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Daily Current Affairs 14th March 2024 Daily GK Update
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National News
India’s Index of Industrial Production grows by 3.8% in January 2024
- India’s industrial production grew 3.8 per cent in January 2024, according to official data released by the government.
- Factory output measured in terms of the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) witnessed a growth of 5.8 per cent in January 2023.
- The IIP grew 5.9 per cent during April 2023 to January 2024 compared to a 5.5 per cent expansion in the year-ago period.
- In January 2024, mining production rose 5.9 per cent, and power output increased to 5.6%.
India and Dominican Republic signs protocol for establishment of Joint Economic and Trade Committee
- The protocol for the establishment of the Joint Economic and Trade Committee (JETCO) between India and the Dominican Republic was signed.
- The protocol envisages strengthening and developing cooperation on trade, services, industrial technologies, and various other sectors by means of technical assistance, training programmes, and capacity building.
- It will be pivotal in mitigating challenges faced by the trade and industry and provide a platform for sharing of knowledge and best practices between the two countries.
- India primarily imports gold from the Dominican Republic and exports pharmaceuticals, marine products, motor vehicles, two and three-wheelers, etc. to them.
Recently India signed MoUs with others countries
- India and Colombia signed MoU on Cooperation in the field of Sharing Successful Digital Solutions
- India and Oman signed MoU on defence sector
- India and Oman signed MoU on IT Cooperation
- India and Cuba signed an MoU on digital public infrastructure collaboration
- India and France to jointly fund science research projects
- India and Mauritius collaborate on Rs 20 crore small satellite project
ADB to provide USD 181 min loan to improve livability, mobility in Ahmedabad
- India has signed a 181 million dollars loan with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to improve urban livability and mobility in Ahmedabad.
- The loan will fund development in areas transitioning from rural to urban, called Peri-urban areas.
- Under the Ahmedabad Peri-urban Livability Improvement Project, 166 km of water distribution network, 126 km of climate-resilient stormwater drainage, 300 km of sewerage systems, and four sewage treatment plants will be constructed.
- The Project will also support 10 junction improvements along the existing Sardar Patel Ring Road to improve connectivity of peri-urban areas to Ahmedabad.
Recent Loan approved by ADB
- India and ADB sign $200 million loan to tackle flood and erosion risk along Brahmaputra River
- India signed an MoU with ADB $250 million for Delhi-Meerut RRTS
- India and ADB sign $250 million loan for Industrial Corridor Development in India
- India, ADB signed $200 million loan agreement for Uttarakhand power system project
- India, ADB signed $175 million loan deal to improve Madhya Pradesh roads
- India, ADB approved $181 Million to Improve Ahmedabad’s Peri-urban Areas
- India, ADB approves USD 40.5 mn loan for childhood development in Meghalaya
Anurag Thakur launches PB-SHABD to offer news feed to media outlets
- Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Singh Thakur launched PB-SHABD, a news-sharing service from Prasar Bharati in New Delhi.
- PB-SHABD stands for Prasar Bharati – Shared audio-visuals for Broadcast Dissemination
- He also launched revamped websites of Akashvani News and DD News and updated News on the Air mobile app.
- The SHABD service is being offered free of cost for the first year as an introductory offer and will provide news stories in all major Indian languages across fifty categories.
- CEO of Prasar Bharti – Gaurav Dwivedi
India and Bhutan signed MoU in the field of Energy Efficiency and Energy Conservation Measures
- The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved the signing of MoU between India and Bhutan on extending cooperation in the field of Energy Efficiency and Energy Conservation Measures.
- The MoU was signed between Bureau of Energy Efficiency, Ministry of Power, Government of India and Department of Energy, Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources, Royal Government of Bhutan.
- As part of this MoU, India aims to assist Bhutan to enhance energy efficiency in the household sector by promoting star labeling programme developed by Bureau of Energy Efficiency.
- The formulation of building codes, to suite the climate condition of Bhutan, will be facilitated based with India’s experience.
Recently India signed MoUs with others countries
- India and Dominican Republic signs protocol for establishment of Joint Economic and Trade Committee
- India and Colombia signed MoU on Cooperation in the field of Sharing Successful Digital Solutions
- India and Oman signed MoU on defence sector
- India and Oman signed MoU on IT Cooperation
- India and Cuba signed an MoU on digital public infrastructure collaboration
- India and France to jointly fund science research projects
Banking and Financial
Retail inflation dropped a tad to 4-month low of 5.09% in February 2024
- India’s retail inflation eased marginally to 5.09 per cent on an annual basis in February as against 5.10 per cent in the previous month, data released by the Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation.
