26th December, 2022

1. Central Ayurveda Research Institute (CARI), New Delhi, and Central Ayurveda Research Institute, Jhansi, have been accredited with NABH and NABL accreditations, respectively.
2. ISRO has announced to carry the scientific instruments of the USA on its forthcoming Chandrayaan 3 mission.
3. Bengaluru-based Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR), an autonomous institute of the Department of Science and Technology, has shown for the first time infrared light emission and absorption with GaN nanostructures.
4. Central government will provide free foodgrains to about 35 crore beneficiaries under the National Food Security Act (NFSA) for one year from January 1, 2023.
5. India’s first intranasal Covid vaccine iNCOVACC has been approved by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare as a booster or precautionary dose for those aged 18 years and above.
6. Atal Incubation Centre (AIC) at the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) signed agreements with MSMEs for the incubation of newer technologies into commercial products.
7. India and Bangladesh have decided to start talks for a free trade agreement (FTA) early.
8. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will flag off West Bengal’s first Vande Bharat Express on the busy Howrah-New Jalpaiguri route.
9. “Lion@47: Vision for Amrutkal” has been prepared by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change for the conservation of the Asiatic Lion in Gujarat.
10. A total of 10 captive-bred Asian Giant Tortoises (Manouria emys) have been released into Ntangki National Park in Peren district, Nagaland, India to conserve one of the largest tortoise species in mainland Asia.
11. The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs is organizing the Urban 20 (U20) event during India’s G20 presidency from December 01, 2022 to November 30, 2023.
12. Manipur CM N Biren Singh has upgraded the Inner Line Permit (ILP) System portal of the state.
13. Uttarakhand Governor Gen. (Retd.) Gurmit Singh gave a nod to the State’s Freedom of Religion (Amendment) Act for making unlawful conversions a cognizable and non-bailable offence punishable with a prison term of up to 10 years.
14. Union Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports, Anurag Singh Thakur inaugurated the Sports Science Centre in Udupi, Karnataka.
15. Maharashtra Women and Child Development department has launched ‘Balsnehi’ (child-friendly) buses and vans under an initiative to rehabilitate street children.
16. Union Cabinet approved minimum support prices (MSPs) for copra for 2023 season, fixing it at Rs 10,860 per quintal for fair average quality of milling copra and at Rs 11,750 per quintal for ball copra.
17. India and Japan will conduct their first-ever air exercise named “Veer Guardian” from January 16 to 26, 2023.
18. NTPC Ltd. and GE Power India Limited have signed an MOU to demonstrate technologies to reduce the carbon footprint of NTPC’s existing coal-fired power plants.
19. High Ambition Coalition (HAC) for Nature and People has announced the formation of a new permanent Secretariat to be co-hosted by the World Resources Institute (WRI) and the Global Environment Facility (GEF).
20. The Russian government is working towards supplying the third S-400 air defence systems to India in time by January-February 2023.
21. IIT-Kharagpur aims to become the world-wide benchmark in education excellence by establishing IIT-Malaysia.
22. Japan has adopted a plan to extend the operation of existing nuclear power reactors and replace ageing facilities with new advanced ones.
23. Reliance Jio has won the Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOCL) order for providing SD-WAN (Software Defined Wide Area Network) solution.
24. Tata Power has received a Rs 450 crore “sustainable trade finance facility” from MUFG Bank of Japan to fund its solar projects in India.
25. National Stock Exchange of India (NSE) received in-principle approval from SEBI to set up a Social Stock Exchange (SSE) as a separate segment of the NSE.
26. Bharti Airtel and Apollo Hospitals conducted India’s first 5G-driven, artificial intelligence (AI)-guided colonoscopy trials in collaboration with technology companies HealthNet Global, Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Avesha.
27. International Finance Corporation, a part of the World Bank Group, has extended a $400 million loan to HDFC Bank to boost green housing in the affordable segment.
28. Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has approved the revision of pension of Armed Forces Pensioners/family pensioners under the One Rank One Pension (OROP) from July 1, 2019.
29. Adani Group will control around 65% of NDTV as founders Radhika and Prannoy Roy have sold their stake.
30. International Monetary Fund (IMF) has projected India to grow by 6.8% in 2022-23.
31. US President Joe Biden has nominated Indian-American lawyer diplomat Richard Verma, also a former US ambassador to India.
32. SBI Funds Management Limited (SBIFML), a joint venture between State Bank of India and Amundi, Europe’s largest asset manager, has appointed Shamsher Singh as the MD & CEO of SBI Funds Management Limited.
33. Sitiveni ‘Rambo’ Rabuka has been appointed as the new Prime Minister of Fiji.
34. PN Vasudevan will continue to be the MD & CEO of Equitas Small Finance Bank.
35. Former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Mysore S. Rangappa has been elected as a fellow of The World Academy of Science (TWAS) for the advancement of science in developing countries.
36. Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ has been elected as the Prime Minister of Nepal.
37. December 24 – National Consumer Day
38. December 25 – Good Governance Day (birth anniversary of Atal Bihari Vajpayee)
39. December 26 – Veer Bal Diwas (to commemorate the martyrdom of two younger sons of Guru Gobind Singh – Sahibzadas Baba Zorawar Singh Ji and Baba Fateh Singh Ji)
40. Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has won the prestigious GRIHA Exemplary Performance Award 2022, a top national level Green Building Award.
41. The ‘Ekalabya Puraskar’ for the year 2022 was presented to cyclist Swasti Singh.
42. Rabindranath Tagore Literary Prize 2021-22 has been jointly won by Sudeep Sen and Shobhana Kumar.
43. Indian scientist, Thalappil Pradeep (IIT-Madras) received VinFuture special prize in Hanoi for innovating a low-cost filtration system to remove arsenic and other heavy metals from groundwater.
44. The American magazine Forbes released the list of the top 25 female athletes.
45. FIFA World Rankings December 2022 –
46. Mirabai Chanu won the silver medal in 49 kg category at the 2022 IWF World Weightlifting Championship at Bogota, Columbia.
47. Hockey India has announced the 18-member team to represent India at the prestigious FIH Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup 2023 to be held in Bhubaneswar and Rourkela from January 13 to 29.
48. Sam Curran becomes the most expensive player in IPL history in the Rs 18.50 crore deal.
49. Geto Sora (badminton player from Arunachal Pradesh) has won the Top Arena Junior International Badminton Championship title in the Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

