Current Affairs March 22nd 2023| Current Affairs News

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CURRENT AFFAIRS:BANKING & FINANCE

Kotak Mahindra Bank and IOCL launched a co-branded fuel credit card

• Kotak Mahindra Bank and Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) announced a strategic partnership to launch the Indian Oil Kotak co-branded fuel credit card.
• The Card will be available on the RuPay network.
• The partnership will offer more value to customers in the form of an enhanced rewards programme giving customers value on fuel spends and on special non-fuel and frequent-spend categories, such as dining and groceries.

Key highlights of Indian Oil Kotak Credit Card:

• Earn up to Rs. 300 in reward points each month by filling up at Indian Oil gas outlets.
• Earn 2% back in the form of rewards points on purchases made for restaurants, groceries, and other items, up to Rs 200 per month.
• Earn up to Rs 100 per month in gasoline surcharge waivers of 1%.
• Up to 48 days of interest-free loans are allowed.
• Smart-EMI
• Zero liability for missing cards
• Tap-and-pay contactless card

About Kotak Mahindra Bank Limited : 

• Established : 1985
• Headquarters : Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
• Chairman, MD & CEO : Uday Kotak
• Tagline : Let’s Make Money Simple

About IOCL : 

• Founded : 30 June 1959
• Headquarters : New Delhi, Delhi, India
• Chairperson : Shrikant Madhav Vaidya.
• The IOCL is an Indian central public sector undertaking under the ownership of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Government of India.

ICICI Prudential Life Insurance launches new guaranteed income plan – ICICI Pru Gold

• ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company Limited has launched the ICICI Pru Gold, a long-term savings product that enables customers to create an additional income stream.
• Besides guaranteed lifelong income, it provides life cover for the family’s financial security.
• The product is available in 3 variants : Immediate Income, Immediate Income with Booster, and Deferred Income.

About Immediate Income : 

• Customers opting for the ‘Immediate Income’ variant can choose to receive income after 30 days from the date of policy issuance, enabling them to immediately create a supplementary source of lifelong income.

About Immediate Income with Booster : 

• Customers who purchase the “Immediate Income with Booster” variant receive additional guaranteed income every 5th policy year in addition to the lifelong income, which begins after 30 days from the policy issuance date.

About Deferred Income : 

• Under the ‘Deferred Income’ variant, customers will have the flexibility to choose when they want the income to start, as per their financial goals.
• Customers can start receiving income as early as the second policy year or as late as the 13th policy year.
• Also ICICI Pru Gold will offer customers the option to accumulate their income in a Savings Wallet instead of receiving it as regular payments.

About ICICI Prudential Life Insurance : 

• Founded : 2001
• Headquarters : Mumbai, Maharashtra,India
• MD & CEO : Narayanan Srinivasa Kannan
• It is a joint venture (JV) between ICICI Bank Limited and Prudential Corporation Holdings Limited.
• In 2016, the company became the first insurance company in India to be listed in the domestic stock exchanges.

SBI to donate ₹24 cr for IISc hospital’s ortho wing

• State Bank of India (SBI) will donate ₹24 crore to the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru, Karnataka for constructing a multi-speciality hospital (Orthopaedics Wing), as a part of its corporate social responsibility activity.
• The hospital will be named Bagchi-Parthasarathy Hospital and is planned at the IISc postgraduate Medical School
• It will cater to the clinical training and research of the MD-PhD students.
• The project is likely to be completed by 2025.

About SBI : 

• Founded : 1 July 1955
• Headquarters : Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
• Chairman : Dinesh Kumar Khara
• Tagline : Pure Banking, Nothing Else

CURRENT AFFAIRS: NATIONAL NEWS

Sagarmala Program Boosting Tourism Economy in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu

• Ministry of Ports, Shipping, and Waterways, under its Sagarmala Programme, has pushed a number of reforms and initiatives in the maritime industry to strengthen the country’s socio-economic and regulatory environment.
• Under the ambit of Sagarmala, Ministry has provided in-principle approval to 4 additional projects, taking the total to 11 floating jetty projects in Karnataka.
• These projects are located primarily on Gurupura River and Netravati River and shall be used for tourism purposes.
• The other locations are Thannir Bhavi Church, Bangra Kuluru, Kulur Bridge and Jappina Mogaru NH bridge.
• Additionally, Ministry has provided in-principle approval to 4 floating jetty projects in Tamil Nadu.
• The projects at Agni Thertham and Villoondi Theertham are located in Rameshwaram which is a renowned spiritual place in India.
• Additionally, the projects are located at Cuddalore and Kanyakumari cater to tourists at these distinguished tourist destinations
• These projects will assist in offering safer, hassle free transportation to the tourists and will lead to overall development and upliftment of the coastal community.

