NATIONAL NEWS

Unique Musical Dance Event Held in New Delhi

• The Union Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas organized a unique one-day event on 23 December 2022, called ‘Dance to Decarbonise’.

• The renewable energy generated through dance was used to charge electric vehicles.

• This unique event was held at the National Stadium, in New Delhi as a run up to the India Energy Week that will be held in Bangalore in February 2023.

• The event is seen as a commitment by the Government to achieve net-zero emissions by 2070 and the implementation of responsible energy sources over transformational energy systems for the future.

Good Governance Week 2022

• Dr Jitendra Singh, Union Minister of state for Personnel, Public Grievances, and Pensions has launched Good Governance Week from 19 December 19 to 25 December 2022 at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi.

• In all Indian districts, states and union territories, there will be a campaign to address public grievances and improve service delivery.

• The Campaign will involve over 700 District Collectors and representatives will visit Tehsil and Panchayat Samiti headquarters.

Uttar Pradesh Government Signs MoU with Austin University

• The Uttar Pradesh (UP) Government has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the United States (US)-based Austin University for the construction of a smart city of knowledge.

• The Smart City of Knowledge will be built in the state at a total cost of USD 42 billion.

• It is to be built on 5,000 acres. The Knowledge City will include the best universities in the world.

• The MoU was signed during a state government delegation’s visit to the United States as part of efforts to attract investment ahead of the Uttar Pradesh Global Investors Summit-2023.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

First Bilateral Air Combat Exercise

• India and Japan will conduct their first Air exercise from 16 January to 26 January 2023 at the Hyakuri Air Base and at the Iruma Air Base in Sayama Japan.

• The decision to conduct bilateral air exercise was taken during defence minister Rajnath Singh meeting with the Japanese Defence Minister Yasukazu Hamada held in Tokyo, Japan.

• The aim of the combat exercise is to strengthen defence cooperation between the forces, enhance tactical skills and promote mutual understanding.

BANKING

DBS Bank India Partners with Gofrugal Tech

• DBS Bank India Limited (DBIL) has partnered with GoFrugal Technologies Pvt Ltd, a seller-centric platform.

• It is to empower micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) and retail merchants to adopt Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC).

• The partnership furthers DBS Bank India’s commitment to reimagining SME banking through innovation and providing digital solutions beyond traditional banking.

• Through this partnership, DBS Bank India is integrating its digital solutions with Gofrugal Technologies to help small businesses catalogue their products quickly and expand their sales channels via ONDC.

RBI Asks Razorpay and Cashfree to Hold Off Onboarding New Merchants

• Payment companies Razorpay and Cashfree Payments have received notices from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to withhold onboarding any new online merchants to their platforms, pending their audit for the payment aggregator/payment gateway licences (PA/PG).
• Razorpay, Pine Labs and Stripe were among the first ones to get an in-principle nod to provide PA/PG services.
• As part of the migration to a full PA licence, Razorpay will have to make some systematic upgrades and migrations to an escrow account from a nodal account, among a few other things.
• Razorpay was granted the in-principle approval for a PA licence in July, 2022.

SPORTS

Captain of Indian Team at the FIH Men’s World Cup 2023

• Hockey India has announced Dragflicker Harmanpreet Singh as the captain of the Indian men’s Hockey team for the FIH Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup 2023.

• Amit Rohidas has been named as the vice-captain of the squad.

• The team coach is Graham Reid.

• The FIH Men’s Hockey World Cup is held every four years.

• The 15th FIH men’s world cup will be held at the Kalinga Stadium Bhubaneswar and at the newly built Birsa Munda International Hockey Stadium, Rourkela from 13 January to 20 January 2023.

AWARDS & PRIZES

15th Enertia Awards 2022

• The government of India owned company NHPC Limited has been awarded as Winner of ‘Best Globally Competitive Power Company of India – Hydropower and Renewable Energy Sector’ at PRAKASHmay ‘15th Enertia Awards 2022’.
• This award is organized by ENERTIA Foundation and supported by the Renewable Energy Promotion Association and the New Delhi Institute of Management.
• U.S. Sahi, Executive Director, NHPC received the award on behalf of NHPC at New Delhi Institute of Management, New Delhi.

DSCI Best Security Practices Award

• The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has won the Data Security Council of India's (DSCI) Best Security Practices in Government Sector award.

• The award was given to UIDAI during DSCI's three-day Annual Information Security Summit (AISS) in Gurugram

• The award was given for its significant role in securing national critical Aadhaar infrastructure that provides digital identity-based welfare services to residents.

• Data Security Council of India is a premier industry body on data protection in India. It was set up by the National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM).

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

US Air Force Launches 1st Operational Hypersonic Missile

• The United States Air Force (USAF) has successfully tested its first prototype hypersonic missile AGM-183A Air-launched Rapid Response Weapon (ARRW) from a B-52H bomber off California’s coast.
• This test was the first launch of a full prototype operational missile.
• Hypersonic missiles are capable of being steered to deliver nuclear weapons
• ARRW is designed to enable the U.S. to hold fixed, high-value, time-sensitive targets at risk in contested environments.
• Lockheed Martin-designed the weapon based on previous test vehicles built by DARPA (opens in new tab) that have an alleged maximum speed of 15,000 mph (24,000 kph).

IMPORTANT DAYS

National Farmers Day

• National Farmers Day or Kisan Diwas in India is observed every year on 23 December.

• The day is observed to commemorate the birth anniversary of the 5th Prime Minister of India Chaudhary Charan Singh.

• The day is observed to recognise and honour the contribution farmers make to our economy and society.

• He was made the deputy Prime Minister of India in 1979 when Morarji Desai was the Prime Minister of India.

• He was the Prime Minister of India for 170 days. He is the only Prime Minister who never faced parliament while being the Prime Minister.

OBITUTARY

Noted Telugu Actor, Producer and Director Kaikala Satyanarayana

• Veteran Telugu actor, producer and director Kaikala Satyanarayana passed away in Hyderabad. He was at the age of 87.
• Kaikala Satyanarayana, also known as Navarasa Natana Sarvabhouma, was born on July 1935 in the Krishna district of Andhra Pradesh
• He acted in around 750 movies.
• He received several awards including the Raghupati Venkaiah Award (2011), Filmfare Lifetime Achievement award for Telugu cinema (2017) and the Andhra Pradesh government's Nandi film awards.