NATIONAL NEWS

IIT Delhi Organised 4th Edition of Industry Day

• IIT Delhi organised the 4th edition of Industry Day.
• The fourth edition of the daylong event gives an opportunity to the industry to witness how IIT Delhi is working to develop technologies that will benefit both the industry and society.
• Industry Day 2022 was focused on four themes that have been built into India's commitment to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.
• These topics are healthcare, electric vehicles, communications technology and clean energy and the environment.
• The event was attended by industry leaders, scientists, IIT Delhi faculty, research scholars and students.

India’s First Carbon Neutral Farm

• Kerala Chief Minister Pinnari Vijayan on 10 December 2022 inaugurated Kerala's State Seed Farm located in Aluva, Ernakulam district.

• It is the first farm in India which is Carbon Neutral.

• The farm avoids using fossil fuels, energy-consuming equipment, and chemicals during cultivation by practicing mixed farming, keeping native breeds of goat, chicken, ducks and cows and producing vermicompost.
• Mixed farming involves the cultivation of crops and raising of livestocks.
• The farm practices carbon-neutral farming which involves absorption of all the carbon that gets released during various agriculture practices in the soil itself.

Goa’s 2nd Airport, Mopa International Airport

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated Goa’s second international airport at Mopa on 11 December 2022.
• Mopa International Airport will be the second Airport of Goa after the Dabolim airport which is a civil enclave in a military airbase named INS Hansa.
• Mopa airport will be the first cargo carrying airport of Goa.
• The Mopa airport will become fully operation from 05 January 2023.
• The airport has been built on the theme of sustainable infrastructure and has a solar power plant, green buildings, LED lights on the runway, among other such facilities.
• The Mopa International Airport has been developed at a cost of around Rs 2, 8700 Crore by the GMR Infrastructure.

Climate Change Mission

• Tamil Nadu has become the first state in India to launch its own Climate Change Mission.
• Tamil Nadu chief minister M K Stalin announced that the state will achieve carbon neutrality much ahead of the national target of 2070 during the Tamil Nadu Climate Summit which was held in Chennai.
• The state government announced the launch of the Tamil Nadu Climate Change Mission in the 2021-2022 budget with an outlay of Rs 500 crore to undertake climate change management and mitigation activities.
• The Tamil Nadu government has appointed former director of United Nations Environment Programme Erik Solheim as its advisor for the climate change mission.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

39th Edition of India-Indonesia Coordinated Patrol

• The 39th edition of India-Indonesia Coordinated Patrol (IND-INDO CORPAT) between the Indian Navy and the Indonesian Navy is being conducted from 08 December to 19 December 2022.
• The CORPAT will be executed along the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) from 15 to 16 December 2022 and will conclude at Port Blair, Andaman and Nicobar.
• Along with INS Karmuk, L-58 (indigenously built Landing Craft Utility vessel) and Dornier Maritime Patrol Aircraft will be participating in the CORPAT.
• The main aim of conducting the coordinated petrol between two navies is to strengthen mutual understanding and enhanced interoperability between both the navies in countering transnational maritime threats at sea.

BANKING

Currency Swap Agreement with Maldives Monetary Authority

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has signed a Currency Swap Agreement with the Maldives Monetary Authority under the SAARC Currency Swap Framework.
• Maldives Monetary Authority is the central bank of Maldives.
• This agreement will enable the Maldives authority to make drawals in multiple tranches up to a maximum of 200 million dollars from the RBI.
• The agreement will provide swap support as a backstop line of funding for short-term foreign exchange liquidity requirements.
• The SAARC Currency Swap Facility of the Reserve Bank of India came into operation on 15 November 2012.
• The aim of the facility is to provide a short -term funding arrangement to deal with their short -term foreign exchange liquidity requirements or balance of payment crises till longer term arrangements are made.

SPORTS

BWF World Tour Finals

• Men's badminton world number one Viktor Axelsen won the men's singles title after defeating Indonesian ace Anthony Ginting at the season-ending World Tour Finals in Bangkok.

• Akane Yamaguchi of Japan won the women's singles title by defeating Tai Tzu Ying of Taiwan.
• The BWF World Tour is a Grade 2 badminton tournament series, sanctioned by Badminton World Federation (BWF).

World Record of Fastest Double Century in ODI

• Ishan Kishan made a world record of making the fastest double century in a One Day International (ODI).

• He scored his double century in just 126 balls against Bangladesh in the match played at Chattogram, Banladesh.

• The record was earlier held by Chris Gayle of West Indies who scored a 138 balls double century against Zimbabwe in the 2015 World Cup.

• Ishan Kishan also became the youngest player to score a double hundred in men’s ODI.

RANKS, INDICES & REPORTS

2022 Hurun Global 500 List of Valuable Companies

• According to the recently released Hurun Global 500 list 2022, India has moved into the fifth position with 20 most valuable companies in the world.

• The list, released by the Hurun Research Institute is a compilation of the 500 most valuable non-state-controlled companies in the world.

• Companies were ranked according to their market capitalization (for listed companies) and valuations for non-listed companies.

• The United States of America with 260 companies came at the top. It was followed by China with 35 companies,
• India and Canada were at the 5th position with 20 companies each.

The World Strongest Passport List 2022

• India ranked 87 in the world's strongest passport list, while UAE ranked first in the rating of passports for 2022.

• UAE was followed by Germany, Sweden, Finland, Luxembourg, Spain and France.

• Afghanistan remained at the last position while Pakistan was ranked 94th.

• The Passport Index is based on the 139 members of the United Nations.

• Passport Index 2022 was published by Arton Capital.
• The data for this list has been given by the governments of different countries.
• To make this list, work is done on 3 steps which rates on the basis of Mobility Score (MS).
• This also includes the VF portion of Visa-free (VF), Visa on Arrival (VOA), eTA and eVisa.

AWARDS & PRIZES

S & P Platts Global CEO of the Year Award

• Gurdeep Singh has been named the S&P Platts Global CEO of the Year Award.

• The 24th annual Platts Global Energy Awards which is also considered as the “Oscars of the energy industry” was held in New York, United States of America.

• The S&P Platts Global CEO of the Year Award recognize corporate and individual innovation, leadership and exemplary performance across the entire energy and chemicals spectrum.

IMPORTANT DAYS

Human Rights Day

• Human Rights Day is celebrated every year on 10 December.

• It aims to promote equality, peace, justice, freedom and protection of human dignity.

• This day is widely recognised to raise awareness about people’s social, cultural, political and religious rights.

• The theme for the year 2022 is ‘Dignity, Freedom, and Justice for All’.
• The day has been observed every year since 1950 in commemoration of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) by the United Nations General Assembly in 1948.

OBITUTARY

Veteran US Sports Journalist Grant Wahl

• Grant Wahl, one of the most well-known soccer writers of the United States passed away.

• He passed away while covering the World Cup match between Argentina and the Netherlands in Qatar.

• This was the 8th World Cup for Wahl, who has been covering football continuously since 1996.

Veteran Marathi Lavani Singer Sulochana Chavan

• Legendary Marathi Lavani singer Sulochana Chavan passed away in Mumbai. She was at the age of 92.
• She was awarded Padma shri in 2022.
• Sulochana Chavan was one of the most well-known singers in this traditional Maharashtrian musical genre closely associated with the folk theatre form Tamasha.