Current Affairs May 09th 2023| Current Affairs News

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CURRENT AFFAIRS : BANKING & FINANCE

BharatPe rebrands PAYBACK India as ‘Zillion’

• BharatPe Group, one of India’s leading names in the fintech industry, announced that it will be rebranding PAYBACK India, the multi-brand loyalty program to ‘Zillion’.
• This new brand identity is in line with the company’s vision to make Zillion ubiquitous to loyalty and rewards across the country.
• The new brand identity intends to appeal to clients of all ages and give their overall shopping experience across brands and categories a new dimension.
• Zillion will offer a wide range of options for customers to earn and redeem at a wide range of partners across India.
• Customers will be able to earn Zillion coins across the network of offline and online partners, including groceries, fuel, entertainment, travel, apparel, and more.
• Chief executive officer of Zillion : Rijish Raghavan

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to attend 56th Annual General Meeting of Board of Directors of Asian Development Bank in South Korea

• Union Minister for Finance & Corporate Affairs Nirmala Sitharaman will lead the Indian delegation to attend the 56th Annual General Meeting of the Board of Governors of Asian Development Bank (ADB) along with Investor/ Bilateral and other associated meetings, in Incheon, the Republic of Korea.
• The Meetings will be attended by official delegations of ADB members, observers, non-governmental and civil society organisations, media, financial institutions and banks and other private sector companies.

The engagements of Union Finance Minister will consist of the following components:

1. Interaction with Global Economists, Governors / Finance Ministers of the ADB member countries etc.
2. Bilateral engagements with countries and international organisations.
3. Interaction with global business leaders and investors in roundtables.
4. Engagement with Community Diaspora

About ADB :

• Founded : 19 December 1966
• Headquarters : Mandaluyong, Philippines
• President : Masatsugu Asakawa
• Membership : 68 members of which 49 members are from within Asia and the Pacific and 19 outside.

Ministry of Finance Permits 22 Finance Companies to Undertake Aadhaar-Based Verification Of Clients     

• The Ministry of Finance (MoF) has allowed 22 financial companies, including Amazon Pay (India) and Hero FinCorp, to undertake Aadhaar-based authentication of clients.
• These 22 financial companies include Godrej Finance, Amazon Pay (India) Pvt Ltd, Aditya Birla Housing Finance, Tata Motors Finance Solution, IIFL Finance and Mahindra Rural Housing Finance Ltd.
• The other modes of verification prescribed under the Money Laundering Act include offline verification under the Aadhaar Act, use of a passport and any other officially valid document or modes of identification as may be notified by the central government, and the client has a voluntary choice to opt for the mode of verification.

Key Highlights :

• Section 11A of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act provides for verification of identity by reporting entities.
• The amendment is a part of a series of changes being undertaken in the money laundering law to plug loopholes ahead of India’s proposed assessment later this year under the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the global money laundering and terrorist financing watchdog.
• E-KYC (know your customer) carried out through One Time Password (OTP) based Aadhaar authentication allows entities to offer a limited set of services to their users.
• Such a KYC has to be renewed every year and the aggregate amount of term loans sanctioned shall not exceed Rs 60,000 in a year.

About Ministry of Finance :

• Cabinet Minister : Nirmala Sitharaman
• Minister of State : Bhagwat Karad, Pankaj Choudhary

HDFC to sell education finance arm Credila

• HDFC has decided to sell its student loan subsidiary ahead of its merger with HDFC Bank and has appointed an investment banker for the stake sale.
• Company will be valued at Rs 10,000 crore, approximately 4 times its net worth.
• Currently, HDFC is in the process of merging with HDFC Bank and, as a condition of the merger, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has instructed HDFC to sell or merge Credila with either HDFC or HDFC Bank before the consolidation.
• Until the stake sale, HDFC Credila has been disbarred from extending fresh loans.
• Credila is India’s largest education sector-focused Non banking Finance Company (NBFC), specialising in providing education loans to students pursuing higher education in India and overseas.
• Since its establishment in 2006, it has extended loans to 1.2 lakh customers.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: NATIONAL NEWS

