NATIONAL UPDATES:
1.
Egypt’s President invited as chief guest for Republic Day 2023: India has invited Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi as the chief
guest for the Republic Day in 2023, reflecting New Delhi’s continuing focus on
the Arab world as it prepares for a year of high-profile diplomatic
engagements. The formal invitation was handed over when external affairs
minister S Jaishankar met Sisi in Cairo on October 16 during an official visit
to Egypt, the people said. Egypt is among the nine guest countries invited to
the G20 Summit under India’s presidency in 2023.
An invitation as
chief guest for the Republic Day celebrations on January 26 is a signal honour
reserved for the country’s close allies and partners. There were no chief
guests at the celebrations in 2021 and 2022, largely because of disruptions
caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. Former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro was
the last chief guest to participate in the 2020 celebrations.
2. India
Forms Panel to Revamp Only Govt Job Guarantee Scheme: India’s Union rural development ministry has formed a panel to revamp
its only job guarantee scheme in the hope of directing more work to the
country’s poorer regions, a senior government official said. The Mahatma Gandhi
National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, or MNREGA, was in high demand in
the India’s rural areas as they emerged from the pandemic amid soaring
inflation and limited non-farm job opportunities. “The panel will recommend
institutional mechanisms, including governance and administrative structures,
for more effective utilization of funds, especially to address poverty,” the
official said. The panel, which is expected to submit its report by January,
will examine expenditure trends across various states and identify reasons for
variations, the official added.
About The
Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGA): The MNREGA jobs programme, introduced more than 15 years ago, allows
citizens to enrol for work such as building roads, digging wells or creating
other rural infrastructure, and receive a minimum wage for 100 days each year.
3. ISRO
Begins Countdown for PSLV-C54 Mission: Scientists of
the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) commenced the countdown for the
launch of Earth Observation Satellite – Oceansat – and eight other customer
satellites on a PSLV-C54 rocket from the spaceport of Sriharikota. The
countdown for the 56th flight of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), in
its extended version (PSLV-XL), from the first launchpad at the Satish Dhawan
Space Centre, Sriharikota, 115 km from here.
The primary payload of the rocket is an Oceansat which would be
separated in orbit-1 while the eight other nanosatellites would be placed in
different orbits based on the customer requirements (in the Sun-synchronous
polar orbits). About This mission:
a) The mission would be one of the longest ones undertaken by the ISRO
scientists who would engage the rocket to change orbits using two-orbit change
thrusters (OCTs) used in the PSLV-C54 launch vehicle.
b) The separation of the Earth Observation Satellite is expected to take
place in orbit-1 while the passenger payloads would be separated in Orbit-2.
c) The Earth Observation Satellite is expected to be placed after reaching
an altitude of about 742 km about 20 minutes after lift-off.
About The
Satellite & Its Objective: The Earth
Observation Satellite-6 is the third-generation satellite in the Oceansat
series. This is to provide continuity services of Oceansat-2 spacecraft with
enhanced payload specifications as well as application areas. The objective of
the mission is to ensure data continuity of ocean colour and wind vector data
to sustain the operational applications.
4.
Dharmendra Pradhan Released ‘India: The Mother of Democracy’: Union Education & Skill Development Minister Shri Dharmendra Pradhan
released the book ‘India: The Mother of Democracy’ prepared and published by
Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR) in New Delhi. The book is an
attempt to showcase the democratic ethos ingrained in India since the dawn of
civilisation. It is shown in this book that since the dawn of civilization,
India has been imbued with democratic ethos. The Minister expressed his
confidence that the book—India: The Mother of Democracy, will encourage healthy
discussions on India’s democratic legacy and inspire next generations to
cherish our timeless ethos, he added.
INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:
1. India
Expresses Commitment to Peace, Security and Prosperity in the Indo-Pacific
Region: The Vice President of India attended the 19th
ASEAN-India Summit in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. India and ASEAN in a joint
statement reaffirmed the importance of maintaining and promoting peace,
stability, maritime safety, freedom of navigation and overflight in the
Indo-Pacific region, and commitment to peaceful resolution of disputes, in
accordance with international law, including UNCLOS. They called for
establishing a comprehensive strategic partnership and enhancing cooperation
against terrorism as Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar addressed the 19th
Asean-India Summit in Phnom Penh.
Key-Highlights
Of ASEAN-India Meeting: India hailed the deep
cultural, economic and civilizational ties that have existed between India and
South East Asia from time immemorial and stated that the India-ASEAN
relationship forms the central pillar of India’s ACT-EAST policy. India
reiterated its support to ASEAN centrality in the Indo-Pacific. As part of
maintaining “ASEAN-Centrality”, the two sides reaffirmed the importance of
deepening dialogue and coordination through ASEAN-led mechanisms including the
ASEAN-India Summit, the East Asia Summit, the Post-Ministerial Conference with
India (PMC+1), the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), the ASEAN Defense Ministers’
Meeting-Plus (ADMM-Plus), the Expanded ASEAN Maritime Forum (EAMF).
