2nd December Current Affairs : Vision IAS Current Affairs

On 30th November 2022, Jammu and Kashmir’s Bandipora hosted the 1st-ever Tribal Winter
Festival of Kashmir Valley which was held at Ketson village in the Aloosa area of North Kashmir’s
Bandipora district.
• The festival aims to educate people about homestays, horseback riding, hotel management, etc.
i. District administration Bandipora, in collaboration with the Department of Tourism and Tribal
Affairs, Ministry of Tribal Affairs (MoTA), Government of India (GoI), organised a one-day Tribal
Winter Festival.
ii. The 2 tribal communities performed the ‘gatka’, portraying the fighting spirit of the Gujjars amid all
geographic, social and political odds.

According to the World Bank (WB) Report titled “Climate Investment Opportunities in India’s
Cooling Sector,” India is experiencing increasing temperatures every year, and by 2030, over 160-
200 million people across the country could be subjected to severe heat waves every year.
i. Due to productivity declines brought on by heat stress, 34 million people in India would lose their
jobs. Food loss due to heat during transportation currently costs close to USD 13 billion per year.
• There will be a need for a new air conditioner every 15 seconds by 2037 and hence the demand
for cooling is projected to be 8 times more than it is in 2022.
• If temperatures in India continue to rise owing to climate change, keeping places cool with
alternative and novel energy-efficient technology can create a USD 1.6 trillion investment
opportunity by 2040.
• This would result in an expec

In an attempt to enhance the availability of securities for trading by investors, the Securities and
Exchange Board of India (SEBI) reduced the timeline for the listing of debt securities issued through
private placement to T+3 days from the current timeline of T+4 days. (T refers to issue closure date).
• The new guidelines will take effect on January 1, 2023.
i. To give further clarity and standardization in the process of issuing and listing such securities on a
private placement basis, SEBI has specified the steps involved in pre-listing and post-listing, as well as
relevant deadlines, both through the Electronic Book Provider (EBP) platform and otherwise.

Fino Payments Bank partnered with Protean eGov Technologies (formerly NSDL e-Governance
Infrastructure Limited) to expand Permanent Account number (PAN) card issuance services in India,
especially in rural areas.
i. Protean eGov Technologies accepts and processes PAN applications on behalf of the Income tax
department.
ii. Under the partnership, Fino payments bank will act as PAN Service Agency (PSA) of Protean and
facilitate paperless PAN issuance services.

The Hornbill Festival, the biggest and most important festival in Northeast India, is annually
observed from 1st – 10th December at the Naga Heritage Village of Kisama located at a distance of 12
km from Kohima, in Nagaland.
i. 2022 marks the 23rd edition of the Hornbill Festival.
ii. Jagdeep Dhankhar, Vice President of India, graced the inaugural function of the festival as the Chief
Guest. It is the main celebration of the Naga Warrior Tribes and is generally observed for 10 days.

The World Bank in its 37th Migration and Development Brief 2022 titled ‘Remittances Brave
Global Headwinds , Special Focus: Climate Migration’ stated that India is all set to receive more than
USD 100 billion (bn) in yearly remittances in 2022.
• This means migrant workers from India will send a record USD 100 bn in 2022 to their home
country (India), despite global headwinds like rising prices.
• This is for the first time a single country will receive more than USD 100 bn in yearly
remittances.
i. India remains the world’s top recipient of remittances
ii. The growth of global remittance flows is expected to be 4.9% in 2022 and remittances to South Asia
grew an estimated 3.5% to USD 163 billion in 2022.

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) authorised Tamilnad Mercantile Bank Limited (TMBL) to undertake
government business on behalf of RBI.
• An agreement appointing TMBL as an ‘agency bank’ of RBI to undertake government agency
business was signed by the bank and RBI in Mumbai, Maharashtra.
i. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) modified guidelines on digital lending that was issued in September
2022 to protect customers from exorbitant interest rates by certain entities and also check unethical
loan recovery practices, effective from 1st December 2022.

