Daily GK Update- 4th Apr, 2024

 

NATIONAL UPDATES:

 

1. Swiggy appoints Suparna Mitra as new independent director: Swiggy has appointed Suparna Mitra as an independent director to its board. Mitra is the chief executive of the watches and wearables division of Titan Company, which is partly owned by Tata Sons.  Mitra joins three other independent directors on Swiggy’s board. The shifts in Swiggy’s board comes ahead of Swiggy’s public market debut with draft public offering papers set to be filed in the next few months.

 

2. Govt raised Rs 16,507 crore via public sector enterprises disinvestment in FY’24: The government has garnered Rs 16,507 crore by selling minority stake in state-owned companies in 2023-24 fiscal, lower than what was projected in its revised estimates. During the 2023-24 fiscal, which ended March 31, the government sold stakes in 10 central public sector enterprises (CPSEs) through offer for sale (OFS). Share sale in Coal India fetched Rs 4,186 crore, while in NHPC and NLC India it garnered Rs 2,488 crore and Rs 2,129 crore, respectively. The government raised Rs 858 crore though initial public offering of IREDA.

 

3. Adani Green Energy becomes first company in India to surpass 10,000 MW renewable energy capacity: Adani Green Energy Limited (AGEL), India’s largest and one of the world’s leading renewable energy (RE) companies, has surpassed 10,000 megawatts (MW) of operational portfolio, delivering reliable, affordable, and clean power to the national grid. AGEL’s operational portfolio consists of 7,393 MW solar, 1,401 MW wind and 2,140 MW wind-solar hybrid capacity.

The milestone is a testament to AGEL and its development partners firmly moving towards the goal of 45,000 MW renewable energy by 2030.

 

4. India to build first commercial crude oil strategic storage: India plans to build its first privately managed strategic petroleum reserve (SPR) by 2029-30, granting the operator the freedom to trade all of the stored oil. Allowing a fully commercial SPR mirrors the model adopted by countries such as Japan and South Korea, which allow private lessees, mostly oil majors, to trade the crude. So far, India has allowed only partial commercialization for its three existing SPRs in southern India, which have a combined capacity of 36.7 million barrels. India plans to build two new SPRs – the first a 18.3 million barrels cavern at Padur in southern Karnataka state, and then a 29.3 million barrels SPR in eastern Odisha state – with private partners allowed to trade all of the oil locally.

 

5. Fintech start-up Perfios appoints Sridhar Narayan as Chief Business Officer: Fintech-focused software start-up Perfios has appointed former Adobe India’s financial services head Sridhar Narayan as its Chief Business Officer. Prior to joining Perfios, Sridhar has led the banking, financial services, and insurance (BFSI) business at Adobe India. Previously, he spent a decade at Microsoft, SRI, and IBM in the past. Recently, Perfios made two other key appointments with Sumit Nigam as the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) and Anu Mathew as the Chief People Officer (CPO), as part of its strategic preparations for global expansion.

6. Santosh Kumar Jha appointed as CMD of Konkan Railway Corporation: Santosh Kumar Jha has assumed the role of Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of the Konkan Railway Corporation Ltd. (KRCL). He is an Indian Railway Traffic Services (IRTS) officer of the 1992 batch. With 28 years of experience in the industry, Jha has worked in various domains, including Operations, Infrastructure Planning, and Business Development. He has held leadership positions in major divisions of Railways and has led significant business units in the logistics sector.

 

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

 

1. Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi Sworn in as Egyptian President for his third term: Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi was sworn in as the president of Egypt for a third term. He will remain the president until 2030. The Egyptian President has a six-year term. President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi took the oath of office at the headquarters of the Egyptian Parliament in the New Administrative Capital. President Sisi won the presidential election held in December 2023 with 88.6% of the votes. There was hardly any serious opponent to Sisi in the Presidential election.

 

2. 4 April – International Mine Awareness Day: The United Nations Observes International Mine Awareness Day on 4th April every year. International Mine Awareness Day is a day dedicated to raising awareness about the serious impact of landmines and other explosive remnants of war on civilians. Theme 2024 – Protecting Lives, Building Peace On December 8, 2005, the UN General Assembly accepted the decision and announced April 4 of each year to be marked as the International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action. It was first observed in 2006.

 

3. 4 April- International Carrot Day: International Carrot Day is celebrated every year on 4 April. This day is dedicated to the popular carrot vegetable and all the activities that are associated with it. Objective – To raise awareness about the potential health benefits of carrots, including reducing the risk of cancer, heart disease, and obesity. The Carrot Day was founded in 2003 to spread knowledge about the carrot and its good attributes around the world. The day is increasingly popular, and 4th April 2012 carrot day celebration was reported from France, Italy, Sweden, Russia, Australia, UK and Japan

 

OTHER UPDATES:

DEFENCE

 

1. Lt Gen Sidana takes over as new DG of Electronics & Mechanical Engineers: Lt Gen J S Sidana has taken over as the new Director General of Electronics and Mechanical Engineers (DGEME) and Senior Colonel Commandant of the Corps of EME. During his career spanning over 38 years, he has held a variety of important regimental, command, instructional and staff appointments. Before his present appointment, he was holding the post of Commandant of Military College of EME for a duration of two years. He has been the Major General of EME of HQ Central Command and “commanded Army Base Workshop & EME Centre”.

 

SPORTS

 

1. WTT Feeder Varazdin 2024 event to begin in Croatia: In Table Tennis, the WTT Feeder Varazdin 2024 event is set to begin in Croatia today.  The competition will feature prominent Indian players such as Sathiyan Gnanasekaran and Manika Batra, among others. Along with Sathiyan, Payas Jain, Harmeet Desai and Snehit Suravajjula will compete in the round of 64 of the Men’s singles event, while in women’s singles, Reeth Tennison and Yashaswini Ghorpade will represent India in the round of 64.

 

BANKING AND FINANCE

 

1. Central Bank of India partners with Veefin Solutions to commence supply chain finance: Mumbai-based public sector bank Central Bank of India has partnered with Veefin Solutions, India’s digital lending platform, to commence supply chain financing (SCF) operations.

Veefin Solutions will be the bank’s sole technology vendor, supplying an end-to-end SCF stack to support its SCF solutions. This collaboration will enable the bank to offer fully digital onboarding, sanctioning, and 24×7 disbursement processes to their corporate and SME customers through Veefin’s Loan Origination System (LOS) and SCF Loan Management System.

 

2. Bank of Maharashtra names Subhasish Roy as Chief Risk Officer: Bank of Maharashtra has appointed Subhasish Roy as chief risk officer for a period of 3 years on contractual basis. Subhasish Roy has pursued Financial Risk Manager (FRM), MBA, M.Phil, M.Sc, CAIIB. He is an Industry veteran with more than 28 years of experience in various key areas of Banking like fraud risk management, data analytics, credit risk management, operational risk & business continuity management, retail banking, corporate banking, corporate strategy & planning, and economic research & training etc.