Current Affairs in English – November 29 2022

November 29, 2022

National Events:

President Droupadi Murmu:

• President Droupadi Murmu will be on a two – day visit to Haryana from 29 November. She will attend various programmes including International Gita Festival-2022.
• She will virtually inaugurate 3 big projects of the Haryana including an e-ticketing system in Haryana transport, Nirogi Haryana Scheme and lay the foundation stone of Sirsa medical college to be built at cost of 950 crore rupees.

Hindi Pakhwada-2022:

• Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla gave away prizes to winners of Hindi Pakhwada-2022 on 28 November 2022. The programme was organized by Lok Sabha Secretariat in Parliament House Complex.
• Hindi Pakhwada is an occasion to celebrate the beauty of the Hindi language. Hindi is one of the two official languages of India.

CSR:

• K Singh, Union Minister of Power and New & Renewable Energy inaugurated REC’s CSR initiative on 28 November 2022. It is for procurement, operation and maintenance of 10 Mobile Health Clinics ‘Doctor Apke Dwar’ at Sadar Hospital, Aarah, Bihar.
• The total cost of the project is Rs 12.68 cr which will facilitate operational expenditure for 3 years for smooth functioning of the project.

Vinay Mohan Kwatra:

• Government has extended the term of Vinay Mohan Kwatra as Foreign Secretary. The IFS officer’s term has been extended beyond the date of his superannuation on 31st December 2022 up to 30th April 2024 or until further orders.
• Mr Kwatra, a 1988 batch Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer, took charge in May 2022 as the 34th Foreign Secretary of India, succeeding Harsh Vardhan Shringla.

ABU:

• Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Singh Thakur inaugurated the 59th Asia Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU) General Assembly and Associated Meeting 2022 in New Delhi on 29 November 2022.
• Prasar Bharati is hosting the ABU General Assembly in 2022. The ABU is a nonprofit, professional association of the broadcasting organizations of Asia and pacific region.

Commercial auction of coal mines:

• To boost bidder participation in the commercial auction of coal mines, Ministry of Coal is organising an investor conclave on 1 Dec’22 in Mumbai.
• Union Minister of Coal, Mines and Parliamentary Affairs, Pralhad Joshi will Chair and Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Eknath Shinde will be the Chief Guest. SBI Capital Markets Ltd is assisting the Ministry of Coal in conduct of the auction.

S & P Global Ratings:

• S & P Global Ratings lowered India’s economic growth forecast for the current fiscal year to 7 per cent in November 2022, down from 7.3 per cent it projected in September.
• S & P has also projected the Indian economy to grow 6 per cent in 2023 and 6.9 per cent in 2024.
• Global rating agency Moody’s Investors Service had recently slashed India’s economic growth forecast for 2022 to 7 per cent.

Star Health and Allied Insurance:

• Star Health and Allied Insurance, a standalone health insurance company, announced the launch of Star out Patient Care Insurance Policy on 29 November 2022. It aims at providing complete health and wellness benefits to customers at an affordable cost.
• Claims processing procedure will be entirely digital. The policy is available on individual or floater basis and can cover up to six family members.

Actor Janhvi Kapoor:

• Consumer products company Marico Limited’s brand Saffola Fittify has signed actor Janhvi Kapoor as the new face of the brand for its peanut butters and gummies range.
• The company has also launched a digital campaign ‘Health ko rakho fit fit fittify’ campaign. The campaign film will have the actor as part of the campaign.

External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar:

• External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar addressed the seventh edition of the Global Technology Summit in New Delhi on 29 November 2022. The three-day Summit is india’s annual flagship event on Geotechnology.
• It is co – hosted by the Ministry of External Affairs and Carnegie India. The theme for this year’s Summit is “Geopolitics of Technology”. The annual event is being held since 2016.

ISRO:

• The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) unveiled the first privately designed and operated rocket launchpad and mission control centre in India on 28 November 2022.
• The facility was unveiled by S. Somanath, Chairman of ISRO and Secretary Department of Space (DoS). It is designed and will be fully operated by homegrown space startup Agnikul Cosmos.

