Current Affairs

Notes:
The Vishakapatnam station is be the first station in the East Coast Railway to implement the “One Station One Product” concept.
The concept has been announced in the recent budget. Etikoppaka toys and handicraft products from the village will be showcased and sold at the Vishakapatnam station, on a pilot basis for a period of 15 days.

Notes:
Hisashi Takeuchi (from Japan) has been appointed as the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Maruti Suzuki for a period of three years with effect from April 1, 2022. Takeuchi will succeed Kenichi Ayukawa as the MD and CEO. Ayukawa will now be designated as Executive Vice-Chairman for a period of six months with effect from 1st April, 2022 till 30th September 2022. Ayukawa joined as MD, MSIL in 2013.

Notes:
Meenakshi Lekhi, Minister of State for Culture and External Affairs participated in the 7th BRICS Culture Ministers’ Meeting.
It was hosted by the People’s Republic of China through video conference with participation from all BRICS Member Nations. Discussion was held under the theme “Establishing a Cultural Partnership Featuring Inclusiveness and Mutual Learning among BRICS”. The Ministers adopted the BRICS Action Plan 2022-2026 to strengthen the cultural cooperation.

Notes:
Union Health Secretary, Rajesh Bhushan has been appointed as the chairperson of the Committee B at the 75th World Health Assembly (WHA). Committee B primarily discusses administrative and financial matters of the World Health Organization (WHO).

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The Dutch government (Netherlands) has recently declared a water shortage, following an unusually dry summer with no rain forecast in the near future.
Intense heat-waves hit large parts of Europe and the United States last month, rising calls for more efforts to tackle global warming. As two-thirds of the Dutch population living below sea level, droughts can become an acute problem in the Netherlands. This may lead to silting up of rivers and hampering of water traffic.

Notes:
As per a recent study by the think tank Pew Research Center, India’s sex ratio at birth, the number of girl children born for every 100 boys, has normalised slightly.
The data from the National Family Health Survey 2019-’21 shows that the sex ratio at birth narrowed from 109 boys per 100 girls in 2015-’16 to 108 boys per 100 girls in 2019-’21. The average annual number of baby girls ‘missing’ in India also fell from about 4.8 lakh in 2010 to 4.1 lakh in 2019.

Notes:
External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar represented India in the Meeting of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Council of Heads of Government.
Dr. Jaishankar also expressed interest in expanding India-SCO trade on the basis of fair market access. A Joint Communique of SCO Heads of Government and other Decisions were adopted at the conclusion of the Meeting.

Notes:
The 48th Goods and Service Tax (GST) Council meeting at the national capital Delhi on 17 December has concluded. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman chaired the meeting.

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The Government raised the Securities Transaction Tax (STT) on futures and options contracts in the stock market by 25%.
The tax is raised with effect from April 1, 2023. This move may push some traders to offshore markets and dent trading volumes on the stock markets.

Notes:
The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Ground Force has developed a new domestically-build suicide drone which can destroy targets within a range of 450 kilometers.
The unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), dubbed Me’raj 532, has a piston engine has a one-way range of 450 kilometers. The kamikaze drone was designed and manufactured by young Iranian experts.