Current Affairs Today 20th March 2023 Daily GK Update

Daily Current Affairs 20th March 2023 Daily GK Update

Daily current affairs are extremely important for competitive exams because they help candidates stay updated on the latest events and developments in the world. This knowledge is essential for answering questions in the general awareness or current affairs section of the exam, which is often included in many competitive exams such as UPSC, SSC, Bank Exams, etc. Additionally, having a good understanding of current affairs can also help candidates in other sections of the exam, such as reasoning, English, and quantitative aptitude. In short, staying updated on current affairs is crucial for performing well in competitive exams and increasing the chances of success.

 

National News

Government to develop mega textile parks in 7 states under PM MITRA scheme

  • The Central Government has announced plans to set up mega textile parks in Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Gujarat, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, and Maharashtra.
  • The PM Mega Integrated Textile Regions and Apparel (PM MITRA) Parks for the Textile Industry are a step towards realizing the vision of making India a global hub for textile manufacturing and exports.
  • The step is inspired by the 5F vision of the Prime Minister, which includes, Farm to Fibre to Factory to Fashion to Foreign.
  • It is expected that these parks will enhance the competitiveness of the textile industry by helping it achieve economies of scale and attract global players to manufacture in India.
  • The mega parks would “provide state-of-the-art infrastructure for the textiles sector, attract investment of crores and create lakhs of jobs.
  • The parks will receive financial assistance from the Ministry of Textiles in the form of development capital support up to Rs 500 crore (per park). Further, to encourage prompt implementation, entities in PM MITRA Park will also receive Competitive Incentive Support (CIS) up to Rs 300 crore per park.

India Post partnered with Shiprocket to benefit Startups and MSMEs

  • India Post has signed an MoU with Shiprocket to boost last-mile e-commerce delivery services across India.
  • Shiprocket is a leading logistics aggregator company.
  • This partnership between India Post and Shiprocket will provide shipping and last-mile delivery services to Shiprocket’s three lakh strong seller base which includes Startups and a large number of small and medium businesses.
  • The MoU marks a significant milestone for taking e-commerce to the last mile and is expected to benefit millions of customers all over country.

Indira Gandhi Airport ranked best airport in South Asia for 5th time

  • Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport has received the award for the Best Airport in India and South Asia by International air transport rating organisation Skytrax.
  • Singapore’s Changi Airport is named the World’s Best Airport of 2023 followed by Doha Hamad airport.
  • In 2022, Singapore ranked at No 3 while Doha Hamad had bagged the No 1 position.
  • The Skytrax World Airport Awards are based on annual global airport customer satisfaction survey, which was done during the period from August 2022 to February 2023.
  • As per the release by Skytrax, Delhi airport is the only Indian airport to feature on top 50 airports across the world.
  • In the list of World’s Top 100 Airports 2023, Delhi airport is placed on 36th and moved up from 37th position in 2022.
  • The other Indian airport on the list is Hyderabad airport which won the awards as the Best Regional Airport and Best Airport Staff in India and South Asia.
  • Hyderabad airport ranks on no 65, dropped from 63 in 2022. The third Indian airport is Bengaluru which ranks at no 69, dropped from No. 61 in 2022.
  • At No 84, Mumbai airport saw a significant drop in ranking from last year. In 2022, Mumbai airport ranked at No 65.

India & Sri Lanka inaugurate exhibition ‘Geoffrey Bawa’ in New Delhi

  • The National Gallery of Modern Art and the High Commission of Sri Lanka in New Delhi have inaugurated the exhibition ‘Geoffrey Bawa: It is Essential to be There’.
  • The exhibition is scheduled till the 7th of May this year from 11 AM to 6.30 PM, except on Mondays.
  • Commemorating the 75th Anniversary of Indo-Lanka Diplomatic Relations, the event will celebrate the Cultural Exchange Programme between both countries.
  • Over 120 documents from the Bawa archives will be on view, including a section on unbuilt work and Bawa’s own photographs from his travels.

About Sri Lanka

  • Legislative capital – Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte
  • Executive and Judicial capital – Colombo
  • Currency – Sri Lankan rupee
  • President – Ranil Wickremesinghe
  • Prime Minister – Dinesh Gunawardena

Union government announced 10% reservation in CISF for former Agniveers

  • Union Home Ministry has announced a 10 percent reservation for former Agniveers in the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF).
  • Former Agniveers would get relaxation in the upper age limit and will also be exempted from Physical Efficiency Test.
  • As per the notification, the upper age limit for candidates of the first batch of Agniveers shall be relaxed by up to five years.
  • The scheme aims to induct youth between 17-and-a-half years of age and 21 years of age on a four-year short-term contractual basis. It has been designed to ensure a youthful profile of the Armed Forces.

