Current Affairs

19^th December 2022

Top 16 Daily Current Affairs: National & International News:

Here is the Daily Current Affairs of the 18th & 19th December 2022 covering the following news headlines: Goa Liberation Day, Global Food Security Index, International Migrants Day 2022, Gati Shakti University, GST Council.

National News

1. India Announced Candidature for UNSC Membership for 2028-29 Term

India looks forward to being back in the UN Security Council, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said, as he declared the country’s candidature as non-permanent member for the 2028-29 term.

Jaishankar arrived at UN to preside over two signature events on counter-terrorism and reformed multilateralism held under India’s current Presidency of the UN Security Council, before the curtains come down this month on the country’s two-year tenure as elected member of the 15-nation top organ of the world body.

The previous eight terms that India has been in the Council are 1950-1951, 1967-1968, 1972-1973, 1977-1978, 1984-1985, 1991-1992 and 2011-2012. On December 1, India assumed the monthly rotating Presidency of the Security Council, the second time after August 2021 that India is presiding over the Council during its two year tenure as elected UNSC member.

International News

2. Indian-origin Leo Varadkar is new Prime Minister of Ireland

Indian-origin Leo Varadkar has returned for a second term as Ireland’s Prime Minister as part of a job-sharing deal made by the country’s centrist coalition government. His appointment was confirmed when he received the seal of office from President Michael D. Higgins, Ireland’s head of state.

This is the second time that Varadkar has been elected as Irish prime minister. He first became the Irish prime minister in June 2017. In June 2020, the Fine Gael party led by Varadkar formed a coalition government with Fianna Fail and Green Party, in which he served as deputy prime minister and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment.

Varadkar’s rise to the top of Irish politics was remarkable in a country dominated by a strict, conservative Catholic morality well into the latter half of the last century. At 38, he became the country’s youngest Taoiseach as well as its first openly gay head of government and first of Indian heritage.

Varadkar was born in Dublin to an Irish mother who worked as a nurse and an Indian immigrant father, who was a qualified doctor.

State News

3. Goa Liberation Day: History, It’s Significance ,Operation Vijay

‘Goa Liberation Day’ is celebrated on December 19 to commemorate the state’s liberation from Portuguese rule in 1961. As part of Operation Vijay, the Indian armed forces used the armed forces trifecta with the help of local resistance movements to eradicate European rule from the country.

The Indian government finally declared that Goa should join India “either with full peace or with full use of force”. December 18 and 19, 1961 saw a full-fledged military operation termed ‘Operation Vijay’, which was carried out with little resistance and an instrument of surrender was signed, leading to Goa’s annexation by India.

Appointments

4. Harvard University named Claudine Gay as first black president

Harvard University named Claudine Gay, a dean of the Faculty of Arts and Science, as its new president, the first African American to hold the post at the prestigious university.

The daughter of Haitian immigrants, Gay graduated from Stanford and then earned her Ph.D. in government at Harvard in 1998, winning the Toppan Prize for best dissertation in political science.

Gay was elected to the presidency by the Harvard Corporation, the university’s principal governing board.

She will be succeeding current Harvard President Lawrence S. Bacow, who announced he was retiring in June after five years at the helm. His predecessor, historian Drew Gilpin Faust, was the first woman to serve as Harvard president since its founding in 1636.

Gay, 52, is just the second woman to be elected to head the school in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Gay, the daughter of Haitian immigrants, will take over as the university’s 30th president on July 1, 2023.

5. Gati Shakti University: Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw appointed as first Chancellor

Union Minister of Railways, Ashwini Vaishnaw has been appointed as the Chancellor of Gati Shakti Vishwavidyalaya, Vadodara, by President Smt. Draupadi Murmu. It is noteworthy to mention that Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw will be the first Chancellor of Gati Shakti Vishwavidyalaya.

President also appointed Dr Manoj Chaudhary as the first Vice Chancellor of Gati Shakti University, Vadodara. As per the Central University Act, 2009, Dr Manoj Chaudhary will hold the position of Vice Chancellor of Gati Shakti University for five years from the date he assumes office.

