NATIONAL UPDATES:
1. New Delhi International Arbitration
Centre (Amendment) Bill, 2022: Parliament has
passed the New Delhi International Arbitration Centre (Amendment) Bill, 2022 with Rajya
Sabha on 14th December 2022. The bill was already passed in Lok Sabha. With
this amendment, the New Delhi International Arbitration Centre has
been renamed as the India International Arbitration Centre. The Bill
allows the govt to provide for removing any difficulties in implementing
the Act up to five years from the date of commencement of the Act. The Bill amends the New Delhi International Arbitration
Centre Act, 2019.
The Bill
renames the New Delhi International Arbitration Centre as the India
International Arbitration Centre. The Act requires the Arbitration Centre to
strive to facilitate the conduct of international and domestic arbitration and
conciliation and the new legislation expands this to include the conduct of
other forms of alternative dispute resolution.
2. Centre awards nine GI tags to take
total to 432: The govt of India has granted
the GIs tags to nine new items on 14th December
2022 including Gamocha (Assam), Tandur red gram (Telangana), Raktsey
Karpo apricot (Ladakh), Alibag white onion (Maharashtra). Kerala has been
awarded five GI tags for its agricultural produce. With this, the total
number of GI tags in India comes to 432. Top five states holding
the maximum number of GIs are Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka,
and Kerala The Geographical Indication, which is recognised by the World Trade
Organization, is used to denote the geographical territory from where a
product--agricultural, natural or manufactured--originates, and also carries an
assurance of quality and attributes unique to that specific geographic region
3. Nitin Gadkari inaugurates of 15 NH
development projects: Nitin Gadkari (Minister
of Road Transport and Highways) has inaugurated and laid
the foundation stone of 15 National Highway development projects worth 45,
536 crore rupees in Kerala. The event was organised at the Travancore
International Convention Centre at Karyavattom Sports Hub, Thiruvananthapuram.
The event
was presided by Kerala CM, Pinarayi Vijayan It will also enhance tourism
possibilities in Bekal, Kannur, Kozhikode, Fort Kochi, Alappuzha, Varkala and
Kovalam Giving a major boost to road
infrastructure in Kerala, Union Minister for Road and Transport Nitin Gadkari
today laid the foundation stones for 15 National Highways projects in
Thiruvananthapuram with a total cost of Rs. 45.536 Crore.
INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:
1. G-7 approves 15.5 billion US dollar
deal with Vietnam: A group of nine
(G7, Norway and Denmark) rich industrialized nations have approved a
deal to provide 15.5 billion US dollars to Vietnam.Reason: To help the
Southeast Asian nation move faster from coal power to renewable energy, cutting
its climate-damaging pollution. This grant will help Vietnam to reduce its
emissions to “net zero” by 2050. It is a goal which experts say needs to
be met globally to cap global warming at 1.5 degrees Celsius.
A group of nine
rich industrialized nations has approved a deal to provide Vietnam with 15.5
billion US dollars to help the Southeast Asian nation move faster from coal
power to renewable energy, cutting its climate-damaging pollution. The Group of
Seven major economies, along with Norway and Denmark, said in a statement that
the aim is to help Vietnam reduce its emissions to “net zero” by 2050.
2. US Wildlife officials declare
'Nevada wildflower' as endangered species: The U.S. wildlife officials have declared
a Nevada wildflower as endangered species. It is found on a
high-desert ridge, where a lithium mine is planned to help meet the
growing demand for electric car batteries. The Fish and Wildlife Service has
formally listed Tiehm’s buckwheat and its accompanying area of 910 acres for
the 6-inch-tall flower with yellow blooms. Ioneer (Australian mining company)
is planning to dig for lithium where the flower grows.
In the United
States, wildlife officials declared a Nevada wildflower endangered at the only
place it’s known to exist - on a high-desert ridge where a lithium mine is
planned to help meet the growing demand for electric car batteries. The Fish
and Wildlife Service has formally listed Tiehm’s buckwheat and its accompanying
area of 910 acres for the 6-inch-tall flower with yellow blooms
3. DealShare appoints Kamaldeep Singh
as president of retail business: Kamaldeep
Singh has been appointed as the president of retail business of
DealShare (Social e-commerce company).
Prior to this
role, he served as the Chief Executive Officer of Big Bazaar, where he was
responsible for retail operations, organizational transformation, and business
strategy execution. Recently, the DealShare startup owned and operated by
Merabo Labs Pvt Ltd has raised an additional $45 million from Abu
Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA).
