Home » Current Affairs Date: 18 December 2022

Current Affairs Date: 18 December 2022

National

13th FICCI Global Skills Summit 2022

⇒ Union Education and Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Minister Shri Dharmendra Pradhan inaugurated and addressed the 13th FICCI Global Skills Summit 2022 in New Delhi, on 27 September 2022.

    • The 13th FICCI Global Skills Summit 2022 was held on 27-28 September 2022 in New Delhi.
Theme:

The Summit’s theme of this year was “Education to Employability – Making it happen.”

Focus:
    • The 13th edition of Global Skills Summit’s theme focused on easing the education to employability transition for the youth of our country.
    • The Summit looked from the NEP lens and focused on how India can become the “Skill Capital of the World” keeping the UN Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG4) as an underpinning theme.
Key Points:
    • The summit was attended by more than 400 participants including policy makers, industry leaders, state and central government officials, training partners, representatives of multilateral and bilateral agencies and students.
    • The two-day Summit concluded with a celebration event “VIRASAT” The Heritage which honours and recognizes the exquisite craft of the Indian artisans.
Addressing the Summit, the Union Minister said:
    • Shri Dharmendra Pradhan shared his thoughts on leveraging skills to reap the demographic dividend and making India’s skills ecosystem more vibrant.
    • He said that our country is blessed with a demographic dividend. Education and skills have to play an important role in converting our demographic dividend into a transformative powerhouse.
    • Shri Dharmendra Pradhan also added that for our economy to be more productive and robust, we must make our workforce more productive. Simplification of labour laws and initiatives like apprenticeship will go a long way in making our workforce more vibrant.
    • Further, he added that from academic bank of credit to the upcoming digital university, we are taking a number of initiatives and undertaking policy reforms to make our education and skills ecosystem more vibrant.
    • Shri Dharmendra Pradhan also called for building a stronger academia-industry-policymaker connect and work with a collective approach to drive further transformation in the education and skills sector.

Integrated Cryogenic Engine Manufacturing Facility of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited

⇒ The President of India, Smt Droupadi Murmu, inaugurated the Integrated Cryogenic Engine Manufacturing Facility of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) in Bengaluru on September 27, 2022.

Addressing the gathering, the President said that:
    • Inauguration of the Integrated Cryogenic Engine Manufacturing Facility is indeed a historic moment not only for HAL and ISRO, but also for the whole country to have a state-of-the-art facility to manufacture Cryogenic and Semi-cryogenic Engines.
    • Sincere efforts and dedication of ISRO have made India emerge as the sixth country in the world to have Cryogenic Engine Manufacturing Capabilities.

President of India, Smt Droupadi Murmu also unveiled the foundation stone for ICMR-National Institute of Virology (NIV), South Zone at Bengaluru in virtual mode on the occasion.

    • Hon’ble President stated that it is good to know that National Institute of Virology has been designated as one of the collaborating laboratories of World Health Organization.

Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare, Dr. Bharti Pravin Pawar said that the new NIV is a step further to strengthen our health defence system.

    • Under Prime Minister Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission (PM-ABHIM), funds have been approved to set up multisector national institutions and platforms including 4 Zonal National Institutes of Virology (NIVs) towards bio-security preparedness and strengthening pandemic research across the country.

11th National Petrochemicals Awards

⇒ Minister of State for Chemicals & Fertilizers and New & Renewable Energy Shri Bhagwanth Khuba presented the 11th National Petrochemicals Awards at the function held at New Delhi on 27 September 2022.

In the current edition of 11th National Petrochemicals Awards, 351 nominations have been received, and finally 05 nominations have been selected as Winners and 06 nominations as Runners-up and one for life time recognition.

Life Time Recognition Award:

Mr Rajnikant Shroff, Founder and Chairman of UPL Limited, Mumbai received Life Time Recognition Award in the Field of Chemicals and Petrochemicals.

Winners:
    1. Mr Shivam Tiwari, Dr Santanu Das and Dr Pralay Maiti, Indian Institute of Technology (Banaras Hindu University) Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, for Low cost, Durable and Renewable Polymer Based Highly Efficient Adhesive for Metal-Ceramic Joints” under the category of “Innovation in Polymeric Materials.
    2. Dr Debdatta Ratna, Mr Vijay Shankar Mishra and Mr Rama Kant Kushwaha, Naval Materials Research Laboratory (NMRL) Ambernath for “Development of 6” ball valve using dough molding compound based on chopped fiber-reinforced polymer composite for control of seawater flow in pipelines of Naval platforms” under the category of Innovation in Polymeric Products.
    3. Dr Roy Joseph, Ms Gopika V Gopan and Dr Jayadevan E R, Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology, Trivandrum for “Metal-free radiopaque polymeric material for the embolization of arteriovenous malformation of brain” under the category of Polymers in Medical and Pharmaceutical Applications.
    4. Dr Madhukar Onkarnath Garg, Reliance Industries Limited, Navi Mumbai for Recovery of High Purity Merchant Grade Benzene – A Primary Building Block for Petrochemical Industry and Simultaneous Production of Benzene-Lean Gasoline from Unprocessed Cracked Gasoline Fraction under the category of Innovation in Petrochemicals and Newer Polymer Applications.
    5. Mr Sujit Sharma, Rubber Technology Centre, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur for Design and simulation of co-extrusion die for complex -shaped rubber profiles using a computational method under the category of Research in the field of Polymer Science & Technology (for Research Students of Academic Institute/Research lab).
Complete List of Awardees
About National Petrochemicals Award:

» In line with the National Policy on Petrochemicals announced in April 2007:

    • The Department of Chemicals & Petrochemicals (DCPC), Government of India has set up an Award Scheme to incentivize meritorious innovations and inventions in the field of polymeric materials, products, process areas of national and social importance.

» The ultimate objective is to develop and maintain the petrochemical industry as a globally competitive industry using eco-friendly processes & technologies.

» Central Institute of Petrochemicals Engineering and Technology (CIPET), an autonomous organization under DCPC has been entrusted with the responsibility of implementing the scheme of the National Awards for Technology Innovation.

International

PM of India meets PM of Japan

⇒ Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi attended the State Funeral of former Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe at the Nippon Budokan, Tokyo.

    • Representatives from over 100 countries, including more than 20 Heads of State / Government participated in the State Funeral.
Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi also held a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister of Japan Mr. Fumio Kishida on 27 September 2022.

Prime Minister conveyed his deepest condolences for the demise of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

Discussion:
    • The two leaders had a productive exchange of views on further deepening bilateral relations. They also discussed a number of regional and global issues.
    • The leaders renewed their commitment towards further strengthening the India-Japan Special Strategic and Global Partnership, and in working together in the region and in various international groupings and institutions.

Source: PIB & Other News Reports

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