Ranks And Reports

6. 2022 Global Food Security Index (GFSI) Report

The 2022 Global Food Security Index (GFSI) report was released by the British weekly The Economist. The 11th Global Food Security Index shows a deterioration in the global food environment for the third year, threatening food security.

In this report, South Africa overtook Tunisia to become the most food-secure country in Africa.

India is ranked at 68th position along with Algeria with the overall score of 58.9. China’s position is at 25th with the score of 74.2.

India was ranked at 71^st position in the Global Food Security (GFS) Index 2021 of 113 countries with an overall score of 57.2 points on the GFS Index 2021.

7. India ranked 3rd globally in the publication of scientific papers

Union Minister for Science and Technology, Jitendra Singh has revealed that India had jumped from 7th to 3rd in global scientific publications and scholarly output, according to a report by America’s National Science Foundation.

India also ranks third globally in the number of PhDs produced annually. In a similar upward trend, the number of patents granted by the India Patents Office to Indian scientists has more than doubled in just the last four years.

India’s scholarly output increased from 60,555 papers in 2010 to 1, 49,213 papers in 2020.

China leads the world in the publication of the maximum number of scientific papers followed by The United States of America.

Economy News

8. 48th Meeting of GST Council

Threshold limit of for launching of GST offences increased to Two Crores except in case of fake invoices.

5% GST Ethyl Alcohol applicable to Blended Petrol Decriminalized certain offences of Obstruction of services by officers, failure to supply information etc.

E-Com Portals can supply goods of Unregistered Suppliers

No Claim Bonus offered by Insurance Companies does not attract GST

No Decision on GST Appellate Tribunal Both GoM Reports on Pan Masala, Gutka and GSTAT to be discussed in Next Meeting.

The 48th Goods and Service Tax (GST) Council meeting at the national capital Delhi on 17 December has concluded without any decisions on the highly anticipated GST Appellate Tribunals, tax rate applicable on gutkha and pan masala.

Science And Technology

9. NASA Launches International Mission ‘SWOT’ to Survey Earth’s Water

The Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) mission is a satellite altimeter jointly developed and operated by NASA and CNES (French space agency) in partnership with the space agencies of the UK and Canada.

The mission’s objective is to make the world’s first-ever global survey of the Earth’s surface water, capable of observing the finer details of the ocean surface topography and measuring the changes in the terrestrial surface water bodies.

As it uses wide-swath of altimetry technology, the mission will be capable of almost completely observing the world’s oceans and freshwater bodies with repeated high-resolution elevation measurements.

It will provide the first truly global observation of the changes in water levels, stream slopes and inundation extents in rivers, lakes and floodplains.

The satellite can measure the height of water in freshwater bodies and the ocean on more than 90 percent of the Earth’s surface.

It can also observe ocean circulation at unprecedented scales of 15 to 25 km, which is an order of magnitude that is finer than current satellites.

The information obtained from this mission can be used to understand the ocean’s influence in climate change, impact of global warming on the waterbodies, and the preparedness of communities for disasters like floods and droughts.

The satellite will start collecting data in around six months after undergoing a series of checks and calibrations.

Sports News

10. FIFA World Cup 2022 concludes: Argentina beats France on penalties

Messi’s Argentina clinched their 3rd World Cup trophy from six final appearances in history, seeing off France 4–2 on penalties (3–3 after extra time) to win the biggest prize in men’s football at the  at Lusail Stadium in Lusail, Qatar.

It had won two in 1978 and 1986 under Diego Maradona. Lionel Messi had come close to winning in 2014 but La Albiceleste lost the final 0-1 to Germany. The only similarity from Messi’s 2014 campaign in Qatar was his Golden Ball award for Player of the Tournament award. He became the first player to win two World Cup Golden Balls.

The 22nd edition of the World Cup just ended and for another 4 years for the next World Cup. Also, The 2026 World Cup will be held across three different countries, the United States, Canada and Mexico.

11. World Athletics: Neeraj Chopra becomes the most written-about athlete in 2022

According to the World Athletics, Tokyo Olympics gold medalist javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra of India was the most written about track and field athlete in 2022, displacing the Jamaican legend Usain Bolt from the top lists.

The data collated by media analysis company Unicepta was cited by World Athletics, the global governing body for athletics.

