Daily Current Affairs and GK | 8 November 2023

Topic: Biotechnology and Diseases

1. Number of people newly diagnosed with TB was 7.5 million in 2022: WHO Global TB Report.

• According to the WHO Global TB Report, the world is far away from achieving the WHO End TB Strategy target of a 50% reduction by 2025.
• After two years of COVID-related disruptions, the number of people diagnosed with TB and treated in 2022 has increased.
• Between 2015 to 2022, the number of TB cases decreased by 8.7%.
• 7.5 million Cases with TB have been registered in 2022, which is the highest number after the WHO began global TB monitoring in 1995.
• 7.1 million Cases were registered in 2019 while 5.8 million cases were found in 2020 and 6.4 million cases in 2021.
• TB is the second leading cause of death from a single infectious agent.
• India, Indonesia and the Philippines collectively responsible for nearly 60% of the reduction in the number of people newly diagnosed with TB in 2020 and 2021.
• Around 1.30 million people have died from TB in 2022. COVID-related disruptions have caused half a million more deaths from TB in the three years 2020–2022.
• 88% of people were treated for drug-susceptible TB and 63% for people with MDR/RR-TB.

Topic: Summits/ Conferences/ Meetings

2. The 6^th edition of the India-Korea Business Partnership Forum has begun on 07 November in New Delhi.

• This marks the celebration of 50 years of diplomatic relations between India and South Korea.
• Rajesh Kumar Singh, Secretary of the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, addressed the event.
• He highlighted India’s deep business and cultural ties with South Korea.
• He said that over 5.6 billion dollars have been invested by Korean companies since April 2020.
• He added the investment is expected to grow to 50 billion dollars by 2030.
• India-Republic of Korea established diplomatic relations on 10 December 1973.
• The strategic partnership between the two countries was elevated to “Special Strategic Partnership” in the year 2015.
• In 2022, bilateral trade between the two countries reached record levels of US$27.8 billion.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: State News/Jharkhand

3. A campaign to accelerate the giving of forest rights titles has been launched by Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren.

• The campaign is to expedite the giving of forest rights titles among tribals and other traditional forest dwellers in every panchayat of Jharkhand.
• As part of the ‘Abua Bir Dishom’ campaign, the government’s target is to provide community forest rights (CFR) titles to 10,000 villages.
• Under this campaign, the government also aims to provide individual forest rights (IFR) to around one lakh families and dispose of 20,679 pending claims.
• Forest Rights Act (FRA), 2006 was implemented in 2008. However, around 60,000 titles as IFR and 2,000 titles as CFR have been distributed so far in the state.
• This campaign will include around 15 lakh tribal and other traditional forest-dependent families.

Topic: State News/Uttar Pradesh

4. The Uttar Pradesh government will carry out a census of cows across the state.

• The census will be carried out in three categories. These categories include determining the number of destitute animals with cattle rearers, abandoned cows on the streets, and Kanha Upvans.
• UP CM has also ordered the implementation of geo-tagging.
• In the first phase, counting of the cows will be done. In the next phase, the government will formulate and implement a plan to ensure the cows are provided with suitable accommodation.
• UP government said at present, 11.85 lakh cows are protected in 6,889 destitute cattle breeding sites.
• UP government also said that over 1.85 lakh cows have been handed over to gau sevaks under Mukhyamantri Sahbhagita Yojana for cow protection.

Topic: Infrastructure and Energy

5. Mundra became India's first port to handle 16.1 million tonnes of cargo.

• With the highest volume ever handled by any port in India, Adani Group's flagship Mundra Port has created another record by handling 16.1 million tonnes of cargo in October.
• So far this year, it is the largest port in the country in terms of handling cargo with 102 MMT cargo, with a growth of 9% year-on-year.
• The port crossed the 100 MMT mark in 210 days, surpassing last year's record of 231 days.
• At Mundra ports, double-digit growth has been witnessed on a year-on-year basis for containers, liquids, and gas.
• Additionally, it achieved another milestone of handling 4.2 million twenty-foot equivalent (TEU) containers in just 203 days, a feat achieved in 225 days in the previous financial year.
• The port has added new cargo types such as Hydrolysis Pie Gas (HPG) to its portfolio.
• The port has docked more than 2,480 vessels and serviced more than 11,500 rakes so far in 2023.
• Considering the cargo volume growth rate, Mundra Port is targeting 200 MMT in FY2025.