Centre invokes Article 355 as the situation worsens

• Central government invoked Article 355 after the situation worsened in Manipur.
• More than 20,000 people have been evacuated from violence hit areas and many people have migrated to Assam and Mizoram.
• The central government has appointed Ashutosh Sinha, additional director general of police, intelligence as the overall operational commander of the law and order situation.
• Kuldip Singh, the former DG, CRPF has been appointed as the security advisor to N Biren Singh’s government.
• Article 355 of the Constitution empowers the Centre to take all necessary steps to protect the state against internal disturbances and external aggression.
• A large number of people gathered in support of a state-wide “solidarity march” organised by the All Tribal Students’ Union.
• The protest march was organised against the proposal of giving Scheduled Tribe (ST) status to the Meitei community, which is 53% of the Manipur population.

JNPA posts an impressive turnaround time (TAT) of just 22 hours:

• A month after the record handling performance in the last financial year, India’s premier container port, Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority (JNPA) has achieved yet another milestone.
• Now it has set a global benchmark in container cargo handling.
• According to the Logistics Performance Index (LP I) report, 2023, published by the World Bank, JNPA has an effective turnaround time (TAT) of only 22 hours (equivalent to 0.9 days).
• Due to various measures taken to reduce the dwell time, JNPA was able to accomplish this feat.
• Most importantly, improved landside-rail and road connectivity, the introduction of Centralized Parking Plazas (CPPs), digitization of processes, etc. as well as operational efficiencies of terminal operators have been the biggest contributors.
• The streamlining of berthing and unberthing of vessels, deployment of more tugs for the smooth operation of vessels etc. are some of the other initiatives taken by JNPA to facilitate the efficient functioning of the port.

Shri Sarbananda Sonowal reviews progress of India’s First International Multimodal Logistics Park in Assam

• Union Minister of Ports, Shipping & Waterways and Ayush, Shri Sarbananda Sonowal visited the construction site of India’s first International Multi-Modal Logistics park in Jogighopa, Assam to review the progress.
• The park is being developed under the ambitious Bharatmala Pariyojana of the Government.
• First such MMLP, it is being made by NHIDCL in Jogighopa of Assam.
• The park will be connected to road, rail, air and waterways.
• This is being developed in 317-acre land along the Brahmaputra.
• Built at a cost of Rs 693.97 crore, the park will provide direct waterways, road, rail & air connectivity.

Home Ministry decides to introduce Millets, Shree Anna in the meals of personnel of CAPFs and NDRF

• The Ministry of Home Affairs has recently decided to introduce Millets, Shree Anna in the meals of personnel of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) and National Disaster Response Force (NDRF).
• The decision to introduce 30 per cent Millets in the meals.
• The Ministry had asked all the forces to take action for the introduction of Millets based menu.
• The Ministry informed that Millets will also be made available in Kendriya Police Kalyan Bhandar, Grocery Shops of the campuses and Ration Store by setting up dedicated counters and corners.
• The forces will organize training of cooks in preparing millets based dishes through reputed institutes in this field.
• The United Nations had declared 2023 the International Year Millets as recognizing the importance of millets, and creating a domestic and global demand along with providing nutritious food to the people, at the behest of the Government of India.

About National Disaster Response Force

• Founded: 2006
• DG: Atul Karwal
• Headquarters: New Delhi

CURRENT AFFAIRS: BUSINESS NEWS

Zoom Gets Pan-India Telecom Licence

• Zoom Video Communications (ZVC) has secured a pan-India telecom licence that will enable it to offer telephone services to enterprise customers.
• US-based Zoom has been offering voice and video conference service through its website and app.
• With these licences, the company will be able to offer its cloud-based private branch exchange (PBX) service ‘Zoom Phone’ to multinational corporations (MNCs) and businesses operating in India.
• PBX works as a local telephone exchange for enterprises and helps them in managing conference call services.
• Zoom partners with international telecommunication providers and offers phone numbers and calling plans in 47 countries and territories bundled with cloud PBX service.

