Daily Current Affairs 22nd May, 2024

Daily Current Affairs 22 May 2024 for Banking/Insurance/SSC and other related exams.

NATIONAL NEWS

India to be USD 1 trn digital economy by FY28, IndiaAI mission value doubled to Rs 20k cr: IT Minister

• India’s digital economy is growing at 2.8 percent per annum and is expected to reach $1 trillion by 2027-28, minister of state for electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar said at an outreach programme. The minister further said the value of the IndiaAI mission will be doubled to Rs 20,000 crore from Rs 10,000 crore.
• The government earlier expected India to reach the $1 trillion-mark by 2026-27 but the target has been moved by a year due to various reasons, including the Covid-19 pandemic. 
• The minister further said the value of the IndiaAI mission will be doubled to Rs 20,000 crore from Rs 10,000 crore. The government earlier expected India to reach the USD 1 trillion-mark by 2026-27 but the target has been moved by a year due to various reasons, including the Covid-19 pandemic, he said.

Student Enrollment Under SC Category Grows By 44 %

• The student enrollment under the Scheduled Caste category has grown by 44 per cent, from 46 lakh in 2014-15 to 66 lakh in 2021-22.
• According to a report of the National Commission for Backward Class, minority female student enrollment also witnessed over 42 per cent increase, from over 10 lakh in 2014-15 to 15 lakh in 2021-22. Female SC enrollment increased by 51 per cent, whereas that of ST students went up by 65.2 per cent.
• According to the report, during the academic year 2020-21, a 27 per cent reservation for OBC students was implemented in Central Schools, resulting in over 34 thousand OBC children securing admissions.
• In Institutes of National Importance, there was a 71 per cent increase in OBC enrollment, with female OBC enrollment more than doubling, the report said.

AICTE and Skillible launch advanced tech ed program ‘SAMBAV’ to elevate 1 million students

• The All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), operating under the Ministry of Education, partnered with Skillible, a technology platform focusing on experiential learning, to introduce an innovative initiative called Skillible’s Academic Model for Business-To-Academic Ventures (Sambav). 
• The initiative aims to enhance the skills of 1 million students and professionals in new-age technologies across India.
• Sambav will initially provide specialisation in software development, Artificial Intelligence, cybersecurity and salesforce development. There are plans to expand the programme to cover additional high-demand technology domains in the future, ensuring participants stay updated with emerging trends and innovations.
• This pioneering program offers an industry-aligned curriculum, project-based learning, virtual internships, interactive sessions and continuous assessment, aiming to redefine technical education and equip participants with industry-relevant skills.

DAHD and UNDP signs MoU on Digitalization of Vaccine Cold Chain Management, Capacity Building, and Communication Planning

• The Department of Animal Husbandry & Dairying (DAHD), Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) India on Digitalization of Vaccine Cold Chain Management, Capacity Building, and Communication Planning.
• This strategic partnership aims to enhance the digitalization of vaccine cold chain management, capacity building, and communication planning in India.
• The UNDP will support and strengthen India’s first animal vaccine supply chain management system to protect communities and animals and prevent the spread of zoonotic diseases.
• The MoU will help create a digital future through digitalisation and remote temperature monitoring of cold chains by UNDP India. To maintain their effectiveness, the vaccines will be stored within the prescribed temperature limit of 2-8 degrees Celsius.

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INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Elon Musk launches Starlink satellite internet service in Indonesia, world’s largest archipelago

• Elon Musk traveled to Indonesia’s resort island of Bali to launch Starlink satellite internet service in the world’s largest archipelago nation.
• Indonesia, a vast archipelago of 17,000 islands sprawled across three time zones with a population of more than 270 million, has been trying for years to secure deals with Musk’s Tesla on battery investment and for Musk’s SpaceX to provide fast internet for the country’s remote regions.
• During the ceremony, Musk took a speed test of the Starlink internet service with several health workers in Indonesia’s remote regions, including in Aru, one of Indonesia’s unserved and outermost islands in Maluku province. He also signed an agreement on enhancing connectivity in the country’s health and education sectors. 