- The number has remained within the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) tolerance band of 2-6 per cent.
- On a sequential basis, the inflation rate increased to 0.16 per cent against a contraction of (-)0.11 per cent in the previous month.
- The rural inflation rate remained unchanged at 5.34 per cent, meanwhile, the urban inflation rate declined to 4.78 per cent from 4.92 per cent in January.
- The food inflation for February stood at 8.66 per cent versus 8.30 per cent recorded in January.
- The vegetable inflation surged to 30.25 per cent from 27.03 per cent in January. In addition, the fuel and light inflation witnessed a contraction of (-)0.77 per cent as against a contraction of (-)0.60 per cent.
- India’s industrial production grew 3.8 per cent in January 2024, revealed the data provided by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI).
Previous Months CPI-based Retail inflation
- September 2023 – 5.02%
- October 2023 –4.45%
- November 2023 – 5.55%
- December 2023 –5.69%
- January 2024 – 5.10%
- February 2024 – 5.09%
Kotak Mahindra Bank sells 2% stake in KFin Tech
- Kotak Mahindra Bank has sold a 2% stake in KFin Technologies through the open market for Rs 208 crore.
- The private sector lender sold 3,470,000 shares of KFin Technologies at Rs 600.28 a share, bulk deals data on the BSE showed.
- As of December end, Kotak Mahindra Bank held a 9.80% stake in KFin Technologies.
- Kotak Mahindra Bank invested Rs 310 crore in KFin Technologies in September 2021.
About Kotak Mahindra Bank
- Founded – 21 November 1985
- Founders – Uday Kotak
- Headquarters – Mumbai, Maharashtra
- Chairman – CS Rajan (replace Prakash Apte)
- MD & CEO – Ashok Vaswani (replace Dipak Gupta)
L&T Finance signs $125-m pact with JICA to aid rural, peri-urban financing
- L&T Finance Holdings Ltd (LTFH) has signed a financing pact with Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) for $125 million to support financing in rural and peri-urban areas in India, particularly women borrowers.
- Last November, LTFH had sourced $125-million loan from Asian Development Bank, & as part of the co-financing agreement, additional $125-million loan is now raised from JICA.
- At least 40% of the proceeds would be allocated to women borrowers, while the rest would be to support farmers and MSMEs, besides loans to purchase new two-wheeler vehicles, including electric two-wheelers.
- The project is strategically aligned with the goals of the Ministry of Rural Development as it focuses on lending in rural and peri-urban areas of lagging Indian states.
Recent MoU
- SBI partners with Aurionpro Solutions for its transaction banking platform
- Easy Trip Planners partners with Ministry of Rural Development to empower self-help groups
- Airbus signs contract with IIM Mumbai to boost aviation talent in India
- Swiggy and IRCTC join hands to deliver food on Indian Railways
- NTPC joins hands with MAHAGENCO for development of Renewable Energy Parks
Total of 22,217 electoral bonds purchased: SBI to SC
- The State Bank of India (SBI) has told the Supreme Court that a total of 22,217 electoral bonds were purchased by political parties between April 1, 2019 and February 15 this year, out of which 22,030 were redeemed.
- In a compliance affidavit filed in the apex court, the SBI said as per the court’s direction, it has made available the details of electoral bonds to the Election Commission of India before the close of business hours on March 12.
- A total number of 22,217 bonds were purchased during the period April 1, 2019 till February 15, 2024.
- The affidavit said between April 1, 2019 to April 11, 2019, a total of 3,346 electoral bonds were purchased and 1,609 redeemed.
- It further said from April 12, 2019 to February 15 this year, a total of 18,871 electoral bonds were purchased and 20,421 were redeemed.
- A Supreme Court judgment on February 15, 2024 had struck down the anonymous system of political funding called the ‘electoral bonds scheme’ while directing the SBI, which was the authorised one under the system, to disclose information about who bought the bonds for which political party.
Private banks’ share in deposits rises to 34%
- The share of private sector banks in total deposits has risen significantly, reaching 34% as of December 2023, up from 25% at the end of the financial year 2017-18.
