21st-22nd December, 2022

1. Indian Railways received 800 proposals from startups to solve 11 problems under the “Startups for Railways” initiative launched in June this year.
2. Aviation regulator Directorate General for Civil Aviation has introduced new features on its e-governance platform (eGCA) for stakeholders.
3. Atal Innovation Mission (AIM), NITI Aayog has opened applications for ‘ATL Marathon 2022-23’– a flagship innovation challenge under AIM’s Atal Tinkering Labs program.
4. National Test House (NTH) will set up testing facilities for EV batteries and charging systems at its Mumbai and Kolkata centres.
5. Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has announced the integration of Government e-Marketplace services (GeM) with Common Service Centres (CSC) and India Post.
6. Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order (Fifth Amendment) Bill, 2022 has been passed by Lok Sabha to include Dhanuhar, Dhanuwar, Kisan, Saunra, Saonra, and Binjhia communities in the list of Scheduled Tribes in Chhattisgarh.
7. Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs has flagged off the ground survey of Pey Jal Survekshan.
8. Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas will organise a one of its kind musical event, Dance to Decarbonise, at National Stadium in New Delhi.
9. Commerce and industry Minister Piyush Goyal introduced the Jan Vishwas Bill in Lok Sabha, which seeks to decriminalise minor offences by amending 183 provisions in 42 Acts with a view to promote ease of business.
10. Union Steel Minister, Jyotiraditya Scindia, has launched India’s first Green Steel Brand “KALYANI FeRRESTA” in New Delhi.
11. Telangana will disburse ₹7600 crore to farmers under its ‘Rythu Bandhu’ scheme.
12. Uttar Pradesh has signed an agreement with the California-based “Austin University” to build a $42 billion ‘Smart City of Knowledge’ in the state.
13. Meghalaya has ranked first in the country as far as the average monthly income per agricultural household is concerned at Rs 29,348 per month.
14. INSV Tarini has set sail for an expedition to Cape Town, South Africa for participating in the 50th edition of Cape to Rio Race 2023 – ocean sailing race.
15. Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders (MDL) delivered the fifth Scorpene Submarine ‘Vagir’ of Project P-75 to the Indian Navy.
16. UAE launched a biometric service at the Abu Dhabi airport under which no passport or ticket will be required anymore and a passenger’s face will be his boarding pass.
17. Scientists working on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef have successfully trialled a new method for freezing and storing coral larvae they say could eventually help rewild reefs threatened by climate change.
18. European Union has introduced the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), also known as the carbon border tax, to add a pollution price on certain imports to the EU.
19. Nigeria and Rwanda became the first African nations to sign the Artemis Accords during the first-ever U.S.-Africa Space Forum.
20. According to the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Science & Engineering Indicators 2022 report of the United States, India’s position globally has improved from the 7th position in 2010 to the 3rd position in 2020 in scientific publications.
21. Economic Advisory Council to Prime Minister (EAC-PM) released the Social Progress Index (SPI) for states and districts of India.
22. Jindal Steel and Power (JSPL) will spend Rs 7,930 crore under the production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme for specialty steel to manufacture eight types of high-end alloy in the country.
23. Bhutan has signed an agreement with PTC India to receive an electricity supply of 600 MW during the winter season.
24. Wipro Consumer Care and Lighting announced a definitive agreement to buy Nirapara, one of the largest-selling traditional food brand in Kerala.
25. SEBI has approved the amendment to its buyback regulations which allows the gradually phase out of share buyback option through stock exchange route.
26. Credit bureau TransUnion CIBIL, in collaboration with Online PSB Loans and SIDBI have launched the FIT Rank – a comprehensive ranking model for MSMEs.
27. Maritime logistics arm of Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) and Singapore-based AG&P (Atlantic, Gulf and Pacific) have signed an agreement to use Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) carrier as a floating storage unit in India.
28. Reliance Retail Ventures Ltd. (RRVL), a subsidiary of Reliance Industries Ltd., has signed definitive agreements to acquire 100% equity stake in Metro Cash & Carry India Pvt Ltd. for a total cash consideration of ₹2,850 crore.
29. Private lender Bandhan Bank has signed an MOU with the Controller General of Defence Accounts to extend banking facilities to servicemen.
30. One97 Communications Limited (OCL) launched ‘Paytm Payment Protect’, a group insurance plan, in association with HDFC ERGO General Insurance, to insure transactions made through UPI across all apps and wallets.
31. Fitch Ratings affirmed India’s sovereign credit rating at ‘BBB-‘ with stable outlook.
32. NITI Aayog has forecasted an over 7% growth rate for India in FY23.
33. Renowned athlete PT Usha became the first nominated MP in Rajya Sabha to be nominated to the panel of Vice Chairpersons.
34. Senior nuclear scientist Dinesh Kumar Shukla has been appointed as the chairperson of the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) for a period of 3 years.
35. December 20 – International Human Solidarity Day
36. December 23 – National Farmer’s Day
37. December 19-25 – 2nd Sushasan Saptah (Good Governance Week)
38. Sethrichem Sangtam, who runs an NGO that works with farmers in eastern Nagaland, has won the first Rohini Nayyar Prize for Outstanding Contribution to Rural Development.
39. Indian scientist at IIT-Madras, Thalappil Pradeep, received VinFuture special prize in Hanoi for creating a low-cost filtration system to remove arsenic and other heavy metals from groundwater.
40. ‘Naatu Naatu’ from the blockbuster Telugu film ‘RRR’ has been shortlisted for the 2023 Oscar Awards in the ‘Best Original Song’ category.
41. Indian female wrestler Antim Panghal has been nominated for the honour of United World Wrestling Rising Star of the Year.
42. Indian doubles pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty reached a career-best world No. 5.
43. United World Wrestling has announced that the Asian Wrestling Championships 2023 will take place between March 28 to April 2nd, 2023 in New Delhi.
44. Tata Motors will be the title sponsor of the Maharashtra Open, better known as Tata Open Maharashtra, which is South Asia’s only ATP 250 tournament.

