Category: India

NATIONAL mean a person owing allegiance to and entitled to the protection of a sovereign state. CITIZEN is preferred for one owing allegiance to a state in which sovereign power is retained by the people and sharing in the political rights of those people.  the rights of a free citizen SUBJECT implies allegiance to a personal sovereign such as a monarch.  the king’s subjects NATIONAL designates one who may claim the protection of a state and applies especially to one living or traveling outside that state.

Gold hits all time high.

Indian gold futures hit a record high on Friday, tracking gains in overseas market, but the price rise dampened demand in the world’s second biggest consumer of the precious metal, dealers said.

Local gold futures rose to 56,245 rupees ($691.45) per 10 grams, surpassing the previous record of 56,191 rupees hit in August 2020.

Fears of recession and rising interest rates led to a fall in stock prices in the developed world. At the same time, the fall of cryptocurrencies prompted investors to move toward safe haven. That spurred the demand for gold.

Benguluru tops among all Indian cities for startup funding in 2022.

Bengaluru topped the startup funding chart in India with $10.8 billion in 2022, followed by Mumbai at $3.9 billion, and Gurugram at a distant $2.6 billion.

Startups based in Delhi and Chennai registered $1.2 billion each in funding, followed by Pune at $1 billion, according to data provided by Tracxn, a leading global market intelligence platform.

In 2021, Bengaluru-based startups had raised $20.8 billion in funding and Mumbai-based startups had pocketed $5.2 billion in the same year, showing the impact of the deepening funding winter last year.

There were 22 unicorns in 2022, compared to 46 in 2021, and average funding before the unicorn round was around $160 million.

It is now taking an average of 5.1 years from Series A funding to the Unicorn round for the Indian startups.

Indian rupees was worst performing asian currencies in 2022.

The Indian rupee ended 2022 as the worst-performing Asian currency with a fall of 10.14%, its biggest annual decline since 2013, as the dollar rocketed on the U.S. Federal Reserve’s aggressive monetary policy stance to tame inflation.

The rupee finished the year at 82.72 to the U.S. currency, down from 74.33 at the end of 2021, while the dollar index was headed for its biggest yearly gain since 2015.

A rise in oil prices brought on by the crisis between Russia and Ukraine also hurt the rupee and resulted in India’s current account deficit reaching an absolute record high in the third quarter of that year.

Market participants anticipate that the rupee will trade with an appreciation bias in 2023.finding comfort in declining commodity prices and holding out hope that foreign investors will continue to purchase Indian stocks.

Heading into 2023, market participants believe the rupee would trade with an appreciation bias, finding relief from easing commodity prices and hopeful of foreign investors continuing to buy Indian equities.

India’s first underwater tunnel to be built in West Bengal, expected to start by december 2023.

The first underwater tunnel in India is being built as part of the East-West Metro Corridor’s project, and it will take about 45 seconds for trains to cover the 520-meter stretch. The tunnel that goes under the Hoogly river in West Bengal is being touted as the Indian version of Eurostar’s London-Paris corridor. An estimated cost of Rs 120 crores is being spent on the project.

The tunnel, which is about 2.5 kilometres long, is expected to be commissioned in 2023 following the completion of the section between Sealdah and Esplanade.

The tunnel runs through the Salt Lake Sector V IT hub metro station in the east to Howrah Maidan in the west under the river. The construction of the tunnel has already been completed, and it is expected to be operational in December 2023 following the completion of a 2.5-kilometer section between Sealdah and the Esplanade.

Health experts says the next 40 days will be crucial for India amid covid surge in China.

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There is still no clarity on what is happening in China, with experts raising alarm that the country is witnessing a steep increase in the number of COVID-19 cases due to coronavirus variant BF.7.

The Union Health Ministry has, however, said that the next 40 days will be crucial in India – with the country likely to witness a surge in January.

“In the past, whenever a NBCOVID-19 wave was reported in India, it used to hit us in 30-35 days, starting from East Asia, it used to hit Europe in 10 days, moving towards America and the Pacific region, and then finally hitting India which would normally take 30 days,” a senior health ministry official told media, requesting anonymity.

The official added that the number of deaths and hospitalisations is likely to be low this time, even if India is hit by a COVID wave by the end of January.

Meanwhile, the Ministry is likely to make mandatory, from next week, negative RT-PCR reports for passengers arriving from China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan, South Korea and Thailand.

Filling up of ‘air-suvidha’ forms and 72-hour prior RT-PCR testing could be mandatory for arrivals from these countries.

The government has made random coronavirus testing mandatory for two per cent of passengers arriving in each international flight from December 24. Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya is likely to visit the Delhi airport to take stock of testing and screening facilities there.

