Weekly Current Affairs - 15th May to 21st May , 2023
1. Profectus Capital Private Limited received the Certificate of Registration under the Factoring Regulations Act, 2011 from the Reserve Bank of India to provide factoring services to Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises.
- RBI also mandated Rupee
(INR)-onlysettlement of fees charges levied by ‘Authorised Persons’ on
International Debit Cards, Store Value Cards, among others, and payable in
India.
- The instruments also include
Charge Cards/Smart Cards or any other instrument that can be used to create a
financial liability as ‘currency’.
2. Kotak Mahindra Bank Limited (KMBL) has launched a premium banking programme, Privy League targeting High-Net-Worth Individuals (HNI). The Privy League is Kotak Mahindra Bank’s flagship premium banking program, designed to celebrate its customers’ achievements.
- It includes a Signature LED
Debit Card, designed for the Privy League Platinum tier, which is India’s first
LED card.
3. RazorpayX introduced an automated ESCROW+ solution,
powered by Axis Trustee Services Ltd, RBL Bank, and ICICI Bank to support
merchants and enable Instant & Secure Money Transfers for Businesses.
4. Bank of Baroda (BOB), an Indian public sector bank,
announced the launch of Electronic Bank Guarantee (e-BG) on its BarodaINSTA
platform, in partnership with the National E-Governance Services Limited
(NeSL).
- The new facility will enable
BOB to issue electronic bank guarantees on its online platform BarodaINSTA.
5. India Semiconductor Mission (ISM) signed a MoU with
Purdue University, USA in the presence of Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw,
Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, for capacity building,
research and development, and industry participation.
6. Bharti Airtel has developed an artificial
intelligence (AI)/machine learning-based solution to proactively detect,
prevent, and eliminate phishing, spam, and fraud through messaging, and is
testing it in partnership with HDFC Bank.
- The solution uses an anti-spam
filter that can detect and block up to two million messages per day.
- In April 2023 Vodafone Idea
(Vi) became the first telecom operator to showcase its anti-phishing solution
to Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai).
7. Union Minister of State for External Affairs and
Culture Meenakashi Lekhi inaugurated the "Buddham Saranam Gacchami"
Exhibition.
- It was inaugurated in the
presence of senior Buddhist monks, Ambassadors, diplomats and Ministry
officials at the National Gallery of Modern Arts, Delhi.
8. The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has
successfully conducted a trial run of delivery of blood bags by drones under
its iDrone initiative.
- The trial run, as part of a
pathbreaking validation study, has been undertaken for the first time in the
country by the ICMR; Lady Hardinge Medical College (LHMC); Government Institute
of Medical Sciences (GIMS), Greater Noida; and the Jaypee Institute of
Information Technology (JIIT), Noida.
-
The inaugural trial flight carried 10 units of whole blood samples from
the GIMS and LHMC in visual line of sight.
9. According to the report ‘Born Too Soon: Decade of
Action on Preterm Birth’ almost half of all pre-term births (babies born before
the 37th week of pregnancy) in 2020 happened in five countries : India,
Pakistan, Nigeria, China and Ethiopia.
-
The report was created by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the
United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) together with PMNCH, the world’s
largest alliance for women, children, and adolescents.
- An estimated 13.4 million
babies were born pre-term in 2020 with nearly one million dying from complications.
This is equivalent to around one in 10 babies.
-
In 2020, Bangladesh had the highest estimated pre-term birth rate
(16.2%), followed by Malawi (14.5%) and Pakistan (14.4%). India and South
Africa, at an estimated 13% each.
- India tops the list of pre-term
birth numbers with 30.16 lakh births, Pakistan is at 9.14 lakh, Nigeria at 7.74
lakh and China at 7.52 lakh.
10. Badminton World Federation (BWF) announced that the
Badminton legends Lin Dan from China and Lee Chong Wei from Malaysia have been
elected to the BWF Hall of Fame for 2023.
- They will be inducted into the
hall of fame at a ceremony on 26th May 2023 at the Kuala Lumpur Convention
Centre (KLCC) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
11. Rhythm Sangwan has won the bronze medal in the
women’s 10m air pistol final at the ISSF World Cup Rifle/Pistol in Baku,
Azerbaijan.
12. Rajasthan Royals (RR) opener Yashasvi Jaiswal broke
the record for slamming the fastest fifty in the history of IPL.
- The 21 -year-old reached his
half-century off 13 deliveries against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at Eden
Gardens in Kolkata.
- The previous record was jointly
held by KL Rahul and Pat Cummins, who had taken 14 deliveries each.
