Daily GK Update- 19th Dec, 2022

 

NATIONAL UPDATES:

 

1. PM Modi launches "Grih Pravesh" programme in Agartala: PM Modi has visited Tripura and Meghalaya to inaugurate and lay the foundation stones of projects worth over Rs 6,800 crore.

During his visit, he has launched the "Grih Pravesh" programme in Agartala, under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana Urban and Rural schemes. He has also inaugurated connectivity projects for the widening of the Agartala bypass (Khayerpur – Amtali) NH-08. He has inaugurated spawn laboratory at the Mushroom Development Centre in Meghalaya.The projects encompass a wide array of sectors including housing, road, agriculture, telecom, IT, tourism and hospitality. In Shillong, Prime Minister will participate in the golden jubilee celebration of the North Eastern Council. The Council was formally inaugurated on November 7, 1972.

 

2. Minister Jitendra Singh inaugurates 'Prashasan Gaon ki Ore' campaign: Dr Jitendra Singh (Union Minister for Personnel, Public Grievances, and Pensions) has inaugurated a nationwide campaign, Prashasan Gaon ki Ore. This campaign was launched under the Good Governance Week 2022 in New Delhi. He has also launched the Good Governance Week portle. In the 5 days campaign, over 300 New Services identified by District Collectors across the country will be added for Online Service Delivery. Union Minister for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions Dr. Jitendra Singh inaugurated Good Governance Week 2022 at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi today. The Minister also launched a five day “Prashasan Gaon Ki Ore” a nationwide Campaign, to commemorate the birth anniversary of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

 

3. Tamil Nadu govt launches 'Friends of Library' programme: The Tamil Nadu government has launched 'Friends of Library' programme, under which books would be directly given to those who are unable to access state-run libraries. Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi (School Education minister) has announced that volunteers' services would be employed for this. This project will be helpful to people with disabilities, seniors, kids, and hospital in-patients, among others, who are unable to visit a library. The 'Friends of Library' programme, under which books would be directly given to those who are unable to access state-run libraries, was introduced by the Tamil Nadu government on Thursday. Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi, the school education minister who launched the programme, said that volunteers' services would be employed for this.

 

4. IIT Madras gets $1 million from Google to develop 'Responsible AI Centre': Google has granted a fund of $1 million to IIT Madras to build India’s first Responsible AI center.

In addition, Google has also planned to collaborate with Indian Institute of Science (IISC) for project Vaani. Furthermore, under the partnership, Google aims to build an artificial intelligence/machine learning (AI/ML) model to collect language samples from 773 districts across India. Project Vaani aims to ensure the collected and produced data will be open-source.

Google plans to collaborate with Indian Institute of Science (IISC) for project Vaani, Google for India announced on December 19, 2022. Furthermore, under the partnership, Google aims to build an artificial intelligence/machine learning (AI/ML) model to collect language samples from 773 districts across India.

 

5. Goa Liberation Day: 19th December: The Goa Liberation day is celebrated every year on December 19 in India to mark the victory of Indian armed forces to free Goa from 450 years of the Portuguese rule. Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia led the Goa liberation movement on June 18, 1946, with the aim of liberating Goa by gathering young Goans. The Union of India was completed with Goa's liberation on December 19, 1961. Goa continued to be a UT till 1987 and then was given statehood by becoming the 25th state of India. "On Goa Liberation Day, I convey my greetings to all fellow citizens, especially the people of Goa. We pay homage to the freedom fighters who fought for liberation of Goa from colonial rule. We salute our armed forces for their valour. My best wishes...

 

6. Ministry of Culture organized Delhi International Arts Festival: Ministry of Culture in collaboration with Prasiddha Foundation has inaugurated Delhi International Arts Festival at Kartavya Path with the tagline – ‘Where Bharat Meets India’. The festival aims to celebrate the great Epics, the Warriors Who Fought for Our Freedom, and the many policy decisions and schemes instituted by our government towards ‘Women Empowerment’.