250th Birth Anniversary of Saint Lalon Shah Fakir being celebrated in Bangladesh

• A three day long Indo-Bangla music festival began in Sherpur, Bangladesh to celebrate the 250th birth anniversary of the mystic saint and humanist bard Fakir Lalan Shah. 
• The Lalon  Biswasangha organised the event in collaboration with the High Commission of India in Bangladesh and the Ministry of Cultural Affairs of Bangladesh. 
• Lalon also known as Fakir Lalon Shah, Lalon Shah, Lalon Fakir or Mahatma Lalon was a prominent Bengali philosopher, Baul saint, mystic, song composer, social reformer and thinker from the Indian subcontinent.

Water scarcity threatening shared prosperity; worsened by population growth, urbanisation & climate change: World Bank

• Water is a crucial source of prosperity. However, disparities in access to water resources and services are widespread. These challenges, further compounded by population growth, rapid urbanisation, and climate change, pose a significant threat to shared prosperity, according to a new World Bank report.
• Released at the 10th World Water Forum in Bali, Indonesia, the report emphasises the widening gap in access to water resources and services, with implications for human and economic development worldwide. Despite water being a fundamental source of prosperity, millions continue to face barriers to safe drinking water and sanitation, stated Water For Shared Prosperity released recently.
• The report points to alarming statistics: In 2022, 2.2 billion people lacked access to safely managed drinking water services, while 3.5 billion lacked access to safely managed sanitation. Furthermore, disparities persist across regions, with rural areas bearing the brunt of inadequate access.
• Low-income countries, in particular, have seen regression in access to safe drinking water, with an additional 197 million people lacking access since 2000. Eight out of ten people who do not have access to at least basic drinking water and sanitation services live in rural areas, and little progress has been made in closing the rural-urban access gap in low-income countries over the last two decades.
• The Democratic Republic of the Congo has more than half of Africa’s total water resources. Hotspots in the Sahel, Southeastern Africa, and South and Central Asia are the most water stressed. Globally, over 800 million people are at high risk of drought, with twice as many living in flood-prone areas.

• 10th World Water Forum:

1.The 10th World Water Forum will take place in Bali, Indonesia from 18 to 25 May 2024. With the theme “Water for Shared Prosperity. 

2.The 10th World Water Forum provides a unique platform where the water community and key decision makers can collaborate and make long term progress on global water challenges. 

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BANKING & FINANCE

India likely to grow by 7.5 pc in Q1 says article in RBI Bulletin

• India is likely to grow by 7.5 per cent in the first quarter of the current financial year, driven by rising aggregate demand and non-food spending in the rural economy, according to an article in the RBI’s May Bulletin released. 
• The Indian economy has demonstrated marked resilience in the face of geopolitical headwinds impacting the supply chain, said an article on the state of the economy published in the May Bulletin.
• According to the economic activity index (EAI), activity rebounded in April, and early estimates suggest that GDP growth for Q1:2024-25 is likely to remain close to 7.5 per cent, it said.
• Meanwhile, the government will be releasing the quarterly GDP estimates for January-March, 2024 (Q4 2023-24), and provisional estimates of National Income for the year 2023-24 on May 31.
• The economic activity index (EAI) was constructed by extracting the common trend underlying twenty-seven high-frequency indicators of economic activity, using a Dynamic Factor Model.EAI was scaled to 100 in February 2020 and 0 in April 2020, the worst affected month due to mobility restrictions.

VST ropes in Axis Bank to offer loan to farmers

• VST Tillers Tractors Limited (VST), a farm equipment manufacturer, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Axis Bank, to offer financial solutions to the farmers for purchasing tractors and Farm Mechanisation products. 
• As per the agreement, Axis Bank will provide financial solutions to VST’s prospective customers through its network of 5370 branches.
• As per the MOU both the companies would leverage their extensive footprint to reach out to the farmers community to ensure that they have an easy access to credit facility for adapting farm mechanisation. 