National News

1. Indian Railways received 800 proposals from startups to solve 11 problems under the “Startups for Railways” initiative launched in June this year.
   • In June 2022, the Minister of Railway Ashwini Vaishnaw launched Indian Railway Innovation Policy — ‘StartUps for Railways’ in New Delhi to leverage innovative technologies developed by Indian Startups, MSMEs, Innovators, Entrepreneurs to improve operational efficiency and safety of Indian Railways.
   • The policy aims to encourage young entrepreneurs to come up with ideas for improving operational efficiency and safety.
   • Portal for submission of solutions – innovation.indianrailways.gov.in
   • Financial Grant – Rs 1.5 crores worth of grant will be given to the innovator on an equal sharing basis
   • The payment will be based on performance / achievement of milestones.
2. Aviation regulator Directorate General for Civil Aviation has introduced new features on its e-governance platform (eGCA) for stakeholders.
   • The eGCA, a single window e-governance platform, has been enhanced to further improve the ease of doing business in the civil aviation ecosystem.
   • Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has developed the system of eGCA.
3. Atal Innovation Mission (AIM), NITI Aayog has opened applications for ‘ATL Marathon 2022-23’– a flagship innovation challenge under AIM’s Atal Tinkering Labs program.
   • ATL Marathon is a national-level innovation challenge for young innovators across India who can solve community problems of their choice, and develop innovative solutions in the form of working prototypes or, minimum viable products (MVP).
   • Theme of the ATL Marathon – “India’s G20 Presidency”
   • Problem areas – Education, Health, Agriculture, Environment & Climate Sustainability, Development, Digital Economy, Tourism, and Others (Identify your own problem and solve it)
   • Website for the Marathon – https://innovateindia.mygov.in/atl-marathon-2022/