Neeraj Chopra, the Tokyo Olympics men’s javelin champion, led the way with 812 articles ahead of the Jamaican women’s sprint trio of Olympic champion Elaine Thompson-Herah (751 articles), 100m world champion Shelley-Ann Fraser-Pryce (698 articles) and 200m world champion Shericka Jackson (679 articles).

Usain Bolt, the world record holder in 100m and 200m men’s sprint, comes in fourth in the list with 574 mentions. The Jamaican, who is now retired, had previously topped the annual list for most written-about athlete for years.

12. India hockey team win’s Women’s FIH Nations Cup 2022

The Indian women Hockey team led by Captain Savita Punia beat Spain 1-0 in the final to win the inaugural FIH Nations Cup played at Valencia, Spain. The winning goal was scored by Gurjit Kaur of India.

The inaugural FIH Nations cup was held in Valencia, Spain from 11-17 December 2022. India and Spain had played in the FIH women’s Hockey Pro League 2021-22 season as replacement teams after pull-outs by Australia and New Zealand due to COVID-19 related issues.

The result also means that Janneke Schopman-coached side has been promoted to the FIH Pro League 2023-24. Hockey India has announced cash prize of Rs 2 lakh for every member of the squad and Rs 1 lakh each for all the support staff.

India ended the tournament with a perfect record of five wins in five matches. Indian team beat Chile (3-1), Japan (2-1), and South Africa (2-0) in the group stage before a thrilling 2-1 win over Ireland in the penalty shootout in the semifinal.

Awards News

13. Sargam Koushal wins Mrs World 2022 title after 21 years

Sargam Koushal created history as she finally won the Mrs World 2022 title after 21 years while competing for India in the pageant. The 32-year-old won the competition in Las Vegas after defeating competitors from 63 other nations.

Sargam Koushal beat Mrs. Polynesia to win the title.

The Jammu and Kashmir-born beauty queen previously worked as a teacher in Vizag.

Her husband works for the Indian Navy.

Koushal is shown beaming in photographs from her historic victory that were posted on the Mrs India pageant’s official Instagram account. “The long wait is over; the CROWN is returned after 21 years!”

Books And Authors

14. A book titled “The Light We Carry: Overcoming In Uncertain Times” by Michelle Obama

The Light We Carry: Overcoming in Uncertain Times is a nonfiction book written by Michelle Obama and published, by Crown Publishing. The Light We Carry will inspire readers to examine their own lives, identify their sources of gladness, and connect meaningfully in a turbulent world.

The author “shares the contents of her ‘personal toolbox’ – the habits and practices, attitudes and beliefs, and even physical objects that she uses to overcome her feelings of fear, helplessness and self doubt.”

Important Days

15. National Minorities Rights Day 2022: 18 December

National Minorities Rights Day is commemorated on December 18 every year in India. Its aim is to safeguard the individual rights of the religious, ethnic, racial, or linguistic minorities in the country. This day is a reminder about the rights of minorities and to raise awareness about it. Minority Rights Day in India is commemorated by conducting debates and seminars on topic related to minority communities.

Awareness about their linguistic, national, cultural and religious identity are also a topic of study during this day. The day revolves around understand the issues faced by these communities and how discrimination against them can be stopped.

The Union Government set up the National Commission for Minorities under the National Commission for Minorities Act 1992. Following this five religious communities have been notified as minority communities in the Gazette of India by the Union Government all around the country.

These religious communities are Muslims, Sikhs, Buddhists, Christians, and Zoroastrians. The major function of this commission was and is to protect the interests of the minorities.

On December 18, 1992, the United Nations adopted the day as Minorities Rights Day.

16. International Migrants Day 2022: 18 December

International Migrants Day is observed annually on December 18 to bring attention to the social and economic realities of migrants around the world. This day is observed to guarantee that the rights of migrants are equally respected and not violated. The mobility of people is still influenced by a range of factors despite the world’s rapid growth and change.

Currently, 281 million individuals are international migrants who reside in nations other than their own. International Migrants Day serves as a reminder that the challenges faced by migrants in every country remain unresolved, and policymakers must continue to develop constructive and comprehensive policies to address the issue.

The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) proclaimed December 18 as International Migrants Day on December 4, 2000.