DAILY GK 16 MAR
1.
PM-SURAJ
NATIONAL PORTAL LAUNCHED
·
Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi virtually launched the ‘Pradhan
Mantri Samajik Utthan evamRozgar Adharit Jankalyan’
(PM-SURAJ) national portal, aimed at uplifting the most
marginalised sections of society, and sanctioned credit assistance for 1 lakh entrepreneurs from socially disadvantaged sections.
·
The portal was launched during a
nationwide outreach program for credit support to disadvantaged communities by
the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment (MoSJE) in New Delhi, Delhi.
·
This will be a one-stop platform for
disadvantaged individuals to apply for and monitor loan and credit schemes
available to them.
2.
MISS
WORLD 2024
·
Krystyna
Pyszkova from the Czech Republic won the Miss World 2024 title at the
71st Miss World Pageant held in Jio World Convention Centre in Mumbai,
Maharashtra.
·
YasminaZaytoun of
Lebanon secured the 1st runner up
position.
·
She is the second Miss World from the
Czech Republic after Tatana Kucharova, Miss World 2006.
·
The 71st edition of Miss Word Pageant was hosted by India for the first time after 28
years.
·
Previously India hosted the event in
1996.
·
The event witnessed participation of
contestants from 112 countries.
·
Sini
Sadanand Shetty hailing from Karnataka represented
India the 71st Miss World Pageant.
·
Previously, she won the Femina Miss
India 2022 representing Karnataka.
·
Sini Shetty became one of the top eight
contestants of the 71st Miss World Pageant .
3.
WORLD
SLEEP DAY 2024 – MARCH 15
·
World Sleep Day (WSD) is annually observed across the globe on the Friday before Spring Vernal Equinox to raise awareness about the
significance of sleep and promote the management and prevention of sleep
disorders.
·
WSD
2024,
the 17th annual World
Sleep Day, was observed on 15th
March 2024.
·
The theme and slogan for
the 2024 World Sleep Day is,
“Sleep Equity for Global Health“.
4.
96TH ACADEMY AWARDS – OSCARS 2024
·
The winners of the 96th Academy Awards (Oscars
2024) were announced at the ceremony held at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation
Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, United States of America (USA)
·
‘Oppenheimer’ wins
seven awards at the Oscars 2024; Director
– Christopher Nolan, Best actor –
Cillian Murphy, Best supporting actor
– Robert Downey Jr., Film editing –
Jennifer Lame,Cinematography – Hoyte
van Hoytema ,Music (Original Score)
– Ludwig Göransson, and Best Picture.
·
“Poor Things” won
four awards, including Best Actress, Production Design, Makeup &
Hairstyling, and Costume Design.
·
“The Zone of Interest” won two Oscar
awards, including Best Sound and Best International Feature Film.
·
Indian
Art Director Nitin Chandrakant Desai was remembered at the Oscars’
In Memoriam segment, which honoured those who passed away on 2nd August 2023.
·
The Academy Awards (Oscars) have been
presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS)
since 1929.
·
Academy of Motion Picture Arts
and Sciences(AMPAS) Headquarters– Beverly Hills,
California, USA
5.
RBI BARS FEDERAL, SOUTH INDIAN BANK
FROM ISSUING CO-BRANDED CREDIT CARDS
·
Reserve Bank of India (RBI)
barred Federal Bank and South Indian Bank from issuing co-branded credit cards
to new customers on account of
regulatory deficiencies
·
Existing
cardholders will still be serviced.
·
Its co-branded card with State Bank of India
(SBI) comes in two variants: SimplySAVE
and Platinum.
·
Similarly, Federal Bank will
continue to service the existing customers.
·
It has three co-branded credit cards
viz. Federal Onecard, Federal Scapia,
Federal FI.
·
On March 7, 2024, RBI issued an
amendment to the Master Direction on Credit Card and Debit Card Issuance.
·
It requires co-branded cards to clearly
indicate the card issuer and prohibits co-branding partners from marketing the
card as their own product. The above
barring is on the lines of this amendment.
6.
RBI IMPOSES PENALTY ON BANK OF
INDIA, BANDHAN BANK
·
RBI in exercise of its powers conferred
under Banking Regulation (BR) Act, 1949 has imposed a monetary penalty of Rs 1.4 crore on Bank of India (BOI).
·
The
reason behind this penalty is non-compliance with certain directions issued
by RBI on ‘Interest Rate on Deposits’, ‘Customer Service in Banks’, ‘Interest
Rate on Advances’, ‘Central Repository of Information on Large Credits (CRILC)
– Revision in Reporting’, and ‘Membership of CICs’ and contravention of
provisions of CICRules, 2006.
·
This penalty will not affect any
transactions or agreement entered into by the bank with its customers.
·
RBI
also
imposed penalty of Rs 29.55 lakh on Bandhan Bank Ltd (BDN).
·
The reason behind this is non-compliance with certain directions on
‘RBI (Interest Rate on Deposits) Directions, 2016’.
