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Friday, March 17, 2023

DAILY GK 5-6 MAR

 DAILY GK 5-6 MAR

1.       NADA AND NCERT SIGN MOU TO STRENGTHEN VALUE-BASED SPORTS EDUCATION

·         A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been inked between National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA), Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports (MoYAS), and  National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) to strengthen value-based sports education amongst school children and teachers.

·         NADA works under the aegis of MoYAS.

·         India is a signatory to the UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) International Convention Against Doping in Sports, and holds the responsibility to augment clean sports efforts and promote value-based sports education in India.

 

2.       V-DEM’S DEMOCRACY REPORT 2023

·         According to the V-Dem (Varieties of Democracy) Institute’s report titled, “Democracy Report 2023: Defiance in the Face of Autocratization,” India has been ranked 97th in the Liberal Democracy Index (LDI) (down from 93 in 2022) and 108th in the Electoral Democracy Index (EDI) (down from 100 in 2022).

·         According to the report, India is falling behind and comes under the category of “Electoral Autocracies.”

·         V-Dem Institute Headquarters  Sweden.

 

3.       WORLD BANK LOAN TO SUPPORT INDIA’S HEALTH SECTOR

·         Government of India (GoI) and World Bank (WB) signed 2 complementary loans of  $500 million Public Health Systems for Pandemic Preparedness Program (PHSPP) and $500 million Enhanced Health Service Delivery Program (EHSDP) to support and improve India’s healthcare infrastructure.

·         Through the combined financing of USD 1 billion (about Rs 8,200 crore), the WB will support India’s flagship Pradhan Mantri-Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission (PM-ABHIM), which was launched in October 2021, to improve the public healthcare infrastructure across India.

·         World Bank Group President – David Malpass

·         Headquarters – Washington, DC, USA

 

4.       RBI DATA ON PRIVATE CORPORATE SECTOR

·         The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) released data on the performance of the private corporate sector during the third quarter of 2022-23 (i.e., Q3 FY23)

·         The year-on-year  (y-o-y) sales growth of all listed private non-financial companies moderated to 12.7% in Q3 FY23 from 22.6 % in Q2 FY23.

·         Due to lower sales growth Manufacturing companies’ expenses on raw materials was moderated.Staff cost  for manufacturing, IT and non-IT services companies, increased on y-o-y basis by 8.8%, 21.8% and 18.2% respectively.

 

5.       NTPC CONFERRED WITH THE CBIP AWARD 2022

·         NTPC Limited an Indian public sector undertaking(PSU) under the ownership of the Ministry of Power (MoP), has been honoured with the CBIP Award 2022 at the Scope Convention Centre, New Delhi.

·         The Central Board of Irrigation & Power (CBIP) was established by Govt. of India on 1st January 1927.

 

6.       NATIONAL SECURITY DAY - MARCH 4

·         National Security Day (NSD), also known as Rashtriya Suraksha Diwas, is annually observed across India on March 4 to honour the Indian Security Forces

·         National Security Council (NSC) a six-member body chaired by the PM was formed on 19th November 1998 by Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Brajesh Mishra served as the council’s 1st National Security Adviser.

·         Ajit Kumar Doval currently serves as the 5th NSA of India, the head of the NSC, and the primary advisor to PM Narendra Modi. He is the Chairman of the SPG of the NSC.

·         The Research Analysis Wing (RAW) and Intelligence Bureau (IB),  both report to the NSA.

 

7.       52ND NATIONAL SAFETY DAY – 4 MARCH

·         National Safety Day is annually observed across India on March 4 to raise awareness about the importance of safety and health in the workplace and to promote a culture of safety among the general public.

·         National Safety Week is annually observed across India from March 4-10.

·         The theme of National Safety Day/ Week Campaign 2023 is “Our Aim – Zero Harm”.

 

8.       WORLD OBESITY DAY - MARCH 4

·         World Obesity Day(WOD) is annually observed across the globe on 4th March to create awareness about the risks of obesity and to promote practical solutions to end the global obesity crisis.

·         Theme Changing Perspectives: Let’s Talk About Obesity”.

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DAILY GK 3,4 MAR

 DAILY GK 3,4 MAR

1.       2023 MARCONI PRIZE

·         Marconi Society has awarded Hari Balakrishnan, an Indian-born Computer scientist, with the 2023 Marconi Prize for his fundamental discoveries in wired and wireless networking, mobile sensing, and distributed systems.

·         Hari Balakrishnan is a Fujitsu Professor of Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence(AI) in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), United States of America (USA).

·         Established in 1974, the Marconi Prize is often referred to as the “Nobel Prize for Communications.”

