NATIONAL UPDATES:
1. 3
Indian Cities Among Largest Data Centre Markets in Asia-Pacific: According to a report by Knight Frank, Indian cities, namely –
Hyderabad, Chennai and New Delhi, have emerged as three of the top data centre
markets in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region. The report further noted that the
data centre industry in India has been on a high growth trajectory, partly
driven by government policies, including easier access to credit and other
incentives to boost data centre investment.
James Murphy,
managing director for APAC, DC Byte, said, “Previously the Asia Pacific region
was dominated by a handful of ‘tier 1’ markets. This is no longer the case as
the trend for decentralisation has seen both hyperscalers and data centre
operators move to new markets. The latest report highlights these new markets
which we expect to continue to grow in parallel with some of the region’s more
established hubs.”
Reason
Behind This: Owning to
the strong market fundamentals and an increasing trend towards greater
localisation of data centre facilities, emerging markets like Osaka, Melbourne,
Jakarta, Manila, Hanoi, Taipei, Hyderabad, New Delhi, and Chennai, grew from
just under 700 MW 5-years ago, to currently over 3,000 MW, registering a
whopping 300 per cent growth in capacity.
2.
National Commission for Women Launched Digital Shakti 4.0: The National Commission for Women (NCW) launched the fourth phase of the
Digital Shakti Campaign, a pan-India project on digitally empowering and
skilling women and girls in cyberspace. About The Campaign:
a) Digital Shakti started in June 2018 to help women across the nation to
raise the awareness level on the digital front, to build resilience, and fight
cyber-crime in the most effective ways.
b) The Digital Shakti 4.0 is focused on making women digitally skilled and
aware to stand-up against any illegal/inappropriate activity online.
c) NCW launched the campaign in collaboration with CyberPeace Foundation
and Meta.
d) Through this project, over 3 Lakh women across India have been made
aware of cyber safety tips and tricks.
e) It is helping women in reporting & redressal mechanisms, data
privacy and usage of technology for their benefits.
About The
Previous session: The third phase of the program was started in March
2021 with the launch at Leh by NCW Chairperson in the presence of Lieutenant
Governor Radha Krishna Mathur and Jamyang Tsering Namgyal, MP, Ladakh. In the
third phase, a Resource Center was also developed under the project to provide
information on all the avenues of reporting in case a woman faces any
cybercrime.
3. Power
System Operation Corporation Limited is now renamed as Controller of India
Limited: India’s national grid operator ‘Power System
Operation Corporation Ltd (POSOCO)’ has announced that it has changed its name
to ‘Grid Controller of India Ltd’. The name has been changed to reflect the
critical role of grid operators in ensuring integrity, reliability, economy,
resilience and sustainable operation of the Indian electricity grid. The change
in name as ‘Grid Controller of India Ltd’ is a welcome step as it has unique
position at the heart of India’s energy system connecting people to the energy
they use.
About the
Grid Controller of India Limited: The Grid
Controller of India Limited (Grid-India) operates the national load despatch
centre (NLDC) and five regional load despatch centres (RLDCs). The Grid-India
is also designated as the nodal agency for major reforms in the power sector
such as implementation and operation of Green Energy Open Access Portal,
Renewable Energy Certificate (REC) Mechanism, transmission pricing, short-term
open access in transmission, deviation settlement mechanism, Power System
Development Fund (PSDF), etc.
Note: POSOCO
Chairman & Managing Director: S. R. Narasimhan; POSOCO Founded: March 2009
4. PFRDA
named Suraj Bhan as chairman of NPS Trust: Pension
Fund Regulatory & Development Authority has appointed Suraj Bhan as the
chairman of the National Pension System Trust (NPS Trust), responsible for
managing funds under the National Pension System (NPS). Bhan has been a Trustee
on the Board of NPS Trust since 2018. He joined the Indian Economic Service in
1983 and retired as Director General of Labour Bureau, Chandigarh, in January
2018.
