Daily Current Affairs and GK | 6 and 7 November 2022

Topic: Environment and Ecology

1. One-third of glaciers on the UNESCO World Heritage list are under threat.

• According to a study by the UN body, a third of the glaciers on the UNESCO World Heritage list are under threat.
• According to the study, it is still possible to save the other two-thirds of the glaciers.
• This study highlights that there is an urgent need to cut greenhouse gas emissions and invest in nature-based solutions.
• 50 UNESCO World Heritage sites are in glaciers, which represent almost 10 percent of the Earth's total glacierized area.
• This study has been prepared by UNESCO in partnership with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
• These glaciers are losing 58 billion tons of ice every year, which is equivalent to the combined annual water use of France and Spain.
• As per the study, the glaciers in Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, North America, and Oceania are under threat.
• UNESCO has also proposed the creation of a new international fund for glacier monitoring and preservation.
• The IUCN director said that "when glaciers melt rapidly, millions of people face water scarcity, which increases the risk of natural disasters”.

Topic: Sports

2. Indian batter Suryakumar Yadav has become the first Indian player to score 1000 T20 International runs in a calendar year.

• He achieved this in the match against Zimbabwe in the T20 world cup. 
• In the match, Suryakumar scored 61 not out of just 25 balls.
• In 28 innings this year, Suryakumar has scored 1,026 runs at an average of 44.60.
• Suryakumar Yadav plays for the Mumbai cricket team. He is presently the No:1 T20I batsman in the world.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: Important Days

3. National Cancer Awareness Day: 07 November

• National Cancer Awareness Day is observed annually on 7th November.
• It is observed to promote awareness about the diagnosis, treatment, and early detection of cancer.
• It is observed on 7th November for the last 8 years coinciding with the birth anniversary of scientist Madame Curie.
• In India, nearly 1.1 million new cases of cancer are reported annually.
• World Cancer Day is celebrated on 4 February.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: Summits/Conferences/Meetings

4. Countries have decided to add Loss and Damage funding as an agenda item at the upcoming climate conference.

• Countries have decided to do this for the first time since the adoption of the UN climate convention. 
• UN Climate Conference COP27 President and Foreign Minister of Egypt Sameh Shoukry commended the sense of responsibility and commitment that the parties showed.
• Loss and damage funding refers to financial compensation. It specifically addresses the inescapable climate change disasters to which developing countries are most susceptible.
• Within the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) process, the term loss and damage refer to the harms due to anthropogenic (human-generated) climate change.
• Warsaw International Mechanism for Loss and Damage is the present UNFCCC loss and damage mechanism. It was created in 2013.
• Union Minister of Environment Forest and Climate Change Shri Bhupender Yadav inaugurated India Pavilion at COP 27 with the theme of LiFE- Lifestyle for Environment.

Topic: Sports

5. Indian men's team won its first gold medal at the Asian Squash Team Championships in Cheongju, South Korea.

• India defeated Kuwait by 2-0 in the final.
• Saurav Ghoshal and Ramit Tandon won their games in the final.
• The first game was won by Ramit 3–0 against Ali Aramzi and in the second game, Sourav registered a 3–0 win against Ammar Altamimi.
• This is the biggest win for India's squash team after winning the gold medal at the 2014 Asian Games.
• The Indian men's team has won three silver medals and seven bronze medals at the Championships.
• Hong Kong defeated Malaysia to win the Women's Asian Team Championship title for the fourth time.
• Earlier, the Indian women's team had to settle for a bronze medal after losing 1-2 to Malaysia in the semi-finals.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: Miscellaneous

6. Switzerland created a world record by operating the longest passenger train in the world.

• The world's longest electric passenger train has been built to mark the 175th anniversary of Switzerland's first train system.
• Rhaetian Railway (RhB), a Swiss transport company, operated the train on the Bernina/Albula trail from Preda to Bergen.
• Albula Line of Switzerland is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
• It ran with 100 coaches and its length is 1.9 km.
• The longest train travelled 24.9 kilometres through the UNESCO World Heritage Site.
• The weight of the train is 2990 tons and managed to maintain an average speed of 30-35 kmph.
• Vivek Express is India's longest running passenger train which covers a distance of over 4,200 kms through eight states.
• Super Vasuki is the India's longest (3.5km) freight train.

Topic: International News 

7. Amit Dasgupta has been appointed as a member in the Order of Australia.

• He has been appointed as an Honorary Member in the General Division of the Order of Australia for his service to the Australia-India bilateral relationship.
• He has been a promoter of Australia-India relations. He was Consul-General of India to Australia from 2009 to 2012.
• He played a key role in establishing the Australia-India Youth Dialogue.
• Different Australian Honours Awards are awarded for different reasons.
• The main Australian honour is the Order of Australia. It confers the highest recognition for outstanding achievement and service. 

Topic: Defence

8. A Maritime Partnership Exercise involving Royal Australian Navy ships and Indian Navy ships was held from 02 to 03 November 2022.

