Daily GK Update: 7th November 2022

National Affairs

President of Guyana, Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali will be the chief guest at the 17th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas Convention, organised in Indore, Madhya Pradesh from 8th -10th January 2023.
While, Australian MP, Zaneta Mascarenhas will be the guest of honour at the Youth Pravasi Bharatiya Divas, that will be held on 8th January 2023.
Theme: Diaspora: Reliable Partners for India's Progress in Amrit Kaal.
Pravasi Bharatiya Divas is celebrated once in every two years.

International Affairs

Ministry of Tourism has participated in World Travel Market (WTM) 2022 that is being organised in London, UK from 7-9 November 2022.
Theme 2022: The Future of Travel Starts Now
With this participation, India can showcase the diverse tourism products and services including Medical Value travel, luxury trains and the gamut of tourism products to the international business community.
The Indian delegation is being led by Arvind Singh (secretary, tourism ministry).

National & International Organizations

According to recent data, published by US News and World Report, India has bagged the 31st position, out of 85 nations in the overall Best Countries ranking.
In the overall Best Countries ranking, Switzerland has topped the chart, followed by Germany, Canada, US and Sweden.
India has been ranked as the nation with the cheapest manufacturing cost ahead of China and Vietnam.
India is also featured at the 37th spot in the 'Open for Business' category.

Banking & Finance

Unity Small Finance Bank Limited (Unity Bank) has launched Shagun 366 (1 year, 1 day) fixed deposit scheme.
The bank also offers return of 7.80% p.a., while 8.30% p.a. return for senior citizens for a 366-day tenure.
This scheme is valid for deposits made before November 30, 2022.
In addition to this, the Unity Bank has also raised the interest rates on both callable (up to 7.75% interest) and non-callable bulk deposits (up to 7.85%).

National & International Appointments

Byju’s has appointed football player, Lionel Messi as the global brand ambassador of its social initiative, "Education For All".
Aim of this initiative: To make education equitable, accessible, and free for underserved kids in India
Byju’s has tied-up with Messi, ahead of the Fifa World Cup 2022 that will be held in Qatar.
Messi also runs his own non-profit organization Leo Messi Foundation, that deals with issues such as healthcare, education and sports.

National Affairs

Agriculture Minister, Narendra Singh Tomar has launched a portal on National Mission on Natural Farming (NMNF) for the benefit of the farming community.
The NMNF portal (http://naturalfarming.dac.gov.in) is developed by the agriculture ministry.
It was launched in the first steering committee meeting of the National Natural Farming Mission.
The portal provides all the information about mission, implementation outline, implementation progress, farmer registration, etc.

Defense

The 11th edition of the annual Joint Military Training (JMT) between the Indian Air Force (lAF) and the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) will be held at Air Force Station, Kalaikunda, West Bengal.
The six weeks long military training will be conducted from 09 to 18 November 2022.
The RSAF will participate the JMT-2022 with F-16 aircraft.
While, the Indian Air Force would showcase Su-30 MKI, Jaguar, MiG-29 and LCA Tejas aircraft.

National Affairs

The Ministry of Education has constituted a committee for strengthening the assessment and accreditation of Higher Educational Institutions.
Aim: To prepare a road map for the National Accreditation Council envisioned in the National Education Policy, 2020.
The committee will be headed by Dr. K. Radhakrishnan, who is a Chairperson of Board of Governors, IIT Kanpur, and Chairperson of Standing Committee of IIT Council.

National Affairs

The ministry of health and family welfare will constitute 7 members committee to prepare the national drugs database.
Aim: To recommend and prepare a comprehensive database of drug formulations manufactured and marketed in the country.
The committee will also provide detailed information on a drug, its dosage form, strength, and details of the manufacturer, marketer, or importer of the drug.
AK Pradhan, joint drugs controller of India, will be the convener of the panel

Banking & Finance

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a USD 350 million (about Rs 2,900 crore) loan to Maharashtra.
Reason: To improve the road connectivity of key economic areas in state
The Connecting Economic Clusters for Inclusive Growth will develop the road network in the Ahmednagar, Hingoli, Jalna, Kohalpur, Nagpur, Nanded, Nashik, Pune, Sangli and Satara districts.
It will build on the Maharashtra State Road Improvement Project approved by ADB in April 2020.