13. D Y Chandrachud, Chief Justice of India (CJI)
launched “E-filing 2.0” and told lawyers that the facility for filing cases
electronically will be now available around the clock.
- CJI D Y Chandrachud, who has
been advocating for e-courts and e-filing of cases across the country, also
inaugurated an “e-Sewa Kendra” on the Supreme Court’s premises.
- The “e-Sewa Kendra” aims to
provide litigants and lawyers with a one-stop solution for all their needs
related to filing cases and accessing information on cases pending.
14. The 35th edition of the India-Thailand Coordinated
Patrol (Indo-Thai CORPAT) was conducted between the Indian Navy and the Royal
Thai Navy along the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) in the Andaman
Sea.
15. Himanta Biswa Sarma, Chief Minister of Assam
dedicated ‘Digitising Asom‘ , a community project aimed at the digitisation of
rare Assamese journals and books published between 1813 and 1970 for public use
at an event organised at Janata Bhawan in Guwahati, Assam.
- In the first phase of the
project, journals published between 1840 and 1970 have been included encompassing
3,071 editions of as many as 161 journals with a total of 2,45,680 pages.
- The second phase of the
project, under processing, shall cover books published between 1813 and 1962.
All the rare collections of books can be digitalised in this phase.
16. As per the announcement of Reserve Bank of India
(RBI), banks are set to commence a ‘100 Days 100 Pays’ campaign, where they
will trace and settle the top 100 unclaimed deposits of every bank in every
district within 100 days.
-
The banks will commence the campaign on June 01, 2023.
- As per the RBI data, at the end
of February 2023, the total amount of unclaimed deposits transferred to the RBI
by Public Sector Banks in respect of deposits that have not been operated for
10 years or more was Rs. 35,012 crore.
17. PayNearby, India’s leading branchless banking and
digital network, launched “PayNearby Mall” , a meta-commerce platform to enable
the availability of goods and services, in an assisted mode at the last mile.
- This will soon be integrated
with the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) platform.
18. All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS),
Delhi has collaborated with World Health Organization-South East Asian Regional
Office (WHO-SEARO) and Duke-NUS to ensure patient safety and quality control.
- Under the collaboration, AIIMS
will follow the learning curriculum proposed by WHO in collaboration with the
Duke-NUS.
19. The Lal Bahadur Shastri International (LBSI) Airport,
Varanasi (UP) has now become the first in India to have a free dedicated
reading lounge, set up by the National Book Trust of India,an Indian publishing
house and autonomous body under the ministry of education of the Union
government.
20. The government has allocated Rs. 611 crore to
incubators and out of that, Rs. 61 crore was released to startups under the
seed fund scheme so far.
- In April 2021, the government
launched the Startup India Seed Fund Scheme (SISFS) with a corpus of Rs. 945
crore.
21. Union Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises
(MSME) has recently presided over BizAmp.
- It is the first outreach
programme to empower MSMEs from the North-Eastern States and amplify their
businesses utilizing benefits under Self-Reliant India (SRI) Fund.
- Organized by the Ministry of
MSME in association with NSIC Venture Capital Fund Limited (NVCFL) under its
SRI Fund.
- The Government of India,
launched SRI Fund with an outlay corpus of Rs. 10,006 crore.
22. Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways (MoPSW) has
secured the second position among 66 ministries with an score of 4.7 out of 5 ,
in the highly influential ‘Data Governance Quality Index (DGQI) assessment for
2022-2023 , Q3.
- DGQI Assessment for FY23 was
conducted by Development Monitoring and Evaluation Office (DMEO), an attached
office of NITI Aayog.
23. Professor Jayant Vishnu Narlikar, an eminent
astrophysicist and past president of the Astronomical Society of India (ASI)
was awarded the first ASI Govind Swarup Lifetime Achievement Award 2022.
- The award was announced at the
41st ASI meeting held at IIT (Indian Institute of Technology) Indore, Madhya
Pradesh in March 2023.
24. Nigerian writer Arinze Ifeakandu, 28 years old was
announced as the winner of the 2023 Swansea University Dylan Thomas Prize, for
his debut book ‘God’s Children Are Little Broken Things’.
25. Elon Musk, Chief Executive Officer of Tesla and
SpaceX, officially announced Linda Yaccarino, as the new CEO of Twitter.
26. Alia Bhatt, a Bollywood actress, producer, and
entrepreneur, has been announced as the 1st Indian global ambassador for Gucci,
a high-end luxury fashion house based in Florence, Italy.
27. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration
(NASA)’s Scientific Balloon Program has launched a 2nd football- stadium-sized,
heavy-lift Super Pressure Balloon (SPB) from Wānaka Airport, New Zealand, on a
technology mission aimed for 100 days or more of flight in the Earth’s upper
atmosphere.
28. The embassy of Lithuania released a comic titled
“First Lithuanian Travelers in India” , which was launched by Diana
Mickevičienė, Lithuanian ambassador to India.
29. The 42nd Summit of the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations (ASEAN) started in Indonesia.
Theme 2023 : ASEAN
Affairs: Epicenter of Growth
- ASEAN is an organization formed
by the governments of Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, and
Singapore in 1967.
30. Kalyani Kazi, the eminent singer and the youngest
daughter-in-law of poet Kazi Nazrul Islam, passed away in Kolkata, West Bengal,
at the age of 87.
- She was honoured with the
Sangeet Mahasamman Award from West Bengal in 2015.
31. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) issued an advisory to
banks and other RBI-regulated entities to ensure a complete transition from the
London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) from July 1, 2023.
- After June 30, 2023, the
Financial Benchmarks India Pvt. Ltd. (FBIL) will cease to publish Mumbai
Interbank Forward Outright Rate (MIFOR).
32. Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of
India (IRDAI) constituted a 5-member expert committee under the chairmanship of
Pratima Murthy, Director of the National Institute of Mental Health and
Neurosciences, to provide advice and inputs to IRDAI on matters related to
mental health and insurance.
- The committee which has a
2-year tenure was directed to advise IRDAI on coverages offered or to be
offered under insurance products, for mental illnesses.
33. As per the data of the Ministry of Commerce and
Industry, the Netherlands emerged as the 3rd largest export destination for
India in Financial Year 2023-23 (FY23) after the United States (US) and United
Arab Emirates (UAE).
- India’s trade surplus with the
Netherlands has increased from USD 8 billion in FY22 to USD 13 billion in FY23.
India’s exports to the Netherlands increased by about 48% to USD 18.52 billion
in FY23 as against USD 12.5 billion in FY22.
- The Netherlands was the 9th
largest destination for Indian exports in FY21 and it became the 5th largest
destination inFY22.
- The foreign direct investment
(FDI) received from the Netherlands to India in FY23 was about USD 1.76
billion. It was USD 4.6 billion in FY22.
34. World Bank’s (WB) Board of Executive Directors has
approved USD 82 million loan for Animal Health System Support for One Health
Program (AHSSOH)
- It will support India’s
Livestock Health and Disease Control Program, which seeks to control animal
diseases by adopting global best practices for animal health management.
- The loan has a maturity of 11.5
years with a grace period of 4.5 years.
35. Union Minister Rajnath Singh, Ministry of Defence
approved 4th
Positive Indigenization List
(PIL) of 928 strategically important Line Replacement Units/Sub-systems/Spares
& Components including high-end materials & spares.
- The import substitution value
of this list is worth Rs 715 crore.
- The previous three PILs
involving LRUs/ Sub-systems/ Assemblies/ Subassemblies/Spares & Components
were published in December 2021, March 2022 and August 2022 respectively.
36. Dr Jitendra Singh, Union Minister of State(MoS)
(Independent Charge) for Science and Technology, graced the valedictory
ceremony of the 4-day long event “National Technology Week 2023” (11th to 14th
May 2023) at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi.
Theme : “School to Startup
– igniting young minds to innovate”.
- The event marks the celebration
of 25 years of National Technology Day.
37. Railway Energy Management Company (REMC) Limited has
set up a National Energy Management Centre (NEMC) that has been established at
its office in Delhi.
38. The World Health Organisation (WHO) launches its
first-ever comprehensive framework on reducing anemia, calling on countries to
accelerate action to halve anemia prevalence in women of reproductive age by
2025.
- The United Nation health agency
launched a comprehensive framework on reducing anemia during the International
Maternal Newborn Health Conference (IMNHC) 2023 held from May 8-11 2023, in
Cape Town, South Africa.
39. Prime Minister Narendra Modi appointed Karnataka
Director General of Police (DGP) Praveen Sood as the new Director of the
Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
- He will succeed Subodh Kumar
Jaiswal.
40. A BrahMos supersonic cruise missile was successfully
test-fired from the Indian Navy’s frontline guided missile destroyer INS
(Indian Naval Ship) Mormugao.
41. A 6-day long 4th edition of India-Indonesia Bilateral
Naval Exercise Samudra Shakti-23 was held at Batam, Indonesia between the
Indian Navy (IN) and Indonesian Navy (IDN).
