Current Affairs 2 November 2022

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NATIONAL AFFAIRS

Australian Navy ships Reaches Visakhapatnam to Participate in Indo-Pacific Endeavour Exercise with INOn 31st October 2022 Royal Australian Navy ships HMAS Anzac, an Anzac-class frigate and HMAS Adelaide, a Canberra-class landing helicopter dock arrived in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh for participating in the 3rd edition of ‘Indo-Pacific Endeavour (IPE) 2022’ exercise with the Indian Navy (IN).

• The commander of HMAS Adelaide, Troy Duggan and commander of HMAS Anzac, David Mc Pherson, were also present on the occasion.

Key points:
i.HMAS Adelaide will carry around 500 officers and soldiers, as part of the joint task force, and will take part in the exercise with IN’s 54th Infantry Division and special forces of the Indian Navy such as the Marcos (Marine Commandos).
ii.The IPE is supported by an Australian Defence Force Maritime Task Unit of Royal Australian Navy ships and embarked Army personnel.

• Additionally, the Royal Australian Air Force air mobility aircraft will also help with fly-in-fly-out engagements, marking a total composition of 1800 personnel, 5 ships and 11 helicopters.

Key highlights:
i.IPE 2022 is one of Australia’s key regional engagement initiatives that will make 14-country visits and return to Southeast Asia and the Northeast Indian Ocean, starting from September 2022 to November 2022.
ii.The countries include Maldives, Timor-Leste, Vietnam, the Philippines, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Laos, Cambodia, India, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei and Indonesia.
About IPE:
i.Background – In order to fulfil the goal of the 2016 Defence White Paper to increase Australia’s involvement and alliances with regional security forces, IPE first began in 2017 as an annual programme, coordinated by the Australian Defence Force.
ii.The Australian Defence Force will conduct activities including military exercises, workshops, training, sporting events, and cultural activities with other Indian armed forces partners.
iii.The main aim of IPE is to promote security and stability in nearby regions of Australia through bilateral and multilateral engagement, training and capacity building.
About Australia:
Prime Minister – Anthony Albanese
Capital – Canberra
Currency – Australian Dollar

UP CM Yogi Adityanath Inaugurates North India’s First Data Centre at Greater NoidaYogi Adityanath, Chief Minister (CM) of Uttar Pradesh (UP), inaugurated North India’s first hyper-scale data centre, ‘Yotta D1,’ of Yotta Infrastructure Solutions, a new-age digital transformation service provider, at the upcoming Yotta Data Centre Park in Greater Noida, UP.

• The 3,00,000 square feet data centre was built with an investment of around Rs 1,500 crore and operationalized in a record-breaking 20 months.

During the occasion, the foundation stone for the upcoming two data centre buildings, Yotta D2 and D3, were also laid.
Yotta D-1: First Pillar of North India’s 5G Revolution
i.The Hiranandani Group’s Data Center Park, which spans 20 acres, will house a total of six data centres. The seven-storeyed Yotta D-1 is the first segment of this episode.
ii.Direct fibre connectivity to all major telecom operators will be available from the exclusive Yotta D-1 data centre via 4 different routes.
About Yotta Infrastructure Solutions:
Co-Founder & CEO – Sunil Gupta
Headquarters – Mumbai, Maharashtra
>> Read Full News

IT Department launches HARIT Aaykar initiative to create Micro Forests 

On 31st October 2022, the Income Tax Department (IT Department) launched HARIT (Hariyali Achievement Resolution by Income Tax) Aaykar initiative on the occasion of National Unity Day to increase the greenery by planting trees and creating micro forests in and around IT Department’s buildings and other public areas.

• The 1st of such micro-forest was inaugurated by Nitin Gupta, Chairman of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), at Bharopal, Punjab, near the India-Pak border.

Note: The IT Department participated in the Government of India’s month-long Special Campaign for Swachhata which ends on 31st October 2022.

