5th Indo-Pacific Regional Dialogue held in New Delhi, 4 MoUs inked by NMFThe 5th edition of ‘Indo-Pacific Regional Dialogue 2023” (IPRD-2023)was held from November 15-17, 2023, the three-day annual apex-level regional strategic dialogue of the Indian Navy (IN), was held in New Delhi , Delhi, with the theme ‘Geopolitical Impacts upon Indo-Pacific Maritime Trade and Connectivity’.

• IPRD-2023 Saw Signing of Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) by National Maritime Foundation (NMF)

i.The Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar released a book entitled ‘Building Partnerships – India and International Cooperation for Maritime Security’ published by NMF.
ii.Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman released an edited volume entitled ‘Maritime Perspectives: Maritime Security Dynamics in the Indo-Pacific: Strategies and Trends’ published by NMF.
About Indian Navy (IN):
Chief of the Naval Staff (CNS)– Admiral Radhakrishnan Hari Kumar
Headquarters– Integrated Defence Headquarters, Ministry of Defence, New Delhi, Delhi
Founded– 26 January 1950

ICG Conducted “NATPOLREX-IX” off Gujarat for Assessing Marine Oil Spill Readiness
The Indian Coast Guard (ICG) conducted the 9th National Level Pollution Response Exercise (NATPOLREX-IX) on 24-25 November 2023, off Vadinar coast, Gujarat, in accordance with National Oil Spill Disaster Contingency Plan (NOS-DCP).
Aim: To assess the coordination and readiness of various agencies in responding to a marine oil spill.

• DG Rakesh Pal, Director General of the Indian Coast Guard, and the Chairman of NOSDCP reviewed the preparedness of all agencies during the exercise.
• Participants: Representatives of various ministries and departments of central and coastal state governments, ports, oil handling agencies, and other stakeholders along with more than 31 foreign observers and 80 delegates participated in the exercise.
• During the exercise, the ICG deployed surfaces as well as air platforms including Pollution Response Vessels (PRVs) and Offshore Patrol Vessels (OPVs).

The 8th edition of NATPOLREX-VIII was conducted from April 19-20, 2022, off Mormugao Harbour, Goa.
Note:
Since 1986, the ICG has assumed responsibility for safeguarding the marine environment, taking over from the Ministry of Shipping.
The NOSDCP, approved by the Committee of Secretaries in 1993, outlines strategies to combat oil spill disasters at sea.

India Organised Five-day Millets Festival in Indonesia to Enhance Food Security with ASEANThe Indian Mission to Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in collaboration with Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare (MoA&FW) organised  the ASEAN-India Millet Festival 2023 from 22nd to 26th November 2023 , in Indonesia.

• The festival was inaugurated in the Kota Kasablanka Mall, in South Jakarta, Indonesia.
• The festival aims to raise awareness and create a market for millets and millets-based products among the ASEAN Member states.

About ASEAN-India Millet Festival:
i.Millet Festival is a part of United Nation(UN)’s International Year of Millets 2023 (IYM 2023) celebrations.
ii.The festival includes an exhibition, panel discussions, and cooking workshops.
iii.The exhibition also aims to foster collaboration between ASEAN countries, celebrate cultural and culinary diversity and promote sustainable millet practices.
India’s Participation:
i.Department of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare under MA&FW lead a delegation from India including professionals engaged in the Indian millet ecosystem.
ii.Five Farmers Producers Organisation (FPOs) and two start-ups (Taru Naturals and Sattva Millets and Food Products (Mibbles)) from India participated the exhibition.

• They showcased unique millet-added products such as millet cookies, namkeen, khakhra and cakes.

Background:
i.ASEAN-India Joint Leaders’ Statement on Strengthening Food Security and Nutrition in Response to Crises was adopted at the 20th ASEAN-India Summit in Jakarta, Indonesia on September 7, 2023.
ii.The  five-day festival is in alignment with the implementation of this statement.
About ASEAN:
i.It is an intergovernmental organization of ten Southeast Asian countries namely Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.

• India is part of the ASEAN Plus Six grouping, which includes China, Japan, South Korea, New Zealand and Australia.

ii.It was established on 8 August 1967 in Bangkok, Thailand with the signing of the ASEAN Declaration (Bangkok Declaration).
About Republic of Indonesia:
The Indonesian Parliament has passed a law to relocate its capital from Jakarta to East Kalimantan. The new capital will be called Nusantara.
President – Joko Widodo
Currency – Indonesian Rupiah (IDR)

NPCI Instructs Payment Apps to Deactivate Inactive UPI IDs by December 31, 2023The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has directed all Third Party Application Providers (TPAP) and Payment Service Provider (PSP) banks to deactivate all Unified Payments Interface (UPI) IDs that have remained inactive for a period of one year or more.

