Current Affairs

28^th December 2022

Top 18 Daily Current Affairs: National & International News:

Here is the Daily Current Affairs of the 28th December 2022 covering the following news headlines: Name change of two places in Uttar Pradesh, Zeliangrong United Front, Early Warning Systems for Power Stations, ‘MSME Prerana’ programme.

State News

1. Home Ministry approved the name change of two places in Uttar Pradesh

The Union Home Ministry has given its consent to change the names, a Municipal Council in Gorakhpur and a village in Deoria, both in eastern UP, following recommendations from the state government.

The ‘no-objection’ certificates were issued by the Union Home ministry for changing the name of ‘Mundera Baazar’ municipal council in Gorakhpur district to ‘Chauri-Chaura’ and that of ‘Telia Afghan’ village in Deoria district to ‘Telia Shukla’.

Mundera Bazar Municipal Council will now become Chauri-Chaura Municipal Council to commemorate 100-years of the Chauri-Chaura incident which had taken place on February 4, 1922 in Gorakhpur district.

Telia Afghan village is already popular as Telia Shukla village under Barhaj tehsil of the eastern UP district.

2. Dharmadam becomes first complete library constituency in India

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s constituency has achieved a new record recently. It has become the only constituency in India to have a library in all the wards.

CM Vijayan’s constituency Dharmadam has achieved the position of complete library constituency in India, the first in India. Out of the total 138 wards in the constituency, there were no libraries in 63 wards. Dharmadam reached the achievement with the opening of libraries in these wards too.

Kerala which was the first state to achieve 100% literacy status in India is also perhaps the only state in India that has a library in every village.

Puthuvayil Narayana Panicker of Kerala is also known as the Father of the Library Movement in India. He started Granthashala Sangam with about 50 small libraries in 1945 in Kerala which grew into a large network of thousands of libraries.

To honour and acknowledge P.N.Panicker ,Kerala Government declared June 19, his death anniversary, as Vayanadinam (Reading Day) in  1996 In 2017,   Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared June 19 his death anniversary as National Reading Day in India. The following month is also observed as National Reading Month in India.

Agreements News

3. Zeliangrong United Front Signs a Peace Agreement with Central and Manipur Government

The Centre signed a peace agreement with a Manipur insurgent group, which agreed to give up violence and join the peaceful democratic process.

The tripartite agreement was signed by the central and Manipur governments and the Zeliangrong United Front (ZUF) rebel group which mostly operated in Manipur.The agreement was signed by senior home ministry officials and the government of Manipur and the representatives of ZUF in presence of Chief Minister N Biren Singh.

The Zeliangrong United Front (ZUF) was established in 2011. It is a Naga group which is active in Manipur. The group claims its objective is to safeguard the interest of ‘Zeliangrong Naga tribes in Manipur, Assam and Nagaland. It aimed to create a ‘Zeliangrong’ state within the Indian Union comprising the Zeliangrong Naga tribe’s area in Manipur, Assam and Nagaland. The ZUF is listed as one of the 13 active insurgent group in Manipur by the South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP). 

4. Power ministry, DRDO Ink Pact to Install Early Warning Systems for Power Stations

The Ministry of Power announced that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) to implement an early warning system for vulnerable hydro projects and power stations in hilly regions.

The early warning systems will alert stakeholders in the case of natural hazards like avalanches, landslides, glaciers, glacial lakes and more.

The Ministry of Power and the DRDO will also be working together to build mitigation and damage control systems against these disasters.

The Early Warning System has been envisioned as a risk reduction system that combines hazard monitoring, forecasting and prediction, with disaster risk assessment, communication and preparedness.

5. NTPC and Tecnimont Signed MOU for Green Methanol Project

NTPC signed a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Tecnimont Private Limited, the Indian subsidiary of Maire Tecnimont Group, Italy.

NTPC is India’s largest power generation company. The objective of the MoU is to jointly evaluate and explore the possibility to develop a commercial-scale Green Methanol production facility at the NTPC project in India.

The Green Methanol Project involves capturing carbon from NTPC power plants and converting it into green fuel. Green Methanol has a wide range of applications including serving as a base material for the Chemical industry, storing renewable electricity, and transportation fuel.

Banking News

6. Financial Literacy is low nationwide, both in urban and rural areas: RBI Survey

A pan-Indian “Financial Literacy and Inclusion survey” conducted by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) found that awareness and knowledge of digital banking are on par between the rural and urban population nationwide, with the average for both segments being 11.7 on a scale of 21.