Topic: Government Schemes and Initiatives

6. A Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) portal launched by Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA).

• The Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) portal has been launched to enhance transparency in CSR initiatives.
• Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA) is a Mini Ratna (Category – I) Government of India enterprise under the administrative control of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy.
• The portal will facilitate transparency in receipt and disposal of CSR requests from various organizations and institutions.
• It will be available 24x7 to all with CSR policy and proposal checklist to check CSR requests.
• The portal will also contribute to more efficient execution of IREDA's social welfare initiatives as part of its CSR efforts, making them easily accessible to the public.
• The portal was launched during the closing ceremony of “Vigilance Awareness Week 2023” held at the registered office of the company in Delhi.
• IREDA organized various competitions during the ‘Vigilance Awareness Week 2023’ (30 October to 5 November 2023), and prizes were distributed to the winners at the concluding ceremony.

Topic: Government Schemes and Initiatives

7. Swachh Diwali Shubh Diwali campaign has been launched by the Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry.

• This campaign has been launched on 06 November 2023 under Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban 2.0. It will continue till 12 November 2023.
• The campaign's concept emphasizes how important it is to have a clean and eco-friendly celebration.
• The campaign is meant to create a sense of responsibility towards the environment and communities by encouraging people to buy locally- produced goods.
• The campaign is also meant to create a sense of responsibility towards the environment and communities by encouraging people to celebrate Diwali without using single-use plastic and to give priority to pre and post-Diwali cleanliness.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: National News

8. Government has released an advisory to social media intermediaries to recognize misinformation and deepfakes.

• Centre has said social media intermediaries shall make reasonable efforts to identify misinformation and deepfakes.
• According to the Ministry of Electronics and IT, such cases need to be handled quickly, well within the deadlines set down in the IT Rules 2021.
• According to the advisory, such content must be removed within 36 hours of reporting.
• If intermediaries fail to act as per the relevant provisions of the IT Act and Rules, they will violate Rule 7 of the IT Rules, 2021.
• The failure to act as per the relevant provisions of the IT Act and Rules could render the organisation liable to lose the protection available under Section 79(1) of the IT Act.
• According to Section 79(1) of the IT Act, any social media intermediary that hosts or makes available any information, data, or communication connection to a third party will not be subject to legal action.
• Rule 7 of the IT Rules, 2021 empowers aggrieved individuals to take platforms to court under the provisions of the Indian Penal Code.
• Deepfakes refer to the manipulation of facial appearance through machine learning and artificial intelligence.

Topic: International News

9. India will open a new consulate in Seattle in the US.

• After seven years of announcement, India is set to open a new consulate in Seattle in the US.
• Prakash Gupta will be the Consulate-General at the mission in Seattle.
• He is currently serving as a joint secretary at the UNP (United Nations Political) Division at the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).
• In 2016, India had announced to open consulate in Seattle in the US.
• The United States has also started the process to open two new consulates in Bengaluru and Ahmedabad.
• US consulates are currently present in Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, and Mumbai.
• Amazon, Microsoft, Boeing and other big tech companies are located in Greater Seattle.
• The Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue metropolitan area is home to the sixth largest Indian-American population in the U.S.
• The Indian population in Washington State is about 1,45,000 with King County.

Topic: Sports

10. Indian women's hockey team won the Women's Asian Champions Trophy 2023 title.

• The Indian Women's Hockey Team won the Gold medal at Asian Champions Trophy 2023.
• India defeated Japan by 4-0 in the final at Ranchi. 
• India claimed this title for the second time, it had earlier clinched the title in 2016 at Singapore.
• Sangita Kumari (17th min), Neha Goyal (46th), Lalremsiami (57th) and Vandana Katariya (60th) scored goals from India.
• China ended the tournament on the third place.
• India hosted the Women's Asian Champions Trophy 2023 in Ranchi from 27 October to 5 November 2023.
• The 2023 Women's Asian Champions Trophy was the seventh edition of the Women's Asian Champions Trophy. It is organized by the Asian Hockey Federation.

