Daily GK Update: 25th December 2022

National & International Appointments

P.N. Vasudevan has been reappointed as the managing director and chief executive officer of Equitas Small Finance Bank.
His current term as MD, CEO will expire on July 22, 2023.
The board of Bank has decided to renew his term for a further period of 3 years with effect from July 23, 2023, subject to approval from RBI.
He is the founder of Equitas and has been associated with its journey as a microfinance institution since 2007.
It was converted into a bank in 2016.

Sports

Badminton player, Geto Sora (7) from Arunachal Pradesh has won title of 2022 Junior International Badminton Championship in the below 9 years category, organised in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
He has defeated Jaryl Teh from Malaysia in straight sets 21-5, 21-16.
In November 2022, he had won the U-9 boys singles title in the Yonex-Singha-BTY Championships 2022, held at the Banthongyord Badminton School in Bangkok, Thailand.

Banking & Finance

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has predicted the India's GDP growth rate of 6.8 per cent for the current fiscal year (2022-23).
IMF has also estimated the India's growth rate of 6.1 per cent in the next fiscal years (2023-24).
In its report, IMF has stated that the growth of India is expected to moderate as it is navigating a "very difficult" external environment.
IMF has also highlighted that Indian economy has rebounded from the deep pandemic-related downturn.

National & International Appointments

Sitiveni Rabuka has become the 12th prime minister of Fiji after a coalition of parties voted to elect him.
His appointment has ended 10 days of uncertainty after an election delivered a hung parliament.
Social Democratic Liberal party held the balance of power and voted to form a coalition with Rabuka’s People’s Alliance and the National Federation party.
In secret parliamentary votes, 28 members of parliament voting for Rabuka while 27 voted in support of Bainimarama.

Important Dates

India observed "Good Governance Day" on the birth anniversary (25th December) of former Indian Prime Minister, Atal Vihari Vajpayee.
In 2014, PM Narendra Modi has announced to observe "Good Governance Day" every year on December 25 in memory of the former PM.
Purpose of this day: To increase public access to various government programmes and services via good governance.
It was established with the slogan "Good Governance through e-Governance."

Science & Technology

Researchers at IIT Kanpur have developed organic solar cells under the DST-RCUK APEX project.
Organic solar cell: It is a combination of an organic polymer and PCBM developed on steel substrates can potentially convert a steel roof into an energy-producing device.
The devices consist of a blend of organic polymer PTB7 as a donor and PCBM as an acceptor.
It is a jointly developed programme of the Department of S&T and the Research Councils United Kingdom (RCUK).

Schemes

Parshottam Rupala (Minister of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying) has informed that Department of Fisheries, under PM Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY) has provided an insurance coverage to fishers.
The insurance coverage provided under the PMMSY includes:
- Rs.5,00,000/- against accidental death or permanent total disability
- Rs.2,50,000/- for permanent partial disability
- Hospitalization expenses in the event of accident for a sum of Rs. 25,000/-

Honours & Awards

English football player, Beth Mead (27) has been awarded the 2022 BBC Sports Personality of the Year as she was the player of the tournament and top scorer at Euro 2022.
Beth Mead has defeated Germany in the finals at Wembley to win England’s first major women’s football trophy.
She has competed against Ben Stokes and Ronnie O’Sullivan for the BBC Sports Personality of the Year for 2022 award.
While, Sarina Wiegman (England's manager) has won the Coach of the Year.

Honours & Awards

Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has won Data Security Council of India's (DSCI) award 2022 in Best Security Practices in Government Sector category.
The award was given to UIDAI during DSCI's three-day Annual Information Security Summit (AISS) in New Delhi.
Reason: For its significant role in securing national critical Aadhaar infrastructure that provides digital identity-based welfare services to residents.
UIDAI CEO: Dr. Saurabh Garg

National Affairs

Union Minister of information and Broadcasting, Anurag Thakur has informed that the Union Cabinet approved the revision of the pension for family pensioners of armed forces under One Rank One Pension (OROP) from July 1, 2019.
The revision will entail an estimated annual expenditure of Rs 8450 crore.
The arrears will be with effect from July 1, 2019 to June 30, 2022.
The decision to implement OROP was taken by the Narendra Modi government on November 7, 2015.