Arun Kumar Singh, former chairman of oil refining and marketing company BPCL, was on Wednesday(7th Dec 2022) appointed chairman and managing director of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) -- the first instance of a retired person being appointed the head of a Maharatna PSU.

* "The Appointments Committee of Cabinet (ACC) has approved the proposal of Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas for appointment of Arun Kumar Singh, ex-CMD, BPCL as Chairman, ONGC for a three-year tenure with effect from the date of his assumption of charge of the post," an official order said.

 

* Singh's appointment on November 17. Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) is India's top oil and gas producer.

 

* A mechanical engineer from National Institute of Technology, Patna, Singh was Director (Marketing) of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) from October 2018 to September 2021, after which he was elevated as chairman and managing director of the company.

 

* Singh retired as BPCL head 13 months later in October 2022.

 

* A search-cum-selection committee, constituted by the oil ministry, zeroed in on Singh after interviewing six candidates on August 27.

 

* Singh was already selected to head the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) before the August 27 interviews.

 

* In his nearly 38 years of experience in oil and gas industry, he has headed business units and entities in BPCL such as retail, LPG, pipelines and supply chain optimization.

 

* He also held the position of President (Africa & Australasia) in Bharat PetroResources Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of BPCL, engaged in exploration of oil and gas, largely overseas, according to information available on BPCL website..

Source : Economic Times

The Meghalaya government in partnership with startup TechEagle has unveiled Asia's first drone delivery hub and network which is aimed at providing universal access to healthcare for the people in the state, a release said on Tuesday(6th Dec 2022).

 

* The project is aimed at delivering vital supplies like drugs, diagnostic samples, vaccines, blood and blood components quickly and safely to different regions of the state using a dedicated drone delivery network.

 

* On Monday(5th Dec 2022), the first official drone flight took off from Jengjal Sub Divisional Hospital, which will act as the hub, and delivered medicines to Padeldoba primary health centre in less than 30 minutes, which would otherwise have taken 2.5 hours by road, TechEagle said in the release.

 

* TechEagle's Vertiplane X3 Drone delivered different healthcare products in its first flight which was five times faster in comparison to ground transportation, it said.

 

* Meghalaya Drone Delivery Network (MDDN) and hub in Phase 1 is a combination of one central hub and 25 spokes (supply chain nodes) in a radius of 50 kilometres where the drone hub at Jengal hospital will act as the centre point, according to TechEagle.

 

* MDDN would bring universal access to healthcare for 2.7 million people of Meghalaya..

Source : Republic World

Dina Boluarte took office as the new President of Peru on Wednesday(7th Dec 2022), after Congress ousted former president Pedro Castillo.

 

* In this turbulent context, Boluarte, who until a few hours ago was the country’s Vice President, took over as Castillo’s successor after being sworn in before the plenary session of Congress on Wednesday afternoon.

 

* She is the first female president in Peru’s history, and the sixth Peruvian president in less than five years.

 

* Boluarte’s term will extend through July 2026.

 

* In her first speech as President, Boluarte on Wednesday(7th Dec 2022) called for a “political truce to install a government of national unity” and said that she would fight corruption with the support of the country’s Attorney General’s Office and Comptroller’s Office.

 

* “My first task is to fight corruption, in all forms,” Boluarte said. “I have seen with revulsion how the press and judicial bodies have reported shameful acts of robbery against the money of all Peruvians, this cancer must be rooted out.”

 

* Boluarte’s predecessor Castillo was removed from office and arrested on Wednesday for unconstitutionally declaring the temporary closure of Congress, according to several constitutional analysts in the country.

 

* At least seven cabinet ministers and other senior officials resigned in protest of Castillo’s move, accusing the former president of attempting a coup.

 

* Dina Ercilia Boluarte Zegarra, 60, graduated in Law from the San Martín de Porres Private University, where she also obtained her Master’s degree in Notarial and Registry Law, according to her resume.

 

* She began her political career in 2007, at the National Registry of Identification and Civil Status in Surco, as an advisor to senior management and, later, as the head of the local office.

 

* In 2018, she was a candidate for mayor of Surquillo with the Peru Libre Party. Two years later, in 2020, she ran in extraordinary parliamentary elections, but failed to win a seat..

Source : CNN

Maharashtra Chief Minister "Eknath Shinde" has announced the setting up of a separate "Divyang department" for the welfare of differently-abled people with a fund allocation of Rs 1,143 crore.

 

Maharashtra is the first state to have such a department, Shinde said on Saturday(3rd Dec 2022) addressing an event in Mumbai to mark the International Day of Disabled Persons.

"The government has created 2,063 posts for the new department which will formulate policies for the welfare of the disabled by taking into consideration views of the stakeholders," he said.

 

The decision to set up the Divyang department was approved by the state cabinet on November 29, 2022. The sections looking into issues of Divyang (differently-abled) people under the Social Justice and Special Assistance department will be clubbed to form the new Divyang Welfare Department, the government had said. Welfare activities of Divyang people like education, training, and rehabilitation were so far taken care of by the state social justice department..

Source : Outlook India

Google announced its ‘Year in Search 2022’ results for Indian users on Wednesday(7th Dec 2022), which offers an insight into how and what people in the country have searched on the search engine  during the year 2022.

* The list, which is released annually, covers a broad range of topics like trending events, sports, news, movies, and more.

 

* Google’s this year’s results for the ‘Year in Search 2022’ shows that the Indian Premier League (IPL) was the top trending search in 2022, followed by CoWIN and FIFA World Cup 2022.