- India will be represented by
INS Kavaratti, an indigenously designed & built ASW (Anti-Submarine
Warfare) Corvette; Dornier Maritime Patrol aircraft, and Chetak helicopter.
42. Bhupender Yadav, Union Cabinet Minister for
Environment, Forest & Climate Change launched a mobile application named
Meri LiFE (My life) in New Delhi to activate the youth action for climate
change.
43. Indian rifle and pistol shooters finished the
International
Shooting Sport Federation(ISSF)
World Cup Rifle/Pistol 2023 held in Baku, Azerbaijan with 4 medals (1 Gold; 2
Silver and 1 Bronze).
- China topped the medal tally
with 7 medals (4 Gold; 1 Silver and 2 Bronze) while the Islamic Republic of
Iran finished 3rd with 2 medals (1 Gold and 1 Silver).
44. 16 year old Vuppala Prraneeth from Telangana, has
become India’s 82nd GrandMaster by defeating GM Hans Niemann from USA in the
penultimate round of the Baku Open 2023, which took place in Baku Crystal Hall,
Baku, Azerbaijan.
- He is the sixth Grandmaster
from the Telangana State.
45. Ruskin Bond, an Indian author, authored a new book
titled “The Golden Years : The Many Joys of Living a Good Long Life”, published
by HarperCollins India.
46. Kerala has become the first state in the country to
have a drone surveillance system in all police
districts in the state.
47. National Stock Exchange of India Ltd (NSE India)
launched the rupee-denominated New York Mercantile Exchange’s (NYMEX) West
Texas Intermediate (WTI) Crude Oil and Natural Gas futures contracts in its
commodity derivatives segment.
48. Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of
India (IRDAI) directed all insurers to provide comprehensive insurance coverage
for surrogate mothers and oocyte donors in compliance with theprovisions of the
two Acts, Surrogacy Act, 2021, and Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) Act,
2021.
(i) Regulation of Surrogacy
(Regulation) Act, 2021 : According
to the act, the intended woman or couple should purchase 3-year health
insurance from an insurance company or an agent recognised by the IRDAI for the
surrogate mother.
(ii) Regulation of ART Act,
2021 : This article has stipulated insurance coverage for 12 months from an
insurance company or an agent recognised by the IRDAI in favour of the oocyte
donor by the commissioning couple or woman.
49. The World Bank has approved a grant of Rs. 51 crore
for the project to set up an integrated road safety enforcement system in the
Shimla and Nurpur police districts of Himachal Pradesh and develop the
Palampur- Sheela Chowk in Kangra.
- Under the first phase of the project,
Shimla and Nurpur have been selected and a sum of Rs 42 crore will be spent on
both police districts to strengthen their emergency response.
- The Palampur-Sheela Chowk
stretch of road in Kangra has been chosen to be developed at a cost of Rs 9 crore
as a safe corridor.
50. Global financial markets infrastructure and data
provider London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) will be establishing a technology
centre of excellence (CoE) in Hyderabad.
51. Indian Institute of Packaging (IIP) signed an
official MoU to collaborate with various prestigious institutions, universities
& government bodies on the occasion of IIP’s 57th Foundation Day.
- IIP has signed MoUs with
various institutions including : The Bihar Agriculture University, The National
Institute of Food Technology Entrepreneurship and Management (NIFTEM), The Tamilnadu Veterinary & Animal
Sciences University (TANUVAS), and The North East Handloom & Handicraft
Development Corporation.
52. The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has prepared the
“Model Prisons Act 2023” which will replace “The Prisons Act, of 1894” to
overhaul the prison administration that will focus on the reformation and
rehabilitation of inmates.
- Apart from ‘The Prisons Act, of
1894’ , MHA also reviewed ‘The Prisoners Act, of 1900’ and ‘The Transfer of
Prisoners Act, of 1950’ by taking relevant provisions of these Acts and
assimilating them into the “Model Prisons Act, of 2023”.
53. The Allahabad High Court has recently ordered the
Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to conduct a carbon dating test of a
'Shivling' located inside the Gyanvapi Mosque in Varanasi, India.
54. Afghanistan has reported the first case of poliovirus
of 2023. The country’s health authorities detected it in the Nangarhar
province. A four-year-old child has been identified as having polio sickness in
the region, and up to two cases of wild poliovirus have been found worldwide.
- A total of 56 cases of polio
were reported in Afghanistan in 2020, while four cases were reported in 2021.
55. The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC)
approved the appointment of Ravneet Kaur as the Chairperson of Competition
Commission of India (CCI).
