Current Affairs Today 9th December 2024 Daily GK Update

Daily Current Affairs 9th December 2024 Daily GK Update

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 National News

 25 years of Hornbill Festival of Nagaland

• Nagaland’s signature tourism and cultural festival, “Hornbill Festival”, is celebrating its 25th anniversary in 2024 that is annually held from December 1 to 10
• The Hornbill Festival, also famous as the “Festivals of Festivals”, derives its name from the elusive Hornbill bird.
• The Hornbill Festival was launched in 2000 by the Nagaland government as a celebration of Naga culture but over a period of time has grown in popularity and stature, attracting national and international visitors.
• During the festival,17 tribes of Nagaland showcase their culture and tradition through dances, processions, art exhibits and musical performances.
• The Opening ceremony of the 25th edition of Hornbill Festival was held in the Kisama Heritage Village on 1 December 2024 and it was inaugurated by the Chief Minister of Nagaland Neiphiu Rio.
• This year the international partners of the Hornbill Festival are the United Kingdom, the United States, Japan, and Peru. The partner state of this year’s Hornbill festival is Sikkim.
• Popular music composer A R Rahman was also a guest at the opening ceremony.

Union Cabinet approves Rithala-Kundli corridor of Delhi Metro

• The Union Cabinet has approved the 463-km Rithala-Kundli corridor of the Delhi Metro’s Phase-IV project that will further enhance connectivity between the national capital and neighbouring Haryana.
• The entire stretch will comprise 21 stations, all of them elevated. The corridor is scheduled to be completed in 4 years from the date of its sanction.
• This line will be an extension of the presently operational Shaheed Sthal (New Bus Adda) – Rithala (Red Line) corridor and will boost connectivity in the north western parts of the national capital in areas such as Narela, Bawana, parts of Rohini etc. This entire stretch will comprise of 21 stations.
• A total of 12 metro lines of about 392 km with 288 stations are being operated by DMRC in Delhi and NCR at present. Delhi Metro has the largest Metro network in India and is also one of the largest Metros in the world.

Centre approves ₹944 crore as Cyclone Fengal relief to Tamil Nadu, promises more after assessment reports

• The Centre has approved the release of ₹944.80 crore to Tamil Nadu as two instalments of its share from the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) to help the state government’s relief efforts in areas ravaged by Cyclone Fengal.
• Concerning overall funds for disaster relief, the Centre claimed that more than ₹21,718.716 crore has already been released to 28 states so far, this financial year.
• This includes ₹14,878.40 crore from SDRF to 26 states, ₹4,808.32 crore from NDRF to 18 states, ₹1,385.45 crore from the State Disaster Mitigation Fund (SDMF) to 11 states and ₹646.546 crore from the National Disaster Mitigation Fund (NDMF) to seven states.

India’s first Hyperloop train test track completed by IIT Madras

• IIT Madras has completed a 410-meter Hyperloop test track, marking a significant milestone in India’s journey toward futuristic transport systems.
• The project is being led by IIT Madras’s Avishkar Hyperloop team in partnership with TuTr, a startup incubated at the institute. The Avishkar Hyperloop team comprises 76 undergraduates and postgraduate students from IIT Madras.
• The Hyperloop concept, originally popularised by Elon Musk in 2012, is now gaining traction worldwide, and this development takes India closer to adopting cutting-edge transportation technology.
• The technology will be implemented in two phases: the first phase will feature an 11.5-kilometre test track to validate and certify the technology. Upon successful trials, the second phase will expand the track to nearly 100 kilometres.
• Hyperloop trains are designed to reach speeds of up to 1,100 km/h, with an operational speed of around 360 km/h. The system operates within a vacuum-sealed, frictionless environment, offering faster travel and higher energy efficiency.
• The first full-scale Hyperloop project in India is planned for the Mumbai-Pune corridor. This ambitious system aims to cut travel time between the two cities to just 25 minutes, though it is still in the early stages of development.

WHAT IS HYPERLOOK TECHNOLOGY?

• Hyperloop is a high-speed transportation system in which pods, functioning as pressurised vehicles, travel at incredible speeds through low-pressure tubes.
• Each pod, capable of carrying 24-28 passengers, will travel directly between destinations without stops, making it a highly efficient and promising solution for point-to-point travel.

Andhra Pradesh ties up with Google for harnessing AI tech

• Andhra Pradesh has entered into an agreement with Google under which the tech giant will help the state in adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) in various fields including healthcare, and also give a fillip to the local startup ecosystem there.
• The collaboration will also focus on promoting skill development and bridging the digital divide by providing citizens with the necessary training and resources to thrive in an AI-driven economy.
• Additionally, Google will support the state’s startup ecosystem, to fuel innovation and entrepreneurship in the field of AI.
• Google Cloud will also collaborate with the government to provide skilling programs for government agencies, including Google Cloud Certifications and Skill Badges in areas like cybersecurity, data analytics, and generative AI.