About
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN): It is a regional grouping that promotes economic, political, and
security cooperation. It was established in August 1967 in Bangkok, Thailand
with the signing of the ASEAN Declaration (Bangkok Declaration) by the founding
fathers of ASEAN, namely Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and
Thailand. Its chairmanship rotates annually, based on the alphabetical order of
the English names of Member States.
It’s
Members: ASEAN brings together ten Southeast Asian states
– Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines,
Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam – into one organisation.
2. India,
UAE Central Banks Discuss Rupee-Dirham Trade Prospects: The central banks of India and UAE are discussing a concept paper on
promoting bilateral trade in rupee and dirham with a view to reduce transaction
cost, a top official said. India’s Ambassador to the UAE Sunjay Sudhir said
that the concept paper for trade in local currencies was shared by India. The
central banks of both the countries will discuss the standard operating
procedures and modalities.
The objective of
the exercise is to reduce the cost of transactions. India and the UAE had
already signed a free trade agreement (FTA) in February to give a fillip to
bilateral trade and economic ties. The free trade agreement was aimed at
providing significant benefits to Indian as well as UAE businesses, including
enhanced market access and reduced tariffs. Following the free trade pact,
bilateral trade is expected to increase from the current USD 60 billion to USD
100 billion in the next five years.
3.
International Jaguar Day: 29th November: International
Jaguar Day was created to raise awareness about the increasing threats facing
the jaguar and the critical conservation efforts ensuring its survival.
Observed annually on November 29, International Jaguar Day celebrates the
Americas’ largest wild cat as an umbrella species for biodiversity conservation
and an icon for sustainable development and the centuries-old cultural heritage
of Central and South America. This is the third largest Cat Predator of the
World and an important species of Amazon Rainforest.
International
Jaguar Day History: In March 2018 representatives from 14 range
countries gathered in New York at United Nations’ Headquarters for the Jaguar
2030 Forum. This Forum resulted in the creation of the Jaguar 2030 Statement
which outlined a wide range of internationally collaborative jaguar
conservation initiatives, including the proposal to create an International
Jaguar Day.
4. Day of
Remembrance for all Victims of Chemical Warfare: 30th November: Day of Remembrance for all Victims of Chemical Warfare is commemorated
on November 30 every year. This internationally marked day was adopted by the
United Nations to remember the victims of chemical warfare. The day aims to
encourage efforts for eliminating the use of chemical weapons and remember
those who have suffered because of such warfare.
Day of
Remembrance for all Victims of Chemical Warfare History:
a) The first international agreement limiting the use of chemical weapons
can be traced back to 1675. France and Germany had come to an agreement to
prohibit the use of poison bullets. This agreement was signed in Strasbourg.
b) In 1874, the Brussels Convention on the Law and Customs of War was
signed. It prohibited the employment of poison or poisoned weapons. However,
the use of arms, projectiles or material to cause unnecessary suffering, though
agreed upon, did not come into force.
c) The Hague Convention declared to ‘abstain from the use of projectiles,
the sole object of which is the diffusion of asphyxiating or deleterious
gasses’ in 1899. A second Hague Convention was agreed upon in 1907. It was to
reiterate the earlier bans on employing poison or poisoned weapons.
d) The Chemical Weapons Convention was adopted in 1993. It came into force
on April 29, 1997. In 2005, the United Nations proclaimed November 30 as the
Day of Remembrance for all Victims of Chemical Warfare.
OTHER UPDATES:
SPORTS
1.
Cristiano Ronaldo Becomes First Male Player to Score in 5 World Cups: Cristiano Ronaldo creates history as he became the first male player to
score in five World Cups in Portugal’s opening game in Qatar against Ghana.
Cristiano Ronaldo scored in the 65th minute from the penalty spot to open the
scoring at Doha’s stadium 974, which was also the 118th goal of his country. The
37-year-old striker converted a penalty in the 65th minute to give Portugal a
1-0 lead. He has now scored a goal in every World Cup since 2006 when he again
converted a penalty against Iran in the group stage. Ronaldo scored at the 2010
World Cup in South Africa and another at the 2014 tournament in Brazil, and
four in 2018 Russia. He has now become the first male player to score in five
FIFA World Cups.
