NATIOANL NEWS

Four Ambitious Schemes for Students and Youths

• The Jharkhand Cabinet has approved four ambitious schemes to promote education and skill development of students and youths.
• The cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Shri Hemant Soren approved the 4 schemes and 34 other agendas.
• President Droupadi Murmu will officially launch these schemes on Jharkhand’s Foundation Day on 15 November 2022.
• The four schemes are
• Higher and Technical Education department’s Mukhya Mantri Shiksha Prothsahan Yojana (MMSPY)
• Eklavya Prasikshan Yojana (EPY)
• Guruji Student Credit Card Yojana (GSCCY)
• Labour department’s Mukhya Mantri Sarathi Yojana (MMSY).

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

India and Finland

• India and Finland have agreed to enhance cooperation in areas such as Digital Partnership in Future ICT, Future Mobile Technologies and Digital Education.
• This was agreed by the visiting Finland's Minister of Education and Culture, Petri Honkonen and the Union Minister of Science and Technology Dr Jitendra Singh in a meeting in New Delhi on 14 November 2022.
• Both the countries also agreed on having institutionalized joint working groups in areas of mutual interest and in the field of Science, Technology and Innovation.

The Pandemic Fund Sponsored by World Bank and WHO

• The Pandemic Fund sponsored by the World Bank and World Health Organisation was officially launched at Bali, Indonesia on 13 November 2022 at the sidelines of the G-20 Joint Finance and Health Ministers’ Meeting.

• The Pandemic Fund has been established by the World Bank in association with the World Health Organisation (WHO) in September 2022.

• The fund has been set up to provide assistance to the low- and middle-income countries to strengthen their preparedness and response (PPR) to the future epidemics and pandemics.

• The fund will be used to build and strengthen infrastructure in these countries so that they are better prepared to face the risks of future epidemics and pandemics like covid.
• Till date according to the World Bank the fund has received a commitment of $1.4 billion from 24 donor countries including India.

BANKING

Sovereign Green Bonds

• The Central government has issued a framework for its proposed Sovereign Green Bonds.

• Nirmala Sithraman in budget had proposed the issuance of Sovereign Green Bond in the 2022-23 financial year.

• The government proposes to issue Rs 16,000 crore worth of bonds in the second half of the current financial year.

• Bond is a debt instrument which is issued to raise capital or fund and it creates debt on the issuer. Sovereign Green Bond means that the fund raised from the sale of the bonds will be used for environment friendly projects.
• The government will set up a ‘Green Finance Working Committee' headed by the Chief Economic Advisor Dr V. Anantha Nageswaran.
• The committee will select eligible projects for financing.

SPORTS

Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award 2022

• The Union Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports announced the National Sports awards 2022 on 14 November 2022.

• Table Tennis player Sharath Kamal Achanta has been selected for the country’s highest sports award Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award.

• 25 Sports persons will receive Arjuna Awards.

• The awardees will receive their awards from the President of India at a specially organized function at Rashtrapati Bhavan on 30 November 2022.

• It is the highest sporting award for a sports person in India. The Khel Ratna is awarded for outstanding performances in sports for over a period of four years.
• It was earlier called as Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna and its name was changed to Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna in 2021.

U-19 Men's T-20 World Cup 2024

• The International cricket governing body International Cricket Council (ICC) announced host countries for U19 events between 2024 and 2027.

• The name of the host was announced after the Board meeting of the ICC was held at Melbourne, Australia on 12 November 2022.

• The ICC U19 Men’s ODI Cricket World Cup 2024 will be hosted by Sri Lanka while the 2026 edition will be hosted by Zimbabwe and Namibia.

• The ICC U19 Women’s T20 World Cup 2025 will be held in Malaysia and Thailand and the 2027 event will be jointly hosted by Bangladesh and Nepal.

• The first ever ICC U19 Women’s T20 world cup will be held in South Africa in January 2023.

AWARDS & PRIZES

Google for Doodle 2022

• Google has declared Kolkata's Shlok Mukherjee as the winner of the Google for Doodle 2022 competition for his inspiring doodle titled 'India on the Center Stage' for India.

• 'India on the Center Stage' - expresses hope for India's scientific progress to gain further momentum in the years to come.

• The theme of the Doodle for Google contest 2022 was 'In the next 25 years, my India will be'.

• Shloka's doodle will be shown on Google.co.in for 24 hours on November 14, 2022.

APPOINTMENTS & RESIGNATIONS

CEO of Prasar Bharati

• Senior IAS officer Gaurav Dwivedi was appointed as the Chief Executive Officer of public broadcaster Prasar Bharati.

• Dwivedi, a 1995 batch officer of Chhattisgarh cadre, will have a tenure of five years from the date he assumes charge.

• Prior to this, Dwivedi was the Chief Executive Officer of MyGovIndia, the government's citizen platform.

• Shashi Shekhar Vempati was the CEO of Prasar Bharati from 2017 to 2022.

First Female President of Slovenia

• In Slovenia, Natasa Pirc Musar has been elected the country’s first female President after beating her conservative rival in the second round of elections.
• Natasa Pirc Musra will be the first woman to serve as president after Yugoslavia broke up and Slovenia became independent in 1991.
• She will replace President Borut Pahor, a centrist politician who has already served two terms as president.

Chairman of ICC

• Greg Barclay has been unanimously re-elected as chairman of the International Cricket Council (ICC) for a second two-year term.
• Barkley was appointed as the IIC President in November 2020.
• BCCI secretary Jay Shah was elected as the head of the powerful Finance and Commercial Affairs Committee of the ICC.
• Greg Barclay-Hale was the President of New Zealand Cricket (NZC) and also served as the Director of ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2015.

IMPORTANT DAYS

World Diabetes Day

• World Diabetes Day is being observed every year on November 14.

• The day provides an opportunity to raise awareness of diabetes as a global public health issue and the efforts needed to diagnose, prevent and manage it.

• The theme for the year 2022 is 'Access to Diabetes Education' and underlines the multi-year theme of 'Access to Care'.

• The day is observed every year on 14 November to mark the birthday of Sir Frederick Banting, who discovered insulin in 1922 along with Charles Best.

• World Diabetes Day was first observed in 1991 by the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) and the World Health Organization (WHO)

National Children's Day

• Children's Day is celebrated every year on 14 November.
• The day commemorates the birth anniversary of the first Prime Minister of India, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru.
• Nehru was a great supporter of children's rights and an all-inclusive education system where knowledge is accessible to all.
• Children's Day is celebrated all over the country to raise awareness about the rights, care and education of children.