(Source: PIB)

Topic: Sports

11. R Vaishali and Vidit Gujrathi won the women's and open category titles in the FIDE Grand Swiss.

• In chess, India's R Vaishali has won the FIDE Women's Grand Swiss 2023 in the women's category.
• She drew with Mongolia's Batkhuyag Munguntul in the last-round game in the Isle of Man, UK.
• Vaishali has become the first Indian to win the Grand Swiss.
• On the other hand, Vidit Gujarati also registered his seventh win in in the FIDE Grand Swiss by defeating Serbia's Aleksandar Predke and securing the top position in the open section.
• Both these players have also qualified for the Candidates Tournament to be held in Canada in April 2024.
• Both Vaishali and Vidit had 8.5 points in the competition and were half a point ahead of their nearest rivals.
• The FIDE Women's Grand Swiss Tournament 2023 was the second edition of the FIDE Women's Grand Swiss Tournament.
• It is a chess tournament that is part of the qualification cycle for the Women's World Chess Championship match in 2025.
• It was an 11-round Swiss-system tournament featuring 50 players competing in the Isle of Man from 25 October to 5 November 2023.
• The winner and runner-up of the tournament earned the right to play in the Women Candidates Tournament 2024.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: State News/ Jharkhand

12. Jharkhand will enter into agreements with nine states for the welfare of migrant workers.

• Jharkhand has a significant percentage of laborers moving out of the state for work and will enter into an agreement for the welfare of these migrant workers.
• On November 3, the Hemant Soren-led cabinet approved the decision of the state labor department in Ranchi.
• Under the agreement, the respective states will have to take care of the safety and welfare of migrant workers from Jharkhand in their respective states.
• The agreement will be signed with states or union territories including Tamil Nadu, Delhi, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka, Telangana, Haryana, Andhra Pradesh, and Kerala.
• The department has selected the states on the basis of the number of migrant workers from Jharkhand.
• Previously, a similar agreement was signed between Odisha and old Andhra Pradesh and was the first instance in the country.
• The labour departments of Odisha and Andhra Pradesh (before bifurcation into Andhra Pradesh and Telangana) had entered into an agreement in 2011–12 for migrant labourers from Odisha working in brick kilns of Andhra Pradesh.
• According to data available from the State Migrant Control Room, more than 15 lakh registered migrant workers from Jharkhand are in other states.
• However, according to the Economic Survey 2017, the number of unregistered migrant workers is close to 50 lakhs.

Topic: Indian Polity

13. Governors must act on bills passed by the respective state assemblies: Supreme Court

• Supreme Court was hearing the Punjab government's petition against Governor Banwarilal Purohit's delay in approving bills.
• Supreme Court said that Governors must act on bills passed by the respective state assemblies before the matter reaches court.
• Supreme Court said that the Governor is not an elected representative they should give a nod to bills passed by the state assemblies as soon as possible.
• The bench also said that similar tussles are going on in Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
• The bench has asked Solicitor General Tushar Mehta to place an updated status report on the action taken by the Punjab Governor.
• The Governor had withheld his approval of three money bills. Governor approval is required to table money bills in the House.
• The Punjab Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (Amendment) Bill, 2023, the Punjab Goods and Services Tax (Amendment) Bill, 2023 and the Indian Stamp (Punjab Amendment) Bill, 2023 approval have been withheld by Purohit.
• During the current term of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)-led government, Purohit has given nod to 22 bills out of the 27 bills.
• Article 200 empowers governors to grant assent/withhold assent or reserve the bill for the president’s consideration.

Topic: Corporates/Companies

14. IndiaFirst Life Insurance has become the first life insurance company to get a GIFT City IFSC registration.

• With this registration, India First Life Insurance is enabled to extend its services outside India’s borders.
• IndiaFirst Life Insurance received approval from the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) in August 2023.
• It obtained registration from the International Financial Services Centre Authority (IFSCA) in September 2023.
• Bank of Baroda, Union Bank of India, and Warburg Pincus-owned Carmel Point Investments are promoters of IndiaFirst Life Insurance. They hold 65%, 9% and 26% stake in it.