4. National Test House (NTH) will set up testing facilities for EV batteries and charging systems at its Mumbai and Kolkata centres.
   • NTH, set up in 1912, is one of the largest multidisciplinary testing labs of the central government which caters to quality testing needs in different disciplines.
   • NTH is registered in the Government e-Market (GeM) as a service provider in the category “Testing and Calibration Service” to meet the testing needs of all government departments, CABs, and PSUs, etc.
5. Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has announced the integration of Government e-Marketplace services (GeM) with Common Service Centres (CSC) and India Post.
   • The Minister also launched the Government e-Marketplace Seller Samvaad Booklet. The booklet is a compilation of testimonials from sellers and service providers based on their experience on the GeM portal.
   • GeM Seller Samvaad events were held in around 26 cities across the country in collaboration with Press Information Bureau to facilitate an informal interaction of GeM sellers and service providers with members of regional and local media to document their journey in public procurement.
6. Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order (Fifth Amendment) Bill, 2022 has been passed by Lok Sabha to include Dhanuhar, Dhanuwar, Kisan, Saunra, Saonra, and Binjhia communities in the list of Scheduled Tribes in Chhattisgarh.
   • The Bill includes Bhuinya, Bhuiyan, and Bhuyan communities as synonyms of the Bharia Bhumia community. It also includes three Devanagari versions of the name of the Pando community.
7. Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs has flagged off the ground survey of Pey Jal Survekshan.
   • The Pey Jal Survekshan under Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) 2.0 was launched by Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs, Shri Hardeep Singh Puri.
   • The scheme aims to assess the service level compliance of the city with respect to quality, quantity, and coverage of water supply, sewerage and septage management, extent of reuse & recycle of used water and conservation of water bodies in 500 (485 after merger) AMRUT cities.
   • Ministry has appointed a third-party agency, IPSOS to conduct the Survekshan.
8. Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas will organise a one of its kind musical event, Dance to Decarbonise, at National Stadium in New Delhi.
   • The event aims at showcasing India’s target of achieving net-zero emissions by 2070 vis-a-vis the country’s growing economy, rising energy requirements, and the implementation of responsible energy sources over transformational energy systems for the future.
9. Commerce and industry Minister Piyush Goyal introduced the Jan Vishwas Bill in Lok Sabha, which seeks to decriminalise minor offences by amending 183 provisions in 42 Acts with a view to promote ease of business.
   • The Bill was later referred to a 31-member joint committee of Parliament for scrutiny.
10. Union Steel Minister, Jyotiraditya Scindia, has launched India’s first Green Steel Brand “KALYANI FeRRESTA” in New Delhi.
    • This first-of-its-kind steel has been manufactured by a Pune-based Steel company, Kalyani Group, by using renewable energy resources, leaving zero carbon footprints in the environment.

State News

1. Telangana will disburse ₹7600 crore to farmers under its ‘Rythu Bandhu’ scheme.
   • Rythu Bandhu scheme (aka Farmer’s Investment Support Scheme) is a welfare program to support farmer’s investment for two crops a year.
2. Uttar Pradesh has signed an agreement with the California-based “Austin University” to build a $42 billion ‘Smart City of Knowledge’ in the state.
   • To be built on 5,000 acres of land at a cost of USD 42 billion, the Knowledge City will include the best universities of the world.
3. Meghalaya has ranked first in the country as far as the average monthly income per agricultural household is concerned at Rs 29,348 per month.
   • After Meghalaya, other North-Eastern states’ rank remains as such — Arunachal Pradesh (Rs 19,225), Mizoram (Rs 17,964), Sikkim (Rs 12,447), Manipur (Rs 11,227), Assam (Rs 10,675), Tripura (Rs 9,918) and Nagaland (Rs 9,877).
   • At an all-India level, Punjab’s average monthly income per agricultural household is second-highest at Rs 26,701, which is then followed by Haryana (Rs 22,841), Arunachal Pradesh (Rs 19,225), and Jammu & Kashmir (Rs 18,918).

Defence News

1. INSV Tarini has set sail for an expedition to Cape Town, South Africa for participating in the 50th edition of Cape to Rio Race 2023 – ocean sailing race.
   • This race will be flagged off from Cape Town, South Africa and will end at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
2. Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders (MDL) delivered the fifth Scorpene Submarine ‘Vagir’ of Project P-75 to the Indian Navy.
   • The sixth Scorpene submarine – Vaghsheer was launched on 20 April 2022 and is getting readied for trials.