ReNew commits to be net-zero firm by 2040

On 31st October 2022, ReNew Energy Global PLC announced its ESG (environmental, social, and governance) targets including a commitment to achieve net-zero by 2040 through its sustainability report for 2021-22 titled ‘Partnering for transition, progressing sustainably, prospering together’.
i.It aims to reduce GHG (greenhouse gases) emissions by 29.4%  by 2027 and a net-zero target of reducing GHG emissions by 90 per cent across all scopes by 2040.
ii.The 2040 commitment is 30 years ahead of India’s 2070 target and more ambitious than net-zero targets of many global energy companies.
iii.It intends to achieve this through a comprehensive programme of measures.

• These include energy efficiency improvements across offices and sites, clean energy procurement, electrification of fossil-fuel-based equipment, evaluating low-carbon footprint raw materials, and exploring green logistics for transportation.

Key people:
Sumant Sinha, Chairman and CEO, ReNew Energy Global PLC.

BANKING & FINANCE

RBI Launches Pilot Project of Digital Rupee in Wholesale SegmentThe Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has commenced its first pilot project to implement Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) or Digital Rupee (e₹) in the Wholesale Segment (e₹-W) for secondary trade in government securities (G-secs) beginning on November 1, 2022.

• The first pilot in the Digital Rupee – Retail segment (e₹-R) is set to debut in a month in chosen regions with limited user groups comprising customers and merchants.

i.A Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) or Digital Rupee is a digital version of currency notes issued by a central bank.

• The Indian CBDC, which will be known as “(e₹)”, is a digital version of the Rupee and may be exchanged one-for-one for fiat currency.

ii.The RBI has designated 9 banks to participate in the digital rupee wholesale (e₹-W) pilot project.

• The nine banks are State Bank of India (SBI), Bank of Baroda (BoB), Union Bank of India (UBI), HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Yes Bank, IDFC First Bank, and HSBC.

About Reserve Bank of India (RBI):
Governor – Shaktikanta Das
Established –1935
>> Read Full News

Credit Card Base of major issuers dropsFY23 in Q2 over RBI’s Norms; HDFC Bank saw Highest Net ReductionOn the lines of the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) mandate of deactivation of cards that have been inactive for a year, there is a significant drop in the card base of credit card issuers during Q2FY23 (July-September 2022) .
Who lost and Won during Q2FY23?
i.HDFC Bank saw the highest net reduction of 1.62 million credit cards in Q2FY23. Its cards-in-force dropped to 16.32 million from almost 18 million in July 2022.
ii.It is followed by Axis Bank which saw a net reduction of over 1.10 million credit cards, a drop to 8.82 million from almost 10 million in July 2022.
iii.ICICI Bank lost 409,147 cards. In September 2022 alone, it saw a net reduction of over 620,000 cards.
iv.Other banks with reduction are Canara Bank (354,413 cards), YES Bank (40,567 cards) and Standard Chartered (104,432 cards).
The Winners:
i.On the other hand, SBI Card gained during Q2FY23 with a net addition of 293,368 cards. It is because 95% of its portfolio is dominated by fee-based cards.
ii.Kotak Mahindra Bank also saw net addition of 247,813 cards along with IDFC First Bank, IndusInd Bank and RBL Bank with net addition of 161,443, 108,334 and 92,545 cards, respectively.
Key Points:
i.HDFC Bank market in outstanding credit cards has dropped to 21.01% by down 133-basis points from 22.34% in Q1FY23 while SBI Card has increased market share to 19.08 per cent, up 90 bps from 18.18%.
ii.There has been outstanding cards-in-force decline by 2.55 million to 77.7 million.
Earlier, the credit card sector saw an outstanding cards-in-force decline by 2.55 million to 77.7 million.
What are the RBI guidelines on inactive credit cards?
In April 2022, RBI came out with a master direction on credit and debit card issuance mandating to initiate a process of deactivation of credit cards that have been inactive for more than one year, after intimating the cardholder. If no reply is received from the cardholder within 30 days, the card account has to be closed by the card issuer, subject to payment of all dues by the cardholder. The information for the same has to be updated with the Credit Information Company within a period of 30 days.

