Daily GK Update: 8th December 2022

 International Affairs

1. Ukraine President, Volodymyr Zelensky named 2022 Time ‘Person of the Year’

• Volodymyr Zelensky (Ukraine President) has been named as the 2022 person of the year by Time magazine.
• Reason: He has put up a feisty resistance against the Russian invasion (2022)
• Since the invasion of Russia (February 24), Zelenskyy has delivered daily speeches that are followed by Ukrainians, and governments around the globe.
• Zelenskyy has shared the 2022 title with "the spirit of Ukraine".
• Time magazine has presented its first Person of the Year award in 1927.

 National & International Appointments

2. Dina Boluarte assumes office as first female President of Peru

• Former Vice President, Dina Boluarte has assumed the charge as the first female and sixth president of Peru.
• Her term has been extended to July 2026.
• Her oath came, when her predecessor being detained by police and impeached by lawmakers.
• The ceremony took place hours after a majority of 101 members in the 130-person legislative body voted to impeach Pedro Castillo (former president of Peru).
• Peru Capital: Lima, Peru Currency: Sol

 National & International Appointments

3. BPCL former chairman, Arun Kumar Singh appointed as ONGC Chief

• Arun Kumar Singh has been appointed as the chairman and managing director of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) for a three-year tenure with effect from the date of his assumption of charge of the post.
• He is a mechanical engineer from National Institute of Technology, Patna.
• He was Director (Marketing) of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) from October 2018 to September 2021, then he was elevated as chairman and managing director of the company.

 National & International Organizations

4. Nirmala Sitharaman, 5 other Indians among World's 100 Most Powerful Women

• Six Indian women have been listed in the 2022 Forbes’ annual list of The World’s 100 Most Powerful Women.
• FM Nirmala Sitharaman has ranked at 36 for fourth time in a row.
• Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw (Biocon Executive Chairperson) ranked 77, Falguni Nayar (Nykaa founder) ranked 89.
• Roshni Nadar Malhotra (HCL Chairperson) ranked 53, Madhabi Puri Buch (SEBI Chief) ranked 54, and Soma Mondal (SAIL Chief) ranked 67.
• Top: Ursula von der Leyen (Belgium), European Commission President 

 Obituaries

5. Ace artist-writer Manohar Devadoss passes away

• Renowned artist and writer Manohar Devadoss has been passed away at 86.
• In his 30s, he was diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa (a progressive, incurable degenerative eye disease) which leads to total blindness.
• In 2020, he was hounoured with the Padma Shri award for his contributions to art.
• He authored many books such as - A poem to courage, Multiple facets of my Madurai, Mahe and Mano: Challenges, Green Well Years, etc.

 Sports

6. Aditya Mittal becomes India's 77th Chess Grandmaster

• Aditya Mittal (16, Mumbai) has become the 77th chess Grandmaster of India, during an ongoing Ellobregat Open tournament, Spain.
• He had secured three GM norms, crossed live rating of 2,500 ELO points mark during the sixth round of the ongoing tournament.
• He drew the game against Francisco Vallejo Pons to achieve the feat
• He won his maiden GM norm at Serbia Masters 2021.
• Subsequently, he obtained his second GM norm at Ellobregat Open 2021 and third at Serbia Masters 2022

 Banking & Finance

7. RBI extends trading hours, money market to close at 5pm

• The RBI has extended the trading hours to 5pm (Present) for various markets regulated by it.
• According to the RBI release, the new timings will come into effect from December 12, 2022.
• The central bank had changed the timings in April 2020 in view of the operational dislocations and elevated levels of health risks posed by COVID-19.
• The call/notice/term money market will close at 5 pm.
• The market for Commercial paper and Certificates of Deposit will close at 5 pm.

 Sports

8. Eden Hazard announces retirement from International Football

• Eden Hazard has announced his retirement from international football after Belgium’s early exit from the FIFA World Cup 2022.
• He was the captain of Belgium in the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
• He made his debut against Luxembourg in 2008
• He moved to Real Madrid from Chelsea for an estimated £150m in 2019
• In 2018 World Cup, he helped Belgium to reach semi-finals, where they lost to eventual champions France
• He made 126 appearances and scored 33 goals.

 Science & Technology

9. ISRO, Social Alpha ink MoU to establish SpaceTech Innovation Network

• ISRO has signed an MoU with the Social Alpha to launch SpaceTech Innovation Network (SpIN).
• It is the India’s first dedicated platform for innovation curation and venture development for the burgeoning space entrepreneurial ecosystem.
• It will primarily focus on facilitating space tech entrepreneurs in three categories - Geospatial Technologies and Downstream Applications; Enabling Technologies for Space & Mobility; and Aerospace Materials, Sensors, and Avionics.

 Science & Technology

10. Isro signs MoU with Vyom Space to build private space capsules

• ISRO has signed an MoU with Gurugram-based private space firm, Vyom Space Exploration and Services Private Limited.
• Reason: For its human and cargo transportation capsule program.
• It was facilitated by India’s nodal space authorization body, Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Center (In-Space).
• In space mission, ‘Capsule’ is the module inside which any cargo is placed for being carried to space.
• In manned missions, the capsule is what hosts the astronauts.

 National & International Organizations

11. Priyanka Chopra among 4 Indians on BBC's 100 influential women list

• The British Broadcasting Corporation has released the list of 100 most influential women in the world 2022.
• The list has included women from several areas such as politics, science, entertainment and literature
• In this list, four Indian women have also included - Actress Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Geetanjali Shree (Author), Sirisha Bandla (engineer and astronaut), and Sneha Jawale (social worker).
• The list also included European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen.

 Sports

12. McLaughlin-Levrone, Mondo Duplantis won 'World Athlete of the Year' awards

• Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone from USA and Mondo Duplantis from Sweden have been honored with the 2022 World Athletes of the Year at the World Athletics Awards.
• McLaughlin-Levrone: She had broken the world women's 400m hurdles record twice.
• She became the first American to win Athlete of the Year since fellow 400m hurdler Dalilah Muhammad in 2019.
• Duplantis: He broken the world pole vault record on three occasion and became world champion indoors and outdoors.

 Banking & Finance

13. India govt invest over Rs 5,000 cr more in SWAMIH Investment Fund

• The government of India has invested about ₹5,000 crore in the SWAMIH Investment Fund I and marking its final close at ₹15,530 crore.
• SWAMIH I refers to Special Window for Completion of Construction of Affordable and Mid-Income Housing Projects.
• This project aims to provide priority debt financing for the completion of stressed, brownfield and RERA registered residential projects.
• It is sponsored by the finance ministry, and managed by SBICap Ventures Ltd.