Daily GK Update- 16th June, 2023

NATIONAL UPDATES:

 

1. Kamal Kishore Chatiwal takes over as IGL Managing Director: Kamal Kishore Chatiwal has assumed charge as the new managing director of Indraprastha Gas Ltd (IGL), the largest CNG distribution company. He has replaced Sanjay Kumar, who has taken over as Director (Marketing) in GAIL (India) Ltd. Prior to this role, he was working as an executive director and head of zonal marketing of GAIL in Jaipur, Rajasthan. IGL is a joint venture of GAIL and Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) with the Delhi government holding 5% stake.

 

2. IIT Madras team develops IoT-based method for mobile pollution monitoring: IIT Madras researchers have recently developed a low-cost mobile air pollution monitoring framework. The pollution sensors mounted on public vehicles can dynamically monitor the air quality of an extended area at high spatial and temporal resolution. Traditionally, ambient air quality is measured in monitoring stations and reported by the Air Quality Index (AQI). Since these stations are at fixed locations, they only measure the air quality of a small geographic area.

 

3. MoD signs a contract to strengthen Indian Army communication system: Ministry of Defence (MoD) has inked a contract with ICOMM Tele Limited, Hyderabad for the procurement of 1,035 numbers of 5/7.5 Ton Radio Relay Communication equipment containers. The value of the contract under Buy (Indian) Category is nearly Rs 500 crore. The delivery of the containers is scheduled to commence from the current Financial Year 2023-24. Aim: To boost the indigenous manufacturing of defence equipment and incentivize the private sector

 

4. CBIC releases National Time Release Study (NTRS) 2023 report: Chairman of CBIC, Vivek Johri has released the National Time Release Study 2023 report. Time Release Study is a performance measurement tool. Aim: To present quantitative measure of the cargo release time Import Release Time: Arithmetic mean of the period between 'arrival of Goods' and the Customs'granting of 'Out of Charge' Export Release Time: Arithmetic mean of the time between cargo's arrival at the port and its physical departure from the port/Customs station

 

5. Google and MeitY join hands for 'G20-Stay Safe Online': The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology and Google have joined hands to drive citizen awareness 'G20-Stay Safe Online' campaign on online cyber safety in the country. Aim: To foster citizen awareness about online safety and security Google will raise awareness on the fundamentals of online safety through the 'Be Internet Awesome' programme. Both are working to enhance user awareness on cyber fraud and helping people identify common types of online scams

 

6. Two-day conference of Science-20 in Bhopal: The two-day conference of Science-20 under G-20 is being organized from 16th-17th June 2023 at the Taj Hotel in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh. The theme of the conference is "Connecting Science to Society and Culture". The conference will be chaired by Professor Ashutosh Sharma, President of the Indian National Science Academy (INSA). The conference will be attended by representatives of G-20 countries, invited states and international organisations.

 

7. Women 20 Summit begins in Mahabalipuram: The W20 summit under the presidency of G20 begins in Mahabalipuram near Chennai. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has virtually addressed the inaugural session and union minister for women and child development Smriti Irani delivers the keynote address. The summit with a theme of women-led development to transform, thrive and transcend will be moderated by Dharitri Patnaik, the W 20 chief Coordinator. The sessions on the road to achieving sustainable development goals with an agenda on women’s health, gender equality, social and economic development will be moderated by Lauren Power, Founder and Advisor of Young professionals in foreign policy.

 

8. India’s wholesale price inflation falls to -3.48% in May 2023: India’s wholesale prices contracted for the second straight month in May, led by a fall in prices across all major categories. The Wholesale Price Index declined 3.48% year-on-year in May compared to a fall of 0.92% in April, according to data released by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. The deflation in factory gate inflation for the second consecutive month in 2023-24 comes on the back of a higher base effect and due to a fall in prices of mineral oils, basic metals, food products, textiles, non-food articles, chemical products, crude petroleum, and natural gas. The wholesale inflation was 16.63 percent in May 2022. Earlier, it was minus 3.7 percent in October 2015. Data shows the prices for manufactured items (minus 2.97 percent) contracted further in May, from minus 2.42 percent in April, led by a decelerated price rise in items such as beverages, apparel, cement, and mineral products.

