SPOTLIGHT DAILY–

DECEMBER 2,3 & 4, 2023

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Contents
NATIONAL NEWS .......................................................................................................................................................... 2
STATE NEWS ................................................................................................................................................................. 3
INTERNATIONAL NEWS .............................................................................................................................................. 3
BANKING AND ECONOMY.......................................................................................................................................... 3
REPORTS AND INDICES ............................................................................................................................................. 6
DEFENCE NEWS .......................................................................................................................................................... 6
IMPORTANT DAYS ........................................................................................................................................................ 8
SPORTS .......................................................................................................................................................................... 8
MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING .................................................................................................................. 9
APPOINTMENTS ......................................................................................................................................................... 11

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NATIONAL NEWS
1. India has been re-elected to International Maritime Organisation Council for the 2024–25
biennium.
• India comes under the Category of 10 states with "the largest interest in international
seaborne trade.
• About IMO Council-
o It is the executive organ of IMO and is responsible, under the assembly, for supervising
the work of the organization.
o It performs the functions of the assembly, except that of making recommendations to
governments on maritime safety and pollution prevention.
Knowledge Nuggets

About IMO-
• It is a specialised agency of the United Nations responsible for regulating shipping.
• It was established following agreement at a UN conference held in Geneva in 1948.
• Headquarters- London, UK
• Established- 1958
• Secretary General- Kitack Lim
Source: PIB

2. Union Minister for Jal Shakti Gajendra Singh Shekhawat has released Dynamic Ground
Water Resource Assessment Report 2023.
• Assessment carried by-
o It is carried jointly by Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) and States/UTs, which can
be used for taking suitable interventions by various stake-holders.
• Key observations-
o Analysis indicates improvement in ground water conditions in 226 assessment units in
the country compared with 2022 assessment data.
o Total annual ground water recharge for entire country is 449.08 billion cubic meters
(BCM), while extraction is 241.34 BCM.
o Stage of ground water extraction stands at 59.23%.
o Out of total 6553 assessment units, 4793 units categorized as ‘Safe’.
Source: PIB

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3. Central Government has approved ₹1658.17 crore recovery plan for Joshimath in
Uttarakhand which was affected by landslide and ground subsidence.
Source: ET

STATE NEWS
1. Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu and US Ambassador to India Eric
Garcetti have inaugurated ‘The Hump WWII Museum’ in Pasighat, East Siang district of
Arunachal Pradesh.
• More about museum-
o It is 2nd museum in Asia dedicated to fallen airmen of the Allied Forces during WWII.
o It is named after Hump route, an air route from Assam in India to Yunnan in China.
Source: ET

INTERNATIONAL NEWS
1. Indian Railways have planned to install AI based surveillance system ‘Gajraj’ to prevent
elephant deaths on track.
• More about surveillance system-
o This surveillance system will be installed with the total cost of 181 crore on 700
kilometres of route passing through forest areas.
o It will be installed in forest areas of Assam, West Bengal, Odisha, Kerala, Jharkhand
and some parts of Chhattisgarh and Tamil Nadu which are home to elephants.
o It will alert loco pilots well in time about the presence of elephants on tracks.
o It was introduced by Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) in December 2022 in 11 elephant
corridors.
• How does the system work?
o Every time an elephant steps on to the track, it generates an alert to the train controller,
station master, train drivers etc.
Source: livemint

BANKING AND ECONOMY

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1. Radhakishan Damani, founder of retail chain D-Mart has topped the IDFC FIRST Private
Hurun India's Top 200 Self-made Entrepreneurs of the Millennia 2023 list.
• Key observations-
• Status and valuation-
o Eight of the Top 10 most valuable companies in the list are startups.
o The cumulative value of all the companies in the list is Rs 30 trillion, which is
equivalent to the gross domestic product of Denmark
• Diversity in Entrepreneurship-
o The list showcases the vibrancy of Indian entrepreneurship across various
parameters such as age, gender, and geography.
o One-third of the entrepreneurs on the list are under the age of 40.
o The eldest entrepreneur on the list is 80 years old.
• Geographical Distribution-
o The entrepreneurs are from 23 cities in India.
o Bengaluru leads with 129 entrepreneurs, followed by Mumbai (78), Gurugram, and
New Delhi (49).
• Youngest Entrepreneur-
o The youngest entrepreneur on the list is Kaivalya Vohra of Zepto, aged 21.
• Top Women Entrepreneurs-
o Falguni Nayar of Nykaa tops the list of women entrepreneurs.
o Ghazal Alagh of Mamaearth and Saumya Singh Rathore of Winzo, both aged 35, are
the youngest women on the list.
Knowledge Nuggets