Airbus Helicopters, SIDBI sign MoU for helicopter financing in India

• Airbus Helicopters and Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for financing the purchase of Airbus’ helicopters in India.
• Under the MoU, both Airbus Helicopters and SIDBI would identify potential civil helicopter operators in India interested in financing solutions for purchasing the helicopters. 
• Airbus will provide the technical and helicopter industry knowledge to SIDBI, which will evaluate these prospects and finance them exclusively for Airbus. 

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BUSINESS & ECONOMY

RITES signs pact with Bangladesh Railway to supply 200 passenger coaches

• State-owned RITES Limited signed a contract with Bangladesh Railways to supply 200 broad-gauge passenger carriages to the neighbouring country.
• The export arm of Indian Railways, RITES, has won the USD 111.26 million (approximately Rs 915 crore) contract, funded by European Investment Bank, through a global competitive bidding process. 
• It added that besides supply, RITES will offer its expertise in design, spare parts support and training as per the terms and conditions of the contract.

Tata Steel UK, National Grid Plc sign agreement for turning Port Talbot into electric arc furnace plant

• Tata Steel has signed an agreement with National Grid Plc’s Electricity System Operator to build the power infrastructure required to switch its Port Talbot site to a green steel project.
• As part of the agreement, the British grid operator will construct a new electrical infrastructure by the end of 2027 that will be able to run the 3.2 million-ton electric arc furnace owned by the Indian business.
• The deal will see the British grid operator build the new electrical framework capable of powering the Indian company’s 3.2 million-ton electric arc furnace by the end of 2027.
• Last year, the UK agreed to pay up to £500 million ($635 million) to help Tata Steel overhaul the country’s biggest steelworks and keep it running – one of several hefty subsidies to persuade companies to stay in Britain.

SEBI changes rule to determine m-cap of listed firms; 6-month average to be used now

• Markets regulator Sebi has revamped the method for calculating the market capitalisation of listed companies under the Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements (LODR) rules.
• Instead of using the market capitalisation of a single day (currently March 31), listed companies will now use the “average market capitalisation” for a six-month period.
• The changes came after a recommendation of an expert committee chaired by Sebi’s former whole-time member S K Mohanty in a bid to promote ease of doing business. The amendment aims to specify a defined period for calculating average market capitalisation.
• The new amendment would come into force with effect from December 31, 2024, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) said in a notificatio. The ranking of compliance would be based on average market capitalisation from July 1 to December 31, with December 31 as the cut-off date.

GDP growth to dip to four-quarter low of 6.7% in Q4’23-24: ICRA

• Domestic rating agency ICRA projected India’s GDP growth to moderate to a four quarter low of 6.7 per cent in March quarter of 2023-24 fiscal. For the full 2023-24 fiscal, ICRA estimates GDP growth to come in at 7.8 per cent.
• The Indian economy grew 8.2 per cent in the June quarter, 8.1 per cent in the September quarter and 8.4 per cent in the December quarter of 2023-24.
• India’s GDP expanded 6.1 per cent in the March quarter of 2022-23 fiscal, as per May 31, 2023 estimates. The growth for full fiscal 2022-23 was 7 per cent.
• ICRA Chief Economist, Head-Research & Outreach Aditi Nayar said the lower volume growth coupled with diminishing gains from commodity prices dampening the profitability of some of the industrial sectors is expected to dampen India’s GVA growth in Q4 FY2024.

