Daily Current Affairs January 06 2023

 

CURRENT AFFAIRS: IMPORTANT DAYS

World Day of War Orphans: 6th January

• World Day of War Orphans 2023 is observed on the 6th of January 2023.
• Children who lose their parents in sudden, violent events like war are forced to live with a surviving relative or into the foster care system, where they must deal with horrible living conditions including starvation and disease.
• It’s impossible to fathom the emotional and mental strain they experience.
• About half of the casualties in wars over the past few centuries were civilians, a percentage that gradually rose until 2001.
• According to UNICEF, there were “almost 140 million orphans worldwide” as of 2015.
• Of those, 61 million lived in Asia, 52 million in Africa, 10 million in Latin America and the Caribbean, and 7.3 million in Eastern Europe and Central Asia.
• SOS Enfants en Detresse, a French charity that aims to restore a sense of normalcy to the lives of children indirectly impacted by war and conflict, established World Day for War Orphans.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: NATIONAL NEWS

Cabinet approves Rs 19,744 cr for National Green Hydrogen Mission:

• The Union Cabinet approved an initial outlay of Rs 19,744 crore for the National Green Hydrogen Mission.
• Addressing the nation on its 75th Independence Day in 2021, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a national mission for green fuels in line with the Centre’s stated target of making India energy-independent before completing 100 years of Independence.
• The mission will have four components that aim at enhancing domestic production of green hydrogen and promoting the manufacturing of electrolyzers — a key constituent for making green hydrogen.
• The initial outlay for the mission will include Rs 17,490 crore for strategic interventions for the green hydrogen transition (SIGHT) program, Rs 1,466 crore for pilot projects, Rs 400 crore for research and development (R&D), and Rs 388 crore for other missions components.
• The initial target is to produce 5 million tonnes (mt)of green hydrogen annually.
• SIGHT will include two financial incentive mechanisms for the domestic manufacturing of electrolyzers and the production of green hydrogen.
• The mission will also support pilot projects in emerging end-use sectors and production pathways.
• Adani Enterprises, Reliance Industries, Tata Group, JSW Energy, Larsen & Toubro, ACME Group, ReNew Power, and others have announced investment plans.
• Ashok Leyland, which is India’s leading commercial vehicle manufacturer, is looking at a tie-up to run a section of its fleet on green hydrogen.
• However, the sector has been demanding sovereign support since the cost of electrolyzers and the overall cost of manufacturing green hydrogen is high.
• The current cost of green hydrogen in the country is around $5 per kilogram.
• The nodal department for the mission will be the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy.
• To meet the 5 mt targets, it is expected an associated renewable energy capacity of close to 125 gigawatts will be required.
• The Centre expects close to 50 mt per annum of carbon emissions to be averted by 2030.

India aims for $17 bln cut in food, fertilizer subsidies in FY24:

• The government aims to cut spending on food and fertilizer subsidies to Rs 3.7 lakh crore ($44.6 billion) in the fiscal year from April, down 26% from this year to rein in a fiscal deficit that ballooned during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Food and fertilizer subsidies alone account for about one-eighth of total budget spending of Rs 39.45 lakh crore this fiscal year, but reductions in food subsidies, in particular, may prove politically sensitive with elections looming on the horizon.
• The government expects to budget around Rs 2.3 lakh crore for food subsidies in the coming fiscal year, compared with Rs 2.7 lakh crore for the current year to March 31
• A large part of the savings will come from the end of a COVID-19-era free food scheme, which will be replaced with a lower-spending program.
• That will effectively halve the free rations available to the poor in a year with a series of state elections, while general elections loom in 2024.
• The government is eager to tame its fiscal deficit, which is targeted at 6.4% of GDP for the current fiscal year.
• That is far above the average of 4% to 4.5% over the past decade, excluding the pandemic years when spending surged and the ratio peaked at 9.3%.
• The government plans to shave at least half a percentage point from the ratio in 2023/24.
• The subsidy numbers will be announced on February 1, when Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presents the Union Budget for FY24 in Parliament.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: STATE NEWS

Defence Minister inaugurates 2 infrastructure projects to improve road connectivity in J&K & Ladakh

• Defence Minister Shri Rajnath Singh inaugurated 2 infrastructure projects to improve road connectivity in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) and Ladakh Union territories.