National News

1. Central Ayurveda Research Institute (CARI), New Delhi, and Central Ayurveda Research Institute, Jhansi, have been accredited with NABH and NABL accreditations, respectively.
   • Both the CARIs come under the aegis of Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences (CCRAS) of the Ministry of Ayush.
   • Central Ayurveda Research Institute (CARI), New Delhi – provides OPD services in ayurveda
   • Central Ayurveda Research Institute, Jhansi – tests state-of-the-art Quality Control Laboratories (Chemistry, Microbiology, Pharmacognosy), Ayurvedic Pharmacy, Central Herbarium and Museum, and National Raw Drugs Repository (NRDR)

2. ISRO has announced to carry the scientific instruments of the USA on its forthcoming Chandrayaan 3 mission.
   • The Chandrayaan mission 2 also carried American scientific instruments.
   • The Chandrayaan-3 mission is a continuation of Chandrayaan-2, which was launched in July 2019. It will also be launched on the South Pole of moon.
3. Bengaluru-based Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR), an autonomous institute of the Department of Science and Technology, has shown for the first time infrared light emission and absorption with GaN nanostructures.
   • Gallium Nitride (GaN) is a very hard and mechanically stable wide band gap (WBG) semiconductor, as it has a hexagonal crystal structure.
4. Central government will provide free foodgrains to about 35 crore beneficiaries under the National Food Security Act (NFSA) for one year from January 1, 2023.
   • The Centre will spend more than Rs 2 lakh crore in this period as food subsidy under NFSA and other welfare schemes, to remove the financial burden of the poor and the poorest of the poor.
   • 5 kg food grains per person to Priority Households (PHH) beneficiaries and 35 kg per household to Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) beneficiaries (poorest of the poor) will be provided free of cost for the next 1 year.
5. India’s first intranasal Covid vaccine iNCOVACC has been approved by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare as a booster or precautionary dose for those aged 18 years and above.
   • The vaccine will be added to the Co-Win app – a web platform for vaccination registration in the country.
6. Atal Incubation Centre (AIC) at the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) signed agreements with MSMEs for the incubation of newer technologies into commercial products.
7. India and Bangladesh have decided to start talks for a free trade agreement (FTA) early.
8. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will flag off West Bengal’s first Vande Bharat Express on the busy Howrah-New Jalpaiguri route.
   • It will bring down travel time between Kolkata and Siliguri, the gateway to the Northeast considerably.
9. “Lion@47: Vision for Amrutkal” has been prepared by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change for the conservation of the Asiatic Lion in Gujarat.
   • The Project is being implemented in the Gir landscape in Gujarat which is the last home of the Asiatic lion.
   • Project Tiger is being implemented in tiger landscapes spread across the country in 53 tiger reserves.

