Daily GK Update- 28th Dec, 2023

 

NATIONAL UPDATES:

 

1. PM Modi chairs National Conference of Chief Secretaries in new Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is chairing the National Conference of Chief Secretaries in New Delhi. This is the third such conference, the first being held in June 2022 in Dharamshala and the second in January this year in Delhi. The National Conference of Chief Secretaries is organized to encourage participative governance and partnership between the Centre and the State Governments.

 

2. TCIL pays Rs 14.20 crore dividend to the Government for FY 2022-23: Telecommunications Consultants India Ltd (TCIL) has paid a dividend of Rs 14.20 crore to the government for Financial Year 2022-23. Since its inception, the TCIL has been a consistently profit-making Company. It has so far paid dividend of Rs 294.19 crore to the Government till FY 2022-23. The dividend is on Government’s initial investment in equity of Rs 0.3 Crore. Rs16 crore was further infused during 2015-16. The group and standalone net worth of the company are Rs 1,712.00 crore and Rs 618.56 crore respectively as on 31st March 2023. In FY 2022-23, the TCIL achieved a revenue growth of 25 per cent over previous year with total Standalone revenue and profit after tax of Rs 2,001.7 crore and Rs 35.50 crore respectively.

 

3. Ayodhya Train Station Renamed As Ayodhya Dham: The Ayodhya railway junction in Uttar Pradesh has been officially renamed as Ayodhya Dham junction. The redeveloped station is set to be inaugurated by Prime Minister Modi on December 30 in Ayodhya, before the highly anticipated consecration ceremony at the Ram temple on January 22. The Ayodhya Dham Railway Station is undergoing development in three phases. The first phase has been successfully completed. The station, with a total cost of ₹430 crore, is designed to accommodate up to 100,000 passengers. Its architecture blends modern solutions with the aesthetics of traditional Indian temple architecture.

 

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

 

1. PM Narendra Modi becomes first world leader to have 20 million YouTube subscribers: Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s YouTube channel has achieved a significant milestone by surpassing 20 million subscriptions, making it the most subscribed channel among top global leaders. The second-ranking leader is former Brazilian President Jair Bolsanora, whose subscriber count stands at a modest 6.4 million, merely a fraction of Modi’s. The third most-subscribed channel among world leaders is the Ukraine President is far behind at 1.1 million. Whereas fourth on the list, United States President Joe Biden has a subscriber count of only 794,000 on his YouTube channel.

Moreover, when it comes to views, Modi’s channel continues to dominate, recording an impressive 2.24 billion views in December 2023. This figure is an astonishing 43 times higher than that of Zelenskyy, who holds the second-highest number of views globally.

2. India, Russia ink pacts on construction of future power units: India and Russia have signed some “very important” agreements related to the construction of the future power-generating units of the Kudankulam nuclear power plant. The Kudankulam nuclear power plant, India’s largest, is being built in Tamil Nadu with the technical assistance of Russia. The construction began in March 2002. Since February 2016, the first power unit of the Kudankulam NPP has been steadily operating at its design capacity of 1,000 MW. The plant is expected to start operating at full capacity in 2027.

 

3. Bisleri signed Deepika Padukone as it’s Global Brand Ambassador: Bisleri, India’s leading mineral water brand has roped in Global Indian Icon Deepika Padukone as its first-ever global brand ambassador in the new campaign Bisleri #DrinkItUp. The campaign is a fresh and never seen before take on hydration infusing excitement and fun. The ad film showcases Padukone grooving to a snappy and modern take on the iconic song ‘Jhoom Jhoom Jhoom Baba’ while relishing the pure refreshment of the original beverage, ‘water’. The campaign will be promoted across multiple platforms, including TV, digital, and OTT platforms. The Bisleri #DrinkItUp campaign has been shot by Nirvana Films and directed by ace director Prakash Verma while Bisleri’s association with Deepika Padukone was managed by Wavemaker and GroupM ESP.

 

OTHER UPDATES:

 

SPORTS

 

1. Kartik Aaryan signed as Brand Ambassador for Football: Sony Sports Network has roped in Bollywood actor and youth icon Kartik Aaryan, who is known to be an avid football follower, as their brand ambassador for football. Kartik will be seen promoting the footballing action on the Sony Sports Network, which will be home to the UEFA EURO 2024, the UEFA Champions League, the Bundesliga and more for the year ahead. This strategic partnership aims to bring football closer to a wider Indian audience and ignite passion for the sport across generations.

 

2. Sharvaanica becomes champion in two formats at Asian Youth Chess: Eight-year-old A.S. Sharvaanica has become the champion in two formats of the Asian Youth Chess Championships at Al Ain in the UAE. She secured gold in the U-8 rapid and blitz categories, and silver in the U-8 classical category. The 25th Asian Youth Chess Championships witnessed the participation across age groups of 42 players from 21 countries.

 

BANKING AND FINANCE

 

1. C S Rajan appointed as chairman of Kotak Mahindra Bank: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has approved the appointment of C S Rajan (IAS officer of 1978 batch) as its part-time chairman for a period of two years, with effect from January 1, 2024. Rajan’s appointment follows the retirement of the incumbent non-executive independent part-time chairman, Prakash Apte. Rajan is a successful leader with over 40 years of experience across significant government portfolios.

 

2. Muthoot FinCorp raises ₹200 crore from SBI via NCDs: Muthoot FinCorp, the flagship company of the 136-year-old Muthoot Pappachan Group (Muthoot Blue), has raised ₹200 crore from State Bank of India, via the private placement of non-convertible debentures (NCDs). The debt securities have a five-year maturity and half-yearly frequency for interest payment. They are rated ‘AA’ by Crisil with a ‘stable’ outlook. Proceeds of this will be utilised for onward lending, business operations and further expansion and growth plan. The NBFC has over 3,600 branches across India and offers gold loans, Vyapar Mitra business loans, two-wheeler loans, used car loans, home Loans, loan against property, domestic and international money transfer, foreign exchange, Insurance, and wealth management services.

 

3. Current account gap narrows to 1% of GDP at $8.3 bn in Q2FY24: RBI: India’s current account deficit declined sharply to 1 percent of the GDP or $8.3 billion in the second quarter of this financial year, mainly due to lower merchandise trade deficit and growth in services exports, according to RBI data. The current account deficit (CAD) was 3.8 percent of GDP or $30.9 billion in the July-September quarter in 2022-23. CAD was $9.2 billion or 1.1 percent of GDP in the first quarter (April-June) of the current financial year 2023-24. Underlying the lower current account deficit on a year-on-year (y-o-y) basis in Q2:2023-24 was the narrowing of merchandise trade deficit to $61.0 billion from $78.3 billion in Q2:2022-23.

 

AWARDS AND HONOURS

 

1. Devendra Fadnavis Conferred Honorary Doctorate By Japanese University: Maharashtra deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis was conferred an honorary doctorate by Japan’s Koyasan University. The university conferred the doctorate on Fadnavis to recognise his efforts in creating basic civic infrastructure, implementing schemes such as the Jalyukta Shivar Yojana, and his contribution to the industrial development of the state. In 2015, while he was the chief minister of Maharashtra, Fadnavis inaugurated a statue of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar at the Buddhist study centre of the university in Japan.