- Ravneet Kaur becomes the first
woman and non-secretary bureaucrat to be appointed as a CCI Chairperson. She
will replace CCI Member Sangeeta Verma who has been serving as the interim
(acting) chairperson of CCI.
55. The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet approved
the appointment of Anil Kumar Jain as the new Chairman of the Petroleum &
Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB).
56. The US Senate has appointed Indian-American Geeta Rao
Gupta as the Ambassador at Large for global issues related to women at the
State Department.
57. The 8th meeting of Agriculture Ministers of Shanghai
Cooperation Organization (SCO) member countries was held under the chairmanship
of Union Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister Narendra Singh Tomar.
About Shanghai Cooperation
Organization (SCO) :
Founded : 2001 ; Headquarters : Beijing, China ;
Secretary General : Zhang Ming (China)
; Member Countries : 9 (Iran, China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan,
Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan & Uzbekistan)
58. The Ministry of Home Affairs will organize the “G20
Conference on Crime and Security in the Age of NFTs (Non- Fungible Tokens), Al
and Metaverse” on 13th and 14th July 2023 in Gurugram, Haryana.
59. Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, Chief Minister (CM) of
Himachal Pradesh launched the Himcare scheme for jail inmates, by providing
Himcare cards to the prisoners at Model Central Jail Kanda in Shimla.
- The initiative aims to cover
the cost of premiums for inmates, easing their financial burden during their
time in prison.
- The HimCare scheme launch also
included the integrated campaign against STI (Sexually transmitted infections),
HIV (Human immunodeficiency viruses), TB (Tuberculosis), Hepatitis (ISHTH) in
prisons and other closed settings at Kanda Jail, which will screen and treat
prisoners across the state.
60. Andhra Pradesh’s (AP) Minister of Revenue, Dharmana
Prasada Rao, launched ‘E-chits’ application, developed by the Registration and
Stamps Department to regulate funds through online transactions.
61. Kerala became the first state in India to launch a
welfare fund for Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS)
workers in the State.
- This fund is based upon the
Kerala Employment Guarantee Workers’ Welfare Fund Act, 2021.
- Under this, the workers need to
pay a nominal monthly amount of Rs. 50 as a contribution to the fund and the
government will also contribute an equal amount.
- Eligibility for membership
includes being between 18 to 55 years of age and having engaged in unskilled
work for at least 20 days in the year of application or any year in the two
years immediately preceding it. 27 lakh people in Kerala depend on the MGNREGS,
and at least 90% of the work (jobs) under the scheme in Kerala goes to women.
62. HDFC Asset Management Company (AMC) Limited,
investment manager to HDFC Mutual Fund (HDFC MF) announced the launch of the
‘HDFC Defence Fund’ i.e. India’s first mutual fund that plans to invest in the
defence sector.
- To provide long-term capital
appreciation by investing predominantly in equity and equity-related securities
of Defence & allied sector companies.
- At least 80% of the net assets
of the defence fund will be invested in defence and allied sector companies.
63. The Union government has appointed the three merchant
bankers IDBI Capital Market & Securities Ltd, BOB Capital Markets Ltd and
SBI Capital Markets Ltd to manage the initial public offer (IPO) of the Indian
Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA).
- The IPO, which is expected in
FY24, will likely comprise a 10% stake sale by the government and 15% fresh
equity issuance by the renewable energy project financie.
64. Zomato has collaborated with ICICI Bank to introduce
its own Unified Payments Interface (UPI) service called ‘Zomato UPI’ for select
users.
65. Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, Ministry of
Communications launched the Sanchar Saathi portal to prevent fraud by misusing
mobile phones.
-Developed by the Department of
Telecommunications (DoT), it is citizen- centric to empower mobile subscribers,
strengthen their security and increase awareness about citizen-centric
initiatives of the Government.
- To safeguard users from frauds
like identity theft, forged KYC (Know Your Customer), mobile device theft, and
banking frauds, a Sanchar Saathi portal has been developed with the following
modules :
(i) CEIR (Central
Equipment Identity Register) – For blocking stolen/lost mobiles
(ii) Know your mobile
connections – To know the mobile connections registered in your name
(iii) ASTR (Artificial
Intelligence and Facial Recognition powered Solution for Telecom SIM Subscriber
Verification) – ASTR is an AI powered tool to identify SIMs issued using
fraudulent/forged documents
(iv) Telecom Analytics for
Fraud Management and Consumer Protection (TAFCOP) – To check the number of
mobile connections taken in her/his name using paper-based documents or reports
of fraud
66. India and Bangladesh have recently jointly launched
the '50 Start-up Exchange Programme' to promote collaboration and exchange
between the start-up ecosystems of the two countries.