Bank of Baroda launches two Premium Debit Cards for its HNI customersThe Bank of Baroda (BoB) in collaboration with Visa launched the following two new premium Debit Cards for BoB customers:
i.BoB World Opulence – a super-premium Visa Infinite Debit Card (Metal Edition)
ii.BoB World Sapphire – a Visa Signature Debit Card

• The debit cards were unveiled by Indian Badminton Player PV (Pusarla Venkata) Sindhu who is BoB’s brand endorser.
• These cards are designed for the Bank’s High Networth Individual (HNI) customer segment along with the reward programs

Key Points:
i.The BoB World Opulence debit card offers lavish privileges and benefits with a distinctive card design.
ii.The BoB World Sapphire card offers a signature experience with the Him and Her concept as it comes in two sub variants – BoB World Sapphire (Male) and BoB World Sapphire (Female), offering customized privileges to customers.
iii.Existing customers can apply for these cards through any branch or the bob World mobile banking app.
iv.New customers can also apply for the debit cards by opening a BoB savings account and then selecting their preferred card.
v.These cards offer complimentary airport pickup and drop service, airport lounge visits, complimentary Club Marriott membership for a year, complimentary sessions at select Golf courses, discounts on select wellness brands, complimentary dining benefits at select hotels, offers from premium fashion brands, room upgrades, late checkouts, complimentary benefits at select hotels that are a part of the Visa Luxury Hotel Collection.

• The joining fee for BoB World Opulence is Rs 9,500.
• The joining fee for BoB World Sapphire is Rs 750.

India Donates USD 2.5 million to UNRWA for Welfare of Palestine RefugeesOn 31st October 2022, India presented USD 2.5 million, the 2nd tranche of the total contribution of USD 5 million for the financial year 2022-2023, to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) to support the Palestine Refugees.

Note: Since 2018, India has contributed around USD 22.5 million to UNRWA.

Key highlights:
i.The amount was presented to Ms Xuran Wu, Associate Donor Relations and Projects Officer, Department of External Relations, UNRWA at the Representative Office of India in Ramallah, Palestine.

• This donation will support UNRWA’s core programs and services, including education, healthcare, relief and social services.

ii.According to the UNRWA Crisis Monitoring Report on the Socio-Economic Situation of Palestine Refugees in Lebanon, 93 percent of all Palestine refugees in Lebanon live in poverty.

• Poverty, unemployment and despair are the serious causes affecting refugees severely in the areas of Lebanon, Syria and Palestine.

HDFC ERGO launches first-of-its-kind Satellite Index-based Farm Yield Insurance PolicyHDFC ERGO launched a farm Yield Insurance Policy which is first of its kind insurance solution, where a satellite-based index will be used to provide localized coverage at the farm level. This is completely technology based, means, no manual examination is required in the claim assessment of the crop.
Target Group: Farmers under Corporate/Farm Input Company (FIC)
Key Points:
i.Based on satellite data, it provides full coverage for the entire crop lifecycle i.e. from seeding to harvesting.
ii.The product is valid for food, oilseeds, commercial or horticultural crops.
iii.A threshold value is calculated for each yield using the historical satellite image data of the specific crop and a remote sensing mechanism available in the public domain. The benchmark index is then compared to the actual index value reached by the reference satellite for the insured crop to determine if the yield is lost.
About HDFC ERGO:
It is a joint venture (JV) between HDFC Ltd., and ERGO International AG, the primary insurance entity of Munich Re Group.
Chairman– Keki M Mistry
Headquarters– Mumbai, Maharashtra

South Indian Bank Launches App-Based Foreign Outward RemittanceSouth Indian Bank has launched a foreign outward remittance service “Remit Money Abroad” via its mobile banking application, ‘SIB Mirror+’.

• The “SIB Mirror+” application allows Non-Resident External (NRE) and Resident savings bank account holders to perform foreign outward remittances.
• The service is also offered on its “SIBERNET” Internet banking platform.

