Current Affairs-December 21, 2022
INDIA
- Indians can enjoy visa-free travel to 22 countries, according to Arton Capital Passport Index.
- Parliamentary Standing Committee flags victimisation of SC/ST employees of PSUs
- Nominated Rajya Sabha member P.T. Usha joins Vice-Chairman’s panel; first nominated member to be on the panel in the history of the Rajya Sabha.
- The fifth Scorpene-class submarine, Vagir, was delivered to the Navy by Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders; scheduled to be commissioned into service in January.
- Sethrichem Sangtam was awarded the first Rohini Nayyar prize for outstanding contribution to rural development.
- Bill seeking to amend the law on multi-State cooperative societies was referred to a joint committee of Parliament.
ECONOMY
- Share buybacks through stock exchanges to be phased out under new SEBI rules
- CIBIL, SIDBI, Online PSB loans launch MSME rankings – model uses machine learning to predict the probability of MSME becoming a NPA
- Puducherry, Lakshadweep and Goa emerged as best-performing states on the Social Progress Index (SPI)
- Fitch Ratings affirmed India’s long-term foreign currency issuer default rating at ‘BBB-‘ with a stable outlook.
WORLD
- Nepal blacklists 16 Indian pharma companies, including Baba Ramdev’s Pharmacy
- Taliban authorities ordered a nationwide ban on university education for girls
- Elon Musk will step down as the Twitter CEO; to quit after finding a replacement.
- NASA’S Mars rover Perseverance to start dropping samples of rock on surface of Mars
SPORTS
- Reigning World champion Nikhat Zareen and World Championships bronze medallist Simranjit Kaur win on the opening day of National women’s boxing in Bhopal.
- Indian men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty reached a career-best world No. 5
