Daily GK Update- 25th Mar, 2023

NATIONAL UPDATES:

 

1. Union Cabinet extends subsidy of 200 rupees per cylinder for Ujjwala Yojana: The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has extended the subsidy of 200 rupees per LPG cylinder for a period of one year, under the PM Ujjwala Yojana. It will be provided to the Ujjwala Yojana beneficiaries for up to 12 refills per year. The total expenditure on it in 2022-23 will be 6,100 crore rupees and in 2023-24 will be 7,680 crore rupees. The government launched PM Ujjwala Yojana in May 2016 to provide deposit-free LPG connections to women of poor households.

 

2. NGT fines ₹10 crore on Kerala govt for failure to protect Ramsar sites: The Principal Bench of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) in New Delhi has imposed a penalty of ₹10 crore on the Kerala government for its failure to check the indiscriminate pollution of the Vembanad and Ashtamudi lakes (listed as Ramsar sites). The Bench was led by its chairperson Adarsh Kumar Goel. The penalty of ₹10 crore had to be utilized for conservation/restoration measures by preparing an action plan to be preferably executed within six months. 

 

3. Cabinet approved 4% hike in dearness allowance to central government employees: The Centre has hiked the dearness allowance by 4 percent for all the government employees taking the total to 42 percent from 38 percent. Centre will spend Rs 12,815 crore to fund the hike in dearness allowance, or DA, which will benefit over 1 crore employees of the central government. Cabinet approved the release of an additional installment of Dearness Allowance (DA) to Central Government employees and Dearness Relief to Pensioners, which is due from the beginning of January 2023. This will benefit 47.58 lakh employees and 69.76 lakh pensioners. This increase is in accordance with the accepted formula, which is based on the recommendations of the 7th Central Pay Commission. It is revised twice a year — in January and July — as per government rules. Last DA hike was announced on September 28, 2022, which got effective from July 1, 2022.

 

4. Amit Shah inaugurated Vedic Heritage portal in New Delhi: Union Home Minister Amit Shah has inaugurated the Vedic Heritage portal in New Delhi. The portal aims to communicate message enshrined in the Vedas. It will help common people to have a general understanding about the Vedas. The portal will be a one-stop solution for the user, who would like to search any information regarding the Vedic heritage. The audio-visual recording of four Vedas has been uploaded on the Vedic Heritage portal. It has over 18,000 mantras of the four vedas with a duration of over 550 hours.

 

5. G20 Research and Innovation Initiative Gathering held in Assam: The two-day G20 Research and Innovation Initiative Gathering (RIIG) Conference began in Dibrugarh, Assam. It deliberated on ways towards building a sustainable and circular bio-economy. About 100 delegates from G20 members, guest countries and international organizations, along with invited participants from the scientific community were present on the occasion. The area of focus will include challenges and opportunities in agriculture, de-carbonization of the industry as well as bio-energy and bioresource management. This event will further promote active engagement between all key stakeholders, including the 3Ps (people, policies and places), and lead towards an inclusive policy-making approach providing a conceptual framework to mainstream circular bio-economy models across different sectors.

 

6. PM Modi launched ‘Call Before u Dig’ app: PM Narendra Modi has launched an app called ‘Call Before u Dig’. Objective – To facilitate coordination between excavation agencies and underground utility owners to prevent damage to utilities due to digging. It will help prevent uncoordinated digging that results in damage to underground utility assets like optical fibre cables, costing the government thousands of crores every year. It has been developed by the department of telecommunications and the Bhaskaracharya Institute for Space Applications and Geoinformatics.

 

7. Ministry of Defence inks Rs 3,700 crore contracts with BEL: To enhance the operational capabilities of the Indian Air Force (IAF), the Defense Ministry has signed two separate contracts with Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) at a total cost of over Rs 3,700 crore. The first contract, worth over Rs 2,800 crore, pertains to the supply of Medium Power Radars (MPR) ‘Arudhra’ for the Indian Air Force. The second contract, at an overall cost of approx. Rs 950 crore, relates to 129 DR-118 Radar Warning Receivers (RWR). Both projects are under Buy Indian- IDMM (Indigenously Designed Developed and Manufactured) category. The radar has been designed and developed by the Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) and will be manufactured by BEL. These essentially embody the spirit of ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ and will help facilitate the realisation of the country’s journey to achieve self-reliance in defence manufacturing.

 

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

 

1. Former Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff elected as new President of NDB: The board of the New Development Bank (NDB) has appointed former Brazilian President, Dilma Vana Rousseff as the new President of the Bank, with immediate effect. She has replaced Marcus Troyjo. She served as the President of the Federative Republic of Brazil between January 2011 to August 2016. She was elected the President of Brazil for two consecutive terms. NDB is a multilateral financial institution set up by the five BRICS countries.

 

2. International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery: 25th March: International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade is observed every year on March 25 to raise awareness of the history of the transatlantic slave trade, its impact on the modern world, and its legacies, including racism and prejudice. 2023 theme: Fighting Slavery's Legacy of Racism Through Transformative Education It was established in 2007 with the adoption of General Assembly resolution 62/122. 