With this facility, foreign currency transfers can be made by customers without visiting a bank branch.
Key Points:
i.In accordance with the Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS) limit, the daily limit for resident customers is USD 10,000 and the Financial Year (FY) maximum is USD 25,000; for Non-Resident Indians (NRIs), the daily limit is USD 25,000 and the FY limit is USD 100,000.
ii.The feature allows outward remittance 24×7 in USD, and in other currencies during market hours.
iii.Customers of the bank will now be able to start foreign outward remittances in over 100 currencies globally.
iv.This new feature would make foreign remittances a smooth and seamless process for bank customers using the mobile platform.
About South Indian Bank:
MD & CEO – Murali Ramakrishnan
Headquarters – Thrissur, Kerala
Tagline – Experience Next Generation Banking

Zaggle & NPCI Partner to Launch Multiple Credit Cards On Rupay Network

Zaggle and the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) have teamed up to issue contactless credit cards on the RuPay network.

• Zaggle is a Software as a Service (SaaS) FinTech company and a pioneer in digitising business spending.

Zaggle and NPCI, along with partner banks, intend to leverage this platform to offer a variety of credit cards to meet the ever-increasing demands of corporates, Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), and consumers.
Key Points:
i.The cards would be compatible with both international and domestic transactions, making business travel more convenient and easy.

• Users would also be able to make contactless transactions using this credit card.

ii.Zaggle would prioritise improving the user journey through digital onboarding and instant issuance, as well as intuitive in-app customer experience, spend insights, credit score, and other features.

• This would be augmented by product innovations like gamification, customized partner offerings, and other ancillary services.

iii.Additionally, the customers would receive air miles, cashback points, expedited reward points, and other incentives & discounts.
Note: 

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) recently made an announcement to link credit cards with the Unified Payment Interface (UPI), which will significantly increase digital spending.
• UPI recently facilitated nearly 9.4 billion transactions worth Rs. 10.25 trillion in India.

National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI):
MD & CEO – Dilip Asbe
Headquarters – Mumbai, Maharashtra
Establishment – 2008

ECONOMY & BUSINESS

BIS signs MoU with Technical institutions for active engagement of academia

The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) has signed an agreement with (Indian institute of Technology)IIT Kanpur, IIT Indian school of Mines(ISM) Dhanbad and the National Institute of Technology (NIT) Rourkela for the establishment of ‘BIS Standardization Chair Professor’ at these institutes.
i.It is an initiative towards institutionalising its engagement with the eminent institutes of the country.

• For securing active participation of academia in standards formulation and making teaching of Indian standards an integral part of the curriculum.

ii.It will promote excellence and leadership in teaching, research and development in the field of science and various engineering disciplines.
iii.Prof Kantesh Balani, Dean of Resources & Alumni, IIT Kanpur; Prof Rajiv Shekhar, Director, IIT(ISM), Dhanbad; and Prof K Umamaheshwar Rao, Director, NIT Rourkela assured commitment towards this initiative.

ByteXL signs MoU with Microsoft for HR skilling in tier-ii, iii cities

i.Hyderabad-based Edtech company byteXL has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Microsoft to offer training in emerging technologies in tier-ii and iii cities of the country.

ii.This collaboration is aligned with the national vision of providing one crore internship opportunities by 2025.

iii.ByteXL will lead the training programme, Microsoft will support the effort with necessary infrastructure, including Artificial Intelligence (AI) Labs.

Key People – Indrani Choudhury, Chief Learning Officer of Microsoft India; Karun Tadepalli, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of byteXL.

Note – According to various industry reports, in the past 10 years (2012-2022) the Employability rate of graduating engineers is less than 8 per cent and 93 percent of the graduating engineers in India lack the required IT skills to work in IT companies.

AWARDS & RECOGNITIONS 

Tata Steel’s Jamshedpur Site becomes India’s 1st to get ResponsibleSteel Site CertificationResponsibleSteel Site Certification has been conferred for 3 production facilities – Steel Works, Tubes Division and Cold Rolling Mill (Bara)- of Tata steels in Jamshedpur Steel Plant in Jamshedpur, Jharkhand.
The Jamshedpur Site becomes India’s first site to join the exclusive group of steel producing sites around the world to receive the ResponsibleSteel Certification.