About Zoom

• Zoom, stylized as Zoom or Zoom Meetings, is a proprietary videotelephony software program developed by Zoom Video Communications.
• The free plan allows up to 100 concurrent participants, with a 40-minute time restriction.
• Users have the option to upgrade by subscribing to a paid plan.
• Developer: Zoom Video Communications, Qumu Corporation

Reliance brings back 50-year-old iconic beverage brand Campa Cola

• Billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance re-launched the 50-year-old iconic beverage brand Campa Cola in a new contemporise avatar as it looks to ramp up its own consumer goods offering to take on competition from Adani, ITC and Unilever.
• In January this year, Reliance Consumer Products Ltd, the fast-moving consumer goods arm of Reliance Retail, acquired a 50 per cent stake in Gujarat-based carbonated soft drinks and juice maker Sosyo Hajoori Beverages Pvt Ltd.
• It had previously acquired the Campa brand from Pure Drinks group for a reported Rs 22 crore.
• And now, it has re-launched the Campa brand of beverages.
• Campa-Cola was a popular soft drink brand in the 1970s and 1980s but fizzed out with the entry of Coca-Cola and PepsiCo.
• RCPL is the FMCG arm and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Reliance Retail Ventures Limited (RRVL).

CURRENT AFFAIRS : INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Bilawal Bhutto becomes 1st Pakistan foreign minister to visit India in 12 years

• Pakistan’s foreign minister Mr Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari arrived in Goa, India to attend a conclave of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), becoming the first senior leader from the neighbouring country to visit India in almost 12 years.
• Bhutto travelled to Goa from Karachi and will attend the SCO foreign ministers’ meeting at Taj Exotica Resort.
• Hina Rabbani Khar, currently minister of state for foreign affairs, was the last Pakistani foreign minister to travel to India in July 2011 for talks with her Indian counterpart.
• India is holding the chairmanship of the SCO for the year 2023.
• The 6th Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Supreme Audit Institutions (SAI) Leaders’ Meeting, hosted by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India was held in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh (UP) from February 6 to 8, 2023.

About SCO :

• Established : 15 June 2001
• Headquarters : Beijing, China
• Secretary General : Zhang Ming
• Membership : 8 member states (China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, India, Pakistan)
• India was granted observer status in 2005 & the status of full member in
• Iran will be the newest member (9th) of the SCO, when it joins the forum in 2023 under the chairmanship of India.

About Pakistan :

• President : Arif Alvi
• Prime Minister : Shehbaz Sharif
• Capital : Islamabad
• Currency : Pakistani rupee

CURRENT AFFAIRS : STATE NEWS

Rajasthan government launches Cattle insurance scheme to benefit 2 million rearers   

• Looking at the importance of animal husbandry in the economy of Rajasthan, the state government is providing schemes, including recently launched insurance cover for milch cattle.
• Livestock accounts for 8-9% of state GDP.
• In inflation-relief camps, or “Mehangai Rahat” camps, a scheme of Rajasthan Chief Minister Shri Ashok Gehlot, launched on April 24, 2023 and slated to continue till June 30,2023 those in cattle rearing are being provided insurance cover of Rs 40,000 each for two milch cows under the Mukhyamantri Kamdhenu Pashu Bima Yojana.
• According to the scheme, Rs 750 crore would be spent a year and more than 2 million cattle rearers would benefit from it.
• The scheme is free for rearers with an annual income up to Rs 8 lakh a year, while those earning more have to pay Rs 200 per animal per annum.

About Rajasthan :

• Governor : Kalraj Mishra
• Chief Minister : Ashok Gehlot
• Capital : Jaipur
• National Park : Keoladeo National Park, Ranthambore National Park
• Wildlife Sanctuary : Bassi Wildlife Sanctuary, Kumbhalgarh Wildlife Sanctuary

CURRENT AFFAIRS : APPOINTMENTS & RESIGNATIONS

Conservative economist Santiago Pena elected as next President of Paraguay

• Conservative Economist and former finance minister Santiago Pena won the Paraguay presidential election 2023.
• Santiago Pena will be 52nd President of Paraguay on Aug 15, 2023.
• He won 43% of the vote in the Presidential election & defeated opposition candidate Efrain Alegre who secured 28% votes.
• He will replace Mario Abdo Benítez who is serving as the president of Paraguay since 2018.
• The incumbent conservative Colorado Party had governed the country for 71 of the past 76 years.