Amid covid concerns, chinese are turning to black market India made meds.

Residents in China have been scouring the market for generic COVID-19 drugs and India seems to be the answer to their problem. In the recent past, the Chinese authorities have approved two Covid antivirals – Pfizer’s Paxlovid and Azvudine – for the treatment. While China has ran out of the medicine, the Indian market is filled with it and is slowly becoming the next favourite destination.

In the past few months, topics like “anti-Covid Indian generic drugs sold at 1,000 yuan (US$144) per box” has been making the rounds of the Chinese social media. Platforms like Weibo and WeChat are filled with such queries and experts believe that black market deals are being conducted on them.

While the distribution of drugs which are not approved in China is not illegal, there can be penalties imposed on the illegal imports. Even the doctors in China have warned the public against buying drugs on the black market with several patients displaying massive side effects to the medicines.

Medical Experts suggests of second covid booster dose amid rising concern.

In a meeting with Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya, doctors of the Indian Medical Association (IMA) suggested allowing people to take another booster dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. If approved, this would be the second booster dose, with the first one having been approved in early 2022. The meeting was held virtually between doctors, health experts, and the Union Health Minister on 26th dec to discuss preparedness as the apprehension of another COVID-19 wave seeps through the country.

In the meeting, the doctors stressed on the fact that despite the many efforts by the health system, only a small proportion of the population got their booster dose. Dr. Sahajanand Prashad Singh, President of IMA, said that only 30 percent of the population is covered with booster doses. He urged the Health Minister to take the necessary actions to vaccinate the maximum population with booster doses.

How the climate adversities hit India in 2022.

The year 2022 saw several extreme weather events all over the world due to climate emergency. These events are expected to increase if the effects of climate change are not mitigated.

Vulnerable countries also geared up this year for a renewed battle over compensation for the growing hazards of global warming from richer countries, also known as loss and damage, at the 27th Conference of Parties (COP27) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC).

There is more evidence of the worsening impact of global warming on the Indo-Gangetic Plain (IGP) that straddles eastern Pakistan, northern India, southern Nepal and the whole of Bangladesh. 

A loss and damage fund was created at the COP27, focusing on particularly vulnerable countries. But questions remain about who is eligible to receive money and who has to pay it.

Every state and Union territory (UT) reported dengue cases till November 2022. The increasing burden of dengue has often been linked with climate change, among other factors. India recorded 63,280 dengue cases as of September 30, 2022. 

The average global surface temperature January-December 2021 was the sixth highest since global records began in 1880.

Most favourite spritual destination, report by OYO.

Northern India has emerged as the most favoured spiritual travel destination followed by Southern, Western and Eastern regions in the country, reveals OYO Cultural Travel 2022 Roundup Report by global hospitality chain OYO.

Regarded as the spiritual capital of India, Varanasi, which is also one of the oldest cities in the world, emerged as the top religious destination for bookers across India. This was followed by Tirupati, Puri, Amritsar and Haridwar, as per the report.

In the North zone, Varanasi emerged as the most popular destination due to its favored status among Hindus and Buddhists. This was followed by Prayagraj, Amritsar, Haridwar, Katra, and Rishikesh.

The cultural cities of Vijayawada, Mysore, Tirupati, Madurai and Vellore were most favored in South India. In the West zone, Shirdi received the maximum traction from travellers followed by Mahabaleshwar, Nashik, Ujjain, and Pushkar. Goa, which has always been a popular tourist spot, was the most favoured destinations in East India, along with Puri.

‘Right to repair’ portal launched to handle repair related issues among consumers.

Food and Consumer Affairs Minister Piyush Goyal on Saturday introduced a host of new initiatives, including a right to repair portal and an NTH mobile app and opened new premises of the National Consumer Helpline centre in the national capital.

On the ‘right to repair’ portal, manufacturers will share the manual of product details with customers so that they can either repair by self, by third parties, rather than depend on original manufacturers. Initially, mobile phones, electronic, consumer durables, automobile and farming equipments will be covered.

Speaking on the theme “Effective disposal of cases in consumer commission” on the occasion of National Consumer Day, Mr. Goyal lauded the consumer commissions for disposing of higher number of pending cases in last six months and expressed confidence of eliminating the backlog of cases across the country.

“In a short span of six months, we have doubled disposal of pending cases. About 90,000 pending cases were disposed (between July and November this year),” he said. About 38,000 pending cases were disposed of by consumer courts in the year-earlier period.

Center to introduce Bhagavad Gita in NCERT syllabus.