BANKING AND FINANCE
1. IDFC
FIRST Bank Launched India’s First Sticker-Based Debit Card FIRSTAP: IDFC First Bank has introduced a sticker-based debit card, called
FIRSTAP. The launch is in association with the National Payments Corporation of
India (NPCI). The FIRSTAP is launched to facilitate transactions by simply
tapping the sticker on a Near Field Communication (NFC) enabled point-of-sale
terminal. Key Points:
a) The launch of sticker-based debit cards is in line with the bank’s
customer-centric philosophy. The number of transactions being carried out via
contactless cards is growing fast.
b) As a customer-first bank, IDFC claims to be committed to using
contactless technology for frictionless digital transactions.
c) With stickers as the form factor in the wearable category, the debit
card is convenient to carry around and enables fast check-out.
d) The sticker-based debit card is one-third the size of a regular debit
card, thus, making the sticker applicable to a wide range of devices and
objects.
e) As per the company, customers can affix the sticker-based debit card on
any surface of choice, such as cell phones, identity cards, wallets, AirPodsand
airpod cases.
f)
The object can be used to tap and pay, thus doing
away with the need to carry a debit card or adapting to wearable devices such
as watches and rings, or entering a UPI PIN after scanning a QR code.
2. Canara
Bank Issues Electronic Bank Guarantee in Partnership with NeSL: Canara Banks steps into digital banking on its 117th Founder’s Day
with the issuance of an Electronic Bank Guarantee (e-BG) in partnership with
National E-Governance Service Limited (NeSL). The Canara Bank will now offer an
API-based digital workflow of Bank guarantees which will eliminate physical
insurance, stamping, verification, and paper-based record maintenance.
Key
Points:
a) The platform will offer several advantages such as greater transparency,
better monitoring systems, and secured transmission of Bank Guarantees to
beneficiaries.
b) Canara Bank General Manager Mahesh M Pai informed that achieving the
milestone of being the first public sector to roll out an electronic bank
guarantee is a proud moment.
c) Canara Bank launched Canara ail, a Mobile banking super app with more
than 250 features.
d) The futuristic vision of “One Bank, One App” was the aim for creating
the bank Mobile app.
e) It was also ranked 1st under the Digital Payment performance on 31st
March 2022 by the Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology.
BUSINESS AND ECONOMY
1. Senior
consultant Romal Shetty is CEO-designate of Deloitte India: Senior consultant Romal Shetty has been nominated CEO-designate of
Deloitte India after a months-long selection process, according to an email
sent to the firm’s partners late. The nomination committee, after considering
multiple candidates, zeroed in on Shetty, who leads Deloitte’s consulting
practice in India. The next step is for its Indian equity partners to confirm
his candidacy.
Romal Shetty has
20 years of experience in advisory services across large-scale transformation
programs covering the business and technology domain and has worked in over 30+
countries across risk and consulting domain. Shetty’s key focus areas are
financial and operational turnaround, customer experience, product innovation,
revenue management, analytics, business continuity, risk management, cost reduction,
managed services and process reengineering. He is a Fellow Member of the ICAI
and a Certified Information Systems Auditor.
Note: Deloitte
Founder: William Welch Deloitte; Deloitte Headquarters: London, England;
Deloitte Founded: 1845, London, United Kingdom.
AWARDS AND HONOURS
1.
Rajendra Pawar honoured Lifetime Achievement Award 2022 by FICCI: The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI),
felicitated Rajendra Singh Pawar, Chairman & Founder, NIIT with ‘Lifetime
Achievement Award 2022’ at the 8th FICCI Higher Education Excellence Awards
ceremony. The award recognises Pawar for his immense contribution and exemplary
work in the field of education as well as creating the IT Training industry.
The selection of Award was done by a high-level jury panel, Chaired by Dr R. A.
Mashelkar, Indian National Research Professor and Chancellor, Institute of
Chemical Technology, Mumbai and former Director General of CSIR.
2. 39
Schools Awarded with Swachh Vidyalaya Puraskar for 2021-22: Thirty-nine schools from across the country were awarded the Swachh
Vidyalaya Puraskar for the 2021-2022 academic session by the Ministry of
Education. The schools were selected from among a total of 8.23 lakh entries.
Out of which 28 were government and aided schools and 11 were private schools.
Key
Points:
a) The awarded schools include two Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas, one
Navodaya Vidyalaya, and three Kendriya Vidyalayas.
b) The Swachh Vidyalaya Puraskar honors the school that has taken exemplary
work in the field of water, sanitation, and hygiene.
c) It also provides a benchmark and roadmap for the schools to make further
improvements.
d) The schools are rated on six broad parameters of water, toilets,
handwashing with soap, operation, and maintenance, behavioral change, and
capacity building.
e) Out of 39 schools 17 are elementary and 22 are secondary/higher
secondary schools.
f) 34 schools have been awarded a cash prize of ₹60,000 and ₹20,000 were awarded in the sub-categories.
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