About Paraguay :

• President : Mario Abdo Benítez
• Capital : Asunción
• Currency : Guaraní

Accenture appoints Ajay Vij as Country Managing Director in India

• Accenture has appointed Ajay Vij to the newly created role of Country Managing Director (MD).
• Rekha M. Menon, Senior Managing Director and Chairperson for Accenture in India, will retire as of June 30, 2023.
• The primary responsibilities of the Chairperson will now be undertaken by the new appointees.
• As country managing director, he will expand his current responsibilities as the Corporate Services & Sustainability lead for India to provide overall leadership and drive coordinated decision-making for key company priorities.
• Sandeep Dutta has been appointed as the head of Accenture’s India market unit.
• Now, Dutta, would serve as the company’s India business lead responsible for driving business and operations in the domestic market, focusing on growth, market differentiation, and clients.

About Accenture :

• Founded : 1989
• Headquarters : Dublin, Ireland
• Accenture plc is an Irish-American professional services company based in Dublin, specialising in information technology services and consulting.

Mark Nicholas to become new President of Marylebone Cricket Club

• English cricket commentator and former cricketer Mark Nicholas has been named as the next president of the prestigious Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC).
• He will serve a 12-month term as President, taking up the post on 1 October 2023.
• His appointment was announced by the current President, Stephen Fry, at the Club’s Annual General Meeting held earlier.

About Mark Nicholas :

• Mark, who was elected as a Member of MCC in 1981, is one of the most recognisable figures in televised cricket, leading coverage at the very top of the game across the world.
• He scored over 25,000 runs – including an unbeaten hundred for MCC at Lord’s against the 1985 Australians – and took 173 wickets in a professional career spanning over two decades.
• He also captained Hampshire to 4 major trophies, three of which came in finals at Lord’s.

About MCC :

• Marylebone Cricket Club is a cricket club founded in 1787 and based since 1814 at Lord’s Cricket Ground, which it owns, in St John’s Wood, London.
• The club was formerly the governing body of cricket retaining considerable global influence.

CURRENT AFFAIRS : ACQUISITIONS & MERGERS

CCI approves acquisition of shareholding of Tower Vision by Ascend Telecom Infrastructure Private Limited and GIP EM   

• The Competition Commission of India (CCI) approves the acquisition of shareholding of Tower Vision India Private Limited by Ascend Telecom Infrastructure Private Limited and GIP EM Ascend 2 Pte. Ltd.
• The proposed combination pertains to acquisition of Ascend Telecom Infrastructure Private Limited (Ascend) and GIP EM Ascend 2 Pte. Ltd. (GIP EM) (collectively, Acquirers) of 100% of the shareholding of Tower Vision India Private Limited (Target) (Proposed Combination).

Key Highlights :

• The Acquirers are entirely owned by funds/investment vehicles managed by entities that are ultimately controlled by Global Infrastructure Management LLC (GIM LLC).
• Ascend is engaged in providing passive telecommunication infrastructure services through towers in India while GIP EM is presently not engaged in any business operations.
• The Target is controlled by Tower Vision Mauritius Limited and is engaged in the provision of passive telecommunication infrastructure services through towers in India.

About CCI :

• Established : 14 October 2003
• Headquarters : New Delhi, Delhi, India
• Chairman : Sangeeta Verma
• Secretary : P K Singh
• The CCI is the chief national competition regulator in
• It is a statutory body within the Ministry of Corporate Affairs.

