NATIONAL NEWS

Universal Health Coverage

• Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare is organising a two days conclave ‘Universal Coverage Day (UHC) 202’ on 10 December and 11 December 2022 at Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh.

• It was organized as the celebration of ‘International Universal Health Coverage Day’ which is observed on 12 December.

• Universal Health Coverage (UHC) aims that ‘all people have access to needed promotive, preventive, curative and rehabilitative health services of sufficient quality to be effective.

• It will also ensure that people do not suffer financial hardship when paying for these services.

World Ayurveda Congress and Arogya Expo 2022

• 9th edition of World Ayurveda Congress (WAC) was inaugurated on 08 December 2022 at Panaji, Goa.

• It was inaugurated in the presence of Union Minister of State for Tourism and Shipping, Ports and Waterways Shripad Naik and the Chief Minister of Goa Pramod Sawant.

• The main objective of the conference is to provide a global platform for all the stakeholders, including industry leaders, practitioners etc to strengthen the Ayurveda sector, envision its future and facilitate interaction between professionals and consumers to boost Ayurveda commerce.

• A MoU was signed between All India Institute of Ayurveda (AIIA) and Rosenberg’s European Academy of Ayurveda, Germany to facilitate advanced studies in traditional Indian medicine systems.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Ebola Vaccine to Uganda

• India's first vaccine for Ebola manufactured by Serum Institute of India (SII) has been approved by the Drugs Controller General of India for export to Uganda, approved by the World Health Organization (WHO) for cooperation to fight Ebola.

• The vaccine is developed by the Serum Institute of India (SII) in collaboration with Oxford University in the United Kingdom.

• This vaccine has proven highly effective against the recent Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

BANKING

TN Government Signs MoU with a German Bank

• Tamil Nadu Transmission Corporation has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for a loan with German bank KFW to implement phase two of the Green Energy Corridor (GEC) in Tami Nadu.

• The Centre has approved Rs 719.79 crore for the project in Tamil Nadu, including the grant of 33% from the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy.

• 47% cost of the project will be funded by the loan from KFW and the remaining 20% as equity from the Tamil Nadu Transmission Corporation Limited.

• The work has been scheduled to be completed by 2025-2026.

RANKS, INDICES & REPORTS

BBC Announces List of 100 Most Influential Women

• The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) has issued a list of the world’s 100 most influential women which includes women from politics, science, sports, entertainment and literature.

• Four Indians are on the BBC’s list of the 100 most influential women- actress Priyanka Chopra Jonas, author Geetanjali Shree, engineer and astronaut Sirisha Bandla and social worker Sneha Jawale.

• The yearly list recognizes women’s achievements worldwide, from grassroots volunteers to global leaders and is used by the BBC to focus on women’s experiences around the world through a dedicated series of interviews, documentaries and features.

• For the first time this year, the BBC asked past ‘100 Women’ to recommend women they believe should be included on the 2022 list.

AWARDS & PRIZES

US Presidential Lifetime Achievement Award

• The United States of America President Joe Biden has conferred the Presidential Lifetime Achievement (PLA) Award to the Indian American Krishna Vavilala.
• The Presidential Lifetime Achievement is America’s highest honour and is awarded to American citizens, who exhibit outstanding character and dedication to their communities.
• Krishna Vavilala is from Andhra Pradesh and migrated to the United States.
• He is a retired Electrical Engineer and is the founder and Chairman of the Foundation for India Studies (FIS).
• It is a non-profit organisation, whose Indo-American Oral History Project'' won the 2019 Mary Fay Barnes Award for Excellence.

APPOINTMENTS & RESIGNATIONS

Chairman of NABARD

• K V Shaji has been named Chairman of the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD).

• He formerly served as NABARD’s Deputy Managing Director (DMD) till May 2020.

• He is a post graduate in Agriculture and holds a PGDM degree in Public Policy from the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Ahmedabad.

• Prior to this, he worked in Canara Bank in various capacities for 26 years.

First Female President of Peru

• Vice President Dina Boluarte has been sworn in as President on 07 December.

• Dina is the first female President of the country. She will hold the post till 2026.

• Francisco Morales, head of Peru's constitutional court, ordered Vice President Dina Boluaarte to assume the presidency in a speech before parliament voted on an impeachment motion.

• She will replace Pedro Castillo.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

ISRO and Social Alpha

• Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and Social Alpha signed an MoU to launch SpaceTech Innovation Network (SpIN).

• It is a one-of-its-kind public-private collaboration for start-ups and SMEs in the space industry.

• This is an important step towards providing further impetus to India's recent space reform policies.

• It will work towards identifying and unleashing the market potential of promising space technology innovators.
• SpIN has launched its first innovation challenge for developing solutions in areas of maritime and land transportation, urbanisation, mapping and surveying.

ISRO will Develop Spatial Data Infrastructure Geoportal

• Indian Institute of Remote Sensing (IIRS), a unit of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) developed Spatial Data Infrastructure geoportal ‘Geo-Ladakh’ for UT-Ladakh.
• The project encompasses spatial database generation (water resources, vegetation and energy potential) using remote sensing, geospatial techniques and the development of a Geo-portal for hosting this database.
• The project also aims towards training of UT-Ladakh officials on Geospatial techniques and applications.
• Portal provides geospatial data visualization and analytics for UT-Ladakh, consisting of Spatial viewer, Carbon Neutrality, Geospatial utility mapping and Geo-Tourism.

DEFENCE

New Design of The President’s Standard and Colour

• The President of India has approved the introduction of a new design for the President’s Standard and Colour and Indian Navy Crest for the Indian Navy, which was unveiled at Visakhapatnam on Navy Day.
• The President’s Colour is given to the ‘operational formation of the force’ while the President’s Standard is meant for the ‘static formation.’
• They are given to the best-performing units of the force.