Government approves 3 Centres of Excellence for horticultural crops under MIDH

• Under Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH), Centers of Excellence (CoEs) are being established in various States through Bilateral Cooperation or Research Institutes.
• These CoEs serve as demonstration and training centres for latest technologies in the field of horticulture.
• These CoEs also serve as source of planting material for fruits and vegetable seedlings for protected cultivation and usedfor transfer of technology and knowhow in diverse areas, viz., Post-Harvest management, Irrigation and Fertigation, Plant protection, Introduction of New Varieties, Pollination etc.
• Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH), Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare has approved 49 CoEs till now, out of which following 3 CoEs have been approved on 09-03-2023:
• CoE for Kamlam (Dragon Fruit) by Indian Institute of Horticultural Research (IIHR), Bengaluru, Karnataka at Experimental station, Hirehalli, Bengaluru, Karnataka.
• CoE for Mango and Vegetables under Indo-Israel Action Plan at Panikoili, Jajpur District, Odisha.
• CoE for Vegetables and Flowers under Indo-Israel Action Plan at Govt.
• Agricultural Farm, Codar, Khandepar, Ponda, South Goa, Goa.

World Food India-2023 to be organised in New Delhi

• The second edition of ‘World Food India-2023’ will be organised by the Ministry of Food Processing Industries, Government of India, from 3-5 November, 2023 at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi.
• Shri Pashupati Kumar Paras, and Union Minister of State for Food Processing Industries and Jal Shakti, Shri Prahlad Singh Patel, launched the website, publicity brochure and promotional video for WFI-2023.
• Addressing the Curtain Raiser event, Shri Pashupati Kumar Paras emphasised that India is one of the fastest-growing economies with many investment opportunities, especially in the food processing sector.
• He outlined five pivotal elements of the WFI-2023 as Millets- ‘Shree Anna-The Super Food of India’, Innovation and Sustainability ‘Green Food’, White Revolution 2.0, making India an export hub and focus on technology and digitisation.

Bhumi Samvaad IV: National Conference on Digitizing and Georeferencing India with Bhu-Aadhaar (ULPIN)

• Department of Land Resources is organizing the National Conference – Bhumi Samvaad IV on implementation of Unique Land Parcel Identification Number (ULPIN) or Bhu-Aadhaar in New Delhi.
• Shri Giriraj Singh, Union Minister of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj will be the chief guest on the occasion.
• The theme of the National Conference is – “Digitizing and Geo-Referencing INDIA with Bhu-Aadhaar (ULPIN)”.
• The Conference will have sessions on “Democratization of Land Records Data and Matribhoomi; “Application of Bhu-Aadhaar in Ease of Doing Business (EoDB) and Ease of Living; and “Best Practices – National and Global (Georeferencing / Survey/ Resurvey/ Use of Bhu-Aadhaar and Way Forward”.
• The Bhu-Aadhaar or ULPIN, a 14-digit alpha-numeric number generated based on the latitude longitude of the vertices of each land parcel shall be a single, authoritative source of truth of information on any parcel of land or property to provide integrated land services to the citizens as well as all stakeholders.

25 AAI aiports have been earmarked for leasing

• As per National Monetization Pipeline (NMP), 25 airports of Airports Authority of India (AAI) have been earmarked for leasing over the years 2022 to 2025.
• AAI has leased out eight of its airports namely Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Guwahati, Jaipur, Lucknow, Mangaluru and Thiruvananthapu ram through Public Private Partnership (PPP) for operation, management and development on long term lease basis.
• Out of these, Delhi and Mumbai airports were handed over in 2006. During the last five years i.e. from 2017-18 to 2021-22, AAI has received revenues of approximately Rs. 5500 crore from Delhi Airport and Rs. 5174 crore from Mumbai Airport.
• Till February, 2023, AAI has received concession fees of approximately Rs. 896 crore from the concessionaires for these six airports.
• Further, AAI has also received an amount of approximately Rs.2349 crore in the form of upfront fee towards the expenditure incurred by AAI at these airports.