About Hurun India-

• Headquarters- Mumbai, Maharashtra
• Established- 2012

About IDFC First Bank-

• Headquarters- Mumbai
• MD & CEO- V. Vaidyanathan
Source: Business Standard

2. Pharmacy Council of India (PCI) has launched a revamped ‘DIGI-PHARMed’ portal.

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• Objective-
o To regulate the Pharmacy education in the country by enrolment/ registration of
Pharmacy institutions/ Pharmacist/ Pharmacy student /Pharmacist jobseeker across
India.
• About DIGI-PHARMed’ portal-
o It is a cloud-based application to provide end-to-end services to stakeholders
o It will help in improving user satisfaction, promoting ease of doing business and
improving productivity and transparency in administrative functioning
Knowledge Nuggets

About PCI-
• It is a statutory body working under the ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW),
Government of India.
• Headquarters- New Delhi
Source: ET

3. HDFC securities has launched mobile trading app ‘HDFC SKY’ on Amazon Web Services.
• Key features-
o It will provide secure and low-latency trading services to retail investors who prefer
mobile trading.
o It will enable investors to access the stock market at a scale of thousands of
transactions per second.
o With AWS, HDFC Securities will reduce its annual Information technology (IT)
infrastructure and management costs by up to 50%.
Source: TOI

4. SEBI has extended the timeline for implementation of linking SEBI complaint redressal
(SCORES) with the online dispute resolution platform to April 1, 2024.
• Earlier, the deadline for linking both the platforms was December 4.
Knowledge Nuggets

About SCORES portal-

• It is an initiative by SEBI to provide a facilitative platform for investors to file their
grievances against listed companies or registered intermediaries which are unresolved.

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• Launched in- 2011

Source: ET

REPORTS AND INDICES

1. UNICEF has released Global Snapshot on Children with HIV and AIDS.
• Key observations-
o Nearly 98,000 adolescent girls aged 10-19 were infected with HIV in 2022 – or 1,900
new infections every week
o While total infections among girls aged 10-19 have almost halved since 2010 – from
190,000 to 98,000 – girls were still more than twice as likely to contract HIV last year,
than boys.
o Globally, there were 270,000 new HIV infections among all children and adolescents
aged 0-19 in 2022, bringing the total number of young people living with HIV to 2.6
million.
Knowledge Nuggets

About UNICEF-
• United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund is an agency of the United
Nations responsible for providing humanitarian and developmental aid to children
worldwide.
• Headquarters- Ney York, USA
• Established- 1946
• Executive director- Catherine M. Russell
Source: UNICEF

DEFENCE NEWS
1. President Smt Droupadi Murmu has conferred President’s Colour to Armed Forces
Medical College on the occasion of its platinum jubilee year.
• Key events-
o President has released a special cover & stamp and a commemorative coin.
o President will also e-inaugurate the ‘Prajna’, the Armed Forces Centre for Computational
Medicine.

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o About Prajna-
o It will place AFMC in league with leading global institutes undertaking cutting-
edge healthcare research using Artificial Intelligence.
Knowledge Nuggets

About President’s Colour-

• It is also known as ‘Rashtrapati ka Nishaan’ is the highest honour that can be bestowed
upon any military unit.
Source: PIB

2. Defence Acquisition Council has approved capital acquisition proposals worth Rs 2.23 lakh
crore in respect of Acceptance of Necessity (AoNs).
• Objective-
o To enhance the operational capabilities of the Armed Forces.
• Key Acceptance of Necessity (AoNs) granted-
o For Area Denial Munition (ADM) Types 2 and 3.
o To replace Indian Field Gun (IFG).
o For enhancing artillery lethality.
o For Automatic Target Tracker (ATT) and Digital Basaltic Computer (DBC) integration.
o For lightweight Surface-to-Surface Missile.
o For Light Combat Helicopter (LCH) and Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Mk 1A.
Knowledge Nuggets

About Defence Acquisition Council-

• The DAC is the highest decision-making body in the Defence Ministry for deciding on
new policies and capital acquisitions for the three services (Army, Navy and Air Force)
and the Indian Coast Guard.
• Chairman- Minister of Defence
Source: PIB

3. Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL) has launched first 3 Ships Mahe, Malvan and Mangrol of
the 8 Anti-Submarine Warfare Shallow Water Crafts (ASW SWC) for the Indian Navy.
• Key features-

