27th December, 2022

1. Central Govt has mandated the digital attendance of workers employed under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGREGS) from January 1, 2023.
2. Ministry of Mines has approved the purchase of two new surveyor ships, which will replace the ageing RV Samudra Shaudhikama and RV Samudra Kaustabh and conduct marine surveys for the Geological Survey of India (GSI).
3. The bar-headed goose, considered one of the world’s highest-flying birds, recently visited the Muttukadu backwaters in Tamil Nadu.
4. Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming and Comic (AVGC) Task Force has provided recommendations for the growth and promotion of the AVGC sector.
5. Project Vaani has been launched by the Indian Institute of Science-Bangalore, Google and ARTPARK (AI and Robotics Technology Park).
6. Ladakh celebrated Losar Festival to mark the Ladakhi New Year. It will continue for nine days from the new year.
7. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal reviewed the progress of the real-time source apportionment project, which is being implemented by the Delhi Pollution Control Committee, in collaboration with IIT-Kanpur, IIT-Delhi, and TERI.
8. Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has issued the Type Certification for the Kisan drones made by Garuda Aerospace.
9. Ministry of Defence has announced to procure indigenous short-range ballistic surface-to-surface (SRBM) missile named Pralay (developed by DRDO).
10. According to the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) data, India will become the third economic superpower by 2037 and a $10-trillion economy by 2035.
11. Serbia is terminating visa-free entry for Indians from January 1, 2023. From Jan 1, Indian passport holders will no longer have the luxury of traveling to Serbia without a valid visa.
12. According to a new research study, the population of Antarctica’s Emperor Penguins may go extinct by 2100, if immediate actions are not taken.
13. World Bank has released the “2022 in Nine Charts” report to assess the year of 2022.
14. Tata Steel has been certified as ‘Great Place to Work’ by Great Place to Work Institute for 2023 for the sixth consecutive year.
15. Infibeam Avenues Ltd., the country’s first listed payments infrastructure firm, has received Perpetual Licence from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for its bill payments business, BillAvenue.
16. Bajaj Allianz General Insurance, one of the leading private general insurers of India, has launched its unique health insurance rider ‘Respect Senior Care Rider’.
17. In May 2022, HCL Corporation and World Economic Forum launched a $15 million Aquaprenuer- Global Fresh Water Innovation Challenge initiative.
18. Santosh Kumar Yadav has been appointed as the Chairman of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI).
19. Anil Kumar Lahoti has been appointed as the Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Railway Board.
20. IIT-Madras has won the Wharton-QS Reimagine Education Awards, referred to as ‘the Oscars of Education’.
21. Australia’s men’s Test Player of the Year award will be named in honour of Shane Warne.
22. Lovlina Borgohain and Nikhat Zareen won the gold medals at Women’s National Boxing Championship 2022 in Bhopal.
23. “Forks in the Road: My Days at RBI and Beyond” book has been authored by Rangarajan (former Governor of RBI).

National News

1. Central Govt has mandated the digital attendance of workers employed under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGREGS) from January 1, 2023.
2. Ministry of Mines has approved the purchase of two new surveyor ships, which will replace the ageing RV Samudra Shaudhikama and RV Samudra Kaustabh and conduct marine surveys for the Geological Survey of India (GSI).
   • The RV Samudra Shaudhikama and RV Samudra Kaustabh were built in the Netherlands and commissioned in 1984.
3. The bar-headed goose, considered one of the world’s highest-flying birds, recently visited the Muttukadu backwaters in Tamil Nadu.
4. Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming and Comic (AVGC) Task Force has provided recommendations for the growth and promotion of the AVGC sector.
   • The AVGC Task Force was set up under the chairmanship of the Secretary of the Information and Broadcasting Ministry (Apurva Chandra).
   • Among the recommendations, the Task Force has called for a National AVGC-XR (Extended Reality)
   • Establish a National Centre of Excellence (COE) for the AVGC sector to become an international reference point across Skilling, Education, Industry Development and Research & Innovation for the AVGC sector.
   • Four Sub-Task Forces were constituted for devising strategies of growth through targeted interventions in their respective areas,
   1. Industry & Policy headed by Shri Apurva Chandra, Secretary MOIB;
   2. Education headed by Shri Anil Shahashrabudhe, then Chairperson AICTE;
   3. Skilling headed by Shri Rajesh Aggarwal, then Secretary MoSDE, and;
   4. Gaming headed by Shri Vikram Sahay, JS MOIB. Their recommendations have formed the basis of the consolidated report of the Task Force.
5. Project Vaani has been launched by the Indian Institute of Science-Bangalore, Google and ARTPARK (AI and Robotics Technology Park).
• Purpose – to gather speech data from across India for the creation of an AI-based language model that can understand diverse Indian languages and dialects
• Under Project Vaani, diverse languages used across India will be mapped by collecting speech sets of around 1 million people from 773 districts over 3 years.
• The Project will cost Rs 30 to 40 million.

State News

1. Ladakh celebrated Losar Festival to mark the Ladakhi New Year. It will continue for nine days from the new year.
2. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal reviewed the progress of the real-time source apportionment project, which is being implemented by the Delhi Pollution Control Committee, in collaboration with IIT-Kanpur, IIT-Delhi, and TERI.
   • Under this project, a supersite with cutting-edge air analysers and a mobile air quality monitoring system will be used to measure the concentration of various substances in the air above Delhi.