The festival is being organized from 17th December to 30th December.

 

7. PM Modi inaugurated projects worth Rs 6,800 crore in Tripura, Meghalaya: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has inaugurated and laid the foundation stone of several development projects worth over 6,800 crore rupees in Tripura and Meghalaya. In Tripura, the Prime Minister launched projects worth 4,350 crore rupees. The projects include ‘Grih Pravesh’ programme for beneficiaries under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana – Urban and Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana – Rural. These houses, which have been developed at a cost of more than 3400 crore rupees, will cover over two lakh beneficiaries. In Meghalaya, the Prime Minister unveiled projects worth over 2,450 crore rupees.

The multiple projects include the inauguration of 320 completed and 890 under construction 4G mobile towers, the new campus of IIM Shillong, at Umsawli, the Shillong – Diengpasoh Road which will provide better connectivity to the new Shillong satellite township and four other roads projects across the three states of Meghalaya, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh.

Modi also laid the foundation stone of the Integrated Hospitality and Convention Centre at Tura and Shillong Technology Park Phase -II. He also inaugurated 21 Hindi libraries in Mizoram, Manipur, Tripura, and Assam.

 

8. 18 December – Arabic Language Day: Arabic Language Day is observed every year on December 18. Objective – To honour the language and cultural diversity of the Middle Eastern region. The annual celebration of the Arabic culture falls on the day in 1973 when the UN General Assembly adopted Arabic as the sixth official language of the international organisation. Theme 2022 – The Contribution of the Arabic Language to Human Civilization and Culture

 

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

 

1. EU adopts global minimum 15% tax on multinationals: The European Union has adopted a plan for a global minimum 15 percent tax on multinational businesses, after leaders gave final approval following months of wrangling. The landmark agreement between nearly 140 countries is intended to stop governments racing to cut taxes to lure the world's richest firms to their territory. The plan was drawn up under the guidance of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). The plan was drawn up under the guidance of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development and already had the backing of Washington and several major EU economies.
But the implementation of the minimum tax in the 27-nation European Union has already been delayed as member states raised objections or adopted blocking tactics.

2. India & Sri Lanka to launch ferry service between Kankesanthurai and Pondicherry in Jan 2023: Sri Lanka and India will start a passenger ferry service between Kankesanthurai port in Jaffna district and Karaikal ports in Pondicherry in January 2023. A large number of Indian citizens are engaged in business activities in the Jaffna Peninsula. With such engagement, the new service is expected to generate a large portion of foreign revenue. It will also be of immense convenience for Buddhist pilgrims to India. The ferry service between Tamil Nadu and the Northern part of Sri Lanka which is dominated by Sri Lanka Tamils was disrupted in 1980’s due to the civil war in Sri Lanka. After the end of the civil war in Sri Lanka in 2009, efforts were made to revive the old transportation link between the two countries.

 

OTHER UPDATES:

 

SPORTS

 

1. Argentina wins 2022 FIFA World Cup championship: Argentina has defeated France by 4-2 on penalties to win the 2022 FIFA World Cup, held at the Lusail Stadium in Doha, Qatar. This is third-ever World Cup victory of Argentina and first since 1986. Kylian Mbappé (France) has won the 2022 FIFA World Cup Golden Boot award with 8 goals. Lionel Messi won Golden Ball (best player award) at the 2022 Fifa World Cup in Qatar. Best goalkeeper (golden glove): Emiliano Martínez (Argentina) Fair play award: England In Football, Argentina defeated France 4-2 on penalties to win the 2022 Fifa World Cup after a 3-3 draw in a thrilling final at the Lusail Stadium in Doha. Lionel Messi scored twice in the final and also scored in the shoot-out.

Despite scoring a hat-trick, France's Kylian Mbappe's dream of winning World Cups were shattered in the final.

