Daily Current Affairs- 15 December

Author : Palak Khanna

Updated On : December 15, 2022

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Today's Current Affairs15th December 2022

INTERNATIONAL

Russia becomes India's second-largest oil supplier

  • Russia has for the first time emerged as top oil supplier to India replacing Iraq as refiners last month snapped up oil from Moscow fearing a price cap from Dec. 5 could hit supplies and choke payment avenues.
  • India’s oil imports from Russia rose for the fifth straight month, totaling 908,000 barrels per day (bpd) in November, up 4% from October, the data showed.
  • The Group of Seven nations(G-7), Australia, and the 27 European Union countries have imposed a price cap of $60 a barrel on Russian seaborne oil from Dec. 5 as the West tries to limit Moscow’s ability to finance its war in Ukraine. The price cap plan calls for G7 countries to deny insurance, finance, brokering, navigation, and other services to oil cargoes priced above the price cap on crude and oil products.
  • Russian oil accounted for about 23% of India’s overall import of about 4 million bpd oil in November, the data showed. India’s overall imports in November declined 11% from October on lower purchases by Russia-backed Indian refiner Nayara Energy, which had shut its 400,000 bpd refinery for maintenance during the month, the data showed.

France to host International Conference in Paris

  • According to the French embassy, France will host an International conference “Standing with the Ukrainian People” in Paris with an aim to coordinate international support for civilian resilience in Ukraine and address the Ukrainian people’s urgent humanitarian needs. The conference is organised at the initiative of French President Emmanuel Macron and is co-organised with Ukraine. During the conference, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will address virtually.
  • The Ukrainian people are facing dire difficulties in all sectors essential to life: electricity supply, food security, water supply, and access to medical care.
  • This situation is aggravated by the onset of winter and by the increased Russian bombardments against civilian infrastructures in Ukraine, particularly energy infrastructure, resulting in severe blackouts.
  • The goal of the conference is therefore to muster international humanitarian aid to bolster the Ukrainian people’s resilience through the harsh winter, and establish a coordination mechanism to ensure effective and needs-based delivery of aid.

NATIONAL

ISRO is doing to boost the use of NavIC, India’s version of GPS

  • To promote the use of ‘NAVigation with the Indian Constellation’ (NavIC), the Indian version of GPS, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will introduce the L1 frequency in all its future satellites.
  • The seven satellites in the NavIC constellation currently use two frequencies for providing positioning data — the L5 and S bands. However, most mobile System on Chips(SoCs) and wearable devices support the L1 band.
  • To overcome this drawback, ISRO announced that new satellites from NVS-01 onwards which are meant to replace these satellites will also have L1 frequency.
  • L1 frequency is one of the most commonly used frequencies in the Global Positioning System (GPS), which even the less sophisticated, civilian-use devices such as smartwatches are capable of receiving. Thus, with this band, the use of the NavIC in wearable devices and personal trackers that use low-power, single-frequency chips can go up.
  • NavIC, or Navigation with Indian Constellation is an independent stand-alone navigation satellite system developed by the Indian Space Research Organization(ISRO). NavIC was originally approved in 2006. It was expected to be completed by late 2011 but only became operational in 2018. NavIC consists of eight satellites and covers the whole of India’s landmass and up to 1,500 km from its boundaries.

Govt allocates Rs 1037.90 crore to New India Literacy Programme for next 5 years: MoE

  • The Ministry of Education (MoE) approved a new scheme “New India Literacy Programme” for the next five years to cover all the aspects of adult education to align with new National Education Policy (NEP).
  • The ministry has also decided to use “Education For All” instead of “Adult Education” as the previous term did not appropriately represent all non-literates in 15 years and above age group.
  • The objectives of the scheme is to impart not only foundational literacy and numeracy but also to cover other components which are necessary for a citizen of 21st century such as critical life skills including financial literacy, digital literacy, commercial skills, health care and awareness, child care and education, and family welfare); vocational skills development with a view towards obtaining local employment); basic education including preparatory, middle, and secondary stage equivalency, and continuing education including engaging holistic adult education courses in arts, sciences, technology, culture, sports, and recreation, as well as other topics of interest or use to local learners, such as more advanced material on critical life skills.

