Daily Current Affairs and GK | 9 December 2022

Topic: National News

1. India is set to become the world’s global cloud computing and data centre hub.

• India’s digital economy will grow from $200 billion in 2017-18 to $1 trillion by 2025.
• India has more than a billion mobile phones and more than 700 million internet subscribers.
• India has witnessed exponential growth in digital commerce, digital entertainment, and the use of social media.
• According to CloudScene data for 110 countries, the world had 8000 data centers in 2021.
• The leading countries in terms of data centres are the United States (33% of total), the United Kingdom (5.7%), Germany (5.5%), China (5.2%), Canada (3.3%), and the Netherlands (3.4%).
• 77% of the data centers are situated in OECD member’s countries.
• With its growing digital population, India requires a large number of data centers.
• The budget for 2022 has also proposed that Data Centres (along with Energy Storage Systems) would be included in the harmonized list of infrastructure.
• At present, India has around 499 MW installed power capacity for data centres, which is expected to reach 1007 MW by 2023.
• The Digital economy is a collective term for all the economic activities related to internet.

Topic: Biotechnology and Diseases

2. Central drugs standard control organization (CDSCO) has approved first indigenous TB testing kit.

• Pune based Mylab’s test kit to detect tuberculosis (TB) has become the first made in India test kit to be approved for TB diagnosis.
• It simultaneously detects drug resistance to the Rifampicin and Isoniazid. They are two most commonly used drugs in TB treatment.
• India currently uses imported test kits. Most of them are imported from US and Europe.
• In addition to CDSCO, the national TB expert committee and the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) have also given approval to the kit.
• The kit is more automated than others in the market. It can be stored at Indian room temperature.
• It reduces the need for high expertise to run the test. Another advantage of made-in-India kit is its low cost.
• The kits are designed to work in ambient temperatures compared to existing PCR options. Existing PCR options need 2-8 degree cold storage.
• Mylab’s PathoDetect™ kit can help patients in a single test know their active TB infection as well as drug resistance to 2 most common drugs.
• Until now, India had to conduct 2 tests. One to detect TB first and second to check drug resistance.

Topic: State News/Gujarat

3. Bharatiya Janata Party won Gujarat Assembly elections.

• BJP received 52.5% votes. Its vote percentage was over 3% extra from last time.
• Congress party was the biggest loser with 27.3% votes. Its vote share was around 41% last time.
• Aam Aadmi Party was biggest gainer with 12.9% vote share.
• BJP will form a new government in Gujarat on 12th December.
• This is the BJP’s seventh victory in a row in the State. It won 156 out of 182 seats.
• In Himachal Pradesh election, Congress won 40 seats in a 68 member Legislative Assembly. Its vote share was around 44%.
• BJP won only 25 seats. Its votes share was 43%. Three Independent candidates have also won.

Topic: Summits/Conferences/Meetings

4. 9th World Ayurveda Congress (WAC) was inaugurated on 08 December 2022 at Panaji, Goa.

• It aims to showcase the efficacy and strength of the AYUSH systems of medicine at the Global level.
• Union Minister of State for Tourism and Shipping, Ports and Waterways Shripad Naik in his address mentioned the setting up of a separate Ministry of AYUSH by the Government of India in 2014.
• He also mentioned that in 2015, the United Nations decided to celebrate the International Day of Yoga.
• Chief Minister Dr. Pramod Sawant said that the upcoming satellite centre of All India Institute of Ayurveda in Goa will boost Ayurvedic tourism in the state.
• On this occasion, the third edition of the ‘Ayushman’ comic book series was also released.
• All India Institute of Ayurveda (AIIA) and Rosenberg’s European Academy of Ayurveda, Germany signed a MoU to facilitate advanced studies in traditional Indian medicine systems.   
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend the valedictory function of WAC on 11 December 2022.
• The 9th World Ayurveda Congress & Arogya Expo 2022 is being organized in Goa from 8 to 11 December.
• Over 4500 participants from all over the world including 400 foreign delegates from 53 countries are taking part in the 9th World Ayurveda Congress & Arogya Expo.
• The market size of the AYUSH sector in India has grown from USD 3 billion in 2014 to over USD 18 billion now.
• During 2014-2020, the AYUSH industry grew 17% year-on-year.