Three criteria—financial knowledge, attitude, and behavior—were used to base the poll. The average urban and rural scores on a scale of 1 to 21 were 11.7

The scores, zone-wise, were as follows: Both the urban and rural areas in the north zone had scores of 11.5 apiece, which was par. The scores were 12.1 for both rural and urban areas in the east zone as well.

In the middle zone, urban areas had a score of 12.5 while rural regions received a slightly lower score of 12.1. In the west zone, scores were nearly identical, with urban areas scoring 12.6, and rural regions scoring 12.5. The urban area score in the south zone was 11.2 while the rural area score was 10.3.

7. Bank frauds over 50% in Public Sector Banks according to RBI data:

According to an RBI report, public sector banks (PSBs) accounted for the majority of frauds reported in 2018–19, with 55.4% of the cases reported and 90% of the money involved. This is primarily due to an inadequate internal process, lack of personnel, and inadequate systems to address operational risks.

Private banks and foreign banks contributed 30,7% and 11.2 percent, respectively, to the total number of frauds, while contributing 7.7 percent and 1.3 percent, respectively, to the latter.

According to the Reserve Bank of India’s “Trend and Progress of Banking in India 2018-19” report, PSBs contributed even more to big frauds in 2018–19, accounting for 91.6% of their total value.

The loan portfolio has seen the highest percentage of frauds, both in terms of quantity and dollar amount.

The value of incidents involving various aspects of banking, such as card/internet, off-balance sheet, and foreign exchange transactions, has decreased (in terms of reporting date) in 2018–19 compared to the previous year.

8. Indian Bank launched ‘MSME Prerana’ programme in Rajasthan:

Indian Bank, one of the leading public sector banks in the country, has launched its flagship business mentoring program for MSME entrepreneurs ‘MSME Prerana’ in the state of Rajasthan. Indian Bank’s unique program, “MSME Prerana”, is a first-of-its-kind initiative for MSME Sector in the country by any bank.

It is aims at empowering MSME Entrepreneurs through skill development and capacity building training in their local languages, assisting them in acquiring necessary financial and managerial skills, capacity to handle crisis in business, understanding of dynamics of credit rating and risk management.

The training program is in collaboration with M/s Poornatha & Co, a firm that designs entrepreneurial development program in vernacular languages using online web interactive sessions and case studies. Indian Bank has already conducted this online program in 7 languages across 10 states.

Business News

9. Bajaj Allianz General Insurance Announces Launch of ‘Respect Senior Care Rider’:

Bajaj Allianz General Insurance, one of the leading private general insurers of India, announced the launch of its unique health insurance rider ‘Respect Senior Care Rider’.

This rider helps one fulfill their parental responsibility smoothly. In order to accomplish this goal, Bajaj Allianz General Insurance has tied up with a wide network of service providers to assist the insured with their worries.

The company offers a comprehensive network of services and professionals who collaborate with one another to ensure that senior citizen will always receive the highest possible level of care.

This network can be accessed by them or their family members at any time, this product will protect the customers from shelling out significant sums of cash and reduces worries and brings a plethora of services at their fingertips.

10. IRDAI to Introduce ‘Bima Vahaks’ to Expand Insurance Force:

To enhance the insurance force in India, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) will soon introduce “Bima Vahaks” in each gram panchayat. Each Gram Panchayat will have a ‘Bima Vahak’ who would be tasked to sell and service simple parametric bundled insurance products, Bima Vistar, covering health, property, life and personal accident.

There is a large section of the population which is missing the facilities of financial aid and insurance. About 30 per cent of the eligible population, the ‘missing middle‘, are deprived of health insurance solutions.

50 per cent of vehicles are uninsured, and the coverage of property insurance is minuscule. The MSMEs are not adequately covered. This huge protection gap needs to be bridged.

11. Reliance Acquires Metro AG’s India Business for Rs 2,850 Crore

Reliance Retail Ventures Limited (RRVL), a subsidiary of Reliance Industries Ltd signed definitive agreements to acquire 100 percent equity stake in Metro Cash and Carry India Pvt Ltd, which operates under the ‘Metro India’ brand, for a cash consideration of Rs 2,850 crore.

Through this acquisition, Reliance Retail gets access to a wide network of METRO India stores located in prime locations across key cities, a large base of registered kiranas and other institutional customers, strong supplier network and some of the global best practices implemented by METRO in India.

The acquisition will further strengthen Reliance Retail’s physical store footprint and ability to better serve consumers and small merchants by leveraging synergies and efficiencies across supply chain networks, technology platforms and sourcing capabilities.

Ranks and Reports News

12. Punjab Ranks 2nd in Average Monthly Income Per Agricultural Household: Govt

Punjab ranks second in the country in average monthly income per agricultural household. The fact came to light in a data provided by Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Narendra Singh Tomar in the ongoing session of Rajya Sabha.

