Quick Bytes

Quick Bytes Dec-23

Quick Bytes

• Prime Minister launches ‘Mera Yuva Bharat (MY Bharat)’ platform on the National Unity Day
• Deepesh Nanda Appointed As CEO & MD Of Tata Power Renewable Energy
• Saima Wazed Elected as WHO Regional Director for South-East Asia
• India-Born Author Nandini Das Wins 2023 British Academy Book Prize
• Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar Wins Gold Medal In The 50m Rifle 3P event
• Cricketer Sachin Tendulkar’s statue unveiled at Wankhede Stadium
• David Willey Announces Retirement from International Cricket at Age 33
• Zojila Day commemorated at Zojila War Memorial on 1st November
• Iconic ‘Throne Room’ at Raj Bhavan in Kolkata named after Sardar Patel
• Kozhikode And Gwalior have been declared Creative Cities of Literature and Music By UNESCO.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina jointly inaugurated key rail link between Tripura’s Nischintapur and Gangasagar, 65-km Khulna- Mongla Port Rail Line, and Unit 2 of the Maitree Super Thermal Power Plant in Bangladesh’s Rampal.
• Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s daughter, Saima Wazed, was elected Regional Director of the World Health Organization’s South-East Asia region.
• National Games: A.B. Arun wins triple jump gold and breaks record.
• The Army’s Light Combat Helicopter (LCH) Prachand successfully carried out inaugural firing of 70 mm rockets and 20 mm turret guns.
• Canada bans WeChat app and Kaspersky on government phones.
• Lionel Messi won the eighth Ballon d’Or of his career, while Spain’s World Cup-winning star Aitana Bonmati took the women’s prize.
• India To Host 2024 World Telecommunication Standardisation Assembly
• Rajnath Singh Inaugurated ‘India Manufacturing Show’ In Bengaluru
• Thailand is taking steps to revitalize its tourism industry by allowing visa free entries for the citizens of India and Taiwan.
• The US Military Has Set Its Latest Minuteman III Missile Launch To “Showcase” Its Nuclear Capability.
• BoB Appoints ‘Kadgatoor Sheetal Venkatesmurt’As Head Of Digital Channels
• Zurich Insurance Group To Take 51% Stake In Kotak General Insurance
• Eminent Writer T. Padmanabhan Receives Prestigious Kerala Jyothi Award
• Union Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, Sarbananda Sonowal launches the domestic sailing of the first International Cruise Liner ‘COSTA SERENA’ in India at Mumbai.
• Department of Chemicals and Petrochemicals organises 5th Edition of ICC Sustainability Conclave 2023.
• Defence Minister Shri Rajnath Singh inaugurates ‘India Manufacturing Show’ in Bengaluru.
• ECI signs MoU with the Ministry of Education to bring Electoral Literacy to Classrooms across the country.
• SBI Card Partners With Reliance Retail To Introduce ‘Reliance SBI Card’
• World Vegan Day has been celebrated annually on November 1 since its inception in 1994 when ‘The Vegan Society’ was established in England.
• Information Commissioner Heeralal Samariya was sworn-in as the Chief Information Commissioner.
• The entertainment channel COLORS has collaborated with the Ministry of Women and Child Development to support the Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao initiative.
• Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) launches “Women for Water, Water for Women Campaign” under its flagship scheme AMRUT.
• Virat Kohli equals record of Indian cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar at 49 ODI centuries; also becomes the second batter, after Sachin Tendulkar (6976), to score 6000 runs in ODIs in India.
• Ravindra Jadeja joins Yuvraj as India spinner with a World Cup five wicket haul.
• The Indian Navy’s Ilyushin-38 Sea Dragon Long Range Maritime Patrol aircraft bid farewell after 46 years of glorious service to the nation.
• First Australia India Education and Skill Council (AIESC) meeting to be held at IIT Gandhinagar.
• Defence ministry approves Extension of rules for Maternity, Child Care and Child Adoption Leaves for women soldiers, sailors and air warriors in the Armed Forces at par with their officer counterparts.
• India junior hockey team edged Pakistan 6-5 to bag the bronze medal at the Sultan of Johor Cup.
• NTPC Renewable Energy Ltd’s First 50 MW Dayapar Wind Project In Kutch, Gujarat
• The Jaipur Literature Festival, often referred to as the “greatest literary show on Earth,” is an annual gathering of some of the most brilliant minds in the world.
• Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel will unveil the crest of the Indian Navy’s latest warship ‘Surat’ in the very city that the warship is named after, a historic first for the Indian Navy.
• The Chanakya Defence Dialogue 2023, a two-day event hosted by the Indian Army in collaboration with the Centre for Land Warfare Studies (CLAWS), took place on November 3rd and 4th.
• 54th International Film Festival of India to be held from 20th to 28th November in Goa.
• Ashok Leyland Ltd. (ALL) commenced delivery of India’s first batch of 12 LNG-powered haulage trucks – AVTR 1922.
• APEDA inks MoU with Lulu Hypermarket for export promotion of Indian agricultural-products.
• Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare (DA&FW) in collaboration with Wadhwani AI developed Krishi 24/7, first-ever AI-powered solution for automated agricultural news analysis.
• World No. 1 Novak Djokovic clinches recordextending seventh Paris Masters title.
• Chess: Vaishali and Vidit Gujrathi win FIDE Grand Swiss women’s and open titles.
• Bharat Botanics To Open India’s Largest Cold Oil Production Facility In Gujarat
• India And Bhutan Enhance Bilateral Ties With New Initiatives. The two nations have agreed to conduct a “final location survey” for a proposed rail link between Kokrajhar in Assam, India, and Gelephu in Bhutan, which is set to be built with Indian support.
• IIT Madras Sets Its First International Campus On Zanzibar Island In Tanzania
• AIFF Wins AFC President’s Recognition Bronze Award For Grassroots Football
• Bihar House passes Bill raising ceiling on caste quota to 65%.
• Ministry of Information and Broadcasting approves Comprehensive “Digital Advertisement Policy, 2023”
• NHAI accepts First Insurance Surety Bond as Bid Security for NHAI TOT Bid for Monetization.
• Trent Boult became the first New Zealand bowler to claim 50 wickets in ODI World Cup.
• Maharashtra, with 228 medals including 80 golds, topped the medals table and took the Raja Bhalindra Singh Trophy for the overall championship in the 37th National Games.
• India and Netherlands sign a Memorandum of Intent to cooperate on medical product regulation, and enhancing the quality of medical products.
• NPS: PFRDA to allow users to withdraw up to 60 per cent pension fund.
• The U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) to invest USD 553 million in Adani’s Sri Lanka port terminal project.
• G-7 Foreign Ministers called for humanitarian pauses in the Israel-Hamas war to let aid in and help the release of hostages.
• The Indian compound women’s and mixed team won gold medals at the Asian archery championships in Bangkok.
• Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde Unveils Shivaji Maharaj Statue In J&K’s Kupwara
• KVIC Chairman Inaugurates Five-Days ‘Diwali Utsav’ On The Theme Of ‘Vocal For Local’
• IREDA Launches CSR Portal To Improve Transparency In CSR Initiatives
• Santosh Kumar Jha Set To Be Next CMD Of Konkan Railway
• IBM And AWS Launched An Innovation Lab In Bengaluru
• Ministry of Information and Broadcasting released the draft Broadcasting Services (Regulation) Bill, 2023.
• ‘Nayi Chetna – 2.0’ will be launched on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women-25 November.
• International Cricket Council suspended its fullmember Sri Lanka after observing government interference in the national board.
• India finishes Asian Archery Championships in Bangkok with seven medals comprising three gold, a silver & three bronze.
• New Zealand’s Rachin Ravindra and West Indies’ Hayley Matthews Win ICC Player of the Month Awards. Bilateral Exercise BONGOSAGAR-23 and Coordinated Patrol CORPAT-23
• Grammy Awards 2024: Falguni Shah’s ‘Abundance in Millets’ Nominated for Best Global Music Performance
• Former governor of Nagaland, P B Acharya passes away at 92
• India will host 33rd Conference of WOAH Regional Commission for Asia and Pacific at New Delhi.
• Joint summit of the Arab League and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) was held in the Saudi capital Riyadh.
• Racing: Alex Marquez wins Malaysian MotoGP sprint race.
• Archery: Dhiraj Bommadevara won the country’s first archery quota for the 2024 Olympics in Paris.
• Kerala startup launches first e-health kiosk for better healthcare access.
