Daily Current Affairs- 3 January

Today's Current Affairs 3rd January 2023

INTERNATIONAL

Qin Gang is named China's new foreign minister

• China has appointed Qin Gang, its ambassador to the United States and a trusted aide of President Xi Jinping, to be its new foreign minister, as Beijing and Washington seek to stabilize rocky relations. This decision was made by the 13th National People’s Congress (NPC) Standing Committee. Qin, 56, replaces Wang Yi, who has been foreign minister for the past decade. Wang, 69, was promoted to the politburo of the Chinese Communist Party and is expected to play a bigger role in Chinese foreign policy.
• Qin rose quickly through various positions in China’s foreign ministry, including two stints as ministry spokesman between 2006 and 2014, and as chief protocol officer between 2014 and 2018, overseeing many of Xi’s interactions with foreign leaders. As spokesman, he stood out among his peers for being one of the earliest Chinese diplomats to make sharp comments in defence of China’s increasingly assertive foreign policy, what later became known as “wolf warrior” diplomacy.

 NATIONAL

CM to open Indian Library Congress in Kannur

• Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan inaugurated Indian Library Congress in Kannur, Kerala. The inauguration event of the Indian Library Congress was organized by the People’s Mission for Social Development and Library Council.
• The event was hosted by Kannur University, Kerala from 1st January to 3rd January 2023. Higher Education Minister Dr. R. Bindu will inaugurate 100 new libraries in the district as part of the event.
• Ramachandran Gadnapally MLA, Kannur District Panchayat President PP Divya, Kasaragod District Panchayat President Baby Balakrishnan, MV Jayaranjan, Prabir Purkayastha, TK Govindan, PK Vijayan, Dr. KV Kunhikrishnan, Pramod Vellachal, and others were also present during the inauguration ceremony.

Chandrayaan-3 to Gaganyaan: 2023 is going to be about bigger, bolder, braver missions from India

• In 2022, the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) reached new heights as it experimented with new tests to confirm its human spaceflight mission, built new facilities to train its astronauts, and created a new connection with the private sector by putting India’s first privately made rocket to the test. The year 2023 won’t be any different. Instead, since the roster is set, it might be a year of bigger, bolder, and braver expeditions from India to space.
• The first test of the Gaganyaan mission, the nation’s first astronaut mission that sends Indians outside the planet in an indigenously manufactured technology, is the most audacious venture the Indian space agency has ever undertaken.

‘SMART’ programme launched for Ayurveda professionals to boost R&D in Ayurveda

• The National Commission for Indian System of Medicine (NCISM) and the Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences (CCRAS), the two prominent institutions under the Ministry of Ayush, Government of India for regulating medical education and conducting scientific research respectively, have launched ‘SMART’ (Scope for Mainstreaming Ayurveda Research in Teaching Professionals). The program aimed to boost scientific research in priority healthcare research areas through Ayurveda colleges and hospitals.
• The proposed initiative is conceptualised with an objective to identify, support and promote innovative research ideas in healthcare research areas including Osteoarthritis, Iron Deficiency Anaemia, Chronic Bronchitis, Dyslipidemia, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Obesity, Diabetes Mellitus, Psoriasis, Generalised Anxiety Disorder, Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD)”.

J&K: CRPF celebrates ‘Jashn-e-Chillai-Kalan’

• On the occasion of Chillai Kalan in the Kashmir Valley, 44 Bn CRPF organized a function “Jashn – e – Chillai Kalan” on 26/12/2022 at HMT Complex, Zainakote, Srinagar. During this competition, 54 participants (including 12 Female participants) from Schools/colleges & other educational institutions were present along with their guardians & teachers. Commandant 44 Bn, CRPF inaugurated the event.
• The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) is a federal police organisation in India under the authority of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) of the Government of India. It is one among the Central Armed Police Forces. The CRPF’s primary role lies in assisting the State/Union Territories in police operations to maintain law and order and counter-insurgency.

 IMPORTANT DAYS

DRDO celebrates its 65th Foundation Day; Floral tributes paid to former President Dr APJ Abdul Kalam at DRDO Headquarters in New Delhi

• Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) Headquarters in New Delhi has marked the 65th Foundation Day of the Organisation, which is celebrated on 1st January every year. DRDO Chairman Dr S V Kamat addressed the DRDO fraternity on the occasion. He reaffirmed DRDO’s commitment towards R&D excellence and briefed about the development of cutting edge technologies for self-reliance in defence.
• On the occassion of the day, a DRDO monograph ‘Infrared Signatures, Sensors and Technologies’ authored by Dr Kamal Nain Chopra, a former DRDO Scientist, was also released by the Chairman DRDO. DRDO calendar 2023 was also released. In addition, Secretary DD R&D and Chairman DRDO felicitated all the employees who have completed 25 years of their service in DRDO.
• It is a premier defence research and development agency under the Ministry of Defence, Government of India.
• It is working on several cutting-edge military technology areas, including aeronautics, armaments, combat vehicles, electronics, instrumentation, engineering systems, missiles, materials, naval systems, advanced computing, simulation, cyber, hypersonic technology, quantum computing and communications.

