Current Affairs Snippets 23rd September 2022

 

Current Affairs Snippets

 

23rd September 2022

National News

 

India-Bhutan border gates reopen for tourists after 2.5 years

The India-Bhutan border gates in Assam were reopened for tourists on Friday after two and a half years, an official said. The border gates, which were closed amid the coronavirus pandemic, have been reopened with some new rules along with a sustainable development fee, the official added. The gates will stay open between 9 am and 5 pm.

Govt issues advisory for IT workers, warns of fake job rackets in Thailand

The Centre issued an advisory regarding fake job rackets targeting IT professionals. MEA said that missions in Thailand and Myanmar detected instances of "fake job rackets offering lucrative jobs to entice Indian youths for the posts of 'Digital Sales and Marketing Executives' in Thailand". It added, these rackets are being operated by firms involved in call-centre scams and cryptocurrency fraud.

PM Modi receives copy of the Assamese Dictionary Hemkosh in braille 

Assamese Dictionary Hemkosh in Braille: In New Delhi, Jayanta Baruah gave Prime Minister Narendra Modi a copy of the Assamese Dictionary Hemkosh in Braille. Jayanta Baruah and his colleagues received praise from Mr. Modi for their efforts.  Assamese Dictionary Hemkosh was one of the first Assamese dictionaries, published in the nineteenth century. Sarbananda Sonowal, the minister for ports, shipping, and waterways, as well as other officials, were present on this occasion.  The earliest Assamese etymological dictionary based on Sanskrit spellings is called Assamese Dictionary Hemkosh and was created by Hemchandra Barua. 33 years after the release of Bronson’s dictionary, it was first published in the early 20th century under the direction of Capt. P. R. Gordon, ISC, and Hemchandra Goswami.  There were around 22,346 words in it. Assamese Dictionary Hemkosh, which is still being published by Hemkosh Printers, is regarded as the primary source for Assamese spelling.

International News

Chinese Scientists create world’s first cloned wild Arctic wolf ‘Maya’

A wild Arctic wolf was successfully cloned for the first time in the world by a Beijing-based gene firm.  The cloning of the Arctic wolf, also known as the white wolf or polar wolf, which is native to the High Arctic tundra of Canada’s Queen Elizabeth Islands, is considered a milestone achievement in conserving rare and endangered species through cloning technology.  According to the company, the wolf named "Maya" is in good health. The donor cell of the wolf came from the skin sample of a wild female Arctic wolf and its oocyte was taken from a female dog.

States News

Nation gets its first Dugong Conservation Reserve in Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu has notified the country’s first ‘Dugong Conservation Reserve’ in Palk Bay covering the coastal waters of Thanjavur and Pudukottai districts with an area of 448 square kilometres.  In September 2021 Government of Tamil Nadu (GoTN) initiated the idea of the ‘Dugong Conservation Reserve’ to be established in the Palk Bay region, in order to protect the endangered Dugong species and its marine habitats in Tamil Nadu.  At present, there are around 240 Dugongs in India and a majority of them are found in the Tamil Nadu Coast (Palk Bay region).

Appointments News

GoI named Bharat Lal as new DG of National Centre for Good Governance 

Retired Gujarat cadre officer, Bharat Lal has been appointed as the Director General, National Centre for Good Governance (NCGG).  Bharat Lal, a 1988-batch Indian Forest officer of Gujarat cadre, had served as Gujarat government's resident commissioner in Delhi and has been known to be close to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the then chief minister of the state. Earlier, during December 2021, Lal was appointed as the Secretary to the Lokpal.  The National Centre for Good Governance (NCGG) is an autonomous institute under the aegis of the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances, Government of India. Its head office is at New Delhi and the branch office at Mussoorie.