International News

1. UAE launched a biometric service at the Abu Dhabi airport under which no passport or ticket will be required anymore and a passenger’s face will be his boarding pass.
   • That means passengers can use their faces to get a boarding pass at the airport.
   • This advanced AI technology is designed by Abu Dhabi-based tech company, NEXT50.
2. Scientists working on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef have successfully trialled a new method for freezing and storing coral larvae they say could eventually help rewild reefs threatened by climate change.
   • It is the world’s first with Great Barrier Reef coral.
   • Scientists used cryomesh to freeze coral larvae at the Australian Institute of Marine Sciences (AIMS).
3. European Union has introduced the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), also known as the carbon border tax, to add a pollution price on certain imports to the EU.
4. Nigeria and Rwanda became the first African nations to sign the Artemis Accords during the first-ever U.S.-Africa Space Forum.
   • The Artemis Accords are a broad non-binding framework that lay out agreements for responsible and peaceful international exploration of the moon.
   • The Artemis Accords were launched jointly by NASA and the S. State Department along with eight nations in 2020 for advancing bilateral and multilateral space cooperation between signatories.
   • Now, there are 23 signatories to the Accords, which sets of principles and best practices for exploration.
5. According to the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Science & Engineering Indicators 2022 report of the United States, India’s position globally has improved from the 7th position in 2010 to the 3rd position in 2020 in scientific publications.
   • India now ranks 3rd in terms of the number of PhDs in science and engineering.

Reports and Indices

1. Economic Advisory Council to Prime Minister (EAC-PM) released the Social Progress Index (SPI) for states and districts of India.
   • Developer – Institute for Competitiveness and Social Progress Imperative
   • Parameters: It assesses states and districts across three critical dimensions of social progress
     • Basic Human Needs.
     • Foundations of Wellbeing.
     • Opportunity
   • Under each dimension there are four components (refer below image)

• It uses an extensive framework comprising 89 indicators at the state level and 49 at the district level.
• Its overall score is scaled from 0 (lowest) to 100 (highest) to provide social progress performance of states and districts.
• Based on the SPI scores, states and districts are ranked under 6 tiers of social progress. They are
  • Tier 1: Very High Social Progress.
  • Tier 2: High Social Progress.
  • Tier 3: Upper Middle Social Progress.
  • Tier 4: Lower Middle Social Progress.
  • Tier 5: Low Social Progress.
  • Tier 6: Very Low Social Progress.
• Best-performing states: Puducherry, Lakshadweep, and Goa.
• Top 3 best-performing districts: Aizawl (Mizoram), Solan (Himachal Pradesh), and Shimla (Himachal Pradesh).

Banking and Economy

1. Jindal Steel and Power (JSPL) will spend Rs 7,930 crore under the production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme for specialty steel to manufacture eight types of high-end alloy in the country.
   • The government has selected a total of 67 entities with an investment potential of Rs 42,500 crore under the scheme.
   • The proposed investments are expected to generate 70,000 job opportunities and add 26 million tonnes of speciality steel capacity in India.
2. Bhutan has signed an agreement with PTC India to receive an electricity supply of 600 MW during the winter season.
   • CMD of PTC India Ltd – Rajib K Mishra
3. Wipro Consumer Care and Lighting announced a definitive agreement to buy Nirapara, one of the largest-selling traditional food brand in Kerala.
4. SEBI has approved the amendment to its buyback regulations which allows the gradually phase out of share buyback option through stock exchange route.
   • Until then, a separate window will be created on the stock exchanges to conduct such repurchases.
   • At present, for share buyback, companies have both the options of stock exchange and tender offer.
   • Minimum utilisation of amount for buyback through stock exchange has been increased to 75% from 50% currently.
5. Credit bureau TransUnion CIBIL, in collaboration with Online PSB Loans and SIDBI have launched the FIT Rank – a comprehensive ranking model for MSMEs.
   • The rankings will provide information on the probability of an MSME becoming a non-performing asset (NPA) in the next 12 months.
   • FIT Rank provides a ranking for the MSME, based on its financial, income, and trade data on a scale of 1 to 10, FIT Rank 1 being for the least risky MSME and FIT Rank 10 being for the most at-risk MSME.
   • FIT Rank will also provide the details available with Goods and Services Tax (GST) filings.
   • Using FIT rankings, SIDBI has launched a new Express loan Product for MSMEs to provide them loans up to Rs 50 lakh for purchase of machinery and rooftop solar through straight-through processes.
6. Maritime logistics arm of Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) and Singapore-based AG&P (Atlantic, Gulf and Pacific) have signed an agreement to use Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) carrier as a floating storage unit in India.
   • The LNG carrier is owned by ADNOC Logistics & Services (ADNOC L&S).
7. Reliance Retail Ventures Ltd. (RRVL), a subsidiary of Reliance Industries Ltd., has signed definitive agreements to acquire 100% equity stake in Metro Cash & Carry India Pvt Ltd. for a total cash consideration of ₹2,850 crore.
8. Private lender Bandhan Bank has signed an MOU with the Controller General of Defence Accounts to extend banking facilities to servicemen.
   • The service to the defence personnel will be provided under the System for Pension Administration Raksha (SPARSH).
9. One97 Communications Limited (OCL) launched ‘Paytm Payment Protect’, a group insurance plan, in association with HDFC ERGO General Insurance, to insure transactions made through UPI across all apps and wallets.
   • With this new insurance offering, which comes at a cost of as low as Rs 30 per annum, users can now secure themselves against mobile fraudulent transactions up to Rs 10,000.
   • Higher cover options for cover up to Rs 1 lakh per annum will soon be added to the product.