As per information, Meghalaya tops across the country with average monthly income per agricultural household (Rs 29,348).

The prominent crops produced in Punjab include rice, wheat, maize, bajra, sugarcane, oilseeds, and cotton, but rice and wheat alone constitute 80 per cent of the total gross cropped area.

Summits And Conferences News

13. IISc Bengaluru is Secretariat for G20 Working Group on Science

The Indian Institute of Science (IISc) has been announced as the Secretariat for Science 20 (S20), the G20 summit’s science working group. IISc stated that S20 will play a key role in helping resolve global issues like poverty and bring together the developments made by the G20 member states for development.

The deliberations will focus on three sets of issues: Universal holistic health, clean energy for greener future, and connecting science to society and culture. The consultations will also include an inception meeting in Puducherry and a summit meeting in Coimbatore.

S20 2023 theme is ‘Disruptive Science for Innovative and Sustainable Development’, under which many deliberations will be held through the year in Agartala, Lakshadweep and Bhopal.

Appointments News

14. Baskar Babu Re-Appointed as Suryoday Bank’s Chief for 3 Years

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has approved the reappointment of Baskar Babu Ramachandran as the MD & CEO of Suryoday Small Finance bank for three years effective from 23rd January 2023.

The founder of the bank, Baskar Babu Ramachandran sold the bank’s 50 lakh shares on 16th December for ₹55.44 crores to close a loan for exercising warrants to maintain the promoter’s stake at the minimum of 26 percent for the first 5 years.

Baskar Babu Ramachandran holds 63,01,911 shares amounting to 5.94 percent after the aforementioned same of which 62.40 lakh shares are pledged.

The bank was originally incorporated as Suryoday Micro Finance Pvt Ltd in Chennai in 2008.

The bank subsequently converted into a public limited company as Suryoday Micro Finance Ltd in 2015.

Suryoday Micro Finance was granted in-principle and final approval to establish an SFB by the RBI.

15. Lieutenant General Arvind Walia appointed Engineer-in-Chief of Army

Lieutenant General Arvind Walia has been appointed as the next Engineer-in-Chief of the Indian Army. He would be succeeding Lt Gen Harpal Singh who is superannuating on December 31.

An officer of the 1986 batch, Lt Gen Walia is an alumnus of the Indian Military Academy, Dehradun, and also received the prestigious Silver Medal there.

Lt Gen Walia has previously commanded an independent squadron in the desert sector, a regiment in Jammu and Kashmir and an Engineer Brigade along the western front. He has also commanded the MEG & Centre in Bengaluru.

Awards News

16. Cuban social worker Aleida Guevara received with first KR Gouri Amma national award

Noted Cuban social worker and human rights advocate, Aleida Guevara has been selected for the first KR Gouri Amma national award  instituted by the K.R. Gouri Amma Foundation.

The award comprising $3,000, a statuette and citation will be given away by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan at a function to be held here on January 5. Dr. Aleida is also an active member of the Cuban Medical Mission that works to improve the health profile of children in Latin America.

KR Gouri Amma  was the second longest-serving MLA in Kerala Legislative Assembly and also the last surviving member of the first Kerala government.

Books And Authors

17. A book titled “Forks in the Road: My Days at RBI and Beyond” by C. Rangarajan

C Rangarajan authored a book titled “Forks in the Road: My Days at RBI and Beyond”. It was published by the Penguin Business (Penguin Group). The book is the memoir of Dr C. Rangarajan, an Indian economist, a former Member of Parliament, and the 19th Governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

It discusses India’s transition from its post-independence planning era to the present times. The book is divided into 3 parts. Part 1- ‘RBI and Planning Commission’, Part 2-‘Governor of RBI’ and Part 3- ‘Beyond RBI’.

Miscellaneous News

18. Amrit Bharat Station Scheme: Ministry of Railways to renovate 1,000 small stations

The Ministry of Railways has developed a new scheme to modernize over 1000 small stations over the coming year. The stations will be equipped with facilities inspired by the mega-upgradation of marquee stations. This scheme will be a part of the Ministry of Railways Station Redevelopment Drive and Amrit Bharat Station Scheme.

The stations will include provisions for rooftop plazas, longer platforms, ballastless tracks, and 5G connectivity.

The scheme will subsume all previous redevelopment projects where work is yet to begin.

The scheme aims to prepare Master Plans of the Railway Stations and implementation of the Master Plan in phases to enhance the facility.

The plans and consequences will be approved based on factors such as footfall and inputs from stakeholders.

Zonal Railways have been given the responsibility of selecting stations that will be approved by a committee of senior railway officials.