• The ‘AAINA Dashboard for Cities’ portal was launched by Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA).
• GoI and ADB sign $400 million loan to support urban services by creating high quality urban infrastructure, improving service delivery, and promoting efficient governance systems.
• US, South Korea and Japan agreed to start a new mechanism to share data on North Korean missile launches.
• Two prototype low-Earth orbit satellites made by Hon Hai Precision Industry, also known as Foxconn, took off aboard a SpaceX rocket.
• Uttarakhand To Become The First State To Adopt The Uniform Civil Code (UCC)
• Rear Admiral Rajesh Dhankhar Assumes Command Of The Eastern Fleet
• Olympic and World champion javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra was shortlisted for men’s ‘World Athlete of the Year’ award.
• Rajnath Singh to Participate in 10th ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting-Plus in Jakarta
• Sahara Group Founder Subrata Roy Passes Away at 75 After Prolonged Illness
• Virat Kohli Breaks Sachin Tendulkar’s Record for Most Centuries In An ODI
• Airgun Surrender Abhiyan initiative of Arunachal Pradesh selected as India’s best success story on wildlife conservation to present in UNESCO’s International Conference.
• U.S. and South Korean defence chiefs updated a key military agreement against nuclear-armed North Korea.
• China and Pakistan are conducting the third edition of the Sea Guardian-3 bilateral naval exercise in the northern Arabian Sea.
• Former captain Diana Edulji became the first Indian woman cricketer to be inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame.
• Virender Sehwag and Sri Lankan World Cup winner Aravinda de Silva were made members of ICC Hall of Fame.
• K.L. Rahul recorded the fastest century (62 balls) by an Indian batter in the ODI World Cup.
• Tennis: Canada wins its maiden Billie Jean King Cup.
• PM Modi To Launch PM-PVTG Mission And Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra On Janjatiya Gaurav Diwas
• The Department of Telecom (DoT) has granted Internet Service Provider (ISP) licenses to Jio Satellite Communications and OneWeb.
• 6th India-OPEC Energy Dialogue High-Level Meeting Held In Vienna, Austria
• Communist veteran and freedom fighter N Sankaraiah passed away at the age of 101. He was one of the founding members of the Communist Party of India (Marxist).
• Prime Minister launches Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra, PM Janjati Adivasi Nyaya Maha Abhiyan, PM JanMan from Jharkhand.
• Indian Green Building Council (IGBC) of CII launched a rating and certification initiative ‘Nest’.
• RBI Directs Bajaj Finance To Halt Loans For ‘ECOM’ And ‘Insta EMI’ Products
• IndusInd Bank Pioneers As First Live Financial Information Provider Under RBI’s Account Aggregator Framework
• 9th India International Science Festival To Be Held In Faridabad In January 2024
• Pakistan-Based Startup She-Guard Wins Top Climate Innovation Competition
• Salman Rushdie Honored With First ‘Lifetime Disturbing The Peace Award’
• Suresh Wadkar Named For Maharashtra’s ‘Lata Mangeshkar Award 2023’
• Rohit Sharma Now First Batsman To Hit 50 Sixes In World Cup
• The three-day long Indo-Pacific Regional Dialogue 2023 concluded in New Delhi. This is the annual apex-level regional strategic dialogue of the Indian Navy.
• The ninth edition of the Joint Military exercise “Exercise MITRA SHAKTI-2023” between India and Sri Lanka has begun in Aundh (Pune).
• RBI raises risk weights on consumer credit exposure of banks and NBFCs to 125%.
• Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) Supply Chain Agreement was signed by the 14 IPEF Partners.
• Quinton de Kock becomes the only wicket-keeper to score more than 500 runs and effect 20 dismissals in a single edition of a men’s World Cup.
• Union Minister Kiren Rijiju To Represent India At Maldives President’s Swearing-In.
• Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has secured a second term, navigating the political landscape with a razor-thin majority.
• The Assam Cabinet has given its nod for the merger of the Secondary Education Board of Assam (SEBA) and the Assam Higher Secondary Education Council (AHSEC).
• Joint Military Exercise “Exercise MITRA SHAKTI-2023” Begins In Pune
• Indian Navy Launches 4th Anti-Submarine Warfare Craft, Named ‘Amini’
• IndusInd Bank Launches ‘IndusInd Bank Platinum RuPay Credit Card’ On UPI
• RBI Imposes ₹90.92 Lakh Monetary Penalty On Axis Bank
• Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) bagged the SKOCH National Award – 2023 for its ₹1 crore accident relief Sarige Suraksha Insurance Scheme.
