Daily GK Update- 1st April, 2022

 

NATIONAL UPDATES:

 

1. Cabinet approved $808 million programme to improve and accelerate the performance of MSME: The government authorised a World Bank-backed programme costing USD808 million on Wednesday to aid and improve the functioning of the country’s Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).

Key Points:

a)      The government said in an official statement that it would support various COVID-19 pandemic-related resilience and recovery interventions of the enterprises and that it would begin in financing at a meeting of the Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which envisions a programme called ‘Raising and Accelerating MSME Performance’ (RAMP) and is supported by a World Bank-assisted central sector scheme, the government said.

b)      The loan from the World Bank’s International Bank for Reconstruction and Development will be for USD500 million, with the remaining $308 million coming from the Centre, according to the statement.

c)       The loan from the World Bank’s International Bank for Reconstruction and Development will be for 18.5 years, with a 5.5-year grace period.

d)      In addition, the RAMP initiative will work to increase state implementation capability and MSME coverage. It will address the MSME sector’s generic and COVID-related challenges by enhancing the impact of existing MSME schemes, particularly on the competitiveness front.

 

Assam and Meghalaya have signed an agreement to resolve a border issue in six disputed districts: Assam and Meghalaya agreed to resolve their five-decade-long border dispute in six of the 12 contested places that have frequently sparked tensions between the two states, with Union Home Minister Amit Shah hailing the decision as a “historic day for the Northeast.” Chief Ministers of Assam and Meghalaya, Himanta Biswa Sarma and Conrad Sangma, respectively, inked the agreement in the presence of Shah.

Key Points:              

a)      The agreement will end the long-running disagreement in six of the 12 points along the 884.9-kilometer boundary between the two States.

b)      According to the home minister, the signing of the agreement has settled 70% of the border issue between the two countries, and he hopes to find a solution for the remaining six places shortly.

c)       Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, and West Bengal share a 2743-kilometer border with Assam. Nagaland, Mizoram, Meghalaya, and Arunachal Pradesh all have border conflicts with it.

d)      There are 36 communities in the six locations, totaling 36.79 square kilometres, for which an agreement has been reached.

e)      In August of last year, the two states appointed three committees each to investigate the thorny boundary issue. The panels were formed after two rounds of talks between Sarma and Sangma, during which the two neighbours agreed to settle the matter in stages.

f)        According to the committees’ combined final set of recommendations, Assam will obtain complete control of 18.51 sq km of the 36.79 sq km disputed area taken up for settlement in the first phase, while Meghalaya will have full control of 18.28 sq km.

 

3. Museum of all former Prime Ministers of India inaugurates soon: A museum of all former Prime Ministers, Pradhan Mantri Sangrahalaya (the Museum of Prime Ministers), has been built at Teen Murti Estate, in Delhi. The Rs. 270 crore project will be inaugurated on April 14, 2022, at the Teen Murti Bhavan complex which was the residence of ex-PM Jawaharlal Nehru.

About the Museum: The Museum will showcase the life, times and contribution of all 14 Prime Ministers of India so far, except for the collections and works on Jawaharlal Nehru, who has a separate Nehru Memorial Museum, which was also his residence. The PMs Museum project was approved in 2018, and the deadline for its completion was October 2020 but faced delays due to pandemic-related lockdowns, as well as civil works and content-curation issues.

 

4. WB Governor unveiled PARAM Shakti, a petascale supercomputer at IIT Kharagpur: The National Supercomputing Mission (NSM), a collaborative project of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) and the Department of Science and Technology, has dedicated PARAM Shakti, a Petascale Supercomputer, to the country at IIT Kharagpur (DST). Shri Jagdeep Dhankhar, Honourable Governor of West Bengal, inaugurated the supercomputer on March 27, 2022. The PARAM Shakti supercomputing facility is advancing research and development efforts in diverse disciplines of computational and data sciences.

In March 2019, IIT Kharagpur and the Centre for Development in Advanced Computing (CDAC) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to develop this state-of-the-art Supercomputing Facility with 17680 CPU cores and 44 GPUs. This facility was the first to use an RDHX-based efficient cooling system to achieve great power efficiency. Both IIT Kharagpur and CDAC have thoroughly tested this system for commercial, open-source, and in-house software in a variety of applications.

 

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

 

1. Prime Minister Narendra Modi virtually attends 5th BIMSTEC Summit: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has participated in the 5th Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) Summit through virtual mode. The Summit was hosted by the Government of Sri Lanka, which was the chair nation of BIMSTEC. At the conclusion of the Summit, Thailand took over as chair nation of BIMSTEC. The year 2022 marks the 25th year of the establishment of BIMSTEC. The theme of the Summit was “Towards a Resilient Region, Prosperous Economies, Healthy People”.

Key points of the Summit:

a)      During the Summit, leaders witnessed the signing of three BIMSTEC agreements

1.      BIMSTEC Convention on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters

2.      BIMSTEC Memorandum of Understanding on Mutual Cooperation in the field of Diplomatic Training

3.      Memorandum of Association on Establishment of BIMSTEC Technology Transfer Facility

b)      Adoption and signing of the BIMSTEC Charter, which would lead to putting in place s set of rules, a framework and long-term goals. This will help to streamline the operations of BIMSTEC and allow the organisation to enhance its potential.

c)       Adoption of the ‘Master Plan for Transport Connectivity’ which lays out a guidance framework for connectivity-related activities in the region in the future.

d)      Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi announced that India will provide USD 1 million to the BIMSTEC secretariat to increase its operational budget.