 SUMMIT'S & MOU's

India & Austria ink pact on migration and mobility

• Last year witnessed “exploding number of Indians” who arrived at the borders of Austria as illegal immigrants, said the Foreign Minister of Austria Alexander Schallenberg on January 2, 2023.
• The Minister made the comment soon after the Indian and the Austrian teams signed a Comprehensive Migration and Mobility Partnership Agreement that Mr Schallenberg described as “most important”. He called for dialogue to resolve the ongoing conflict in Ukraine and described India as a voice of “peace” and “reason”.

 BREAKING BARRIERS: THE STORY OF A DALIT CHIEF SECRETARY

• Former IAS officer Kaki Madhava Rao has authored a new book titled “Breaking Barriers: the Story of a Dalit Chief Secretary” which addresses the details about the dynamics of civil services at the ground level and also fills the gap in the knowledge about micro policies and governance. The book is published by Emesco Books Private Limited. K Madhava Rao is a 1962 batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer, who retired as Chief Secretary of Andhra Pradesh (AP). He was born in Pedamaddali village of Krishna district, AP in 1939. He also served in the Reserve Bank of India(RBI) as a Director and as a member of a sub-committee, the Board for Financial Supervision.
• Chapters 2,3,4, and 5 are full of details on his exposure to the national stage, a different world from rural Andhra Pradesh. The account here is of how a provincial young man matures into an adult in the world at large.

 BANKING AND ECONOMY

UPI Transactions Rise Over 7.82 Billion in December 2022. Here’s How UPI Has Grown Over The Years

• India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI) processed a record 7.82 billion transactions in December, worth a total of INR 12.82tn ($174.6bn). This represents an increase of 7.12% in volume and 7.73% in value compared to November. On a year-on-year basis, volume and value increased by 71% and 55% respectively.
• In 2022, UPI processed over 74 billion transactions worth INR 125.94tn. In 2021, it processed 38 billion transactions worth INR 71.54tn.
• This represents a YoY increase of 90% in volume and 76% in value.
• UPI reached 1 billion transactions in October 2019, 2 billion in October 2020, and 3 billion in January 2021.

SBI, ICICI, HDFC Bank remain systemically important banks: RBI

• The Reserve Bank of India said SBI, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank remain domestic systemically important banks (D-SIBs). D-SIBs are those interconnected entities whose failure can impact the whole of the financial system and create instability. In addition to the usual capital conservation buffer, D-SIBs will need to maintain additional Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1). As per the RBI’s latest press release, SBI will have to maintain an additional 0.6 per cent CET1 as a percentage of its risk-weighted assets. Similarly, ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank need to maintain additional 0.2 per cent each.
• The additional CET1 required for D-SIBs was phased-in from April 1, 2016 and became fully effective from April 1, 2019. The additional CET1 requirement will be in addition to the capital conservation buffer.
• The Reserve Bank had issued the framework for dealing with D-SIBs on July 22, 2014. The D-SIB framework requires the Reserve Bank to disclose the names of banks designated as D-SIBs starting from 2015 and place these banks in appropriate buckets depending upon their Systemic Importance Scores (SISs). Based on the bucket in which a D-SIB is placed, an additional common equity requirement has to be applied to it.

Coffee exports up nearly 2% to 4 lakh tonne in 2022

• Coffee shipments from India, Asia’s third-largest producer and exporter, rose 1.66 per cent to 4 lakh tonne in 2022 on rise in instant coffee exports and re-exports. Exports stood at 3.93 lakh tonne in 2021. In value terms, coffee export was higher at Rs 8,762.47 crore in 2022 as against Rs 6,984.67 crore in the previous year. India ships both Robusta and Arabica varieties, besides instant coffee.
• According to the Board’s latest data, shipment of Robusta coffee declined marginally to 2,20,974 tonne in 2022 from 2,20,997 tonne in the previous year.
• Similarly, export of Arabica fell 11.43 per cent to 44,542 tonne from 50,292 tonne. However, export of instant coffee increased 16.73 per cent to 35,810 tonne in 2022 from 29,819 tonne in the previous year. About 99,513 tonne of coffee was re-exported in 2022, higher than 92,235 tonne in the previous year.