4. Tokyo makes solar panels mandatory
for new homes built after 2025: The Tokyo
local assembly has passed a new regulation, which stated that all new
houses in Tokyo built by large-scale homebuilders after April 2025 must install
solar power panels to cut household carbon emissions. Currently, Japan stands
at fifth spot in the world's largest carbon emitters list. This mandate
requires about 50 major builders to equip homes of up to 2,000 square metres
(21,500 square feet) with renewable energy power sources, mainly solar panels.
Tokyo Governor
Yuriko Koike noted last week that just 4% of buildings where solar panels could
be installed in the city have them now. The Tokyo Metropolitan Government aims
to halve greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 compared with 2000 levels.
5. Cindy Hook appointed as CEO of 2032
Olympic organising committee: Cindy
Hook has been appointed as the inaugural CEO of the organising
committee for the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Brisbane. She had
stepped away from her role as CEO of Deloitte Asia Pacific earlier this
year. She had worked for the international professional services network
in the U.S. and in Australia. The International Olympic Committee awarded the
2032 Games to Brisbane in July of last year. Hook was based in Singapore as CEO of Deloitte Asia Pacific until June
and had previously worked for the international professional services network
in the U.S. and in Australia, moving to Sydney in 2009 to lead the auditing
practice for six years and later becoming CEO of the Australian operation in
2015.
6. US prints its first-ever currency
with two women’s signatures: The U.S. The
Treasury (United States of America’s Finance Ministry) has printed
the first US banknotes (currency notes) with two women’s signatures. The new
currency notes of $1 and $5 value carry the signature of the Secretary of
Treasury (American Finance Minister) Janet Yellen and Lynn Malerba. Lynn
Malerba is Native American and is the chief of the Mohegan Tribe, who holds the
position of Treasurer of the United States within the Department of Treasury,
United States government. Janet Yellen is a former chairman of the United
States Central Bank, Federal Reserve of New York. She was the first female head
of the Federal Reserve. The United States currency notes are popularly called
Greenback.
OTHER UPDATES:
SPORTS
1. Tata Steel becomes official partner
of Men's Hockey World Cup: Tata
Steel Limited has signed an MoU with Hockey India to become
an Official Partner of the FIH Hockey Men's World Cup 2023. The 15th
edition of the Hockey Men's World Cup will take place in
Bhubaneswar-Rourkela from January 13 to January 29, 2023. It will be
the fourth time that India will be hosting the prestigious tournament
after having played hosts in 1982 in Bombay, 2010 in New Delhi, and 2018 in
Odisha. A total of 16 nations will take part in the tournament.
Tata Steel
Limited has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Hockey India to
become an Official Partner of the FIH Hockey Men's World Cup 2023 in Bhubaneswar-Rourkela. The 15th edition of the Hockey Men's
World Cup will take place in Bhubaneswar-Rourkela from January 13 to January
29, 2023, a Tata Steel press release on Wednesday said.
2. Iga Swiatek named WTA Player of the
Year for 2022: World number one Iga Swiatek (Poland) was
crowned 2022 Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) Player of the Year for the
first time in her career. While Barbora Krejcikova (Czech Republic) and
Katerina Siniakova (Czech Republic) were named Doubles Team of the Year.
Swiatek went on a superb
37-match winning run and won the French and U.S. Opens as well as titles at
Doha, Indian Wells, Miami, Stuttgart, Rome, and San Diego. Beatriz Haddad Maia
of Brazil was named the Most Improved Player of the Year after breaking into
the top 20. Germany’s Tatjana Maria was named the Comeback Player of the Year. While
China’s Zheng Qinwen was named Newcomer of the Year.
3. India won 6 gold medals at 19th
International Junior Science Olympiad: India
secured the top rank at the 19th International Junior Science
Olympiad (IJSO) 2022 held in Bogota, Colombia by winning 6 gold medals. In
all, 20 gold, 42 silver, and 59 bronze medals were awarded at this
IJSO. Arittra Malhotra, Rajdeep Mishra, Devesh Pankaj Bhaiya, Banibrata Majee,
and Avaneesh Bansal were the students who bagged gold medals at the IJSO 2022,
Bogota.
There were 203 students
from 35 countries participating in this year’s IJSO. This year’s competition
was originally scheduled to be held in Kyiv, Ukraine; it was shifted to Bogota,
Colombia in August 2022 due to the war in Ukraine. This was the last
international Olympiad of 2022.