2 infrastructure projects :

• The Maitra Bridge in the Ramban district of Jammu & Kashmir (J&K)
• The double-lane Srinagar-Sonamarg-Gumri road.
• Singh, inaugurated 28 projects in virtual mode while on a visit to Arunachal Pradesh.

About Maitra Bridge :

• The Maitra Bridge (Jhula Bridge) at Ramban, is a 240-feet Bailey suspension bridge.
• The project has been completed in just 31 days, 2 months ahead of its scheduled date of completion.
• The bridge connects Ramban district administrative complex and the Gool sub-division.

About Srinagar-Sonamarg-Gumri road :

• The Srinagar-Sonamarg-Gumri double-lane road connects Srinagar to Kargil and Leh with a carriageway width of 7.00 meters and a road width of 12.00 meters.
• The road link connects the towns of Kashmir via Manigam, Kangan Hari-Ganiwan, Gund, Gagangir, Sonamarg, and Zozila before entering Ladakh.
• The total length of the road is 84.320 km.

About Ministry of Defence :

• Defence Minister: Rajnath Singh
• Minister of State: Ajay Bhatt

The second Phase of the Sari Festival “VIRAASAT” begins in New Delhi

• The second phase of the Sari Festival “VIRAASAT”- Celebrating 75 handwoven Saris of India will begin from 3rd to 17th January 2023 at Handloom Haat, Janpath, New Delhi.
• The 2nd phase was organized by the Ministry of Textiles.

About the 2nd phase of VIRAASAT :

• The 2nd phase, having 90 participants from different parts of the country, brings enhanced attraction through the participation of famous Handcrafted varieties of Saris like Tie and Dye, Chikan embroidered Saris, Hand Block Saris, Kalamkari printed Saris, Ajrakh, Kantha and Phulkari.
• A social media campaign has been launched under the common hashtag #MySariMyPride to support our handloom weavers. ­­­­­

About the 1st phase of “VIRAASAT” :

• The 1st phase of “VIRAASAT”- Celebrating 75 handwoven Saris of India started on 16th December 2022 and concluded on 30th December 2022. 
• The event was inaugurated by Hon’ble Finance Minister Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman, along with Hon’ble Minister of State Smt. Darshana Jardosh and other women parliamentarians.
• During this phase, 70 participants took part in the event.

About Ministry of Textiles :

• Cabinet Minister: Piyush Goyal
• Minister of State: Darshana Jardosh

Election Commission launches ‘Mission-929’ to take voter turnout in Tripura to over 90%              

• The Election Commission (EC) is focusing on 929 polling booths across Tripura, setting a target of 92% voter turnout in the assembly elections due early this year.
• These booths recorded a voter turnout of less than 89%, which was the average across 3,328 booths in the 2018 assembly polls.
• The voter turnout was 89.5% in the 2018 Tripura assembly election.

Mission-929’s aim :

• To inform people to vote in the upcoming assembly polls.

Key Highlights :

• The Election commission plans to launch an awareness campaign, poll officials will visit senior citizens and persons with disability, and appeal to them to cast their votes.
• EC will make proper arrangements like ramps, wheelchairs, and separate queues for persons with disability.
• The ECI is also working on Mission Zero Poll Violence’ to make the assembly elections peaceful.
• This will also ensure that voters can cast their votes peacefully in the assembly election to be held in 2023.