Parshottam Rupala inaugurated ‘Sagar Parikrama Phase IV’

  • Union Minister Parshottam Rupalah has inaugurated the Phase-IV of ‘Sagar Parikrama’ in Karnataka.
  • It aims to resolve the issues of the fishers and other stakeholders and facilitate their economic upliftment through various fisheries schemes and programs.
  • It will cover the stretch of Uttar Kannada Udupi followed by Dakshan Kannada.

About Karnataka

  • Capital – Bengaluru
  • Chief Minister –Basavaraj Bommai
  • Governor – Thawar Chand Gehlot

International SME Convention 2023 held in New Delhi

  • The 3rd annual edition of the International SME Convention 2023 (ISC) is organized in New Delhi.
  • The main focus areas of the convention are India’s major four Sunrise Sectors, which are Cleantech and Green Energy, Manufacturing, Services Sector and Agro Food Processing and Agri Implements sector.
  • More than fifteen hundred participants are expected to attend the convention. Union Minister for Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises Narayan Rane will inaugurate the three-day SME Convention.
  • The convention is being jointly organized by the Ministry of MSME and Ministry of External Affairs, along with the Government of Madhya Pradesh as a Key State Partner and the Government of Uttar Pradesh as an Associate State Partner.

Banking and Financial

NCLT approved HDFC, HDFC Bank merger

  • The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) has approved the merger of HDFC & HDFC Bank.
  • HDFC Ltd has already received approvals from the Reserve Bank of India, Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), PFRDA and Competition Commission of India (CCI) as well as from India’s stock exchanges – BSE and NSE
  • The HDFC-HDFC Bank merger is expected to be completed by the second or third quarter of FY24.
  • NCLT has also given approval for holding a shareholders’ meeting for obtaining approval for the proposed merger.
  • In April 2022, HDFC Bank announced that parent HDFC will merge with the bank to enable seamless delivery of home loans and leverage on the large base of over 68 million customers of HDFC Bank and inter alia improve the pace of credit growth in the economy.
  • The merger is expected to be completed by end of FY24.

About HDFC Bank

  • Founded – August 1994
  • Founder – Hasmukhbhai Parekh
  • Headquarters – Mumbai, Maharashtra
  • MD & CEO – Sashidhar Jagdishan
  • Chairman – Atanu Chakraborty
  • Tagline – We understand your world

Indian economy likely to grow 6% in FY24: Crisil

  • According to the credit rating agency CRISIL report, India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is estimated to grow at 6% in 2023-24, slower than the 7% estimated for 2022-23.
  • CRISIL said consumer inflation is expected to moderate to 5 percent on average in fiscal 2024 from 6.8 percent in fiscal 2023, owing to high-base effect and some softening of crude and commodity prices.
  • A good rabi harvest would help cool food inflation, while the slowing economy should moderate core inflation.
  • Retail inflation will average 5% over 2023-24, lower than the 6.8% (averaged in 2022-23).

Updated GDP List

  • World Bank – 6.9% (FY23)
  • MOODY’S. – 5.5% (FY23)
  • S&P – 7% (FY23), 6% (FY24)
  • IMF – 6.1% (FY23), 6.8% (FY24)
  • ADB – 7% (FY23), 7.2% (FY24)
  • RBI – 6.8% (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 – 6% (FY24)
  • UN – 5.8% (FY23)
  • NSO – 7%
  • 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)

Appointment and Resignation

G Krishnakumar appointed as CMD of BPCL

  • Krishnakuma has been appointed as the new Chairman & Managing Director of the Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL).
  • He is currently serving as the Executive Director of the company.
  • Krishnakumar has been associated with BPCL for 36 years, leading the organization’s customer-centric ventures into convenience retailing, premium fuels, and new tech & digital initiatives in the company.