 SPORTS

PAK vs ENG: Joe Root joins elite list with 10000+ test runs and 50+ wickets in 2nd Test 2022

  • PAK vs ENG: Former England skipper Joe Root became only the third cricketer in history to score 10000 runs and pick up 50 wickets in Test cricket. He achieved the feat during the ongoing second Test against Pakistan in Multan. Root reached the milestone when he dismissed Faheem Ashraf in the 70th over of Pakistan’s second innings at the Multan Cricket Stadium. It was a tossed-up delivery from the off-spinner and Faheem tried to push at it. The ball turned very little to take the batter’s edge and presented a simple catch to Zak Crawley at slips.
  • Root joins South African legend Jacques Kallis and former Australian skipper Steve Waugh in scoring 10000 runs and claiming 50 wickets in the longest format.
  • Root currently has 10629 Test runs and 50 wickets under his belt. Waugh has 10927 runs and 92 wickets, while Kallis tops the chart with 13289 runs and 292 wickets.

OBITURY

Poland’s only cosmonaut, Mirosław Hermaszewski, dies aged 81

  • Poland’s only cosmonaut Gen Miroslaw Hermaszewski passed away recently at the age of 81. He circled the Earth in a Soviet spacecraft in 1978. Hermaszewski became a national hero thanks to his trip to space. For nine days in June and July of 1978, Hermaszewski and Soviet cosmonaut Pyotr Klimuk circled the Earth in the Soyuz 30 spaceship that docked at the Salyut 6 orbital space station. They went around the globe 126 times.
  • Hermaszewski travelled into space as part of the Soviet Union’s Intercosmos program, which offered an opportunity to explore space for countries within the then-Eastern Bloc, under Moscow’s domination or which had ties with the Soviets.
  • The first person to blast off as part of the program was Vladimir Remek of then-Czechoslovakia, in March 1978. Hermaszewski followed, while Sigmund Jahn of then-East Germany was the third to fly that year.

 SUMMIT'S & MOU's

8th India International Science Festival in Bhopal next month

  • India International Science Festival (IISF)-2022 will be held in Bhopal in January 2023 and incidentally, it is one of the major events to be held after India took over G-20 Presidency. IISF is the initiative of the Ministry of Science & Technology and Ministry of Earth Science of Government of India in association with Vijnana Bharati which is a science movement with swadeshi spirit led by eminent scientists of the country. The IISF 2022 is the eighth edition since its inception in 2015.
  • It is a festival to celebrate the achievements of India’s scientific and technological advancements with students, innovators, craftsmen, farmers, scientists and technocrats from India and abroad.
  • It also provides opportunities to people and scientific fraternity in the country and abroad to come together, work together and experience the joy of doing science for the wellbeing of India and humanity.
  • There will be fourteen events organized during these four days which will be running parallel with the participation of more than 8,000 delegates from across the country. More than lakhs of local visitors will witness the festival and will remember the festival for its unique grandeur and creativity in science.

 AWARDS & RECOGNITION

SpiceJet wins ‘Safety Performer of the Year’ award by Delhi Airport

  • SpiceJet has been awarded the ‘Safety Performer of the Year’ award by GMR Delhi Airport Awards for being the top performer among the self-handling airlines and as it has been able to reduce ground safety violations significantly. SpiceJet ground handling team at Delhi Airport achieved this performance through constant focus on quality improvements, innovation and hard work. Moreover, their role in minimising incidences of ground safety violations ensured compliance with safety guidelines and regulatory requirements.
  • Recently, the airline was audited by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), and its operations, safety processes, and systems were found to be strong and at par with the global best practices and safety standards.
  • The airline was the only scheduled Indian airline part of the audit conducted by ICAO, the United Nations aviation arm. The audit of SpiceJet safety systems “helped India achieve” its highest-ever safety ranking in ICAO audit

 BANKING AND ECONOMY

ADB keeps India's GDP growth unchanged at 7% for current financial year

  • The Manila-based Asian Development Bank kept its economic growth outlook for India unchanged at seven percent for the fiscal 2022-23. The bank also forecasted a weaker-than-previously expected pace for developing Asia. The seven percent growth projection for fiscal 2022-23, unchanged from its September forecast, against 8.7 percent GDP growth in the previous fiscal.
  • For the next fiscal year, FY 23-24, the GDP growth has been kept unchanged at 7.2 percent, “sustained by positive effects from structural reform and from public investment catalysing private investment”.
  • The Manila-based bank’s report sees Asia expanding 4.2 percent this year and accelerating to 4.6 percent in 2023. The previously estimated expansion stood at 4.3 percent and 4.9 percent, respectively.
  • “While some recent high-frequency indicators are more favourable than expected — notably consumer confidence, electricity supply and purchasing managers’ indexes — others are a little less favourable, in particular exports, largely textiles and iron ore, and the index of industrial production of consumer goods,” the report said.