- This growth has been driven by aggressive interest rate offerings and improved customer relationship management strategies adopted by private banks.
- The share of public sector banks in the space has declined to 59% from 66% at the end of the financial year 2017-18, according to the Reserve Bank of India data.
- The ability of private banks to swiftly raise interest rates on fixed deposits has helped them increase their share in total deposits.
- Deposits of private banks grew by 135% to Rs 68.4 trillion as of December 2023, from Rs 29 trillion as of March 2018. Public sector banks increased their deposits by 40% to Rs 116.5 trillion as of December-end, from Rs 76.5 trillion as of March 2018.
- Apart from offering higher rates on deposits, private lenders have ensured ease of doing banking transactions by leveraging technology.
Appointment
Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra granted six-month extension
- The government gave Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra a six-month extension, till end-October 2024.
- The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved extension in service of Vinay Mohan Kwatra as Foreign Secretary for a period of six months beyond 30.04.2024 i.e. up to 31.10.2024 or until further orders, whichever is earlier.
- Kwatra, a 1988 batch officer was appointed Foreign Secretary in April 2022, which was extended through a subsequent order to grant him a two-year term till April 30, 2024.
Other Important Secretaries
- Revenue Secretary – Sanjay Malhotra
- Defence Secretary – Giridhar Aramane
- Economic Affairs Secretary – Ajay Singh
- Finance Secretary – V. Somanathan
- Expenditure Secretary – T. V. Somanathan
- Home Secretary – Ajay Kumar Bhalla
- MoSPI Secretary – G. P. Samanta
Gyanesh Kumar, Sukhbir Sandhu appointed as new Election Commissioners
- Former bureaucrats Sukhbir Singh Sandhu from Punjab and Gyanesh Kumar from Kerala have been named as the new Election Commissioners by a panel chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, committee member and Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury.
- The appointments come in the wake of the recent resignation of Election Commissioner Arun Goel, just days ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. With the retirement of Anup Pandey in February and Goel’s resignation, the three-member Election Commission panel was left with only the Chief Election Commissioner, Rajiv Kumar.
- Six names came up before the panel for the selection of the two ECs and the names of Mr. Sandhu and Mr. Kumar were finalised by a majority of members of the high-powered panel.
- The six names shortlisted were that of Utpal Kumar Singh, Pradeep Kumar Tripathi, Gyanesh Kumar, Indevar Pandey, Sukhbir Singh Sandhu, Sudhir Kumar Gangadhar Rahate, all former bureaucrats.
- There was no clarity on how six names were shortlisted from over 200 candidates that are said to have come before the search committee headed by the Law Minister.
About Election Commissioner of India (ECI)
- It is a constitutional body to conduct and regulate elections in the country.
- It consists of a chief election commissioner (CEC) and two election commissioners (usually retired IAS or IRS officers)
- Founded – 25 January 1950
- 25 January – Voter’s Day
- HQ – New Delhi
- 1st Chief – Sukumar Sen
- 1st Women Chief – V.S. Ramadevi
- 25th Chief – Rajiv Kumar
- Commissioner – Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Gyanesh Kumar
- Tenure – 6/65yrs
Important day
14 March – International Day of Action for Rivers
- International Day of Action for Rivers is observed every year on March 14.
- Objective – To spread awareness about the importance of rivers and climate change.
- Theme 2024 – Water for All
- The International Day of Action Against Dams and For Rivers, Water, and Life was approved at the first International Meeting of People Impacted by Dams in March 1997 in Curitiba, Brazil.
- On March 14, river experts from 20 different nations announced the “Day of Action for Rivers”. The aim of the participants was to form a coalition against the degradation of ecologically sensitive water bodies, rivers and watersheds.
14 March 2024 – World Kidney Day
- World Kidney Day is observed every year on second Thursday of March. This year World Kidney Day is observed on 14th March.
- Objective – To raise awareness about the importance of kidney health and the increasing burden of kidney diseases worldwide.
- Theme 2024 – Kidney Health for All – Advancing Equitable Access to Care and Optimal Medication Practice
- World Kidney Day was first observed in 2006 with the slogan ‘Are Your Kidneys ok?’.
- The campaign was established by the International Society of Nephrology (ISN) and the International Federation of Kidney Foundations (IFKF) to highlight the need for education about the significance of kidney health and reduce the burden of kidney disease and other related health issues.
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