• The certification means that the production of 103.5 million tonnes of steel and the working lives of 157.4 thousand people are managed by sites that are now independently audited every 18 months.

Note: Tata Steel has been a member of ResponsibleSteel since October 2020.
Key Points: 
The certified sites must focus on reduced carbon emission, and ensure that there are in line with other sustainability objectives in the standard such as ensuring good water stewardship, creating a healthy and safe workplace, safeguarding labour rights, and engaging with local communities and other stakeholders
ResponsibleSteel:
i.ResponsibleSteel is the steel industry’s first global multi-stakeholder standard and certification initiative that works with steel producers, consumers, and intermediaries towards building a sustainable steel industry by addressing pressing challenges including climate change, diversity, human rights and more.
ii.ResponsibleSteel with around 13% of the world’s steel industry by volume in its membership, has certified sites on 5 continents covering the production of over 100 million tonnes of steel.
About Tata Steel Limited:
Chairman– Natarajan Chandrasekaran
Headquarters– Jamshedpur, Jharkhand,

President of India presents Silver Trumpet & Trumpet Banner to the President’s Bodyguard

Droupadi Murmu, President of India, presented the Silver Trumpet and Trumpet Banner to the President’s Bodyguard (PBG) at a ceremony held at the Forecourt of Rashtrapati Bhavan in Delhi.

• PBG commemorates its 250th anniversary, which coincides with the countrywide celebration of ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’. PBG was raised in Banaras (Varanasi) by Former Governor-General Warren Hastings in September 1773.
• Dr Rajendra Prasad, the 1st President of India, presented his Silver Trumpet and Trumpet Banner to the President’s Bodyguard on May 14, 1957.
• Silver Trumpet and Trumpet Banner– PBG has the unique distinction of being the only military unit of the Indian Army to carry the President’s Silver Trumpet and Trumpet Banner as the President of India’s personal Guard.                

ACQUISITIONS & MERGERS       

LIC raised its stake in Capri Global Capital by 2% for  Rs 257.37 crore

Between 10th June 2022 to 28th October 2022, Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) acquired around 2% of stake in Capri Global Capital Limited (CGCL), a non-banking financial company (NBFC), at an investment of Rs 257.37 crore.

• The new shares were acquired at an average cost of Rs 724.74 apiece.
• LIC’s shareholding in Capri Global has increased from 1,24,00,000 to 1,59,51,171 equity shares. Therefore, LIC increased its stake in the company from 7.052% of its paid-up capital to 9.072%.

Key Points:
i. CGCL serves a wide range of segments like Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSME), construction, finance, affordable housing and indirect retail lending segments.
ii. According to LIC, the share acquisition served as an investing purpose through an open market purchase.

• Capri Global’s market capitalisation stands at Rs 13,014 crore.

RBI imposes penalty of Rs 5 lakh on LIC HFL for Breach of Deposit Norms
On 31st October 2022, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) imposed a penalty of Rs 5 lakh on LIC Housing Finance Limited (LIC HFL) for non-compliance with certain provisions of the  “The Housing Finance Companies (NHB) Directions, 2010” issued by the National Housing Bank (NHB) in on 2nd July 2018.

• It was imposed in the exercise of powers vested in RBI under the provisions of clause (b) of sub-section (1) of section 52A read with clause (aa) of sub-section (3) of section 49 of the National Housing Bank Act, 1987 (NHB Act).

Google buys artificial intelligence avatar startup ‘Alter’ for $100 mn

i.Google has acquired Alter, an artificial intelligence (AI) avatar startup that was working on using AI to generate avatars for social media users and brands to express their virtual identity.
ii.According to TechCrunch, Google buys the startup for about $100 million in an effort to improve its content game and compete with TikTok.
iii.Alter started as Facemoji, a platform that offered plug-and-play technology for helping game and App developers add avatar systems to their Apps.
iv.Among its investors are Play Ventures, Roosh Ventures and Twitter, which invested $3 million in the startup. Later Facemoji rebranded as Alter.
Key people:
Founders of Alter – Jon Slimak and Robin Raszka.  

