current affairs 19 September 2022

India to hold the presidency of SCO in 2023.

• In the declaration, the rotational presidency of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) has been handed over to India in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.
• India will hold the presidency of SCO for a year until September 2023 and also host the SCO summit in 2023.
• The leaders of SCO Member States have signed the Samarkand Declaration in the meeting of the Council of Heads of State.
• Member of States has highlighted the impacts of global climate change.

China partners with UAE on moon rover mission.

• China's space agency has agreed to join hands with UAE's Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre to land a rover on the Moon aboard a lander developed by the latter.
• Presently, the UAE is working on launching a rover to the Moon later 2022, under the Emirates Lunar Mission in a lander.
• The lander has been developed by a Japanese company named ispace.
• Rover named Rashid, is the robotic rover weighing 10 kg will be carried to the Moon inside the HAKUTO-R (lander).

Govt revises definition of small companies to boost ease of doing business.

• The Ministry of Corporate Affairs has revised the threshold for paid up capital of “small companies” to facilitate the Ease of Doing Business and reduce the compliance burden on small companies.
• New revision:
• Thresholds for paid up capital: Increased from Rs 2 crore to 4 crore.
• Turnover: Increased from Rs 20 crore to Rs 40 Crore.
• Benefits: No need to prepare cash flow statement; Advantage of preparing and filing an Abridged Annual Return, etc.

Delhi, Punjab join hands to curb stubble burning through bio-decomposer.

• The Delhi and Punjab governments have joined hands to use Pusa bio-decomposer on 5,000 acres of land in the agrarian state to prevent stubble burning which is a major cause of air pollution.
• Pusa bio-decomposer is a microbial solution that can decompose paddy straw in 15 to 20 days.
• In 2022, the total area under paddy cultivation in Punjab is pegged at 29-30 lakh hectares.
• The state on an average generates around 20 million tons of paddy straw annually.

Fintech start-up TRaiCE wins NASSCOM-NIPP GCC award.

• TRaiCEInc has won the the NASSCOM-NIPP GCC Fintech Challenge in the Predictive Analytics for Customer Retention category.
• Reason: By showcasing how the platform uses predictive AI to help lenders improve operational efficiencies for faster and safer financing.
• TRaiCEInc is a no-code AI-augmented Early Warning and Business Risk Monitoring System.
• The NIPP GCC Fintech Challenge is a competition where startups can pitch solutions that address in financial services sector.