Latest Current Affairs For Monday 5th December, 2022

International Day of Persons with Disabilities 2022: 3 December

December 3rd is celebrated as the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, worldwide. The day is observed to highlight issues that affect people with disabilities and to champion their well-being, their dignity and fundamental rights.

International Day of Persons with Disabilities is celebrated to encourage increased assimilation of persons with disabilities in the socio-political, economic and cultural aspects of life. The goals fall under the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

The theme of International Day of Persons with Disabilities, this year, is “Transformative solutions for inclusive development: the role of innovation in fuelling an accessible and equitable world“. The 2022 celebration will focus on the need for innovative solutions to help create an inclusive developmental model to aid people with disabilities.

Important For All Exam 2022:

United Nations Secretary-general: António Guterres;

United Nations Headquarters: New York, United States;

United Nations Founded: 24 October 1945.

A book on Chipko Movement by Shekhar Pathak bags Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay NIF Prize 2022

A book on the popular forest conservation campaign Chipko Movement, written by historian-activist Shekhar Pathak, was named the winner of the Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay NIF Book Prize 2022. Translated from Hindi by Manisha Chaudhry, “The Chipko Movement: A People’s History” was selected from a diverse shortlist of five books covering a wide expanse of modern Indian history and encompassing distinct topics and perspectives.

The winner was selected by a six-member jury panel chaired by political scientist Niraja Gopal Jayal. The other jury members were entrepreneur Manish Sabharwal; historians Srinath Raghavan and Nayanjot Lahiri; former diplomat Navtej Sarna; and attorney Rahul Matthan.

A biography of English poet John Donne wins UK nonfiction book prize

British writer Katherine Rundell’s biography “Super-Infinite: The Transformations of John Donne” was named winner of the 50,000 pound ($59,000) Baillie Gifford Prize at a ceremony in London. Rundell’s book was a unanimous choice by the six judges from among 362 books submitted for the prize.

The book argues that Donne, best known four centuries after his death for a poem that begins “No man is an island” – is “a writer perhaps as great as Shakespeare, and a writer we should all read for his writing on love, sex and death.” Last year’s winner was Patrick Radden Keefe’s “Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty,” an expose of the family that helped unleash the United States’ opioid epidemic.

3rd T20 World Cup cricket tournament for Blind to be held in India

The third T20 World Cup Cricket Tournament for the Blind will be held from December 5 to 17, 2022 in India. The participating countries of the World Cup 2022 are Australia, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka and India.

Around 150 players from all countries will participate in the tournament and there will be a total of 24 matches across nine cities in India. The tournament is being organised to mark the World Disability Day celebrations universally. The inauguration of the World Cup on December 5 at Tau Devi Lal Indoor Stadium, Gurugram. Former India batter Yuvraj Singh is the brand ambassador of the tournament.

Vijay Hazare Trophy Final: Saurashtra beat Maharashtra by 5 wickets

Saurashtra beat Maharashtra by 5 wickets in the final to win the Vijay Hazare Trophy at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, Gujarat.

They restricted Maharashtra at 248/9 in 50 overs as captain Ruturaj Gaikwad hit a century, scoring 108 off 131 balls after a slow start. Saurashtra bowler Chirag Jani claimed a hat-trick in the match. Man of the moment is Sheldon Jackson. 

Full List of Award Winners:

Player of the match in the final: Sheldon Jackson (133 runs in 135 Balls). 

Player of the tournament: Ruturaj Gaikwad (Games: 5; Runs: 660; Avg: 220). 

Most Runs: N Jagadeesan (Tamil Nadu): 830runs, 8 innings. 

Highest Score: N Jagadeesan – 277 off 141 balls vs Arunachal Pradesh. 

Most Fours: N Jagadeesan – 73 in 8 innings. 

Most Sixes: Ruturaj Gaikwad – 34 in 5 innings. 

Most Wickets: Vasuki Koushik (Karnataka) – 18 wickets in 9 matches. 

3 Indian-origin women scientists among Australia’s “Superstars Of STEM”

Three Indian-origin women are among 60 scientists, technologists, engineers, and mathematicians who have been selected as Australia’s Superstars of STEM. This initiative aims to smash society’s gender assumptions about scientists and increase the public visibility of females and non-binary people.

This year among those recognised as Superstars of STEM include three Indian-origin women: Neelima Kadiyala, Dr Ana Baburamani, and Dr Indrani Mukherjee. Female scientists of Sri Lankan descent have also been chosen for distinction, in addition to Indians.