Note: Pension
Fund Regulatory & Development Authority Founded: 23 August 2003; Pension
Fund Regulatory & Development Authority Headquarters: New Delhi; Pension
Fund Regulatory & Development Authority Chairperson: Supratim
Bandyopadhyay.
INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:
1. India
Hosts LeadIT Summit with Sweden at COP27 in Egypt: India and Sweden hosted the LeadIT Summit, on the sidelines of COP27 at Sharm
El Sheikh in Egypt. The Leadership for Industry Transition- LeadIT initiative
focuses on low carbon transition of the hard to abate industrial sector. Minister
of Environment, Forest and Climate Change Bhupender Yadav emphasised that
co-development is the only option to meet the targets that the world has taken
for itself and without it, low carbon transition could be delayed by decades.
He said, the low carbon transition of the industrial sector will not only
contribute towards the reduction in required greenhouse gas emissions.
The summit
concluded with the adoption of the summit statement by the members of LeadIT
which re-emphasized the commitment to continue pursuing the low-carbon
transition of the industry. The members also committed to providing technical
assistance to new members and emerging economies.
About
LeadIT: LeadIT was launched by the Prime Ministers of
Sweden and India with support from the World Economic Forum (WEF) during the UN
Secretary-General’s Climate Action Summit in 2019, in New York.
Members: Currently, the Group has a membership of 16 countries and 19 companies
including Dalmia Cement, Mahindra Group and SpiceJet from India.
2. “In
Our LiFEtime” Campaign Launched by India at COP 27: National Museum of Natural History (NMNH), under the Ministry of
Environment Forest and Climate Change and United Nations Development Programme
(UNDP), jointly launched “In Our LiFEtime” campaign. This campaign envisions to
recognize youth between the ages of 18 to 23 years to become message bearers of
sustainable lifestyles. The campaign gives a global call for ideas from youth
across the world who are passionate about living environment conscious lives.
The youth will be encouraged to submit their climate actions that contribute to
lifestyles for the environment within their capacity, which are sustainable and
scalable, and serve as good practices that can be shared globally. A Future
Vision:
a) In Our LiFEtime campaign, is a great way to encourage youth to become
the ambassadors of sustainable lifestyle practices and grow into leaders that
lead the way in biodiversity conservation and natural resource management.
b) The campaign will involve more youth in the conversation about climate
change, adaptation and mitigation, and provide them a platform to share their
concerns, issues and solutions with the leaders of the world.
c) It will amplify the voices of the youth who are increasingly climate
conscious and provide recognition to young climate champions.
3. World
Toilet Day: 19th November: The United Nations
observes World Toilet Day on November 19 annually. The main aim is to raise
public awareness of broader sanitation systems such as wastewater treatment,
stormwater management, and hand washing. The 2022 campaign ‘Making the
invisible visible’ explores how inadequate sanitation systems spread human
waste into rivers, lakes and soil, polluting underground water resources.
World
Toilet Day History: It was on this day in 2001 when Jack Sim, a
philanthropist from Singapore founded the World Toilet Organization and
declared the day as World Toilet Day. The efforts to draw attention to the
sanitation crises were given focus by the UN in 2010 when they officially
recognised the right to water and sanitation as human rights. In 2013, the
Singapore Government and the World Toilet Organization collaborated to create
Singapore’s UN resolution – Sanitation for all. This resolution urged group
efforts to address the global sanitation crisis. Following the adoption of the
resolution by 122 nations at the 67th session of the UN General Assembly in New
York, World Toilet Day was designated as an official UN day.
