Daily GK Update: 6th December 2022

 Banking & Finance

1. India’s first gold ATM launched in Hyderabad

• India’s first Gold ATM and world's first real-time Gold ATM has been launched at the Begumpet, Hyderabad.
• The ATM was set up by the Goldsikka in collaboration with Opencube Technologies (Technology support).
• In this ATM, people can insert their debit or credit cards into the Goldsikka and buy gold coins.
• The ATM has a capacity of storing 5kgs of gold.
• There are 8 available options for the quantity of gold starting from 0.5 grams to 100 grams.

 Banking & Finance

2. AU Small Finance Bank, ICICI Lombard partner for bancassurance

• ICICI Lombard General Insurance has signed an agreement with the AU Small Finance Bank for bancassurance.
• Aim: To diverse bank's customers access to the Non-life insurer’s portfolio and enhance penetration across India
• With this partnership, the general insurance’s suite of ICICI Lombard products will be offered across over 980 banking touchpoints of bank.
• AU Small Finance Bank has been expanding its distribution footprints across India.

 Agreement

3. India, Germany sign Migration and Mobility Agreement

• India has inked an agreement on a Comprehensive Migration and Mobility Partnership with Germany, to help the citizens of both the nations to study, do research and work in each other's country.
• The agreement was signed between S Jaishankar (External Affairs Minister) and his German counterpart Annalena Baerbock in New Delhi.
• This agreement also facilitates the mobility and employment opportunities for fostering the exchange of skills and talents.

 Honours & Awards

4. NHAI and Maha-Metro achieved a Guinness world record

• The National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) and Maharashtra Metro Rail Corporation Limited (Maha-Metro) have achieved a Guinness world record.
• Reason: The authorities have constructed the longest double-decker viaduct (3.14 km) spanning with a highway flyover (on the Wardha Road in Nagpur, Maharashtra) and metro rail supported on a single column.
• The project has already bagged records from Asia Book and India Book.
• NHAI Chairperson: Alka Upadhyaya, HQ: New Delhi

 Banking & Finance

5. Digital payments worth Rs 38.32 lakh crore carried out in July-Sep 2022

• As per the report, released by the Wordline India, more than 23 billion digital payment transactions (worth Rs 38.32 lakh crore) were carried out in July-September 2022.
• UPI based transactions dominated the segment both in terms of value and volume.
• UPI has clocked over 19.65 billion transactions (worth Rs 32.5 lakh crore).
• The average ticket size of transactions done through credit cards was highest at Rs 4,833 and the lowest in the case of mobile wallets at Rs 382.

 National & International Organizations

6. India ranked 48th in Global Aviation Safety Rankings 2022

• According to the DGCA officials, India has been ranked at 48th position in the 2022 global aviation safety ranking, published by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).
• In 2018, India was ranked at the 102nd position.
• In the ranking (2022), Singapore has topped the list, followed by the UAE and South Korea at the second and third positions, respectively.
• China is at the 49th place.
• ICAO Headquarters: Montreal, Canada; Founded: 7 December 1944

 National Affairs

7. IIT Madras researchers develop Ocean Wave Energy converter

• IIT Madras researchers have developed and deployed a system that could generate electricity using energy from seawaves.
• The system named Sindhuja-I, which was deployed by the researchers about six kilometres from the coast of Tuticorin in Tamil Nadu, where the sea has a depth of about 20 metres.
• Currently, Sindhuja-I can produce 100 watts of energy.
• It will be scaled up to produce one megawatt of energy in the next three years.

 Sports

8. Anish Thoppani won silver at Badminton Asia Junior Championships

• Indian shuttler, Anish Thoppani has clinched a silver medal in the under-15 category at the Badminton Asia Junior Championships, held in Nonthaburi, Thailand.
• Anish lost the men's singles final against Chung-Hsiang Yih (Chinese Taipei) by 8-21, 24-22, 19-21.
• While, India’s under-17 men’s duo Arsh Mohammad and Sanskar Sraswat won silver medal.
• Unnati Hooda won silver at the U-17 (women’s singles category), she lost to Sarunrak Vitidsarn of Thailand.

 Banking & Finance

9. World Bank upgrades India’s GDP growth forecast to 6.9% for FY23

• World Bank has upgraded the GDP growth forecast for India to 6.9% for 2022-23 from 6.5% earlier.
• The Bank has trimmed its expectation for next fiscal year to 6.6% from 7% earlier.
• It also expects the inflation at 7.1 per cent in current fiscal year.
• It has also said that the government is expected to meet the fiscal deficit target of 6.4% of the GDP in 2022-23
• In India Development Update, World Bank said India is affected by spillovers from the US, Euro area and China.

 National & International Appointments

10. K.V. Suresh Kumar takes charge as Chairman and MD of BHAVINI

• Scientist of Department of Atomic Energy, K.V. Suresh Kumar has assumed charge as Chairman and Managing Director of Bharatiya Nabhikiya Vidyut Nigam Limited (BHAVINI) at Kalpakkam for three years.
• He completed his graduation in Chemical Engineering and joined Department of Atomic Energy at BARC Training School in Mumbai (29th batch) in1985.
• He joined in the operations of  Fast Breeder Test Reactor (FBTR)  in 1986.

 Summits & Conferences

11. Technotex to be held in Mumbai February 2023

• India's premier show on Technical Textiles, ‘Technotex 2023’ will be held in Mumbai from 22nd to 24th February 2023.
• Focus: To provide access and networking opportunities to meet top CEOs, manufacturers, industry peers, purchase managers and suppliers from India and around the globe.
• The event will be organized by the Ministry of Textiles in collaboration with Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce Industry, under National Technical Textiles Mission (NTTM).

 Agreement

12. NDDB, Amul to provide tech support to boost milk production in Sri Lanka

• India will provide technical support to Sri Lanka to enhance its dairy industry and milk output with an aim to reduce the dependence on imported milk products.
• NDDB and the Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation have taken steps to provide necessary technical support for the production of milk in Sri Lanka.
• Sri Lankan President, Ranil Wickremesinghe has also appointed a panel to prepare a short, medium and long-term plan to increase local milk production.

 Agreement

13. Airtel partners with Meta for high-speed internet

• Bharti Airtel has signed an agreement with the Facebook parent Meta to develop undersea cable infrastructure.
• Aim: To support high-speed internet in the country and boost data-carrying capacities between geographies.
• The two companies (Airtel and Meta), along with Saudi Telecommunication Company, will bring the world’s longest subsea cable system 2Africa Pearls to India, at Airtel’s landing station in Mumbai.