Every year Science and Technology Australia (STA), which is the country’s peak body in the sector and represents more than 105,000 scientists and technologists, supports 60 Australian experts employed in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) to become highly visible media and public role models.

The government intends to scale up the program, according to Australia’s Minister of Industry and Science Ed Husic, who spoke at the event. The national STEM Program is currently being reviewed by the government, and it is intended to be scaled up even more. 

Reserve Bank of India implements 4 tiered regulatory norms for UCB

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has announced a four-tiered regulatory framework for categorisation of Urban Co-operative Banks (UCBs). Besides, the central bank has come out with norms pertaining to the net worth and capital adequacy of these banks.

The Reserve Bank of India had constituted the Expert Committee on Urban Co-operative Banks, under the Chairmanship of Shri N. S. Vishwanathan, former Deputy Governor, Reserve Bank to examine the issues in urban cooperative banking sector and to review regulatory/ supervisory approach for strengthening the sector.

Based on the recommendations of the Expert Committee, RBI had released the Revised Regulatory Framework for Urban Co-operative Banks (UCBs) on July 19, 2022. The four-tiered regulatory framework, based on size of deposits of the UCBs, will come into force with immediate effect.

Rs. 1,45,867 crore gross GST revenue collected for November 2022

Goods and Services Tax (GST) collections for the month of November 2022 stood at Rs 1,45,867 crore, according to the data shared by finance ministry. The revenue for the month of November are 11% higher than the GST revenue in the same month last year, which itself was Rs 1,31,526 crore. This is the ninth straight month when collections from GST has remained above Rs 1.40 lakh crore.

The gross GST revenue collected in November 2022 came in at Rs 1,45,867 crore of which CGST is Rs 25,681 crore, SGST is Rs 32,651 crore, IGST is Rs 77,103 crore (including Rs 38,635 crore collected on import of goods) and Cess is ₹10,433 crore (including Rs 817 crore collected on import of goods). The government has settled Rs 33,997 crore to CGST and Rs 28,538 crore to SGST from IGST as regular settlement.

Rajeeva Laxman Karandikar named as chairperson of the National Statistical Commission

Government of India had appointed Rajeeva Laxman Karandikar, Professor Emeritus at Chennai Mathematical Institute (CMI), as the part-time chairperson of the National Statistical Commission (NSC) of India for a period of three years.

He will take up this role as an additional responsibility while continuing as Professor Emeritus at CMI. He joined CMI as a visiting professor in 2010, and officiated as the Director of CMI from January 2011 to April 2021. 

NSC is an autonomous body formed in June 2005 under the recommendation of the Dr. C Rangarajan commission. The objective of its constitution was to reduce the problems faced by statistical agencies in the country with respect to the collection of data, and strengthen public trust in the numbers released by the Government of India. The chairperson of the Commission enjoys the status of a Minister of State, Government of India.

Important For All Exam 2022:

National Statistical Commission Formed: 1 June 2005;

National Statistical Commission Headquarters: New Delhi.

Sanjay Kumar named as secretary of Department of School Education

IAS Sanjay Kumar took charge as Secretary of the Department of School Education and Literacy, Ministry of Education in Shashtri Bhawan in New Delhi.

Sanjay Kumar, a 1990-batch Bihar cadre IAS officer, was a former Secretary, Department of Youth Affairs, Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports. He replaced Anita Karwal IAS upon her superannuation.

Sanjay Kumar held a meeting with the senior officials of the Ministry in which he reviewed the functioning of the department, autonomous bodies and various schemes relating to school education.

Vijender Sharma elected as the President of the Institute of Cost Accountant of India

The Institute of Cost Accountants of India said that Vijender Sharma has been elected as the new president and Rakesh Bhalla as vice-president for 2022-23. The institute, which is a statutory body set up under an Act of Parliament, comes under the administrative control of Union Ministry of Corporate Affairs.

Mr. Vijender Sharma was Vice President and CMA Rakesh Bhalla was Central Council member and Chairman of Direct Tax Committee of the Institute in previous term 2021-22.

The Institute of Cost Accountants of India (ICAI-CMA) is a statutory body constituted under an act of the Parliament and is the regulator for the profession of Cost and Management Accountancy in India. Its qualified members are specialized in the field of Costing, Valuation, Insolvency Bankruptcy Code-2016 and Goods & Services (GST) Acts. The institute is also member of International accounting bodies. Having more than 60000 qualified members across the world.

Important For All Exam 2022:

Institute of Cost Accountants of India Founded: 28 May 1959;

Institute of Cost Accountants of India Headquarters: Kolkata, India.