Pine Labs receives Singapore Court nod to shift base to India

• Payments firm Pine Labs has received approval from a Singapore court to merge its India and Singapore entities, Pine Labs Limited (PLS) and Pine Labs Private Limited (PLI). 
• This move is aimed for Singapore-based Pine Labs, to move its domicile to India. Meanwhile, its application for a reverse merger is under consideration at the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT).
• The whole undertaking of Pine Labs Limited including all assets and liabilities shall be transferred and vested in PLI according to the amalgamation agreement, according to regulatory filing in Singapore.

BSE Market Cap Hits $5 Trillion Milestone

• The market capitalisation of companies listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) has reached a historic $5 trillion as of May 21, marking a fresh high. This achievement is attributed to the ongoing rally in the Indian stock markets, bolstered by firm support from various sectoral indices and positive economic indicators.
• Indian stock indices have shown resilience with minimal volatility over recent sessions. The conclusion of the five-phase general elections has bolstered investor confidence, with expectations of a third term for the Narendra Modi-led government. This political stability has likely triggered fresh stock purchases.
• Remarkably, the BSE market cap reached $4 trillion in early April and surged by another trillion within a month and a half. This rapid growth reflects robust GDP forecasts, manageable inflation levels, political stability, and commendable central bank monetary policies, positioning India as the fastest-growing major economy.

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SPORTS

Max Verstappen wins Emilia Romagna Grand Prix

• Max Verstappen celebrated a double win, taking the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix for Red Bull after earlier being on the triumphant team for a virtual endurance race. It is his fifth win in seven races this year 
• Verstappen has now won five of seven races this season and is cruising towards his fourth title, even if the competition appears to be hotting up.
• McLaren’s Lando Norris, who pushed Verstappen hard at the finish on Sunday and took the chequered flag only 0.7 of a second behind, has competed virtually with Verstappen in the past in the 24 Hours of Spa but on a weekend off.

Badminton: Satwik-Chirag Reclaim World No. 1 Spot In BWF Rankings

• The star Indian men’s badminton duo of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty have regained their top spot in the latest Badminton World Federation (BWF) Rankings after a remarkable victory at the Thailand Open Super 500 in Bangkok.
• Before the tournament, Satwik and Chirag were ranked third but managed to surpass China’s Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang. South Korea’s Min Hyuk Kang and Seung Jae Seo hold the third position.
• The Indian pair first rose to the pinnacle of the world rankings on October 10, 2023, after their groundbreaking gold medal win at the Asian Games in Hangzhou, China. However, their reign was short-lived as Liang and Wang reclaimed the top spot three weeks later.

Alexander Zverev and Iga Swiatek win Singles Title of Italian open

• Alexander Zverev won the 2024 Italian Open men’s singles title, defeating Nicolas Jarry of Chile in straight sets 6-4, 7-5. 
• This victory marked Zverev’s second Italian Open title and his overall eighth Masters title. His previous Italian Open wins include his first Masters title in 2017 against Novak Djokovic, and he reached the final in 2018, losing to Rafael Nadal.
• World No.1 Iga Swiatek of Poland secured her third Italian Open women’s singles title by defeating Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus in straight sets 6-2, 6-3. 
• This win adds to Swiatek’s impressive record, bringing her career title count to 21. She has won the Italian Open three times in the past four years, missing out only in the previous year when she did not qualify for the final.

Manchester City win historic fourth straight Premier League title

• Manchester City created English football history , overcoming West Ham 3-1 to win their fourth straight Premier League title and break Arsenal’s hearts as Jurgen Klopp made an emotional Liverpool exit.
• Phil Foden scored two early goals at an expectant Etihad to put his side on the brink of the title before Mohammed Kudus pulled one back with a spectacular overhead kick. But Rodri struck just before the hour to restore City’s two-goal cushion and the home side rarely looked troubled as they coasted to the win.
• City, who have now won six titles in seven seasons, stand alone as the only English team to have won four straight top-flight titles, eclipsing the achievements of the great Liverpool and Manchester United teams of the past.

