DAILY GK 24,25 MAR

 DAILY GK 24,25 MAR

1.       INDIA’S 1ST PM MITRA PARK IN VIRUDHUNAGAR

·         The Central government has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Tamil Nadu (TN) government to establish India’s first PM Mega Integrated Textile Regions and Apparel (PM MITRA) Park in Virudhunagar District, TN.

·         The infrastructure work cost of Viruduhunagar PM MITRA Park was estimated at Rs 2,000 crore, which includes a Central subsidy of Rs 500 crore.

 

2.       QS WORLD UNIVERSITY RANKINGS BY SUBJECT 2023

·         Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) topped the Engineering and Technology ranking followed by Stanford University in 2nd and University of Cambridge in 3rd rank.

·         The QS World University Rankings by Subject 2023 cover a total of 54 disciplines, grouped into five broad subject areas: Arts & Humanities; Engineering and Technology; Life Sciences & Medicine; and Natural Sciences.

·         The most represented Indian universities in the 2023 list are the University of Delhi with 27 entries followed by IIT-Bombay with 25 entries and IIT-Kharagpur(West Bengal) with 23 entries.

·         IIT Delhi ranked 49^thin electrical and electronic engineering.

·         IIT Bombay ranked 92^nd(up by 25 places) in Mathematics

·         IIT-Kanpuris ranked 87th (up 21 places) in engineering-electrical electronic

·         IIT-Kharagpur ranked 94th (up by 15 places) in for computer science and information systems.

·         Jawaharlal Nehru University (68th rank) and University of Delhi (91th rank) broke into the world’s top 100 in sociology.

 

3.       RBI TO SET UP NEW DATA CENTRE & CYBERSECURITY TRAINING INSTITUTE IN ODISHA

·         Shaktikanta Das, Governor of Reserve Bank of India (RBI), laid the foundation stone for the establishment of a Greenfield Data Centre and Enterprise Computing & Cybersecurity Training Institute in Bhubaneswar, Odisha.

·         After being commissioned, the new Data Centre and Cybersecurity Training Institute spread over an area of 18.55 acres and will meet the emerging requirements of the RBI and the financial sector.

 

4.       HURUN GLOBAL RICH LIST FOR 2023

·         According to the 2023 M3M Hurun Global Rich list released by Hurun India and M3M India, Gautam Adani has dropped 11 places to the 23rd rank among global billionaires.

·         According to the report,Gautam Adani saw a 35% decline in wealth year-on-year. He lost Rs 3,000 crore every week over the last year.

·         Bernard Arnault, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton(known as LVMH), which owns fashion brands including Sephora and Louis Vitton, tops the list as the Richest Person in the World with a worth of USD 202 billion.

·         Elon Musk, the owner of Tesla and Twitter, with a total wealth of USD 157 billion, is number two on the list.

·         MukeshAmbani, has emerged as the Richest Indian title and Asia with a wealth of USD 82 billion and ranked 9th globally.

 

5.       AUSTRALIA TOUR OF INDIA, 2023

·         Australia beat India by 21 runs in 3rd ODI to win the series by 2-1 at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai in Tamil Nadu.

·         With this win, Australia surpassed India to become the new no.1 ranked ODI team in the world in the latest ICC rankings

·         The player of the series was Mitchell Marsh of Australia.

 

6.       WORLD METEOROLOGICAL DAY – MARCH 23 2023

·         The United Nations(UN)’s World Meteorological Day (WMD) is annually observed across the globe on 23rd March to spread awareness about the behaviour of the Earth’s atmosphere and to emphasise the role of individuals and their actions in protecting the atmosphere of the Earth.

·         Every 23 March commemorates the coming into force of the Convention establishing the World Meteorological Organization(WMO) on 23 March 1950.

·         Theme “The Future of Weather, Climate, and Water across Generations”.

·         WMOis a UN Agency dedicated to international cooperation and coordination on the state and behaviour of the Earth’s atmosphere.

·         Secretary-General– Prof. Petteri Taalas

·         Headquarters– Geneva, Switzerland

 

7.       INDIA-UK BILATERAL MARITIME EXERCISE ‘KONKAN 2023‘

·         Konkan 2023, an annual bilateral maritime exercise between the Indian Navy (IN) and the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom (UK), was held off the Konkan coast in the Arabian Sea.

·         Participation from India INS (Indian Naval Ship) Trishul, a guided missile frigate

·         Royal Navy: HMS Lancaster, a Type 23 guided missile frigate of the Royal Navy

 

8.       ‘SAGAR MANTHAN’PERFORMANCE MONITORING DASHBOARD OF MOPSW

·         The Union Minister SarbanandaSonowal, Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways (MoPSW) virtually launched Real-time Performance Monitoring Dashboard of MoPSW.

·         This platform has been developed completely in-house under the guidance of Shri Sudhanshu Pant, IAS, Secretary, MoPSW in the span of less than 1.5 months efficiently.

·         This dashboard will transform the workings of various departments by improving well-coordinated real time information.

 

9.       MULTI-DOMAIN AIR-LAND EXERCISE VAYU PRAHAR

·         The Indian Army and Indian Air Force(IAF) jointly conducted the multi-domain 96-hour Air-Land Exercise “Vayu Prahar” along the Line of Actual Control(LAC) in the eastern command.