Namami Gange Executive Committee approves 9 Projects worth Rs. 1278 Crore for Pollution abatement in Ganga Basin and Ghat Development

• The National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) held the 47th meeting of the Executive Committee of NMCG under the chairmanship of Shri G. Asok Kumar, Director General, NMCG.
• Nine projects worth around Rs. 1278 crore were approved in the meeting.
• Out of them, 7 pertain to abatement of pollution in the Ganga Basin and 2 to ghat development.
• In the main stem of River Ganga, a project in West Bengal worth Rs. 123.02 crore was approved for creation of a 13 MLD STP and a 300 KLD decentralized STP at Chakdaha Municipal Town.
• In Uttar Pradesh, three projects worth Rs 422 crore  approved including a project to  divert 13 drains by augmenting the sewage treatment capacity of Salori STP by 43 MLD in Prayagraj
• Another project in UP for rejuvenation of River Kali East by development of in-situ Constructed Wetland System at 8 locations in Muzaffarnagar, Meerut, Hapur and Bulandshahar was approved costing Rs. 95.47 crore
• For ghat development in Bihar, one project for the development of Atal Ghat Manjhi, Saran, Bihar was approved at an estimated cost of Rs. 10 crore
• A project for development of two Sewage Treatment Plants (10.91 MLD and 10.66 MLD) for pollution abatement in River Ganga at an estimated cost of Rs. 94.12 crore was approved for Lakhisarai town in Bihar
• In Madhya Pradesh a major project costing Rs. 511 crore was approved to abate pollution in Rivers Kahn and Saraswati in Indore
• For the monitoring of industrial pollution, a project titled ‘Pollution Inventorization, Assessment and Surveillance on River Ganga Basin (PIAS) piloted by Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) was approved at an estimated cost of Rs. 114.42 crore.

Cabinet Approves Listing of IREDA Through Part-Sale of Govt Holding

• The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) chaired by the Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has approved for listing of IREDA – a CPSE under Ministry of New & Renewable Energy (MNRE) on the Stock Exchanges through an Initial Public Offer (IPO) by part sale of Government’s stake in it and to raise funds for IREDA through issue of fresh equity shares.
• Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) will drive the listing process.
• This decision supersedes earlier CCEA decision taken in June, 2017 for allowing IREDA to issue 13.90 crore fresh equity shares of ₹00 each to the public on book building basis through IPO.
• IREDA is currently a wholly owned Government of India, Mini-ratna (Category-I) CPSE incorporated in 1987 and is engaged in financing of Renewable Energy (RE) and Energy Efficiency (EE) projects in India.
• It is registered as a Non-banking Financial Company (NBFC) with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
• The Government, in line with the pledge made as a part of Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) in Paris Accord on Climate Change has set the targets of achieving 175 GW of installed RE capacity by 2022 and 500 GW by 2030.
• IREDA has a pivotal role to play in achievement of RE targets.

ATAL JYOTI YOJANA – 2.72 Lakh Solar Street Lights installed

• The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy launched Atal Jyoti Yojana (AJAY) on 20.09.2016 with the main objective to provide Solar Street Lighting Systems for public use at different locations for improvement in quality of life, safety and security.
• Under AJAY Phase-I, the Parliament Constituencies of the states of Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha and Uttar Pradesh were covered.
• Subsequently, Phase -II of AJAY was launched in December, 2018.
• Coverage of AJAY Phase -II included Parliament Constituencies of the states covered in AJAY Phase-I, Hill States/UTs, North-Eastern States, Island UTs and aspirational district not covered in above mentioned States/UTs.
• The AJAY Phase-II was closed in April 2020.
• In the AJAY Phase-I, over 1.35 lakh solar street lights were installed against sanction of around 1.45 lakh lights.
• Under AJAY Phase-II over 1.37 lakh solar street lights have been reported installed against sanction of around 1.50 lakh lights.
• The ten aspirational districts of the state of Chhattisgarh namely Korba, Mahasamund, Bastar, Bijapur, Dantewada, Kondagaon, Narayanpur, Sukma, Kankerand and Rajnandgaon were covered under AJAY Phase-II, of which solar street lights have been installed in Kondagaon, Kanker and Rajnandgaon districts.

India Approves 57 Solar Parks with 39.28 GW Capacity

• Government has approved 57 Solar Parks with aggregate capacity 39.28 GW.
• Out of these Solar Parks, 9 parks are fully complete and additional 8 parks are partially complete, with a cumulative capacity of 10,117 MW solar projects commissioned in these parks.
• The reasons for delay in establishing Solar Parks include challenges in acquisition of clear land, mismatch in timelines between solar projects and power evacuation infrastructure, environmental issues like Great Indian Bustard (GIB) issue, regulatory challenges like non- approval of solar tariff by SERCs, etc.
• After successful bidding for setting up of solar projects, 14 Solar Parks are delayed.
• All the State Government Organizations and PSUs are eligible to set up Solar Parks. Most Solar Parks are being taken up by the State Government organizations & PSUs.