Max Life Insurance named cricketer Rohit Sharma & Ritika Sajdeh as brand ambassadors

Max Life Insurance Company Ltd has announced Rohit Sharma, sports icon and captain of men’s Indian Cricket team, and his wife Ritika Sajdeh, as its brand ambassadors.  Max Life has signed a two-year partnership with the cricketing star and his spouse, who are making their debut onscreen together.  The collaboration will increase the awareness of life insurance among the younger generation and help the company grow further. With the partnership, Max Life Insurance targets the millennial audience and conveys the importance of having life insurance.  The aim of the company is to promote the Max Life brand ethos of valuing the ‘self’ to determine the right financial value to protect themselves and their family.

Agreements News

Hero MotoCorp tie-up with HPCL to set up EV charging infrastructure

Hero MotoCorp has joined hands with Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd to set up charging infrastructure for electric two-wheelers in the country.  As a part of the initiative, the two companies will first establish charging infrastructure at Hindustan Petroleum Corporation's (HPCL) existing network of stations, with the likelihood of subsequently broadening the collaboration for supplementary business opportunities.  The charging stations will be set up in select cities, which will then be expanded to other key markets with the aim of establishing a high-density of EV charging station network across the country.  The two-wheeler major will lead the infrastructure development for the charging network with each charging station featuring multiple fast chargers, including DC and AC chargers that will be available to all two-wheeled EVs.  The entire user charging experience will be controlled by a Hero MotoCorp Mobile App, based on a cashless transaction model.

Defence News

Indian Navy launches 2 Diving Support Vessels (Nistar & Nipun) in Vizag

Two indigenously designed and built Diving Support Vessels (DSVs), Nistar and Nipun were launched by the Indian Navy in Visakhapatnam.  The vessels, built by Hindustan Shipyard Ltd., were launched by Kala Hari Kumar, in the presence of Admiral R Hari Kumar, Chief of the Naval Staff, who presided over the ceremony as chief guest.  This project was executed with the support of the Indian industry, primarily MSME firms who have supplied yard material, equipment and services. More than 120 MSME vendors across India actively participated in the project.

NCC and UNEP sign an agreement in presence of defence minister 

NCC and UNEP sign an agreement: Rajnath Singh, the defence minister, saw the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the National Cadet Corps (NCC) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).  A Memorandum of Understanding was inked to use the Tide Turners Plastic Challenge programme and the Puneet Sagar Abhiyan to combat plastic pollution and achieve the objective of clean water bodies. It aims to coordinate initiatives to involve young people in promoting clean water bodies.

Under SPARSH programme, Defense Ministry signs an MoU with BoB and HDFC

Defense Ministry signs an MoU with BoB and HDFC: In order to reach seventeen lakh defence pensioners nationwide, the Defence Ministry has inked an MoU with Bank of Baroda (BoB) and HDFC Bank as part of the SPARSH-System for Pension Administration program.  Dr. Ajay Kumar, the secretary of defence, stated that by the end of this month, seventeen lakh of the thirty-two lakh defence pensioners will be added to SPARSH.  According to the Ministry, the MoU would designate more than 14,000 bank branches as Service Centers, providing retirees with an efficient way to request profile updates, make complaints and seek redress, verify pensioner data, and more. In the fiscal year 2021–2022, it was said that the SPARSH project has already enrolled one million seniors and distributed 11,000 600 crore rupees.

Economy News

India Inc Expects 35-50 bps RBI Rate Hike, After US Fed

The global economy has been rattled by scorching inflation and geo-political tensions, forcing more central banks to join the US Federal Reserve in raising interest rates. The Fed set the pace with a 0.75% rate hike to a range of 3% to 3.25%.  That is the fifth rate hike this year and up from zero at the start of the year. According to market experts, India could see an aggressive rate hike by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in coming week. The RBI's policy decision is due on 30 September, with most market participants expecting it to hike rates by 35-50 basis points.  On India's CPI inflation rate, Deutsche Bank said the country's headline retail inflation will likely rise to a five-month high of 7.4% in September, with the risk of going higher if the momentum of food and vegetable prices picks up further in the rest of the month.