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

China Launches Second Lab Module ‘Mengtian’ for its Space StationOn 31st October 2022 China launched a lab module named Mengtian to be part of its space station, which is currently under construction and will be completed by the end of 2022..

• The lab was launched by Long March-5B Y4, one of China’s biggest rockets from Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site on the coast of the southern island province of Hainan.
• Two batches comprising 3 astronauts were flown to the space station main module, Tianhe on a 6 months mission to complete the construction of Mengtian.
• After construction of Mengtian, China will be the only country to own a space station, while the International Space Station (ISS) of Russia is a collaborative project of several countries.

Key highlights:
i.The Mengtian lab component will be used for studying microgravity and carrying out experiments in fluid physics, materials science, combustion science and fundamental physics.

• The first lab was Wentian, which was sent to focus more on biological and space life sciences.

ii.The Mengtian will carry the world’s 1st space-based set of cold atomic clocks consisting of a hydrogen clock, a rubidium clock and an optical clock. It is also featured with two long robotic arms with an ability to grab objects including satellites from space.

2022 AP7: New potentially hazardous asteroid discovered

An international team of astronomers discovered the 1.5 kilometer(0.9 mile) wide asteroid, named 2022 AP7 whose orbit crosses that of Earth, creating a small chance far in the future of a catastrophic collision.
i.It was discovered in an area normally difficult to spot objects due to the glare from the Sun.
ii.It was found along with two other near-Earth asteroids using a high-tech instrument on the Victor M. Blanco telescope in Chile( a country in the western part of South America).

• It was originally developed to study dark matter.

iii.It was published in the scientific journal The Astronomical Journal.
iv.Astronomers have discovered at least 30,000 asteroids near the Earth, and have named them “Near Earth Objects” (NEOs) which will not threaten the earth for the next 100 years.

ENVIRONMENT

New damselfly Species Discovered in Brahmagiri Hills – Francy’s Reedtail

A group of researchers, of the Travancore Nature History Society’s odonata research group (TORG) has discovered a new species of damselfly named, Francy’s Reedtail (Protosticta francyi), in the Kanichar grama panchayat of Kannur district(Kerala), which forms a part of the Brahmagiri Hills of Western Ghats.

• They are majorly inhabited in the mid-elevation streams in the Brahmagiri-Coorg landscape of the Western Ghats.

Key highlights:
i.The new member belongs to the genus of Protosticta Selys and the Odonata population that presently comprises 209 species with 82 endemics (around 183 species with 70 endemics in Kerala).

• This species has been named after Francy K. Kakkassery, a retired professor of zoology of St. Thomas College, Thrissur and has been published in the latest issue of journal Entomon.

iiThe species was first spotted in 1885 by Vibhu Vipanchika and was later described by a team of researchers comprising Kalesh Sadasivan, Vinayan P. Nair and K. Abraham Samuel of the TORG and Muhamed Jafer Palot of the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI).
About the species:
i.The new Francy’s Reedtail is the 3rd under the genus Protosticta and the other 2 were discovered by P. ponmudiensis Kiran, Kalesh & Kunte, 2015 from Ponmudi in Thiruvananthapuram and P. anamalaica Sadasivan, Nair & Samuel, 2022 from Peechi in Thrissur.
ii.This new species is different from the other 2 Protosticta species in its presence of long prothoracic spines in the males, the structure of the tip of the male cerci and genital ligula.
About genus Protosticta:
i.The genus Protosticta consists of slender-built damselflies which are commonly known as reed tails or shadow damsels.
ii.They mostly inhabit the hill streams in tropical, subtropical, and temperate jungles of the Indian subcontinent and south-eastern Asia. Whereas, in India, they are distributed in the Western Ghats and the north-eastern region towards Myanmar.
Note – The Protosticta Selys has around 53 extant species that are distributed in Pakistan and are spread across the Indian subcontinent to Indo-China and south-eastern Asian islands.

