Daily Current Affairs – December 07, 2023
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Daily Current Affairs - Banking - December 07, 2023
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National News
‘Garba of Gujarat’ Declared as Intangible Cultural Heritage by UNESCO
- ‘Garba of Gujarat’ has been inscribed in the Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) of Humanity by UNESCO, under the provisions of the 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage during the 18th meeting of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage in Kasane, Botswana.
- Garba of Gujarat is the 15th ICH element from India to join this list.
- This inscription underscores Garba’s pivotal role as a unifying force that fosters social and gender inclusivity.
- Garba as a dance form is entrenched deeply in ritualistic and devotional roots, involving people from all walks of life and it continues to thrive as a vibrant living tradition bringing communities together.
- The 14 other elements from India that have been inscripted to UNESCO’s representative list of ICH are Ramlila; yoga; vedic chanting; Kutiyattam, Sanskrit theatre of Kerala; Ramman, religious festival and ritual theatre of the Garhwal Himalayas; Mudiyettu, ritual theatre and dance drama of Kerala; Kalbelia folk songs and dances of Rajasthan; Chhau dance of eastern India; Buddhist chanting of Ladakh; Sankirtana, ritual singing, drumming and dancing of Manipur; traditional brass and copper craft of utensil making in Punjab; Nawrouz; Kumbh Mela and Durga Puja in Kolkata.
- United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) – 16/11/1945 (Founded) – Paris, France (HQ) – Audrey Azoulay (Director-General)
59th Fertiliser Association of India Annual Seminar 2023
- Union Minister of Chemicals & Fertilisers and Health and Family Welfare addressed the 59th Fertiliser Association of India Annual Seminar 2023.
- The theme of the seminar was “Innovations in Fertiliser and Agriculture Sectors”.
- During the function, various awards were distributed by the Union Minister to co-operatives, companies, scientists and other individuals to recognize excellence in production, environment performance, safety, marketing and promotion of micronutrients, biofertilizers.
- Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers – Mansukh Laxmanbhai Mandaviya,Union Minister (Rajya Sabha MP,Gujarat) – Bhagawanth Khuba,Minister of State (Bidar,Karnataka)
International News
India had joined the Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) Consortium
- At the 2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28), India has joined the Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) Consortium, an initiative of The Global Leadership Council (GLC) of the Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet (GEAPP).
- Through the BESS Consortium, India is among the first-mover countries, as a part of the collaborative effort to secure 5 gigawatts (GW) of BESS commitments by the end of 2024.
- In September 2023, the Government of India approved a scheme committing to the development of 4,000 MWh of BESS projects by 2030-31, with a financial support of up to 40 per cent of the capital cost to developers in the form of Viability Gap Funding (VGF).
- The scheme is expected to bring down the costs of BESS infrastructure projects and incentivise public-private partnerships.
6th NSA level meeting of the Colombo Security Conclave (CSC)
- National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval arrived in Mauritius to participate in the 6th NSA level meeting of the Colombo Security Conclave (CSC).
- The Conclave comprises of India, Sri Lanka, Mauritius and the Maldives.
- It aims to work on key areas of cooperation such as maritime security; countering terrorism; combating trafficking and cyber security; and humanitarian assistance and disaster relief.
- In July 2023, Maldives hosted the 7th Deputy NSA level virtual meeting of CSC where Bangladesh and Seychelles participated as observers.
- The Indian delegation was led by Deputy NSA, Vikram Misri, while Maldivian delegation was led by Aishnath Nooshin Waheed.
- Mauritius – Port Louis (Capital) –Mauritian rupee (Currency) – Prithvirajsing Roopun (President) – Pravind Jugnauth (Prime Minister) – English & French (Language)
India announced 1 million dollars immediate relief assistance to Papua New Guinea
- India had announced $1 million immediate relief assistance to Papua New Guinea after the volcanic eruption of Mount Ulawun.
- India has extended immediate relief assistance to support relief for rehabilitation and reconstruction efforts as a close friend and development partner under the Forum for India-Pacific Islands Cooperation and as a gesture of solidarity with the friendly people of Papua New Guinea.