• This measure is to be implemented by December 31, 2023.
• This includes apps like Google Pay, Paytm, and PhonePe.

Aim:
To streamline UPI ID usage, ensuring only actively utilized ones remain operational for enhanced efficiency and security in the UPI ecosystem.
Key Points:
i.After implemention, dormant UPI IDs will be disabled for inward credit transactions; and associated phone numbers will be deregistered by PSPs from UPI mapper.
ii.Users with blocked UPI IDs can re-register in UPI apps for mapper linkage, enabling payments using UPI Pin.
iii.UPI apps instructed to perform Requester Validation for ‘pay-to-contact/pay-to-mobile number,’ showing customer name fetched at transaction start.
iv.The customers need to activate UPI IDs before a set date to avoid cancellation.

• However, users get notifications via email or message before deactivation.

Notes:
i.UPI enables swift fund transfers between bank accounts via smartphones.
ii.TPAPs are entities that provide mobile applications to customers to facilitate UPI transactions.
iii.PSPs ensure that the UPI app complies with all safety measures. They also enable merchants to accept credit and debit card payments.

CDSL becomes the First Listed Depository to Register More Than 10 crore Demat AccountsCentral Depository Services (India) Limited (CSDL) had become the first Indian depository to hold 10 crore(100 million) active dematerialisation (demat) accounts.

• CSDL attained this position by surpassing the National Securities Depository Limited (NSDL).

About CDSL:
i.CDSL is the largest and only listed depository of India.
ii.It is a Market Infrastructure Institution (MII).
iii.It plays an important role in Capital market structure.
iv.It provides services to Market participants such as Exchanges, Clearing Corporations, Depository Participants (DPs), Issuers and Investors.
iv.CDSL maintains and services demat accounts of investors or beneficial owners (BOs).

• These BOs are serviced by CDSL’s 580-plus depository participants.

v.CDSL Ventures Limited (CVL) India is a wholly-owned subsidiary of CDSL

• It is the first and largest Know Your Customer (KYC) Registration Agency (KRA).
• CVL conceptualised, designed, and implemented the KRA system in association with the Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI) for all mutual funds in 2008.

vi.Its major shareholders are the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) Limited, Standard Chartered Bank, Parag Parikh Financial Advisory Services(PPFAS) Asset Management Company, Life Insurance Corporation (LIC), and Canara Bank.
What is a Depository?
i.A Depository is a facilitator for the holding of securities in the dematerialized form and an enabler for securities transactions.
ii.There are only two depositories in India namely CSDL and NSDL.
About NSDL:
i.It is the first depository in India which was established in 1996.
ii.The enactment of the Depositories Act, 1996 paved the way for the establishment of NSDL in Mumbai, Maharashtra.
iii.NSDL offers services to investors, stock brokers, custodians and issuer companies.
About Central Depository Services (India) Limited (CSDL):
Managing Director(MD) & Chief Executive Officer(CEO) – Nehal Vora
Headquarters – Mumbai, Maharashtra
Established in – 1999

S&P Global hikes India’s FY24 GDP growth forecast by 40 bps to 6.4%American credit rating agency, S&P Global Rating, has raised India’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate forecast for 2023-24 (FY24) by 40 basis points(bps) to 6.4%, up from 6%. This increase is driven by strong domestic momentum that may have offset the negative effects of high food inflation and weak exports.

• For FY25, India’s GDP growth projection has been reduced to 6.4% from 6.9% amid subdued global growth, a higher base, and the lagged impact of rate hikes.s.

Key Points:
i.India’s GDP exceeded the 2019 level by 15.5% in the first half of FY24 (H1FY24).
ii.Headline inflation remains above the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI’s) target of 4%.
iii.Retail inflation based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI) slipped to 4.9% in October 2023 after 7.4% in July 2023.
iii.The seasonally adjusted S&P Global India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) stood at 55.5 in October 2023, down from 57.5 in September 2203.

• This highlights the slowest rate of expansion since February 2023.