• The exercise was held in the Bay of Bengal. It involved Royal Australian Navy (RAN) ships HMAS Adelaide and HMAS Anzac.
• The exercise involved Indian Navy Ships Jalashwa and Kavaratti along with their embarked helicopters.
• Royal Australian Navy (RAN) ships HMAS Adelaide and HMAS Anzac visited Visakhapatnam from the 30th of October to the 1st of November.
• This was part of Australia’s Indo-Pacific Endeavour 2022 (IPE 22).
• The Eastern Naval Command hosted the Australian Defence Forces.
• Ships of the Indian Navy's Eastern Fleet and personnel from the Indian Army and the Indian Air Force participated in various joint activities.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: National News

9. Government has decided to create a National Drugs Database to monitor the quality of medicines in India.

• The government will create an extensive database on all drug formulations sold in India.
• The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has decided to constitute a committee for creating a “national drugs database”.
• The committee will make recommendations regarding a comprehensive database of drug formulations manufactured and marketed in India.
• The committee will submit its recommendation in the next three months and has seven members.
• The committee will also examine the existing database available with various authorities.
• The database will empower consumers and improve the “monitoring mechanism” for the quality of drugs. It will also help in creating a “uniform administration” of the regulatory system.
• AK Pradhan will be the convener of the panel. The members of the panel include Dr HG Koshia, Dr Pooja Gupta, Dr Jerian Jose, DR Gahane, etc.

Topic: Agriculture and allied sectors

10. Government allowed the export of sugar up to 60 Lakh Metric Tonnes during the sugar season 2022-23.

• The government has taken this decision as a measure to balance the price stability of sugar in the country and the financial positions of sugar mills.
• The Sugar mills may decide to surrender the quota partially or fully within 60 days of the date of issue of the order or they can swap the export quota with the domestic quota within 60 days.
• This swapping system will reduce the burden on the country's logistics system.
• During the Sugar Season 2021-22, India exported 110 LMT of sugar and became the second-largest exporter of sugar in the world.
• As per the statement issued by the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, the sugar mills will be able to sell their products either in the domestic market or in the international market.
• The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) has issued a notification to extend the inclusion of sugar exports under the 'Restricted' category up to October 31, 2023.
• More than 96% of cane farmers’ dues have been already cleared for the sugar season 2021-22.

Topic: Indian Economy

11. In H1 period of FY23, Russia has become the highest exporter of pig iron to India.

• For the April-Sept period of this fiscal year, Russia became the biggest exporter of pig iron to India.
• Pig Iron is the main steel making raw material.
• During this period, nearly 31,700 tonnes of pig iron was imported to India, of which nearly 84% was from Russia.
• Pig iron is crude iron and is the direct product of the blast furnace. It is refined to produce steel, wrought iron, or ingot iron.
• In 2020 the top exporters of Pig Iron were Russia, Brazil and Ukraine while the top importers of Pig Iron were China, United States and Turkey.

Topic: Government Schemes and Initiatives

12. India Infrastructure Project Development Fund (IIPDF) scheme has been notified.

• The Department of Economic Affairs (DEA) under the Ministry of Finance has notified India Infrastructure Project Development Fund Scheme for financial support for Project Development Expenses of PPP Projects.
• Under the scheme, Project Sponsoring Authorities (PSA) will get assistance up to Rs 5 crore.
• As per the notification, funding will be available for meeting project development costs.
• Project development costs may include expenses incurred by PSA in respect of feasibility studies, environment impact studies, financial structuring, legal reviews and development of project documentation, including concession agreement etc.
• It will not include expenses incurred by the PSA on its own staff.
• The fund was originally conceptualised in the Fiscal Year 2007-08 budget.
• Then Finance Minister P Chidambaram proposed setting up a revolving fund to quicken the process of project preparation.
• A fund was created with an initial corpus of Rs 100 crore.
• The fund has now been restructured with a total outlay of Rs 150 crore for a period of three years from 2022-23 to 2024-25.
• Under the scheme, the cost of consultant/ transaction advisors (TA) can be funded.
• As a Central Sector Scheme, the IIPDF Scheme will assist in development of quality PPP projects by providing funding support to the sponsoring authorities.
• IIPDF Scheme is in addition to the already operational Scheme for Financial Support to PPPs in Infrastructure (Viability Gap Funding, VGF Scheme) notified two years back.

Topic: National Appointments

13. VR Krishna Gupta has assumed additional charge of Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of BPCL.

• He has replaced Shri Arun Kumar Singh.
• He is currently a Board member in BPRL (Bharat Petro Resources Limited) and Fino Paytech Limited.
• Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) is a 'Maharatna' and a Fortune Global 500 Company. It is headquartered in Mumbai. It was founded in 1952.
• Bharat Petroleum is the second-largest Indian Oil Marketing Company.

Topic: Important Days

14. Birth anniversary of Sir Chandrashekhara Venkata Raman: 7 November

• C. V. Raman was born on 7 November 1888 in Tiruchirappalli, Madras Presidency.
• He was an Indian physicist famous for Raman scattering and Raman Effect.
• He developed a spectrograph through which he discovered the Raman effect.
• When light passes through a transparent material, the wavelength and amplitude of some deflected light change. This is called Raman scattering and is a consequence of the Raman Effect.
• He was the first Asian to receive a Nobel Prize for achievements in science.
• He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1930.
• He was also honoured with the Bharat Ratna in 1954 and Lenin Peace Prize in 1957.