Daily Current Affairs – May 23, 2023
Daily Current Affairs - Banking - May 23, 2023
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National News
Ministry of Education and PARAKH organized the 1st National level workshop on assessment with States and UTs
- Ministry of Education and PARAKH organised a National workshop on school assessments, examination practices and equivalence of boards across the country for the first time.
- PARAKH has been set up as the organisation under NCERT.
- It will work on bringing the school boards across the States and the Union Territories on a common platform.
- PARAKH will act as a common platform for interaction of all concerned stakeholders in order to develop a holistic approach that ensures a fair assessment system which promotes equity in performance and equivalence in assessment of students.
- The workshop was chaired by Shri Sanjay Kumar, Secretary, Department of School Education & Literacy and attended by officials from Ministry of Education, CBSE, NCERT, NIOS, NCVET and NCTE.
- State Education Secretaries, State Project Directors School, SCERT and officials from State Examination Boards across India also attended the meeting.
- Ministry of Education – Dharmendra Pradhan,Union Minister (Rajya Sabha MP,MP) – Subhas Sarkar, Minister of State (Bankura, West Bengal), Annpurna Devi Yadav, Minister of State (Kodarma, Jharkhand), Rajkumar Ranjan Singh, Minister of State (Inner Manipur,Manipur)
Home Minister Amit Shah
- Home Minister Shri Amit Shah inaugurated and laid the foundation stone of various civic projects worth 360 crore rupees in Ahmedabad.
- As well as inaugurated a modern organic testing laboratory for Amul-fed Dairy in Gandhinagar and a national convention of the Modi community in Ahmedabad.
- In addition to commissioned 320 buses of the State Road Transport Corporation in Ahmedabad.
- He also inaugurated Janganana Bhavan in New Delhi and launched the web-portal for birth and death registration, the upgraded SRS mobile application for geofencing, and the web-portal for online sale of census publications.
- Thus, released the Treatise on Indian Censuses since 1981.
- Ministry of Home Affairs – Amit Anil Chandra Shah,Union Minister (Gandhinagar,Gujarat) – Nityanand Rai, Minister of State (Ujiyarpur,Bihar), Nisith Pramanik, Minister of State (Cooch Behar, West Bengal), Ajay Kumar Mishra, Minister of State (Kheri,UP)
Centre of Excellence on Sustainable Land Management
- Shri Bhupendra Yadav, Union Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change and Labour and Employment formally inaugurated Centre of Excellence on Sustainable Land Management (CoE-SLM) at ICFRE, Dehradun.
- The Prime Minister of India during the 14th Conference of the Parties (COP-14) of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) on 9th September 2019, announced the establishment of Centre of Excellence on Sustainable Land Management (CoE-SLM) at the Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education.
- CoE-SLM aims to promote South-South Cooperation and address land degradation issues through sustainable land management practices.
- The CoE-SLM is poised to make a lasting impact in addressing land degradation issues, by leveraging sustainable land management practices, fostering cooperation among developing countries, and achieving Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN), this initiative aligns with the vision of the Indian government to promote environmental conservation and combat climate change.
- The CoE-SLM, established at the ICFRE, aims to facilitate the restoration of degraded land through technical support, capacity building, and knowledge sharing at the national and sub-national levels.
- By collaborating with developing countries that are party to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), the CoE-SLM seeks to achieve LDN targets, promote south-south cooperation, and contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) outlined by various international conventions, including the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
- Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) – Bhupender Yadav, Cabinet Minister (Rajya Sabha MP,Rajasthan) – Ashwini Kumar Choubey, Minister of State (Buxar,Bihar)
UGC’s new initiative NEP SAARTHI
- The University Grants Commission (UGC) has announced a new initiative titled ‘NEP SAARTHI- Student Ambassador for Academic Reforms in Transforming Higher Education in India’ to involve students in the implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
- As per UGC Chairperson M Jagadesh Kumar, through this initiative, “the UGC aims to foster an environment where students can engage meaningfully” and come together “as active participants to make effective use of the provisions of NEP 2020.”
- The UGC has urged all vice chancellors, directors and principals of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) to nominate three students from their institutions to be considered as NEP SAARTHIs along with a brief write-up justifying the nomination.
- The UGC will select 300 NEP SAARTHIs from among the nominees and communicate it to the students.
- The selected students will be given orientation and guided on how to carry out their roles effectively in hybrid mode.
- Nominations are open till June.
- The NEP SAARTHIs will be announced in July when the orientation will also take place.
- The NEP SAARTHIs will get a certificate of recognition, will be mentioned in the UGC’s official social media handles and they will get invites to all relevant online events organised by the UGC as well as an opportunity to publish an article in the UGC newsletter.
