NATIONAL:
1. International Beach Festival
Why in news – KL CM Pinarayi Vijayan inaugurated the 10-day international beach festival at the Bekal Beach Park.
Key Points –
• The ‘Spice Coast’ is in the far north of Kerala.
• 3 venues - Chandragiri, Thejaswini and Payaswini.
• ‘Yathrashree’ - A special tour package for tourists to explore exotic tourist destinations.
2. ‘Delimitation’ in Assam
Why in news – The Election Commission of India has begun the process of delimitation of Assembly and Parliamentary constituencies in Assam.
Key Points –
• The process would be based on Census data from 2001.
• The last delimitation of constituencies in Assam was done in 1976 on the basis of the 1971 Census.
• Delimitation is the act of redrawing boundaries of Lok Sabha and state Assembly seats to represent changes in population.
• Article 82 - Parliament is to enact a Delimitation Act after every Census.
• Delimitation Commissions have been set up four times — 1952, 1963, 1973 and 2002.
3. Star named after Vajpayee
Why in news – The Aurangabad unit of BJP named a star after former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee to mark his birth anniversary.
Key Points –
• The star has been registered in the International Space Registry on December 25, 2022.
• The star gets the name Atal Bihari Vajpayee ji.
• Registration Number - CX16408US.”
• It is the closest star to the Sun. (392.01 light years away).
• Only names of the stars approved by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) are used by professional astronomers.
• The nearest-known star to the Sun already has a name. It is called Proxima Centauri (or Alpha Centauri C).
4. Complete Library Constituency
Why in news – Dharmadam (KL) became India’s complete library constituency.
Key Points –
• Dharmadam is Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s constituency.
INTERNATIONAL:
1. Mongla Port
Why in news – Indian firm bagged consultancy contract for Bangladesh’s Mongla port.
Key Points –
• Egis India Consulting Engineers Pvt Ltd has been appointed as a consultant for the capacity-building project.
• Mongla port is the second largest seaport in Bangladesh.
2. 10-point Peace Plan
Why in news – Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy sought India’s support on the 10-point “peace formula”.
Key Points –
• Zelenskyy urged world leaders to hold a Global Peace Summit based on it.
• It was first announced at G-20 Bali summit.
GOVERNMENT SCHEMES:
1. Amrit Bharat Station Scheme
Why in news – Ministry of Railways has launched the scheme for the modernization of the railway stations across the country.
Key Points –
• Aim - Infrastructural development of more than 1,000 stations on a continuous basis with a long-term vision.
• High level platforms (760 to 840 mm) would be provided at all categories of the railway stations.
ECONOMY:
1. Australia-India Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA)
Why in news – The India and Australia free trade agreement (FTA) came into force from December 29, 2022.
Key Points –
• It is likely to double the bilateral commerce to $45-50 billion in around five years.
• It was signed on April 2, 2022.
• Australia is offering zero-duty access to India for about 96.4% of exports (by value) from day one.
• India's goods exports to Australia stood at $8.3 billion and imports from the country aggregated to $16.75 billion in 2021-22.
AWARDS & HONOURS:
1. Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development-2022
Why in news – It was awarded to the country’s medical fraternity as a whole for their stellar role during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Key Points –
• Winners - Indian Medical Association and the Trained Nurses Organisation of India.
• The jury of the award was chaired by former CJI T S Thakur.
2. Ekalabya Puraskar
Why in news – The ‘Ekalabya Puraskar’ for the year 2022 was presented to cyclist Swasti Singh.
Key Points –
• She was honoured for her performance from April 1, 2020 to March 31, 2022 at both national and international levels.
• It is recognized as the most prestigious sports award of Odisha.
3. Wharton-QS Reimagine Education Awards
Why in news – IIT-Madras won key recognition in the Wharton-QS Reimagine Education Awards.
Key Points –
• IIT madras’ BS in Data Science and Applications has won a silver prize in the ‘Best Online Program’ category.
• NPTEL (National Programme on Technology Enhanced Learning) won the Gold in the ‘Lifelong Learning category.’
• NPTEL is India’s largest technical dissemination program.
• It is often referred to as ‘the Oscars of Education.’
SUMMITS & CONFERENCES:
1. Future Engineer Program
Why in news – Two-day training workshop was organized on Dec 28th & 29th, 2022 to implement Amazon Future Engineer Program.
Key Points –
• It was organized by the National Education Society for Tribal Students (NESTS) for teachers from 54 EMRS.
• Amazon Future Engineer Program – to provide quality computer science education for students from under-represented and underserved communities.
• EMRS - Eklavya Model Residential Schools.
SECURITY:
1. Tripartite Peace Agreement
Why in news – It was signed by the Centre, Manipur government and the Zeliangrong United Front (ZUF).
Key Points –
• ZUF is a Manipur insurgent group. It agreed to give up violence and join the democratic process.
APPOINTMENTS:
1. Lt Gen Arvind Walia
Why in news – Lt Gen Walia has been appointed as the next Engineer-in-Chief of the Indian Army.
Key Points –
• He succeeded Lt Gen Harpal Singh.
• An officer of the 1986 batch, Lt Gen Walia is an alumnus of the Indian Military Academy, Dehradun.
BOOKS & AUTHORS:
1. “Forks in the Road: My Days at RBI and Beyond”
Why in news – C Rangarajan authored a book titled “Forks in the Road: My Days at RBI and Beyond”.
Key Points –
• It was published by the Penguin Business (Penguin Group).
• It is memoir of Dr C. Rangarajan, an Indian economist, former MP, and the 19th Governor of RBI.
• The book is divided into 3 parts.
• Part 1- ‘RBI and Planning Commission’
• Part 2- ‘Governor of RBI’
• Part 3- ‘Beyond RBI’.
STATES/UTs:
1. MaNaM Initiative
Why in news – Tamilnadu CM M K Stalin launched the Mananala Nallaatharavu Mandram (MaNaM) initiative.
Key Points –
• Aim – to prevent suicides and suicidal tendencies among the students and also to tackle their mental health issues.
POINTERS:
• Which state government has approved the 'State Warehousing and Logistics Policy-2022’ - Uttar Pradesh.
• Which film has won the 'Best Film' award at the Kolkata International Film Festival - The Golden Wings of Watercocks.
• Which organization has been given the DSCI Award for 'Best Security Practices in Government Sector' – UIDAI.
• Which organization has recently released a report titled "2022 in Nine charts" – World Bank.
• Who has been appointed as the new Chairman and CEO of the Railway Board - Anil Kumar Lahoti.
• Gwalior Gaurav Diwas is celebrated on the birth anniversary of which former Prime Minister - Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
• Which country reported first death linked to 'brain-eating amoeba' - South Korea.
• According to a study, Antarctica’s emperor penguins could be extinct by which year – 2100.
• Which is the 2nd prison of Uttar Pradesh to be awarded a five-star rating and the tag 'Eat Right Campus' by the Food Safety and Standard Authority of India (FSSAI) – Bulandshahr.
• Which is the first drone company to become India's first drone startup to receive both Type Certification and RTPO approvals by DGCA - Garuda Aerospace.