Daily Current Affairs- 25 September

Today's Current Affairs-25th September 2022

NATIONAL

'Make in India' completes 8 years, annual FDI doubles to USD 83 billion

• Make in India, the flagship program of the Government of India that aspires to facilitate investment, foster innovation, enhance skill development, and build best-in-class manufacturing infrastructure, completes 8 years of path-breaking reforms on 25th September 2022. Launched in 2014 under the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, ‘Make in India’ is transforming the country into a leading global manufacturing and investment destination. The initiative is an open invitation to potential investors and partners across the globe to participate in the growth story of ‘New India’. Make In India has substantial accomplishments across 27 sectors. These include strategic sectors of manufacturing and services as well.
• To attract foreign investments, Government of India has put in place a liberal and transparent policy wherein most sectors are open to FDI under the automatic route. FDI inflows in India stood at US $ 45.15 billion in 2014-2015 and have since consecutively reached record FDI inflows for eight years. The year 2021-22 recorded the highest ever FDI at $83.6 billion. This FDI has come from 101 countries, and invested across 31 UTs and States and 57 sectors in the country. On the back of economic reforms and Ease of Doing Business in recent years, India is on track to attract US$ 100 Bn FDI in the current FY.
• Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme across 14 key manufacturing sectors, was launched in 2020-21 as a big boost to Make in India initiative.

About Make in India:

Launch year: 2014

Status: Active

Launched by (Prime minister): Narendra Modi

Ministry: Ministry of Finance

Key people: Ministry of Commerce and Industry (India)

5G services to be launched 'very soon': Telecom Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw

• IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said the government is investing nearly $30 billion to ensure last-mile network accessibility for 4G and 5G in every village across the country and build a robust digital infrastructure in the rural areas. Speaking at the ‘Global Fintech Fest 2022‘, Vaishnaw said the government has reached out to over 1.5 lakh gram panchayats to date.
• “We are now creating a whole ecosystem of village entrepreneurs, channelising the energies of youngsters to take good quality, high-speed data connectivity to every village in the country while making them a part of the growth journey,” the minister emphasised. “We have tested this model and approximately 80,000 new connections are now being facilitated every month,” he added.
• Vaishnaw said there are three key areas in fintech for the government – building a robust digital infrastructure and a digital regulatory framework, along with social inclusion and the societal imperatives around it. Sharing his views on the digital regulatory framework, the minister said that telecom is the very foundation of Digital India.

 APPOINTMENS & RESIGNATIONS

Dr Rajiv Bahl appointed ICMR Director General for 3 years

• Dr Rajiv Bahl has been appointed as the new director general of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR)-cum-secretary of the department of health Research for a period of three years. Bahl currently heads the research on maternal, newborn child and adolescent health cum-newborn unit on maternal, Department of Maternal Newborn Child and Adolescent Health and Ageing, at the World Health Organisation (WHO) in Geneva.
• His predecessor, Dr Balram Bhargava’s extended tenure as director general of ICMR and secretary of the Department of Health Research ended in July. Bhargava was appointed to the post on April 16, 2018, for four years. The Appointment Committee of the Cabinet has approved the appointment of Dr Rajiv Bahl.

About Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR):

Headquarters: New Delhi

Founder: Government of India

Founded: 1911

 IMPORTANT DAYS

World rivers day 2022: 25^th September

• World River Day is observed to raise awareness regarding water bodies and to promote their conservation. It is observed every year on the fourth Sunday of September, and this year, it falls on September 25. As per World Rivers Day, “It is a celebration of the world’s waterways.” This day highlights the values of rivers and strives to increase public awareness and encourages the improved supervision of rivers around the world.
• The theme for this year’s World Rivers Day is ‘The importance of Rivers to Biodiversity’. The absolute need for rivers to keep any civilization going is the focus of this year’s theme. Not only humans, but rivers keep a wide range of animals and plant a living breathing part of our ecosystem.

World Pharmacists Day 2022: 25^th September

• Every year on September 25, World Pharmacist Day is commemorated with the goal of highlighting and advocating the pharmacist’s contribution to health improvement. The occasion of World Pharmacy Day serves as a reminder to honour all medical specialists who provide their services with empathy and understanding. Pharmacists provide the availability of pharmaceuticals and guidance on safe medication usage. A pharmacist is a healthcare professional who is responsible for storing, handling, and dispensing medicines. Like doctors, pharmacists also have a major role to play in the healthcare sector.
• This year’s theme, “Pharmacy united in action for a healthier world,” aims to promote unity and highlight the sound effects of pharmacy on health. The theme has been chosen to “showcase pharmacy’s positive impact on health around the world and to further strengthen solidarity among the profession”.
• Pharmacists are trained to advise the right way a medicine must be used and stored while they also provide us with crucial information about the potential adverse effects of a medicine. These professionals also contribute to research for new drugs while they offer their vital services in hospitals, medical clinics, government institutions, and universities. In addition, pharmacists are also responsible for the safe disposal of medicines once they have expired.