India’s Bharti Airtel & Sri Lanka’s Dialog Axiata sign binding term sheet for merger of their Sri Lankan subsidiaries

• Sri Lanka’s top mobile telecommunication firm, largest telecommunications provider Dialog Axiata and India’s Bharti Airtel have signed a binding term sheet for the merger of their Sri Lankan subsidiaries.
• With this merger, Bharti Airtel will get access to a large customer base in Sri Lanka.
• Dialog Axiata which is a subsidiary of Malaysian Axiata, informed of the proposed merger in a disclosure to Colombo Stock Exchange.

Key Highlights :

• The proposed transaction envisages Airtel being granted a stake in Dialog, representing fair value of Airtel Lanka.
• The disclosure added that Airtel would be issued new shares in Dialog upon completion of the transaction.
• Further, discussions with respect to the proposed transaction are ongoing between the parties and also with the relevant regulatory authorities as per applicable laws and regulations.

About Dialog Axiata PLC :

• Established : 27 August 1993
• Headquarters : Colombo, Sri Lanka
• Director & Chief Executive Officer : Supun Weerasinghe
• Dialog is a subsidiary of Axiata Group Berhad which owns 32% controlling stake of the company, while the rest is held by the public.

CCI approves acquisition by Mr. Sanjay Chamria (SC) of certain equity shares of Jaguar & Magma HDI 

• The Competition Commission of India (CCI) approves the acquisition by Mr. Sanjay Chamria (SC) of certain equity shares of Jaguar Advisory Services Private Limited (Jaguar), resulting in an indirect acquisition of certain equity shares of Magma HDI General Insurance Company Limited (Magma HDI) by SC.
• The proposed combination is in the nature of an acquisition by Mr. Sanjay Chamria of an aggregate of 11,500 equity shares of Jaguar held by Poonawalla Fincorp Limited (PFL) and HDI Global SE (HDI), constituting 51.11% of the total equity share capital of Jaguar resulting in an indirect acquisition by SC of approximately 5.44% of the equity share capital of Magma HDI (Proposed Combination).
• SC, an individual, is engaged in investing directly and through entities owned by him in various listed and unlisted enterprises.
• Jaguar is a company incorporated in India engaged in the business of provision of manpower supply services.
• Magma HDI is a company incorporated in India engaged in the business of general / non-life insurance in India and offers a complete range of general / non-life insurance products.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: AWARDS AND HONOURS

Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya, Nadia, West Bengal wins 1st prize in 24th National Youth Parliament Competition, 2022-23

• Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya, Nadia, West Bengal won the first prize in the 24th National Youth Parliament Competition, 2022-23.
• Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs has been organising Youth Parliament Competitions in Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas for the past 26 years.
• The Youth Parliament Scheme aims at inculcating among the younger generations the spirit of self-discipline, righteous expression of views, and other virtues of a democratic way of life.
• 80 Vidyalayas spread over 8 regions of Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti participated in the 24th National Youth Parliament Competition.
• The main of the Youth Parliament Scheme is to inculcate the spirit of self-discipline, righteous expression of views, and other virtues of a democratic way of life among youths.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: MOUS AND AGREEMENT

Viacom18 secures HBO deal in India for ₹1,000cr

• Reliance Industries Ltd-controlled Viacom18 has signed a three-year deal with Warner Bros.
• Discovery that will allow the broadcaster to stream popular HBO Originals, HBO as well as Warner Bros. content on JioCinema starting next month.
• The deal is pegged at ₹900-1,000 crore and will help JioCinema attract premium English content-consuming audiences, which so far hadn’t seen value in the platform.
• In July last year, Amazon Prime Video signed a one-year deal with Warner Bros. D
• Discovery to offer a slate of 11 HBO Max Original series and 10 HBO Max original features exclusively on the service for Prime members in India as it looked to expand its catalogue of English entertainment.
• With Warner Bros. Discovery signing an exclusive deal with Viacom18, the deal with Prime Video is not expected to be renewed.

