Today's Current Affairs 7th January 2023

INTERNATIONAL

World’s first vaccine for honeybees gets conditional nod in US

• The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has granted a conditional license for a vaccine for honeybees to curb American foulbrood (AFB), a fatal bacterial disease for the insect.
• It is not a stress-related disease and can infect the strongest to the weakest colony in an apiary. Heavy infections can affect most of the brood, severely weakening the colony and eventually killing it.
• The disease cannot be cured, meaning that the destruction of infected colonies and hives or irradiation of infected material is the only way to manage AFB.

 NATIONAL

Centre constitutes High Powered Committee to discuss measures to protect Ladakh's unique culture, language & employment

• The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) in India has established a High Powered Committee (HPC) to address issues related to the protection of Ladakh’s culture, language, land, and employment opportunities. A 17-member committee has been constituted under the Chairmanship of Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai.
• In addition to Rai, the committee will include the Lieutenant Governor of the Union Territory of Ladakh, the Member of Parliament for Ladakh, the Chairmen/Chief Executive Councilors of the LAHDCs of Leh and Kargil, and several other officials from the MHA and the Department of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh Affairs.
• The establishment of the HPC reflects the Indian government’s commitment to addressing the concerns of the people of Ladakh and ensuring that the region’s unique culture and way of life are preserved. With its strategic location and importance, Ladakh plays a vital role in the security and stability of the region, and the HPC will work to ensure that the needs of the people of Ladakh are met and that the region is able to contribute to the overall development of the country.

Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh briefs media about ‘2023 Science Vision’ at New Delhi

• In a media interaction on the first day of the New Year, Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology; Minister of State (Independent Charge) Earth Sciences; MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh today said, 2023 Science Vision will define India at 2047.
• Dr Jitendra Singh added that the year 2023 also happens to be the first of the last 25 years or the last quarter of the calendar before independent India turns 100 at 2047 and realizes its century dreams.
• This is also the year, the Minister said, when India under PM Narendra Modi reiterates its stature in the international fora as the host of G20 as well as the Nation on whose proposal the world is observing International Year of Millets.

Union Minister Parshottam Rupala inaugurates 29 Mobile Veterinary Units & centralised call center in Thiruvananthpuram

• Union Minister for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying Parshottam Rupala on Thursday inaugurated 29 Mobile Veterinary Units (MVU) and centralised call center in Thiruvananthpuram in a major step for the benefit of the livestock farmers in Kerala.
• The Minister highlighted that this intervention will boost the confidence of dairy farmers to rear high productive dairy animals as most of the breeders are reluctant to take their livestock to Veterinary Hospital for treatment and usually end calling quacks for doorstep delivery of services. Each MVU will be manned by a qualified Veterinarian and a Paravet for providing specialized services to livestock farmers, he added.
• The Minister underlined that the scheme is promising and will transform the dairy sector from a subsistence-based farm livelihood to a commercially viable enterprise by giving gainful employment to the youth of the Kerala.

SPORTS

India's first-ever Formula E World Championship to take place on feb 11

• The countdown of the first-ever ABB FIA Formula E World Championship race in India is to be held in Hyderabad. The Formula E World Championship will be held from 11th February.
• The first ticket for the Formula E World Championship was booked by Telangana Special Chief Secretary (Municipal Administration) Arvind Kumar. During the event, Akbar Ebrahim, President Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India, and other dignitaries were also present.
• The government aims to make Hyderabad one of the top cities in the world by hosting Formula E World Championship.
• Hyderabad race on 11th February will be the fourth race of the season, season 9 of Formula E, the first three include Mexico City and Riyadh.
• A total of 11 teams with 23 cars with 22 cars would be racing here and they include some of the top racing companies.

Chess: Tamil Nadu's Pranesh M becomes India's 79th Grandmaster after winning Rilton Cup

• Pranesh M became India’s 79th Grandmaster, having completed his three norms prior to this event. IM Pranesh M emerged as the winner of the Rilton Cup, the first tournament of the FIDE Circuit. The 16-year-old from India, seeded 22nd, made a clean sweep of the field in Stockholm, winning eight games and finishing a full point ahead of IM Kaan Kucuksari (Sweden) and GM Nikita Meshkovs (Latvia).
• The 2022/2023 Rilton Cup, the strongest open tournament in Sweden, ran from December 27 to January 5 and brought together 136 players representing 29 national federations. Pranesh M is now the early leader of the FIDE Circuit with 6.8 circuit points that he gets for this victory. The one who accumulates the most points by the end of the year qualifies for the 2024 FIDE Candidates.

