Current affairs 28 December 2023

India at high risk of cyber attacks: PwC's 2023 Global Risk Survey.

• Cyber threats are the primary risk for Indian organizations, with 38% feeling highly exposed, according to PwC's 2023 Global Risk Survey.
• To mitigate these risks, over 55% of respondents plan to invest in cybersecurity tools & AI/machine learning.
• 71% of Indian firms are using cybersecurity and IT data for risk management and opportunity identification to avert risk, the survey highlighted.

Gujarat topped in rooftop solar with 84% of country's installations.

• Gujarat leads India in rooftop solar installations, providing 31% of the country's total with a capacity of 3,174 MW out of 10,406 MW.
• It also ranks second in solar power generation at 10,417 MW, with rooftop solar making up 30% of this total.
• Despite the impressive solar power stats, Gujarat struggles with a sewage treatment gap of over 1,000 MLD, utilizing only 72% of its total capacity.

World's biggest nuclear plant in Japan to resume path towards restart.

• The operational ban on Tokyo Electric Power's Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant, the world's largest atomic power station, has been lifted by Japan's nuclear power regulator.
• The plant, with a capacity of 8,212 megawatts, has been offline since 2011 following Fukushima disaster.
• The lifting of order came after improvements in safety management and paved the way for the plant's potential restart.

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In a first, India paid in Rupees for crude oil purchased from UAE.

• India is now paying in rupees for UAE oil imports, promoting global use of its currency to cut transaction costs.
• This strategy helps diversify supply sources and adhere to obligations like price caps on Russian oil.
• Payments for Russian oil and a purchase from UAE's ADNOC have been made in rupees, indicating more such deals could follow.

Fresh NRI deposits doubled to $6 billion.

• FCNR deposits attracted $2 billion in inflow from NRIs during April-October 2023, compared to an outflow of $841 mn last year.
• The surge is attributed to higher interest rates, with Indian banks offering over 5% returns compared to foreign banks.
• Overall, fresh NRI deposits reached $6 billion during April-October 2023, doubling from $3 billion in the corresponding period the previous year.