About Viacom18

• Viacom18 Media Private Limited is a Mumbai-based media company; it is a joint venture between Network18 Group—a subsidiary of Reliance Industries, and Paramount Global.
• It was founded in 2007 and owns various channels, as well as content production studios in India.
• CEO: Jyoti S. Deshpande
• Founded: November 2007

Tesla Power USA inks pact with Indian Oil Corp to sell batteries at petrol pumps

• Tesla Power USA has inked an agreement with Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) to sell and service batteries at the state-owned firm’s petrol pumps.
• The partnership will enable Tesla Power to sell and service batteries at over 36,000 IOCL petrol pumps across India.
• This will be the first national-level tie-up with Indian Oil Corporation Ltd for battery distribution.

About IOCL:

• Headquarters: New Delhi
• Founded: 30 June 1959
• Chairman: Shrikant Madhav Vaidya

CURRENT AFFAIRS : SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Airtel develops Artificial Intelligence based solution to tackle fraud messages

• Bharti Airtel, one of India’s largest telecommunications companies, has developed an artificial intelligence (AI)/machine learning-based solution to proactively detect, prevent, and eliminate phishing, spam, and fraud through messaging, and is testing it in partnership with HDFC Bank, a leading Indian financial institution.
• “Direct connectivity has been established between Airtel and HDFC to help secure end-to-end SMS (short messaging service) connectivity and flagging any other route,”.
• The solution uses an anti-spam filter that can detect and block up to two million messages per day.
• In April, 2023 Vodafone Idea (Vi) became the first telecom operator to showcase its anti-phishing solution to Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) as well as financial regulators the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).

About Bharti Airtel :

• Founded : 7 July 1995
• Headquarters : New Delhi, Delhi, India
• MD & CEO : Gopal Vittal

Dhruva Space successfully deploys its satellite orbital deployers & orbital link on PSLV-C55

• Dhruva Space Private Limited has announced the successful test and space-qualification of its ‘3U Satellite Orbital Deployers (DSOD-3U) and 6U Satellite Orbital Deployers’ (DSOD-6U) and ‘Orbital Link’ on board Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) PSLV-C55 mission
• The launch took place from the first launch pad at Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh.
• The Dhruva Space utilised the PSLV Orbital Experimental Module (POEM) which allows in-orbit scientific experiments using the spent PS4 stage as an orbital platform.

Key Highlights :

• For PSLV-C55, the company’s 3U Satellite Orbital Deployer (DSOD-3U) saw successful deployment status shortly after launch.
• The DSOD-6U, designed for the storage and delayed deployment of ‘CubeSats’ into low earth orbit and higher orbits.
• Dhruva Space Orbital Link (DSOL) has been designed and was successfully tested and space-qualified to support satellite-based data relay applications.
• The configurable transceiver was made for telemetry, telecommand and control, and payload data download with high data rates with successful reception confirmed from ISTRAC – ISRO’s Telemetry Tracking & Command Network, Port Blair ground station.

About Dhruva Space :

• Founded : 2012
• Headquarters : Hyderabad, Telangana, India
• CEO : Sanjay Srikanth Nekkanti
• Dhruva Space Private Limited is an Indian private aerospace manufacturer.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: SPORTS NEWS

Bindyarani Devi clinches silver medal in 55kg category at Asian Weightlifting Championships

• In Weightlifting, India’s Bindyarani Devi has clinched a silver medal in the women’s 55kg category at the Asian Weightlifting Championships 2023 in Jinju, South Korea.
• Sorokhaibam Bindyarani Devi registered a combined lift of 194 kg to finish second on the podium.
• China’s Chen Guan Ling won the gold medal with a combined lift of 204 kg.
• Meanwhile in the men’s 61kg category Group B, Shubham Todkar lifted a combined weight of 263kg to finish sixth among nine competitors.
• Commonwealth Games champion Jeremy Lalrinnunga will be in action in 67kg category.
• The 20-year-old has given an entry total weight of 300kg.
• The Asian Weightlifting Championships 2023 is the second in the series of qualifying events for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games

About IWF:

• President: Mohammed Jalood
• Headquarters: Lausanne, Switzerland
• Founded: 1905

About South Korea:

• President: Yoon Suk Yeol Trending
• Capital: Seoul
• Prime minister: Han Duck-soo
• Currency: Won

