Current Affairs One - Liner : 10th & 11th December 2023

• National:
• The Indian Coast Guard Ship (ICGS) Sajag, an Offshore Patrol Vessel, made a goodwill visit to the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The vessel departed from King Abdul Aziz Port, Ad Dammam (Saudi Arabia) on December 8, 2023, and arrived at Port Mina Rashid, Dubai on December 10.

• The year 2023 marks the 50th anniversary of the establishment of formal diplomatic ties between India and the Republic of Korea (South Korea). The bilateral consular relations between India and South Korea were established in 1962 but were upgraded to Ambassador-level on 10th December in 1973.
• Vishnu Deo Sai is set to be the new Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh. He is a senior BJP leader from the tribal belt of Jashpur in northeast of Chhattisgarh's capital Raipur. He will be sworn in as the first tribal Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh.
• The 26th meeting of the Eastern Zonal Council, chaired by Union Home Minister Amit Shah, was held in Patna, Bihar on December 10, 2023. The meeting was organized by the inter-state council secretariat under the Ministry of Home Affairs in collaboration with the Bihar government. Several issues were resolved in the meeting, and committees were formed for some issues.
• ‘One Bharat Sari Walkathon’ was indeed held in Mumbai on 10th December 2023. Organized by the Ministry of Textiles, this event aimed to promote the handloom sari culture in India. Over 5000 women from various fields, including Bollywood & television, sports, and others, participated in the walkathon.
• The high-speed rail project linking Las Vegas and Los Angeles, known as Brightline West, has recently received a significant boost. The Biden administration has pledged $3 billion to help start laying track. This project is led by Brightline West, which is ready to connect Las Vegas and the Los Angeles area at speeds exceeding 186 mph.
• The ‘Viksit Bharat @2047: Voice of Youth’ initiative was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on December 11, 2023. The initiative was launched via video conferencing and is aimed at making India a developed country by 2047.
• The web portal for the National Awards for e-Governance (NAeG) 2024 was launched on 8th December 2023. The Department of Administrative Reforms & Public Grievances (DARPG) organized the formal launching. The portal, www.nceg.gov.in, is operational from 8th December 2023 to 29th December 2023 for registration and submission of applications for the NAeG, 2024.
• International:
• The world’s deepest underground physics laboratory is the China Jinping Underground Laboratory (CJPL). It is located 2.4 kilometers (7,874 feet) underground in southwest China’s Sichuan Province. The laboratory is also the world’s largest underground lab with a room capacity of 300,000 cubic meters (79.3 million gallons), which is about the size of 120 Olympic-sized swimming pools. The laboratory went operational on Thursday, December 8, 2023.
• Banking:
• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has approved HDFC Bank’s product on offline retail payments for adoption. This product was developed in partnership with Crunchfish AB23, a Swedish company. The product, known as ‘OfflinePay’, was piloted under RBI’s Regulatory Sandbox Program.
• The Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) has received a demand order for Goods and Services Tax (GST) collection worth Rs. 183 crore, along with interest and penalty, from the Telangana state. This order is appealable before the Appellate Joint Commissioner (ST).
• The “FIRST SWYP” credit card by IDFC FIRST Bank is targeted towards the Gen Z generation. It offers lifestyle-related offers, EMI benefits, payment flexibility, and referral benefits. The card has an annual subscription fee of Rs.499/- + GST.
• Economy:
• The funding for Indian tech startups has seen a significant decline in 2023. According to reports, there has been a 72% decline in funding across all stages. This is the lowest funding in five years.
• M&A activity has been quite dynamic in 2023. After a muted second half of 2022, M&A activity was expected to pick up in 2023. The total domestic M&A deals fell to $8.7 billion in 2023 (YTD) from $70.75 billion in 2022. However, there were some significant deals in November 2023. For instance, Seven & i Holdings Co. bought the company that operates 7-Eleven convenience stores in Australia for A$1.71 billion.
• Reports:
• The “State of Finance for Nature” is a series of reports by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) that aims to quantify public and private finance flows to nature-based solutions. The reports assess the extent to which these finance flows are aligned with global targets and the investment needed to limit global warming to below 1.5°C, halt biodiversity loss, and achieve land degradation neutrality.
• Summits & Conferences:
• The Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence (GPAI) Summit 2023 is being held from 12th to 14th December 2023 in New Delhi, India. The Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi, is inaugurating the summit. The summit is a multi-stakeholder initiative that brings together leading experts from science, industry, civil society, international organizations, and government.
• Index & Ranking:
• India has indeed moved up one spot to rank 7th in the Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI) 2024. This improvement is attributed to India’s high performance in Global Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions and Energy Use categories.
• Important Days:
• UNICEF Day, also known as UNICEF Foundation Day, is annually observed on December 11. This day marks the establishment of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in 1946. On December 11, 2023, we are going to mark the 77th anniversary of UNICEF Day. The theme for this year’s UNICEF Day is “For every child, every right”.

Questions:

Q.1 When is UNICEF Day observed annually?
a. December 10
b. December 11
c. December 12
d. December 13
Q.2 Where is the GPAI Summit 2023 being held?
a. Paris, France
b. New Delhi, India
c. Tokyo, Japan
d. New York, USA