 

2.       VO VAN THUONG IS NEW PRESIDENT OF VIETNAM

·         The National Assembly(NA) of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam elected Vo Van Thuong ,a member of the Politburo of the Communist Party of Vietnam, as the new President of Vietnam for a term running until 2026.

·         Vietnam Prime Minister– Pham Minh Chinh

·         Capital– Hanoi

·         Currency– Vietnamese dong

 

3.       AXIS BANK ACQUIRES CITIBANK INDIA’S CONSUMER BANKING

·         Axis Bank Limited (formerly UTI Bank), completed the acquisition of Citibank India(Citi India)’s consumer Banking which includes loans, credit cards, wealth management and retail banking operations.

·         The Axis Bank has paid a total purchase consideration of Rs 11,603 crore (USD 1.4 billion) to Citibank India.

·         The deal also includes the sale of the consumer business of Citi’s non-banking financial company, Citicorp Finance (India) Limited, comprising asset-backed financing business, which includes commercial vehicle and construction equipment loans, as well as the personal loans portfolio.

·         The acquisition excludes Citi’s institutional consumer business in India.

 

4.       DENMARK CROWN PRINCE VISIT TO INDIA

·         Denmark’s Crown Prince Frederik Andre Henrik Christian and Crown Princess Mary Elizabeth

·         It is the first visit from the Danish Royal family to India in two decades.

·         Key Points:

·         Tamil Nadu (TN) government Water Resources Department and the Municipal Administration and Water Supply Department have signed a letter of intent with Danish Environmental Protection Agency for sharing technology and cooperation in water sector.

·         Under the ‘Indo-Danish Green Strategic Partnership’, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)-Madras signed a agreement with Denmark government to initiate research projects on next-generation fuels and energy systems.

·         Denmark is collaborating with Tamil Nadu to establish the first offshore wind farm in the state.

·         Denmark Capital – Copenhagen

·         Currency – Danish Krone

·         Prime minister – Mette Frederiksen

 

5.       PORTER PRIZE 2023

·         The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), Government of India was conferred with the Porter Prize 2023 in recognition of its efforts in health sector and especially COVID-19 management.

·         The prize was announced at ‘The India Dialog’ organized by the Institute for Competitiveness (IFC) and US Asia Technology Management Center (USATMC) at Stanford University, California, on the theme ‘The Indian Economy 2023: Innovation, Competitiveness and Social Progress’.

·         Porter Prize, named after Michael Eugene Porter, an economist, researcher, author, advisor, speaker and teacher, was created as an independent, international initiative centered in India.

 

6.       BUSINESS STANDARD BANKER OF THE YEAR 2022

·         Sashidhar Jagdishan, MD & CEO of HDFC Bank  has been named the Business Standard (BS) Banker of the Year 2022.

·         SashidharJagdishan was chosen as the winner by a distinguished 5-member jury, which was led by S SMundra, a former Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Deputy Governor.

 

7.       NIGERIA’S PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION 2023

·         Bola Tinubu, the Presidential candidate of Nigeria’s ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), was proclaimed the winner of the 2023 presidential election.

·         Tinubu, a 70-year-old veteran politician, will succeed President Muhammadu Buhari as President of Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, in May 2023.

·         Nigeria Capital – Abuja

·         Currency – Nigerian Naira (NGN)

 

8.       NEW DIRECTOR-GENERAL OF SASHASTRA SEEMA BAL

·         Rashmi Shukla, a senior Indian Police Service (IPS) officer, has been appointed Director-General (DG) of the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB).

·         The Sashastra Seema Bal (previously called Special Service Bureau), under the MHA, Government of India (GoI), is a border guarding agency that patrols India’s borders with Nepal & Bhutan (roughly 2450 km).

·         In the aftermath of the Chinese conflict in 1962, the Sashastra Seema Bal was conceived and was finally established in 1963.

·         The Motto of SSB is Seva Suraksha Bandhutva.

·         B. N. Mullik became the first founder and director of the Special Service Bureau.

 

9.       5TH NEW LAYER OF EARTH: INNERMOST INNER CORE

·         In a new study published in Nature Communication by Thanh-Son Phạm and HrvojeTkalcic, the researchers have confirmed the existence of a 5th new layer – the innermost inner core, which lies at the Earth’s centre within the inner core.

·         The 4 known layers of the earth are the crust, mantle, outer liquid core and inner solid core.

·         The innermost inner core, the 5th layer, is made of iron and nickel, the same materials that comprise the rest of the inner core.