International News

India to chair UN Commission on Narcotic Drug

• The Indian Embassy in Austria announced that India has been chosen to Chair the 68th Session of the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND).
• India’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Vienna, Ambassador Shambhu S Kumaran, officially assumed the Chairmanship of the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs.
• This is the first time that India has been named to Chair this important UN body.
• The CND is the principal policy-making body of the United Nations on drug-related matters. It is mandated to monitor global drug trends, support Member States in formulating balanced policies, and oversee implementation of the major international drug conventions.
• The CND is one of the functional commissions of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and a Governing Body of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) which is headquartered in Vienna.
• As Chair, India will be expected to articulate interests of the Global South in line with its role in promoting interests and perspectives of developing nations in global discussions.

Banking and Financial

RBI Innovation Hub develops MuleHunter.ai to combat mule account fraud

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das said that the Reserve Bank Innovation Hub has developed an AI/ML-based model, MuleHunter.ai, which will be used to address the issue of mule bank accounts being used to commit financial frauds.
• As part of the Reserve Bank’s continued efforts to prevent and mitigate digital frauds, an innovative AI/ML-based model, namely MuleHunter.ai, has been developed by the Reserve Bank Innovation Hub (RBIH), Bengaluru. This will help banks deal with the issue of mule bank accounts expeditiously and reduce digital frauds.
• The RBI has taken several measures to prevent and mitigate digital frauds in the financial sector, including the issuance of cybersecurity and cyber fraud prevention guidelines, among others. According to the RBI, fraudsters use money mule accounts to channel the proceeds of frauds.
• As a countermeasure, the RBI is also currently running a hackathon on the theme “Zero Financial Frauds,” which includes a specific problem statement on mule accounts, to encourage the development of innovative solutions to contain the use of mule accounts.

RBI allows small finance banks to offer pre-sanctioned credit via UPI

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has decided to permit Small Finance Banks to extend pre-sanctioned credit lines through the UPI.
• This will further deepen financial inclusion and enhance formal credit, particularly for ‘new to credit’ customers.
• Credit line on UPI was first introduced in September 2023 and was made available through Scheduled Commercial Banks (SCBs).
• This move aims to support underserved groups, including small businesses, micro-entrepreneurs, and individuals in rural and semi-urban regions.
• This development follows an important update from September 2023, when the RBI allowed Scheduled Commercial Banks to link pre-sanctioned credit lines to UPI accounts. Previously, this feature was unavailable to SFBs, Regional Rural Banks, and Payments Banks.
• SFBs, known for their cost-efficient, technology-driven banking solutions for last-mile customers, will now be able to offer credit products to customers who are ‘new-to-credit’. These products, typically involving smaller loan amounts and shorter terms, will offer much-needed support to people and businesses with limited access to formal credit.

Neysa and DSW join hands to launch Advanced AI Cloud Platform for Indian Insurance Sector

• Neysa, an AI Acceleration Cloud System provider, and Data Science Wizards (DSW), a deep-tech AI platform company, have launched a fully managed Insurance AI Cloud Platform tailored for the Indian insurance industry.
• The platform is designed to help insurers confidently build, optimize, and deploy AI/ML-powered digital solutions, enhancing operational efficiency, risk management, and customer-centric innovation.
• With India’s insurance penetration at a modest 4.2% of GDP in 2023, the need for digital transformation in the sector is critical.
• The platform aims to bridge this gap, offering cutting-edge AI/ML solutions to boost consumer trust, drive efficiency, and enable insurers to scale up with customized offerings.

RBI keeps rates unchanged, cuts CRR by 50 bps to 4% – MPC review

• The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI’s) six-member monetary policy committee (MPC) has decided to keep the policy repo rate unchanged at 6.5 per cent — the status quo for an 11th straight time — maintaining a “neutral” stance.
• Even as it reduced the cash reserve ratio (CRR) by 50 basis points to 4 per cent to boost liquidity in the system, it lowered the 2024-25 gross domestic product (GDP) growth projection to 6.6 per cent from 7.2 per cent earlier.
• The inflation projection for this financial year, meanwhile, was increased by 30 bps to 4.8 per cent.
• The December policy review came against the backdrop of the GDP growth rate declining to 5.4 per cent in the July-September quarter, and retail inflation breaching the central bank’s tolerance band of 2-6 per cent to stand at a 14-month high of 6.2 per cent in October. The headline retail inflation rate is projected to reduce to the RBI’s target of 4 per cent in the second quarter of the next financial year.

What is the Repo Rate and CRR?

