Today's Current Affairs-27th November 2022

NATIONAL

Telangana Will Have India's First Integrated Rocket Facility

• Telangana’s IT and Industries Minister K T Rama Rao on said the state will have the country’s first integrated rocket design, manufacturing and testing facility in Hyderabad by Skyroot Aerospace.
• The state IT Minister K. Tarakarama Rao has assured the start-up of complete support for establishing the facility to design, manufacture, and test rockets in the state. He participated in a programme organized at T-Hub to celebrate Skyroot Aerospace’s successful launch of the Vikram-S rocket.
• The Hyderabad-based startup, incubated at T-Hub, launched the country’s first private rocket. Skyroot Aerospace became the first privately held company in India after the space sector was opened for the private players by the union government in 2020.
• Skyroot Aerospace wants to build high-technology, low-cost, reliable launch vehicles. Its co-founders Chandana and Naga Bharath Daka previously worked with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) as rocket scientists for about a handful of years before starting up in 2018.
• The Minister expressed pride and happiness that a spacetech company from Hyderabad, broke all the barriers. He said only a few companies across the world aced rocket science and achieved success in the first go.

Arittapatti village, first biodiversity heritage site in Tamil Nadu

• The Tamil Nadu Government, issued a notification declaring Arittapatti and Meenakshipuram villages in Madurai district the first biodiversity heritage site in the State. The site comprising 139.63 hectares in Arittapatti village (Melur block) and 53.8 hectares in Meenakshipuram village (Madurai East taluk) will be known as the Arittapatti Biodiversity Heritage site.
• Arittapatti village, known for its ecological and historical significance, houses around 250 species of birds including three important raptors – birds of prey, namely the Laggar Falcon, the Shaheen Falcon and Bonelli’s Eagle.
• The area is surrounded by a chain of seven hillocks or inselbergs that serve as a watershed, charging “72 lakes, 200 natural springs and three check dams.
• The Anaikondan tank, built during the reign of Pandiyan kings in the 16th century is one among them.

GRSE/L&T launch Indian Navy's third survey vessel large Ikshak

• ‘Ikshak’ is the third of the four Survey Vessels (Large SVL) Project, being built by GRSE/L&T for the Indian Navy was launched on 26th November 2022 at Kattupalli, Chennai.
• Ikshak made her first contact with the water of the Bay of Bengal at 1040 hours. The launch ceremony was felicitated by VAdm MA Hampiholi, Flag Officer Commanding in Chief, Southern Naval Command.
• Four SVL ship was signed between MoD and Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers (GRSE).
• As per the build strategy of GRSE, the first ship is being built at GRSE, Kolkata.
• SLV ships will replace the existing Sandhyak Class survey ships with new-generation hydrographic equipment to collect oceanographic data.
• The Survey Vessel Ships are 110m long, and 16m wide with a deep displacement of 3400 tons and a complement of 231 personnel.

Aero India 2023 dates announced; to be held from 13-17 February 2023

• The 14th edition of Aero India will be held from February 13-17, 2023 at the Air Force Station in Yelahanka, announced the Ministry of Defence (MoD). The previous edition of the biennial event was held in a hybrid model in 2021 due to Covid as there were several restrictions in place.
• Asia’s premier air show which was traditionally held for five days was cut short to three. The 14th edition is scheduled for five days and the general public too will be allowed.
• Bengaluru-based defence PSU Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) will organise the event, in which exhibitors from across the world are expected to take part. In the previous edition, over 500 companies from more than 35 countries had taken part.
• Amid speculation and reports that the show would be shifted out of Bengaluru to Lucknow, Aero India 2021 was held in Bengaluru and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh had clarified that Bengaluru was the best city to host the show.
• “Most of the industries related to aerospace are located in Bengaluru and Karnataka. This makes the city the most ideal place to hold the air show,” Singh had stated.

 SPORTS

Canada wins maiden Davis Cup title, ousts Australia 2-0 in final

• Canada won their first Davis Cup title after Felix Auger-Aliassime beat Australia’s Alex de Minaur by 6-3, 6-4 in the second match of the finals. Felix Auger-Aliassime, who is world number six, had to guard against three break points in the first set but also found his rhythm in the eighth game.
• Auger-Aliassime retained his balance in the second set as he defended two break points in the second game.
• He impressively fought his way back from 0-40 to hold his serve in the sixth game. Earlier Denis Shapovalov gave Canada, beaten finalist in 2019 to Spain, the first point with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Thanasi Kokkinakis.
• Shapovalov has dropped both his singles matches this week and needed treatment on his back during a three-set loss in the semi-finals to Italy’s Lorenzo Sonego.
• The 2022 Davis Cup is the 110th edition of the Davis Cup, a tournament between national teams in men’s tennis. It is sponsored by Rakuten. The Russian Tennis Federation were the defending champions, but they and Belarus were eliminated from competing in international events due to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Indian Players won men's and women's singles, mixed doubles, doubles and team titles in Championship 

• Indian players won men’s and women’s singles, mixed doubles, doubles, and team titles in USIC International Railway Sports Association Table Tennis Championship. The Table Tennis Championship was organized by Northwestern Railway Sports Association under the aegis of the Railway Sports Promotion Board from 21st November to 25th November 2022 in Jaipur.
• In the Table Tennis Championship give teams participated including the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Switzerland, and India.
• The championship was inaugurated by Mr. Gautam Arora, AGM, NWR on 22nd November 2022.
• The event was felicitated by Chairman CTT, USIC Mr. Sebastian Picca, Director Activity Mr. Kevin Lebure, Secretary Railways Sports Promotion Board Mr. Prem Lochab, and General Secretary northwest Railways Sports Association Mr. Anuj Kumar Tayal.
• Indian players made the country and Indian Railway proud by securing the first position in men’s and women’s team events.