About Tripura :

• Governor : Satyadev Narayan Arya
• Chief Minister : Manik Saha
• Capital : Agartala
• Wildlife Sanctuaries: Gumti Wildlife Sanctuary, Rowa Wildlife Sanctuary, Sepahijala Wildlife Sanctuary
• Tribes: Riang, Jamatia

CURRENT AFFAIRS: BANKING & FINANCE

SBI, ICICI Bank & HDFC Bank Continue To Be Systemically Important Banks In India – RBI

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) released the 2022 lists of Domestic Systemically Important Banks (D-SIBs) based on the data collected from banks as on March 31, 2022.
• The top three Indian lenders -State Bank of India, ICICI Bank, and HDFC Bank continue to be D-SIBs.
• RBI places these banks in appropriate buckets upon their Systemic Importance Scores (SISs).

Key Highlights :

• ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank have been placed in the first bucket while SBI has been placed in the third bucket.
• ICICI Bank and HDFC Ban/k have to maintain additional CET1 at 0.20% of their Risk Weighted Assets (RWAs).
• SBI has to maintain Additional Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1) at 0.60% of its RWAs.
• The additional CET1 requirement for D-SIBs has become fully effective from 1 April 2019.
• In 2014, RBI issued the framework for dealing with Domestic Systemically Important Banks.
• SBI and ICICI Bank had become D-SIBs in 2015 and 2016.
• HDFC Bank was also classified as a D-SIB in 2017.
• SIBs are perceived as ‘Too Big To Fail’ and their functioning is critical for essential banking services in the Indian Economy.

About D-SIBs :

• D-SIBs in simpler terms are those banks whose failure can impact the whole of the financial system and create instability.
• The RBI first issued the framework for dealing with D-SIBs on July 22, 2014.
• The D-SIB framework requires the central bank to disclose the names of banks designated as D-SIBs starting from 2015.

India Accelerator collaborates with ICICI Bank & Infosys Finacle to promote the startup ecosystem in India

• India Accelerator, a seed-stage accelerator program has launched the i3 Launchpad, a program created to nurture and co-innovate with the startup ecosystem in
• This has been developed in collaboration with ICICI Bank and Infosys Finacle, part of EdgeVerve Systems, a wholly-owned product subsidiary of Infosys.

Aim :

• To support a community of entrepreneurs who are on a mission to create brands that can have a global impact.

About i3 Launchpad :

• It is designed to help startups accelerate their success by leveraging mentorship, resources, and opportunities from Infosys Finacle, ICICI Bank, and India Accelerator (IA).
• It is open to start-ups across all industries and aims to onboard two cohorts a year with a target of 12-18 start-ups in each.
• The first cohort will include fintech, enterprise tech, Software as a Service (SaaS), prop tech, wealth tech, sustainability, green tech, and insurance tech. 

About IA :

• Founded: 2017
• Headquarters: Gurugram, Haryana
• Founder & CEO: Ashish Bhatia

RBI released the fifth volume of Reserve Bank history (1997-2008)

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) released the fifth (5th) volume of Reserve Bank history (1997-2008).
• The 5th volume covers the 11 years from 1997 to 2008.

Key Highlights :

• The process of preparation for this volume was started by RBI in 2015 under the guidance of an Advisory Committee.
• Narendra Jadhav, a former Member of Parliament and former Principal Adviser & Chief Economist of the Reserve Bank chaired this committee.
• A team of writers led by the economic historian Tirthankar Roy has prepared the volume.
• Other members of the team were Kanagasabapathy, N. Gopalaswamy, F. R. Joseph, and S.V.S. Dixit.
• The volume covers the developments in policies and operations in major functional areas during the period which was marked by two major crises in the global economy, i.e., the Asian financial crisis and the global financial crisis.
• It covers the tenures of three Governors.
• It covers the latter part of C. Rangarajan’s tenure, the complete tenure of Dr. Bimal Jalan, and a major part of Dr. Y. V. Reddy’s tenure.

