Current Affairs Quiz 23rd November 2022, Daily GK Update

Exp. Free trade agreement between India and Australia approved

The free trade agreement (FTA) between India and Australia has been approved by the Australian parliament.

The deals are crucial for Australia to diversify its exports from the troubled Chinese market to India and to forge new bilateral trade relations.

The India-Australia Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement would now become operational on a mutually agreed date.

It will provide duty-free access to the Australian market for over 6000 broad sectors of India.

These include textiles, leather, furniture, jewellery, and machinery.

About Australia

Capital – Canberra

Currency – Dollar

President – Anthony Albanese

Exp. RBI allowed Canara Bank, HDFC Bank for rupee trade with Russia

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has allowed HDFC Bank Ltd and Canara Bank Ltd to open a special “Vostro account” for trade in rupees with Russia.

Vostro accounts are accounts a bank holds on behalf of another, often foreign bank, and this forms a key part of correspondent banking.

As many as five Indian banks have received regulatory clearance for rupee trade till now. These includes UCO Bank, Union Bank and IndusInd Bank are the other three.

This apart, two Russian banks have the central bank’s approval – Sber Bank and VTB. Both have branch presence in India.

At present, a large part of bilateral trade between India and Russia is getting settled in the rupee due to sanctions imposed by the US and Europe following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

About Russia

• Capital –Moscow
• Currency –Rubel
• President –Vladimir Putin

Exp. OECD slashed India’s FY23 GDP forecast to 6.6%

The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has reduced the gross domestic growth forecast for India for the current financial year (FY23) to 6.6% from 6.9% citing higher medium-term global uncertainty and slowing domestic economic activity.

OECD is the latest of a host of banks, agencies, and multilateral institutions which have recently cut their India GDP forecast for FY23.

As per the OECD, the headline inflation remains above 6% mostly due to the trend increase in the price of food.

GDP growth will slow to 5.7% in FY24, as exports and domestic demand growth moderate.

Updated GDP List

• World Bank – 6.5% (FY23), 7.1% (FY24)
• MOODY’S. – 7% (FY23)
• S&P – 7.3% (FY23), 6.5% (FY24)
• IMF – 6.8% (FY23), 6.1% (FY24)
• ADB – 7% (FY23), 7.2% (FY24)
• RBI – 7% (FY23)
• India Ratings – 6.9% (FY23)
• FITCH RATING – 7% (FY23), 6.7% (FY24)
• FICCI – 7% (FY23), 6.4% (FY24)
• OECD – 6.6% (FY23), 5.7% (FY24)
• CRISIL – 7.3% (FY23)
• NSO – 8.7%.     Q4 – 4.1% (FY23)
• SBI – 6.8% (FY23)
• Morgan Stanley – 7.2% (FY23), 6.4%(FY24)
• Nomura – 7.2% (FY23)
• UNTCAD – 5.7% (FY23)
• Goldman Sachs – 5.9% (FY23)

Exp. Suryakumar Yadav appointed as brand ambassador of UrbanGabru

Men’s grooming brand UrbanGabru has announced cricketer Suryakumar Yadav as its new brand ambassador.

Suryakumar joined the brand to endorse UrbanGabru’s grooming range.

Suryakumar Yadav is currently ranked second in men’s T20 International batting.

The youth icon has made his name in International cricket as a prolific run-getter, also garnering massive fan following.

UrbanGabru is a men’s grooming brand from the house of Global Bees Brands Pvt. Ltd. Since 2017; the brand has been on a journey to revolutionize men’s grooming and lifestyle and inspire to help men chase a better version of themselves every single day

Recent Brand Ambassador

• Neeraj Chopra – Friendship Ambassador of Switzerland
• Lionel Messi – Byju’s
• T20 World Cup for the Blind – Yuvraj Singh
• Sourav Ganguly – Bandhan Bank
• Smriti Mandhana – Gulf Oil Lubricants.
• Rohit Sharma & his wife Ritika Sajdeh – Max Life Insurance
• Punyakoti Dattu Yojana (Karnataka)- Kiccha Sudeep
• Vaani Kapoor – Noise X-Fit 2 smartwatch
• Ravi Shastri – FanCode
• Mahendra Singh Dhoni – Garuda Aerospace
• Robin Uthappa – Karnataka Brain Health Initiative (Ka-BHI)
• Shubman Gill & Ruturaj Gaikwad – My11Circle
• Rishabh Pant – Dish TV India
• Jhulan Goswami -All Women Match Official Team
• Rishabh Pant – Uttarakhand’s brand ambassador
• Jasprit Bumrah- Unix
• Ravindra Jadeja – Kinara Capital
• Smriti Mandhana – IIT Madras incubated startup, GUVI
• Saurav Ganguly – Century LED

Exp. Kassym-Jomart Tokayev elected as President of Kazakhstan

President of Kazakhstan, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev (69) has secured a second term in snap presidential election after winning 81.31% of the vote.

