Daily Current Affairs and GK | 9 November 2022

Topic: Awards and Prizes

1. Dr Subhash Babu, first Indian Scientist to be awarded Bailey K. Ashford Medal for 2022.

• Dr Subhash Babu becomes the first Indian scientist to receive the Bailey K. Ashford Medal award as well as the FASTMH award.
• He also received the Fellow of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (FASTMH) award for his work and contributions to tropical medicine.
• Dr Subhash Babu is serving as the Scientific Director of the International Center for Excellence in Research (ICER) programme in NIRT.
• His original work on the impact of type-2 diabetes in TB in response to (anti-TB) treatment had a wide impact in the field of TB and in the field of global health.
• In the 82-year history of this award, the award has been never given to an Indian scientist for research work done in an Indian institution.
• The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH) is the world's largest scientific organization in tropical medicine.
• Bailey K. Ashford Medal:
  • It is presented annually to individuals for their distinguished work in tropical medicine.
  • The first Bailey K. Ashford medal was awarded in 1941 to Lloyd E. Rozeboom.

Topic: Environment and Ecology

2. India joins Mangrove Alliance for Climate (MAC) at COP 27.

• India is among the first five countries to join it. The other countries are Australia, Japan, Spain, and Sri Lanka.
• MAC is spearheaded by the United Arab Emirates in partnership with Indonesia.
• MAC seeks to accelerate the restoration and conservation of mangroves for the benefit of communities.
• It also seeks to generate awareness regarding the role of mangroves as a nature-based climate change solution.
• MAC follows a voluntary approach. Members are free to decide their commitments toward restoring mangroves.
• At the launch of the MAC, Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Bhupender Yadav dubbed mangrove forests as the most productive ecosystems of the world.
• He highlighted that mangrove forests can absorb four-five times more carbon emissions than landed tropical forests.
• Mangroves:
  • They can also act as a buffer for ocean acidification. They can also act as a sink for microplastics.
  • Mangroves are distributed in tropical and subtropical regions. They are found in 123 countries.
  • Global mangrove extent in 2020 was 147,359 square kilometres.
  • South Asia comprises 6.4% of the global mangrove cover.
  • India accounts for over 50% of the total mangrove cover in South Asia.
  • According to the Forest Survey report 2021, mangroves cover in the country is 4,992 square kilometres. This is 0.15% of the country’s total geographical area.
  • The top three states showing an increase in mangrove cover are Odisha, Maharashtra, and Karnataka.

Topic: Sports

3. Three new cricketers have been added to the ICC Hall of Fame.

• They are Pakistan’s Abdul Qadir, West Indies batting legend Shivnarine Chanderpaul and England’s women world cup-winning captain Charlotte Edwards.
• Abdul Qadir was a pioneer in wrist-spin techniques. He died three years ago.
• Chanderpaul holds the record of seven half-centuries in consecutive Test innings.
• Edwards won the Women's World Cup in 2009 and the T20 World Cup in the same year.
• ICC Cricket Hall of Fame recognises the achievements of the legends of the game from cricket's long and illustrious history. It was launched in 2009.

Topic: Sports

4. 15th Asian Airgun Championship 2022 started on 09 November 2022 at Daegu, South Korea.

• It is scheduled to be held from 9 to 19th of November at Daegu International Shooting Range.
• This will be the first Rifle/Pistol Asian Shooting Confederation Championship that would be included in the new Asian Ranking System.
• Indian contingent that will take part in the championship will have 36 members.
• Manu Bhaker, Mehuli Ghosh, Arjun Babuta and Divyansh Singh Panwar are some prominent names among 36 members.
• Manu Bhaker will take part in the 10 m Air Pistol (Junior Women) event.
• Mehuli Ghosh will compete in the women's 10m Air Rifle event.
• Yashasvi Joshi will compete in the 10 m Air Pistol (Youth Women).
• Arjun Babuta will participate in the 10m Air Rifle for Men.
• Divyansh Singh Panwar will compete in the junior men category.