- University Grants Commission (UGC) – 28/12/1956 (Founded) – New Delhi (HQ) – Mamidala Jagadesh Kumar (Chairman)
International News
India-US Working Group on Education and Skill Development virtually launched
- Ministry of Education, Government of India and US Department of State launched the India-US Working Group on Education and Skill Development in virtual mode, with the aim to enhance cooperation and collaboration between the two countries in the field of education and skill development.
- Ms. Neeta Prasad, Joint Secretary for International Cooperation, Ministry of Education, Government of India and Mr. Donald Lu, Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs, US Department of State co-chaired the Working Groups from India and US respectively.
- The establishment of the India-US Working Group on Education and Skill Development was announced by the leaders on the sidelines of the 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue held between India and US in Washington DC.
- Discussions during the meeting focussed on the following sub-topics:
- Skilling and vocational education
- Certification and recognition
- Matchmaking between U.S. and Indian higher educational institutions
- Engaging with the Private Sector
- United States of America – Washington, D.C. (Capital) – US Dollar (Currency) – Joe Biden (President) – English (Language)
State News
Union Minister Smriti Irani inaugurated women labourers convention in Kerala
- The Union Women and Child Development Minister Smriti Irani inaugurated the women labourers convention organised by the Kerala unit of BMS in Thiruvananthapuram.
- Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan would make the keynote address at the event.
- Kerala – Thiruvananthapuram (Capital) – Pinarayi Vijayan (CM) – Arif Mohammad Khan (Governor) – Malayalam (Language)
GHCL will invest ₹6,500 crores in greenfield soda ash facility in Gujarat
- Chemicals company GHCL Ltd, amongst the largest soda ash and industrial salt-makers in India, will invest ₹6,500 crores to set up a one-million-tonne soda ash plant in Kutch, Gujarat, over a six-year period.
- The company will be nearly doubling its production capacities targetting a 30 per cent market share in India.
- The greenfield unit will be built in two phases.
- In the first phase, the capacity addition will be 0.5 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) and will be built at ₹4,500 crore; while phase II will see an addition of another 0.5 mtpa at ₹2,500 crore.
- Gujarat – Gandhinagar (Capital) – Bhupendrabhai Patel (CM) – Acharya Devvrat (Governor) – Gujarati & Hindi (Language)
ITC sets up consumer goods manufacturing unit in Odisha's Khurda
- Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik inaugurated ITC’s integrated consumer goods manufacturing and logistics facility at Khurda.
- The Industrial Policy Resolution (IPR) 2022 aims to transform Odisha into a modern and advanced industrial state by offering the investors outstanding opportunities for sustainable business growth and fostering holistic socio-economic development of the people, he said.
- The food processing sector is one of the priority sectors in IPR 2022 and this facility by ITC marks a significant milestone for Odisha.
- The facility is built on an area of 35 acres.
- It is dedicated to seven production lines, including Aashirvaad atta, Yippee! noodles, Sunfeast biscuits and Bingo! chips.
- ITC Limited – 24/08/1910 (Founded) – Kolkata (HQ) – Sanjiv Puri (Chairman & MD)
Banking and Finance
Tide and Transcorp launched India's-first Recycled PVC RuPay Card
- Tide, the UK’s leading SME-focused business financial platform in partnership with Transcorp International Limited, a Reserve Bank of India (RBI) regulated Prepaid Payment Instrument (PPI) license holder, announced the launch of India’s first recycled (rPVC) Rupay card, along with MCT Cards & Technology Pvt. Ltd. and NPCI (National Payments Corporation of India).
- The move reinforces Tide’s commitment to becoming a more sustainable company, including its pledge to make reaching Net Zero simpler for its members (customers) in India, and globally.
- Made from 99% recycled plastic, this is the first such move by a fintech company in India.
- Each rPVC card will save 7g of carbon and save 3.18g of plastic, which would ordinarily be used in the production of a new card made with virgin PVC.
- The cards will go through an open loop recycling process, which means that old products are transformed into new ones, reducing industrial plastic waste.
- The material used for production of Tide rPVC cards is approved by global testing agencies including market leader Intertek, and is also compliant with GRS 4.0 (Global recycled standard).
- All the cards are tested for parameters like Ink Adhesion/Wrappage/Bending/Stress Test and are compliant with ISO standards, they also undergo a CIPET certification.
- The cards will carry the sustainability badge on the reverse side, educating the customer that the card is made of recycled plastic.
- In March, Tide became the first fintech in the world to remove 100% of its emissions with durable carbon removals as of 2022 onwards.
- The business has also committed to becoming fully NetZero by 2030 and to support its UK members (more than 9% of UK SMEs), and growing network of Indian SMEs on their journey to NetZero.