RBI:

• The Reserve Bank of India imposed penalties on three cooperative banks on 28 November 2022. The central bank imposed penalty on Zoroastrian Co-operative Bank, Indian Mercantile Co-operative Bank, Lucknow and Bharat Co-operative Bank, Mumbai.
• It imposed a penalty of 1.25 cr on Zoroastrian Co-operative Bank. The central bank also imposed penalties on 5 other cooperative banks.

B (v) of SHAKTI Policy:

• Ministry of Power kicked off a scheme for procurement of aggregate power of 4500 MW on competitive basis or five years on Finance, Own and Operate basis under B (v) of SHAKTI Policy.
• PFC Consulting Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of PFC Ltd has been designated as the Nodal Agency by the Ministry of Power. Under the scheme, PFC Consulting Ltd has invited bids for the supply of 4,500 MW.

Re-Hab:

• KVIC Chairman Manoj Kumar inaugurated the Re-Hab Project by Khadi and Village Industries Commission at village Chausla, Nainital on 28 November 2022. Re-Hab stands for Reducing Human Attacks using Honey Bees.
• He also distributed 330 Bee-boxes, bee-colonies and toolkits along with the honey extractors to the rural beneficiaries in Chausla village, free of cost.

J & K Ltt Governor Manoj Sinha:

• J & K Ltt Governor Manoj Sinha addressed the valedictory session of the 25th National Conference on e-Governance at Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University on 27 November.
• The event witnessed the launch of the J & K Vision Document and J & K Cyber Security policy and an MoU between the IT Department of J & K and DITECH Haryana. The agreement is expected to deepen the collaboration on knowledge sharing.

KSCST:

• Karnataka State Council for Science and Technology (KSCST) is developing an app – based networking platform called “Patentkart” for commercialisation of Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs).
• An initiative under ‘Make in India’, Patentkart is expected to benefit patent holders and their clients in commercialising their IP. The app will be functional by early 2023.

Assam CM Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma:

• Assam CM Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma on 29 Nov 22 conducted a special meeting of cabinet at Silchar for the first time the history of the state.
• The government of Assam had notified establishment of its Mini Secretariat at Silchar for three districts of Barak valley on 19th February, 2021 to bring the government at the doorstep of the people. Silchar is a principal town of Barak Valley.

International Events:

International Day of Solidarity with Palestinian People: 29 November:

• The International Day of Solidarity with Palestinian People is observed on November 29 every year. It is a day to inform the public about the issues related to Palestine.
• The United Nations General Assembly declared November 29 as International Day for Solidarity with Palestinian people in the year 1977. It adopted the resolution on the partition of Palestine on May 14, 1948.

Mauna Loa:

• The world’s largest active volcano, Hawaii’s Mauna Loa, is erupting for the first time in almost 40 years. The volcano’s alert level has been upgraded from an “advisory “to a “warning”, the highest classification.
• Mauna Loa last erupted in March and April of 1984, sending lava flows within 8 kilometres of the city of Hilo. The latest eruption began on 27 November night.

India-Azerbaijan:

• The fifth round of India-Azerbaijan Foreign Office Consultations was held in New Delhi on 28 November.
• Both sides reviewed India-Azerbaijan bilateral relations comprehensively including political, trade and economic, consular and culture matters.
• Views were also exchanged on regional issues and cooperation in the UN and other multilateral bodies. Sanjay Verma led the Indian delegation.

Klyuchevskaya Sopka & the Shiveluch volcanoes:

• The Klyuchevskaya Sopka & the Shiveluch volcanoes in the Kamchatka Peninsula erupted recently. It is both the tallest mountain in Siberia and Eurasia’s highest active volcano.
• Shiveluch volcano Russia’s most active volcano and one of the largest in the Far East. The Kamchatka Peninsula is part of the Ring of Fire.

“Harimau Shakti -2022”:

• India-Malaysia joint military Exercise “Harimau Shakti -2022” commenced at Pulai, Kluang, Malaysia on 28th November. It will culminate on 12th December 2022.
• Exercise HARIMAU SHAKTI is an annual training event between the Indian and Malaysian Army which is being conducted since 2012.
• The scope of this exercise involves a Command Planning Exercise (CPX) at the Battalion level.