Topic: Defence

5. India participated in Malabar Naval Exercise-2022 started on 8 November in Japan.

• India participated in the 26th International Malabar Naval Exercise. The exercise has begun in Yokosuka, Japan.
• Australia, Japan, and the USA also participated in it. The navies of these countries will participate in the exercise till November 18.
• Indian Naval Ships Shivalik and Kamorta are ready to participate in the exercise.
• This year marks the 30th anniversary of the Malabar exercise.
• Malabar began as a bilateral exercise between the US and Indian navies in 1992, Japan and Australia joined it in 2007 and 2020 respectively.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: National Appointments

6. Justice Rituraj Awasthi appointed as Chairperson of Law Commission.

• On November 7, the Central Government appointed Justice Rituraj Awasthi, Retired High Court Chief Justice of Karnataka as chairperson for the 22^nd Law Commission.
• He has been appointed along with other five members for the 22^nd Law Commission.
• Other members of the Commission are Justice KT Sankaran, Prof. Anand Paliwal, Prof. DP Verma, Prof. (Dr) Raka Arya, and M. Karunanithi.
• Justice Awasthi served as the Chief Justice of the Karnataka High Court from October 11, 2021, to July 2, 2022.
• Law Commission of India:
  • The Law Commission of India is a non-statutory body constituted by the Government.
  • The commission makes recommendations (in the form of reports) to the government in accordance with its terms of reference.
  • In 1955, the Law Commission was first constituted and has submitted 277 reports so far.
  • The 21^st Law Commission, headed by former Supreme Court Judge Justice BS Chauhan, came to an end on August 31, 2018.
  • The 22^nd Commission was constituted on February 19, 2020.
  • The appointment to the 22^nd Law Commission came after more than two years.

Topic: National Appointments

7. Justice DY Chandrachud took oath as the new Chief Justice of India on 9 November 2022.

• President Droupadi Murmu administered the oath of office to the new Chief Justice of India, Justice DY Chandrachud at Rashtrapati Bhawan.
• He has succeeded Justice UU Lalit, who retired on 8 November 2022.
• Justice Dhananjaya Yashwant Chandrachud is the 50th Chief Justice of India.
• He was appointed Judge of the Supreme Court of India on the 13th of May 2016.
• Earlier, he served as Chief Justice of the Allahabad High Court.
• He will serve as the Chief Justice of India for two years till November 10, 2024.
• His father Y V Chandrachud was the longest-serving Chief Justice of India (CJI). He served from February 22, 1978 to July 11, 1985.
• H. J. Kania was the first Chief Justice of India. He served as the Chief Justice of India from 1950 to 1951.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: International Appointments

8. Tayyab Ikram has been elected as the new president of the International Hockey Federation (FIH).

• Asian Hockey Federation (AHF) CEO Mohammad Tayyab Ikram has succeeded India’s Narendra Batra as full-time chief of FIH.
• Tayyab Ikram defeated Belgium’s Marc Coudron in the 48th FIH Congress held virtually.
• Ikram’s term will be two year long. Narendra Batra resigned from the post in July.
• Seif Ahmed was the acting president of the FIH following Batra's resignation.
• The Congress also approved the application of the Indonesian Hockey Federation as a full member of FIH.
• Japan's Hiroya Anzai, Poland's Piotr Wilkonski and Deon Morgan of South Africa elected for the first time as FIH Executive Board members. 
• Maureen Craig-Rousseau of Trinidad and Tobago and Elizabeth Safoa King of Ghana were re-elected to the FIH Executive Board.
• FIH is the international governing body of field hockey and indoor field hockey. It is headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Topic: Space and IT

9. Skyroot Aerospace will soon become the first private space company in India to launch a rocket into space.

• Skyroot Aerospace is set to launch India’s first privately developed rocket, ‘Vikram-S’.
• The mission, ‘Prarambh' (the beginning), will be launched between November 12 and 16.
• The 'Prarambh' mission will carry three customer payloads and will be launched from ISRO’s launchpad at Sriharikota.
• The Vikram-S rocket is a single-stage sub-orbital launch vehicle that would carry payloads. It will also help in testing and validating the technologies in the Vikram series of space launch vehicles.
• Skyroot was the first space technology startup to sign an MoU with ISRO for sharing facilities and expertise in 2021.
• Earlier, Skyroot also tested Kalam-100, an indigenously built solid-fuel engine.
• The government opened the space sector in 2020 for private sector participation.
• Pawan Kumar Chandana is the CEO and co-founder of Skyroot Aerospace.
• At the moment, 53 space tech startups in India have raised a total of $220 million in funding.

