DAILY GK 4-5 JAN
1.
KMRC:
INDIA’S FIRST UNDERWATER METRO SERVICES
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The
Kolkata Metro Rail Corporation (KMRC) announced
that the East-West Metro Corridor project, India’s first underwater metro service, in Kolkata will
be completed by December 2023.
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The 16.6 km corridor will
run through the Hooghly river, connecting Howrah and Kolkata Sealdah railway
stations including the north-south line of the Kolkata Metro at Esplanade.
2.
RBIS
2022 LIST OF D-SIBS
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The Reserve Bank of India
(RBI) released the 2022 list of Domestic Systemically Important Banks (D-SIBs)
based on the data from March 31, 2022.
●
In this, State Bank of India (SBI), ICICI
Bank, and HDFC Bank kept the status as D-SIBs, under the same bucketing
structure as in the 2021 list of D-SIBs.
●
D-SIBs
are interconnected entities, whose failure can impact
the whole of the financial system and create instability. They are also known
s ‘too-big-to fail’ banks.
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SBI
will be in the 3rd bucket .
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ICICI Bank, and HDFC Bank
will be in the 1st bucket
●
The
D-SIBs will be selected by RBI based on the size
of the bank as a percentage of GDP(Gross Domestic Product) i.e the banks having
a size beyond 2% of GDP.
●
The
selected D-SIBs are assessed through the 4 indicators
of Size, Interconnectedness, Lack of readily available substitutes or financial
institution infrastructure, and Complexity.
3.
INDIA’S
EXTERNAL DEBT AT $610 BILLION IN Q2 FY23
●
As per the figures from
the Ministry of Finance, India’s external debt stood at USD 610.5 billion in Q2
FY23 (July-September 2022) showing a
decrease of USD 2.3 billion from Q1 FY23 (April to June 2022).
●
The external debt to GDP
(Gross Domestic Product) ratio stood at 19.2% at the end of Q2FY23 as compared
to 19.3% at end of Q1FY23.
●
The United States (US)
dollar denominated debt remained the largest component of India’s external
debt, with a share of 55.5% at end of Q2FY22, followed by the Indian rupee (30.2%),
Special Drawing Rights (SDR) (6.1%), yen (4.9%), and the euro (2.6%).
4.
BCCI
BEST PLAYERS OF 2022
●
The Board of Control for
Cricket in India (BCCI) released the names of the players who were the best
performers of Team India across all 3 formats – One Day Internationals
(ODIs), T20 and Test in 2022.
●
Best Performers in Tests
Rishabh Pant (Wicket-Keeper Batsman),Jasprit
Bumrah (Bowler)
●
Best Performers in ODIs
Shreyas Iyer (Batter), Mohammed Siraj (Bowler)
●
Best Performers in T20Is
Suryakumar Yadav (Batter), Bhuvneshwar
Kumar (Bowler)
5.
GAGANYAAN:
TO BE LAUNCHED BY 2024
●
Dr Jitendra Singh, Union
Minister for Science and Technology, announced that the Indian Space Research
Organisation (ISRO) is ready to launch India’s 1st Atmamirbhar human flight “Gaganyaan” by the year 2024.
●
There will be two
preliminary launches in 2024. The 1st will be unmanned, and in the 2nd launch,
the robot will be there as a human replica. On the third launch, humans will be
sent into space.
6.
SHASHI
THAROOR’S BOOK “AMBEDKAR: A LIFE”
●
Shashi Tharoor, Member of Parliament (MP – the Lok
Sabha – Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala), has launched his latest book “Ambedkar: A Life”, a biography of
Babasaheb Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar
●
Shashi Tharoor won the
Sahitya Akademi Award 2019 for “An Era of Darkness: The Britsh Empire in
India”.
7.
108TH
INDIAN SCIENCE CONGRESS
●
Narendra Modi, the Prime
Minister(PM) of India, virtually inaugurated and addressed the 108th edition of the Indian Science
Congress (ISC), also known as ISC
2023, organised at Rashtrasant Tukadoji Maharaj (RTM) Nagpur
University, Nagpur, Maharashtra.
●
The
focal theme of the ISC 2023 is “Science and Technology for Sustainable
Development with Women Empowerment”.
●
The ISC Association was
founded in 1914 in Kolkata and held a meeting every year during the 1st week of
January. It has a membership of more than 30,000 scientists.
8.
1ST
WOMAN OFFICER TO BE DEPLOYED AT SIACHEN
●
Captain Shiva Chouhan,
hailing from Rajasthan, has become the first woman officer of the Indian Army
to get operationally deployed at Siachen Glacier, Karakoram range in the
Himalayas in Ladakh, the world’s highest battlefield after training at
Siachen Battle School.
●
She is posted at the “Kumar Post” at an altitude of 15,632
feet where night temperatures are close to -25 degree Celsius.
●
Capt Shiva Chouhan is an
Engineer Officer from the Bengal Sappers.
9.
INDIA
TAKES OVER LEADERSHIP OF ASIAN PACIFIC POSTAL UNION
●
Dr. Vinaya Prakash Singh, former Member (Personnel), Postal
Services Board, will take over as Secretary General of the Asian Pacific
Postal Union (APPU) for
a 4-year term, following the successful elections held during the 13th
APPU Congress in Bangkok (Thailand)
●
He will succeed Mr. Lin
Hongliang of China, the outgoing Secretary General of the APPU, who was
appointed in January 2014.
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This marked the first
time an Indian has taken the lead of an international postal organisation.
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The Asian Pacific Postal
Union (APPU) is an intergovernmental organisation with 32 member countries in
the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region.
●
The APPU was established
in Manila (Philippines) in 1962 and has been headquartered in Bangkok since
2002.
10.
WORLD
BRAILLE DAY 2023 – JANUARY 4
●
United Nations
(UN)’s World Braille Day is annually observed across the globe on
January 4 to highlight and raise awareness about the importance of Braille as a
means of communication for the partially sighted and blind.
●
World Braille Day
commemorates the birth anniversary of Louis
Braille, a 19th-century French educator, who invented Braille in 1824.