·
This penalty will not affect any
transactions or agreement entered into by the bank with its customers.
7.
NPCI
PARTNERS WITH NEPAL'S FONEPAY FOR CROSS-BORDER MERCHANT PAYMENTS
·
NPCI International Payments (NIPL), the
international arm of the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has
agreed with Nepal-based payment network Fonepay Payment Service, for cross-
border Unified Payments Interface (UPI) transactions between India and Nepal.
·
NPCI
Founded : 2008
·
Headquarters : Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
·
MD & CEO : DilipAsbe
·
The NPCI is an umbrella organisation for
operating retail payments and settlement systems in India.
·
It is an initiative of the Reserve Bank
of India (RBI) and the Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) under the provisions of
the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007, to create a robust Payment &
Settlement Infrastructure in India.
8.
CABINET
GREEN LIGHTS EXTRA INSTALMENT OF DEARNESS ALLOWANCE
·
The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime
Minister Shri Narendra Modi approved to release of an additional instalment of
Dearness Allowance (DA) to Central Government employees and Dearness Relief
(DR) to pensioners w.e.f. Jan 2024
representing an increase of 4% over
the existing rate of 46% of the Basic Pay/Pension, to compensate against price
rise.
·
Following this hike, the dearness
allowance (DA) and dearness relief (DR)
will go up from 46% to 50%.
·
The combined impact on the exchequer on
account of both Dearness Allowance and Dearness Relief would be Rs.12,868.72 crore per annum.
·
This will benefit about 49.18 lakh Central Government employees
and 67.95 lakh pensioners.
9.
INDIA'S
FASTEST AND INDIGENOUSLY DESIGNED ROUTER
·
Union Minister for Communication,
Electronics, IT and Railways Ashwini Vaishnaw launched India’s fastest and
indigenously developed Multiprotocol Label Switching router in Bengaluru.
·
An indigenous router of 2.4 Terabits Per
Second speed, has been developed in India.
·
Nivetti Systems of Bengaluru developed
the high-speed router in collaboration with the Department of Telecom and CDOT.
10.
IRIS,
INDIA'S FIRST AI HUMANOID TEACHER POWERED BY GENERATIVE TECHNOLOGY
·
A school in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala
has unveiled a ground-breaking innovation in education with the introduction of
India’s first Generative Artificial Intelligence(AI) teacher robot named
‘Iris’.
·
Built under the Atal Tinkering Lab (ATL) project initiated by NITI Aayog, this AI teacher robot, Iris, boasts a range of features
aimed at revolutionising traditional teaching methods.
·
The robot can teach subjects from nursery to Class 12.
·
The robot currently speaks three languages - English, Hindi and
Malayalam.
·
Iris
is created by Maker Labs, further demonstrating India's
capacity for innovation in the field of educational technology.
·
In Aug 2023, India's first AI school, SanthigiriVidyabhavan, was launched in Kerala.
11.
SHRI
AS RAJEEV APPOINTED AS VIGILANCE COMMISSIONER
·
Shri AS Rajeev has been appointed as
Vigilance Commissioner in the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) by the Hon’ble
President of India through a warrant dated 9th February 2024, under the power
vested under Section 4 (1) of the Central Vigilance Commission Act, 2003.
·
The Central Vigilance Commission Act,
2003, provides for the appointment of a Central
Vigilance Commissioner and two Vigilance Commissioners.
·
The
tenure of the Vigilance Commissioner is 4 years or till the incumbent attains the
age of 65 years.
·
Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) is an
apex Indian governmental body
created in 1964 to address governmental corruption.
·
In
2003,
the Parliament enacted a law conferring
statutory status on the CVC.
·
It was set up by the Government of India
Resolution on 11 February 1964,on the
recommendations of the Committee on Prevention of Corruption, headed by K. Santhanam, to advise and
guide Central Government agencies in the field of vigilance.
12.
POWER
DISTRIBUTION COMPANIES RANKINGS
·
Adani
Electricity Mumbai has topped the chart in the performance
ranking of power distribution companies
for 2022-23.
·
Torrent
Power Surat and Torrent Power Ahmedabad were at second and third spots in the 12th
edition of Integrated Rating of Discoms released by Union Minister for Power and New & Renewable
Energy R K Singh.
·
As
many as 14 out of 55 distribution companies received the highest A+ rating.
13.
NATIONAL
NO SMOKING DAY: 13TH MARCH
·
National No Smoking Day 2024 is observed
on 13th March 2024 (the Second Wednesday of March)
·
The National No Smoking Day 2024 theme is, "Protecting children
from tobacco industry interference".
14.
CHAIRMAN
OF NATIONAL COMMISSION FOR SCHEDULED CASTES
·
Shri
KishorMakwana assumed the charge of Chairman of the National Commission for
Scheduled Castes
(NCSC) in New Delhi .
·
Shri
Luv Kush Kumaralso assumed the charge of Member of the National Commission for
Scheduled Castes (NCSC).
·
NCSC
is an Indian constitutional body established under the
jurisdiction of the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Government of
India.