• FSSAI launched the Food Safety Compliance System (FoSCoS) portal in multiple regional languages.
• Tamil writer Perumal Murugan has won the coveted JCB Prize for Literature for his novel, Fire Bird, an English translation of his Tamil novel Aalandapatchi.
• Uttar Pradesh government has banned labelling halal on eatables such as dairy products, sugar, bakery items, peppermint oil, savouries and edible oil.
• Former Governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) S. Venkitaramanan (92), passed away.
• Nicaragua’s Sheynnis Palacios has been crowned Miss Universe for the year 2023.
• Punjab and Haryana High Court quashed the Haryana government’s law guaranteeing 75% reservation for local people in private sector jobs in the State.
• Senior IPS officer Alok Sharma was appointed Director of the Special Protection Group (SPG).
• WHO and the Ministry of Ayush signed the Traditional and Complementary Medicine ‘Project Collaboration Agreement’.
• India conducted the second edition of the Voice of Global South Summit (VOGSS) in a virtual format.
• ‘Hallucinate’ is the Cambridge Dictionary’s Word of the Year for 2023.
• Solar-Powered ‘Ramayana’ Vessels To Navigate Saryu River In Ayodhya.
• India Ranks Third In Global Unicorn Rankings With 72 Unicorns
• Uttar Pradesh Cadre IPS Officer Alok Sharma Named New Chief Of SPG
• Virat Kohli’s Wax Statue To Be Installed In Jaipur Wax Museum
Renowned Art Historian BN Goswamy Passed Away At 90
• Renowned Novelist A.S. Byatt Passes Away At 87
• Cyclone ‘Midhili’ Makes Landfall On Bangladesh’s Coast
• The Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development, 2022 was jointly awarded to the Indian Medical Association and the Trained Nurses Association of India.
• Animation film on Ahom warrior has been selected for the Indian Panorama section of the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) 2023.
• Researchers at the Indian Institute of Millet Research (ICAR-IIMR) have developed a process and relevant technologies to make rice ‘millets’.
• World champion Max Verstappen claimed the 18th win of his record-breaking season, with victory in the Las Vegas Grand Prix.
• Badminton World No. 1 Viktor Axelsen won his first title since September as he captures the inaugural Kumamoto Masters title.
• Argentina Elects ‘Shock Therapy’ Libertarian Javier Milei As President
• Droupadi Murmu To Confer President’s Colour Award To AFMC On Dec 1
• Bengaluru Tops In Women-Led Startups, Followed By Mumbai And Delhi
• Mira Murati Appointed As Interim Chief Executive Officer At OpenAI
• China’s Strategic Move: Extending China- Myanmar Economic Corridor To Sri Lanka
• Indo-Australian Defense Talks: Fortifying Maritime Security With Hydrography And Joint Airborne Surveillance
• Bihar Governor Approves Bill Raising Reservation From 50% To 65%
• Karnataka Bank Partners With HDFC Life To Offer Insurance Products.
• Acko Partners With R Madhavan As Their ‘Voice Of The Customer’.
• Uttar Pradesh Bags First Prize For Best State In Inland Fisheries.
• Deepti Babuta Becomes First Woman To Bag Dhahan Prize For Punjabi Literature
• Prasoon Joshi Launches Dr. Hema Joshi’s Book ‘Do Palkon Ki Chhavn Main’
• REC’s subsidiary RECPDCL hands over Special Purpose Vehicle formed for the construction of ‘Ramgarh II Transmission Limited’ transmission project, to Power Grid Corporation of India.
• Slovakia’s new populist Prime Minister Robert Fico announces halt of military aid to Ukraine.
• The Centre announced a ₹22,303-crore subsidy on phosphatic and potassic (P&K) fertilizers for the current rabi season.
• The Indian Army has installed its first vertical wind tunnel (VWT) at the Special Forces Training School (SFTS) at Bakloh in Himachal Pradesh.
• The Law Commission suggested a road map, which includes proposed changes to the Constitution for holding simultaneous elections.
• DCGI approves MSD’s Keytruda (pembrolizumab) in the treatment of triplenegative breast cancer (TNBC) and renal cell carcinoma (RCC).