Centre earmarks ₹3,000 crore for States to promote vehicle scrappage & ₹5,000 cr for Unity Malls

• States will get ₹5,000 crore for the construction of Unity malls and ₹3,000 crore for scrapping old vehicles as incentives under the “Scheme for Special Assistance to States for Capital Investment’ in fiscal year 2023-24, beginning April 1, 2023.
• The scheme, as announced in the Budget, has a total outlay of ₹1.30 crore & will be distributed in 8 parts.
• Under this, financial assistance will be provided to the State governments in the form of a 50-year interest-free loan for capital investment projects.
• While the first part has the largest component of ₹1 lakh crore, and that is untied, the distribution of the remaining ₹30,000 crore is subject to completing 7 reform initiatives.
• Unity malls and the scrapping of old vehicles are 2 of the 7 initiatives.

Key Highlights : 

• Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman stated that States will be encouraged to set up a Unity Mall in their State capital or most prominent tourism centre or the financial capital for promotion and sale of their own ODOPs (one district, one product), GI products, and other handicraft products, and for providing space for products of all other States.
• The second element of special assistance tied to an allocation is in line with the Centre’s effort to take out old and unfit private and commercial vehicles based on Scrappage Policy 2021.
• The policy prescribes fitness tests for personal vehicles after 20 years, while for commercial vehicles, tests are required after 15 years.
• The policy also provides the owners of the vehicles certain benefits for scrapping their old vehicles.
• For example, under the new policy, the Centre has advised that States and UTs extend up to a 25% rebate on road tax for vehicles that are purchased after scrapping old vehicles.
• An amount of ₹5,000 crore has been allocated for promoting Children and Adolescents’ Libraries and Digital Infrastructure as announced in Budget.
• The Scheme for Special Assistance to States for Capital Investment was first introduced in 2021–22, and over ₹14,000 crore was given.
• In FY22, the budget estimate was ₹1 lakh crore, which was lowered to ₹76,000 crore in the revised estimate.

CURRENT AFFAIRS : INTERNATIONAL NEWS

South Korea to build ‘world’s largest’ chip centre with $230 billion investment from Samsung                   

• Samsung Electronics expects to invest 300 trillion won ($230 billion) over the next 20 years as part of an ambitious South Korean national project to build the world’s largest semiconductor manufacturing base near the capital, Seoul.
• The plans were announced by President Mr Yoon Suk Yeol and confirmed by the electronics giant.
• The chip manufacturing “mega cluster” of facilities will be built in various locations in Gyeonggi province by 2042.
• The centre will be anchored by 5 new semiconductor plants built by Samsung.

Key Highlights : 

• The chip cluster would be located in Gyeonggi province, which is part of the Seoul Metropolitan area, and the total investment would be completed in about 20 years.
• The vast majority of the world’s most advanced microchips are made by just 2 companies: Samsung, South Korea and Taiwan’s TSMC.
• The South Korean government seeks to invest heavily in 6 technology areas including chips, displays, rechargeable batteries, electric vehicles, robotics and bio-technology.
• In May 2022, Samsung announced a massive 450 trillion won investment blueprint over the next 5 years aimed at making it a frontrunner in key sectors from semiconductors to biologics.

About South Korea : 

• President : Yoon Suk-yeol
• Prime Minister : Han Duck-soo
• Capital : Seoul
• Currency : Korean Republic won

3rd annual edition of International SME Convention 2023 to be organised in New Delhi

• The 3rd annual edition of the International SME Convention 2023 (ISC) to be organised in New Delhi, India.
• The ISC is being jointly organised by the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) and the Ministry of External Affairs and the India SME Forum.
• The event has the Government of Madhya Pradesh (MP) as a major partner state and the Government of Uttar Pradesh (UP) as an associate partner state.
• International Network of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (INSME) and World Union of Small and Medium Enterprises (WUSME) are the International Partners for ISC 2023, and Tata AIA is the Insurance Partner.
• Union Minister for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Shri Narayan Rane will inaugurate the three-day SME Convention.
• The main focus areas of the convention are India’s major 4 Sunrise Sectors, which are

1. Cleantech and Green Energy
2. Manufacturing
3. Services Sector
4. Agro Food Processing and Agri Implements sector.

• The 2nd edition of International SME Convention 2019 to be held in New Delhi from 27th – 29th June, 2019 in association with Italy & South Korea as the partner countries, UNIDO, UNDP & ILO as Institutional partners and the India SME Forum.