SPORTS

10th Sultan of Johar Cup 2022: India defeats Australia to win 3rd Sultan of Johor Cup title
The Indian junior men’s hockey team defeated Australia to win the Sultan of Johor Cup 2022 held at Taman Daya Hockey Stadium in Johor Bahru, Malaysia from October 22-29 2022. The Sultan of Johor Cup 2022 marks the 10th edition of the tournament.

• It was India’s 3rd win after 2014 and 2013.
• With this win, Hockey India announced Rs 2 Lakh each for the players and Rs 1 Lakh each for the support staff of the Indian Junior Men’s Team.

The Winners:
i.The top-scorer at the tournament was India’s Sharda Nand Tiwari with 7 goals.
ii.The Player of the Match in the Final against Australia was Sudeep Chirmako.
Key Points:
i.The tournament saw the participation of 6 teams viz. India, Australia, Great Britain, Japan, Malaysia, and South Africa.
ii.The Final standings of 10th Sultan of Johar Cup 2022 were as follows:

1. India
2. Australia
3. Great Britain
4. Japan
5. South Africa
6. Malaysia

iii.India finished second best four times in 2012, 2015, 2018 and the last edition of the event in 2019.
iv.The tournament was not held in 2020 and 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
v.The Sultan of Johor Cup is an annual tournament being held in Malaysia since 2011.

OBITUARY

Padma Bhushan Awardee Jamshed J Irani, ‘Steel Man of India’, Passes AwayOn 31st October 2022, Padma Bhushan Awardee Jamshed J Irani, who was also known as the “Steel man of India”, passed away at the age of 86 years at Jamshedpur, Jharkhand.

• He was associated with Tata Steel for over 4 decades and retired from the board of Tata Steel in June 2011.

About Jamshed J Irani:
i.He was born on 2nd June 1936 in Nagpur, Maharashtra and started his professional career in 1963 with the British Iron and Steel Research Association in Sheffield.

• In 1968, he joined the Tata Iron and Steel Company (presently, Tata Steel) as an Assistant to the Director in-charge of Research and Development (R&D).
• He has served in Tata steels in various capacities like General Superintendent,General Manager (GM)President.

ii.He also served as the Joint Managing Director of Tata Steel and became the Managing Director (MD) in 1992, before his retirement in 2001.

• In 1981, he joined the board of Tata Steels and became a Non-Executive Director on board in 2001.
• He has also served as the Director of several Tata Group companies, including Tata Motors and Tata Teleservices.

iii.He has also served as the National President of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) for 1992-93.
iv.He was a key player in starting the Tata Education Excellence Program in 2003 for improving the quality of academic facilitation through a calibrated approach, adopted from the Malcolm Baldrige Performance Excellence criteria.
Recognitions:
i.Honours – He was honoured with the International Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering in 1996 and an Honorary Knighthood by Queen Elizabeth II in 1997 for his contributions to Indo-British Trade and Cooperation.

• In 2004, the Centre appointed Irani as the Chairman of the Expert Committee for the formation of the new Companies Act of India.

ii.Awards – He was conferred the Padma Bhushan (2007) for his contribution to the steel industry.

• He was also a recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Government of India (GoI) in 2008 for his services in the area of metallurgy.

IMPORTANT DAYS

7th India Water Week – 1st to 5th November 2022India Water Week (IWW) is a regular forum organised by the Department of Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation (DoWR, RD & GR), the Ministry of Jal Shakti, Government of India to promote awareness about the importance of available water.
IWW 2022 organised from 1st November to 5th November 2022 marks the observance of the 7th Edition of IWW. 