- Papua New Guinea – Port Moresby (Capital) – Kina (Currency) – Charles III (Monarch) – James Marape (Prime Minister) – English, Hiri, Motu, PNG Sign Language, Tok Pisin (Language)
16th edition of India-Germany Military Cooperation Sub Group meeting
- The 16th edition of the India-Germany Military Cooperation Sub Group (MCSG) meeting was conducted in New Delhi.
- The meeting was co-chaired from the Indian side by Brigadier Vivek Narang, Deputy Assistant Chief of Integrated Staff IDC (A), HQ IDS, and Col (GS) Christian Schmidt, Director, Department International Cooperation Armed Forces Office from the German side.
- The meeting was conducted in a friendly, warm, and cordial atmosphere. Discussions focused on new initiatives under the ambit of existing bilateral defence cooperation mechanisms and further strengthening ongoing defence engagements.
- India-Germany Military Cooperation Sub Group (MCSG) is a forum established to boost defence cooperation between both nations through regular talks at the strategic and operational levels between the Headquarters, Integrated Defence Staff, and the Department of International Cooperation Armed Forces.
- Germany – Berlin (Capital) – German (Language) – Frank-Walter Steinmeier (President) – Olaf Scholz (Chancellor) – Euro (Currency)
State News
18 GI Tags of Uttarakhand
- In a first, Uttarakhand has been awarded a whopping 18 GI tags on one day, a historic moment for the state and its cultural offerings.
- A Geographical Indication (GI) tag is a recognition granted to products that have a specific geographical origin and possess qualities, reputation, or characteristics that are essentially attributable to that place of origin.
- This helps in preserving the traditional methods of production and maintaining the distinctiveness of regional products in the market.
- The recently awarded 18 Geographical Indication certificates includes Uttarakhand Chaulai, Jhangora, Manduwa, Red Rice, Almora Lakhori Chilli, Berinag Tea, Burans Sharbat, Ramnagar Nainital Litchi, Ramgarh Peach, Malta, Pahari Tor, Gahat, Kala Bhatt, Bicchubooti fabric, Nainital candle, Kumaoni coloured Pichhoda, Chamoli Ramman mask, and Likhai wood carving bringing the total up to
- Uttarakhand – Dehradun (Winter), Gairsain (Summer) (Capital) – Pushkar Singh Dhami (CM) – Gurmit Singh (Governor) – Hindi (Language)
GI tag of Meghalaya
- Meghalaya’s Lakadong turmeric, Garo dakmanda (traditional dress), Larnai pottery and Garo chubitchi (alcoholic beverage) awarded the GI tag.
- Lakadong turmeric, which is found in Lakadong area of Jaintia Hills, has high curcumin content.
- Dakmanda is a handwoven ankle-length lower garment which is part of the traditional attire of Garo women of Meghalaya.
- Chubitchi is a rice-based fermented drink of the Garo community, consumed during feasts and ceremonies.
- Larnai pottery is made of black clay from Larnai village, and the art form has been passed down through generations.
- Currently six products in Meghalaya had GI tag.
- Meghalaya – Shillong (Capital) – Conrad Sangma (CM) – Phagu Chauhan (Governor) – English (Language)
Banking and Finance
ADB loan to Madhya Pradesh
- The Government of India and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) signed a $175 million loan to improve connectivity and resilience of roads in the state of Madhya Pradesh.
- The signatories to the loan agreement for the Enhancing Connectivity and Resilience of the Madhya Pradesh Road Network Project were Juhi Mukherjee, Joint Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, in the Ministry of Finance and Takeo Konishi, Country Director of ADB’s India Resident Mission, for ADB.
- The project will upgrade about 500 kilometers of state highways and major district roads to a standard two-lane feature.
- These roads will incorporate climate- and disaster- resilient design, innovative road safety elements, and facilities that will respond to the needs of the elderly, women, children, and people with disabilities.
- ADB will build the capacity of the Madhya Pradesh Road Development Corporation Limited (MPRDC) on climate change adaptation and mitigation, disaster resilience, and road safety in road network planning and management.
- The project will help prepare strategies and plans to utilise green technology in road construction and establish charging infrastructure for electric vehicles.
- The project will support MPRDC to formulate a gender equality and social inclusion strategy and establish an internship programme to attract female students to work in the road sector.
- It will engage women self-help groups to promote road safety awareness.