About Ministry of Micro,Small & Medium Enterprises : 

• Cabinet Minister : Narayan Rane
• Minister of State : Bhanu Pratap Singh Verma

CURRENT AFFAIRS: BUSINESS NEWS

Developing countries attracted only 15% of global renewable energy investments in 2022

• The developing world attracted just 15 per cent, or roughly $75 billion, of the total investments in renewable energy (RE) globally in the last calendar year, a recent report by International Renewable Energy Agen cy (IRENA) and Climate Policy Initiative (CPI) said.
• Moreover, the report states that annual investments to developing countries have been falling since 2018.
• The region, which is home to roughly 70 per cent of the world’s population, continues to receive comparatively low investments. Brazil, Chile and India recieved the bulk of these investments.
• The report, Global landscape of renewable energy (RE) finance 2023, also pointed out that global investments in the sector hit a record high of $500 billion in 2022.
• As per IRENA’s World energy transitions outlook 2022, the world will require annual investments of $5.7 trillion on average between 2021 and 2030, and $3.7 trillion between 2031 and 2050 to meet the target.

About IRENA

• The International Renewable Energy Agency is an intergovernmental organization mandated to facilitate cooperation, advance knowledge, and promote the adoption and sustainable use of renewable energy.
• IRENA Director General Francesco La Camera
• Founded: 26 January 2009
• Headquarters: Masdar City, United Arab Emirates.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: MOUS AND AGREEMENT

Ministry of Rural Development has signed a MoU with the Ministry of Ayush to collaborate in making Lakhpati Didis from the SHGs

• The Ministry of Rural Development has signed a MoU with the Ministry of Ayush to collaborate in making Lakhpati Didis from the SHGs.
• Lakhpati Didis are women with annual earnings of Rs. 1 lakh and more.
• The Ministry of Rural Development launched Lakhpati Didi initiative on creating Lakhpati SHG women.
• The initiative aims to enable rural SHG women to earn at least Rs.1 lakh per annum.
• The Ministry provides livelihood support to 25 million rural SHG women in the next 2 years.
• Earlier, Uttarakhand government launched ‘Lakhpati Didi Yojana’ to make 1.25 lakh women from self-help group ‘Lakhpati’ by 2025.
• The collaboration will impart training to rural poor youth and women for Ayush healthcare system under DDU-GKY.
• The training is given priority to SHG women to realize an annual income of INR 1 lakh.

Ministry of Steel Signs MoUs with 27 Companies under PLI Scheme

• The Ministry of Steel has signed 57 MoUs’ with 27 companies for specialty steel under the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme.
• The Minister of Steel and Civil Aviation commended the initiatives of the participating companies in the PLI Scheme for specialty steel.
• Under the PLI scheme, the Government has approved Rs. 6322 crores to give a new impetus to the Steel sector.
• This will also create great opportunities for direct and indirect job creation, besides contributing towards achieving the status of 3rd largest economy by the year 2030-31 as per the resolve and determination of the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi.

India Post Inks MoU With Shiprocket To Augment Last-Mile Ecommerce Delivery Services

• India Post, the largest delivery network of the world, has signed an MoU with Shiprocket to boost last-mile  Ecommerce delivery services across the country.
• Shiprocket is an emerging logistics aggregator company with three lakh sellers and 70 million consumers annually.
• This partnership between India Post and Shiprocket will provide shipping and last-mile delivery services to Shiprocket’s three lakh strong seller base which includes Startups and a large number of small and medium businesses.
• The MoU marks a significant milestone for taking e-commerce to the last mile and is expected to benefit millions of customers all over country.
• Saahil Goel, Co-founder & CEO, Shiprocket.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: RANKING AND INDEX

NTPC has been ranked as the top independent power producer and energy trader globally: S&P Platts

• NTPC Limited, the country’s largest power generating company has been ranked No.1 Independent Power Producers and Energy Traders Globally in the S&P Global Commodity Insights Top 250 Global Energy Company Rankings®-2022.
• These rankings are based on four key metrics- asset worth, revenues, profits and return on investment.
• NTPC is not just India’s largest power producer; it is one of the key pillars sustaining India’s economic growth and development.
• With a share of 17% of the installed capacity, NTPC currently contributes 24% of the total electricity produced in India.
• NTPC’s goal has always been to deliver power that is economical, efficient, and ecologically sustainable. To meet this objective , it offers a diversified energy mix comprising gas, wind, solar, hydro, floating solar and coal.
• By 2032, NTPC is targeting non-fossil fuel-based capacity to make up nearly 50 per cent of the company’s portfolio, which includes renewable energy capacity of 60 GW and total portfolio of 130GW.
• In terms of scale, efficiency, and energy generation from cleaner and greener sources, the company leads the India’s energy transition.
• It has teamed with NITI Aayog for the Net Energy Zero effort.