10. A total of 10 captive-bred Asian Giant Tortoises (Manouria emys) have been released into Ntangki National Park in Peren district, Nagaland, India to conserve one of the largest tortoise species in mainland Asia.
    • The Asian Giant Tortoise is listed as “critically endangered” on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List of Threatened Species.
    • The Nagaland Zoological Park in Dimapur has the highest number of Asian Giant Tortoise, with 110 hatchlings and juveniles from 13 adults.
11. The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs is organizing the Urban 20 (U20) event during India’s G20 presidency from December 01, 2022 to November 30, 2023.
    • Purpose – to provide a platform for cities from G20 countries to discuss important issues of urban development, including climate change, social inclusion, sustainable mobility, affordable housing, and financing of urban infrastructure
    • Ahmedabad (a UNESCO World Heritage city) will host the U20 cycle.

State News

1. Manipur CM N Biren Singh has upgraded the Inner Line Permit (ILP) System portal of the state.

2. Uttarakhand Governor Gen. (Retd.) Gurmit Singh gave a nod to the State’s Freedom of Religion (Amendment) Act for making unlawful conversions a cognizable and non-bailable offence punishable with a prison term of up to 10 years.
   • Uttarakhand will now be slapped with a fine of at least Rs 50,000.
3. Union Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports, Anurag Singh Thakur inaugurated the Sports Science Centre in Udupi, Karnataka.
4. Maharashtra Women and Child Development department has launched ‘Balsnehi’ (child-friendly) buses and vans under an initiative to rehabilitate street children.
   • The project will be implemented in six districts where ‘flying squads’ will move around in dedicated vehicles to help bring these street children into the mainstream of the society and ensure their education.
   • The project will be implemented in Mumbai city and its suburbs, Thane, Nashik, Pune and Nagpur, over a period of six months.

Agriculture and Rural Development

1. Union Cabinet approved minimum support prices (MSPs) for copra for 2023 season, fixing it at Rs 10,860 per quintal for fair average quality of milling copra and at Rs 11,750 per quintal for ball copra.
   • The approval is based on recommendations of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices.

Defence News

1. India and Japan will conduct their first-ever air exercise named “Veer Guardian” from January 16 to 26, 2023.
   • This 10-day exercise will be held between the Indian Air Force and the Japanese Air Self-Defence Force (JASDF) at Japan’s Hyakuri air base and Iruma air base.

Memorandum of Understanding

1. NTPC Ltd. and GE Power India Limited have signed an MOU to demonstrate technologies to reduce the carbon footprint of NTPC’s existing coal-fired power plants.
   • GE Power will conduct the feasibility study for developing technologies to reduce NTPC’s carbon footprint.

International News

1. High Ambition Coalition (HAC) for Nature and People has announced the formation of a new permanent Secretariat to be co-hosted by the World Resources Institute (WRI) and the Global Environment Facility (GEF).
   • This coalition is an intergovernmental group of 116 countries co-chaired by Costa Rica and France and by the UK as Ocean co-chair.
   • The coalition was officially launched at the One Planet Summit in Paris in 2021.
2. The Russian government is working towards supplying the third S-400 air defence systems to India in time by January-February 2023.
   • The first two squadrons have already been operationalised in the northern and eastern sectors respectively.
3. IIT-Kharagpur aims to become the world-wide benchmark in education excellence by establishing IIT-Malaysia.
   • It will be a major step for the institute to set its global footprint in the international domain of Higher Education promoting Indian standards of education.
4. Japan has adopted a plan to extend the operation of existing nuclear power reactors and replace ageing facilities with new advanced ones.

Banking and Economy

1. Reliance Jio has won the Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOCL) order for providing SD-WAN (Software Defined Wide Area Network) solution.
   • Purpose – to power IOCL’s retail automation and critical business processes, such as payment processing, daily price updates, Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) software and network monitoring with enterprise-grade connectivity, Quality of Service (QOS) and 24×7 support across 28 states and eight Union Territories
2. Tata Power has received a Rs 450 crore “sustainable trade finance facility” from MUFG Bank of Japan to fund its solar projects in India.
   • MUFG extended this financing to fund the procurement of TP Kirnali Limited (TPKL)’s two solar power projects – a 100 MW project in Parthur, Maharashtra and a 120MW project in Mesanka, Gujarat.

