SBI donates cardiac care ambulance to Army Hospital

• The State Bank of India (SBI) has donated an advanced cardiac life support ambulance to the Army Hospital (Research & Referral), New Delhi.
• The ambulance has a modular cardiac defibrillator enabled for shock discharge to wet patients with remote monitoring and works as a mobile emergency care “workplace”.
• It is the first of its kind of ambulance in the defence services. Speaking on the occasion, Kalpesh K. Avasia, Chief General Manager, SBI, New Delhi Circle, said, “It gives us immense pleasure to provide this state of the art Advanced Cardiac Life Support Ambulance, which will help in providing timely treatment of patients.”

Tamil Nadu gets its first biodiversity heritage site

• Tamil Nadu Government issued a notification declaring Arittapatti in Melur block, Madurai district, a Biodiversity Heritage Site (BHS).
• It is Tamil Nadu’s first and India’s 35^thBiodiversity Heritage Site

Facts about Arittapatti

• Arittapatti village is rich in ecological and historical significance, it houses around 250 species of birds including three important raptors, birds of prey namely:
  • Laggar Falcon
  • Shaheen Falcon
  • Bonelli’s Eagle
• It is also home to wildlife such as the Indian Pangolin, Slender Loris and Pythons.
• The biodiversity-rich area is surrounded by a chain of seven hillocks or inselbergs that serve as a watershed, charging ‘72 lakes, 200 natural springs and three check dams.’
  • The Anaikondan Lake, built during the reign of Pandiyan kings in the 16^th century is one among them.
• Several megalithic structures, rock-cut temples, Tamil Brahmi inscriptions and Jain beds add to the historical significance of the region.

About Biodiversity Heritage Site

• Biodiversity heritage sites are well-defined areas that are unique, ecologically fragile ecosystems with high diversity of wild and domesticated species, presence of rare and threatened species, and keystone species.

Forest Range Officer killed by Gutti Koya tribals in Telangana

About Gutti Koya Tribe

• The Koya population is concentrated in Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Odisha.
• The Koyas speak the Koya language, which is a Dravidian language.
• Most important fair celebrated by Koyas is the Sammakka Saralamma Jatra once in two years on full moon day of the Magha Masam (January or February) at Medaram village in Mulug taluk of Warangal district.

World economic growth to slow down this year, says OECD

• Global growth seen falling from 3.1% in 2022 to 2.2% in 2023; national outlooks vary widely, with U.K. lagging behind other economies; central banks urged to keep raising interest rates
• The global economy should avoid a recession next year but the worst energy crisis since the 1970s will trigger a sharp slowdown, with Europe hit hardest, the OECD said, adding that fighting inflation should be policymakers’ top priority.
• National outlooks vary widely, although Britain’s economy is set to lag major peers, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development said on Tuesday.
• The global economy should avoid a recession next year but the worst energy crisis since the 1970s will trigger a sharp slowdown, with Europe hit hardest, the OECD said, adding that fighting inflation should be policymakers’ top priority.
• National outlooks vary widely, although Britain’s economy is set to lag major peers, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development said on Tuesday.
• It forecast that world economic growth would slow from 3.1% this year — slightly more than the OECD foresaw in its September projections — to 2.2% next year, before accelerating to 2.7% in 2024
• We are not predicting a recession, but we are certainly projecting a period of pronounced weakness, OECD head Mathias Cormann told a news conference to present the organisation’s latest Economic Outlook.
• The OECD said the global slowdown was hitting economies unevenly, with Europe bearing the brunt as Russia’s war in Ukraine hits business activity and drives an energy price spike.
• It forecast that the 19-country euro zone economy would grow 3.3% this year then slow to 0.5% in 2023 before recovering to expand by 1.4% in 2024. That was slightly better than in the OECD’s September outlook, when it estimated 3.1% growth this year and 0.3% in 2023.

