NATIONAL NEWS

‘Prahari App’ of the Border Security Force

• The Union Home and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah launched the Mobile App ‘Prahari’ of the Border Security Force (BSF) in New Delhi on 29 December 2022.
• Amit Shah announced that the BSF ‘Prahari’ app is for Proactive Governance.
• Through ‘Centralized Public Grievance Redress and Monitoring System’ (CP-GRAMS) or information on various welfare schemes, they can get all this information through the app and this app will also connect them with the portal of the Ministry of Home Affairs.
• The Border Security Force was raised on 01 December 1965 after the India-Pakistan war of 1965.
• It is a border force which is deployed along the International border with Bangladesh and Pakistan.

World-class Kayaking-Canoeing Academy

• Union Minister for Power and New and Renewable Energy RK Singh announced to set up a world class Kayaking-Canoeing Academy in Tehri, Uttarakhand during inauguration of the National Championship “Tehri Water Sports Cup” at Tehri Lake.

• In this academy, the youth of Uttarakhand will be prepared to play at the national and international level by providing all the facilities along with free training.

• The new sports policy has been implemented in the state and the government has also announced re-implementation of sports quota in jobs.

IT Minister Launches 'Stay Safe Online' Campaign

• As part of India's G20 presidency, the Minister for Electronics & Information Technology, Communications and Railways, Ashwini Vaishnaw has launched the ‘Stay Safe Online’ campaign and the ‘G20 Digital Innovation Alliance’ (G20-DIA) at Delhi.
• It aims to raise awareness among citizens to stay safe in the online world due to the widespread use of social media platforms and rapid adoption of digital payments.
• MeitY is the nodal ministry for the G20 Digital Economy Working Group (DEWG).
• MeitY aims to advance the vision of digital transformation of the global digital economy for public service delivery through innovation in a secure cyber environment and a future-ready digitally skilled workforce.

‘Friends Of Library’ Program to Promote Reading

• The school education minister of Tamil Nadu (TN) Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi, has launched the “Friends of Library” program, through which books would be directly supplied to those who are unable to access state-run libraries.

• The project will be helpful to people with differently-abled persons, senior citizens, children and hospital in-patients among others who cannot come to a library will benefit from the initiative.

• Volunteers will hand over the books to such people from the libraries.

• The program will involve 2,500 libraries in its initial phase, including 31 district libraries.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

India and Cyprus Signs Three Agreement

• External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar is on a three-day visit to Cyprus.
• During the visit, EAM signed a number of agreements with his Cypriot counterpart Ioannis Kasoulides in the capital Nicosia on 29 December 2022.
• S. Jaishankar also released the commemorative stamp on the 75 years of Indian Independence and 60 years of establishing diplomatic ties with Cyprus.
• This is the first visit of S. Jaishankar to Cyprus.
• The minister announced that India and Cyprus were collectively working on issues such as food and energy security, maritime security and sustainable environment.

Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina Inaugurates the First Metro Rail

• Bangladesh Prime Minister (PM) Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the country’s first metro rail service in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

• The PM opened the 73-km part of the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) Line-6 of the metro rail project from Diabari to Agargaon.

• The government-owned company Dhaka Mass Transit Company Limited (DMTCL) is implementing the metro rail project.

• This is part of the ambitious Bangladesh project of Mass Rapid Transit to be completed by 2030.

• She also released a commemorative banknote of Taka 50 to mark the metro’s opening.

BANKING

Committees On Cyber Security and Information Systems

• The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has expanded two of its committees – the High-Powered Steering Committee on Cyber Security (HPSC-CS) and Information Systems Security Committee (ISSC).
• It is to strengthen cyber security frameworks and cyber resilience requirements.
• The panel approves Information Security Policies, suggests amendments to the existing ones, and provides inputs and suggestions to take urgent actions on cyber security incidents of SEBI-regulated entities.

SPORTS

ICC T 20 Cricketer of the Year Award Nominee List

• The International Cricket Council (ICC) has announced the list of nominated players for its various categories of year end awards.

• Indian opening batter Smriti Mandhana, Pakistan’s all-rounder Nida Dar, New Zealand’s all-rounder Sophie Devine and Australian all-rounder Tahlia McGrath have been nominated for the ICC Women’s T 20 cricketer of the year 2022.

• Indian batter Suryakumar Yadav, Sikandar Raza of Zimbabwe, Sam Curran of England and Pakistan’s wicketkeeper batsman Mohammad Rizwan have been nominated for the ICC men’s T 20 cricketer of the year 2022.

South Africa’s Farhaan Behardien Announces Retirement

• South African batter Farhaan Behardien announced retirement from international cricketing career.
• The 39-year-old has represented the Proteas in 59 ODIs and has 1074 runs and 14 wickets under his belt.
• Behardien also has 38 T20I caps for South Africa and has amassed 518 runs at an average of 32.37.
• He also led the Proteas in the three-match T20I series against Sri Lanka in January 2017.

APPOINTMENTS & RESIGNATIONS

Rajeev Badyal to the National Space Council Advisory Group

• The American Vice President Kamala Harris has named Indian American Rajeev Badyal to the National Space Council's Users Advisory Group (UAG).
• The UAG is tasked to maintain a robust and responsible US space enterprise and preserve space for current and future generations.
• The UAG is headed by US Air Force Rtd General Lester Lyles.
• Rajeev Badyal is currently the vice-president of Project Kuiper of Amazon.
• The UAG will provide the National Space Council advice and recommendations on matters related to space policy and strategy.

Prime Minister of Israel

• Benjamin Netanyahu was sworn in as the Prime Minister of Israel for the sixth time on 29 December 2022.

• He replaced Yair Lapid whose party failed to win a majority in the Israeli Parliamentary election held on 01 November 2022.

• This was the 5th general election in Israel in the past four years.

• The longest serving Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu heads a coalition government which is considered to be one of the most right-wing governments in the history of the country.

Interim Central Vigilance Commissioner

• The government of India has appointed the vigilance commissioner Praveen Kumar Srivastava as the acting Central Vigilance Commissioner (CVC).
• Srivastava is a 1988-batch (retired) Indian Administrative Service officer of the Assam-Meghalaya cadre.
• The Vigilance Commission is headed by a CVC and can have a maximum of two other Vigilance Commissioners.
• Besides Srivastava, former Intelligence Bureau (IB) chief Arvind Kumar is the other Vigilance Commissioner.
• The tenure of a CVC and vigilance commissioner is of four years or till the incumbent attains the age of 65 years.

DEFENCE

Air version of BrahMos Missile

• The Indian Air Force successfully tested the extended range version of the Brahmos Air Launched missile against a ship target in Bay of Bengal from Su-30 MKI fighter jet on 29 December 2022.
• Brahmos supersonic missile has been developed by the Brahmos Aerospace ltd.
• The company is a joint venture of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) of India and Russia’s NPOM.
• The extended range of the Brahmos missile have the ability to take out targets in sea 400 km away.
• The successful test firing was a joint effort by the Indian Air Force, Indian Navy, the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and the BrahMos Aerospace (BAPL).