PM Narendra Modi to be awarded prestigious Lokmanya Tilak Award 2023

The Tilak Smarak Mandir Trust (Hind Swaraj Sangh) would confer the prestigious Lokmanya Tilak National Award 2023 to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Pune on August 1, 2023.

Reason: This award recognizes PM Modi's supreme leadership under which India has climbed the ladder of progress

It is presented annually on the occasion of Lokmanya Tilak's death anniversary.

Other awardees: Indira Gandhi, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Sharad Pawar, Cyrus Poonawalla, and Manmohan Singh. 

J&K Bank wins award for Best Performance in CASA

Jammu & Kashmir Bank has been felicitated for the Best Performance in CASA-India (1st Runner up in Small Bank Category) at ICC Emerging Asia Banking Conclave & Awards 2022.

The event was participated by banks from India, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka & Myanmar.

The function was organized by the Indian Chamber of Commerce in Goa.

Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC) is a non-governmental trade association and advocacy group headquartered in Calcutta.

India poised to become world’s 2nd-largest economy by 2075: Goldman Sachs

According to the Investment Bank Goldman Sachs, India is poised to become the world’s second-largest economy by 2075.

As per the report, India would cross Japan, Germany, and the US With a population of 1.4 billion people.

India’s GDP is estimated to expand remarkably, reaching 52.5 trillion dollars surpassing the US GDP projection.

The labour force participation set to make India the second-largest economy in the world by 2075.

L&T and Spain's Navantia sign agreement for submarine project

L&T has signed a teaming agreement with Spanish-based Navantia for the submission of a techno-commercial bid for the Indian Navy’s prestigious P75 (India) submarine program.

P75 (India) Submarine Project is expected to be valued at €4.8 billion.

Navantia would carry out the design of P75(I) submarines based on its S80 class of submarines.

The first S80 class submarine was launched in 2021 and is undergoing sea trials prior to its delivery to Spanish Navy. 

India overtakes China as most attractive emerging market for investing

According to a study by Invesco Global Sovereign Asset Management, India has overtaken China to become the most attractive emerging market for investing in sovereign wealth funds this year.

Reason: This is due to its solid demographics, political stability, and proactive regulation. 

Positives for the nation also include the rapidly expanding demography, strong regulatory actions, and a welcoming climate for sovereign investors.

World Population Day 2023: 11 July

World Population Day is observed every year on July 11 in order to raise awareness about global population issues, including population control.

2023 theme: Unleashing the power of gender equality: Uplifting the voices of women and girls to unlock our world’s infinite possibilities. 

It was established by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in 1989, after the day the world approximately reached a population of five billion, which was observed on 11 July 1987.

MoHUA conducts SBM-U 2.0 Planning & Implementation Review-cum-Workshop

The Housing Ministry organized a review-cum-workshop to evaluate and accelerate the planning and implementation of the SBM-Urban 2.0.

PM Modi launched the 2.0 versions of SBM-U and AMRUT on October 1, 2021.

SBM-U 2.0: Achieving 100% waste segregation in all households and premises and 100% door-to-door collection of segregated waste from each. 

AMRUT 2.0: To provide complete coverage of water supply to all households and sewerage and septage in 500 AMRUT cities. 

Gujarat CM launches pilot project of ‘Antyodaya Shramik Suraksha Yojana’

Gujarat CM Bhupendra Patel launched the Antyodaya Shram Suraksha Accident Insurance Scheme from Kheda

All those registered under the e-Shram portal from Nadiad will benefit from the scheme.

It is being implemented through the Indian Postal Department, the IPPB, and the Ministry of Labour and Employment.

Under this scheme, insurance with a premium of Rs. 289 and Rs. 499 per year will be a big support to workers in the event of death or partial disability.

OCA elects Sheikh Talal as the new President

Kuwait’s Sheikh Talal Fahad Al Ahmad Al Sabah has been elected as the new President of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA).

He replaced his older brother Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah, who led the OCA for 30 years until 2021.

The OCA was founded in 1982 by his father Fahad Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, who led it until 1990.

The Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) is a governing body of sports in Asia, currently with 45 member National Olympic Committees.

Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance wins Insurer Innovation Award 2023

Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance has won the Insurer Innovation Award 2023 for the APAC region at the 8th World Digital Insurance Awards, hosted by TDI - The Digital Insurer.

Recognition: Bajaj Allianz Life's ground-breaking WhatsApp Conversational Platform - empowering customers to digitally services their policies seamlessly. 

The award entries were shortlisted by industry experts and the winner was selected by the community through pre-voting and live event voting.