• The Indian space agency is having a busy launch schedule next year that includes commercial, navigation, sun and moon missions, said a top official.
• Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman S. Somanath said integration tests are happening with regard to the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft.
• He said the space agency will look at June 2023 for the moon mission.
• The ISRO is also planning to have its mission to the sun with its satellite Aditya-L1, a coronagraphy spacecraft to study the solar atmosphere.
• According to ISRO, the spacecraft will be placed in a halo orbit around the first Lagrange point, L1, of the Sun-Earth system. A satellite around the L1 point has the major advantage of continuously viewing the Sun without occultation/eclipses.
• The ISRO will open 2023 with the commercial launch of 36 satellites of the UK-based OneWeb, said its Chairman S. Somanath.
• The first batch of 36 satellites was successfully launched recently.
• The UK company has contracted with NewSpace India Ltd (NSIL) to pay over Rs 1,000 crore for both launches.
• OneWeb is a joint venture between India Bharti Global and the UK government.
• The other mission slotted for 2023 is the launch of a navigation satellite for the country’s NavIC constellation.
• According to Somanath, the space agency will end 2022 with the launch of its small rocket – Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV) in December.
• The rocket’s maiden mission this year was a failure.
• The ISRO will also send a satellite to study the oceans — Oceansat- 3 with a couple of other satellites as piggyback luggage.

• Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot approved a proposal for formation of three new Boards as Rajasthan Leather Crafts Development Board, Rajasthan State Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Board and Rajasthan State Dhobhi Welfare Board for the overall development and economic upliftment of every section of the people.
• As per the new Leather & Crafts Development Board, the standard of living of the people related to leather business will increase and their economic development will be ensured.
• The formation of this board will ensure effective participation of the tanners in the industrial development of the state. Along with this, marketing centers will be developed for all the basic facilities like roads, water, electricity, medicine, education, marketing of products at the workplace and development site of the tanners.
• Arrangements will also be made to provide skill training to the tanners through reputed institutions in the country for modern technology based leather dyeing and other products.
• Through the board, schemes will be made for the social security of the tanners and their time bound implementation will be done. For the development of leather workers, proper financial support and finance from banks will also be arranged. The work of keeping leather products free from the tender process in government procurement can also be done by the board.

Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Board

• With this decision of the Chief Minister, the social and educational level of certain sections of the society will increase. Various schemes will be proposed by this newly formed board for their economic growth and necessary basic facilities will be provided.
• With the formation of the board, various development and welfare-related schemes will be prepared for the gardener society and along with promoting the art and culture of these sections, their traditional business will also be brought to a more profitable position.

 Washroom Welfare Board

• After taking stock of the condition of different sections of the society, this board has been constituted with the objective of providing basic facilities to these sections on the basis of authentic survey reports and identifying their problems and giving suggestions to overcome them.
• A coordination between the board and with various departments for welfare schemes being run for the washermen society in the state will increase and it will be made more strong by bringing changes in the present situation of traditional business.

• In the UK, the former Finance Minister Rishi Sunak will become the first British Asian Prime Minister as he won the race to lead the Conservative Party. The 42-year-old politician will be Britain’s youngest Prime Minister in more than a century. Mr. Sunak will be appointed Prime Minister by King Charles.
• Sunak said that the country needed stability and unity, and pledged to bring his party and the country together. The outgoing Prime Minister Truss stepped down, after just six weeks in office. Truss’ resignation triggered the second race to pick a new Prime Minister this year after months of scandals and market turmoil.
• In September, Sunak was defeated by Truss in a party leadership vote in the wake of Boris Johnson stepping down. Mr. Sunak is considered one of Westminster’s wealthiest politicians. The son of a doctor and pharmacist of Indian origin, Sunak was born in Southampton, Hampshire, and went to one of Britain’s top boarding schools. Before entering politics, he studied at Oxford University and Stanford University and worked in a private company.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Rishi Sunak on being appointed as new Prime Minister of UK.
• Mr Modi said he looks forward to working closely together on global issues and implementing Roadmap 2030. He also extended special Diwali wishes to the ‘living bridge’ of UK Indians, as India and UK transform historic ties into a modern partnership.

• Minister of State for External Affairs V. Muraleedharan participated at the opening session of ‘Dakar International Forum on Peace and Security in Africa’ in Senegal.
• The event was inaugurated by President of Senegal, Macky Sall in Dakar.
• Presidents of Angola and Cabo Verde, several Ministers and high level dignitaries were present on the occasion.
• Mr Muraleedharan said the Forum has become an important place for policy discussions on sovereignty and security aspects of Africa.
• He said India strongly supports the development priorities of Africa guided by 10 principles laid down by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Ugandan Parliament in 2018.
• This is the first time that India is participating in the forum at a Ministerial level.
• The Dakar International Forum has become a key event for decision-makers involved in Africa.
• The participation of Mr Muraleedharan in the Dakar Forum underscores the importance that India attaches to the peace, security and developmental issues concerning Africa.
• The visit is also in line with India’s policy to intensify and deepen its engagement with Africa.

• Miss Earth India 2022 Vanshika Parmar called on Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar at Raj Bhawan. Congratulating her, the Governor praised her self-confidence and talent. He said her success was a matter of pride for the state and the country, and an inspiration to others.
• Nineteen-year-old Vanshika of Nadaun, Hamirpur, is the first-ever girl from the state to lift the title of Miss Earth India, the finale of which was held at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, New Delhi.
• Vanshika will represent India at the Miss Earth pageant in November in the Philippines, where she will compete with representatives from over 90 nations. She is currently pursuing her masters from Miranda House, University of Delhi.
• Vanshika Parmar hails from Nadaun, Hamirpur and  is the first-ever girl from the state to become Miss Earth India 2022 at the tender age of 19.