About RBI :

• Established: 1 April 1935
• Headquarters: Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
• Governor : Shaktikanta Das
• Deputy governors: Mahesh Kumar Jain, M. Rajeshwar Rao, Michael Patra, and T. Rabi Shankar

CURRENT AFFAIRS: ACQUISITIONS & MERGERS

SBI Mutual gets RBI approval to buy 9.99% of Equitas SFB for various schemes

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) approved a proposal of SBI Funds Management Limited (SBIFML) to acquire 9.99% equity shares in the Equitas Small Finance Bank (SFB) through various schemes of SBI Mutual Fund.
• The banking regulator’s approval is subject to compliance with the relevant regulations issued by RBI and SEBI.
• It is valid for 1 year till 2 January 2024.

About SBI Funds Management :

• Founded: 1987
• Headquarters: Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
• MD & CEO: Mr. Shamsher Singh
• SBIFML is a joint venture between the State Bank of India, an Indian public sector bank, and Amundi, a European asset management company.

About Equitas Small Finance Bank :

• Founded: 2016
• Headquarters: Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
• MD & CEO : Vasudevan Narasimhan Pathangi
• Tagline: It’s Fun Banking

CURRENT AFFAIRS: AWARDS AND HONOURS

Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award was announced:

• An educationist in Bhutan, a doctor in Brunei, and civil society activists in Ethiopia, Israel, and Poland were among the 27 people chosen for the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award (PBSA), the highest honour for overseas Indians.
• The PBSA is conferred by the President as part of the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas Convention on non-resident Indians (NRIs), persons of Indian origin (PIOs), or organizations established and run by NRIs or PIOs in recognition of their outstanding achievements in India and abroad.
• The 17th edition of the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas Convention will be held at Indore in Madhya Pradesh during January 8-10.
• The awards will be conferred by the President during the valedictory session of the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas celebrations.
• The recipients were chosen by a jury-cum-awards committee chaired by the vice president.
• External affairs minister S Jaishankar is the vice-chair of the panel, whose other members are drawn from various walks of life.

The awardees, who represent excellence achieved by the Indian diaspora in different fields:

• Jagadish Chennupati of Australia in the field of science and technology and education, Sanjeev Mehta of Bhutan in education, Dilip Loundo of Brazil in art and culture and education, Alexander Maliakel John of Brunei in medicine, Vaikuntam Iyer Lakshmanan of Canada in community welfare, Joginder Singh Nijjar of Croatia in art and culture, Ramjee Prasad of Denmark in IT and Kannan Ambalam of Ethiopia in community welfare.

The other awardees :

• Amal Kumar Mukhopadhyay of Germany in community welfare, Mohamed Irfaan Ali of Guyana in politics and community welfare, Reena Vinod Pushkarna of Israel in business and community welfare, Maqsooda Sarfi Shiotani of Japan in education, Rajagopal of Mexico in education, Amit Kailash Chandra Lath of Poland in business, Parmanand Sukhumal Daswani of the Republic of Congo in community welfare, Piyush Gupta of Singapore in business, Mohanlal Hira and Sanjaykumar Shivabhai Patel of South Sudan in community welfare.
• Sivakumar Nadesan of Sri Lanka (community welfare), Dewanchandrebhose Sharman of Suriname (community welfare), Archana Sharma of Switzerland (science and technology), Frank Arthur Seepersad of Trinidad and Tobago (community welfare), Siddharth Balachandran of the UAE (business), Chandrakant Babubhai Patel of the UK (media), Darshan Singh Dhaliwal of the US (business and community welfare), Rajesh Subramaniam of the US (business) and Ashok Kumar Tiwary of Uzbekistan (business) are also among the awardees.