 

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

 

1. Australia appoints Philip Green as country's new High Commissioner to India: Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong has appointed Philip Green as Australia's next High Commissioner to India. He would succeed incumbent Barry O'Farrell, who served as Australian high commissioner to India since 2020. Presently, he is serving as the Australia's ambassador to Germany. Previously, he has also served as Australia's High Commissioner to Singapore, South Africa and Kenya. Hilary McGeachy has been appointed as Australia’s first Consul-General in Bengaluru

 

2. UK appoints Jane Marriott as first woman envoy to Pakistan: The United Kingdom government has appointed its senior diplomat Jane Marriott as the next British High Commissioner to Pakistan. She would be replacing Dr Christian Turner, who left Pakistan in January after serving as the envoy since December 2019. She also become the first female British envoy to Islamabad. Prior to this role, she was the high commissioner to Kenya since September 2019. She has also completed two diplomatic postings to Iraq and one to Afghanistan.

3. Defence Ministry approves MQ-9 Reaper drone deal with US: The Defence Ministry has approved the deal for acquiring the Predator (MQ-9 Reaper) drones from America for which the final decision would be taken by the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS). The deal for the Predator drones was approved by the Defence Acquisition Council meeting. The DAC is the highest body in the Defence Ministry to take decisions on acquisitions. All high value acquisitions are given final approval by the CCS.

 

4. India to overtake China in oil demand growth by 2027: IEA report: According to a report by the International Energy Agency (IEA), the growth in demand for oil in India will overtake that in China by 2027. 'Oil 2023', the multilateral agency’s outlook highlighted that China’s demand will fall consistently from 2024 after a massive rise this year. The United States, China, and India are the world’s three largest oil consumers in that order. IEA also raised its forecast for world oil growth demand to 2.4 million barrels per day in 2023.

 

5. Gender Social Norms Index (GSNI) 2023 released: The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) released the Gender Social Norms Index (GSNI) 2023, which covered 85% of the global population. The index has revealed that close to 9 out of 10 men and women hold fundamental biases against women. Nearly 90% of people still hold at least one bias against women. This index has tracked people’s attitudes towards women in four dimensions i.e. political, educational, economic and physical integrity.

 

6. 16 June – International Day of Family Remittances:  International Day of Family Remittances is observed every year on 16 June. Objective – To highlight the significant contributions of migrant workers who financially support their families Remittances refer to the money that is transferred by migrant workers to their native countries with the aim to contribute towards economic development. Theme 2023 – Digital remittances towards financial inclusion and cost reduction The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the World Bank together marked the first-ever International Day of Family Remittances on 16 June 2008, with the aim of highlighting the role of migrant workers and that of their remittances in improving the economy of developing countries. The day received global recognition and support by various organizations and finally on 16 June 2015, the United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution and declared 16 June as official International Day of Family Remittances.

 

OTHER UPDATES:

 

SPORTS

 

1. Asia Cup 2023 to be played in Pakistan and Sri Lanka: The Asia Cup 2023 will be take place in Pakistan and Sri Lanka between August 31 and September 17, 2023. Earlier, the tournament was originally meant to be held entirely in Pakistan. Recently, the Asian Cricket Council has approved the hybrid model, in which four of the 13 matches will be played in Pakistan and the remaining nine in Sri Lanka. In Pakistan, matches will be held in Lahore while the games to be played in Sri Lanka will be held in Kandy and Pallekele.

 

BANKING AND FINANCE

 

1. World Bank launches its first road safety project in South Asia : The World Bank (WB) has launched its first dedicated road safety project in South Asia with a USD 358 million financing agreement signed in Dhaka with the government of Bangladesh. The project seeks to improve road safety and reduce fatalities and injuries from road crashes in selected cities, high-risk highways, and district roads.

 

2. The project will focus on two national highways in Bangladesh: Gazipur-Elenga (N4) and Natore-Nawabganj (N6). These highways will serve as the primary sites for implementing various road safety measures. The aim is to achieve a substantial reduction of over 30 percent in road traffic deaths on these two highways. The project will introduce innovative emergency services, including the use of bike-ambulancesequipped with a toll-free number.

 

3. Indian Overseas Bank Introduces “MY ACCOUNT MY NAME”: Indian Overseas Bank has introduced “MY ACCOUNT MY NAME” for Savings Bank account customers. This is the first time such a feature has been introduced in the banking industry. In ‘My Account My Name’ customer can choose any name (alias) for his/her account in addition to the account name. This ‘Alias Name’ name can be shared by customers to others instead of sharing the 15-digit account numbers. The account name can be a combination of seven letters only or seven numbers only or seven alphanumeric — like AJIT007, PRADHAN or 2424707 and others. Customers can visit the bank’s website or the nearest branch to benefit from this scheme. The schemes were launched from Central Office, Chennai, virtually by Shri Ajay Kumar Srivastava, MD&CEO, Indian Overseas Bank with all the 49 Regional Offices.