On Monday, 19 December, the Centre informed the Lok Sabha that the National Council of Education Research and Training (NCERT) should include Shlokas from Shrimad Bhagavad Gita and knowledge from Vedas in textbooks in Sanskrit from classes 11th to 12th. Besides, references from Bhagavadgita should be incorporated in NCERT textbooks of classes 6th to 7th. 

Annapurna Devi, Minister of State for Education, stated in a written response that the ministry formed the Indian Knowledge System (IKS) Division in the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) in 2020 with the goal of promoting interdisciplinary and trans-disciplinary research on all facets of Indian Knowledge Systems (IKS), preserving and disseminating IKS knowledge for further research and societal applications.

Minister Devi stated that NCERT has begun the development of National Curriculum Frameworks (NCF) where inputs from various ministries, departments, states, and union territories are invited from grass root levels. 

She added that the National Education Policy (NEP) 2022, paragraph 4.27, refers to Indian traditional knowledge that is both sustainable and strives for the welfare of all. She also laid emphasis on teaching the world the “Indian way of doing things.”

Nation to hold mock drill for covid emergency responses.

During a virtual meeting with health ministers and senior officials of states in view of the recent surge in coronavirus cases in some parts of the world, he said, “The Centre and states need to work in tandem and in a collaborative spirit as was done during the previous surges for Covid prevention and management.”

“A mock drill for an emergency response to deal with Covid 9 cases will be conducted at hospitals across the country on Tuesday, 27th December, the Union health minister Mansukh Mandaviya will also be participating in the Mock drill,” official sources told ANI.The mock drill is being conducted amid fear of a Covid surge in the country in the wake of a spurt of Covid cases reported in China and other countries. The Union Ministry in India has started taking several proactive steps in this direction.

According to officials, travel guidelines have been revised and issued. 2% random screening of international passengers to be re-initiated from Saturday, December 24, the random screening charges will be charged to the passengers.

India doubled its steel production capacity in the past 8 years, to become world 2nd largest steel producing country.

India’s steel production has reached a historic level of 120 million tonnes per year making it the world’s second-largest producer of Steel, the government informed the Rajya Sabha.

Steel Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said India intends to double its steel production to 300 million tonnes per annum by 2030.

“There has been a doubling in the last eight years of steel production in the country, which has been historic and which is why we have become the second largest steel producer in the world today,” he informed the Rajya Sabha during question hour.

The minister informed that steel production in the country has increased at a historic level. In 2013-14, we had only close to about 60 million tonnes per annum production of steel, we are today at 120 million tonnes,” he said.

Health minister holds a meeting today on covid rising concern.

Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya today reviewed the COVID-19 situation in the country in view of a sudden spurt in cases in some parts of the world, and directed officials to be alert and strengthen surveillance. “Use a mask if you are in a crowded space, indoors or outdoors. This is all the more important for people with comorbidities or are of higher age,” he said. “Only 27-28% of people have taken precaution dose. We appeal to others, especially senior citizens, to take precaution dose. Precaution dose is mandated and guided to everyone.”

In view of the rise in cases in Japan, the United States of America, Republic of Korea, Brazil and China the Union Health Ministry, urged all states and Union territories to ramp up the whole genome sequencing of positive samples of Covid to keep track of emerging variants.

In India, more than 220 crore vaccination doses have been administered, including booster shots. Many got reinfected or have already been exposed to omicron, its sub-variants, and sub-lineages. As a result, many Indians have developed ‘hybrid immunity’ or ‘super immunity’, due to a combination of extensive vaccination and natural infection. Nevertheless, in view of the sudden spurt of cases abroad, the government is reviewing the situation and has directed all relevant agencies to be alert.

Central Government raised more than 4 lakh crore trough disinvestment since 2014.

The government raised over Rs4.04 lakh crore through disinvestment and strategic sale of public-sector enterprises (PSEs) since the Modi government came into power in 2014, the Finance Ministry said on 20 decm.

Of this, the largest amount totalling over Rs1.07 lakh crore through offer for sale in 59 cases. This was followed by a stake sale through Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF) in 10 tranches, aggregating to Rs98,949 crore. Strategic sales in 10 companies, including Air India, yielded Rs69,412 crore to the exchequer in the last 8 years. Share buyback in 45 cases fetched Rs45,104 crore.

17 CPSEs were listed since 2014-15, which yielded Rs50,386 crore. Of this, the initial public offering (IPO) of LIC alone fetched the government Rs20,516 crore. The additional market capitalisation of Rs7.31 lakh crore was achieved through new listings, the ministry said. Besides, the government has sold its residual stake in Paradeep Phosphate Ltd, IPCL, and Tata Communication for Rs472 crore, Rs219 crore and Rs8,847 crore, respectively.