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Every eleven minutes, a woman is killed by partner or family

• Asserting that a woman or a girl is killed every 11 minutes by an intimate partner or a family member, U.N. chief Antonio Guterres has said that violence against them is the most pervasive “human rights violation” in the world and called on governments to implement national action plans that tackle this scourge.
• Secretary General Guterres made these remarks ahead of the International Day for the ‘Elimination of Violence against Women’ which is observed on November 25.
• Guterres’ remarks come in the backdrop of the recent Shraddha Walkar murder case that has shocked India with its brutal details.
• He said women and girls also face rampant online violence, from misogynistic hate speech to sexual harassment, image abuse and grooming by predators.
• “This discrimination, violence and abuse targeting half of humanity come at a steep cost. It limits women’s and girls’ participation in all walks of life, denies their basic rights and freedoms, and blocks the equal economic recovery and sustainable growth our world needs,” he said.
• The U.N. chief gave a clarion call to all to “consign violence against women and girls to the history books,” saying now is the time for transformative action that ends violence against women and girls.

Australia’s Parliament has passed the Free Trade Agreement with India

About Free Trade Agreement

A Free Trade Agreement (FTA) is an agreement between two or more countries to reduce trade barriers in imports and exports among them.

• These agreements deal with the determination of the tariffs and duties that are imposed by the countries on imports and to reduce trade barriers and thereby strengthen the bilateral or multilateral trade relations.
• With FTA, goods and services can be exchanged across international borders with limited or no government tariffs, quotas, or subsidies.
• A free-trade policy may simply be the absence of any trade restrictions.
• The idea of FTA is the opposite of the concept of trade protectionism or economic isolationism.
• In the current world, free trade policy is often implemented through a formal and mutual agreement of the nations involved

Classification of Trade Agreements

Based on the level of openness in the trade between the countries, free trade policies can be categorized as:

• Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA);Two or more countries agree upon a preferential right of entry to certain products facilitated by reducing duties.

• • A positive list is maintained i.e. the list of the products to which preferential access is provided.
  • Examples: India – MERCOSUR PTA and India – SAARC Preferential Trading Arrangement (SAPTA)
• Free Trade Agreement (FTA): Multiple countries agree to eliminate tariffs on items covering substantial bilateral trade.
  • A negative list of products and services is maintained by the negotiating countries on which the terms of FTA are not applicable. Hence compared to PTAs, FTAs are more comprehensive.
  • Examples: India – South Asia Free Trade Area (SAFTA) and India Sri Lanka FTA
• Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA): These involve a comprehensive package of agreements on goods/services, investment, mutual recognition, e-commerce, intellectual property, etc.
  • Examples: India Singapore CECA and India Malaysia CECA
• Customs Union (CU): Members of the CU may agree to trade at zero duty among themselves, maintain common tariffs against the rest of the world.
  • Examples: European Union Customs Union and Southern African Customs Union
• Common Market: In a common market, countries also allow free trade and free movement of labour and capital among the members of the group.
  • Example: European Common Market
• Economic Union: It is a Common Market extended through further harmonisation of fiscal/monetary policies and shared executive, judicial & legislative institutions.
  • Example: European Union (EU)

Free Trade Agreements and India

India currently has 12 FTAs and India-UAE CEPA is the latest one.

• India opted out of the giant Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership of the Asia-Pacific nations in 2020.
• The earlier results of FTAs have been mixed and the Confederation of Indian Industry has demanded a review of existing trade agreements.
• India’s FTA with Sri Lanka has resulted in meagre growth in bilateral trade and very little diversification of exports.
• India’s FTA with the ASEAN shows that the percentage of imports of food and beverages, consumer goods, and industrial supplies have increased, like that of fuel, transport equipment, and capital goods have reduced, thus depriving India of any substantial gains from the trade deal.
• The FTA with South Korea also has seen limited benefits to India.
• The FTA with Japan has increased the share of industrial supplies, transport equipment, and capital goods imports, enhancing productivity in India.

Uttar Pradesh Global Investors Summit-2023 scheduled to take place from 10th to 12th February 2023

Pratham education organization has received the Indira Gandhi Prize in the field of education

14^th Dalai Lama has been awarded the Gandhi Mandela Award for 2022

In Silchar, Assam 1^st  Unani Medicine Regional Center of Northeast inaugurated

Cristiano Ronaldo quit the Manchester United Club with immediate effect

Cristiano Ronaldo has become the first person to reach the 500 million followers milestone on Instagram

Franca Ma-ih Sulem Yong received the UNESCO Madanjeet Singh prize for 2022

Dr. Angraj Khillan has been awarded the 2023 Victorian Australian of the Year award

Source : THE HINDU