·
Article
338 of the Indian Constitution deals with the National
Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC).
·
The Commission has a Chairperson, a Vice-Chairperson, and 3 other Members.
15.
GOOGLE
PARTNERS WITH ECI TO COMBAT DISSEMINATION OF FALSE INFORMATION
·
Alphabet Inc-owned Google has joined
hands with the Election Commission of India (ECI) to prevent spread of false
information, promote authorised content and label AI-generated data during the
upcoming general elections.
·
Google has already started displaying
labels for content created with YouTube generative AI features, like Dream Screen.
·
The Election Commission of India (ECI) is a constitutional body,
established by the Constitution of India to conduct and regulate elections in
the country.
·
The
Election Commission operates under the authority of
Constitution per Article 324
16.
INTERNATIONAL
DAY OF ACTION OF RIVERS 2024: MARCH 14
·
International Day of Action of Rivers
2024 is an international event celebrated on March 14th, 2024.
·
The International Day Of Action For
Rivers 2024 theme is 'Water for All',
which demands that the rivers be declared a national asset.
·
The International Day of Action against
Dams and For Rivers, Water and Life was adopted
by the participants of the First International Meeting of People Affected
by Dams in March 1997 in Curitiba,
Brazil.
17.
INDIA'S
GOLD IMPORTS EXEMPTED FROM CUSTOMS DUTY AND AGRICULTURAL CESS
·
The Indian government has announced that
gold imported by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will be exempted from import
duty and Agriculture Infrastructure Development Cess (AIDC).
·
This exemption aims to facilitate the
import of gold by the RBI for various purposes without incurringn additional
taxes.
·
Typically,
the import of gold attracts a 15% import duty, which includes
a 5% AIDC.
·
This adjustment was made to eliminate
tax advantages associated with importing gold and silver in finding form rather
than in bars.
·
India
is the world's second-largest consumer of gold
after China
·
The country's gold imports in January
2024 amounted to $1.9 billion, contributing to cumulative imports of $37.85 billion from April to January in FY24.
·
AIDC
is a tax imposed by the government on the commercial production of agricultural produce to provide financial support for the development of agricultural
infrastructure in India.
18.
FRANCE
INSCRIBES THE RIGHT TO ABORTION IN ITS CONSTITUTION
·
France inscribed the guaranteed right to
abortion in its constitution, a powerful message of support for women’s rights
on International Women’s Day
·
Abortion, although legal in France since
1975, has now been a “guaranteed freedom”
for women.
·
France President : Emmanuel Macron
·
Prime Minister : Gabriel Attal
19.
INDIA
AND ADB SIGN $23 MILLION LOAN DEAL TO BOOST FINTECH
·
The Government of India and the Asian
Development Bank (ADB) signed a $23million loan agreement to enhance access to
quality fintech education, research, and innovation at the Gujarat
International Finance Tec-City (GIFT- City).
·
After signing the loan agreement, this
project will establish an International
Fintech Institute (IFI) to strengthen fintech education, boost start-up
success rates, and drive fintech research and innovation.
20.
ELECTION
COMMISSIONER ARUN GOEL STEPS DOWN
·
Election Commissioner ArunGoel resigned
just days before the anticipated announcement of the schedule for the 2024 Lok
Sabha elections.
·
The Election Commission of India,
consisting of 3 members, already had a vacant position, and now, only Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv
Kumar remains on the poll panel.
·
Selection
Process for New CEC : The appointment process for a new CEC
involves a search committee, led by
the law minister and including two union
secretaries, short listing 5 names.
·
Subsequently, a selection committeeheaded by the Prime Minister, and comprising a
Union Cabinet Minister nominated by
the PM, the Leader of the Opposition in
the Lok Sabha, or the leader of the single-largest opposition party,
selects the final candidate.
·
The Election Commission is a permanent and independent body.
·
Article
324(2) says appointment of CEC and other ECs shall be
subject to provisions of any law made by the Parliament.
·
They have tenure of 6 years, or up to the age of 65 years, whichever is
earlier.
·
The CEC can be removed from office except in the same manner and on the same grounds as a judge of the Supreme
Court.
21.
EXERCISE
CUTLASS EXPRESS 2024 IN PORT VICTORIA, SEYCHELLES
·
INSTIR, the lead ship of First Training
Squadron 1TS participated in Exercise Cutlass Express 2024 held at Port
Victoria, Seychelles
·
As part of Cutlass Express, Indian Navy
actively engaged with participants from 16
friendly foreign countries.
·
It is a premier multinational maritime exercise sponsored by the U.S. Africa
Command (AFRICOM) and led by U.S. Naval Forces Europe-Africa/U.S. Sixth
Fleet.
22.
WORLD
CONSUMER RIGHTS DAY 2024: MARCH 15
·
World Consumer Rights Day was inspired
by President John F Kennedy, who sent a special message to the US Congress on
15th March 1962, in which he formally addressed the issue of consumer rights.
·
World Consumer Rights Day 2024 Theme: 'Fair and Responsible AI for
Consumers'
