Daily Current Affairs and GK | 27 December 2024

Topic: Committees/ Commissions/Taskforces

1. RBI has formed 8-member committee to develop a framework for the ethical use of AI.

• To develop a Framework for Responsible and Ethical Enablement of Artificial Intelligence (FREE-AI) in the Financial Sector, RBI has constituted an eight-member committee.
• The committee will be headed by Dr. Pushpak Bhattacharyya. He is serving as a Professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at IIT Bombay.
• The committee will assess the current level of adoption of AI in financial services in India and at the global level.
• This committee will also identify potential risks associated with AI.
• This committee will also give recommendations on evaluation, mitigation, and monitoring framework.

Topic: Personality in News

2. A renowned writer M.T. Vasudevan Nair passed away at the age of 91.

• A famous Malayalam writer and filmmaker MT Vasudevan Nair passed away at the age of 91.
• He was also an acclaimed film director and screenwriter. He was popularly known as MT.
• He is also a Jnanpith Awarde and Padma Bhushan Awardee.
• His three seminal novels on life in the matriarchal family in Kerala — Naalukettu, Asuravithu, and Kaalam are his best works.
• He received numerous other accolades, including the Kendra Sahitya Akademi Award, Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award, Vayalar Award, Vallathol Award, etc.
• He also received the Kerala Jyothi Award, the highest civilian award given by the Kerala Government, in 2022.

Topic: Miscellaneous

3. After 250 years, the Bald eagle has been officially declared a US national bird.

• The bald eagle has officially become the national bird of the US.
• The bird has been a national emblem in the US for years.
• Bald eagles have been seen as symbols of strength, courage, freedom and immortality for generations.
• The bald eagle is also protected under the National Emblem Act of 1940. It makes it illegal to sell or hunt the creature.
• This was once on the brink of extinction, but the population has greatly increased since 2009.
• The bald eagle is indigenous to North America. It is a national symbol used in official documents such as treaties and commissions.

Topic: Personality in News

4. Manmohan Singh, the former prime minister, died on December 26, 2024, at the age of 92.

• Under then-prime minister PV Narasimha Rao, he served as finance minister.
• He is considered the architect of the 1991 economic reforms that marked the beginning of the liberalisation of the economy.
• From 2004 to 2014, he served two terms as prime minister of the UPA government, which was led by the Congress.
• After 33 years of service, he retired from the Rajya Sabha in April 2024.
• On September 26, 1932, he was born in a village in the Punjab province of undivided India.
• From 2004 until 2014, he was the 13th Prime Minister of India.
• Following the 2004 general elections, he took the oath of office as prime minister on May 22.
• On May 22, 2009, he took the oath of office for a second term.
• A seven-day national mourning period for the former prime minister has been announced by the Union government.
• The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act was one of the major decisions made by Manmohan Singh while he was prime minister.
• In 2005, his government also introduced the Right to Information Act.
• His government introduced the National Food Security Act in 2013.
• His book "India's Export Trends and Prospects for Self-Sustained Growth" was an early analysis of India’s inward-oriented trade policy.
• In addition, he chaired the University Grants Commission and served as 15th governor of the Reserve Bank of India.
• The Padma Vibhushan, India's second-highest civilian honour, was bestowed to him in 1987.
• He was the fourth longest-serving prime minister after Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi and Narendra Modi.

Topic: Geography

5. China has given its approval to build the biggest dam in the world on Brahmaputra in Tibet.

• In Bangladesh and India, this $137 billion hydroelectric project presents strategic and environmental issues.
• Water control, possible floods during conflicts, and ecological dangers in an area with seismic activity are the key areas of concern.
• This hydroelectric dam will be situated near an earthquake-prone tectonic border.
• Chinese authorities have characterised it as safe due to use of advanced engineering methods.
• The dam will be built close to the Indian border on the lower parts of the Yarlung Zangbo River, which is the Tibetan name for the Brahmaputra.
• The river makes a U-turn to enter Arunachal Pradesh before flowing into Bangladesh, and the dam will be constructed in this gorge.
• It is anticipated to generate more than 300 billion kWh of power annually, surpassing the world's largest dam, the Three Gorges dam in China.
• The project comes under China’s 14th Five-Year Plan (2021–2025).
• It will utilize the river's hydropower potential, which has a 50-kilometer, 2,000-meter vertical drop.

Topic: Defence

6. Naval Exercise between India and Sri Lanka, SLINEX 24 held from 17 - 20 Dec 24 at Visakhapatnam.

• It was held under Eastern Naval Command in two phases.
• Harbour phase was held from 17-18 Dec 24 and sea phase from 19-20 Dec 24.
• In SLINEX 24, INS Sumitra took part from Indian side and SLNS Sayura participated from Sri Lanka Navy.
• The inaugural ceremony of the exercise was organised on 17 Dec 24. The Sea Phase commenced on 19 Dec 24.
• SLINEX series of bilateral exercises were started in 2005.