(Source: PIB)

Topic: MoUs/Agreements

5. ISRO has signed MoU with Social Alpha to launch SpaceTech Innovation Network (SpIN).

• SpIN is India’s first dedicated platform for venture development, innovation, and curation for the burgeoning space entrepreneurial ecosystem.
• The partnership is one-of-a-kind public-private collaboration for start-ups and Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in the space industry.
• Social Alpha is a multistage innovation curation and venture development platform for science and technology start-ups.
• SpIN will mainly focus on facilitating space tech entrepreneurs in 3 distinct innovation categories. These categories are given next.
  • Geospatial Technologies and Downstream Applications
  • Enabling Technologies for Space & Mobility
  • Aerospace Materials, Sensors, and Avionics
• SpIN has launched its first innovation challenge. Early-stage start-ups for developing solutions in areas of maritime and land transportation, urbanisation, mapping, and surveying, among others are encouraged to apply.
• Applications are open from December 6, 2022, to February 6, 2023.

Topic: Sports

6. Aditya Mittal has become India’s 77th chess Grandmaster.

• He is a 16-year-old Mumbai player. He had secured three GM norms.
• He crossed 2,500 ELO points mark during the sixth round of the ongoing Ellobregat Open tournament in Spain.
• He won the match against Spain’s No.1 Francisco Vallejo Pons to achieve the feat.
• A player is required to secure three GM norms and cross the live rating of 2,500 ELO points to become a GM. ELO points are used to determine skill levels of chess players.
• Mittal obtained his maiden GM norm at Serbia Masters 2021. He earned his second GM norm at Ellobregat Open 2021.
• He secured this third GM norm at Serbia Masters 2022.
• He has become the fifth Indian to achieve the GM title in 2022 after Bharath Subramaniyam, Rahul Srivatshav, V Pranav V and Pranav Anand.

Topic: Defence

7. Indian Navy ships took part in IFR-22 at Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh.

• Indian Naval Ships Kochi, Kavaratti, and Sumedha participated in the first International Fleet Review (IFR) being organized by Bangladesh Navy (BN).
• From 06 to 09 December 2022, the ships participated in various activities being conducted as a part of BN IFR-22.
• This year, BN is organized IFR-22 to commemorate the birth centenary of the Father of the Nation, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, as well as the Golden Jubilee of Bangladesh's Independence.
• The Chief Guest for the Fleet Review was Smt Sheikh Hasina, Prime Minister of Bangladesh.
• Indian Naval Ships Kochi, Kavaratti, and Sumedha are the latest indigenously designed and developed Guided Missile Stealth Destroyer, Anti Submarine Corvette, and Off-shore Patrol Vessels, respectively.
• INS Kochi is part of the Western Fleet of the Indian Navy, based in Mumbai, whilst INS Kavaratti and INS Sumedha are part of the Eastern Fleet, based in Visakhapatnam.
• All three ships are equipped with a versatile array of weapons and sensors, and symbolize India's warship-building capabilities.

Topic: Banking Systems

8. A currency swap agreement has been signed by RBI with the Maldives Monetary Authority.

• Under the SAARC Currency Swap Framework, the Reserve Bank of India has signed a currency swap agreement with the Maldives Monetary Authority.
• The agreement allows the Maldivian Monetary Authority to withdraw in installments up to a maximum of $200 million from the RBI.
• The agreement will provide swap support as a backstop line of funding for short-term foreign exchange liquidity requirements.
• RBI had signed a similar agreement to provide a $400 million currency swap facility to Sri Lanka in 2020.
• On 15 November 2012, the SAARC Currency Swap Framework came into force.

Topic: Indian Polity

9. Rajya Sabha cleared Wild Life (Protection) Amendment Bill.

• The Wild Life (Protection) Amendment Bill, 2022, has been passed by the Rajya Sabha by Voice vote.
• It will strengthen the protection of endangered species and also increase the punishment for illegal wildlife trade.
• The bill has provision of better management of protected areas and rationalize schedules under the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972.
• The bill will seeks to control of invasive alien species, and insert a new Chapter VB in the principal Act for regulation of international trade of endangered species of wild fauna and flora.
• It also allow state boards for wildlife to form standing committees.
• The bill has been already passed by Lok sabha on 2 August.
• It was introduced by Environment and Forest Minister Bhupender Yadav in Rajya Sabha.
• This bill will amend Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 which was enacted to provide for the protection of wild animals, birds and plants.