 

2. Jaipur Pink Panthers wins Pro Kabaddi League 2022 title: Jaipur Pink Panthers has defeated Puneri Paltan by 33-29 in the summit clash to emerge champions of the 2022 Pro Kabaddi League. The tournament was played across Bengaluru, Pune and Hyderabad while the playoffs were played in Mumbai. V Ajith, Sunil Kumar and Arjun Deshwal emerged as the best players for Jaipur side with six points each. Jaipur Pink Panthers team is currently led by Sunil Kumar Malik and coached by Sanjeev Baliyan.

The team is owned by Abhishek Bachchan Aditya Shinde goes in the raid, which will be the last raid of this season as well, Sunil knows this and he comes up to give his point as a freebie, but Aditya Shinde does not want that and goes deep looking for more points, but this is as good as done for Puneri as the rest of the defence comes up to tackle Aditya for one point which means Jaipur has sealed the game and PKL 9 title with this. Puneri came so close, but Fazel’s team has to go back with a runner-up tag against their name.

 

3. Anurag Thakur unveiled Hockey World Cup trophy in New Delhi: Union Minister for Youth Affairs & Sports Anurag Thakur has unveiled the Hockey World Cup trophy in New Delhi.

The event was also attended by 1975 Hockey World Cup winners. The FIH Men’s World Cup 2023 Bhubaneswar – Rourkela will begin on 13th January 2023. The nationwide Trophy Tour was launched in Bhubaneswar on 5th December by Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik. The trophy will travel across 13 states and one Union Territory before returning to Odisha on 25 December, thus giving the fans and public a chance to engage with the prestigious trophy before the winning team lifts it on 29th January.

 

4. Rafael Nadal and Iga Swiatek crowned ITF World Champions 2022: Rafael Nadal and Iga Swiatek were crowned the International Tennis Federation (ITF) world champion 2022 in their respective categories. Rafael Nadal was crowned the ITF world champion for the fifth time in his career. Nadal swept to the Australian Open and then backed it up with a 14th French Open, taking his majors total to a men’s record of 22. Swiatek, who inherited the world number one spot in March following the shock retirement of Ashleigh Barty, claimed a second French Open and then captured the US Open. In the men’s doubles category, Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury won the award. While Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova took the women’s doubles honour for the third time.

 

BANKING AND FINANCE

 

1. IDFC FIRST Bank launched ZERO Fee Banking on savings accounts: IDFC FIRST Bank has announced the ZERO Fee Banking on savings accounts and waived fees on multiple banking services, including Passbook charges, NEFT charges. As per the bank, the customers maintaining as low as ₹10,000 Average Monthly Balance, and the ₹25,000 AMB savings account variant will get these benefits. IDFC Bank has celebrated its Foundation Day on 18 December. This is a customer friendly initiative from IDFC FIRST Bank. IDFC FIRST MD: V Vaidyanathan IDFC FIRST Bank said that customers maintaining as low as ₹10,000 Average Monthly Balance, and the ₹25,000 AMB savings account variant will get these benefits, the bank said in a statement. IDFC Bank is celebrating Foundation Day on 18 December.

 

2. Indian Bank launched special retail term deposit “Ind Shakti 555 days”: Indian Bank has launched a new special retail term deposit dubbed as “Ind Shakti 555 days”, effective from December 19, 2022. This product is offering higher rate of interest for investment starting from Rs. 5000 to less than 2 Crore for 555 days in the form of FD/MMD with callable options.

An interest rate of 7% for the general public and 7.15% for senior citizens. It is offering an interest rate of 3.00% on deposits that mature in the next 30 to 45 days.

 

AWARDS AND HONOURS

 

1. NMDC won IEI Industry Excellence Award 2022: National Miner National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC) won the Institution of Engineers, India (IEI) Industry Excellence Award 2022 in Chennai. The largest producer of iron ore in the country was felicitated at the 37th Indian Engineering Congress for its outstanding performance and high level of business excellence. The Institution of Engineers (India) has given the Industry Excellence Award to NMDC, after reviewing the business operations, financial performance, environmental performance, research and development, CSR, and corporate governance policies of a company.