Daily CA One-Liner: May 9

• BharatPe Group, one of India’s leading names in the fintech industry, announced that it will be rebranding PAYBACK India, the multi-brand loyalty program to ‘Zillion’.
• Union Minister for Finance & Corporate Affairs Nirmala Sitharaman will lead the Indian delegation to attend the 56th Annual General Meeting of the Board of Governors of Asian Development Bank (ADB) along with Investor/ Bilateral and other associated meetings, in Incheon, the Republic of Korea.
• The Ministry of Finance (MoF) has allowed 22 financial companies, including Amazon Pay (India) and Hero FinCorp, to undertake Aadhaar-based authentication of clients.
• HDFC has decided to sell its student loan subsidiary ahead of its merger with HDFC Bank and has appointed an investment banker for the stake sale.
• Pakistan’s foreign minister Mr Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari arrived in Goa, India to attend a conclave of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), becoming the first senior leader from the neighbouring country to visit India in almost 12 years.
• Looking at the importance of animal husbandry in the economy of Rajasthan, the state government is providing schemes, including recently launched insurance cover for milch cattle.
• Conservative Economist and former finance minister Santiago Pena won the Paraguay presidential election 2023.
• Accenture has appointed Ajay Vij to the newly created role of Country Managing Director (MD).
• English cricket commentator and former cricketer Mark Nicholas has been named as the next president of the prestigious Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC).
• The Competition Commission of India (CCI) approves the acquisition of shareholding of Tower Vision India Private Limited by Ascend Telecom Infrastructure Private Limited and GIP EM Ascend 2 Pte. Ltd.
• Sri Lanka’s top mobile telecommunication firm, largest telecommunications provider Dialog Axiata and India’s Bharti Airtel have signed a binding term sheet for the merger of their Sri Lankan subsidiaries.
• The Competition Commission of India (CCI) approves the acquisition by Mr. Sanjay Chamria (SC) of certain equity shares of Jaguar Advisory Services Private Limited (Jaguar), resulting in an indirect acquisition of certain equity shares of Magma HDI General Insurance Company Limited (Magma HDI) by SC.
• Bharti Airtel,one of India’s largest telecommunications companies, has developed an artificial intelligence (AI)/machine learning-based solution to proactively detect, prevent, and eliminate phishing, spam, and fraud through messaging, and is testing it in partnership with HDFC Bank, a leading Indian financial institution.
• Central government invoked Article 355 after the situation worsened in Manipur
• A month after the record handling performance in the last financial year, India’s premier container port, Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority (JNPA) has achieved yet another milestone
• Union Minister of Ports, Shipping & Waterways and Ayush, Shri Sarbananda Sonowal visited the construction site of India’s first International Multi Modal Logistics park in Jogighopa, Assam to review the progress
• The Ministry of Home Affairs has recently decided to introduce Millets, Shree Anna in the meals of personnel of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) and National Disaster Response Force (NDRF
• Zoom Video Communications (ZVC) has secured a pan-India telecom licence that will enable it to offer telephone services to enterprise customers
• Billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance re-launched the 50-year-old iconic beverage brand Campa Cola in a new contemporise avatar as it looks to ramp up its own consumer goods offering to take on competition from Adani, ITC and Unilever
• Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya, Nadia, West Bengal won the first prize in the 24th National Youth Parliament Competition, 2022-23
• Reliance Industries Ltd-controlled Viacom18 has signed a three-year deal with Warner Bros
• Tesla Power USA has inked an agreement with Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) to sell and service batteries at the state-owned firm’s petrol pumps
• In Weightlifting, India’s Bindyarani Devi has clinched a silver medal in the women’s 55kg category at the Asian Weightlifting Championships 2023 in Jinju, South Korea
• Dhruva Space Private Limited has announced the successful test and space-qualification of its ‘3U Satellite Orbital Deployers (DSOD-3U) and 6U Satellite Orbital Deployers’ (DSOD-6U) and ‘Orbital Link’ on board Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) PSLV-C55 mission