India FY24 Growth Forecast by Other Agencies (in% Year-On-Year):

• S&P Global- 6.4%
• International Monetary Fund (IMF)- 6.3%
• World Bank (WB)- 6.3%
• Moody’s- 6.7%
• Morgan Stanley- 6.5%
• RBI- 6.5%

 “Authentic” is Merriam-Webster’s word of the year for 2023United States of America (USA) dictionary publisher Merriam-Webster announced that the Word of the Year for 2023 is “Authentic”.

• According to Merriam-Webster, Authentic is defined as “not false or imitation” and “true to one’s own personality, spirit, or character”.

Word Authentic in 2023:
i.The searches for the word ‘Authentic’ on Merriam-webster.com increased in 2023, because of stories and conversations about Artificial intelligence (AI), celebrity culture, identity, and social media.
ii.’Authentic’ is an adjective which modifies the noun.

• The words frequently modified by authentic include cuisine, dish, self and voice.

‘Authentic’ as Identity:
The word is often connected to national as well as personal identity.
Other Top Searched Words of Merriam-Webster 2023:
i.Rizz – It is a internet-driven slang which means “romantic appeal or charm”
ii.Deepfake –A type of AI that can be used to create realistic but fake videos or audio recordings.
iii.Coronation – the act or occasion of crowning
iv.Dystopian- The word relates to, or being in an imagined world or society in which people lead dehumanized, fearful lives.
v.Egot- The word means the accomplishment of winning an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony Award in one’s lifetime.
vi.X – Elon Musk has rebranded Twitter as X in July 2023; This made many people to learn about ‘X’.
vii.Implode – The word means ‘to burst inward’ or ‘to undergo violent compression’
viii.Doppelgänger – a person who has the same name as another
ix.Covenant –  a formal, solemn, and binding agreement
x.Indict – to charge with a fault or offense
xi.Elemental – relating to, or being the basic or essential constituent of something
xii.Kibbutz – a communal farm or settlement in Israel
xiii.Deadname – the name that a transgender person was given at birth and no longer uses upon transitioning
Note:  “Gaslighting” is Merriam-Webster’s word of the year for 2022

Andry Rajoelina reelected as Madagascar’s president for the 3rd TermIncumber President of Madagascar Andry Rajoelina, leader of Young Malagasies Determined (Tanora Malagasy Vonona, TGV) party, was re-elected as the President of Madagascar for 3rd term.

• He won 59% of the vote defeating former President Marc Ravalomanana (14.4%) and former judo champion, Siteny Randrianasoloniaiko(12%).
• Previoulsy, he has served as the President of Madagascar from 2009 to 2014 and from 2019 to 2023.

Note: Madagascar, an island nation in the Indian Ocean  lying off the southeastern coast of Africa.
About Andry Rajoelina:
i.Andry Rajoelina, a Malagasy entrepreneur and former former DJ(disc jockey), entered politics in 2007.

• In 2007, He was elected as mayor of Antananarivo, the Capital of Madagascar.

ii.In 2009, Andry Rajoilina ousted then president Marc Ravalomanana in the coup backed by the army.
iii.At the age of 34, he was appointed as the president of the High Transitional Authority (HAT) by a military council.

• He became the youngest president in the Madagascar’s history.
• He remained as president of the transitional government until January 2014.
• In 2019, he was re-elected as the President and served till 2023.

About Madagascar:
Capital– Antananarivo
Prime Minister– Christian Ntsay
President– Andry Rajoelina
Currency– Malagasy ariay (MGA)

Rajat Kumar Jain Appointed as Part-time Chairman of Fino Payment BankReserve Bank of India (RBI ) has approved the appointment of Rajat Kumar Jain as the Part-time Chairman of Fino Payment Bank (Fino Bank) with effect from 24th November 2023, until 1st November 2025.

• He is currently serving as an Independent Director in Fino bank.

About Rajat Kumar Jain:
i.He is a Founder-Director of PadUp Ventures, a Knowledge and Mentoring Platform.
ii.He also serves as an Independent Director at the Aditya Birla Finance Limited.
iv.He is a Trustee of the Braj Foundation, a Non-governmental organization (NGO), and an Advisor to the E&H Foundation.
v.Previously, he served as the MD and non-executive director at Xerox India from February 2012 to December 2017.