CURRENT AFFAIRS : APPOINTMENTS & RESIGNATIONS 

Mr Deepak Bagla quits as managing director and Chief Executive Officer of Invest India

• Mr Deepak Bagla, Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Invest India, the government’s nodal investment promotion and facilitation body, has resigned from his post.
• He has cited “personal reasons” for stepping down from the post.

About Mr Deepak Bagla : 

• Mr Bagla was at the helm of Invest India since 2015.
• Earlier, he had stints at World Bank, Citibank, and private equity firm 3i Group.
• He is the president of the Geneva-based World Association of Investment Promotion Agencies with a membership of 105 countries.
• He is also a special invitee of the Prime Minister’s Science Technology & Innovation Advisory Council.
• He was bestowed the “Grande Ufficiale della Stella d’Italia” by the President of the Republic of Italy.

About Invest India : 

• Invest India was formed in 2009 under the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
• Currently 51% shareholding of Invest India is with industry bodies (17% each with Ficci, CII, and Nasscom), and the remaining 49% with the central and 19 state governments.

BPCL appoints Mr G Krishnakumar as Chairman and Managing Director   

• Mr G Krishnakumar has taken over as the Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL).
• He will hold the position of chairman and managing director till April 2025 or until any further notice.
• Currently, he is serving as Executive Director of BPCL.
• He replaces Mr Arun Kumar Singh, who retired as chairman in October 2022.
• After mr Arun Kumar Singh, BPCL Director (Finance) Mr Vetsa Ramakrishna Gupta, was handling the additional charge of CMD.

About BPCL : 

• Founded : 1976
• Headquarters : Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
• BPCL is an Indian central public sector undertaking under the ownership of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Government of India (GoI).

CURRENT AFFAIRS : SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Chinese tech giant Baidu unveils ChatGPT rival Ernie Bot

• Chinese tech company Baidu has launched its own Artificial Intelligence (AI)-powered chatbot, Ernie Bot, based on its deep learning model Ernie (short for “enhanced representation through knowledge integration“).
• The first version of Ernie Bot was developed in 2019.
• Ernie Bot can perform various tasks, such as mathematical calculations, speaking in Chinese dialects, and generating videos and images with text prompts.

About ChatGPT :  

• ChatGPT is made by the Microsoft-backed OpenAI, while Google and a host of ambitious startups are also developing their own so-called large language models.

About Baidu : 

• Founded : January 18, 2000
• Headquarters : Beijing, China
• CEO : Robin Li
• Baidu, Inc. is a Chinese multinational technology company specialising in Internet-related services, products, and artificial intelligence.

Tamil Nadu’s novel initiative results in reduced TB deaths

• Tamil Nadu (TN) has pioneered an initiative called TN-KET  (Tamil Nadu Kasanoi Erappila Thittam – meaning TB death-free project) across the State to reduce the mortality rate among people with tuberculosis.

• The initiative TN-KET began in April 2022 in 2,500-odd public healthcare facilities that diagnosed TB in 30 districts.
• It has achieved significant reduction in the number of early TB deaths (Deaths within 2 months of TB diagnosis).
• Early TB deaths have reduced from more than 600 in April 2022 to less than 350 in December 2022.

Key Highlights : 

• The heart of the initiative is the ‘Differentiated TB Care’ aimed at assessing whether people with TB need ambulatory care or admission in a health facility to manage severe illness at the time of diagnosis.
• The guidelines, released by the Central TB Division in January 2021, requires comprehensive assessment of 16 clinical, laboratory and radiological parameters.
• Chennai-based National Institute of Epidemiology (ICMR-NIE), which is spearheading TN-KET along with the State TB Cell, found that preliminary assessment (triaging) of patients based on just three conditions-very severe undernutrition, respiratory insufficiency, and inability to stand without support was feasible for quick identification at diagnosis.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: SPORTS NEWS

Midfielder Hardik Singh and Savita Punia were conferred with the men’s and women’s Indian Hockey Player of the Year awards 2022

• Midfielder Hardik Singh and goalkeeper Savita Punia were conferred with the men’s and women’s Indian Hockey Player of the Year awards 2022.
• The 24-year-old Hardik beat illustrious senior players like Manpreet Singh and Harmanpreet Singh to win the coveted award for 2022, named after hockey legend Balbir Singh Sr, at the fifth Hockey India Annual Awards.
• Hardik was the most impressive player for India in the FIH World Cup held in Odisha in January before being ruled out of the tournament due to a hamstring injury.
• Savita had led India to the FIH Women’s Nation’s Cup title in December to book a berth in the women’s Pro League.
• Gurbux Singh, who was a member of the 1964 Olympics gold-winning team, won the prestigious Major Dhyan Chand Lifetime Achievement Award for his outstanding contribution to the game.