He has served as acting president after the resignation of the president, Nursultan Nazarbayev.

During his tenure, he had changed the name of capital from Nur-Sultan (2019) back to Astana.

He has also approved a constitutional amendment to increase the presidential term from five years to seven.

Kazakhstan is Central Asia’s largest country.

About Kazakhstan

• Capital –Astana
• Currency –Kazakhstani tenge
• President –Kassym-Jomart Tokayev

Newly Appointed Prime Minister & President

• First female president of Slovenia – Natasa Pirc Musar
• New Prime Minister of Israel – Benjamin Netanyahu
• President of Brazil – Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva
• Prime Minister of Sweden – Ulf Kristersson
• President of Iraq – Abdul Latif Rashid
• PM of United Kingdom – Rishi Sunak
• President of Austria – Alexander Van der Bellen (2^ndterm)
• Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia – Mohammed bin Salman
• First woman Prime Minister of Italy- Giorgia Meloni
• president of Angola – Joao Lourenco (2nd term)
• Prime Minister of Serbia – Ana Brnabic
• New president of Kenya – William Ruto

Colombia’s first leftist President – Gustavo Petro

New PM of Kuwait – Sheikh Mohammad Sabah Al Salem

New PM of Sri Lanka – Dinesh Gunawardena

New President of Sri Lanka – Ranil Wickremesinghe

New President of Colombia – Gustavo Petro

New President of South Korea – Yoon Suk Yeol

New Prime Minister of Pakistan – Shehbaz Sharif

New Prime Minister of France – Elisabeth Borne

1st Woman President of Hungary – Katalin Novak

1st Woman President of Tanzania – Samia Suluhu Hassan

1st Woman President of Honduras Xiomara Castro

Hong Kong’s Next Leader -John Lee

Re-Elected as President of Serbia – Aleksandar Vučić

Hungary’s New Prime Minister - Viktor Orban

New Prime Minister of Kazakhstan - Alikhan Smailov

New President of Albania – Bajram Begaj

Exp. Vinit Kumar appointed as CEO of KVIC

Vinit Kumar has been appointed as the Chief Executive Officer of the Khadi & Village Industries Commission (KVIC).

He is an IRSEE officer of 1993 batch, has served as the Chairman of Syama Prasad Mukherjee Port, Kolkata from 2018-2020.

He has also served as Chief Electrical Engineer in Mumbai Railway Vikas Corporation Ltd. and looked after World Bank-funded MUTP project.

Recent Appointment 

• Member of International Committee for Weight and Measures (CIPM) – Venu Gopal Achanta
• Election Commissioner of India – Arun Goel
• Chairman of National Pension System Trust – Suraj Bhan
• Chairman of ONGC – Arun Kumar Singh
• Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) – Dr. V G Somani (reappointment three months).

Exp. Subrat Kumar appointed as Executive Director of Bank of India

Subrat Kumar has been appointed executive director of the Bank India with effect for three years.

He has an experience of 27 years in commercial banks and asset management companies.

The government also appointed ten executive directors to public sector banks for a three-year period, subject to a review after two years.

These are, Lalit Tyagi (Bank of Baroda), Binod Kumar (Punjab National Bank), Ashok Chandra (Canara Bank), Ramasubramanian (Union Bank), Mahesh Bajaj (Indian Bank), M Paramasivan (PNB), Subrat Kumar (Bank of India), Malladi Venkat Murali Krishna (Central Bank of India), Rahendra Saboo (UCO Bank), and Sanjay Mudaliyar (Indian Overseas Bank).

Recently, union government decided to increase the term of whole-time directors in public sector banks, including MD & CEOs, to 10 years, from five years, a move aimed to bring in younger talent in the top position.

Exp. Matrix Awarded Partner of the Year 2022 by Procter & Gamble

Chennai-based Matrix Business Services India Pvt. Ltd was awarded “Partner of the Year 2022” by Procter & Gamble (P&G) in Cincinnati, USA, for their contribution in transforming their business processes.

Matrix was among the 11 external business partners (EBPs) chosen from a global network of over 50,000 for the year 2021 – 22.

