National & International Appointments
1. IIT-Guwahati director, T G Sitharam appointed as new chairman of AICTE
- IIT Guwahati Director, T G Sitharam has been appointed chairman of the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) for three years or till he attain the age of 65, whichever is earlier.
- He will replace UGC chairman, Jagadesh Kumar, who was holding the interim charge of the AICTE chairman after the retirement of Anil Sahasrabuddhe on September 1, 2021.
- Sitharam tenure as an IIT director will expire in July 2024.
- AICTE HQ: New Delhi
National & International Appointments
2. Subrat Kumar appointed as executive director of Bank of India
- Subrat Kumar has been appointed executive director of the Bank of India with effect for three years.
- He has an experience of 27 years in commercial banks and asset management companies.
- Other ED appointments (by govt):
- Lalit Tyagi (BoB)
- Binod Kumar (PNB)
- Ashok Chandra (Canara Bank)
- Ramasubramanian (Union Bank)
- Mahesh Bajaj (Indian Bank)
- M Paramasivan (PNB)
- Malladi Venkat Murali Krishna (CBI)
- Rahendra Saboo (UCO)
- Sanjay Mudaliyar (Indian Overseas Bank)
Banking & Finance
3. Airtel Payment bank launches face authentication-based savings account
- Airtel Payments Bank has launched face authentication-based savings bank account opening for customers.
- Aim: To ease the account opening process and provide better customers experience.
- It is the first payments bank in the country to offer this facility.
- It will also help business correspondents of the bank to open an account just by undertaking face authentication e-KYC.
- The authentication is processed by using a newly developed mobile application by UIDAI.
National Affairs
4. Indian Embassy organised Indian Film Festival in Korea
- The 10th Indian Film Festival in Busan was held from Nov 18-20, 2022 in South Korea.
- It was organized by the Swami Vivekananda Cultural Centre, Embassy of India Seoul and supported by the Directorate of Film Festival, Ministry of I&B.
- This Film Festival is a part of the ongoing annual flagship cultural programme of Embassy of India (Seoul) ‘SARANG– The Festival of India in Republic of Korea’.
- The first was screened on this platform was Padmavat (Hindi movie).
Summits & Conferences
5. Fourth edition of Indo-Pacific Regional Dialogue begins in New Delhi
- The fourth edition of the Indo-Pacific Regional Dialogue (IPRD) is being organised in New Delhi, India from 23rd-25th November 2022.
- IPRD is an apex level international annual conference of the Indian Navy.
- The theme of IPRD-2022 is the 'Operationalising the Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative'.
- The National Maritime Foundation (NMF) is the Navy’s knowledge partner and chief organiser of each edition of the event.
- The initial conception of an IPRD was created in 2018.
National & International Appointments
6. Vinit Kumar assumes charge of CEO of KVIC
- Vinit Kumar has taken charge as the chief executive officer of Khadi & Village Industries Commission (KVlC).
- He is an IRSEE officer of 1993 batch, has served as the Chairman of Syama Prasad Mukherjee Port, Kolkata from 2018-2020.
- He has also served as Chief Electrical Engineer in Mumbai Railway Vikas Corporation Ltd. and looked after World Bank funded MUTP project.
- He had also served as Secretary, Central Railway and gained experience in general administration.
National & International Appointments
7. Venu Gopal elected as member of International Committee for Weight & Measur
- Director of CSIR-National Physical Laboratory (CSIR-NPL), Prof. Venu Gopal Achanta has been elected as a member of the International Committee for Weights and Measures (CIPM).
- He is the 7th Indian to be elected to the CIPM.
- The 27th General Conference on Weights and Measures (CGPM) meeting was held on 15-18 November, 2022 at Paris, France.
- The first Indian to be elected as a member of CIPM was Dr. K.S. Krishnan (Founder Director of CSIR-NPL).
- CGPM member countries: 64
Banking & Finance
8. OECD slashes India FY23 GDP forecast to 6.6%
- The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has reduced the gross domestic growth forecast for India for the current financial year (FY23) to 6.6% from 6.9%.
- Reason: Higher medium-term global uncertainty and slowing domestic economic activity.
- As per the OECD, the headline inflation remains above 6% mostly due to the trend increase in the price of food.
- GDP growth will slow to 5.7% in FY24, as exports and domestic demand growth moderate.
Summits & Conferences
9. UP CM, Yogi Adityanath inaugurates UNESCO-India-Africa Hackathon
- Uttar Pradesh CM, Yogi Adityanath has inaugurated the UNESCO-India-Africa Hackathon event at the Gautam Buddha University (GBU) campus in Greater Noida.
- Aim: To conceptualise innovative technology-based solutions for the daunting problems faced by humanity.
- The students from 22 counties will engage themselves in coding to find technology-based solutions for issues in education, agriculture, health, energy and drinking water, among others.
- UNESCO HQ: Paris, France
National Affairs
10. Union Minister Anurag Singh Thakur launched ‘53-Hour Challenge’
- Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting, Anurag Singh Thakur has inaugurated ’53 Hours Challenge’ for ‘75 Creative Minds Tomorrow’.
- This is the second edition of 75 Creative Minds of Tomorrow.
- The competition will challenge the winners of ’75 Creative Minds for Tomorrow’ to produce a short film on their idea of India@100, all in 53 hours.
- This is powered by National Film Development Corporation (NDFC).
- NDFC Founded: 1975; HQ: Mumbai
Banking & Finance
11. NPCI in talks with RBI on UPI volume cap deadline
- The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has recommended Reserve Bank of India to limit the volume cap of UPI.
- Currently, there’s no cap on volume and Google Pay and PhonePe, which hold the market share of about 80 per cent.
- The NPCI had proposed a 30 per cent volume cap for third-party app providers (TPAP).
- NPCI in 2020 came up with a directive to cap the share of transactions TPAP.
- NPCI MD & CEO: Dilip Asbe
- Founded: 2008
- Headquarters: Mumbai, Maharashtra
National Affairs
12. Ayush Ministry setting up of Academic Chair at Western Sydney University
- The Ministry of Ayush has established the Ayurveda Academic Chair at Western Sydney University’s NICM Health Research Institute for a period of three years.
- The Ministry has selected All India Institute of Ayurveda, New Delhi’s Associate Professor Dr. Rajagopala S. for the post of Academic Chair in Ayurvedic Science at Western Sydney University.
- Aim: To strengthen India’s collaborations in promoting academic and collaborative research activities in Australia.
State Affairs
13. Tamil Nadu announced its first biodiversity heritage site
- Tamil Nadu govt has declared the Arittapatti and Meenakshipuram villages near Melur in Madurai district as a biodiversity heritage site under Section 37 of the Biological Diversity Act, 2002.
- The site is situated in an area of 193.21 hectare.
- It is the first Biodiversity Heritage Site (BHS) to be notified in the state.
- The Arittapatti village is surrounded by a chain of seven barren granite hillocks.
- The site also features various megalithic structures.
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