Daily Current Affairs- 15 December

Author : Palak Khanna

December 15, 2022

SHARE

Today's Current Affairs15th December 2022

INTERNATIONAL

Russia becomes India's second-largest oil supplier

  • Russia has for the first time emerged as top oil supplier to India replacing Iraq as refiners last month snapped up oil from Moscow fearing a price cap from Dec. 5 could hit supplies and choke payment avenues.
  • India’s oil imports from Russia rose for the fifth straight month, totaling 908,000 barrels per day (bpd) in November, up 4% from October, the data showed.
  • The Group of Seven nations(G-7), Australia, and the 27 European Union countries have imposed a price cap of $60 a barrel on Russian seaborne oil from Dec. 5 as the West tries to limit Moscow’s ability to finance its war in Ukraine. The price cap plan calls for G7 countries to deny insurance, finance, brokering, navigation, and other services to oil cargoes priced above the price cap on crude and oil products.
  • Russian oil accounted for about 23% of India’s overall import of about 4 million bpd oil in November, the data showed. India’s overall imports in November declined 11% from October on lower purchases by Russia-backed Indian refiner Nayara Energy, which had shut its 400,000 bpd refinery for maintenance during the month, the data showed.

France to host International Conference in Paris

  • According to the French embassy, France will host an International conference “Standing with the Ukrainian People” in Paris with an aim to coordinate international support for civilian resilience in Ukraine and address the Ukrainian people’s urgent humanitarian needs. The conference is organised at the initiative of French President Emmanuel Macron and is co-organised with Ukraine. During the conference, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will address virtually.
  • The Ukrainian people are facing dire difficulties in all sectors essential to life: electricity supply, food security, water supply, and access to medical care.
  • This situation is aggravated by the onset of winter and by the increased Russian bombardments against civilian infrastructures in Ukraine, particularly energy infrastructure, resulting in severe blackouts.
  • The goal of the conference is therefore to muster international humanitarian aid to bolster the Ukrainian people’s resilience through the harsh winter, and establish a coordination mechanism to ensure effective and needs-based delivery of aid.

NATIONAL

ISRO is doing to boost the use of NavIC, India’s version of GPS

  • To promote the use of ‘NAVigation with the Indian Constellation’ (NavIC), the Indian version of GPS, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will introduce the L1 frequency in all its future satellites.
  • The seven satellites in the NavIC constellation currently use two frequencies for providing positioning data — the L5 and S bands. However, most mobile System on Chips(SoCs) and wearable devices support the L1 band.
  • To overcome this drawback, ISRO announced that new satellites from NVS-01 onwards which are meant to replace these satellites will also have L1 frequency.
  • L1 frequency is one of the most commonly used frequencies in the Global Positioning System (GPS), which even the less sophisticated, civilian-use devices such as smartwatches are capable of receiving. Thus, with this band, the use of the NavIC in wearable devices and personal trackers that use low-power, single-frequency chips can go up.
  • NavIC, or Navigation with Indian Constellation is an independent stand-alone navigation satellite system developed by the Indian Space Research Organization(ISRO). NavIC was originally approved in 2006. It was expected to be completed by late 2011 but only became operational in 2018. NavIC consists of eight satellites and covers the whole of India’s landmass and up to 1,500 km from its boundaries.

Govt allocates Rs 1037.90 crore to New India Literacy Programme for next 5 years: MoE

  • The Ministry of Education (MoE) approved a new scheme “New India Literacy Programme” for the next five years to cover all the aspects of adult education to align with new National Education Policy (NEP).
  • The ministry has also decided to use “Education For All” instead of “Adult Education” as the previous term did not appropriately represent all non-literates in 15 years and above age group.
  • The objectives of the scheme is to impart not only foundational literacy and numeracy but also to cover other components which are necessary for a citizen of 21st century such as critical life skills including financial literacy, digital literacy, commercial skills, health care and awareness, child care and education, and family welfare); vocational skills development with a view towards obtaining local employment); basic education including preparatory, middle, and secondary stage equivalency, and continuing education including engaging holistic adult education courses in arts, sciences, technology, culture, sports, and recreation, as well as other topics of interest or use to local learners, such as more advanced material on critical life skills.