67. The Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) set up the
Centre for Processing Accelerated Corporate Exit (C-PACE) to centralise the process
of striking off companies from the MCA Register.
- The office of C-PACE was
inaugurated by RK Dalmia, Director of Inspection & Investigation at MCA.
- Harihara Sahoo, Indian
Corporate Law Services (ICLS), was appointed as the first Registrar of C-PACE.
About C - PACE : C-PACE, which was established under
sub-section (1) of section 396, will be operational through the Registrar of
Companies for the purposes of exercising functional jurisdiction of processing
and disposal of applications.
- It is located at the Indian
Institute of Corporate Affairs in Gurgaon, Haryana.
68. Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA) in
collaboration with Shree Guru Gobind Singh Tricentenary University and
Sanrachna Foundation held Rabindra Jayanti Celebrations at Samvet Auditorium,
IGNCA, New Delhi.
- During the celebration,
Meenakshi Lekhi, Minister of State (MoS) for Culture of India, launched the
“Vigyan Vaibhav” portal developed by IGNCA.
69. Zuzana Caputova, President of Slovakia appointed Ludovit
Odor, a Slovak economist and former Deputy Governor of the National Bank of
Slovakia as interim Prime Minister (PM) of Slovakia.
70. Raheja QBE General Insurance Company Limited has
appointed Rajeev Dogra as its new Managing Director (MD) & Chief Executive
Officer (CEO). He succeeded Pankaj Arora.
71. Noida (Uttar Pradesh)-based One97 Communications Ltd,
which owns Paytm, appointed Bhavesh Gupta as President and Chief Operating
Officer (COO) of Paytm.
72. The Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh Shivraj Singh
Chouhan has launched a farm loan interest waiver scheme namely ‘Mukhyamantri
Krishak Byaaj Maafi Yojana-2023’.
Objective : To compensate
the defaulter farmers, who have outstanding loans of up to Rs 2 lakh including
the principal and interest as on March 31, 2023, from Primary Agricultural
Credit Cooperative Societies (PACS).
73. The second Culture Group meeting under G20, is
organized in Bhubaneswar, Odisha.
- The Culture Working Group (CWG)
meeting under India’s G20 Presidency will focus on ‘Culture Unites All’ .
- The first G20 Culture Group
(CWG) Meeting was held in Khajuraho, Madhya Pradesh.
74. The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of
India (IRDAI) has constituted a task force to facilitate ease of doing Know
Your Customer (KYC) by insurers using Aadhaar, the 12-digit individual
identification number.
- The 12-member task force is
headed by Rakesh Joshi Member (finance and investment (F&I)) of IRDAI.
75. EXIM (Export-Import) Bank is expected to
operationalise its proposed GIFT City subsidiary for trade finance by the third
quarter (Q3) of the current financial year (FY24).
-
The proposed subsidiary is set to be named India EXIM Finserv IFSC
Private Ltd.
76. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has recently taken
strict action against three banks for non-compliance with its regulations.
- These banks are Manipur Rural
Bank, Tripura Gramin Bank and Mizoram Rural Bank.
- Manipur Rural Bank, based in
Imphal, has been fined Rs. 10,000 for contravening the RBI's directions on
"Strengthening of Prudential Norms - Provisioning, Asset Classification
and Exposure Limit"
- Mizoram Rural Bank has incurred
a monetary penalty of ₹5 lakh for similar violations.
- The Reserve Bank said that
Tripura Gramin Bank has been fined ₹2 lakh for failing to comply with the
directives on prudential norms, asset classification, exposure limits, and
income recognition.
77. (i) The Union Cabinet has approved the signing
of MoU between Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) and the
Chartered Accountants of the Maldives (CA Maldives).
(ii) The Union Cabinet
approved the signing of MoU between Competition Commission of India (CCI) and
Egyptian Competition Authority (ECA) to promote and strengthen cooperation in
competition law and policy through exchange of information.
(iii) After the success of
PLI for mobile phones, the Union Cabinet also approved the Production Linked
Incentive (PLI) Scheme 2.0 for Information Technology (IT) Hardware with an
outlay Rs 17,000 crore.
78. Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare
Narendra Singh Tomar has inaugurated the Integrated Biological Control
Laboratory at the National Institute of Plant Health Management (NIPHM)
Hyderabad, Telangana.
79. The Jal Jeevan Mission, a flagship program launched
by the Government of India, has achieved a significant milestone by providing
12 crore tap water connections across the country.