Odisha Wins World Habitat Awards 2023 For Slum Upgradation Program:

• Odisha won the UN-Habitat’s World Habitat Awards 2023 for Jaga Mission, a 5T initiative of the state.
• According to an official statement, the Jaga mission is the land titling and slum upgrading program that aims at empowering the lives of slum dwellers.
• Under the leadership of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, the Government of Odisha has set itself the ambitious target of becoming the first slum-free state in India and is leading the Jaga Mission program to upgrade all of the state’s 2,919 slums
• 100 percent of households in 2,724 slums have been provided with pipe water connections, 707 slums have transformed fully into liveable habitats, 100 percent of households in 666 slums have individual toilets, and 8 cities have become slum-free.
• Earlier in 2019, Odisha’s Jaga mission received World Habitat Awards for its success in providing land tenure security to the slum dwellers

Odakkuzhal Award for Ambikasuthan Mangad:

• Writer Ambikasuthan Mangad has been selected for Odakuzhal Award 2022 for his collection of short stories titled Pranavayu.
• The award consists of ₹30,000, a citation, and a plaque.
• Instituted by the Guruvayurappan Trust, the award is being given for the best collection of short stories in Malayalam.
• In its evaluation, the judging committee for 2022 said Pranavayu included contemporary stories filled with modern vision and outlook.
• The stories Neeraliyan and Pranavayu, which are based on the topic of climate change, offer a unique reading experience in Malayalam
• The award will be presented on the occasion of the 45th death anniversary of Mahakavi G. Sankara Kurup, who established the Guruvayurappan Trust, at the Ernakulam Samastha Kerala Sahithya Parishad building here.
• Literary critic M. Leelavathi will present the award to Ambikasuthan Mangad.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: MOUS AND AGREEMENT

IIT-Madras, DRDO tie up for advanced defence tech R&D:

• IIT-Madras has created a ‘centre of excellence’ at a campus unit set up by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) to develop advanced national defence and security technologies.
• The interdisciplinary research group will bring in faculty and researchers from multiple departments for translational research.
• Called the ‘DRDO Industry Academia-Ramanujan Centre of Excellence (DIA-RCoE), it will also work towards the ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat goal in the defence sector.
• Set up under the ‘long-term directed research policy’ of the Defence Ministry, the centre will undertake basic and applied research in verticals like electronics and computational systems; naval systems and naval technologies; advanced combat vehicle technologies; high-power CW laser sources; and next-generation communication and networking technologies.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: ENVIRONMENT

Silent Valley bird species go up to 175:

• The Silent Valley National Park bird census discovered 141 species, including 17 new ones.
• In Silent Valley, 175 different bird species have been identified thus far.
• It is situated on the border between the Nilambur Taluk in Kerala’s Malappuram District, the Mannarkkad Taluk in Palakkad District, and the Nilgiris District in Tamil Nadu.
• There are some endangered plant and animal species in this national park.
• Botanist Robert Wight visited this region in 1847.
• It is situated in the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve, which has a diverse biodiversity.
• It is close to Anginda peak and Mukurthi peak, the fifth-highest peak in South India.
• Both the Kunthipuzha River and Bhavani River, tributaries of the Bharathappuzha River, have their origins close to Silent Valley.
• In Silent Valley, the Kadalundi River also has its beginning.
• Among the 17 species recently discovered in the Silent Valley were the Brown Wood Owl, Banded Bay Cuckoo, Malabar Woodshrike, White-throated Kingfisher, Indian nightjar, Jungle nightjar, and Large Cuckooshrike.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: APPOINTMENTS & RESIGNATIONS

Canara Bank MD & CEO Mr. L V Prabhakar retires

• Lingam Venkata Prabhakar, Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Canara Bank Limited, retired from the services of the bank on attaining the age of superannuation.

About Mr Lingam Venkata Prabhakar :

• L V Prabhakar has over 34 years of rich experience in banking, spread across a spectrum of domains.
• He is the Chairman of Canara Robeco Asset Management Co. Ltd, Canara HSBC OBC Insurance Company Ltd & Canfin Homes Ltd.
• He is the Chairman of the IBA Standing Committee on Payment Systems & Banking Technology. 
• He is the Director on the Board of Governing Council of the Indian Institute of Banking & Finance (IIBF) & National Institute of Banking Management (NIBM)
• Before joining Canara Bank, he worked as the Executive Director of Punjab National Bank.
• He has also served on the Boards of PNB Metlife India Insurance, PNB Housing Finance Limited, and Everest Bank Ltd, Nepal.