• From January 2015, he transitioned to a non-executive role on the board of directors at Xerox India.

vi.He has also served as the MD and global senior vice president at Walt Disney India from July 2004 to June 2007.
About Fino Payments Bank:
MD and Chief Executive Officer (CEO)– Mr. Rishi Gupta
Headquarters– Mumbai, Maharashtra
Incorporated on– 4th April 2017

Tennis: Italy Defeats Australia to win Davis Cup 2023 titleOn 26th November 2023, Italian tennis team captained by Filippo Volandri, won the Davis Cup 2023 by defeating Australian team captained by Lleyton Hewitt in the finals held in Palacio de Deportes Jose Maria Martin Carpena in Malaga, Spain.

• This marks Italy’s 2nd Davis Cup title. Previously, Italy won the title in 1976.
• 2023 Davis Cup is the 111th edition of the tournament.

Note:  Davis Cup, men’s tennis tournament between national teams, is annually organised by the International Tennis Federation (ITF), world governing body of tennis
Players of Italy:

• Jannik Sinner
• Matteo Arnaldi
• Lorenzo Musetti
• Lorenzo Sonego
• Simone Bolelli
• Filippo Volandri(Captain)

Highglihts:
i.Italy has ranked number 1 in the 2023 year-end Davis Cup Nations Ranking released by ITF.
ii.Italy has become the10th nation to hold the No. 1 ranking since the Davis Cup Nations Rankings were introduced in December 2001.
iii.Canada is ranked 2nd followed by Australia at 3rd; Spain at 4th and Serbia at 5th.
iv.Reaching the 2023 finals, both Italy and Australia secured automatic qualification for the 2024 Davis Cup Finals Group Stage
Davis Cup 2023:
The 2023 Davis Cup qualifying round was held from 3 to 5 February 2023.

• In 2023, a record 155 nations entered Davis Cup, making it the world’s largest annual international team competition in Tennis.

The 12 winners of this round are qualified for the 2023 Davis Cup Final 8.
Canada (2022 champions); Australia (2022 runners-up); Italy and Spain (wild card) were directly qualified for final 8.
About Davis Cup:
i.The first edition of Davis Cup was held in 1900. The tournamnet was originally known as the International Lawn Tennis Challenge.
ii.The event was named Davis Cup after Dwight Davis’s trophy, which was designed by William Durgin and crafted by Rowland Rhodes.
iii.The competition’s current format was introduced in 2019.
iv.Davis cup is played in Hard Surface(indoor).
Key facts:
i.The United States of America (USA) has won the most number (32) of Davis Cup title while Australia is the 2nd most successful team with 28 titles.
ii.India finished as runners-up 3 times (1966, 1974, 1987), the most by any nation from Asia proper.

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen won 2023 Abu Dhabi GP; Completes Season with 19th Win
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen (Belgian-Dutch driver competing under the Dutch flag) won the 15th edition of the Formula 1 (F1) Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix (Abu Dhabi GP 2023), held at Yas Marina Circuit on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE) on 26 November 2023.

• This also marks Max’s 4th consecutive Abu Dhabi GP title and 19th title of the 2023 season.
• Abu Dhabi 2023 marks the last race (22nd) of 2023 season.

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc of Monaco finished 2nd Mercedes’ George Russell (3rd) of the United Kingdom (UK) finished 3rd.
Key Points:
i.With this win, Verstappen became the 1st driver in history to lead 1,000 laps in a single season.
ii.With this, Max moved to the 3rd position on the all-time wins list, with a total of 54 wins by surpassing Sebastian Vettel of Germany.

• The list is topped by Lewis Hamilton (103) of UK and Michael Schumacher (91) of Germany.

iii.Verstappen ends 2023 with records for the most single-season wins (19), most consecutive race wins (10), most podium finishes (21), highest points total (575), and largest championship-winning margin (290).
Note: Red Bull won 21 of 22 races this season, with Sergio Perez claiming 2 wins.

BWF China Masters 2023: India’s Satwik-Chirag settled for 2nd place; China won the titleThe Indian badminton duo of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty settled for 2nd place in the men’s doubles of  Li Ning China Masters 2023  held in Shenzhen Bay Gymnasium, Shenzhen, China from 21st to 26th November 2023.

• India duo lost the finals against the World No. 1 pair of Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang of China.
• China Masters 2023 is a Badminton World Federation (BWF) Super 750 tournament.