India and South Korea signed an agreement for an Economic Development Cooperation Fund
(EDCF) loan worth 245.081 billion (approx. Rs. 1,495.68 crores) for the establishment of an
Intelligent Transport System on the Nagpur-Mumbai Super Communication Expressway Project with
a goal to improve traffic management efficiency.
i. This is the first project that is funded by an EDCF loan by the Government of the Republic of Korea

Germany launched a proposal to grant 1 billion Euro (Rs. 8440 crore) for energy transition
projects across India under a bilateral partnership for green and sustainable development.
• The announcement was made ahead of German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock’s visit to
India in December 2022.
i. The funding comprises 10% in grants and the remaining 90% will be in the form of lines of credit
ii. The lines of credit will be provided by KfW Development Bank with ‘very cheap interest’ ranging
from 2.7% to 3.2% for development projects in states including Tamil Nadu and Meghalaya

Tree Tag, a green start-up founded by climate-conscious individuals from Kerala, striving to reduce
carbon emissions through tech-integrated afforestation projects, has won the Climathon 2022, the
hackathon held at Kerala Technology Innovation Zone (KTIZ), Kochi, Kerala from 26 to 27th
November 2022.
• The Tree Tag team won the award under the category of Life On Land, addressing the
problem statement such as ‘monitoring and protecting existing forest eco-systems’.
i. The Wildlife Trust of India has selected the Man-Animal Conflict Mitigation Team, an 8-member
team, from Chinnakkanal (Munnar forest division), Kerala, for its award this year (2022) for reducing
incidents of man-animal conflict in the region.
• The team will receive the award on 2nd December 2022, at ‘Aa Aana’, a month-long exhibition
that started on 1st December 2022 in Fort Kochi, Kerala.

The National Statistical Office (NSO), Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, (MoSPI)
released the Estimates of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for the Second Quarter (July-September)
2022-23 or Q2FY23.
i. As per it, India’s gross domestic product (GDP) for the Q2FY23 slowed to 6.3% as compared to the
expansion of 8.4% in Q2FY22. It was 13.5% in the April-June quarter of FY23 (Q1FY23).
ii. However, the Indian economy is on track to achieve 8-7% GDP growth in FY23.
• The next release of quarterly GDP estimates for the quarter October-December, 2022 (Q3
FY23) will be on February 28, 2023.

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) announced that it had been selected by the Rail Delivery Group
(RDG) to design, develop, implement, and operate the UK’s Rail Data Marketplace (RDM).
i. The contract between TCS and RDG is for a term of 6 years including an extension term opportunity

REC Limited (formerly Rural Electrification Corporation Limited) signed an MoU with Power Finance
Corporation Ltd (PFC), according to the Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) Performance
Evaluation System for FY 2022–23 for Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs).
i. Vivek Kumar Dewangan, Chairman & Managing Director (CMD) of REC signed the MoU with
Ravinder Singh Dhillon, CMD of PFC.

A team of researchers from the University of Alberta(U of A) have discovered 2 new non-earth
minerals – elaliite and elkinstantonite, from the El Ali Meteorite, which was found in Somalia in 2020.
i. The findings related to the 2 new minerals were shared during the Space Exploration symposium of
the University of Alberta held from 21st to 22nd November 2022.
ii. Elaliite comes from the name of El Ali meteorite, and Elkinstantonite is named in honour of Vice
president at Arizona State University Lindy Elkins-Tanton, principal investigator of NASA’s upcoming
Psyche mission.
iii. The 2 new minerals were discovered in a single 70-gram slice of the 15-tonne (33,000-pound) El
Ali meteorite, that was sent to the U of A for classification. El Ali is the 9th largest meteorite ever
found on earth.

The scientists of the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) have discovered a new species of head-shield
sea slug, named Melanochlamys bengalensis, from the coast of the Bay of Bengal near Digha (West
Bengal) and other locations such as Bakkhali, Tajpur, New Digha Udaipur in West Bengal and Talsari,
Chandipur, and Kanika Islands in Odisha.
i. It is small, with lengths from 12 millimetres (mm) to 14mm, black in colour, has a shell inside its
body, has no backbone (invertebrate), and normally crawls on the intertidal zone

The Director General of Indian Coast Guard (ICG), VS Pathania, commissioned 840 Squadron(840
Sqn (CG)), an ICG Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) Mk-III squadron, at ICG Air Station, Chennai,
Tamil Nadu.
i. The commissioning of 840 Sqn (CG) highlights the achievements towards self-reliance in the field of
helicopter manufacturing, in line with “Aatmanirbhar Bharat” vision.
ii. ALH Mk-III helicopters are indigenously manufactured by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL)

China launched a spacecraft with a 3-person crew to its under-construction Tiangong space station
amid intensifying competition with the United States. It landed about 6 hours after the launch.
i. The Shenzhou-15 spaceship carrying the aircraft was launched from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch
Centre in Northwest China.
ii. The team for the six-month mission is led by veteran Fei Junlong and two first-time astronauts
Deng Qingming and Zhang Lu.

The Israeli Navy successfully tested the first-of-its-kind long-range interceptor missile against an
“advanced” cruise missile LRAD, part of the Barak MX defense system.
i. LRAD was launched from a Sa’ar 6-class corvette INS Magen, after detecting a target that resembled
an advanced cruise missile and destroyed it.
ii. LARD was developed by the Israeli Aerospace Industries and the Defense Ministry’s research and
development division, known by the Hebrew acronym MAFAT.