3. National Stock Exchange of India (NSE) received in-principle approval from SEBI to set up a Social Stock Exchange (SSE) as a separate segment of the NSE.
   • In October 2022, Bombay Stock Exchange got the approval from SEBI to set up a Social Stock Exchange (SSE) as a separate segment of the
   • The SSE will issue ‘zero coupon, zero principle’ securities.
   • The minimum issue size is Rs 1 crore and the minimum application size is Rs 2 lakh.
4. Bharti Airtel and Apollo Hospitals conducted India’s first 5G-driven, artificial intelligence (AI)-guided colonoscopy trials in collaboration with technology companies HealthNet Global, Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Avesha.
   • The AI-guided colonoscopy procedure helped in image processing in real-time.
5. International Finance Corporation, a part of the World Bank Group, has extended a $400 million loan to HDFC Bank to boost green housing in the affordable segment.
   • 75% of this funding will be used for extending loans for green affordable housing portfolio.
6. Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has approved the revision of pension of Armed Forces Pensioners/family pensioners under the One Rank One Pension (OROP) from July 1, 2019.
   • Pension of the past pensioners would be re-fixed on the basis of average of minimum and maximum pension of Defence Forces retirees of calendar year 2018 in the same rank with the same length of service.
   • Arrears will be paid in four half-yearly instalments.
7. Adani Group will control around 65% of NDTV as founders Radhika and Prannoy Roy have sold their stake.
   • Radhika and Prannoy Roy will sell a 27.26% stake of their remaining 32.26% shareholding in NDTV to an entity owned by Adani, giving it 64.71% of NDTV.

GDP Forecasts

1. International Monetary Fund (IMF) has projected India to grow by 6.8% in 2022-23.
   • India’s GDP Growth Rate for 2023-24 – 6.1%
2. US President Joe Biden has nominated Indian-American lawyer diplomat Richard Verma, also a former US ambassador to India.

Appointments

1. SBI Funds Management Limited (SBIFML), a joint venture between State Bank of India and Amundi, Europe’s largest asset manager, has appointed Shamsher Singh as the MD & CEO of SBI Funds Management Limited.
2. Sitiveni ‘Rambo’ Rabuka has been appointed as the new Prime Minister of Fiji.

3. PN Vasudevan will continue to be the MD & CEO of Equitas Small Finance Bank.
4. Former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Mysore S. Rangappa has been elected as a fellow of The World Academy of Science (TWAS) for the advancement of science in developing countries.
   • The fellowship comes into effect from January 1, 2023.

5. Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ has been elected as the Prime Minister of Nepal.

Important Days

1. December 24 – National Consumer Day
2. December 25 – Good Governance Day (birth anniversary of Atal Bihari Vajpayee)
3. December 26 – Veer Bal Diwas (to commemorate the martyrdom of two younger sons of Guru Gobind Singh – Sahibzadas Baba Zorawar Singh Ji and Baba Fateh Singh Ji)
   • December 23 – Shaheedi Diwas (to commemorate the martyrdom of two elder sons of Guru Gobind Singh – Baba Ajit Singh ji and Baba Jujhar Singh Ji)

Awards

1. Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has won the prestigious GRIHA Exemplary Performance Award 2022, a top national level Green Building Award.
   • GRIHA (Green Rating for Integrated Habitat Assessment) is a national rating system for green buildings in India.
   • UIDAI has also won the Data Security Council of India’s Excellence Award 2022 in the “Best Security Practices in Government Sector” category.
2. The ‘Ekalabya Puraskar’ for the year 2022 was presented to cyclist Swasti Singh.
   • Indian Metals Public Charitable Trust (IMPaCT) has instituted the Ekalabya Puraskar to encourage young sports talents.
3. Rabindranath Tagore Literary Prize 2021-22 has been jointly won by Sudeep Sen and Shobhana Kumar.
   • Sen won this award for his genre and form bender ‘Anthropocene: Climate Change, Contagion, Consolation’.
   • Kumar won the award for her haibun collection ‘A Sky Full of Bucket Lists’.
4. Indian scientist, Thalappil Pradeep (IIT-Madras) received VinFuture special prize in Hanoi for innovating a low-cost filtration system to remove arsenic and other heavy metals from groundwater.
5. The American magazine Forbes released the list of the top 25 female athletes.
   • PV Sindhu, at 12th rank, is the only shuttler (badminton player) and Indian on the list.
   • Naomi Osaka (tennis player from Japan) is at 1st

Sports

1. FIFA World Rankings December 2022 –
   • Top ranking countries – Brazil (1st) and Argentina (2nd)
2. Mirabai Chanu won the silver medal in 49 kg category at the 2022 IWF World Weightlifting Championship at Bogota, Columbia.
   • Hidilyn Diaz from Philippines won 3 gold medals in 55 kg category.
3. Hockey India has announced the 18-member team to represent India at the prestigious FIH Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup 2023 to be held in Bhubaneswar and Rourkela from January 13 to 29.
   • Ace drag-flicker Harmanpreet Singh has been named the captain of the squad with Amit Rohidas as the Vice-Captain.
4. Sam Curran becomes the most expensive player in IPL history in the Rs 18.50 crore deal.
5. Geto Sora (badminton player from Arunachal Pradesh) has won the Top Arena Junior International Badminton Championship title in the Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

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