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o Ships are equipped with indigenously developed, state-of-the-art underwater sensors,

and are envisaged to undertake anti-submarine operations in coastal waters as well as
Low Intensity Maritime Operations (LIMO) and Mine Laying Operations.
o The ASW SWC ships are 78 m long and displacement is approx 900 tons, with a
maximum speed of 25 knots.
Source: PIB

IMPORTANT DAYS
1. December 1- World Aids Day; Theme- Let Communities lead
Source: WHO

2. December 1- 59th Raising Day of Border Security Force

Source: The print

3. December 2- International Day for the Abolition of Slavery

Source: UN

4. December 2- National Pollution Control Day

• It is observed in the memory of those who died in Bhopal Gas Tragedy, 1984.
Source: ET

5. December 2- World Computer Literacy Day

Source: HT

SPORTS
1. Indian chess player R Vaishali has become 84th Grandmaster during 4th edition of the
Llobregat Open Chess Tournament in Barcelona, Spain.
• More about R Vaishali-
o She is the third Indian Female after Koneru Humpy and Harika Dronavalli.
o Vaishali and her brother R Praggnanandhaa became the world’s first sister-brother pair
to become Grandmasters.
Source: ET

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MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING
1. Ujjivan Small Finance Bank has partnered with Water.org to offer water, sanitation and
hygiene loans.
• More about partnership-
o Water.org will assist Ujjivan SFB in identifying areas that require financing for clean
water and hygienic sanitation.
o Water.org will provide technical assistance, market assessment, development of
Information, Education and Communication (IEC) material, monitoring and evaluation
support.
o Ujjivan SFB is backing the cause by providing loans ranging from Rs 6,000 to Rs
1,00,000. This initiative supports both existing and new customers in constructing or
renovating water and sanitation facilities.
Source: The Print

2. Federal Bank has announced a collaboration with NCDEX e-Markets Limited (NeML) to
strengthen the integration of its e-procurement and e-auction systems.
• Objective-
o To safeguard against cartel formations, allowing participants to enhance their bid value
based on market scenarios
• More about collaboration-
o The alliance is expected to facilitate an advanced e-procurement solution, specifically
targeting Central and State government organizations.
o Farmers can list details of their crops on the NeML platform.
• Benefits for Participants-
o Improved price discovery mechanisms are expected.
Source: Hindu Business Line

3. Tata Advanced System Limited (TASL) has partnered with Satellogic to develop local space
tech capabilities in India.
• More about collaboration-
o TASL and Satellogic will collaborate on the development of a new satellite design and
o They work together to integrate multiple payloads on a single satellite that will generate
a diverse range of data over India.

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• Focus areas-
o The focus will be on manufacturing satellites.
o Developing imagery in India for national defence and commercial applications, toward
which TASL is commissioning a satellite AIT plant at its Vemagal facility in Karnataka, it
added.
Source: ET

4. Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX)- Defence Innovation Organisation (DIO) has
signed 300th contract with Agnit Semiconductor Private Limited.
• Objective-
o To design and develop advance Gallium Nitride (Gan) semiconductors essential for the
next generation of wireless transmitters in defence applications ranging from radars to
electronic warfare jammers.
Knowledge Nuggets

About Innovations for Defence Excellence-

• launched in- April 2018.
• Objective-
To achieve self - reliance and foster innovation and technology development in Defence
and Aerospace by engaging Industries including MSMEs, start-ups, individual innovators,
R&D institutes and academia.
• It has partnered with leading incubators in the country to provide handholding, technical
support and guidance to the winners of iDEX challenges.
Source: Hindu Business Line, ied

5. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and Bank of England (BoE) have signed a memorandum of
understanding (MoU) on cooperation and exchange of information related to Clearing
Corporation of India Ltd (CCIL).
• More about MoU-
o It establishes a framework for the BoE to place reliance on RBI’s regulatory and
supervisory activities while safeguarding UK financial stability.
o It also demonstrates the importance of cross-border cooperation to facilitate
international clearing activities and the BoE’s commitment to deference to other
regulators.

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Knowledge Nuggets

About CCIL-
• It is a central counterparty (CCP) which provides clearing and settlement for transactions
in government securities, foreign exchange and money markets in the country.
• It is regulated by the RBI.
Source: Indian Express

APPOINTMENTS
1. Chandra Shekhar Ghosh has been re-appointed as the MD and CEO of Bandhan Bank.
• Tenure of appointment- 3 years
Knowledge Nuggets

About Bandhan Bank-

• Headquarters- Kolkata
• Established- 2001
• CEO- Chandra Shekhar Ghosh
Source: ET

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