About the BIMSTEC: BIMSTEC is an international organisation of seven South Asian and Southeast Asian nations. These are Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Thailand. The Leadership is rotated in alphabetical order of country names. The permanent secretariat of BIMSTEC is in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

 

OTHER UPDATES:

 

SPORTS

 

1. Himanta Biswa Sarma re-elected as President of Badminton Association of India: The incumbent president of the Badminton Association of India (BAI), Himanta Biswa Sarma has been re-elected unopposed for a second four years term, from 2022 to 2026. He was elected during the General Body Meeting of BAI in Guwahati on March 25, 2022. He is also the current Chief Minister of Assam. He was first elected as BAI chief in 2017. Apart from this, Sarma also serves as Vice President of Badminton Asia and a member of the Badminton World Federation Executive Council.

About the Badminton Association of India: Badminton Association of India is the governing body of badminton in India. BAI is an association registered under the Society’s act. It was formed in 1934 and has been holding national-level tournaments in India since 1936.

Note: Badminton Association of India Founded: 1934; Badminton Association of India Headquarters: New Delhi.

 

BANKING AND FINANCE

 

1. Banks reported fraud totaling Rs 34,000 crore, according to the Reserve Bank of India: According to Reserve Bank of India data, in the nine months ending December, 96 incidences of fraud were recorded by 27 scheduled commercial banks and financial institutions, totaling Rs 34,097 crore. Punjab National Bank had the greatest amount of frauds at Rs 4,820 crore, while Bank of India had the highest number of frauds at 13. This penalty was issued in accordance with RBI’s authority under section 47A (1) (c) of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949, as well as sections 46(4)(i) and 51(1).

Background:

a)      Minister of State for Finance Bhagwat Karad responded to a query in the Rajya Sabha during the budget session of parliament by giving bank-by-bank data of frauds totaling more than Rs 100 crore. Between April and December, scheduled commercial banks and select financial institutions reported these.

b)      The RBI’s master guidelines emphasise fraud prevention, early detection, rapid reporting, and prompt start of accountability processes in the case of fraud. In his response, the minister stated that, in addition to the master directives, a number of steps have been implemented to prevent fraudsters and defaulters. That includes:

c)       The Fugitive Economic Offenders Act of 2018 authorises the attachment of a fugitive economic offender’s property. Such possessions may be seized, and the perpetrator may be disentitled, making it impossible for them to defend any legal claim.

d)      Based on RBI directives and board-approved regulations, public sector banks can elect to publish images of willful defaulters.

e)      PSBs can acquire certified copies of the passports of the proprietors or directors, as well as other approved signatories, of enterprises that take out loans in excess of Rs 50 crore.

 

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY

 

1. ICRA cuts India’s GDP growth forecast in FY23 to 7.2%: Rating agency ICRA has lowered the growth forecast for India’s GDP in 2022-23 (FY23) to 7.2 per cent. Earlier this rate was 8 per cent. The ICRA Ltd. has projected the GDP growth forecast for 2021-22 (FY22) at 8.5%, lower than the official advance estimate from the National Statistical Office of 8.9%.

Citing elevated commodity prices and supply chain challenges arising from the Russia-Ukraine conflict, as well as higher prices of fuels and edible oils denting demand due to squeezed household incomes.

 

2. Max Life Insurance teamed with PhonePe to provide consumers with financial security: Max Life Insurance Co. Ltd has announced the debut of the Max Life Smart Secure Plus Plan via the PhonePe app, a non-linked non-participating individual pure risk premium life insurance plan aimed at digitally savvy customers.

Customers can choose a sum assured of up to ten crore rupees and have their policies renewed through the PhonePe app. Max Life will provide PhonePe users an inherent terminal sickness benefit and a particular exit option within the life insurance category. IRDAI has awarded PhonePe, a digital payments platform, a direct broking licence, allowing them to offer insurance through their app.

 

DEFENCE

 

1. IONS Maritime Exercise 2022 (IMEX-22) concludes in Arabian Sea: The first edition of the Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS) Maritime Exercise 2022 (IMEX-22) was held from March 26 to 30, 2022, in Goa and in the Arabian Sea. The objective of the exercise was to enhance the interoperability of the navies of member nations in Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) operations. The exercise is seen as a significant stepping stone for regional navies to collaborate and respond collectively to natural disasters in the region and paves way for further strengthening regional cooperation.

About the exercise: The navies from 15 out of the 25 member nations of IONS, participated in the exercise. The Harbour Phase of IMEX – 22 was held at Marmugao port, Goa on March 26 and 27 while the Sea Phase took place in the Arabian Sea from March 28 to 30, 2022.

IONS: The Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS) is a series of biennial meetings between the littoral states of the Indian Ocean region, to increase maritime security cooperation, discuss regional maritime issues, and promote friendly relationships among the member states. The forum was established in 2007.

 

OBITUARIES

 

1. Former CM of Sikkim B.B. Gurung Passes Away: The 3rd Chief Minister of Sikkim, Bhim Bahadur Gurung has passed away at his residence in Lumsui in Gangtok, Sikkim. B. Gurung served as a teacher and a staff reporter in a Calcutta (Kolkata)-based newspaper the Amrita Bazar Patrika and he also edited the first news-based Nepali Journal of Sikkim, called Kanchenjunga. Gurung started his political career with Sikkim Rajya Congress Party in 1947 and was later appointed as the General Secretary in 1958. He served as the 3rd CM of Sikkim from 11 May to 24 May 1984, the shortest term in the history of Sikkim. Between 2014 and 2015 he served as the political advisor to the CM of Sikkim.

 

2. Belgian Footballer Miguel Van Damme passes away: Veteran Belgian footballer, Miguel Van Damme has passed away aged 28 after a long battle with leukaemia. Van Damme was diagnosed with leukaemia in 2016 and was undergoing treatment for cancer for over five years. During his eight-year professional career, Van Damme played for Cercle Brugge and made 40 appearances for the team.