26th December, 2022 Current Affairs

26th December, 2022 Current Affairs

NATIONAL
CCEA Increases the Minimum Support Prices for Copra for 2023 Season

• The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs(CCEA) chaired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has approved Minimum Support Prices (MSPs) for copra for 2023 season.  The approval is based on recommendations of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices and views of major coconut growing states.
• The MSP for Fair Average Quality of milling copra has been fixed at Rs. 10860/- per quintal and for ball copra at Rs. 11750/- per quintal for 2023 season.
• This is an increase of Rs. 270/- per quintal for milling copra and Rs. 750/- per quintal for ball copra over the previous season.
• This would ensure a margin of 51.82 percent for milling copra and 64.26 percent for ball copra over the all India weighted average cost of production.
• National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd. (NAFED) and National Cooperative Consumers’ Federation (NCCF) will continue to act as Central Nodal Agencies (CNAs) for procurement of copra and de-husked coconut under Price Support Scheme (PSS).

Rajya Sabha’s productivity during the winter session recorded at 102%

• The final day of the winter session, the Rajya Sabha was adjourned sine die, with a productivity score of 102%. Jagdeep Dhankhar, the chairman of the Rajya Sabha, claims that in 13 sittings, functional time was 64 hours and 50 minutes as opposed to the entire allocated time of 63 hours and 26 minutes, and productivity was 102%.
• 1,920 unstarred questions were answered in the 13 sittings, while 82 starred questions were resolved.
• After 28 hours of debate in which 160 members participated, nine bills were ultimately passed or returned during the session.
• Although the term “House of Elders” is not listed in the official lexicon, Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar had noted in my opening address on December 7 that it adequately captured the significance of this institution.
• The House of Elders, Rajya Sabha is expected by the nation to take a decisive, leading role in reinforcing and advancing the fundamental principles of the Republic
• Rajya Sabha is also expected to be establishing the traditions of Parliamentary democracy that best represent the highest standards of deliberation and imitation, according to Jagdeep Dhankhar.

INTERNATIONAL
Sitiveni Rabuka elected as new Prime Minister of Fiji

• Sitiveni Rabuka was confirmed as Fiji’s next Prime Minister  more than two decades after the former military commander first held the office in a term lasting nearly seven years. The 74-year-old won the nomination by one vote over incumbent Frank Bainimarama at a sitting of the Fijian Parliament in Suva.
•  It also signals the end of former Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama’s 16 years in power. In the 55-member Parliament of Fiji, Sitiveni Rabuka secured 28 votes against Bainimarama’s 27 votes.

CPN-Maoist Centre Chief Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda Set to Become New Nepal PM

• In a swift move, CPN-Maoist Centre chief Pushpa Kamal Dahal, also known as Prachanda, mustered the support of 168 parliamentarians, way above the magic mark of 138 in the House of Representatives, clearing the way for his third stint in the Nepal Prime Minister’s Office in the last 14 years. President Bidya Devi Bhandari appointed Prachanda as the prime minister as per Article 76 (2) of the constitution.
• After he snapped ties with the ruling coalition led by Sher Bahadur Deuba, Prachanda went to the President’s office in the company of KP Sharma Oli, chief of the Communist Party of Nepal – Unified Marxist Leninist (UML), with a list of supporters from seven political parties.
• Nepal has seen 10 government changes since 2008 when the 239-year-old monarchy was abolished.

Spain passes new transgender law, anyone above 16 can change their gender

• The lower house of the Spanish Parliament approved a measure allowing individuals over the age of 16 to change their legally recorded gender without the need for medical supervision. According to the law, drafted by the center-left coalition government, minors between the ages of 14 and 16 must be accompanied by their parents or legal guardians and those between the ages of 12 and 13 will require a judge’s permission to make the move.
• The law also abolishes a restriction that banned lesbian couples from registering their children under both parents’ names and forbids the use of so-called conversion therapies to repress sexual orientation or gender identity.

ECONOMY
IMF decreases FY23 India’s GDP growth forecast to 6.8%

• In light of lower-than-anticipated output in the second quarter and more sluggish external demand, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) reduced India’s growth prediction for FY23 from 7.4% forecasted in July to 6.8%. India’s growth projection for FY23 has undergone three decreases, starting from 9% in January of this year.
• According to the IMF’s premier World Economic Outlook (WEO), which was published in Washington, DC, India’s growth is predicted to further decelerate in FY24, reaching 6.1%.
• Only Saudi Arabia is projected by IMF to develop at a greater rate than India in 2022, at a rate of 7.6%.
• The forecast for China’s growth by IMF in 2022 has been lowered by 0.1 percentage point to 3.2%.
• The multilateral lender, IMF warned policymakers that “storm clouds” were forming and declared that the worst was still to come for the struggling global economy.
• The dollar may gain further, inflation may continue to rise, and widespread developing market debt trouble is conceivable, according to the IMF.
• According to the IMF, the three largest economies—the US, the EU, and China—will continue to stagnate in 2023, which will seem like a recession to many people.

AWARDS
Kura PokkhirShunyeUra and Upon Entry Awarded Best Film at KIFF

• Kura PokkhirShunyeUra (The Golden Wings of Watercocks) of Bangladesh and Upon Entry of Spain won the Best Film Award at the 28th Kolkata International Film Festival.
• Upon Entry is a film from Spain which is a story about the unexpected interrogation of a couple from Barcelona that has to go through after landing in New York with pre-approved immigration visas. Kura PokkhirShunyeUra is a Bangladeshi Film that revolves around the journey of a peasant who is affected by the fury of nature.

Indian Scientist Prof. Thalappil Pradeep Awarded VinFuture Special Prize 2022

• Professor Thalappil Pradeep, Indian Scientist, India Institute of Technology, Madras received VinFuture special Prize on 20th December 2022 in Hanoi. Prof Thalappil Pradeep was awarded for the innovation of a low-cost filtration system to remove arsenic and other heavy metals from groundwater.
• Thalappil Pradeep is an Indian scientist and professor of chemistry in the Department of Chemistry at the Indian Institute of Technology Madras. He has received the Padma Shri award in 2020 for his distinguished contribution to the field of science and technology.
• He received the Nikkei Asia Prize in 2020, The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) Prize in 2018, and the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology in 2008.  Thalappil Pradeep was born on 8th July 1963 in Panthavoor, Kerala.

Published date : 26 Dec 2022 05:30PM