ATK Mohun Bagan crowned ISL champions after penalty shootout win over Bengaluru FC

• ATK Mohun Bagan held their nerves in a tightly contested Indian Super League final to beat Bengaluru FC 4-3 on penalties and lift their maiden title.
• In a game that ended 2-2 in regulation time, ATKMB’s Dimitri Petratos scored all three penalties he took on the night before Vishal Kaith’s save from Bruno Ramires’ in the shootout brought them one step closer.
• As the winners, ATKMB took home a prize money of ₹6 crore, while runners-up Bengaluru FC received ₹5 crore.
• Started as an eight-team tournament, the league expanded to 10 teams from 2017-18 season and later in 2019-20 season to an 11-team tournament following the addition of two of the biggest clubs in Indian football.
• Since the league’s inaugural edition, six clubs – ATK FC (3), Chennaiyin FC (2), Bengaluru FC (1), Mumbai City FC (1), Hyderabad FC (1) and ATK Mohun Bagan (1) – have been crowned as the Champions.
• Mumbai City FC Lallianzuala Chhangte was awarded the Indian Super League (ISL) golden ball award.
• Sivasakthi won the emerging player of the season award for his six goals and three assists in his breakthrough season.
• ATK Mohun Bagan shotstopper Vishal Kaith, who saved a penalty in the shootout win in the final, won the golden glove award.

CURRENT AFFAIRS : OBITUARIES

British writer & historian Patrick French passed away

• Award-winning British author, historian and academic Patrick French, passed away at the age of 57 in London, United Kingdom (UK).

About Patrick French : 

• French was born on 5 March 1966 in England.
• He was appointed the inaugural Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences at Ahmedabad University in July 2017.
• He was the author of several books including: Younghusband: the Last Great Imperial Adventurer (1994), a biography of Francis Younghusband; The World Is What It Is (2008), an authorised biography of Nobel Laureate V. S. Naipaul that won the National Book Critics Circle Award in the United States of America; and India: A Portrait (2011).
• He was also a journalist, writing for publications such as The Guardian, The Times, and The New York Review of Books.

Awards & Honors : 

• French was also awarded the Hawthornden Prize in 2009 for the book
• He was the winner of the Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award, the Royal Society of Literature Heinemann Prize, and the Somerset Maugham Award. 

Nobel prize-winning Japanese writer Kenzaburo Oe Passed away

• Kenzaburo Oe, a giant of Japanese writing and winner of the Nobel prize in literature, has passed away at the age of 88 announced by his publishing house Kodansha Limited.

About Kenzaburo Oe : 

• Kenzaburo Oe was born on 31 January 1935 in Japan.
• He is one of Japan’s most celebrated & controversial authors, Ōe’s novels, short stories and essays placed him at the confluence of the personal and the political.
• He was involved with pacifist and anti-nuclear campaigns.
• Pacifist means someone who opposes war or violence as a means of settling disputes.

Notable Works : 

• His book “Hiroshima Notes” became a bestseller.
• His other famous works include “Nip the Buds, Shoot the Kids,” “The Silent Cry”.
• He is the author of noted works such as A Personal Matter (1964), A Quiet Life (1964) and the seminal The Silent Cry (1967),
• His last book, In Late Style, was published in 2013.
• A longtime pacifist, Oe was a strong critic of the Self-Defense Forces and former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s plans to revise Article 9 of the Constitution.

Awards & Honors : 

• His work “Shiiku,” known as “The Catch” in English, won the prestigious Akutagawa Prize in 1958.
• Oe won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1994, becoming the second Japanese author to receive the honour after Kawabata Yasunari.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: IMPORTANT DAYS

World Water Day 2023: March 22

• World Water Day is celebrated all over the world on March 22nd, 2023.
• It is an international event observed annually on March 22nd every year all over the world highlighting the importance of freshwater.
• The idea for this international day goes back to 1992, the year in which the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro took place.
• That same year, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution by which 22 March of each year was declared World Day for Water, to be observed starting in 1993.
• Later on, other celebrations and events were added.
• For instance, the International Year of Cooperation in the Water Sphere 2013, and the current International Decade for Action on Water for Sustainable Development, 2018-2028.
• These observances serve to reaffirm that water and sanitation measures are key to poverty reduction, economic growth, and environmental sustainability.