SUMMIT'S & MOU's

JSW Group named as global partner for FIH Men's Hockey World Cup in India

• The International Hockey Federation (FIH) has signed a partnership with the JSW Group for the upcoming FIH Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup 2023 Bhubaneswar-Rourkela, which will kick-off later this month. The group supports and promotes Olympics in India and has created an Olympic Training Institute in the Inspire Institute of Sport as well as has Olympic training centres across the country. The 15th edition of FIH’s flagship event for men will be played from 13 January to 29 January in Odisha, India.
• JSW Group is ranked among India’s leading business houses, active in various sectors including Steel, Energy, Infrastructure, Cement, Paints, Venture Capital and Sports. JSW is committed to using sports as a means of nation-building and has a long history of supporting and promoting Olympic sport in India.

BANKING AND ECONOMY

Equitas Small Finance Bank surges 7% to hit 52-week high after RBI’s nod to stake acquisition

• The Reserve Bank of India gave its approval to SBI Funds Management Ltd to acquire up to 9.99% stake in Equitas Small Finance Bank through the schemes of SBI Mutual Fund, the bank said in an exchange filing. Franklin Templeton Mutual Fund and DSP Mutual Fund have also received RBI’s approval to buy 9.99% stake each in the bank.
• Shares of Equitas Small Finance Bank witnessed a surge in buying activity, with the stock price rising as much as 7% to hit a fresh record high, in an otherwise weak broader market. The share price of the private lender got a boost after the Reserve Bank India (RBI) gave nod to SBI Funds Management Limited (SBIFML) to acquire shares in the bank.
• The aforesaid approval by RBI is subject to compliance with the relevant provisions of Banking Regulation Act,1949, Master Direction on Prior Approval for Acquisition of shares or voting rights in Private Sector Banks dated November 19, 2015 and Master Direction on Ownership in Private sector Banks dated May 12, 2016, issued by RBI.

Zerodha-backed fintech receives debt broker license from Sebi

• Zerodha-backed GoldenPi Technologies has become the first online bond platform provider to receive a debt brokerage license from market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi). The Bengaluru-based fintech firm expects this development to spur greater trust in online bonds and debentures investment space.
• The regulator introduced regulations for online debt trading platforms which stated that no company or individual shall act as an online bond platform provider without the certificate of registration as a stock broker under the SEBI Regulations, 2021.
• The awarding of the license by Sebi to GoldenPi is expected to work as a catalyst for greater investor trust in the online bonds and debentures investment space, the company said in a release.
• The awarding of the license by Sebi to GoldenPi is expected to work as a catalyst for greater investor trust in the online bonds and debentures investment space, the company said in a release.

Axis Bank and fintech company, OPEN join hands to launch a digital current account for businesses

• Axis Bank has partnered with OPEN to provide a fully native digital current account journey for its customers including SMEs (small and medium enterprises), freelancers, homepreneurs, influencers and more. This has been the bank’s first-ever partnership with a fintech player to launch a fully digital current account. Using this account, customers can avail 250+ banking services and claim up to 50 per cent cashback through grab-deals. With this partnership, all existing Axis bank account holders also get access to OPEN’s all-in-one digital banking platform that is used by over 30 lakh businesses currently.
• The partnership is aiming to offer access to Axis Bank’s holistic banking services coupled with OPEN’s end-to-end financial automation tools for business management like payments, accounting, payroll, compliance, expense management and several other services to a larger business community.

Indian GDP pegged to grow at 7% in FY23: NSOs advance estimatess

• India’s economy is expected to grow 7.0% in the current financial year, according to the first advance estimates by the National Statistical Office (NSO). New Delhi had pegged India’s growth at 8.7% in the last fiscal year that ended March 31, 2022.
• Earlier last month, the Reserve Bank of India had lowered the country’s GDP (gross domestic product) growth forecast to 6.8 per cent for the current fiscal from 7 per cent earlier, on account of continued geopolitical tensions and tightening of global financial conditions.
• The RBI had projected the real GDP growth for 2022-23 at 6.8 per cent, with the third quarter at 4.4 per cent and the fourth at 4.2 per cent. It had pared the growth projection for 2022-23 for the third time in December 2022.