Note: The China Masters, formerly known as Fuzhou China Open, is an annual badminton tournament held in China.
Key Points:
i.The Indian Duo won their 1st BWF World Super 750 title at the 2022 Yonex French Open badminton tournament in France. They became the 1st Indian men’s doubles pair to claim a Super 750 title.
ii.In 2023, they won the Indonesia Open 2023(Super 1000); the Korea Open 2023 (Super 500) in South Korea; and the Swiss Open (Super 300) in Switzerland.
iii.In 2023, the duo also won the Badminton Asian Championships 2023 (Dubai, United Arab Emirates) and the Gold medal in the Asian Games 2023 (Hangzhou, China), India’s 1st Gold in Badminton.
Winners of China Masters 2023: 

• Men’s Singles – Kodai Naraoka (Japan)
• Women’s Singles – Chen Yu Fei (China)
• Men’s Doubles – Liang Wei Keng & Wang Chang (China).
• Women’s Doubles – Nami Matsuyama & Chiharu Shida (Japan)
• Mixed Doubles – Zheng Si Wei & Huang Ya Qiong (China)

Indian violinist &  Carnatic Musician B. Sasikumar Passed Away
B Sasikumar, a renowned Indian Violinist and Carnatic Musician from Kerala passed away at the age of 74 in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. He was born on 27 April 1949 in Thiruvalla, Kerala.

• He has worked as a music teacher in Swati Tirunal College of Music, Thiruvananthapuram and joined Thiruvananthapuram Akashvani All India Radio (AIR) as a staff artiste (Violin) in 1971. He retired in 2008.
• He has produced many musical features for AIR such as “Nadopasana”, “Sapthaswarangalil” and “Layicha Mahaanubhaavan”.
• He has composed and presented an orchestral piece called “String”, consisting of only string instruments, with young artists for the AIR program.
• His notable works include “Navavarana Krithimahima”, a 10-episode series on Navavarana Krithis. He also directed Adhyathma Ramayanam’s recital in 2001.
• He was awarded, the Violon Samrat Award from Kuwait (2011); the Kendra Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (2008); Kerala Sangeetha Natak Academy Fellowship (2002).

Veteran Gujarati Photojournalist & Padma Shri Awardee Zaverilal Mehta Passed Away
Renowned Gujarati photo journalist Zaverilal Dalpatram Mehta passed away in Ahmedabad, Gujarat.
About Zaverilal Mehta:
i.Mehta was born in Gujarat, in 1928.
ii.He started his career in 1946 as Textiles Artist at Arvind Mills in Ahmedabad, Gujarat.
iii.In 1972, he joined as a photojournalist in  Gujarat Samachar, a daily Gujarati newspaper.
iv.His area of focus concentrated on subject ‘LIFE’ of people rather than ordinary photos.
Awards:
i.He was awarded Padma Shri, India’s fourth-highest civilian award, in 2018, in the field of literature and education.
ii.He also received several awards including “Best Photo Journalist” award (1996-97) from the State Government of Gujarat.
Note: He is known for capturing Kutch cyclone of 1998, 2001 earthquake, and documenting the tenures of 13 chief ministers.

Sharmishtha Mukherjee penned  ‘Pranab, My Father: A Daughter Remembers’
Sharmishtha Mukherjee, the daughter of Former (13th) President of India , Pranab Mukherjee has authored the book ‘Pranab, My Father: A Daughter Remembers’.

• The book is the biography of Pranab Mukherjee.
• The book is published by Rupa Publications India.

About the book:
i.The book sums up the life of Pranab Mukherjee starting from a small village in West Bengal to his rise to the President office.
ii.The book is also a mirror to the father-daughter relationship between Pranab Mukherjee and Sharmishtha.
iii.The book will be released on 11th  December 2023 (on 88th birth anniversary of Pranab).
About Sharmishtha Mukherjee:
i.She is a kathak dancer and choreographer.
ii.She is a primary member of Indian National Congress(INC).
Note:
Pranab Mukherjee served as India’s President from 2012 to 2017.He received many awards including India’s highest civilian honour, the Bharat Ratna, in 2019.

First-Ever UN World Sustainable Transport Day – November 26, 2023The first-ever United Nations (UN) World Sustainable Transport Day was observed on 26 November 2023 to recognise the pivotal role of safe, affordable, accessible, and sustainable transport systems for all.

• The annual observance was created in response to the impact that transport has on climate change and the disparity between transport options worldwide.

The observance is led by UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA), in collaboration with the UN regional economic commissions.
Background:
On 16th May 2023, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) adopted the resolution A/RES/77/286 and proclaimed the 26 November of every year as the World Sustainable Transport Day.