OTHER UPDATES:
SPORTS
1. BCCI
prepares to Send SOS to MS Dhoni for a BIG ROLE with Indian T20 Set-Up: According to the sources, after repeated failures at the ICC events, the
Indian cricket board is set to knock the doors of the person who conquered the
World events at will. After T20 World Cup debacle in Australia, the BCCI is set
to send an SOS to Mahendra Singh Dhoni for a large role with the Indian T20
Cricket set-up. According to the sources in BCCI, board is deliberating to call
on Dhoni for a permanent with the Indian cricket. Key Points:
a) BCCI feels the load to manage 3 formats is proving to be too demanding
for HEAD COACH Rahul Dravid. This is the reason, BCCI is deliberating to split
the coaching roles. The board is interested in involving Dhoni in T20 FORMAT
& use his skills to uplift the standard of Indian Cricket team.
b) Dhoni worked with the team during T20 World Cup 2021 in the UAE but that
was in an interim capacity. The involvement for about a week could not bring
desired results as the team was ousted in opening round. The BCCI though feels,
a bigger & larger role would certainly help Indian T20 set-up.
c) The report claims that Dhoni is expected to retire from the game after
next year’s IPL. The BCCI is keen to use his experience and technical acumen in
the right manner post that and will involve the former Indian captain. The
Double World Cup winner could be asked to work with a specialised set of
players and drive Indian T20 team.
2. Gagan
Narang, Mary Kom, PV Sindhu & Mirabai elected as IOA Athletes Commission
member: Olympic medallists MC Mary Kom, PV Sindhu, Mirabai
Chanu and Gagan Narang were among 10 eminent sportspersons elected as members
of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) Athletes Commission. All the 10 elected
members of the apex body, five men and as many women, won unopposed in the
polls.
Other six
members: Winter Olympian Shiva Keshavan, table tennis
player Sharath Kamal, women’s hockey captain Rani Rampal, fencer Bhavani Devi,
rower Bajrang Lal and former shot putter Om Prakash Singh Karhana are the other
six members of the elected panel. Key Points:
a) The immediate task of the Athletes Commission would be to identify eight
Sportspersons of Outstanding Merit (SOM) who would then be voting members of
the IOA’s General Assembly.
b) One of the criteria is that the sportsperson should have retired from
the sport, and should have won a medal in the Olympics, Asian Games or
Commonwealth Games.
c) India’s first individual Olympic gold medallist shooter Abhinav Bindra
and former India hockey team captain Sardar Singh will complete the 12-member
athletes commission in their capacity as members of the corresponding bodies of
the International Olympic Committee and Olympic Council of Asia respectively.
Both of them will have voting rights.
Note: Indian
Olympic Association Founded: 1927; Indian Olympic Association Headquarters: New
Delhi; Indian Olympic Association President: Adille Sumariwalla; Indian Olympic
Association Secretary General: Rajeev Mehta; Indian Olympic Association
Founders: Harry Buck, Arthur Noehren.
BANKING AND FINANCE
1. GoI
nominates Vivek Joshi as Director on RBI’s central board: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has announced that the government has
nominated Vivek Joshi to its director on central board. Joshi who is the
secretary of the Department of Financial Services, will hold the position of
Director at RBI. The nomination has come into effect from November 15, 2022,
until further orders.
Notably, Joshi
took charge as the Secretary of the Department of Financial Services (DFS)
under the Ministry of Finance since November 1, 2022. Between 2014-2017, he
served as joint Secretary, the Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance,
Government of India, where his responsibilities included formulation of public
procurement policies for the Central Government and appraisal of publicly
funded projects/schemes. He is also currently posted as Registrar General and
Census Commissioner of India under the Ministry of Home Affairs since January
2019.
Note: Reserve
Bank of India Founded: 1 April 1935, Kolkata; Reserve Bank of India Governor:
Shaktikanta Das; Reserve Bank of India HQ:
Mumbai.
BUSINESS AND ECONOMY
1. Retail
Inflation Eases to 6.77% in October: India’s retail
inflation, which is measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI), fell to a
three-month low of 6.77% in October, down from 7.41% in September, due to
weaker food price rises and a strong year-on-year base.