- At the time of announcement of
launch of JJM only 3.23 Crore (16.64%) households in villages had access to
piped water connection.
Jal Jeevan Mission :
Launched in : August 15, 2019
Aim : To supply potable tap water
in adequate quantities to every rural
household of the country by 2024.
Funding Pattern : The fund
sharing pattern between the Center and the
states under the mission is 90:10 for Himalayan and North-Eastern states and 50:50 for other
states.In the case of Union Territories, 100% contribution is made by the
Centre.
- Goa, Haryana, Punjab, Andaman
& Nicobar Islands, Puducherry, D&NH and D&D are 'Har Ghar Jal'
certified States/UTs. Till date, 5 states (Goa, Telangana, Haryana, Gujarat and
Punjab) and 3 union territories (Puducherry, Daman and Diu and Dadra and Nagar
Haveli and Andaman and Nicobar Islands) have reported 100% coverage.
80. Natarajan Chandrasekaran, Chairman of Tata Sons, was
honoured with the Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur (Knightof the Legion of
Honour), the highest French Civilian award, for his substantial role in
developing and fostering commercial links between India and France.
- N. Chandrasekaran received the
award from Catherine Colonna, French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs.
81. Sonal Shrivastava has been appointed as new Chief
Financial Officer (CFO) of Vedanta Limited, effective from 1 June, 2023.
82. A mattress and sleep products maker, Duroflex Private
Limited has signed cricketer Virat Kohli as its brand ambassador.
83. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has approved SBI Funds
Management Ltd’s (SBIFML) application for acquiring up to 9.99% of the paid-up
share capital or voting rights of HDFC Bank Ltd.
- SBIFML has to acquire the major
shareholding in the bank within a period of six months i.e. by November 15,
2023.
84. University Grants Commission (UGC) launched a new
portal named “UTSAH” , short for “Undertaking Transformative Strategies and
Actions in Higher Education” , to monitor the implementation of the National
Education Policy 2020 in Higher Education Institutes.
- The new portal was launched by
Professor Mamidala Jagadesh Kumar, Chairman of UGC.
- On the same occasion, the UGC
also launched the Professors of Practice (PoP) portal and revamped its main
website.
- About the UTSAH portal : UTASH portal will effectively track the
qualitative reforms and initiatives taken by educational institutions across
India in line with NEP. This portal also provides detailed information about
UGC’s initiatives for qualitative reforms in higher education.
- About the PoP Portal :
The UGC has developed a portal for Professors of Practice (PoP) to facilitate
institutions in recruiting experienced professional experts in the required
area.
85. The State Cabinet of Madhya Pradesh chaired by Chief
Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan announced a new scheme named ‘Mukhyamantri Sikho
Kamao Yojana’ to provide opportunities to learn skills for unemployed youths of
the state.
- Eligibility : Candidates
accommodated in Madhya Pradesh and aged between 18 and 29, with a minimum
educational qualification of 12th class, ITI (industrial training) are eligible
for the scheme.
- The scheme will provide stipend
to the youths along with training, skill upgradation which will boost
employment opportunities and pave the way for a better way of earning.
86. Gajraj Corps of the Indian Army conducted a Joint
Flood Relief ‘Exercise Jal Rahat’ at Hagrama Bridge on Manas River, Assam.
87. India-born British industrialist and Chairman of the
Hinduja group, Srichand Parmanand Hinduja (SP Hinduja) passed away at the age
of 87 in London, United Kingdom (UK).
- He founded the only
Indian-owned Swiss bank, S P Hinduja Banquee Privee in 1994, headquartered in
Geneva, Switzerland.
88. Paytm in partnership with SBI Card and National
Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), launches the next-generation co-branded
RuPay Credit Card named ‘Paytm SBI Card’ on the RuPay network.
89. Godrej Agrovet Limited’s (GAVL) Oil Palm Business
announced the launch of a first-of-its-kind finance offering for oil palm
farmers in partnership with the State Bank of India (SBI).
- The financial offering was
initially launched for the oil palm farmers of Telangana, and now it enables
Godrej Agrovet farmers from the states of Tamil Nadu, Odisha, Assam, Manipur
and Tripura also to avail loan for around Rs. 1 lakh to Rs. 50 Crore.
90. JCB International Co. Ltd, Japan's international
payment brand, partners with the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI)
to offer 40% cashback to RuPay JCB cardholders on in-store purchases in the
UAE, Thailand, Malaysia, and Spain.
