05th December, 2023

1. Ministry of Tourism has launched National Best Tourism Village and National Best Rural Homestays Competition 2024.
2. World’s first indigenously designed portable hospital ‘Aarogya Maitri Aid Cube‘ has been unveiled in Gurugram, Haryana.
3. India has reduced its emission intensity as per a government report titled ‘The Third National Communication to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change‘.
4. Asian Development Bank has provided USD 200mn loan for Uttarakhand’s Climate-Resilient Power System Development Project.
5. Three Indians have featured in 17th edition of Forbes Asia 2023 Heroes of Philanthropy List.
6. India has been ranked 49th in in the International Institute for Management Development (IMD)’s 7th edition of World Digital Competitiveness Ranking (WDCR) 2023.
7. Safeena Hussain, founder of ‘Educate Girl’ has become the first Indian woman to win WISE Prize for education 2023 at 11th edition of World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE) summit in Doha.
8. International Day of Persons with Disabilities
9. International Day of Banks
10. Indian Navy Day
11. Indian Tennis player Ramkumar Ramnath has won ITF Kalaburagi Open 2023 by defeating David Pichler from Austria in finals held at Chandrashekhar Patil Stadium, Kalburgi, Karnataka.
12. FITEXPO India 2023 has commenced at Biswa Bangla Mela Prangan in Kolkata.
13. Godrej Capital Nirmaan has partnered with DBS Bank India, Visa and Amazon to aid Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) growth.
14. Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM) has signed MoU with Business Finland to boost start-up ecosystems
15. Election Commission has appointed former Indian Cricketer Suresh Raina as the youth voter awareness ambassador of Jammu & Kashmir.
16. PNB MetLife has appointed Smriti Mandhana as its brand ambassador.
17. Kanchan Devi has become first woman officer to become Director General of the Indian Council of Forestry Research education (ICFRE).

National News

1. Ministry of Tourism has launched National Best Tourism Village and National Best Rural Homestays Competition 2024.
   • Objectives–
     • To strengthen the promotion and development of Rural Tourism in the country.
     • To develop healthy competitiveness among the villages and the rural homestays to identify and reward outstanding contributions to Rural Tourism.
     • It was launched on World Tourism Day, 27th September 2023
     • Application time– 15th November to 31st December, 2023
       Source: PIB

   
   
2. World’s first indigenously designed portable hospital ‘Aarogya Maitri Aid Cube‘ has been unveiled in Gurugram, Haryana.
   • Key features–
     • It can be set up within one hour of arriving at the emergency site to treat the injured.
     • It can be used in any emergency area or disaster such as earthquake, flood, forest-fire or even a war.
     • It is made up of 72 detachable mini- cubes, each being a specialised station for emergency response and humanitarian efforts.
     • It is designed indigenously under Project BHISHM (Bharat Health Initiative for Sahyog Hita and Maitri).
       Source: ANI

   
   
3. India has reduced its emission intensity as per a government report titled ‘The Third National Communication to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change‘.
   • Key observations–
     • India has achieved a significant reduction of 33% in emission intensity of its gross domestic product (GDP) between 2005 and 2019.
     • India is among the first 26 developing countries to submit communications based on the GHG inventory of 2019 or later.
     • Revision of NDC Targets–
       • India had initially set a goal of a 33% reduction in the emission intensity of GDP by 2030 in its original submission of NDCs.
       • However, this target was revised upward to 45% in the updated NDCs submitted under the Paris Agreement in 2022.
     • Non-fossil Fuel-Based Power Capacity-
       • India has exceeded its original NDC target of 40% for non-fossil fuel-based power capacity in 2030 by achieving a 41% share.
       • The target has been further revised to a more ambitious 50% as of 2022.

       
       
     • Power Generation Sources–
       • In 2022-23, India generated 73% of its power from coal and 12% from ‘new renewables’ (excluding hydropower).
       • The Central Electricity Agency has projected a decrease in the share of coal to 55% and an increase in new renewables to 31% by 2030.
         Source: DTE

State News

1. Asian Development Bank has provided USD 200mn loan for Uttarakhand’s Climate-Resilient Power System Development Project.
   • Objective–
     • To improve the quality, efficiency, and reliability of power supply, and aiding the state in achieving 24×7 power to its residents and transitioning to the use of clean energy.

     
     
   • Additional contribution for specific support?
     • The Japan Fund for Prosperous and Resilient Asia and the Pacific, financed by the Government of Japan through ADB, will also provide USD 2 million grant.
     • Funding will support livelihood enhancement, training, and awareness-raising activities of this project.