Topic: Sports

10. Sydney McLaughlin and Armand Duplantis named as World Athletes of the Year 2022.

• Sydney McLaughlin of America and Sweden’s Armand Duplantis have been chosen as World Athletes of the Year 2022.
• Sydney McLaughlin is an Olympic gold medalist. She helped US in winning gold in the 4×400 meters relay.
• Duplantis is the first pole vaulter to win gold medals at the Olympics, World Championships, World Indoor Championships, World Junior Championships, etc.
• He cleared a record 6.21 meters (20.37 feet) to collect gold in Eugene.
• World Athlete of the Year award is given to athletes participating in events of athletics organised by World Athletics. The first edition of awards were presented in 1997.

Topic: MoUs/ Agreements

11. National Small Industries Corporation signed an MoU with Walmart.

• On December 6, Walmart Global Sourcing India Private Limited and National Small Industries Corporation Limited (NSIC) signed an important MoU.
• Shri Gaurang Dixit, CMD, NSIC and Ms. Pramila Mallaiah, Director & Hub Head, Walmart signed the MoU.
• NSIC will be able to extend benefits to of various schemes and other services of the NSIC to the MSMEs that would participate in various Vriddhi program.
• In addition, the MSMEs will get a chance to avail various benefits like getting working capital, bulk purchase assistance etc. under various opportunities offered by NSIC.
• This agreement will play an important role in taking the MSMEs to reach export target of $2 trillion by the year 2030.
• The MSMEs that are actually part of the NSIC ecosystem will also be linked to the Vriddhi program in relevant clusters.

Topic: Important Days

12. International Anti-Corruption Day 2022: 9 December

• Every year on 9 December, International Anti-Corruption Day is celebrated.
• The theme of International Anti-Corruption Day 2022 is “UNCAC at 20: Uniting the World Against Corruption”.
• The General Assembly adopted 9 December as International Anti-Corruption Day to raise awareness about corruption.
• In 2003, UN General Assembly adopted the United Nations Convention against Corruption. The convention came into force in December 2005.
• The day is being celebrated every year since 2005.
• India's rank was ranked on 85th position in the corruption perception index (CPI) of 2021 among 180 countries.

Topic: Infrastructure and Energy

13. Union Minister R K Singh launched plan “Transmission System for Integration of over 500GW RE capacity by 2030” in New Delhi.

• The Ministry of Power had formed a high-level committee headed by Chairperson of Central Electricity Authority for planning transmission system required for having 500GW of renewable energy capacity by 2030.
• The committee prepared a detailed plan according to which 8120 ckm (circuit kilometre) of High Voltage Direct Current Transmission corridors (+800 kV and +350 kV), 25,960 ckm of 765 kV ac lines, 15,758 ckm of 400 kV lines and 1052 ckm of 220 kV cable at an estimated cost of 2.44 lakh crore will be required to achieve the target.
• The plan also envisages installation of battery energy storage capacity of the order of 51.5 GW by 2030 to provide 24x7 power to end-consumers.
• Major non-fossil fuel based generation centres have also been identified which include Fatehgarh, Bhadla, Bikaner in Rajasthan, Khavda in Gujarat, Anantapur, Kurnool RE Zones in Andhra Pradesh, offshore wind potentials in Tamil Nadu and Gujarat, RE park in Ladakh, etc.
• The planned transmission system project will help the Renewable Energy Developers to know about potential generation sites and scale of investment opportunity.
• Currently, India is the third largest producer of renewable energy in the world. The installed electricity generation capacity in India is 409 GW out of which 173 GW is from renewable energy sources (42% of total installed capacity).
• India’s Renewable Energy Target:
  • Net Zero Emissions by 2070
  • 500 GW of non-fossil fuel based electricity installed capacity by 2030
  • Reducing total emissions by 1 billion tonnes by 2030
  • Reducing emissions intensity of India’s GDP by 45% by 2030

Topic: Awards and Prizes

14. Three people received Hampi Kannada University’s Nadoja Award.

• Director of Sri Jayadeva Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences and Research, Bengaluru, Dr C Manjunath and two writers Krishnappa G and S Shadakshari were presented the award.
• Dr Manjunath was award for his contributions in the medical field and social services, Krishnappa was awarded for his contributions to literature and Shadakshari was awarded for contributions in the field of literature and social services.
• Karnataka governor Thawar Chand Gehlot presented the award.
• Nadoja Award:
  • It is a prestigious award presented every year by Kanadda University, Hampi.
  • It was given for the first time in 1995 to Kuvempu (Literature), S. Nijalingappa (Politics) and Gangubai Hangal (Hindustani Music).