91. YES BANK partnered with Mastercard and Worldline
India, and launched YES PAY EASY, a mobile app for small-scale merchants to
enable them to accept card and digital payments from their customers’
smartphones.
- YES PAY EASY will transform the
customers’ smartphone into a secure payment acceptance device and enable
merchants to use their mobile phones as a Point of Sale (PoS) terminal.
Merchants can accept payments using Bharat QR, tap-on-phone, and SMS Pay.
92. IIT Madras has signed a Letter of Intent with the
Israel government to build an “India-Israel Center of Water Technology” in
Water Resource Management and Water Technologies at IIT Madras.
93. The Assam Government and the Ministry of Ports,
Shipping & Waterways (MoPSW) signed an agreement for a ‘Riverine based
Tourism Circuit’ being developed over the River Brahmaputra in Assam
Administrative Staff College in Guwahati, Assam.
- The project is being developed
under the Sagarmala Programme will connect the seven historic sites namely
Kamakhya (Assam), Pandunath (Assam), Ashwaklanta, Doul Govinda, Umananda,
Chakreshwar and Auniati Satra situated in Guwahati, Assam.
- The initial cost of the project
being developed under the Sagarmala Programme is INR 40-45 crores. Sagarmala
Development Corporation Limited (SDCL) and Inland Waterways Authority of India
(IWAI) will jointly contribute 55% of the project cost while the remaining will
be provided by Assam Tourism Development Corporation (ATDC).
94. Union Minister Parshottam Rupala, Ministry of
Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying, launched the “Sagar Parikrama Yatra
Phase-V” in Karanja, Raigad, Maharashtra.
- The yatra started from Gateway
of India, Mumbai concluded in Goa.
- The Program ‘Sagar Parikrama’
has successfully completed 4 phases, covering 19 locations in Gujarat, Daman
& Diu, Maharashtra, and Karnataka.
95. Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM) has been ranked as the
World’s Top Public/Private Business Incubators in the 2nd edition of the UBI
Global World Rankings of business incubators and accelerators.
- Rank holders :
(i) Public/Private
Business Incubator : Kerala Startup Mission(KSUM), India
(ii) Public/Private
Business Accelerator : EIT Health
Accelerator, Europe
(iii) University Business
Incubator : İTÜ Çekirdek, Türkiye
(iv) University Business
Accelerator : Interuniversity Microelectronics Centre (IMEC), Belgium
96. The Tiruchirappalli International Airport project
(Trichy Airport Project) of ITD Cementation India Limited has been awarded the
International Safety Award under the 1st- class merit category by the British
Safety Council.
97. " Gauri " a documentary based on journalist
and activist Gauri Lankesh, directed by Kavitha Lankesh, has won the "
Best Long Documentary Award " at the 12th edition of the South Asian Film
Festival of Montréal (SAFF Montréal 2023) in Montréal, Canada.
- The film portrays the life of
Gauri Lankesh, who was assassinated in 2017 due to her criticism of right-wing
Hindutva politics.
- In 2022, " Gauri "
won the “Best Human Rights Film” award at the Toronto Women’s Film Festival in
Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
98. Arjun Ram Meghwal, has replaced Kiren Rijiju with the
independent charge as Minister of State in the Ministry of Law and Justice in
addition to his existing portfolios of Minister of State for Parliamentary
Affairs and Minister of State for Culture.
- Kiran Rijiju was assigned with
the portfolio of the Ministry of Earth Sciences which was earlier handled by
Union minister Jitendra Singh.
99. The Data Security Council of India (DSCI) has
appointed Pramod Bhasin as its new Chairman. He succeeds Rajendra S Pawar, the
chairman and co-founder of NIIT Group, who had served as the Chairman of DSCI
for a period of 3 years.
100. Competition Commission of India (CCI) approved the
UBS Group’s proposed acquisition of Credit Suisse Group (Credit Suisse) by way
of an absorption merger with UBS being the surviving legal entity.
- The proposed transaction is
notifiable to the CCI under the Section 5(c)(i)(A) of the Competition Act,
2002.
101. Himachal Pradesh’s Kangra tea received a protected
Geographical Indication (GI) with the European Union (EU). This means the tea
can now be sold in Europe, as the registration will recognize the quality,
genuineness and reputation of the product in the European market.
-
Kangra tea received GI status in 2005 from the Registrar of Geographical
Indications, Chennai (Tamil Nadu).
102. Chief Minister (CM) of Uttarakhand, Pushkar Singh
Dhami launched ‘Patch Reporting App’ to report potholes. It will help in making
the roads of Uttarakhand pothole-free.