About International Pharmaceutical Federation:

CEO: Dr Catherine Duggan

Founded: 25 September 1912

Headquarters: The Hague, Netherlands

Motto: Advancing pharmacy worldwide

SUMMIT'S & MOU's

BPCL signs pact with Brazil's Petrobras to diversify crude oil sourcing

• State-run Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Brazilian oil major Petrobras, to diversify its crude oil sourcing.
• The MoU was signed by Arun Kumar Singh, Chairman BPCL and Caio Paes de Andrade, CEO Petrobras, in Brazil on Saturday.
• In a statement BPCL said, the signing of the MoU will strengthen future crude oil trade relations between the two companies and explore potential crude import opportunities by BPCL, on a long term basis, especially considering the current geopolitical situations.
• Bharat PetroResources Limited (BPRL) plans to invest $1.6 billion to develop an oil block in Brazil in an attempt to procure equity oil overseas. Through its fully owned subsidiary, Bharat PetroResources Limited, BPCL has a stake in the upstream sector in an ultra-deep water hydrocarbon block in Brazil, owned and operated by M/s Petrobras. The field development plan and final investment decision is expected to be declared soon.

About Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL):

Headquarters: Mumbai

Founded: 1952

 AWARDS & RECOGNITION

Daniel Spielman won the Breakthrough Prize in Mathematics for “multiple discoveries

• The 2023 winners of the Breakthrough Prizes, dubbed the “Oscars of Science,” were announced and will split a total of more than $15 million. 2023 Breakthrough Prize laureates, recognized for their game-changing discoveries in Fundamental Physics, Life Sciences and Mathematics, along with early-career scientists who have made significant contributions to their fields. Daniel A. Spielman has been honoured with the 2023 Breakthrough Prize in Mathematics for multiple discoveries in theoretical computer science and mathematics.
• Daniel A. Spielman, Yale University (For breakthrough contributions to theoretical computer science and mathematics, including to spectral graph theory, the Kadison-Singer problem, numerical linear algebra, optimization, and coding theory.)

About Breakthrough Prize:

First awarded: 2012; 10 years ago

Presented by: Breakthrough Prize Board

Indian origin Suella Braverman wins first Queen Elizabeth II award

• Britain’s Indian-origin Home Secretary Suella Braverman has been named winner of the first-ever Queen Elizabeth II Woman of the Year award at a ceremony in London.
• The 42-year-old barrister, who was appointed to the Cabinet earlier this month by British Prime Minister Liz Truss, said it was the “honour of her life” to take on the new role at the Asian Achievers Awards (AAA) 2022 ceremony, dedicated to the memory of the late monarch who passed away recently.
• Braverman, the London-born daughter of Tamil mother Uma and Goan-origin father Christie Fernandes, sent a recorded message to the ceremony where her parents collected the award on her behalf.

About United Kingdom:

Prime Minister: Liz Truss 

Capital: London

King: King Charles III

Currency: Pound sterling

 RANKING

“Swachh Vayu Sarvekshan will rank 131 cities in the country for implementing City Action Plans

• The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) will launch the ‘Swachh Vayu Sarvekshan’ programme under National Clean Air Programme 2019 (NCAP) to rank cities based on their actions to improve air quality. The ranking will be based only on the actions taken by the cities to improve the air quality in different domains and not on the measurement of the air quality parameters to rank the cities.
• “Swachh Vayu Sarvekshan will rank 131 cities in the country for implementing City Action Plans prepared as part of NCAP for reducing air pollution up to 40 per cent by 2025-26,” the ministry said during the two-day National Conference of Ministers of Environment, Forest and Climate Change in Gujarat.
• At least 131 cities are categorised into three groups based on population. The first group has 47 cities with a population of over one million, and 44 cities in the second group have people between 300,000 to one million. The third group consists of 40 towns with less than 300,000 population.
• According to the NCAP, these 131 cities are non-attainment cities as they did not meet the nation’s ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) for 2011-15 under the National Air Quality Monitoring Programme (NAMP).

About Gujarat:

Governor: Acharya Devvrat

Capital: Gandhinagar

Chief Minister: Bhupendrabhai Patel

 BANKING AND ECONOMY

Commerce and Industry Ministry: On track to attract $100-bn FDI this fiscal

• The Central government said that India is on track to attract USD 100 billion in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the current fiscal on account of economic reforms and ease of doing business. In 2021-22, India received the “highest ever” foreign inflows of USD 83.6 billion.
• “This FDI has come from 101 countries, and invested across 31 union territories and states and 57 sectors in the country. On the back of economic reforms and Ease of Doing Business in recent years, India is on track to attract USD 100 billion FDI in the current financial year,” the commerce and industry ministry said in a statement. The statement also mentions that the government has installed a liberal and transparent policy to attract foreign investment. Currently, most sectors of the Indian economy are open to FDI under an automatic route.
• The Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in India can be made under two routes- automatic and government routes. Under the automatic route, the investor requires no or very less permissions from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) or from the Government of India to invest.
• Meanwhile, during the April-June quarter of the current fiscal, FDI equity inflows in India dipped by 6% to $16.6 billion.
• Foreign direct investment (FDI) is when a company takes controlling ownership in a business entity in another country.

About Reserve Bank of India (RBI):

Founded: 1 April 1935, Kolkata

Founder: British Raj

Governor: Shaktikanta Das