• Glenn Maxwell broke the record for the fastest ever World Cup hundred as he scored a ton from 40 balls.
• David Warner overtook Ricky Ponting to smash the highest number of centuries by an Australian batter in ICC Cricket World Cup.
• The 37th National Games were officially inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a ceremony held in Panaji, Goa.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the 7th Edition of the India Mobile Congress at Bharat Mandapam, Pragati Maidan, New Delhi.
• Robert Fico To Become Slovakia’s New Prime Minister.
• Rajasthan Govt Launched ‘IStart Talent Connect Portal’
• The 2023 World Day for Audiovisual Heritage, observed on October 27. Theme: “Your Window to the World.”
• Reliance Jio Partners With Plume To Provide In- ices Enhanced By AIKarnataka, along with the Wildlife Trust of India, has launched the Hostile Activity Watch Kernel (HAWK) system.
• iPhone maker, Taiwan’s Wistron approved the sale of its India unit, Wistron InfoComm to the Tata Group.
• Arjun Babuta and Tilottama Sen get Olympic quota for Paris, with silver medals in air rifle in the 15th Asian shooting championship.
• India will provide additional funding of LKR 23 million (around ₹58,75,900) for the training of Sri Lankan Armed Forces.
• David Warner overtook Virat Kohli to become the fourth-highest run-scorer in ICC World Cup history.
• Punjab defeated Tamil Nadu to win the men’s basketball title in the National Games while Kerala beat Karnataka and took the women’s trophy.
• Mike Johnson, a relatively lesser-known Republican from Louisiana, has elected as the new speaker of the US House of Representatives.
• In a historic move, Malaysia’s royal families have elected Sultan Ibrahim Iskandar of Johor state as the country’s new king.
• The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has achieved a significant milestone by becoming a part of the prestigious 18-member steering committee of the International Competition Network (ICN).
• Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) And Safran To Make Aircraft Engine Parts
• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has granted inprinciple authorization to Zaakpay, the secure payment gateway arm of MobiKwik to operate as a payment aggregator.
• The Vigilance Awarenes Week, 2023 is being observed from 30th October till 5th November. This year the theme is – Say no to corruption, commit to the Nation.
• Union Finance Minister launches phase IV of ‘Operation Sesha’ to curb the illegal trade of Timber, including Red Sanders.
• PFRDA has made ‘penny drop’ verification mandatory for the withdrawal of funds by subscribers of the NPS.
• Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman inaugurates the first Global Conference on Cooperation in Enforcement Matters (GCCEM).
• Eminent climate change expert Professor Saleemul Huq, director of International Centre for Climate Change and Development, passed away in Dhaka.
• FATF Removes Cayman Islands From Its ‘Grey List’.
• Indian Army And Air Force Contingent Set Off For ‘Exercise KAZIND-2023’. This collaborative endeavor will take place in Otar, Kazakhstan, spanning from 30th October to 11th November 2023.
• Indian Navy Launches 25T Bollard Pull Tug ‘MAHABALI’ In Gujarat
• The Indian government is working on a comprehensive national vision plan, known as ‘Vision India@2047’, aimed at transforming the country into a developed nation by 2047.
• Prime Minister launches ‘Mera Yuva Bharat (MY Bharat)’ platform on the National Unity Day.
• Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (DEPwD) under Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment observed the World Occupational Therapy Day on October 30.
• The Board of Directors of Small Finace Banks AU and Fincare approved an all-stock merger of AU SFB and Fincare SFB.
• Chinese research vessel Shiyan 6, which arrived in Colombo amid concerns raised by India and the U.S., is set to begin its two-day research off the Sri Lankan coast.
• Max Verstappen made Formula One history as the first driver to take 16 victories in a season, as he won Mexico City Grand Prix.
• Kerala, the southern state of India, has achieved a remarkable milestone by inaugurating a hallmarking centre in Idukki.
• PM Narendra Modi Releases Three Books At Tulsi Peeth In Chitrakoot. The books unveiled were ‘Ashtadhyayi Bhashya,’ ‘Ramanandacharya Charitam,’ and ‘Bhagwan Shri Krishna ki Rashtraleela.’
• Tata Motors Wins ₹766 Crore Arbitration Award In Singur Plant Dispute.