4. Sridhar breaks national record at
FINA World Swimming Championship: Indian swimmer Siva
Sridhar broke the national record in the men’s 200m individual medley
heats at the Short Course World Championships in Melbourne. Siva clocked
1:59.80s to finish first in heat 1 at the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre. South
Africa’s Matthew Sates won the championship in 1:50.15s with USA’s Carson
Foster (1:50.96) and Canada’s Finlay Knox (1:51.04) winning silver and bronze,
respectively.
BANKING AND FINANCE
1. ADB keeps India's economic growth
unchanged at 7%: The Asian
Development Bank has kept the economic growth outlook for
India unchanged at 7% percent for the fiscal 2022-23 and 7.2% for FY 2023-24. Reason: Sustained
by positive effects from structural reform and from public investment
catalysing private investment. Inflation in India is still expected to rise to
6.7 % in 2022-23 before falling back to 5.8%. As per the bank, Asia will
expand at 4.2% this year and accelerate to 4.6% in 2023.
2. WPI Inflation declined to 21-Month
Low of 5.85% In November 2022: According to the
Commerce Ministry data, the Wholesale price inflation (WPI) for November
2022 has hit a 21-month low and reduced to 5.85% from 8.39% in October 2022. Decline
in the rate of inflation in November 2022, is primarily contributed by fall in
prices of food articles, basic metals, textiles, chemicals & chemical
products and paper & paper products as compared to the corresponding month
of the previous year. Inflation in food articles in November was 1.07 percent
against 8.33 percent in the previous month.
Inflation in vegetables
was (-) 20.08 percent during the month compared to 17.61 percent in October. In
the ‘Fuel and power’ basket, inflation was 17.35 percent, while in manufactured
products, it was 3.59 percent in November. On a yearly basis, WPI inflation
went down from 14.87% in November 2021 to 5.85 percent in November 2022.
3. Bank of Baroda proposed to sell its
majority stake in Nainital Bank: State-owned Bank of
Baroda (BoB) plans to sell its majority stake in Nainital Bank. The
board of directors of the bank has approved the divestment of its majority
shareholding in Nainital Bank Limited (NBL), and authorized the issuance of an
advertisement inviting Expressions of Interest (EOI) through a Preliminary
Information Memorandum (PIM) from interested parties (IPs). Presently, the bank
holds 98.57% of the total equity share capital of Nainital Bank Limited. The
Mumbai-based Bank of Baroda had taken over Nainital Bank in 1973 on the
directions of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). Uttarakhand-based Nainital Bank
has about 150 branches across Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Haryana, and
Rajasthan.
AWARDS AND HONOURS
1. Indian film RRR bags two Golden
Globe Award nominations: SS
Rajamouli-directed period movie ‘RRR’ has been nominated in two categories
at the Golden Globe Awards to be held in January 2023. The Hollywood
Foreign Press Association (HFPA) has nominated ‘RRR’. The film has been
nominated in two categories for Best Non-English Language Film and the film’s
song ‘Naatu-Naatu’ for Best Original Song. Recently, director SS Rajamouli has
also received the New York Film Critics Circle Best Director Award for the
film. RRR is the only Indian film to make the final five out of a clutch of
other entries from India, among them Gangubai Kathiawadi, Kantara and Chhello
Show.
DEFENCE
1. India-Kazakhstan joint training
exercise 'KAZIND-22' begins today: The 6th
edition of India-Kazakhstan joint training exercise
'KAZIND-22' has been conducted at Umroi, Meghalaya from 15 to 28
December 2022. The Joint annual training exercise with the Kazakhstan Army
was instituted in 2016 as Exercise Prabal Dostyk. In 2018, this exercise
was upgraded to a company level exercise and renamed as Ex Kazind. This
joint exercise enables the two armies to train, plan and execute a series
of combined tactical drills for neutralising threats. The 6th edition of Indo - Kazakhstan joint training exercise
-KAZIND-22 will be conducted at Umroi (Meghalaya) from tomorrow.
The Defence
Ministry said, the exercise will enhance the level of defence cooperation
between the Indian Army and the Kazakhstan Army which will further foster the
bilateral relations between the two nations.
DEFENCE UNICORN INSTITUTE – GANDHINAGAR |
AHMEDABAD BEST COACHING FOR:
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