·         The radius of the innermost inner core is calculated to be around 650 kilometres. The radius of the inner core, as a whole, is 1,221 km, which is 1% of Earth’s volume.

 

10.    WORLD WILDLIFE DAY 2023 – MARCH 3

·         The United Nations (UN)’s World Wildlife Day(WWD) is annually observed across the globe on 3rd March to celebrate and raise awareness of the world’s wild fauna and flora.

·         3rd March 2023 marks the 50th anniversary of the adoption of the CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora).

·         The theme of  WWD 2023 is “Partnerships for wildlife conservation”.

·         CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora): Headquarters– Geneva, Switzerland

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DAILY GK 1,2 MAR

 DAILY GK 1,2 MAR

1.       INDIA’S 1ST CONTAINER FEEDER SERVICE LAUNCHED

·         A short-haul coastal container feeder service, first of its kind in India, was launched between Chennai – Puducherry ports.

·         The container feeder ship, Hope Seven, with a container capacity of 106 Twenty-foot Equivalent Units (TEUs), was flagged off by service between Chennai and Puducherry ports

·         The coastal feeder service is a step forward towards the ambitious Sagarmala Project of the government of India.

·         Under the Sagarmala programme, the government of India decided to develop Puducherry port as a satellite port to Chennai port for container cargo

·         The Sagarmala programme is the Ministry of Shipping’s flagship initiative to encourage port-led development in India by using its 14,500 km of potentially navigable waterways, 7,500 km of coastline, and strategic location on key international maritime trade routes.

·         Sagarmala Programme was approved by the Union Cabinet in March 2015.

 

2.       GRIEVANCE APPELLATE COMMITTEE PORTAL LAUNCHED

·         Grievance Appellate Committee (GAC) portal is a dispute resolution mechanism, to ensure accountability of social media platforms to their users.

·         The portal is launched under Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 (IT Rules 2021).

·         The GAC platform will automatically segregate the complaints made to the Grievance Appellate Committees and escalate those that require intervention by one of the three Committees constituted by the government.

·         The IT Rules 2021, were amended in 2022 to require social media companies to “respect all the rights accorded to the citizens under the Constitution, including in the articles 14, 19 and 21.”

·         The IT Rules already require platforms to have a procedure in place for receiving user complaints about content and appeals against takedowns; however, companies’ decisions regarding these appeals will now ultimately be subject to the GACs’ orders.

·         The platform is operational from 1st March 2023.

·         Grievance Appellate Committee (GAC) is established under the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 [“IT Rules”], made under the Information Technology Act, 2000.

·         This enables individuals who are dissatisfied with complaints to social media companies on content takedown requests to have their cases heard by 1 to 3 Government-established Committees.

 

3.       1ST FOREIGN UNIVERSITY TO HAVE CAMPUS IN INDIA

·         Deakin University from Australia is set to become the first foreign university to set up a campus in India.

·         The independent campus will be established in Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City) in Gandhinagar, Gujarat, India.

·         The International Financial Services Centre Authority (IFSCA) has received an application from Deakin University regarding setting up its campus in India.

·         According to the QS World University Rankings, Deakin University is ranked 266 overall and  It is one of the top 50 young universities worldwide.

 

4.       2022 BEST FIFA FOOTBALL AWARDS

·         The Fédération Internationale De Football Association (FIFA) announced the winners of the 2022 Best FIFA Football Awards at the award ceremony held in Paris, France.

·         Lionel Messi was named Best FIFA Men’s player 2022

·         Spains midfielder Alexia Putellas was named Best FIFA Women’s player 2022 awards.

·         Messi wins Best FIFA Men’s Player:

·         Lionel Messi won the FIFA Best Men’s player for the 2nd time.He previously won the award in 2019.

·         The Best FIFA Men’s Goalkeeper - Emiliano Martinez,Argentina

·         The Best FIFA Women’s Goalkeeper-Mary Earps,England

·         The Best FIFA Men’s Coach-Lionel Scaloni,Argentina

·         The Best FIFA Women’s Coach-Sarina Wiegman,England

·         The Best FIFA Fair Play Award-Luka Lochoshvili,Georgia

 

5.       NEW FICCI SECRETARY GENERAL

·         The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), India’s apex business chamber, announced the appointment of Shailesh Pathak as the new Secretary General of FICCI

·         Shailesh Pathak succeeds Dilip Chenoy, who stepped down as Secretary General of FICCI in October 2021.

·         FICCI-President- Subhrakant Panda,Headquarters- New Delhi, Delhi

 

6.       NATIONAL SCIENCE DAY 2023 – FEBRUARY 28

·         National Science Day (NSD) is annually observed across India on February 28 in commemoration of the discovery of the Raman Effect (28th February 1928) by the Indian scientist Sir Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman (CV Raman).