About Canara Bank :

• Founded: 1 July 1906
• Headquarters: Bangalore, Karnataka, India
• Non Executive Chairman : Vijay Srirangam
• Tagline: Together We Can

BharatPe appoints CFO Mr. Nalin Negi as interim CEO & Mr. Suhail Sameer steps down

• BharatPe, a fintech unicorn, announced that chief executive officer (CEO) Mr. Suhail Sameer has resigned from his position and assumed the role of strategic advisor beginning on January 7, 2023.
• Meanwhile, the company’s chief financial officer (CFO) Mr. Nalin Negi will be the interim CEO while BharatPe searches for Sameer’s replacement.

About Mr Suhail Sameer :

• Sameer served as CEO of the FMCG business at RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group and joined BharatPe in August 2020 as president.
• He was the Founding Managing Director of CSEC ventures, where he built out the modern Ayurveda & Healthy Snack Brands.

About Mr. Nalin Negi :

• Negi joined BharatPe in August 2022 as Chief Financial Officer (CFO).
• He brings over 28 years of experience and business acumen and the last 15 years of that has been in banking and financial services, having worked at renowned brands like GE Capital and SBI Card.
• He has also worked in the past as Co-CEO for the GE SBI credit card venture

Recent News :

• Three senior executives, chief technology officer Vijay Aggarwal, PostPe head Nehul Malhotra, and chief product officer for lending and consumer products Rajat Jain – resigned from the company in Nov 2022.

About Bharatpe :

• Established: 2018
• Headquarters: New Delhi, Delhi, India
• Chairman: Rajnish Kumar

BSE appoints Mr Sundararaman Ramamurthy as MD and CEO                                                     

• India’s leading stock exchange, the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) has appointed Mr. Sundararaman Ramamurthy as the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the company for 5 years.
• In November 2022 BSE received consent from the regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to appoint Mr. Ramamurthy as MD and CEO of the exchange.
• Ramamurthy will now succeed Ashishkumar Chauhan, former MD, and CEO of BSE. 

About Mr Sundararaman Ramamurthy :

• Sundararaman Ramamurthy has more than 20 years of experience at the National Stock Exchange of India Limited (NSE), and as a senior member of the NSE team.
• Before joining NSE in 1995, Ramamurthy also worked at the Industrial Development Bank of India (IDBI).
• He served as the MD and Chief Operating Officer of Bank of America’s Indian arm (BANA)

About BSE :

• Founded: 9 July 1875
• Headquarters: Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

CURRENT AFFAIRS: SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Bengaluru Startup Digantara Launches second satellite – Pushan Alpha on SpaceX Rocket to monitor space weather   

• Space sector start-up Digantara launched its second satellite Pushan-Alpha as a rideshare onboard SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket, carrying the Transporter-6 mission to the low earth orbit (LEO) from Cape Canaveral in Florida, United States (US).

Key Highlights :

• The Pushan-Alpha mission is named after the Hindu solar deity considered the god of journeys and protector of travellers.
• The mission observations will help complement Digantara’s ROBI (ROBust Integrating proton fluence meter) mission.
• It is the world’s first commercial space-based space weather monitoring system onboard Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO’s) PSLV-C53 launched on June 30, 2021.
• Transporter-6 was SpaceX’s 6th dedicated smallest rideshare mission carrying 114 payloads.
• The Pushan-Alpha mission has a 3-fold objective :

1. To extend radiation measurements to the sun-synchronous orbit
2. To assess mid to high-energy particle radiation from the South Atlantic Anomaly
3. To investigate any correlation between atmospheric drag and particle environment for enhanced orbit and debris modelling.

• Digantara is developing end-to-end infrastructure to address the difficulties of space operations and space traffic management through its Space Mission Assurance Platform.