GDP Forecasts

1. Fitch Ratings affirmed India’s sovereign credit rating at ‘BBB-‘ with stable outlook.
   • FY23 fiscal deficit target – 6.6% of GDP
   • FY24 fiscal deficit target – 6% of GDP
   • India’s deficit will gradually decline to 9.2% of GDP in FY24 and 8.7% in FY25 on the back of continued declines in central government deficits.
2. NITI Aayog has forecasted an over 7% growth rate for India in FY23.
   • RBI has forecasted a 6.8% growth rate for FY23.

Appointments

1. Renowned athlete PT Usha became the first nominated MP in Rajya Sabha to be nominated to the panel of Vice Chairpersons.
   • The vice-chairpersons will conduct the proceedings of the House when Chairman and Deputy Chairman are not available.

2. Senior nuclear scientist Dinesh Kumar Shukla has been appointed as the chairperson of the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) for a period of 3 years.
   • The Atomic Energy Regulatory Board was constituted in 1983 by the President of India by exercising the powers conferred by the Atomic Energy Act of 1962.

Important Days

1. December 20 – International Human Solidarity Day
2. December 23 – National Farmer’s Day
3. December 19-25 – 2nd Sushasan Saptah (Good Governance Week)

Awards

1. Sethrichem Sangtam, who runs an NGO that works with farmers in eastern Nagaland, has won the first Rohini Nayyar Prize for Outstanding Contribution to Rural Development.
   • It carries a Rs 10 lakh prize.
   • The Nayyar Foundation for Social and Economic Purpose, a foundation set up by her family, will give away the annual prize to those under 40 for their contribution to rural development.
2. Indian scientist at IIT-Madras, Thalappil Pradeep, received VinFuture special prize in Hanoi for creating a low-cost filtration system to remove arsenic and other heavy metals from groundwater.
3. ‘Naatu Naatu’ from the blockbuster Telugu film ‘RRR’ has been shortlisted for the 2023 Oscar Awards in the ‘Best Original Song’ category.
   • Gujarati film ‘Chhello Show’ was shortlisted in the ‘Best International Feature Film’
4. Indian female wrestler Antim Panghal has been nominated for the honour of United World Wrestling Rising Star of the Year.

Sports

1. Indian doubles pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty reached a career-best world No. 5.
   • HS Prannoy regained his place in the top 10 in men’s singles in the BWF world rankings.
2. United World Wrestling has announced that the Asian Wrestling Championships 2023 will take place between March 28 to April 2nd, 2023 in New Delhi.
   • The Championship will feature men’s freestyle, women’s freestyle, and men’s Greco-Roman divisions.
3. Tata Motors will be the title sponsor of the Maharashtra Open, better known as Tata Open Maharashtra, which is South Asia’s only ATP 250 tournament.
   • It will begin on 31 December in Pune.

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