About Matrix Business Services Private Limited

Matrix is a leader in Business Assurance Services offering niche services to companies mainly in the FMCG, Retailing, Consumer Durable, and Pharmaceutical industries on one hand and rendering Employee Background Check services to companies from all industries on the other.

It is a 1500 people company with headquarters in Chennai and has a presence all over the country.

Recent Awards

• India Film Personality of the Year 2022 at IFFI – Chiranjeevi
• Gandhi Mandela Award 2022 – Dalai Lama
• Sumitra Charat Ram Award – Uma Sharma
• Gold award at 47th ICQCC-2022 – NTPC team
• Lifetime Achievement Award at 53rd IFFI Goa – Carlos Saura

Exp. AP Shreethar awarded Economic Times Inspiring Leaders Award 2022

Museum maker AP Shreethar has been honored with Economic Times Inspiring Leaders Award 2022 in Delhi.

AP Shreethar is a self-taught artist and museum maker.

He is known to have conducted over 72 shows and exhibitions around the globe.

AP Shreethar is additionally credited as the creator of the world’s first Live Art Museum.

Recent Awards

• Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna 2022 – Sharath Kamal
• Responsible Tourism Global Award – Kerala Tourism
• UK’s royal Order of Merit – Nobel laureate Venki Ramakrishnan
• Bihari Puraskar – Madhu Kankariya (31st) and Dr. Madhav Hada (32^nd)
• Kuldip Nayar Patrakarita Samman Award 2022 – Arfa  Sherwani & Ajit Anjum

Exp. Prodapt won the Prestigious Salesforce Partner Innovation Award 2022

A leading global consulting, technology & managed services provider with a singular focus on the Connectedness industry, Prodapt has been named a recipient of the Salesforce Partner Innovation Award in the “Communications” category.

The prestigious award recognizes Prodapt’s contributions to Salesforce-driven digital transformation programs and the development of specific solution accelerators for the communications industry.

Prodapt is a global provider of advisory services for IT, and telecommunications.

Recent Awards

• Bailey K. Ashford Medal 2022 – First Indian scientist Dr. Subhash Babu
• Fellow of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (FASTMH) award 2022 – First Indian scientist Dr. Subhash Babu
• International Kannadiga Rathna award – YKC Wadiyar
• Uttarakhand Gaurav Samman 2022 – Ajit Doval, Bipin Rawat, Prasoon Joshi, Girish Chandra Tiwari, Viren Dangwal
• Chevalier Award by French government – Aruna Sairam

Exp. Ravi Kumar Sagar honoured with the prestigious Dr. Kalam Seva Puraskar

One of the youngest founders and CEO of RK’S INNO group, Ravi Kumar Sagar has been conferred with Dr. Abdul Kalam Seva Puraskar.

The award was presented to him for his persistent service to society and is one of the youngest entrepreneurs in India.

Dr. Kalam Seva Purasakar is hosted every year by Vandhe Bharat Foundation and Lead India Foundation to commemorate the birth anniversary of the late former President of India Dr. APJ Adul Kalam.

A young entrepreneur from the twin Telugu states, Ravi Kumar Sagar also known as RK’S nailed it as a budding entrepreneur during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.

When other businesses suffered huge losses due to the lockdown and the spread of the pandemic, Ravi Kumar Sagar started his entrepreneurship journey by selling PPE kits, sanitizers, and face masks to medical stores and hospitals.

With the initial investment of Rs 50,000, Ravi Kumar Sagar was a success in generating his business turnover to a whooping Rs 2 crore.

Recent Awards

• Best adventure tourism destination award – Uttarakhand
• Lata Mangeshkar Award 2021 – Kumar Sanu
• Lata Mangeshkar Award 2020 – Anand-Milind
• Lata Mangeshkar Award 2019 – Shailendra Singh
• 52nd Dadasaheb Phalke Award – Asha Parekh

Exp. Manika Batra becomes first Indian woman to win medal at Asian Cup

Indian table tennis player Manika Batra has clinched the bronze medal at the IITF-ATTU Asian Cup tournament in Bangkok, Thailand.

She has become the first Indian female to win a medal at the Asian Cup table tennis tournament.

She won the bronze medal match against World number six and three-time Asian champion Hina Hayata by 4-2.

Exp. Pranay Sharma becomes first Indian to win Gold at Karate 1 Series A

Indian Karate Star Pranay Sharma has become the first Indian to win Gold Medal at Karate 1 Series A in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Sharma defeated Ukraine’s Davyd Yanovskyi in the Men’s 67 kg Kumite Final to bag the historic gold medal in the competition.

The Karate 1 – Series A comprises a number of first-class international tournaments all over the world.