·         CV Raman was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics (1930) for his work on the scattering of light and for the discovery of the effect named after him, the Raman Effect.

·         Theme “Global Science for Global Wellbeing”.

 

7.       GST COUNCIL AGREED TO REDUCE GST RATES FOR PENCIL SHARPENERS, JAGGERY AND EXAMINATION INSTITUTIONS

·         GST (Goods and Service Tax) Council, chaired by Nirmala Sitaraman, Union Minister of Finance, has agreed to reduce the GST rate on pencil sharpeners, liquid jaggery and examination institutions during its 49th meeting on February 18, 2023.

·         GST rate on pencil sharpeners has been reduced to 12% from 18% earlier, with effect from March 1, 2023.

·         GST on Jaggery will attract GST at the rate of 5% from 18% earlier.

·         If it is sold loose, GST will be NIL.

·         GST on Testing Agencies: The GST council has extended the exemption given to educational institutions and Central/state educational boards to any authority, board or bodies set up by the Central/state governments, for conducting entrance examinations. The National Testing Agency(NTA), which administers entrance exams for central and other universities, as well as engineering and medical institutes, was exempt from the scope of the levy.

·         Prior to this, the students has to pay 18% GST on the fees for writing the tests conducted by NTA and state testing agencies

·         GST on tags tracking devices or data loggers which are affixed on durable containers are also reduced from 18% to nil, subject to some conditions.

 

8.       UTTARAKHAND TO SET UP INDIA’S 1ST GOVERNMENT MOTHER MILK BANK

·         The government of Uttarakhand is set to establish India’s first government mother milk bank, a facility that can ensure to provide the nutritional elements of mothers’ milk to newborns.

·         Through this milk bank, milk will be made available to those newborn babies whose mother dies during delivery.

·         The infant mortality rate for India in 2022 was 27.695 deaths per 1000 live births, a 3.74% decline from 2021.

 

9.       INDIA’S GDP GROWS AT 4.4% IN Q3FY23-NSO

·         As per the data released by the National Statistical Office (NSO), Ministry of Statistics and Program Implementation (MOSPI), India’s gross domestic product (GDP) decelerated to 4.4% in the 3rd quarter of 2022 i.e. October-December(Q3FY23) due to a contraction in the manufacturing sector.

·         NSO also released it Second Advance Estimates (SAE) of National Income, 2021-22 which pegged India’s growth at 7% for FY23, same as first advanced estimate that was released in January 2023.

·         Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI): is the nodal agency for the planned and organized development of the statistical system in India.

 

10.    GSMA’S 2023 GLOBAL MOBILE (GLOMO) AWARDS

·         The Government of India was honoured with the “Government Leadership Award 2023” – GSMA’s 2023 Global Mobile (GLOMO) Awards at the Mobile World Congress(MWC) 2023 held in Barcelona, Spain.

·         India received the “Government Leadership Award 2023” for the implementation of best practices in telecom policy and regulation.

·         GSMA is Groupe Speciale Mobile Association represents mobile operators and the global mobile industry, and the organizer of the MWC.

·         In May 2022, the Central Government launched the Gati Shakti Sanchar Portal for centralized RoW (Right of Way) approvals to facilitate the efficient deployment of network infrastructure.

 

11.    PEN/NABOKOV AWARD 2023

·         Indian Short story writer, novelist, poet, and essayist, Vinod Kumar Shukla, one of the greatest contemporary writers in the Hindi language won the 2023 PEN/Nabokov Award for Achievement in International Literature, the award is conferred annually by PEN America.

·         Erika Dickerson-Despenza, American playwright, will receive the 2023 PEN/Laura Pels International Foundation for Theater Award.

·         Tina Fey, a comedy writers, will receive the 2023 PEN/Mike Nichols Writing for Performance Award.

·         Vinod Kumar Shukla first collection of poems Lagbhag Jai Hind was published in 1971. Naukar Ki Kameez(The Servant’s Shirt) was his first novel

 

12.    WORLD CIVIL DEFENCE DAY – MARCH 1 2023

·         World Civil Defence Day is annually observed across the globe on 1st March to honour the significance of Civil Defence and the personnel who have sacrificed their lives for it. T

·         The theme of World Civil Defence Day 2023 is “The Role of Information Technology in Risk Assessment”.

·         World Civil Defence Day was established by the International Civil Defence Organisation (ICDO), based in Geneva, Switzerland.

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