The United Nations(UN)’s World Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) Day 2022 was
observed across the globe on 1st December 2022 with the theme of “Equalize”.
i. UNAIDS – United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS has been campaigning for World AIDS Day since
its creation in 2004.
ii. Universal Symbol: The Red ribbon is the universal symbol of AIDS awareness and support for
people living with HIV.
iii. The UNAIDS released its World AIDS Day Report 2022 – “Dangerous Inequalities”, an analysis by
the UN ahead of World AIDS Day 2022 states that inequalities are obstructing the efforts to end AIDS

Governor– Anandiben Patel
Wildlife Sanctuary– National Chambal Sanctuary; Kishanpur Wildlife Sanctuary
Tiger Reserve– Pilibhit Tiger Reserve; Dudhwa Tiger Reserve

The Capital of Vietnam is Hanoi and Vietnamese Dong is the currency of Vietnam.
i. The Vietnam embassy in India appointed Gujarat-based businessman Saurin Dilipbhai Shah as
Honorary Consul of Vietnam in Gandhinagar (Gujarat) as part of Vietnam’s efforts to deepen
cooperation between the two countries.

The Capital of Egypt is Cairo and the Egyptian Pound is the currency of Egypt.
i. Forensic scientists have reconstructed the face of the ‘world’s first’ pregnant ancient Egyptian
mummy more than 2,000 years after her death, using 2D and 3D techniques.
ii. The mummy known as ‘The Mystery Lady’ is believed to have died 28 weeks into her pregnancy,
aged between 20-30.
iii. The mummy was discovered and taken out of Egypt into Warsaw, Poland in 1826.

Chief Minister- Neiphiu Rio
Governor- Jagdish Mukhi
National Park- Intanki National Park (Peren, Nagaland)

The Board of Cricket Council of India (BCCI) announced the names of former Indian cricket players
Ashok Malhotra and Jatin Paranjape as members of the Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC). The
Committee also has Sulakshana Naik as its third member, who has played for the Indian women
cricket team.
i. Ashok Malhotra recently served as the President of the Indian Cricketers’ Association and has
represented the country in 7 Test matches and 20 One Day International (ODI) matches.
ii. Jatin Paranjape has a relatively short career with the Indian cricket team and has played 4 One Day
International (ODIs) for the country.

The newly constructed Jhula Bailey Suspension Bridge at Jammu & Kashmir’s Ramban, which
replaced the earlier one which was declared unsafe, was made functional for traffic.
i. The Bailey Suspension Bridge (BSB) over Chenab river connects old town Ramban with the district
administrative complex Maitra Ramban.

Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi has paid homage to noted Tamil writer Thiru Azha. Valliappa
on his birth centenary (on 07 NOV 2022) .
i. He is not only remembered for his outstanding writing and poetry but also for his efforts to
popularize history, culture and literature among children.”

Yogi Adityanath, Chief Minister(CM) of Uttar Pradesh(UP) launched the “One District One Sport”
(ODOS) to promote indigenous sports in UP. The scheme aims to revive the indigenous sports that are
losing their presence in the field.
i. The Department of Sports, Uttar Pradesh is set to prepare the blueprint of the scheme and identify
popular sports for each district.
ii. The ODOS scheme was started in line with the One District one product(ODOP) scheme, which
promoted local items of each of the 75 districts of UP.

India’s 1st permanent ramp for persons with disability was inaugurated at Marina beach, Chennai
(Tamil Nadu).
i. This facility has been developed with funding from Singara Chennai 2.0 at an estimated cost of Rs
1.14 crore.
ii. The facility was established by the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC)

K.S. Jawahar Reddy, a 1990 batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) Officer took charge as the Chief
Secretary to the Government of Andhra Pradesh (AP). He will further continue to be in post till 2024.
• He replaces Sameer Sharma, who is retiring from service on attaining the age of
superannuation on 30th November 2022.
• Jawahar Reddy is currently serving as the Special Chief Secretary to the Chief Minister of
Andhra Pradesh (YS Jagan Mohan Reddy), by which all the affairs of the Chief Minister’s Office
(CMO) are currently under his supervision.
i. As per the order of the Union Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievance and Pension, Madhya
Pradesh (MP) Chief Secretary Iqbal Singh Bains, who was to retire on 30th November 2022, has
been given an extension of six-months and will continue in the post until 31st May 2023.
ii. The extension of Iqbal Singh Bains was recommended by Chief Minister (CM) Shivraj Singh
Chouhan