- The project will also conduct livelihood and entrepreneurship training programmes for women and girls and construct at least two roadside markets.
- Asian Development Bank (ADB) – 19/12/1966 (Founded) – Mandaluyong, Philippines (HQ) – Masatsugu Asakawa (President) – 68 countries
SBI Card joins Bharat BillPay in the credit card category
- NPCI Bharat BillPay (NBBL), a wholly-owned subsidiary of the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), has successfully integrated SBI Card, one of India’s leading credit card issuers, into the credit card category of Bharat BillPay.
- This integration marks a significant advancement, streamlining the credit card bill payment process for millions of customers.
- Noteworthy credit card issuers already present in this category include Kotak Mahindra Bank, BoB Financial, Federal Bank, AU Small Finance Bank, IndusInd Bank, and Canara Bank.
- SBI Cards & Payment Services Limited – May 1998 (Founded) – Gurugram, Haryana (HQ) – Abhijit Chakravorty (MD & CEO)
Business and Economy
MEP imposed on Basmati to curb illegal export of white rice
- The Centre has imposed minimum export price (MEP) for Basmati rice not with an intention to restrict exports but in view of “credible field reports” that non-Basmati white rice was being exported under the HS code of Basmati rice.
- The Centre banned exports of non-basmati white rice from July 20.
- Despite the cap through MEP, the fragrant rice’s exports has not been affected.
- During the first seven months of the current fiscal, the quantity of Basmati rice exported increased by 21%.
- Ministry of Commerce and Industry – Piyush Goyal,Cabinet Minister (Rajya Sabha MP,Maharashtra) – Anupriya Patel, Minister of State (Mirzapur,UP), Som Parkash, Minister of State (Hoshiarpur,Punjab)
Science and Technology
Gemini AI by Google
- Google parent Alphabet unveiled Gemini, its largest and most capable AI model to date, as the tech giant looks to take on rivals OpenAI’s GPT-4 and Meta’s Llama 2 in a race to lead the nascent artificial intelligence (AI) space.
- This is the first AI model from Alphabet after the merger of its AI research units, DeepMind and Google Brain, into a single division called Google DeepMind, led by DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis.
- Gemini has been built from the ground up and is “multimodal” in nature, meaning it can understand and work with different types of information, including text, code, audio, image and video, at the same time.
- The AI model will be available in three different sizes: Ultra (for highly complex tasks), Pro (for scaling across a wide range of tasks) and Nano (on-device tasks).
- Alphabet Inc. – 02/10/2015 (Founded) – California (HQ) – John L. Hennessy (Chairman)
Ministry of Panchayati Raj launched “Gram Manchitra”
- Ministry of Panchayati Raj had launched the Geographic Information System (GIS) application “Gram Manchitra” (https://grammanchitra.gov.in) in order to encourage the Spatial Planning by the Gram Panchayat.
- This application facilitates and supports Gram Panchayats to perform planning at Gram Panchayat level using geo-spatial technology.
- It provides a single/ unified Geo Spatial platform to better visualize the various developmental works to be taken up across the different sectors and provide a decision support system for Gram Panchayat Development Plan (GPDP).
- Further, Ministry has launched mActionSoft, a mobile based solution to help in capturing photos with Geo-Tags (i.e. GPS Coordinates) for the works which have asset as an output.
- Geo-tagging of the assets is done in all three stages viz. (i) before start of the work, (ii) during the work and (iii) on completion of work.
- This would provide a repository of information on all works and assets related to natural resource management, water harvesting, drought proofing, sanitation, agriculture, check dams and irrigation channels
- Assets geo-tagged using the m-ActionSoft application is available on Gram Manchitra, enhancing the visualization of various developmental works in the Gram Panchayats.
- Ministry of Panchayati Raj – Giriraj Singh,Cabinet Minister (Begusarai,Bihar) – Kapil Moreshwar Patil, Minister of State (Bhiwandi,Maharashtra)
Appointments
First Indian to operate Mars rover
- Dr Akshata Krishnamurthy is the first Indian citizen to operate the Mars Perseverance rover and currently works for NASA as the mission science phase lead for the NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar.