- To deal with the devastating impacts of climate change, Tide made three pledges:
- Pledge 1: Tide Removal NetZero – Tide commits to removing 100% of our emissions with durable carbon removal from 2022 onwards.
- Pledge 2: Tide Reduction NetZero – Tide will reduce 90% of our 2021 emissions per employee by 2030. In doing so, we will reduce emissions by 97% on a revenue basis. Pledges 1 and 2 will make Tide completely Net Zero by 2030.
- Pledge 3: Tide Member NetZero – Tide commits to making Net Zero simpler for our Members by developing support for them to get to NetZero.
- Tide and Transcorp, along with MCT and NPCI will embark on this industry-first initiative as part of an India-wide and global shift away from virgin plastic and accelerating commitments towards reducing carbon emissions.
- National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) – 2008 (Founded) – Mumbai (HQ) – Dilip Asbe (MD & CEO)
Google Pay launched RuPay credit cards support on UPI in India
- Google Pay in conjunction with the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) rolled out support for RuPay credit cards on Unified Payments Interface (UPI).
- The users can now link their RuPay credit cards with Google Pay to pay at all online and offline merchants where RuPay credit cards are accepted.
- The feature is now available to RuPay credit card holders of Axis Bank, Bank of Baroda, Canara Bank, HDFC bank, Indian Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Punjab National Bank and Union Bank of India.
Paytm launched UPI SDK to enable customers pay directly within the merchant app
- Paytm owner One97 Communications Limited has launched Paytm UPI SDK, which will allow customers of online merchants to make UPI payments directly and in-line from the merchant’s mobile app without getting redirected during checkout.
- The new feature will allow customers to pay directly from their bank accounts by entering their UPI PIN without leaving the merchant app.
- Online businesses can offer their customers the ability to conveniently check their account balance, create VPA handles, add more UPI linked accounts and set/reset UPI PIN in real-time within their app prior to making a payment.
- This is part of the existing UPI acquiring arrangement between Paytm Payments Services Ltd. and Paytm Payments Bank, under which Paytm Payments Services Ltd provides UPI acquisition service to merchants.
- This UPI SDK is an add-on feature under the same arrangement.
- Paytm (pay through mobile) – August 2010 (Founded) – Noida,UP (HQ) – Vijay Shekhar Sharma (CEO)
Power
Shipping Ministry will provide 30% financial support for promotion of green shipping
- Speaking at a chintan shivir organised by the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal announced a 30 per cent financial support for the promotion of green shipping.
- He said that under the Green Tug Transition programme, the Jawaharlal Nehru Port, VO Chidambaranar Port, Paradip Port and Deendayal Port will procure two tugs each.
- As part of green port initiatives, green hydrogen hubs will be set up at Deendayal Port and VO Chidambaranar Port, while a single-window portal to facilitate and monitor river and sea cruises is in the works too.
- The Jawaharlal Nehru Port and VO Chidambaranar Port will become smart ports by next year.
- Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways – Sarbananda Sonowal, Union Minister (Rajya Sabha MP, Assam) – Shripad Yesso Naik, Minister of State (North Goa) & Shantanu Thakur, Minister of State (Bangaon,West Bengal)
Ranks and Indices
Men’s javelin throw rankings
- India’s Tokyo Olympics gold medallist Neeraj Chopra elevated to the top of the latest men’s javelin throw and He is the new World No.1 in the rankings issued by the World Athletics.
- Chopra was leading the ranking with 1455 points, 22 ahead of Grena’a’s Anderson Peters.
- Chopra had been at the No.2 position since August 30, 2022, but overtook Peters, the reigning world champion, this week.
- Czech Republic’s Jakub Vadlejch is placed third with 1410 points with Julian Webber of Germany in fourth with 1385 points and Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem at fifth with 1306 points.
- World Athletics – 18/07/1912 (Founded) – Monaco (HQ) – Sebastian Coe (President)
Financial Times Ranking 2023
- Financial Times Ranking 2023 ranks IIM Kozhikode at 72nd position among the top-75 Open Enrolment Executive Programme providers globally for its Open Enrolment Executive Education Programme.
- IIM Kozhikode is only one of the three IIMs and 4 Indian B-Schools to feature in the top 75 FT Open-enrolment Executive Education Rankings 2023, which were based on a survey of the executive participants and survey of respective institutes, globally.
- This comes a little after the institute earned a spot in the top 251-300 Institutes in Business and Management Studies globally, in the Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings by Subject 2023, which released in March 2023.
- In the Executive Education Open 2023 category, IIM Ahmedabad ranked at 45th spot, IIM Bangalore at 47th spot and Indian School of Business at 65.