 

4. Education loans register 17% growth in FY23: According to RBI data, the outstanding portfolio under education loans grew 17% at Rs 96,847 crore in the year 2022-23 as against Rs 82,723 crore in the previous year. For the first time in five years, growth in education loans not only turned positive but also registered a 17% surge in the last financial year ended March 2023. This is significant because the growth in education loans was flat during 2021-22 and it was negative for the three years prior to it. The education loans were down by 3 percent, 3.3 percent, and 2.5 percent during FY21, FY20, and FY19, respectively. The Non-Performing Assets (NPAs) in education advances stood at 7.82 percent of a total outstanding portfolio of ₹80,000 crore at the end of the first quarter of FY23. The NPA data for the full year is yet to come. The priority sector education loans slow only modest growth as they registered 0.9 percent growth in FY 23. In the previous financial year, they decreased by 7 percent.

 

AWARDS AND HONOURS

1. Vice President to confer 4th National Water Awards: The VP Jagdeep Dhankhar will confer the 4th National Water Awards on June 17, 2023 in New Delhi. The Department Water Resources, River Development, and Ganga Rejuvenation has announced a total of 41 winners.

The Best State award will be conferred to Madhya Pradesh, while the Best District will be conferred on Ganjam District, Odisha. Best Village Panchayat: Jagannadhapuram Village Panchayat, Telangana Best Urban Local Body: Chandigarh Municipal Corporation

 

2. GSITI Hyderabad gets Accredited as ‘Athi Uttam’: The Geological Survey of India Training Institute (GSITI) has been awarded accreditation as ‘Athi Uttam’ by the National Accreditation Board of Education and Training (NABET). The assessment was made on the basis of the inspection of all standard operating procedures and methodologies followed by the institute in different levels. The team from Capacity Building Commission (CBC), NABET and Quality Control of India conducted the on-site assessment and awarded the Certificate of Accreditation with the grading of Athi Uttam. Established in 1976, GSITI with its headquarters at Hyderabad, has six regional training divisions (RTD) located at Hyderabad, Nagpur, Jaipur, Lucknow, Kolkata and Shillong. Four field training centers (FTCs) are also established at Chitradurga (Karnataka), Raipur (Chhattisgarh), Zawar (Rajasthan) and Kuju (Jharkhand). These centers are established as per the vision of the Ministry of Mines to impart various trainings to geoscience professionals, teachers, researchers and students in various subjects of geology. GSITI is a national training facility, under the Ministry of Mines that provides training and capacity building to multiple stakeholders including Central and state departments, PSUs (MECL, ONGC, OIL, NMDC), national academic institutions (IITs, Central universities and colleges) and colleges. The institute regularly conducts courses on remote sensing under NNRMS programme sponsored by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). GSITI provides domain specific and terrain specific training programmes through its center at Hyderabad and RTDs and FTCs located across the country.

 

3. Indian film ‘When Climate Change Turns Violent’ wins WHO award: An Indian documentary film titled “When Climate Change Turns Violent” has won a special prize in the ‘Health for All’ category at the 4th Annual Health for All Film Festival (HAFF) held at the World Health Organization (WHO) headquarters in Geneva. The documentary has been directed by Vandita Saharia of Rajasthan. She was the only Indian among the winners. The 4.32-minute documentary focuses on the relationship between domestic violence, climate change and human trafficking. Another documentary film titled “One in 36 Million: Story of Childhood Lead Poisoning in Bangladesh”, directed by Arifur Rahma and Mitali Das and produced by Pure Earth Bangladesh, won the award under the ‘Better Health and Well-being’ category. This year, more than 780 entries were received by the jury. Of them, 93 films were shortlisted which covered issues ranging from anxiety and depression through to the effects of climate change on health, as well as the health challenges of people with disabilities. WHO initiated HAFF in 2019 to make audio-visual language a key component of the organization’s “communicating for health impact” approach. Well-produced and well-targeted short films can improve the health status of some groups by encouraging behaviour change or providing knowledge, motivation, or skills needed for people to take action.