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) – 29/07/1958 (Founded) – Washington DC (HQ) – Bill Nelson (Administrator)
Independent director and chairman of Swiggy
- Foodtech major and grocery delivery start-up Swiggy had appointed former Diageo India managing director and chief executive, Anand Kripalu, to its board as an independent director and chairman of its board.
- The appointment comes after Swiggy had also appointed three independent directors ahead of its planned IPO in 2024.
- Delhivery founder and CEO Sahil Barua, TAFE chairman and managing director Mallika Srinivasan and Associates chairman Shailesh Haribhakti were brought in as independent directors in February.
- Swiggy – August 2014 (Founded) – Bangalore (HQ) – Sriharsha Majety (CEO)
Next BBC CEO
- Britain’s government had chosen veteran TV executive Samir Shah (Indian origin) as Chief Executive Officer of BBC by replacing Richard Sharp.
- British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) – 18/10/1922 (Founded) – London (HQ) – Elan Closs Stephens (Chairwoman) – Tim Davie (Director-General)
Awards and Recognitions
Time’s Magazine Person of the Year
- Person of the Year (called Man of the Year or Woman of the Year until 1999) is an annual issue of the American news magazine and website Time featuring a person, a group, idea, or object that “for better or for worse has done the most to influence the events of the year” since
- There are different categories.
- Sam Altman founder of The OpenAI was chosen by Time Magazine as “CEO of the year.”
- Taylor Swift was named as the “2023 Person of the Year” (twice, first time in 2017).
- Lionel Messi is now “Athlete of the Year”.
- Time (magazine) – 03/03/1923 (1st Issue) – New York
Important Days
International Civil Aviation Day 2023
- International Civil Aviation Day is annually observed on December 07.
- The purpose of International Civil Aviation Day is to help generate and reinforce worldwide awareness of the importance of international civil aviation to the social and economic development of States, and of the unique role of International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) in helping States to cooperate and realize a truly global rapid transit network at the service of all mankind.
- In 1996 the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed that 7 December was to be the International Civil Aviation Day.
- The day has been celebrated by the ICAO since 7 December 1994, the 50th anniversary of the signing the Convention on International Civil Aviation.
- Theme – “Advancing Innovation for Global Aviation Development”.
- International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) – 04/04/1947 (Founded) – Montreal, Quebec, Canada (HQ) – Juan Carlos Salazar Gómez (Secretary General)
UNCTAD eWeek
- UNCTAD eWeek 2023 will be held from 4 to 8 December.
- It will take place at the International Conference Centre of Geneva (CICG) and online through the eWeek platform.
- UNCTAD eCommerce Week was renamed eWeek to encompass all aspects of the evolving global digital landscape.
- The first edition is observed on
- Theme – “Shaping the future of the digital economy”
Defence
Indian Army and MeitY unite forces for technological defence overhaul
- Indian Army has forged an alliance with the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) aimed at revolutionizing India’s defence landscape.
- This collaboration signifies a concerted effort to infuse cutting-edge technology and digital infrastructure into the very core of the Indian Army’s operational framework.
- Indian Army – 26/01/1950 (Founded) – New Delhi (HQ) – Army Day (January 15) – General Manoj Pande (Chief of Army Staff) – “Service Before Self” (Motto)
Daily Current Affairs - December 07, 2023 - Consolidated
- ‘Garba of Gujarat’ Declared as Intangible Cultural Heritage by UNESCO
- 59th Fertiliser Association of India Annual Seminar 2023
- India had joined the Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) Consortium
- 6th NSA level meeting of the Colombo Security Conclave (CSC)
- India announced 1 million dollars immediate relief assistance to Papua New Guinea
- 16th edition of India-Germany Military Cooperation Sub Group meeting
- 18 GI Tags of Uttarakhand
- GI tag of Meghalaya
- ADB loan to Madhya Pradesh
- SBI Card joins Bharat BillPay in the credit card category
- MEP imposed on Basmati to curb illegal export of white rice
- Gemini AI by Google
- Ministry of Panchayati Raj launched “Gram Manchitra”
- First Indian to operate Mars rover
- Independent director and chairman of Swiggy
- Next BBC Chairman
- Time’s Magazine Person of the Year
- International Civil Aviation Day 2023
- UNCTAD eWeek
- Indian Army and MeitY unite forces for technological defence overhaul
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