• The HPMC and HIMFED have already procured over 80,000 metric tonne grade ‘C’ apple under Market Intervention Scheme (MIS) this year, the highest in the last 12 years. While the HPMC has procured 39,000 MT, HIMFED has procured around 41,000 MT.
• “The total procurement has crossed 80,000 MT and we are expecting around 2,000 MT more,” said an HPMC official.
• The two agencies had procured around 73,000 MT apple last year, which was a record procurement since 2010.
• The huge procurement under Market Intervention Scheme (MIS) this season is somewhat surprising as the year witnessed much less hailstorm compared to the last year. Mostly, the produce damaged in hailstorm is sold under the MIS scheme. “There was not much hailstorm this year but a big chunk of the produce remained under-sized. And that’s the reason for the spurt in the MIS procurement,” said an HPMC official.
• Besides, the premature leaf fall led to the dropping of fruit in a large quantity as the season progressed, and this apple, too, was diverted to MIS.
• Both the apple growers and the procurement agencies are reeling under the problem of plenty this year. While the growers get merely Rs 10.5 per kg for grade ‘C’ apple under the MIS scheme, the procuring agency, particularly Himfed, are struggling to sell this apple further.
• “There are no buyers, they have left for home for Diwali. There are several loaded trucks awaiting buyers in Parwanoo,” said the HPMC officials.
• Also, we are struggling to sell the apple to the buyers at the assumed sale price of Rs 3.50 fixed by the government. Our average sale price is hardly around Rs 2. As a result, we have already run up losses of over Rs 1 crore. This difference in the assumed sale price and actual sale price will wreck the financial position of both Himfed and the HPMC,” the official said.
• Horticulture experts feel that the government needs to open up several small processing units in the apple growing areas to use up the C grade apple efficiently. “We will need to work in this direction so that Grade C apple is used at the local level,” said Harish Chauhan, convenor of the Sanyukt Kisan Manch.

• Sajan Bhanwal became the first-ever Indian Greco-Roman wrestler to win a medal at the Under-23 World Championship defeating Ukraine’s Dmytro Vasetskyi in the 77 kg bronze medal play-off at Pontevedra, Spain.
• The bout ended at 10-10 but since the Indian had scored the last point he was declared the winner on criteria.
• Six Greco-Roman wrestlers are participating in the championship along with two women and one free-style wrestler.

 About Greco-Roman wrestling:

• Greco-Roman is a style of wrestling that is practiced worldwide. Greco-Roman wrestling was included in the first modern Olympic Games in 1896 and has been in every edition of the summer Olympics held since 1904.
• This style of wrestling forbids holds below the waist, which is the main feature that differentiates it from freestyle wrestling (the other form of wrestling contested at the Olympics). This restriction results in an emphasis on throws, because a wrestler cannot use trips to bring an opponent to the ground or hook/grab the opponent’s leg to avoid being thrown.
• Greco-Roman wrestling is one of several forms of amateur competitive wrestling practiced internationally. The other wrestling disciplines sanctioned by United World Wrestling are: men’s freestyle wrestling, women’s freestyle wrestling, grappling (submission wrestling), pankration, Alysh (belt), Pahlavani wrestling, and beach wrestling wrestling

• The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) allowed Pakistan to exit its grey list after four years against the backdrop of its ties with the West.
• Russia was banned from all deliberations of the body. Nicaragua too exited the list along with Pakistan, which had been under a close FATF monitoring since 2018. Tanzania, Congo and Mozambique were added to the list.
• An on-site visit by a FATF team in August had found that Pakistan was broadly in compliance with all 34 action points it had been asked to improve upon. Pakistan can now more effectively tackle money laundering and terror-financing, said FATF chief Raja Kumar of Singapore.
• Pakistan’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani had reached Paris earlier this week with a team representing the country.
• Off the grey list, Pakistan will now be able to get more foreign direct investment, which had shown a downward trend recently.

• India successfully test-fired indigenously-developed new generation medium-range ballistic missile Agni Prime from the Odisha coast, Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) sources said.
• The sleek missile was test fired from a mobile launcher from the APJ Abdul Kalam Island around 9.45 am.
• The solid-fuelled canisterised missile met all mission parameter during the test, they added.
• All its navigation was tracked and monitored by radars and telemetry equipment positioned along various points, the officials said.
• The missile’s strike range is between 1,000 km and 2,000 km, they said.
• The last trial of the missile was conducted on December 18 last year from the same base, which was also successful.

• The Durgavati Tiger Reserve is a 2,339 square kilometers new tiger reserve that will spread across Narsinghpur, Damoh, and Sagar districts. Madhya Pradesh Wildlife Board has approved the making of a new tiger reserve of Panna Tiger Reserve (PTP), one-fourth of which will get submerged due to the Linkin of the Ken-Betwa rivers.

Key Points:

• The new tiger reserve will be known as Durgavati Tiger Reserve and it will spread across Narsinghpur, Damoh, and Sagar districts.
• A green corridor linking PTR with Durgavati will be developed for the natural movement of the tiger to the new reserve.
• The Madhya Pradesh Wildlife Board was chaired by Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.
• He approved a notify 1,414 sq km area as the core area and 925 sq km as a buffer in the new tiger reserve.
• The new tiger reserves are a part of a wildlife management plan for Panna for the Ken-Betwa rivers linking project.
• The two state governments with the center are implementing a ₹44,605 crore river-linking project to end the water crisis in the Bundelkhand region.