National
Ministry of Steel presents National Metallurgist Award (NMA) 2022
⇒ Union Minister of State for Steel & Rural Development, Shri Faggan Singh Kulaste addressed the participants at the ceremony of National Metallurgist Award (NMA) 2022 on 22 November 2023.
The Union Minister said that India has achieved the status of 2nd largest steel producer globally and self-reliance in producing almost all grades of steel due to stellar contributions and innovations by the engineers, steel metallurgists, academicians both from public sector and private sector.
National Metallurgist Award 2022:
» Ministry of Steel presented National Metallurgist Award 2022 to 5 distinguished metallurgists in 4 categories to recognize excellence & contribution of Metallurgists in Iron & Steel Sector.
The illustrious awardees and the categories are mentioned below:
- Dr Kamachi Mudali Uthandi – Lifetime Achievement Award
- Dr Debashish Bhattacharjee – National Metallurgist Award
- Dr Rameshwar Sah – R&D in Iron & Steel Sector
- Dr Niloy Kundu – Young Metallurgist (Environment) Award
- Agilan Muthumanickam – Award Young Metallurgist (Metal Science) Award
NHPC conferred with ‘The Economic Times HR World Exceptional Employee Experience Award 2023’
⇒ NHPC has won the prestigious ‘The Economic Times HR World Exceptional Employee Experience Award 2023 (ET HR WORLD EX Awards) in ‘Large Scale Enterprise’ category.
- The award was presented in a glittering ceremony organized by ET HR World at Bengaluru on 22nd November 2023.
» The Award has been conferred to NHPC in recognition to its wide range of Employees Centric HR initiatives which are not limited to employees only but also extended to their families.
- It is also a recognition to NHPC’s organizational culture, which despite of tough geographic and climatic challenges, is not only nurturing the employees during their service but also extending good care & support after their superannuation.
International
Prime Minister announces completion of GDPIR and creation of SIF to advance DPI in the Global South
⇒ Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi announced the launch of two India-led initiatives during the Virtual G20 Leaders’ Summit on 22nd November 2023.
- Global Digital Public Infrastructure Repository (GDPIR)
- Social Impact Fund
» These two India-led initiatives aimed at promoting the development of Social Impact Fund to advance Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) in the Global South.
Global Digital Public Infrastructure Repository (GDPIR):
» The G20 Digital Economy Working Group (DEWG), chaired by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), has led the advancement of the global DPI Agenda. The DEWG’s rigorous negotiation efforts have culminated in the first-ever multilateral consensus on DPI.
The Digital Economy Ministers’ Meeting (DEMM) unanimously endorsed three DPI deliverables, which included:
- A Framework for building DPI
- Mobilizing finances for DPI development in Low-and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs), and
- The creation of a Global DPI Repository (GDPIR) for the exchange of information and best practices.
» This landmark consensus was also affirmed as a part of the G20 New Delhi Leaders’ Declaration (NDLD).
GDPIR:
Towards delivering these outcomes, the MeitY has developed the GDPIR, which is a comprehensive resource hub, pooling essential lessons and expertise from G20 members and guest nations.
- Its primary aim is to bridge the knowledge gap in the choices and methodologies required for the design, construction, deployment, and governance of DPIs.
- The GDPIR showcases the information in a standardized format from countries and organizations that have developed DPIs at scale, incorporating elements such as maturity scales, source codes (where available), and governance frameworks.
- Currently, the GDPIR features 54 DPIs from 16 countries.
Social Impact Fund (SIF):
» Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi also announced the creation of a Social Impact Fund (SIF), to which India has pledged an initial commitment of 25 million USD.
- The SIF is envisioned as a government led, multistakeholder initiative to fast-track DPI implementation in the global south.
- This fund will offer financial support to provide upstream technical and non-technical assistance to countries in developing DPI systems.
- The SIF offers a platform for all relevant stakeholders, including other governments, international organizations, and philanthropic entities, to contribute to this fund and help accelerate the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals in Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs) through DPIs.
Important Day
National Cashew Day
⇒ National Cashew Day is celebrated every year on November 23, popularly in the United States.
- This unofficial holiday was first observed in 2015.
» The Agricultural and Processed Food Products Development Authority (APEDA) played an instrumental role as an export facilitator and flagged off its Cashew Nut shipment to Bangladesh, Qatar, Malaysia and the USA to mark National Cashew Day on November 23rd, 2023.
- Agricultural and Processed Food Products Development Authority (APEDA) is an organization under the Ministry of Commerce, Government of India.
Important Points:
- Bangladesh will be receiving it’s first-ever shipment of Cashew Nuts all the way from Odisha.
- After Côte d’Ivoire, India is the second largest producer and exporter of Cashew Nuts with a share of more than 15%, followed by Vietnam in the world’s cashew export.
- India’s top export destinations are the UAE, the Netherlands, Japan, and Saudi Arabia.
- Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu are the major Cashew producing states in India.
- India primarily exports Cashew Kernels with small quantities of Cashew Nut Shell Liquid and Cardanol.
Death
Justice M. Fathima Beevi
⇒ Justice M. Fathima Beevi, the first woman judge to be appointed to the Supreme Court of India, died on November 23, 2023 in Kollam, Kerala. She was 96 years old.
About Justice M Fathima Beevi:
- Justice M Fathima Beevi was the first woman judge of the Supreme Court of a nation in Asia. She was the first Muslim woman to serve the higher judiciary in the country.
- She was also the first woman Governor of Tamil Nadu and the first chairperson of the National Human Rights Commission.
- In 2023, the Kerala government awarded her the Kerala Prabha Award.