Source: ANI

Banking and Economy

1. Three Indians have featured in 17th edition of Forbes Asia 2023 Heroes of Philanthropy List.
   • Indians on the list–

   
   

• The list features a total of 15 philanthropists from the Asia-Pacific region.

Source: Forbes

Reports and Indices

1. India has been ranked 49th in in the International Institute for Management Development (IMD)’s 7th edition of World Digital Competitiveness Ranking (WDCR) 2023.
   • What is WDCR 2023–
     • The report measures the capacity and readiness of 64 economies based on three broad categories which are: Knowledge, Technology and Future readiness.

   • Rankings–

Source: imd.org

Awards

1. Safeena Hussain, founder of ‘Educate Girl’ has become the first Indian woman to win WISE Prize for education 2023 at 11th edition of World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE) summit in Doha.
   • Prize money– 5 lakh USD
   • Why She is awarded?
     • She is awarded for mobilising 14 lakh out of school girls in Indian villages to get back to mainstream education through her NGO Educate Girls.
   • About Educate Girls–
     • NGO helps in getting affordable education and enrolling them in nearest government college by convincing families.
     • It uses Artificial Intelligence to identify villages with high numbers of out-of-school girls.
   • More information–
     • Safeena Hussain is the second Indian to receive the award.
     • ‘Pratham’ co-founder Madhav Chavan was the recipient of the 2012 WISE Prize for providing quality education to millions of underserved children in India.

Source: ET

Important Days

1. December 3– International Day of Persons with Disabilities; Theme– United in action to rescue and achieve the SDGs for, with and by persons with disabilities
   Source: UN
2. December 4– International Day of Banks
   Source: UN
3. December 4– Indian Navy Day; Theme– Operational Efficiency, Readiness, and Mission Accomplishment in the Maritime Domain
   Source: mtr

Sports

1. Indian Tennis player Ramkumar Ramnath has won ITF Kalaburagi Open 2023 by defeating David Pichler from Austria in finals held at Chandrashekhar Patil Stadium, Kalburgi, Karnataka.
   • About Kalaburagi open–
     • It is a Lawn Tennis tournament played on the synthetic tennis court in Kalburgi District, Karnataka.
       Source: TOI

2. FITEXPO India 2023 has commenced at Biswa Bangla Mela Prangan in Kolkata.
   • More about FITEXPO 2023–
     • It is one of Asia’s premier sports, fitness, and wellness trade expos
     • It includes both indoor and outdoor space for product exhibition, seminar, Sports & Fitness Competitions, Fitness Demonstration & Shows, Wellness Workshops.
     • More than 5000 fitness enthusiasts are expected to participate in this.
       Source: fitexpo.in

   
   
   
   

Memorandum of Understanding

1. Godrej Capital Nirmaan has partnered with DBS Bank India, Visa and Amazon to aid Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) growth.
   • Objectives–
     • To support MSMEs through diverse value-added services (VAS)
     • To foster growth revolving around the critical areas of MSME, namely-
       • Expansion of customer base
       • Streamlining of operations
       • Enhancement of employee production

   • Definition of MSME-
     • Any firm satisfying the below criteria will be categorised as MSME.

   
   

2. Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM) has signed MoU with Business Finland to boost start-up ecosystems.
   • Objective–
     • To support and maintain regular contact for mutual exchange of information and knowledge related to the start-up ecosystems in both countries.

     
     
   • More about MoU–
     • A collaboration platform Kerala Finland Innovation Corridor will be established under the MoU for functioning as a bridge to accomplish the various initiatives by both organisations.
     • KSUM and Business Finland will hold webinars, seminars and conferences.
     • KSUM and Business Finland will facilitate and provide support in terms of visits, programmes and activities
       Source: Hindu Business Line

Appointments

1. Election Commission has appointed former Indian Cricketer Suresh Raina as the youth voter awareness ambassador of Jammu & Kashmir.
   Source: ANI
2. PNB MetLife has appointed Smriti Mandhana as its brand ambassador.
   • Objective–
     • To inspire and encourage customers to continue to dream big and amplify its message ‘Karo bade sapno ki tayyari’

   
   

3. Kanchan Devi has become first woman officer to become Director General of the Indian Council of Forestry Research education (ICFRE).
   • About ICFRE–
     • It is established with the aim to achieve long-term ecological stability, sustainable development and economic security through conservation and scientific management of forest ecosystems.
     • Headquarters– Dehradun, Uttarakhand
       Source: ET
     
     

   
   

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