 SPORTS

PAK vs ENG: Joe Root joins elite list with 10000+ test runs and 50+ wickets in 2nd Test 2022

  • PAK vs ENG: Former England skipper Joe Root became only the third cricketer in history to score 10000 runs and pick up 50 wickets in Test cricket. He achieved the feat during the ongoing second Test against Pakistan in Multan. Root reached the milestone when he dismissed Faheem Ashraf in the 70th over of Pakistan’s second innings at the Multan Cricket Stadium. It was a tossed-up delivery from the off-spinner and Faheem tried to push at it. The ball turned very little to take the batter’s edge and presented a simple catch to Zak Crawley at slips.
  • Root joins South African legend Jacques Kallis and former Australian skipper Steve Waugh in scoring 10000 runs and claiming 50 wickets in the longest format.
  • Root currently has 10629 Test runs and 50 wickets under his belt. Waugh has 10927 runs and 92 wickets, while Kallis tops the chart with 13289 runs and 292 wickets.

OBITURY

Poland’s only cosmonaut, Mirosław Hermaszewski, dies aged 81

  • Poland’s only cosmonaut Gen Miroslaw Hermaszewski passed away recently at the age of 81. He circled the Earth in a Soviet spacecraft in 1978. Hermaszewski became a national hero thanks to his trip to space. For nine days in June and July of 1978, Hermaszewski and Soviet cosmonaut Pyotr Klimuk circled the Earth in the Soyuz 30 spaceship that docked at the Salyut 6 orbital space station. They went around the globe 126 times.
  • Hermaszewski travelled into space as part of the Soviet Union’s Intercosmos program, which offered an opportunity to explore space for countries within the then-Eastern Bloc, under Moscow’s domination or which had ties with the Soviets.
  • The first person to blast off as part of the program was Vladimir Remek of then-Czechoslovakia, in March 1978. Hermaszewski followed, while Sigmund Jahn of then-East Germany was the third to fly that year.

 SUMMIT'S & MOU's

8th India International Science Festival in Bhopal next month

  • India International Science Festival (IISF)-2022 will be held in Bhopal in January 2023 and incidentally, it is one of the major events to be held after India took over G-20 Presidency. IISF is the initiative of the Ministry of Science & Technology and Ministry of Earth Science of Government of India in association with Vijnana Bharati which is a science movement with swadeshi spirit led by eminent scientists of the country. The IISF 2022 is the eighth edition since its inception in 2015.
  • It is a festival to celebrate the achievements of India’s scientific and technological advancements with students, innovators, craftsmen, farmers, scientists and technocrats from India and abroad.
  • It also provides opportunities to people and scientific fraternity in the country and abroad to come together, work together and experience the joy of doing science for the wellbeing of India and humanity.
  • There will be fourteen events organized during these four days which will be running parallel with the participation of more than 8,000 delegates from across the country. More than lakhs of local visitors will witness the festival and will remember the festival for its unique grandeur and creativity in science.

 AWARDS & RECOGNITION

SpiceJet wins ‘Safety Performer of the Year’ award by Delhi Airport

  • SpiceJet has been awarded the ‘Safety Performer of the Year’ award by GMR Delhi Airport Awards for being the top performer among the self-handling airlines and as it has been able to reduce ground safety violations significantly. SpiceJet ground handling team at Delhi Airport achieved this performance through constant focus on quality improvements, innovation and hard work. Moreover, their role in minimising incidences of ground safety violations ensured compliance with safety guidelines and regulatory requirements.
  • Recently, the airline was audited by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), and its operations, safety processes, and systems were found to be strong and at par with the global best practices and safety standards.
  • The airline was the only scheduled Indian airline part of the audit conducted by ICAO, the United Nations aviation arm. The audit of SpiceJet safety systems “helped India achieve” its highest-ever safety ranking in ICAO audit

 BANKING AND ECONOMY

ADB keeps India's GDP growth unchanged at 7% for current financial year

  • The Manila-based Asian Development Bank kept its economic growth outlook for India unchanged at seven percent for the fiscal 2022-23. The bank also forecasted a weaker-than-previously expected pace for developing Asia. The seven percent growth projection for fiscal 2022-23, unchanged from its September forecast, against 8.7 percent GDP growth in the previous fiscal.
  • For the next fiscal year, FY 23-24, the GDP growth has been kept unchanged at 7.2 percent, “sustained by positive effects from structural reform and from public investment catalysing private investment”.
  • The Manila-based bank’s report sees Asia expanding 4.2 percent this year and accelerating to 4.6 percent in 2023. The previously estimated expansion stood at 4.3 percent and 4.9 percent, respectively.
  • “While some recent high-frequency indicators are more favourable than expected — notably consumer confidence, electricity supply and purchasing managers’ indexes — others are a little less favourable, in particular exports, largely textiles and iron ore, and the index of industrial production of consumer goods,” the report said.

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