 

3. UAE Food Bank launches initiative to eradicate food waste: The UAE Food Bank launched an initiative to distribute three million meals and food parcels to disadvantaged individuals and families during Ramadan. Aim: To raise public awareness regarding the crucial goal of achieving zero food waste For this initiative, the organization has partnered with Ne’ma -the national initiative to reduce food loss and wastage, to enhance community awareness, education, and empowerment in making better decisions regarding food consumption. 

 

4. 26th edition of ‘Elevate Expo’ held in Dubai: The Twenty-sixth edition of ‘Elevate Expo’ was held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE). The event saw the participation of six startups from India and the registration of 180 investors. The six startups who participated in elevate session were winners of the National Startup Awards 2022. Elevate is a pitching series organized by the Consulate General of India in Dubai, providing a platform for startups to connect with investors and global counterparts. Six startups from India who participated

 

5. India & UK hold joint maritime exercise ‘Konkan’ in Arabian Sea: The annual bilateral maritime exercise ‘Konkan’ between the Indian Navy and UK’s Royal Navy has held off the Konkan coast in the Arabian Sea. The joint drill by the two navies demonstrated operational readiness, enhancing interoperability and improving the ability to conduct joint operations. The exercise will go a long way in bolstering the combined efforts of the Indian Navy and Royal Navy to strengthen maritime security and uphold a rules-based order in the region. INS Trishul, a guided missile frigate, and HMS Lancaster, a Type 23 guided missile frigate, participated in this edition and undertook multiple maritime drills to enhance interoperability and imbibe best practices. The exercises covered all domains of maritime operations, air, surface, and subsurface.

 

OTHER UPDATES:

 

SPORTS

 

1. Nitu Ghanghas wins Gold in IBA Womens World Boxing Championship 2023: Indian Woman boxer, Nitu Ghanghas has clinched Gold in the 48-kg category of the IBA Women's World Boxing Championship 2023 held at the K.D. Jadhav Hall IG Stadium New Delhi. She defeated Altantsetseg Lutsaikhan from Mongolia by 5-0. She became the only sixth Indian boxer (male or female) to win a World championship. In the semifinals, she defeated Kazakh Alua Balkibekova.

International Boxing Association (IBA) Headquarters: Lausanne, Switzerland

 

 

 

BANKING AND FINANCE

 

1. RBI imposes Rs 30 lakh penalty on Karur Vysya Bank: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has imposed a penalty of Rs 30 lakh on Karur Vysya Bank for violating rules. Reason: For non-compliance with certain provisions of directions issued by RBI on 'Reserve Bank of India (Frauds - Classification and reporting by commercial banks and select FIs) directions 2016' The penalty was imposed in the exercise of powers conferred on RBI under the provisions of Section 47 A(1) of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949.

 

AWARDS AND HONOURS

 

1. Luis Caffarelli won the Abel Prize for 2023: Luis Caffarelli (74) was honored with the 2023 Abel Prize for his seminal contributions to regularity theory for nonlinear partial differential equations including free-boundary problems and the Monge-Ampère equation. The prize includes a monetary award of 7.5 million kroner and a glass plaque (designed by Norwegian artist Henrik Haugan). It is awarded by the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters, on behalf of the Ministry of Education.

 

2. M T Vasudevan Nair awarded Kerala’s highest civilian honour: Kerala Governor Arif Muhammad Khan has presented maiden ‘Kerala Puraskarngal’, the state awards to the eminent personalities who have made an outstanding contribution in various spheres of social life. The awards were given in three categories namely “Kerala Jyothi”, “Kerala Prabha” and “Kerala Shri”. Kerala’s highest civilian honour “Kerala Jyothi” was awarded to writer M T Vasudevan Nair. The second-highest award “Kerala Prabha” was shared by actor Mammootty, former civil service officer T Madhava Menon and writer Omchery NN Pillai. Kerala Shri Puraskaram has been awarded to writer and activist MP Parameswaran, magician Gopinath Muthukad, sculptor Kanayi Kunhiraman, businessman and social worker Kochouseph Chittilappilly, musician Vaikom Vijayalakshmi and biologist Sathyabhama Das Biju. In 2021, the government of Kerala instituted the civilian award “Kerala Puraskarangal” on the model of the Padama awards.

 

OBITUARIES

 

1. Co-founder of Intel, Gordon Moore passes away: Intel co-founder and creator of Moore's Law, Gordon Moore passed away at the age of 94 in Hawaii. He was the driving force behind the development of modern computing devices. He started working on semiconductors in the 1950s and co-founded the Intel Corporation in 1968. He was best known for coining Moore's law which predicted the speed of advances in computer chips that came to explain the exponential improvement in technology of all kinds.

 

2. Director Pradeep Sarkar passes away at 67: Filmmaker Pradeep Sarkar, known for hit films like Parineeta, Mardani passed away. He was 67. He began his career in directing with the film Parineeta in 2005, starring Vidya Balan, and went on to direct other popular movies such as Laga Chunari Mein Daag, Helicopter Eela, and Lafangey Parindey. In addition, he also directed several web series, including Coldd Lassi Aur Chicken Masala, Arranged Marriage And Forbidden Love, and Duranga.