* This list, when compared to last year’s results, shows a noticeable shift in search trends as people googled majorly about coronavirus-related queries in 2021.

 

* According to Google’s ‘Year in Search 2022,’ people also searched about sports events like the Asia Cup and ICC Men's T20 World Cup, which were at fourth and fifth places, respectively.

 

* Bollywood’s VFX-heavy movie ‘Brahmastra: Part One - Shiva’ managed to secure the sixth rank while ‘KGF: Chapter 2’ stood ninth on the list. Moviegoers also searched for Kashmir Files, RRR, Kantara, Pushpa: The Rise, and Vikram. In addition to this, Lal Singh Chaddha, Drishyam 2 and Thor Love and Thunder were in the top 10 movie searches this year as well.

 

* Apart from these, the government’s ‘Agneepath Scheme’ topped Google’s search list in the ‘What is’ category, followed by North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and non-fungible token (NFT).

 

* Talking about the ‘Near me’ section of the Google Search for 2022, ‘covid vaccine near me’ became the most sought topic followed by ‘swimming pool’, ‘water park’, and ‘movies’.

 

* On the other hand, the top spot in google search’s ‘how to’ list shows that ‘how to download vaccination certificate’ was at the top spot, followed by ‘how to download PTRC challan’.

 

* As per Google, the most searched personalities in the country in 2022 were suspended BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma at the first spot, followed by President of India Droupadi Murmu, new United Kingdom Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Lalit Modi and Sushmita Sen..

Source : Business Today

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky, who has put up a feisty resistance against the Russian invasion for nearly a year now, has been named as the 2022 person of the year by Time magazine.

 

When Russia declared war against its neighbour, Zelensky announced his decision to stay in Kyiv and rally his country. Praising him for the act, Time editor in chief Edward Felsenthal said this year's decision was "the most clear-cut in memory."

 

To keep the countrymen motivated, Zelensky has delivered daily speeches, appeared on the frontlines and recently celebrated in the streets of Kherson when Ukraine pushed Russia from the critical southern city.

 

"His information offensive shifted the geopolitical weather system, setting off a wave of action that swept the globe," Felsenthal wrote in announcing the winner.

 

Zelensky shares the 2022 title with "the spirit of Ukraine," which Felsenthal said was embodied by the "countless individuals inside and outside the country" who fought behind the scenes, including everyday people such as chefs and surgeons..

Source : Mint

A volcano erupted in Indonesia on Sunday(4th Dec 2022) spewing a cloud of ash 15 km into the sky and forcing the evacuation of nearly 2,000 people, authorities said, as they issued their highest warning for the area in the east of Java island.

 

* There were no immediate reports of any casualties from the eruption of the Semeru volcano and Indonesia's transport ministry said that there was no impact on air travel but notices had been sent to two regional airports for vigilance.

 

* "Most roads have been closed since this morning and now it is raining volcanic ash and it has covered the view of the mountain," community volunteer Bayu Deny Alfianto told Reuters by telephone from near the volcano.

 

* Semeru, the tallest mountain on Java, erupted last year killing more than 50 people and displacing thousands.

 

* Indonesia's disaster mitigation agency (BNPB) said 1,979 people had been moved to 11 shelters and authorities had distributed masks to residents. The eruption began at 2:46 a.m. (1946 GMT on Saturday) and rescue, search and evacuation efforts were going on..

Source : Reuters

India’s total coal production has increased by 11.66 per cent to 75.87 Million Ton (MT) in November 2022.  Last year November 2021 coal production  67.94 MT. 

 

Coal Ministry says, 24 mines out of the top 37 mines in coal production have produced more than 100 per cent and production of five mines stood between 80 and 100 percent. During the period, Coal based power generation has also registered a growth of 16.28 per cent. 

 

It further stated that the power utilities dispatch has increased by 3.55 per cent to 62.34 MT during last month as compared to 60.20 MT the previous year(2021)..

Source : AIR

Oxford University Press (OUP), publishers of Oxford English Dictionary has selected “goblin mode” as the 2022 Oxford word of the year.

 

* It refers to a type of behavior which is an unapologetically self-indulgent, lazy, slovenly, or greedy, typically in a way that rejects social norms or expectations.

 

* For the first time, a group of lexicographers at OUP gave people a choice of: “Goblin mode,” “metaverse,” and “#IStandWith”..

Source : CNN

International Civil Aviation Day is celebrated on December 7, every year. The day is marked as a global observance and not a public holiday.

Every year, this day is celebrated to promote awareness of the importance of international civil aviation organisations in international air travel. Safety standards in international aviation are maintained by the ICAO, an autonomous UN body.

 

International Civil Aviation Day is intended to raise awareness of the importance of international civil aviation to the economic and social development of countries, and of the unique role of ICAO in helping nations cooperate and build a global rapid transit network for the benefit of all mankind.

 

International Civil Aviation Day 2022 Theme : The theme for International Civil Aviation Day 2022 is, “Advancing Innovation for Global Aviation Development”. The theme will remain the same until the year 2023.

 

Every five years, coinciding with ICAO anniversaries, the ICAO Council establishes a special anniversary theme for International Civil Aviation Day. Between these anniversary years, Council representatives select a single theme for the full four-year intervening period.

 

International Civil Aviation Day History : International Civil Aviation Day was first celebrated in 1994. As part of ICAO's 50th-anniversary celebrations, it was established in 1994. 1996 was the year when the UN General Assembly formally recognised December 7 as International Civil Aviation Day..

Source : India Today