Ekta Bhyan Secures Gold Medal In Women’ F51 Club Throw Competition At World Para Athletic C’ships

• India’s Ekta Bhyan secured the gold medal with a season’s best throw of 20.12m in the women’ F51 club throw competition at the World Para Athletic Championships at Kobe in Japan. 
• A day after Deepthi Jeevanji clinched the gold medal in women’s 400m T20 category race, Indian athletes continued their impressive run with Ekta producing the goods to finish in the top, while Kashish Lakra took the silver with an effort of 14.56m. Nadjet Boucherf of Algeria won the bronze with a score of 12.70 metre.
• India’s tally has now swelled to five medals — 2 gold, 3 silver and 2 bronze.The championships will continue till May 25.

Indian Mixed Team Breaks National Record At Asian Athletic Relay Championships 2024

• The Indian mixed 4x400m team of Muhammed Ajmal, Jyothika Sri Dandi, Amoj Jacob and Subha Venkatesan set a new national record to win the gold medal at the Asian Relay Championships 2024 in Bangkok, Thailand. 
• Sri Lanka and Vietnam won silver and bronze in the event. Despite the record-breaking effort, India is still not in the mix for a Paris 2024 Olympics quota in the mixed 4x400m event.
• Having failed to secure a direct quota from the World Relays 24 in the Bahamas earlier this month, the Indian mixed 4x400m relay team will need to rely on the Road to Paris rankings to make the cut for the upcoming Summer Games.

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APPOINTMENTS

Top Flipkart executives Prabh Simran Singh, Sankalp Mehrotra to step down

• Two senior executives at Flipkart are leaving the e-commerce company in the next few weeks. Prabh Simran Singh, senior vice president (SVP) of customer growth and retention, marketing and ads at Flipkart, has resigned and is leaving the company in the coming weeks. 
• Another executive, Sankalp Mehrotra, vice president (VP) of monetisation at Flipkart, is also serving his notice period and will be leaving the firm in the next few weeks.
• They join the growing list of top officials who have left Flipkart in the past few months. Many of the executives at large companies are quitting either to start their own companies or join smaller firms.

Lai Ching-Te Of Taiwan’s Ruling DPP Sworn In As New President

• William Lai Ching-te was sworn in as the new president of the Republic of China or Taiwan for the third consecutive term for the ruling Democratic Progressive Party. Lai Ching-te was the vice president under the Tsai-Ing Wen administration.
• A trained physician Lai succeeds Tsai Ing-wen to lead the democracy amid increasing threats from China, which claims the self-governing island as its territory. Taiwan has had an independent government since 1949.
• Vice President Hsia Bi-khim also took the oath as the country’s vice president. The ceremony in Taipei was attended by representatives from 29 countries, including the United States, Japan and Taiwan’s 12 diplomatic allies in the Pacific, Central America, and the Vatican.

Dominican Republic President Abinader re-elected to 2nd term

• Dominican Republic President Luis Abinader vows to serve all Dominicans as he’s re-elected for another four-year term, an endorsement of his handling of the economy and tough policies toward migration from Haiti. 
• The candidate of the Modern Revolutionary Party (PRM) received over 57% of the vote, the electoral office announced after almost all the votes had been counted. 
• Former president Leonel Fernández, who governed in 1996-2000 and again in 2004-08, received around 29% of the vote, while the former mayor of the second largest city Santiago, Abel Martínez, received around 10%. Both have conceded defeat.