This is the 10th
consecutive time that the CPI print has come above the Reserve Bank of India’s
(RBI) upper margin of 6%. The RBI’s tolerance band is 2-6%. The Central
Government has mandated the RBI to maintain retail inflation at 4% with a
margin of 2% on either side for a five-year period ending March 2026. The
overall food inflation, which accounts for nearly half the CPI basket, came in
at 7.01% in October as against 8.60% in the preceding month.
2. TRA
Ranks Jio as Strongest Telecom Brand in India: Jio
ranks as India’s strongest telecom brand in India, ahead of Bharti Airtel and
Vodafone Idea Ltd. The data was unveiled by the brand intelligence and data
insights company TRA. TRA, formerly Trust Research Advisory, in its ‘India’s
Most Desired Brands 2022’ ranked companies according to their brand strength.
Key
Points:
a) Reliance Jio topped the telecom category, followed by Bharti Airtel,
Vodafone Idea Ltd, and BSNL.
b) Adidas was the top brand followed by Nike, Raymond, Allen Solly, and
Peter England in the apparel category.
c) The automobile list was topped by BMW followed by Toyota, Hyundai, and
Honda.
d) LIC ranked 1 on the baking and financial services index had State Bank
of India at number 2 and ICICI Bank at 3rd.
e) The consumer appliances were topped by Kent, followed by Livpure, and
Okaya.
f)
In consumer electronics, LG, Sony, and Samsung were
in the top three of the brand lists.
g) ITC topped the diversified conglomerate list followed by Tata and
Reliance.
h) Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) topped the energy list,
followed by Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) and Adani.
i)
Amul was the top brand in the food and beverages
category, followed by Nescafe.
j)
Fogg was the top FMCG brand followed by Lakme,
Nivea, and Colgate.
k) Philips topped the fast-moving electrical goods list, MI on the gadgetry
list, Himalaya in healthcare, ITC Hotels in hospitality, ACC in manufacturing,
KFC in retail, and Dell in Technology.
l)
Top-ranked firms on the internet brand list are
Amazon, Facebook, Flipkart, and Google.
AWARDS AND HONOURS
1. NMDC
Sweeps PRCI Excellence Awards 2022: National
Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC) bagged the Champion of Champions Award,
sweeping the 16th PRCI Global Communication Conclave 2022, to bring home
fourteen Corporate Communication Excellence Awards. The awards were presented
at the Global Communication Conclave organised by Public Relations Council of
India (PRCI) in Kolkata. Key Points:
a) NMDC won Gold awards for Most Resilient Company of the Year; Internal Communication
Campaign, Corporate Brochure; Best PSE Implementing CSR.
b) It won Silver Awards in the categories of Best Use of CSR for Childcare;
Corporate Community Impact; Best Corporate Event; Unique HR Initiatives; Annual
Report; Arts, Culture & Sports Campaign
c) It also won Bronze Awards for Visionary Leadership; Website of the Year;
Innovative Environmental Program and Consolation Award for Best Use of social
media.
OBITUARIES
1. Telugu
film superstar Krishna Garu passes away: Veteran
actor Ghattamaneni Krishna, famous as Krishna Garu and known in the Telugu film
industry as ‘superstar, passes away. He was 80 years old. He was the father of
the Telugu film superstar Mahesh Babu. His first film was Thene Manasulu
released in 1965. In 2009, he received the Padma Bhushan.
Career of Ghattamaneni Krishna: Krishna began his career in Telugu movies in the early 1960s. In a career spanning over 50 years, he did more than 350 films. Some of the biggest hits of Krishna were Gudachari 116, Manchi Kutumbam, Lakshmi Nivasam, Vichitra Kutumbam, Devadasu, Bhale Krishnudu, Guru Sishyulu to name a few. Krishna married twice in his life. His first wife was Indira, with whom he had five children – Ramesh Babu, Mahesh Babu, Padmavathi, Manjula and Priyadarshini. His second wife was actor-filmmaker Vijaya Nirmala.
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