IBA Youth World Championships: Ravina wins gold as Indian pugilists finish dominant campaign with 11 medals

• Young Indian boxers Vishwanath Suresh, Vanshaj, and Devika Ghorpade recorded a commanding 5-0 win to bag gold at the IBA Youth Men’s and Women’s World Boxing Championships 2022 in La Nucia, Spain. Vishwanath won India’s first gold at the championship after defeating Ronel Suyom of the Philippines in the men’s 48kg final.
• Bhawan Sharma bagged a silver medal in the women’s 48kg category as she conceded a 0-5 loss against Uzbekistan’s Gulsevar Ganieva.
• The IBA Youth Men’s and Women’s World Boxing Championship 2022 was held at La Nucia from 14th November to 26th November 2022.
• To promote the sport and the spirit of boxing in all its forms, in the light of its education, culture, and sports values, and to encourage the development of boxing throughout the world.
• To promote the highest standards concerning the organization, judging, referring, coaching, training, education, and medical and anti-doping controls in the sport of boxing.

 OBITURY

Veteran Actor Vikram Gokhale Dies At 77

• Veteran Bollywood actor Vikram Gokhale passed away recently at the age of 77. He was seen in many popular Bollywood movies like Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, Mission Mangal, Aiyaary, Bhool Bhulaiya, and others. For his contribution to Theatre acting, India’s National Academy of Music, Dance and Drama, Sangeet Natak Akademi, conferred him with the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 2011. A veteran of screen and stage, Vikam Gokhale was a noted actor in Marathi theatre and cinema before making his debut in Hindi films at the age of 26 in Amitabh Bachchan-starrer Parwana (1971).
• Over a career spanning more than 40 years, he appeared in various films, most notably Agneepath (1990), Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam (1999), Bhool Bhulaiyaa (2007), Natsamrat (2015), Hichki (2018), and Mission Mangal (2019). In 2010, he received the National Award for Best Actor for his work in the Marathi film Anumati.

 AWARDS & RECOGNITION

eGramSwaraj and Audit Online of Ministry of Panchayati Raj wins GOLD AWARD under the National Awards for e-Governance

• e-Panchayat Mission Mode Project (eGramSwaraj and AuditOnline) of Ministry of Panchayati Raj has won the GOLD AWARD under the category “Excellence in Government Process Re-engineering for Digital Transformation” of the National Awards for e-Governance.
• The award is a recognition of the excellent and exemplary work done by Team eGovernance and supported by Team NIC-MoPR. Various stakeholders, especially Panchayati Raj Institutions which adopted e-Panchayat applications very fast, have helped in making the e-Panchayat Mission Mode Project successful by strengthening the Panchayati Raj System and making it effective, transparent and efficient.
• To strengthen e-Governance in Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) across the country, Ministry of Panchayati Raj (MoPR) has launched eGramSwaraj, a user friendly web-based portal. eGramSwaraj aims to bring in better transparency in the decentralised planning, progress reporting and work-based accounting.

BANKING AND ECONOMY

MUDRA LOAN NPA at just 3.3, % in 7 years

• Over seven years since launch, borrowers of Mudra loans – essentially micro and small enterprises – have paid their EMIs (equated monthly instalments) to banks. Non-performing assets of banks for Mudra loans – including those extended during the Covid-19 pandemic when small enterprises were the worst hit – are lower than the average NPAs of the sector as a whole, data obtained under the Right to Information Act reveals.
• Nearly ₹5,000 crore of loans or 16.32 per cent of the total bank assets in Maharashtra under the Pradhan Mantri MUDRA Yojana to help small businesses are unpaid as of June 2022, as per official data.
• Parbhani district in the backward Marathwada region of Maharashtra has the highest non-performing assets (NPAs) at 60.54 per cent.
• As per the data, ₹30,019 crore was taken as loan under the MUDRA scheme as of June 2022 by more than 52 lakh borrowers in Maharashtra. Out of this, ₹4,898 crore taken by 6.19 lakh borrowers has been classified as NPAs.
• As far as Mudra loan is concerned, out of the total outstanding of Rs 6,204 crore as on March, Rs 695.50 crore was NPA, which is 11.24 per cent of the total outstanding loan in Hariyana. The NPA of the public sector banks was over 18.63 per cent, followed by Sarv Haryana Gramin Bank (10.84 per cent) and private sector banks (3.55 per cent).