Note :

• Digantara Aerospace founder and CEO: Anirudh Sharma

CURRENT AFFAIRS: OBITUARIES

Former Indian footballer Shyamal Ghosh passed away                                                        

• Former Indian football player Shyamal Ghosh passed away at the age of 71 in Kolkata, West Bengal (WB).

About Shyamal Ghosh :

• Ghosh made his international debut in the Merdeka Cup against Thailand in 1974 and was part of the Indian team in the 1974 Asian Games.
• At the domestic level, he represented both East Bengal and Mohun Bagan, winning several trophies, including Kolkata League, IFA Shield, Durand Cup, and Rovers Cup
• He also found success in the Santosh Trophy, representing Bengal 5 times, and winning the title thrice – 1975, 1976, and

Awards & Honors :

• Ghosh was conferred with the Lifetime Achievement Award by East Bengal Club in 2016.

Daily CA on January 6:

• World Day of War Orphans 2023 is observed on the 6th of January 2023.
• The Union Cabinet approved an initial outlay of Rs 19,744 crore for the National Green Hydrogen Mission.
• The government aims to cut spending on food and fertilizer subsidies to Rs 3.7 lakh crore ($44.6 billion) in the fiscal year from April, down 26% from this year to rein in a fiscal deficit that ballooned during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• An educationist in Bhutan, a doctor in Brunei, and civil society activists in Ethiopia, Israel, and Poland were among the 27 people chosen for the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award (PBSA), the highest honour for overseas Indians.
• Odisha won the UN-Habitat’s World Habitat Awards 2023 for Jaga Mission, a 5T initiative of the state.
• Writer Ambikasuthan Mangad has been selected for Odakuzhal Award 2022 for his collection of short stories titled Pranavayu.
• IIT-Madras has created a ‘centre of excellence’ at a campus unit set up by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) to develop advanced national defense and security technologies.
• The Silent Valley National Park bird census discovered 141 species, including 17 new ones.
• Defence Minister Shri Rajnath Singh inaugurated 2 infrastructure projects to improve road connectivity in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) and Ladakh Union territories.
• The second phase of the Sari Festival “VIRAASAT”- Celebrating 75 handwoven Saris of India will begin from 3rd to 17th January 2023 at Handloom Haat, Janpath, New Delhi.
• The Election Commission (EC) is focusing on 929 polling booths across Tripura, setting a target of 92% voter turnout in the assembly elections due early this year.
• India Accelerator, a seed-stage accelerator program has launched the i3 Launchpad, a program created to nurture and co-innovate with the startup ecosystem in
• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) approved a proposal of SBI Funds Management Limited (SBIFML) to acquire 9.99% equity shares in the Equitas Small Finance Bank (SFB) through various schemes of SBI Mutual Fund.
• India Accelerator, a seed-stage accelerator program has launched the i3 Launchpad, a program created to nurture and co-innovate with the startup ecosystem in
• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) released the fifth (5th) volume of Reserve Bank history (1997-2008).
• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) approved a proposal of SBI Funds Management Limited (SBIFML) to acquire 9.99% equity shares in the Equitas Small Finance Bank (SFB) through various schemes of SBI Mutual Fund.
• Lingam Venkata Prabhakar, Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Canara Bank Limited retired from the services of the bank on attaining the age of superannuation.
• BharatPe, a fintech unicorn, announced that chief executive officer (CEO) Mr. Suhail Sameer has resigned from his position and assumed the role of strategic advisor beginning on January 7, 2023, & the company’s chief financial officer (CFO) Mr. Nalin Negi will be the interim CEO while BharatPe searches for Sameer’s replacement.
• India’s leading stock exchange, the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) has appointed Mr. Sundararaman Ramamurthy as the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the company for 5 years.
• Space sector start-up Digantara launched its second satellite Pushan-Alpha as a rideshare onboard SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket, carrying the Transporter-6 mission to the low earth orbit (LEO) from Cape Canaveral in Florida, United States (US).
• Former Indian football player Shyamal Ghosh passed away at the age of 71 in Kolkata, West Bengal (WB).