-203 assault rifles in Uttar Pradesh’s Amethi.
7. Abdul Rehman Makki (Pakistan-based terrorist) was listed as a global terrorist by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) under its ISIL (Daesh) and Al-Qaeda Sanctions Committee.
8. Imports from Russia have jumped five times to $32.9 billion during April-December 2022, making it the fourth largest trading partner.
9. Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) has entered into a partnership with VFS Capital to extend loans to the MSME sector.
10. State Bank of India (SBI) has signed an MOU with Warehousing Development and Regulatory Authority (WDRA) to provide loans against electronic Negotiable Warehouse Receipts (e-NWR) issued by WDRA-registered warehouses.
11. RBI has released the Master Direction – Reserve Bank of India (Acquisition and Holding of Shares or Voting Rights in Banking Companies) Directions, 2023.
12. Paytm Payments Bank has received final approval from the Reserve Bank of India to operate as a Bharat Bill Payment Operating Unit (BBPOU) under the Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS).
13. Protean eGov Technologies, formerly NSDL e-Governance Infrastructure, has received the RBI’s approval to for its wholly-owned subsidiary to operate as an account aggregator.
14. RBI has released the “State Finances: A Study of Budgets of 2022-23″ report on the theme of “Capital Formation in India- The Role of States”.
15. Asteria Aerospace, a full stack drone technology company, has received type certification for its indigenously designed and manufactured A200-XT drone from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).
16. Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) has released first-ever Audit Standard for Sustainable Information.
17. Renowned IPS Officer Pankaj Kumar Singh has been appointed as the Deputy National Security Adviser.
18. Malaysia Open (Badminton) 2023 – Men’s Singles – Viktor Axelsen (Denmark); Women’s Singles – Akane Yamaguchi (Japan)
19. Telangana CM K Chandrashekhar Rao has paid tributes to the titular Nizam of Hyderabad, late Mir Barkat Ali Khan Siddiqui Mukarram Jah Bahadur in Hyderabad.

National News

1. Sports Authority of India and the Indian Railways have established their National Centre for Excellence at Coochbehar, West Bengal.
   • The indoor facilities will have major games such as boxing, judo, wrestling, volleyball, badminton, basketball and others. An international standard hockey synthetic turf is also planned.
2. Scheme for Financial Support for Project Development Expenses of PPP Projects – India Infrastructure Project Development Fund Scheme (IIPDF) was approved in November 2022 with an outlay of Rs 150 crores for a period of 3 years from 2022-23 to 2024-25.
   • It is a Central Sector Scheme.
   • The IIPDF will contribute up to 75% of the project development expenses to the Sponsoring Authority as an interest free loan. The balance 25% will be co-funded by the Sponsoring Authority.

3. Union Minister of State Dr Jitendra Singh has announced that the entire country will be covered by Doppler Weather Radar Network by
   • It was announced on the occasion of 148th Foundation Day of India Meteorological Department (IMD).
   • During the event, Minister Dr Jitendra Singh dedicated 4 Doppler Weather Radar Systems to Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand, and Himachal Pradesh.
   • The Minister also dedicated 200 Agro Automated Weather Stations.
   • Under Agro-Meteorological Services, it is targeted to establish 660 District Agro Meteorological Units (DAMUs) by 2025 and increase from 3,100 blocks in 2023 to 7,000 blocks in 2025.

State News

1. Jammu and Kashmir Government has declared the whole Union Territory as a “Free Area” for purposes of the Prevention and Control of Infectious and Contagious Diseases in Animals Act, 2009.
2. NTPC Renewable Energy Ltd (NTPC REL) has signed an MOU with Government of Tripura for the developing floating and ground mounted based renewable energy projects in the state.

Defence News

1. Indo-Russian Rifles Private Limited (Indo-Russian joint venture) has started manufacturing Kalashnikov AK-203 assault rifles in Uttar Pradesh’s Amethi.

International News

1. Abdul Rehman Makki (Pakistan-based terrorist) was listed as a global terrorist by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) under its ISIL (Daesh) and Al-Qaeda Sanctions Committee.

Banking and Economy

1. Imports from Russia have jumped five times to $32.9 billion during April-December 2022, making it the fourth largest trading partner.
   • There are two main contributors to India’s higher imports from Russia — crude oil and fertilisers.
2. Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) has entered into a partnership with VFS Capital to extend loans to the MSME sector.
   • VFS Capital will extend MSME loans upto Rs 5 lakh at 13% interest rate per annum.
3. State Bank of India (SBI) has signed an MOU with Warehousing Development and Regulatory Authority (WDRA) to provide loans against electronic Negotiable Warehouse Receipts (e-NWR) issued by WDRA-registered warehouses.

4. RBI has released the Master Direction – Reserve Bank of India (Acquisition and Holding of Shares or Voting Rights in Banking Companies) Directions, 2023.
   • Any person who intends to make an acquisition which is likely to result in major shareholding in a banking company, is required to seek previous approval of the Reserve Bank.
   • “Major shareholding” means “aggregate holding” of 5% or more of the paid-up share capital or voting rights in a banking company by a person.
   • If the aggregate holding of a person is not in conformance with the Guidelines, s/he shall submit a shareholding dilution plan within 6 months from the date of issue of these directions.
5. Paytm Payments Bank has received final approval from the Reserve Bank of India to operate as a Bharat Bill Payment Operating Unit (BBPOU) under the Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS).

6. Protean eGov Technologies, formerly NSDL e-Governance Infrastructure, has received the RBI’s approval to for its wholly-owned subsidiary to operate as an account aggregator.
7. RBI has released the “State Finances: A Study of Budgets of 2022-23″ report on the theme of “Capital Formation in India- The Role of States”.
   • As per the report, the gross fiscal deficit of states is budgeted to narrow to 4% of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2022-23 from 4.1% in 2020-21.
   • States’ debt is budgeted to ease to 5% of GDP in 2022-23 as against 31.1% in 2020-21, it is still higher than the 20% recommended by the FRBM Review Committee, 2018.
   • States’ capital outlay-GDP ratio is likely to improve from 3% in 2021-22 (provisional account) to 2.9% in 2022-23 (budget estimate).
8. Asteria Aerospace, a full stack drone technology company, has received type certification for its indigenously designed and manufactured A200-XT drone from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).
   • The A200-XT drone is a versatile drone with payloads that can be quickly swapped between a high-resolution high-zoom day camera, and a night-time thermal camera.
   • Asteria has become the first company to have two DGCA-certified drones that it can offer to its customers for a variety of applications including law enforcement, industrial security, infrastructure inspections, and agriculture and land surveys.
9. Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) has released first-ever Audit Standard for Sustainable Information.
   • The ICAI has also issued 16 social audit standards for conducting audits of social stock exchanges.

Appointments

1. Renowned IPS Officer Pankaj Kumar Singh has been appointed as the Deputy National Security Adviser.
   • National Security Advisor – Ajit Doval

Sports

1. Malaysia Open (Badminton) 2023 – Men’s Singles – Viktor Axelsen (Denmark); Women’s Singles – Akane Yamaguchi (Japan)

Miscellaneous

1. Telangana CM K Chandrashekhar Rao has paid tributes to the titular Nizam of Hyderabad, late Mir Barkat Ali Khan Siddiqui Mukarram Jah Bahadur in Hyderabad.

Start Quiz of 18th January 2023 on Mobile

Start Quiz of 18th January 2023 on Desktop