• The 6th edition of India Water Week was observed from 24th September to 28th September 2019, which was held at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi, Delhi.

i. The theme for IWW 2022 is “Water Security for Sustainable Development with Equity”, which focuses on many water security and management areas, as well as related concerns for equitable development.
Significance of IWW: 
During IWW the Ministry of Jal Shakti discusses, talks, and strategizes with eminent stakeholders through seminars, exhibitions and sessions to build public awareness, and to get support to implement key strategies for conservation, preservation and optimum use of available water.
ii. India Water Week (IWW) was conceptualized and organized in 2012, to raise public awareness, and to get support to implement key strategies for conservation, preservation and optimum use of available water.
iii. The 1st India Water Week was held in New Delhi from 10th April to 14th April 2012.
About Ministry of Jal Shakti:
The Ministry of Jal Shakti was formed by merging 2 ministries: the Ministry of Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation and the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation.
Union Minister- Gajendra Singh Shekhawat (constituency- Jodhpur, Rajasthan)
Minister of State- Prahlad Singh Patel(constituency- Damoh, Madhya Pradesh); Bishweswar Tudu (constituency- Mayurbhanj, Odisha)
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World Vegan Day – November 1 2022World Vegan Day is annually observed across the globe on 1st November to promote veganism and a vegan diet. The day also aims to encourage and motivate people to avoid animal-based products and the killing of animals for selfish motives and prevent the exploitation of animals across the globe.
Background
i.On 1st November 1994, Louise Wallis, the chair of The Vegan Society, the United Kingdom(UK), established the annual observance of World Vegan Day on 1st November.
ii.World Vegan Day was created to mark the 50th anniversary of the Vegan Society, held on 1 November 1994.

• 1st World Vegan Day was observed on 1st November 1994.

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International Open Access Week 2022 – October 24-30

International Open Access Week (IOAW) is a global event celebrated during the last full week of October to create awareness about open access to scholarly publishing among researchers and publishers.

• International Open Access Week 2022 marks the 15-year of celebration.

International Open Access Week 2022 took place from 24th October to 30th October 2022.

• International Open Access Week 2021 took place from 25th October to 31st October.
• International Open Access Week 2023 will take place from 23rd October to 29th October 2023.

The theme of IOAW (October 24-30) 2022 is “Open For Climate Justice”
Background:
i. In 2008, International Open Access Week (IOAW) was founded by the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition (SPARC) and partners in the student community.
ii. IOAW is organized by SPARC in partnership with the Open Access Week Advisory Committee.
CSIR-NIScPR Celebrates International Open Access Week 2022:
i. The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research–National Institute of Science Communication and Policy Research (CSIR–NIScPR), one of the largest Open Access publishers of India, published 15 Diamond Open Access scholarly journals.
ii. M. Madhan, Open Access advocate and information science expert, delivered a lecture entitled “Non-commercial open access journals: How to sell Diamonds in the rush for (fool’s) Gold” on 31 October 2022 at CSIR-NIScPR, Pusa Campus, New Delhi, Delhi.

• The lecture highlights the need for Open Access to scholarly publishing and discussed the challenges of such a publishing model.

iii. The lecture was chaired by Prof. Ranjana Aggarwal, Director of CSIR-NIScPR.
About the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research–National Institute of Science Communication and Policy Research (CSIR–NIScPR):
Director- Dr Ranjana Aggarwal,
Headquarters- New Delhi, Delhi
Establishment- 2021

STATE NEWS

MeitY Approves Maharashtra’s First Electronics Manufacturing Cluster at Pune

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has approved Maharashtra’s First Electronics Manufacturing Cluster(EMC) to set up in Ranjangaon Phase III, near Pune, at a financial outlay of Rs 492.85 crores.

• Objective – To strengthen the electronics manufacturing ecosystem in India.

Key highlights:
i.The approval for the EMC was given to Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) and Maharashtra’s State Industrial Agency. 
ii.The other EMCs in India are present in Noida, Tirupati, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu, where both multi-national companies and Indian start-ups have set up their units and are supported by the Maharashtra Government.

• The EMC at Ranjangaon, Pune will catalyse investments of over Rs. 2000 crore and also generate employment for over 5,000 people.

Note – The MeitY will also boost around 1000 Crore Semicon India Future Design programme to support Semiconductor Design Startups in Maharashtra with C-DAC, Pune as its nodal office.
About the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY):
Union Minister – Ashwini Vaishnaw (Rajya Sabha – Odisha)
Minister of State (MoS) – Rajeev Chandrasekhar

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List of Current Governors in India – AUGUST 2022

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