Recent Appointment

  • CEO of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) – K Krithivasan
  • CMD of National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC) – Amitava Mukherjee (Additional charge)
  • Vande Bharat Express gets Asia’s first woman loco pilot – Surekha Yadav
  • MD and CEO of Tech Mahindra – Mohit Joshi
  • MD & CEO of Hindustan Unilever Ltd. – Rohit Jawa

About Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL)

  • Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) is an Indian central public sector undertaking under the ownership of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Government of India.
  • BPCL is India’s second-largest government-owned downstream oil producer.
  • It operates three refineries in Bina, Kochi, and Mumbai.
  • Founded – 1952
  • Headquarters – Mumbai
  • Chairman & MD – Krishnakumar

Deepak Bagla steps down as MD & CEO of Invest India

  • Deepak Bagla, managing director and chief executive officer of Invest India, the government’s nodal investment promotion and facilitation body, has resigned from his post.
  • Bagla was at the helm of Invest India since 2015. Earlier, he had stints at World Bank, Citibank, and private equity firm 3i Group.
  • Invest India was formed in 2009 under the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
  • Currently 51 percent shareholding of Invest India is with industry bodies (17 percent each with Ficci, CII, and Nasscom), and the remaining 49 percent with the central and 19 state governments.

Ram Sahaya Prasad Yadav elected Nepal’s third Vice President

  • Ram Sahai Prasad Yadav has been elected as the third Vice President of Nepal and is the leader of the Janata Samajwadi Party.
  • Yadav defeated Astalaxmi Shakya of CPN (UML) and Mamata Jha of the Janamat Party.
  • A total of 311 federal lawmakers and 518 Provincial Assembly members took part in the poll. The polling centre for the election was set up at the New Baneshwor-based Federal Parliament Building in Kathmandu.

Newly Appointed Prime Minister & President

  • President of Nepal – Ram Chandra Paudel
  • Prime Minister of Nepal – Pushpa Kamal Dahal
  • Prime Minister of Kuwait – Sheikh Ahmad Nawaf al-Sabah
  • President of Vietnam – Vo Van Thuong
  • President of Bangladesh – Mohammad Shahabuddin

About Nepal

  • Capital- Kathmandu
  • Currency- Nepalese rupee
  • President– Ram Chandra Paudel
  • Prime minister– Pushpa Kamal Dahal

Awards

Bengaluru received ‘Healthy City’ award for smoking laws

  • Bengaluru won the ‘Partnership for Healthy Cities’ award and a cash prize of $ 150,000 for effectively enforcing smoke-free laws at a summit held in London.
  • The focused effort from smoke-free Bengaluru resulted in a reduction of public-place smoking from 18.2% (2017) to 13.3% (2021).
  • The display of ‘no-smoking’ signs in the city also increased from 23.1% (2017) to 75%.
  • The global summit brought together officials from over 50 cities to discuss public health concerns.

Recent Awards

Saraswati Samman for 2022 – Tamil writer Sivasankari (for Survya Vamsam book)

  • Governor of the Year by Central Banking – Shaktikanta Das (Governor of RBI)
  • 32nd Vyas Samman 2022 – Gyan Chaturvedi (For Pagalkhana)
  • Pritzker Prize 2023 – David Chipperfield
  • PEN/Nabokov Lifetime Achievement Award 2023 – Vinod Kumar Shukla
  • BBC Indian Sportswoman of The Year for 2022 – Mirabai Chanu

Important day

18 March – Ordinance Factories’ Day

  • Ordnance Factory Day is observed on March 18, annually in India.
  • It is the day on which the first Ordnance factory was set up by the British at Cossipore, Kolkata in 1801, during colonial rule.
  • The day is celebrated by the Ministry of Defence.
  • Theme 2023 – Vinashaya Dushkritam
  • The day is celebrated by displaying the rifles, guns, artillery, ammunition etc in exhibitions all over India.
  • The celebrations start with a parade and the exhibition will also display the photographs of various mountaineering expeditions.
  • Director-General & & Chairman of Ordnance Factories – C S Vishwakarma
  • Headquarters of Ordnance Factory Board – Kolkata, West Bengal.

18 March – Global Recycling Day

  • Global Recycling Day is observed every year on 18 March.
  • Objective – To raise awareness about recycling and encourage individuals and organizations to reduce waste and protect the environment.
  • Theme 2023 – Creative Innovation.
  • The first Global Recycling Day was celebrated in 2018 and has grown in popularity since then, with events and activities being held around the world.
  • Every year recyclables saves over 700 million tonnes in CO2 emissions, which projected to increase to 1 billion tons by 2030.
  • Recycling is an essential tool in reducing the amount of waste that ends up in landfills and oceans, and in conserving natural resources.

 

 

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