 

·         The eastern command takes care of the LAC in the Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim sectors.

·         The exercise Vayu Prahar enabled the coordination and rehearsal among various agencies for quick mobilisation, transportation and deployment of forces within a theatre which can be executed across theatres.

 

10.    UNCTAD: GLOBAL TRADE DATA

·         The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) stated in its “Global Trade Update (March 2023)” that, despite deteriorating economic conditions and growing uncertainties, global trade in goods is expected to rise by about 1%(year over year) in the first quarter (Q1) of 2023 while trade in services is projected to grow by about 3% over the same time period.

·         In 2022, global trade exceeded USD 32 trillion, although its growth started to decline in the last quarter of 2022.

·         UNCTADSecretary-General – Rebeca Grynspan of Costa Rica

·         Headquarters – Geneva, Switzerland

 

11.    EGYPT BECAME MEMBER OF BRICS NEW DEVELOPMENT BANK

·         African-Arab Nation, Egypt became the member of the BRICS New Development Bank (NDB).

·         The NDB was set up by BRICS nations on the basis of the intergovernmental agreement signed at the sixth BRICS summit in Fortaleza in July 2014.

·         Members: Apart from Egypt, BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) countries, the UAE, Bangladesh, and Uruguay are the members of the NDB.

·         South Africa is to host the 15th BRICS Summit which is scheduled to be held in August 2023 in  Durban, South Africa.

·         New Development Bank (NDB):Headquarters – Shanghai, China

 

12.    ‘2023 GLOBAL PAYMENTS REPORT’ BY FIS

·         According to the “2023 Global Payments Report” by global financial technology pioneer FIS, India’s e-commerce (e-com) sector is projected to grow from USD 83 billion in 2022 to USD 150 billion in 2026, as cash transactions continue to drop and Unified Payments Interface (UPI)-based transactions continue to set all-time highs.

·         As of January 2023, UPI had the biggest year-on-year (Y-o-Y) growth rate of 74.1% in transaction volume.

·         Cash usage decreased from 71% of POS transaction value in 2019 to just 27% in 2022, causing India to become a global leader in payments, with the development of its next-generation real-time payment (RTP) infrastructure.

·         UPI is an instant payment system developed by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), an entity regulated by the RBI.

·         UPI is built on the Immediate Payment Service (IMPS) infrastructure and allows customers to transfer money between any two bank accounts instantly.

 

13.    “HAEIL“: NORTH KOREA NUCLEAR DRONE

·         North Korea has tested a nuclear-capable underwater drone known as “Haeil,” (a Korean word for tidal waves or tsunamis), the first weapon of its kind capable of generating a massive radioactive tsunami that can destroy naval strike groups and ports.

·         The new weapon, called “Haeil,” is a nuclear underwater attack drone that can be towed by a surface ship or deployed from any port or coast.

 

14.    WORLD TUBERCULOSIS DAY 2023 – MARCH 24

·         World TB Day 2023 is observed on 24th March 2023 under the theme “Yes! We Can End TB!”.

·         On the occasion of World TB Day 2023the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare(MoHFW) and Stop TB Partnership has organised “One World TB Summit” at Rudrakash Convention Centre, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh(UP).

·         World Health Organization(WHO):

·         Director-General– DrTedrosAdhanom Ghebreyesus.

·         Headquarters– Geneva, Switzerland

·         Established in 1948

 

15.    SHAHEED DIWAS OR MARTYRS’ DAY 2023 – MARCH 23

·         Shaheed Diwas, also known as Martyrs’ Day, is annually observed in India on March 23 to pay tribute to Bhagat Singh, ShivaramRajguru, and SukhdevThapar who were hanged to death in 1931 in the Central Jail at Lahore (now in Pakistan).

·         LalaLajpat Rai was assassinated during the lathi charge. To avenge LalaLajpat Rai’s killing, SukhdevThapar, ShivaramRajguru, and Bhagat Singh were convicted of murdering deputy police superintendent John Saunders.

·         They also threw a bomb inside the Central Legislative Assembly hall in New Delhi, Delhi, on 8th April 1929, to protest against British rule in India.

 

16.    THE WORLD HAPPINESS REPORT 2023

·         For the sixth year in a row, Finland has been crowned as the happiest nation, Denmark is at number two, followed by Iceland at number three.

·         India ranks at 125th position out of 136 countries, making it one of the least happy countries in the world.

·         India’s position in the World Happiness Report has improved from 136 to 126,although it is still behind its neighboring countries such as Nepal, China, and Bangladesh

·         Despite the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine, both countries rank higher than India in the World Happiness Report, with Russia ranked 70th and Ukraine ranked 92^nd

·         The World Happiness Reporthas ranked Afghanistan as the least happy country out of the 136 nations surveyed.

·         The World Happiness Report is an annual report published by the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network.

·         The ranking uses six key factors to measure happiness — social support, income, health, freedom, generosity, and absence of corruption.

·         In 2012, the UN SDSN was launched under the auspices of the UN Secretary-General.

·         SDSN promotes integrated approaches to implement the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, through education, research, policy analysis, and global cooperation.