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AWARDS

Mukesh Ambani and Gautam Adani in the list of top 15 richest people in the world: Bloomberg

• The richest billionaires in India, Mukesh Ambani and Gautam Adani, have featured in top 15 in the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, which is a list of top 500 richest people in the world. Elon Musk continues to top the index with a net worth of $220 billion, followed by Jeff Bezos at $169 billion.
• Reliance Industries Limited, MD and CEO, Mukesh Ambani($110 billion) , has secured the 12th rank in the index, while, Adani Group Chairman, Gautam Adani($100 billion) , is on the 14 rank.  On a year-to-date basis, Ambani’s wealth has increased by $13.7 billion. While, Adani has become reacher by $16.2 billion. 
• According to the index, the former’s current net wealth stands at $110 billion, while, that of the latter is at $100 billion. The latter’s wealth has jacked up more than Ambani’s, even then, he lags behind his counterpart by two ranks in the index.
• Bettencourt Meyers, owner of the famous L’Oreal company, has become the first woman to achieve a net worth of $100 billion. Her wealth reached $101 billion, placing her 14th on the list, due to L’Oreal’s share price recording its best year since 1998. 
• Carlos Slim of Mexico, with a net worth of $106 billion, has been included in the list for the first time, ranking 13th. Slim’s wealth comes from his diverse business interests, including construction, telecommunications, and retail. He is the richest person of South America and is in the business of diversified fields ranging from construction to operating restaurants and shops.
• Other Indians who are in the top 500 list are (rank wise):

55. Shiv Nadar
56. Azim Premji
57. Sunil Mittal
58. Kumar Birla
59. Cyrus Poonawalla

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SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Microsoft Debuts ‘Copilot+’ PCs With AI Features

• American technology major Microsoft debuted a new category of personal computers with AI features as it rushes to build the emerging technology into products across its business and compete with Alphabet and Apple.
• Microsoft calls them ‘Copilot Plus PCs’. They come with a deeper integration of generative Artificial Intelligence (gen AI) and are touted to be the most powerful and efficient Windows devices to date. “Copilot Plus PCs provide a quantum leap in com.
• They boast a new generation Neural Processing Unit that can perform more than 48 trillion operations per second. The new devices promise faster and more efficient performance than their predecessors. Also, they can deliver smoother performance on Adobe Creative Cloud, Microsoft 365 and other productivity and creativity apps.The most notable aspect of Microsoft’s latest Copilot+ PCs is the ‘Recall’ feature.
• The new 2-in-1 Surface Pro sports a 13.8-inch PixelSense Flow display with 2880 x 1920p resolution and pixel density of 267 ppi (pixels per inch). The company is offering the device in both the LCD and OLED options.

Exicom launches India’s Fastest DC Charger Engineered to Make EV Charging Experience Effortless

• Exicom, a leading provider of electric vehicle (EV) charging and Critical Power solutions in India, announced the launch of India’s fastest DC Chargers up to 400kW. 
• The newly launched Harmony Gen 1.5 DC Fast Chargers are bundled with a range of advanced features including an advanced AI-driven remote management system, high operational efficiency, integrated ambient lighting, and many features focusing on improving customer charging experience which is often overlooked and is the biggest concern for first time users. 
• Harmony g1.5 is available in three frame sizes, and its modular construction offers power outputs from 60 kW to 400 kW. Harmony Gen 1.5 DC Fast Chargers’ efficiency, surpassing 95% and power levels to power wide range of vehicles from lightweight cars to heavy-duty buses, underscores its versatility.

In a first, space start-up flies a SAR on a high altitude platform 

• Incubated by IIT-Madras, Bengaluru-based space start-up Galaxeye Space has flown a synthetic aperture radar (SAR) it developed on a High-Altitude Platform (HAP) made by National Aerospace Laboratories, a public-funded research laboratory based in Pune. 
• HAPs are like big drones . They can be moved or made to hover over a certain country or region. They can be homed at about 18 km above Earth, broadly where the atmosphere ends and space begins. They are (typically) solar-powered and can carry payloads up to 40 kg. In India, NAL has been developing HAPs. 
• Unlike optical cameras, SARs can see through cloud and vegetation cover, to picture the ground below. India’s space agency, ISRO, has flown SARs earlier. It may be remembered that ISRO, and the US space agency, NASA, have jointly developed a giant SAR, called NISAR (for NASA-ISRO SAR), which will be sent up to space, later this year. 

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