- In the Executive Education Custom 2023 category, Indian School of Business has ranked at the 29th spot, followed by IIM Ahmedabad at 45th spot and IIM Bangalore at 53.
- The FT rankings were based on the collection of data from eight criteria from programme participants: Preparation, course design, teaching methods, faculty, quality of peers, new skills and learning, follow-up and achievement of aims.
- The next six mandated criteria were based on data submitted by the business schools: Female participants, international participants, international location, growth, partner schools and faculty diversity.
Awards and Recognitions
Prime Minister honoured with the highest civilian award of Papua New Guinea
- H.E. Sir Bob Dadae, Governor-General of Papua New Guinea (PNG) conferred Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi with the Grand Companion of the Order of Logohu (GCL).
- This is the highest civilian award of PNG and recipients of the award are titled “Chief”.
- Papua New Guinea – Port Moresby (Capital) – Kina (Currency) – Charles III (Monarch) – James Marape (Prime Minister) – English, Hiri, Motu, PNG Sign Language, Tok Pisin (Language)
Sports News
2023 Italian Open (tennis)
- Edition: 80th
- Venue: Foro Italico, Rome, Italy
- 2022 Italian Open – 79th edition (Foro Italico)
Category | Winner | Runner-up |
Men’s Singles | Daniil Medvedev (Russia) | Holger Rune (Denmark) |
Women’s Singles | Elena Rybakina (Kazakhstan) | Anhelina Kalinina (Ukraine) |
Men’s Doubles | Hugo Nys and Jan Zieliński (Poland) | Robin Haase and Botic van de Zandschulp (Netherlands) |
Women’s Doubles | Storm Sanders and Elise Mertens (Belgium) | Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula (USA) |
- Italy – Rome (Capital) – Euro (Currency) – Sergio Mattarella (President) – Giorgia Meloni (Prime Minister) – Italian (Language)
Golden Grand Prix 2023
- Indian athlete Shaili Singh clinched a bronze medal with an effort of 6.65 meter at the Golden Grand Prix 2023 athletics meet in the women’s long jump event in Yokohama, Japan.
- Germany’s Maryse Luzolo won the gold medal with an effort of 6.79 meter while Australia’s Brooke Buschkuehl bagged the silver medal with a 6.77 meter leap.
- During the Indian Grand Prix 4 athletics meet in Bengaluru which concluded last month, Shaili Singh registered a jump of 6.76 meter, her personal best jump, the second-best by an Indian woman after the legendary athlete Anju Bobby George 6.83 meter.
- Two years back, Shaili Singh had won a silver medal win at the World Athletics UNDER-20 Championships in Nairobi.
- Japan – Tokyo (Capital) – Japanese yen (Currency) – Naruhito (Emperor) – Fumio Kishida (Prime Minister) – Japanese (Language)
Important Days
International Day to End Obstetric Fistula
- International Day to End Obstetric Fistula is annually observed on May 23.
- The day was officially recognised in 2012 by United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).
- The day was first observed in 2013.
- Obstetric fistula is one of the most serious and tragic childbirth injuries.
- A hole between the birth canal and bladder and/or rectum, it is caused by prolonged, obstructed labour without access to timely, high-quality medical treatment.
- United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) – 1969 (Founded) – New York (HQ) – Natalia Kanem (Executive Director)
World Turtle Day
- World Turtle Day is an annual observance held every May 23.
- It began in 2000 and is sponsored by American Tortoise Rescue.
- This year 24th anniversary.
- The term “World Turtle Day” is trademarked by Susan Tellem of Malibu, California.
Daily Current Affairs - May 23, 2023 - Consolidated
- Ministry of Education and PARAKH organized the 1st National level workshop on assessment with States and UTs
- Home Minister Amit Shah
- Centre of Excellence on Sustainable Land Management
- UGC’s new initiative NEP SAARTHI
- India-US Working Group on Education and Skill Development virtually launched
- Union Minister Smriti Irani inaugurated women labourers convention in Kerala
- GHCL will invest ₹6,500 crores in greenfield soda ash facility in Gujarat
- ITC sets up consumer goods manufacturing unit in Odisha’s Khurda
- Tide and Transcorp launched India’s-first Recycled PVC RuPay Card
- Google Pay launched RuPay credit cards support on UPI in India
- Paytm launched UPI SDK to enable customers pay directly within the merchant app
- Shipping Ministry will provide 30% financial support for promotion of green shipping
- Men’s javelin throw rankings
- Financial Times Ranking 2023
- Prime Minister honoured with the highest civilian award of Papua New Guinea
- 2023 Italian Open (tennis)
- Golden Grand Prix 2023
- International Day to End Obstetric Fistula
- World Turtle Day