Topic: Government Schemes and Initiatives

7. Under the SVAMITVA Scheme, PM Modi issued over 50 lakh property cards.

• Property owners in more than 46,000 villages spread across 200 districts in 10 States and two Union territories received these cards from him.
• A significant milestone has been reached with the preparation and distribution of over 2 crore property cards under the SVAMITVA plan, as well as the distribution of over 58 lakh property cards in a single day.
• The Prime Minister introduced the SVAMITVA initiative to improve the economic development of rural India by using the newest surveying drone technology to provide "Records of Rights" to people that own homes in populated parts of villages.
• Additionally, through bank loans, the scheme enables institutional credit and facilitates the monetisation of properties.
• 92% of the targeted villages—more than 3.1 lakh villages—have completed drone surveys.
• For around 1.5 lakh villages, about 2.2 crore property cards have been created thus far.
• In Haryana, Uttarakhand, Goa, and Tripura, the scheme has reached full saturation.
• Several Union Territories as well as the states of Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh have finished drone surveys.

Topic: Banking System

8. Profitability of Indian banks has improved for the sixth consecutive year in 2023-24.

• As per a report released by RBI, the non-performing assets (NPAs) have declined to a 13-year low of 2.7 per cent.
• The financial position of Indian banks has stayed robust with the sustained expansion in loans and deposits.
• India’s macro fundamentals have boosted the performance and soundness of the banking and non-banking financial sectors.
• The gross non-performing assets (GNPA) ratio has fallen to its lowest of 13 years at 2.7 per cent in March 2024 and 2.5 per cent in September 2024.
• In 2023-24, the asset quality of non-bank finance companies (NBFCs) has also improved.
• Strong credit expansion by NBFCs has further strengthened their balance sheets.
• The net profit of the scheduled commercial banks increased by 32.8 per cent to 3 lakh 49 thousand 603 crore rupees.

Topic: Sports

9. Maheshwari and Anantjeet clinched the skeet mixed team national title.

• Shotgun shooters Anantjeet Singh Naruka and Maheshwari Chauhan clinched the skeet mixed team title at the National Shooting Championship Competitions 2024 in New Delhi.
• Anantjeet Singh Naruka and Maheshwari Chauhan defeated Mairaj Ahmad Khan and his partner Areeba Khan 44-43 in the final.
• Ganemat Sekhon and Abhay secured the bronze medal in the other medal match with a 44-41 win over Raiza and Ishaan.
• At the Paris Olympics, Anantjeet Singh Naruka and Maheshwari Chauhan secured fourth place.
• India’s National Shooting Championship Competitions 2024 for shotgun held at the Dr Karni Singh Shooting Range in New Delhi.

Topic: Important Days

10. International Day of Epidemic Preparedness 2024: 27 December

• International Day of Epidemic Preparedness is each year observed on 27 December.
• The first-ever International Day of Epidemic Preparedness was observed on 27 December 2020.
• United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) adopted a resolution on 7 December 2020 and declared 27 December as the International Day of Epidemic Preparedness.
• The day was called to advocate the importance of the prevention of, preparedness for, and partnership against epidemics.
• An epidemic is the fast spread of a disease to a large number of people in a given population within an area in a short time.
• An epidemic that has spread across multiple continents or worldwide is called pandemic.

Topic: State News/ Punjab

11. Punjab has become the fifth state to achieve 100% piped water supply to rural households.

• This work has been done under the Central Government's scheme 'Har Ghar Jal'.
• 15 major canal water projects covering 1706 villages at a cost of Rs 2174 crore are underway to address water quality and water scarcity issues.
• These projects will benefit a population of around 25 lakh and 4 lakh families.
• With this, under the Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin), all the villages in the state have achieved ODF (open defecation free) status.
• More than 10435 villages in Punjab have become ODF Plus (desirable), and 1289 villages have achieved ODF Plus (Ideal) status.

Topic: Indian Economy

12. New and small businesses will get GST registration in 3 working days.

• Under the new mechanism, new and small businesses will get the new registration within 3 working days.
• This mechanism has got ‘in-principle’ approval from the GST Council.
• The main of this mechanism is to resolve complaint about unnecessary queries by tax officials and denial of registration on unnecessary grounds.
• It will also help to curb the exploitation of the present registration process through fabricated or fake identities to obtain multiple registrations.
• This mechanism includes the four-tier structure. The first tier would involve new and small businesses.
• The second tier would be for risk-free or deemed trusted businesses.
• The third tier will be for existing businesses, which wish to pass on ITC more than the specified limit but are not a deemed trusted entity.
• The fourth tier is proposed for change of category of businesses to pass on ITC more than the specified limit.

Topic: National Appointment

13. Arunish Chawla has been appointed as new Revenue Secretary.

• He will succeed Sanjay Malhotra. Malhotra was appointed as RBI Governor earlier in December 2024.
• After appointment of Malhotra, Economic Affairs Secretary Ajay Seth was given Revenue Department’s additional charge.
• Finance Secretary and Secretary in the Department of Investment & Public Asset Management (DIPAM) will continue to have additional charge of Department of Public Enterprises.
• Chawla is an IAS officer from the Bihar cadre. He was working as Pharmaceutical Secretary, before his appointment as the Revenue Secretary.
• He would also be ex-officio Secretary to the GST Council. He will superannuate in July 2028.
• Chawla will be replaced by Amit Agrawal as Pharmaceutical Secretary.
• Agarwal is currently Chief Executive Officer at Unique Identification Authority of India.
• Neeraj Shekhar has been appointed as Director General in National Productivity Council.