Agriculture and Rural Development

1. Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has issued the Type Certification for the Kisan drones made by Garuda Aerospace.
   • DGCA has also authorised Garuda Aerospace as Remote Pilot Training Organisation (RPTO) to train people to operate drones.
   • Thus, it became the first company to get DGCA’s double certification for Kisan Drones.

Defence News

1. Ministry of Defence has announced to procure indigenous short-range ballistic surface-to-surface (SRBM) missile named Pralay (developed by DRDO).
   • The missile will be India’s first tactical quasi-ballistic missile.
   • Key Features of Pralay – It is a ballistic missile with a low trajectory. It can manoeuvre (change its path) in flight. It has been designed to evade interceptor missile. High accuracy. Capable of carrying 350-700 kg of deadly warheads.
     • ‘Pralay’ ballistic missile is a canisterised tactical, surface-to-surface, and short-range ballistic missile (SRBM) for battlefield use. It can hit targets from a distance of 150 to 500 km and is extremely difficult to intercept by enemy interceptor missiles

International News

1. According to the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) data, India will become the third economic superpower by 2037 and a $10-trillion economy by 2035.
   

   • The annual rate of India’s GDP will be 6.4% over the next five years.
   • The annual rate of India’s GDP growth will be 6.5% on average in the subsequent nine years.
   • This growth trajectory will push India’s ranking from fifth place on the World Economic League Table in 2022 to third in the global rankings by 2037.
2. Serbia is terminating visa-free entry for Indians from January 1, 2023. From Jan 1, Indian passport holders will no longer have the luxury of traveling to Serbia without a valid visa.
   • Earlier, diplomatic and official Indian passport holders were allowed to visit the country for 90 days without any visa, while the duration was 30 days for ordinary passport holders.
3. According to a new research study, the population of Antarctica’s Emperor Penguins may go extinct by 2100, if immediate actions are not taken.
   • The populations of up to 97% of land-based Antarctic species could decline by the end of this century.

Reports and Indices

1. World Bank has released the “2022 in Nine Charts” report to assess the year of 2022.
   • Poverty –
     • In 2022, 685 million people are living in extreme poverty. This makes 2022 the second-worst year for poverty reduction in the past 20 years after the year 2020.
     • Around 7% of the global population (574 million people) will live in extreme poverty by 2030, which is far short of the global goal of 3% in 2030.
   • Debt Crisis –
     • Currently, 60% of the world’s poorest countries are either in debt distress or at risk of it.
   • Energy Crisis –
     • At present, 733 million people do not have access to electricity. By 2030, over 670 million people will remain without access to electricity.
   • Learning Poverty –
     • Of every 100 children in low and middle-income countries, 60 are “learning deprived” and 10 are deprived of schools.

Banking and Economy

1. Tata Steel has been certified as ‘Great Place to Work’ by Great Place to Work Institute for 2023 for the sixth consecutive year.
2. Infibeam Avenues Ltd., the country’s first listed payments infrastructure firm, has received Perpetual Licence from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for its bill payments business, BillAvenue.
   • The licence will allow BillAvenue to function as a Bharat Bill Payment Operating Unit (BBPOU) under Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS).
   • As a BBPOU, BillAvenue operates as both biller and customer operating unit onboarding billers and agent institutions to service customers.
3. Bajaj Allianz General Insurance, one of the leading private general insurers of India, has launched its unique health insurance rider ‘Respect Senior Care Rider’.
   • The company offers a comprehensive network of services and professionals who collaborate with one another to ensure that senior citizen will always receive the highest possible level of care.
4. In May 2022, HCL Corporation and World Economic Forum launched a $15 million Aquaprenuer- Global Fresh Water Innovation Challenge initiative.
   • HCL Corporation partnered with UpLink, the open innovation platform of the World Economic Forum, to announce the five-year-long Aquapreneur Innovation Initiative.
   • HCL Corporation has committed $15 million over a period of five years to support this initiative.
   • This year, the initiative is witnessing massive interest of startups from regions like India and the rest of Asia, South America and Africa.
   • UpLink, an innovation platform led by the WEF, helps link startups solving global challenges to investor ecosystems.

Appointments

1. Santosh Kumar Yadav has been appointed as the Chairman of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI).

2. Anil Kumar Lahoti has been appointed as the Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Railway Board.

Awards

1. IIT-Madras has won the Wharton-QS Reimagine Education Awards, referred to as ‘the Oscars of Education’.
   • The BS in Data Science and Applications won Silver in the ‘Best Online Program’ category, while NPTEL (National Programme on Technology Enhanced Learning), a joint initiative of IITs and IISc, won the Gold in the ‘Lifelong Learning category.’
2. Australia’s men’s Test Player of the Year award will be named in honour of Shane Warne.

Sports

1. Lovlina Borgohain and Nikhat Zareen won the gold medals at Women’s National Boxing Championship 2022 in Bhopal.
   • The Railways team topped the medals tally with 10 medals – five golds, three silvers and two bronze.
   • Madhya Pradesh, with one gold, two silver and five bronze stood second, while Haryana with two gold and two bronze claimed the third position. Shane Warne

Miscellaneous

1. “Forks in the Road: My Days at RBI and Beyond” book has been authored by Rangarajan (former Governor of RBI).

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