• The Chief Minister (CM) of Uttarakhand Pushkar Singh Dhami launched the Climate Resilient Livelihoods for Disaster Prone Region of Uttarakhand project.
• To promote equitable economic and ecological development in 10 disaster-prone villages in the Joshimath Block of Chamoli District, Uttarakhand.The project aims to achieve this crucial balance by promoting diversified livelihoods, including horticulture, ecotourism, biofarming, agriculture, and environmental protection measures.

• The free trade agreement between India and Australia will come into force from December 29, a move which will help in almost doubling the bilateral commerce to USD 45-50 billion in around five years.Commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal said the implementation of the free trade pact "is the dawn of a whole new era".
• "India & Australia consolidate their long-standing partnership. Economic Cooperation & Trade Agreement, realised under the guidance of leaders on both countries, comes into effect from December 29, 2022. It is the dawn of a whole new era for our businesses & people," Goyal said in a tweet.

• On the birth anniversary of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, which was marked as 'Good Governance Day' across the country, the Aurangabad unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) named a star after the 'Bharat Ratna' recipient, informed Aurangabad BJP president Shirish Boralkar .The distance of the star from Earth is 392.01 light years. It is the closest star to the Sun.
• "The star with the coordinates 14 05 25.3 -60 28 51.9 has been registered in the International Space Registry on December 25, 2022. The star gets the name Atal Bihari Vajpayee ji. Registration Number CX16408US," read the International Space Registry certificate.

• Deputy Prime Minister of Uttar Pradesh Brijesh Pathak and Mayankeshwar Sharan Singh launched the E-Sushrut Hospital Management Information System (HMIS) across 22 state medical colleges. The initiative was launched by the state department of medical education in collaboration with the Center for the Development of Advanced Computing (CDAC). The transfer of the Memorandum of Agreement was made through e-Sushrut HMIS software, he added.

• The first ever metro rail in Bangladesh was inaugurated in Dhaka by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday. The elevated metro rail Line 6 of 11.73 kilometre length is part of Bangladesh’s ambitious Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) which is being implemented in phases.
• The first metro train running between Diabari to Agargaon was inaugurated by Prime Minister Hasina unveiling the plaque at Diabari station in the capital. A commemorative bank note of Taka 50 denomination and a stamp was also  issued to mark this historic occasion in Bangladesh.

• The health of Indian banks continued to improve in 2021-22 with their balance sheet growing at double digits after a gap of seven years and their asset quality and capital position bettering, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said in its annual report on trend and progress of banking in India.At the same time, the banking regulator flagged the issue of slippages from restructured accounts.

• Cricket Australia renames Test Player of the Year award in honour of Shane WarneIn memory of the late spin legend Shane Warne, Cricket Australia has renamed its top yearly award for finest performance in Test cricket.The Allan Border Medal, given to the best performer of the year across all forms, will be the most prestigious award for men, followed by the Shane Warne Men’s Test Player of the Year award, which will be handed yearly at the Australian Cricket Awards.
• When honours were given to the legendary leg-spinner who passed away on March 4, 2022, while on vacation at the island of Ko Samui, the trophy was renamed, the first day of the annual Boxing Day Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground against South Africa.

• On the birth anniversary of former Prime Minister of the country Atal Bihari Vajpayee, many personalities who played an important role in various fields were honored on December 24, 2022, at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi during 9th Atal Samman Samaroh.
• His area of work is Stem Cell & Regenerative Medicine in infertility especially when IVF also fails. The diseases like premature ovarian failure, thin endometrium, Asherman syndrome Etc have shown satisfactory results with body’s own cells. PRP & bone marrow-derived StemCells Research have shown promising hope for these patients/ couples who are struggling for their own child

• The Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT) Madras has won the Wharton-QS Reimagine Education Awards at the recently concluded ceremony held at the Wharton Campus, Philadelphia, USA.
•  The institute has been awarded and its BS in Data Science and Applications is awarded the silver in the best online programme category. While, the National Programme on Technology Enhanced Learning (NPTEL), a joint initiative of IITs and IISc, run by IIT Madras, won the gold in the lifelong learning category.

Download Daily GK PDF of 29 December 2022