• Repo rate is the rate at which the RBI lends to commercial banks, while CRR is the proportion of deposits that banks must keep with the central bank. One basis point is the hundredth of a percentage point.

RBI Current Policy Rate are as under

• Policy Repo Rate – 6.50%
• Standing Deposit Facility (SDF) – 6.25%
• Marginal Standing Facility (MSF) – 6.75%
• Bank Rate – 6.75%
• Reverse Repo Rate – 3.35%
• Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) – 4.00%
• Statutory Liquidity Ratio (SLR) – 18%

SBI Card surpasses milestone of 20 million credit cards in circulation

• SBI Card has reached a significant milestone by surpassing 20 million credit cards in circulation.
• It achieved the milestone of 20 million credit cards in force, having started its credit card business in 1998.
• SBI Card has witnessed strong growth of around 25 per cent CAGR in cards in force and 26 per cent CAGR in spends between FY19 and FY24.
• SBI Card is the second-largest card issuer in the country, after private sector lender HDFC Bank. Earlier in January 2024, HDFC Bank had achieved the milestone of 20 million cards in force.
• As per latest data released by RBI for October, SBI Card’s in circulation stood at nearly 19.8 million as compared to 19.58 million cards in September 2024.
• Meanwhile, HDFC Bank had 22.64 million cards in circulation in October. The total number of outstanding credit cards in the system increased 12.85 per cent Year-on-Year (YoY) to 106.88 million led by HDFC Bank which added 241,119 cards followed by SBI Cards with 220,265 card additions.

RBI introduces new interest rate benchmark – SORR

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has proposed to introduce a new benchmark for the interest rate derivatives market based on secured money markets.
• Based on the recommendations of the Mumbai Inter-Bank Offer Rate (MIBOR) Committee and the feedback received, and aligned with current market dynamics, the RBI has proposed to establish a benchmark derived from secured money markets, encompassing both basket repo and triparty repo (TREP).
• This benchmark, to be known as Secured Overnight Rupee Rate (SORR), will be developed with the support of Financial Benchmarks India Limited (FBIL), which has been requested to take the proposal forward.
• The introduction of SORR is expected to enhance transparency in benchmark-setting. Unlike the existing MIBOR, which is a polled rate derived by collecting data from participants and averaging the responses after excluding outliers, SORR will be trade-based.
• This means it will rely on actual transactions in secured money markets, making it more resistant to manipulation and reflective of real market dynamics.
• While the shift is significant in terms of methodology, it is not expected to have an immediate market impact. Instead, it marks a step towards adopting global best practices, such as alignment with Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR).
• SOFR is a benchmark interest rate that reflects the cost of overnight borrowing, collateralised by US Treasury securities. It was introduced as an alternative to London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR), which had long been used globally across multiple currencies and financial contracts.

RBI raises collateral-free agriculture loan limit to Rs 2 lakh per borrower from 1.6 lakh

• The Reserve Bank of India enhanced the collateral-free agriculture loans limit to Rs 2 lakh per borrower from the existing Rs 1.6 lakh.
• At present, banks are required to extend collateral-free agriculture loans up to Rs 1.6 lakh per borrower. This limit was enhanced from Rs 1 lakh, set in the year 2010 to Rs 1.6 lakh in the year 2019.
• This will enhance coverage of small and marginal farmers in the formal credit system.

Science

ISRO successfully launch ESA Probe 3 Spacecraft using PSLV C-59 Rocket

• The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully launched the European Space Agency (ESA) Probe 3 Spacecraft from the First Launch Pad, Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC-SHAR), Sriharikota Andhra Pradesh.
• The ESA Probe 3 was launched onboard ISRO’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) C-59.
• It was NewSpace India Limited’s (NSIL) second successful mission in a fortnight after the launch of the GSAT-20/ GSAT-N2 satellite aboard SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket.

About the ESA Probe 3 Spacecraft

• The ESA Probe 3 spacecraft is a technology demonstrator of the ESA. The spacecraft has two satellites.
• It is the world’s first precision formation-flying mission in which a pair of satellites will fly together, maintaining a fixed configuration as if they were a single large rigid structure in space.
• The satellites will study the Sun’s corona, the Sun’s outermost atmosphere.

Important day

7 December – International Civil Aviation Day

• International Civil Aviation Day is celebrated every year on December 7.
• It is important to recognize the role of aviation in global connectivity, economic development, and fostering cultural exchange.
• Theme 2024 – Safe Skies. Sustainable Future: Together for the next 80 years
• This day also draws attention to the challenges faced by the aviation industry and the progress made in ensuring the safety, sustainability, and accessibility of air travel.
• 7 December 2024 marks the 80th anniversary of the signing of the Convention on International Civil Aviation in Chicago, United States. For eight decades, this defining international agreement has served as the foundation for the development of the global civil aviation system to the benefit of all nations.

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