Topic: Environment and Ecology

10. A new species of the honeybee has been discovered in the Western Ghats.

• The new species has been named ‘Apis karinjodian’; the common name is the Indian black honeybee.
• The finding of this new species has been published in the journal Entomon.
• After a gap of more than 200 years, a new species of the honeybee has been found in the Western Ghats.
• Apis karinjodian has evolved from Apis cerana morphotypes. The honeybee named Apis indica was spotted in 1798 by Fabricius in the western ghat area.
• Apis karinjodian is commonly found in the central Western Ghats and Nilgiris region, which includes the states of Goa, Karnataka, Kerala, and parts of Tamil Nadu.
• Apis karinjodian has been categorized as “Near threatened (NT)” in IUCN Red List.
• Now, after this discovery, the total number of honeybees species in the world has reached to 11.

Topic: National News

11. The logo, theme, and website for India’s G20 Presidency were unveiled by PM Narendra Modi. 

• He launched a Lotus with seven petals as the logo and ‘One Earth, One Family, One Future’ as the theme of India’s G20 Presidency.
• These were unveiled through video conferencing on 8 November.
• He said that the 7 petals on the Lotus represent the 7 continents of the globe and also the 7 notes of music.
• Its purpose is to convey India's message and priorities to the world.
• The foreign policy, inspired by Modi's vision, is developing India's leadership role at the global level.
• Following the G20 summit hosted by Indonesia in Bali from November 15-16, the country will assume the presidency of the grouping of the world's 20 largest economies on December 1.
• The G20 is the premier forum for international economic cooperation, representing approximately 85% of global GDP, over 75% of global trade, and nearly two-thirds of the world's population.
• During its G20 presidency, India will hold around 200 meetings in 32 different sectors at multiple locations across the country.
• In September 2023, India will host the G20 Summit, which will be one of the country's most prominent international events.
• India has included Bangladesh, Egypt, Mauritius, the Netherlands, Nigeria, Oman, Singapore, Spain and the United Arab Emirates as guest countries during its presidency.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: Sports

12. 2^nd edition of the North East Olympic Games will be organized in Shillong, Meghalaya.

• The Meghalaya government and the North East Olympic Association (NEOA) will host the North East Olympic Games 2.0 from 10 to 16 November 2022.
• The objective of organizing the Games is to encourage the participation of more and more youth in sports activities so that talent can be discovered for higher level and international competitions at an early stage.
• Around 3,000 athletes from 8 north-eastern states are expected to participate in the second edition of the Games.
• A total of 18 sports will be included in the North East Olympic Games.
• The official sporting mascot, 'NEO', is inspired by the clouded leopard, the state animal of Meghalaya.
• The outfit worn by NEO is a fusion of the cultures of the major tribes of Meghalaya.
• In October 2018, the first edition of the North East Olympic Games was organized in Manipur.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: Banking System

13. SBI has become India’s most profitable corporate with ₹14,752 crore of consolidated net income in the Q2 of FY23.

• Its consolidated net income is better than Reliance Industries, which is having net income of ₹13,656 crore.
• However, Reliance continues to lead with total revenue of ₹253,497 crore as against SBI's ₹1,14,782 crore for Q2 of FY23.
• Reliance continues to be the most profitable firm on a first-half basis and on an income basis too.
• The asset quality of SBI improved with the gross non-performing assets declining from 4.90% a year-ago to 3.52%. Net NPAs nearly halved from 1.52% a year ago to 0.80%.
• SBI also reported highest ever quarterly net profit at ₹13,265 crore in Q2. It reported 74% year-on-year increase in net profit. 
• For the first time in many quarters, the bank’s corporate advances grew faster than its retail loans.
• Infrastructure sector, oil and marketing companies and services sector mainly NBFCs were the source of the demand for corporate loans.
• As per RBI mandate, all banks shall invest 19% of their total deposits in central government securities.

Topic: National Appointments

14. Subhrakant Panda has been named as FICCI’s next President.

• He currently serves as the senior vice-president of FICCI. He is the Managing Director of Indian Metals & Ferro Alloys Ltd (IMFA).
• Panda would succeed Sanjiv Mehta as President of FICCI at the conclusion of its 95th AGM to be held on December 16-17.
• Panda is the first industrialist from Odisha to take up a leadership role in FICCI. 
• KV Kamath has been appointed by Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) as an independent director on its board for five years.
• He has also been appointed non-executive chairman of Reliance Strategic Investments Limited.
• Reliance Strategic Investments Limited (RSIL) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Reliance Industries Ltd. It is to be renamed as Jio Financial Services.
• Kamath is a veteran banker. He is presently the chairman of the National Bank for Financing Infrastructure and Development (NaBFID).