Daily CA One- Liner: March 22

• Ministry of Ports, Shipping, and Waterways, under its Sagarmala Programme, has pushed several reforms and initiatives in the maritime industry to strengthen the country’s socio-economic and regulatory environment
• Under the Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH), Centers of Excellence (CoEs) are being established in various States through Bilateral Cooperation or Research Institutes
• The second edition of ‘World Food India-2023’ will be organised by the Ministry of Food Processing Industries, Government of India, from 3-5 November, 2023 at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi
• Department of Land Resources is organizing the National Conference – Bhumi Samvaad IV on the implementation of Unique Land Parcel Identification Number (ULPIN) or Bhu-Aadhaar in New Delhi.
• As per National Monetization Pipeline (NMP), 25 airports of the Airports Authority of India (AAI) have been earmarked for leasing over the years 2022 to 2025
• The National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) held the 47th meeting of the Executive Committee of NMCG under the chairmanship of Shri G. Asok Kumar, Director General, NMCG
• The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) chaired by the Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has approved for listing of IREDA – a CPSE under Ministry of New & Renewable Energy (MNRE)
• The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy launched Atal Jyoti Yojana (AJAY) on 20.09.2016 with the main objective to provide Solar Street Lighting Systems for public use at different locations for improvement in quality of life, safety and security
• Government has approved 57 Solar Parks with aggregate capacity 39.28 GW.
• The developing world attracted just 15 per cent, or roughly $75 billion, of the total investments in renewable energy (RE) globally in the last calendar year, a recent report by International Renewable Energy Agen cy (IRENA) and Climate Policy Initiative (CPI)
• The Ministry of Rural Development has signed a MoU with the Ministry of Ayush to collaborate in making Lakhpati Didis from the SHGs
• The Ministry of Steel has signed 57 MoUs’ with 27 companies for speciality steel under the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme
• India Post, the largest delivery network in the world, has signed an MoU with Shiprocket to boost last-mile  Ecommerce delivery services across the country.
• NTPC Limited, the country’s largest power generating company has been ranked No.1 Independent Power Producers and Energy Traders Globally in the S&P Global Commodity Insights Top 250 Global Energy Company Rankings®-2022
• Midfielder Hardik Singh and goalkeeper Savita Punia were conferred with the men’s and women’s Indian Hockey Player of the Year awards 2022
• ATK Mohun Bagan held their nerves in a tightly contested Indian Super League final to beat Bengaluru FC 4-3 on penalties and lift their maiden title
• Kotak Mahindra Bank and Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) announced a strategic partnership to launch the Indian Oil Kotak co-branded fuel credit card.
• ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company Limited has launched the ICICI Pru Gold, a long-term savings product that enables customers to create an additional income stream.
• State Bank of India (SBI) will donate ₹24 crore to the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru, Karnataka for constructing a multi-speciality hospital (Orthopaedics Wing), as a part of its corporate social responsibility activity.
• Samsung Electronics expects to invest 300 trillion won ($230 billion) over the next 20 years as part of an ambitious South Korean national project to build the world’s largest semiconductor manufacturing base near the capital, Seoul.
• The 3rd annual edition of the International SME Convention 2023 (ISC) is to be organised in New Delhi, India.
• States will get ₹5,000 crores for the construction of Unity malls and ₹3,000 crore for scrapping old vehicles as incentives under the “Scheme for Special Assistance to States for Capital Investment’ in the fiscal year 2023-24, beginning April 1, 2023.
• Mr Deepak Bagla, Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Invest India, the government’s nodal investment promotion and facilitation body, has resigned from his post.
• Mr G Krishnakumar has taken over as the Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL).
• Chinese tech company Baidu has launched its own Artificial Intelligence (AI)-powered chatbot, Ernie Bot, based on its deep learning model Ernie (short for “enhanced representation through knowledge integration“).
• Tamil Nadu (TN) has pioneered an initiative called TN-KET  (Tamil Nadu Kasanoi Erappila Thittam – meaning TB death-free project) across the State to reduce the mortality rate among people with tuberculosis.
• Award-winning British author, historian and academic Patrick French, passed away at the age of 57 in London, United Kingdom (UK).
• Kenzaburo Oe, a giant of Japanese writing and winner of the Nobel prize in literature, has passed away at the age of 88 announced by his publishing house Kodansha Limited.
• World Water Day is celebrated all over the world on March 22nd, 2023