Awards News

India Hypertension Control Initiative wins UN award to control and prevent hypertension 

India has won the United Nations (UN) award for its ‘India Hypertension Control Initiative (IHCI)’, a large-scale hypertension intervention under the National Health Mission (NHM) that saw 3.4 million hypertensive people identified and put on treatment at various government health facilities.  The ‘2022 UN Interagency Task Force, and WHO Special Programme on Primary Health Care Award’ was announced at the UN General Assembly side event at New York, USA.  The award is for India’s initiative to control and prevent hypertension under the government’s NHM.  It has been recognized for India’s exceptional work within India’s existing primary healthcare system.
IHCI is a collaborative initiative of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), state governments and the World Health Organization(WHO)­India.

Summits and Conferences News

New York hosts the 10th IBSA Trilateral Ministerial Commission conference

10th IBSA Trilateral Ministerial Commission conference: In New York, the 10th Trilateral Ministerial Commission conference of the India-Brazil-South Africa Dialogue Forum (IBSA) was conducted.  Dr. S. Jaishankar, the minister of external affairs, presided over the meeting. Additionally present during the conference were Dr. Joe Phaahla, South Africa's Minister of Health, and Carlos Alberto Franco França, Brazil's Minister of Foreign Affairs. The Ministers went over every aspect of IBSA collaboration.  They held conversations about topics of mutual interest, including as South-South cooperation, UNSC reform, the 2030 Agenda, the Sustainable Development Goals, climate change, terrorism prevention, and funding for developmental operations.

 

Science and Technology News

On September 26, NASA's DART Mission to collide with an asteroid

NASA's DART Mission to collide with an asteroid: In order to test a crucial technology that might be used to divert asteroids heading towards Earth, the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission, which is nearing the end of its life, will fall on an asteroid.  The spacecraft has travelled along a celestial path under Jupiter's supervision, which is the largest planet in the solar system. On September 26, the spacecraft will travel at a speed of 24,000 kilometres per hour as it collides with the Didymos binary asteroid system, softly deflecting and altering its orbit.

Obituaries News

Cosmonaut Valery Polyakov passed away at the age of 80

Russian Cosmonaut Valery Vladimirovich Polyakov, who holds the record for the longest spaceflight, has passed away at the age of 80. According to Roscosmos, Polyakov has participated in two space missions during his career with a total duration of 678 days and 16 hours.  Polyakov took part in his first mission to space in 1988, and returned eight months later in 1989. That year, he was appointed deputy director of the Institute of Biomedical Problems.  Valery Polyakov spent a full 437 days orbiting the Earth on the Mir space station between 1994 and 1995. Polyakov had previously spent 288 days in space on a mission in 1988-89.  He worked on experiments to see if people could maintain their mental health to make the long journey to Mars. The Mir space station was put into orbit in 1986, first under the control of the Soviet Union and later by Russia.

Important Days

International Day of Sign Languages observed on 23 September

The International Day of Sign Languages (IDSL) is celebrated annually across the world on 23 September.  The day is a unique opportunity to support and protect the linguistic identity and cultural diversity of all deaf people and other sign language users. Sign language gives people, who are hard of hearing, a medium to converse.  As the name suggests, this day aims to spread awareness regarding the importance of sign language in the realisation of the human rights of people who are deaf.  The theme for the 2022 International Day of Sign languages is "Sign Languages Unite Us!".

 

Miscellaneous News

Veteran swimmer Elvis Ali becomes the oldest Indian to cross North Channel

Veteran Assamese swimmer, Elvis Ali Hazarika has become the first from the North East to cross the North Channel. The North Channel is the strait between north-eastern Northern Ireland and south-western Scotland.  Elvis and his team clocked a timing of 14 hours 38 minutes to achieve this feat. With this, Elvis has become the oldest Indian swimmer to cross the North Channel.  According to the Irish Long Distance Swimming Association, the distance of the route recognised as a North Channel swim is 34.5 km (21.4 miles). It is known for fickle weather, rough seas, tough currents and an abundance of jellyfish. 

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