23rd June, 2023

1. National Highways Authority of India has launched a ‘Knowledge Sharing’ platform on its website for sharing of knowledge and innovative best practices.
2. Indian Army has concluded a massive military exercise — Agneyastra 1 — in eastern Ladakh.
3. India and the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) have signed an agreement to enhance cooperation and identify areas of mutual interest.
4. Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) has signed an MOU with its Argentine counterpart Fabrica Argentina de Aviones (FAdeA) for collaboration in the aerospace sector.
5. Defence PSU Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) has signed an MoU with HFCL Limited to indigenously develop and deploy emerging technologies and technical solutions to address the requirements of defence, telecom and railway sectors.
6. According to the UNICEF, extreme weather events around the world led to 12 million displacements of children in 2022.
7. Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG), Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, has released the Grievance Redressal Assessment and Index (GRAI) 2022.
8. World Bank has released its Migration and Development Brief 38: Remittances Remain Resilient but are Slowing report.
9. World Economic Forum has released the Global Gender Gap Report 2023 (17th edition).
10. According to the latest data released by the National Statistical Office (NSO), the adoption of the National Pension System (NPS) by employees of central government and central public sector enterprises (CPSEs) declined marginally to 17,459 in April from 18,946 in March.
11. Goldman Sachs (US-based investment bank) has predicted the Indian economy and market will be among the top globally by 2050 and even surpass the US by 2075.
12. According to the data released by the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA), the growth in enrolments of Atal Pension Yojana (APY) in FY23 witnessed 24% growth for the minimum pension of Rs 1,000.
13. IndiGo, India’s largest airline by market share, has placed a firm order for 500 A320 Family aircraft.
14. Insurance regulator IRDAI has extended the scope of the ‘Use and File’ procedure to cover more life insurance products.
15. Axis Bank launched ‘One-View’ – its latest feature on Axis Mobile Application.
16. Fitch Ratings raised its growth forecast for the India to 6.3% for 2023-24.
17. Petteri Orpo has been appointed as the PM of Finland.
18. June 21 – World Music Day; Theme – “Music on the Intersections”
19. Chennai-based lawyer-activist Lalitha Natarajan has been awarded the 2023 Iqbal Masih Award for the Elimination of Child Labour by the US.
20. Two films from the WHO South-East Asia Region have won awards at this year’s Health for All Film Festival (HAFF) organized by WHO.
21. Tata Power emerged as India’s most attractive employer brand in 2023, followed by Amazon and Tata Steel, according to HR services firm Randstad.
22. ‘2022 Burgundy Private Hurun India 500: A Six-Month Update’ has been released by Burgundy Pvt (Axis Bank’s entity) and Hurun India.
23. Asia Cup 2023 will be played from August 31 to September 17 in a hybrid model in Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
24. Cormac McCarthy (American writer) has passed away.

National News

1. National Highways Authority of India has launched a ‘Knowledge Sharing’ platform on its website for sharing of knowledge and innovative best practices.
   Source: PIB

Defence News

1. Indian Army has concluded a massive military exercise — Agneyastra 1 — in eastern Ladakh.
   Source: Swarajyamag

Memorandum of Understanding

1. India and the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) have signed an agreement to enhance cooperation and identify areas of mutual interest.
   • It was signed during the 4th G20 Tourism Working Group Meeting and Tourism Ministers’ Meeting.
     Source: ET and G20
2. Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) has signed an MOU with its Argentine counterpart Fabrica Argentina de Aviones (FAdeA) for collaboration in the aerospace sector.
   • India is also looking to export its Light Combat Aircraft to Argentine.
   • HAL and FAdeA signed an MoU during Paris Air Show, 2023.
     Source: HT
3. Defence PSU Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) has signed an MoU with HFCL Limited to indigenously develop and deploy emerging technologies and technical solutions to address the requirements of defence, telecom and railway sectors.
   Source: IE

International News

1. According to the UNICEF, extreme weather events around the world led to 12 million displacements of children in 2022
   • These events included unprecedented floods in Pakistan and the drought in the Horn of Africa drought among others.
   • Overall, an estimated 43.3 million were forcibly displaced across the world by the end of 2022 — 40% of the total population of displaced individuals.
   • The number of refugee and asylum-seeking children worldwide also reached a new high of 17.5 million in 2022.
     Source: DTE

Reports and Indices

1. Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG), Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, has released the Grievance Redressal Assessment and Index (GRAI) 2022.
   • There has been a decline of almost 50% in the average disposal time for Central Ministries/Departments from 32 days in 2021 to 18 days in 2023.
   • 89 Central Ministries and Departments were assessed and ranked in 2022.
   • To compute it, data between January and December 2022, was used from Centralised Public Grievance Redressal and Management System (CPGRAMS).
   • Ministries and Departments were grouped in three groups based on the number of grievances registered in 2022 at CPGRAMS.

• 2022 Toppers
  • Group A: Department of Posts (1st), UIDAI (2nd)
  • Group B: Department of Financial Services (Pension Reforms) (1st), Department of Legal Affairs (2nd)
  • Group C: Department of Land Resources (1st), Department of Pharmaceuticals (2nd)
• The index ranks Central Ministries/Departments ranked based on four dimensions of (1) Efficiency, (2) Feedback, (3) Domain and (4) Organisational Commitment and corresponding 12 indicators.
  Source: PIB

2. World Bank has released its Migration and Development Brief 38: Remittances Remain Resilient but are Slowing
   • Remittance flows to low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) are estimated to grow by 1.4% to $656 billion in 2023.
   • This edition of the Brief also increases remittances flow projections for 2022 to 8%, reaching $647 billion.
   • The top five recipient countries for remittances in 2022 were India (receiving $111 billion), Mexico ($61 billion), China ($51 billion), the Philippines ($38 billion), and Pakistan ($30 billion).
   • Remittance flows to South Asia grew by over 12% in 2022 to $176 billion. Flows to India grew by 24% to reach $111 billion.

3. World Economic Forum has released the Global Gender Gap Report 2023 (17th edition).
   • Parameters/ sub-indices – Economic Participation and Opportunity, Educational Attainment, Health and Survival, and Political Empowerment
   • Total – 146 countries
   • Top – Iceland, Norway, and Finland
   • India’s rank – 127th

• Bottom –

• Progress in closing the gender gap –

About the Index –

• The Global Gender Gap Index measures scores on a 0 to 100 scale.
• 2023 Sub-Indices Rankings –

• The Global Gender Gap Index rankings by region, 2023

Source: Official Report

Banking and Economy

1. According to the latest data released by the National Statistical Office (NSO), the adoption of the National Pension System (NPS) by employees of central government and central public sector enterprises (CPSEs) declined marginally to 17,459 in April from 18,946 in March.
   • Of the new subscribers joining NPS in April under the central government and CPSEs, the share of women subscr­ibers increased marginally to 21.9% from 21.2% in March.
   • The new subscribers under the state governments fell by 42 per cent to 38,909 in April from 66,640 in March.

2. Goldman Sachs (US-based investment bank) has predicted the Indian economy and market will be among the top globally by 2050 and even surpass the US by 2075.
   • This information was given in “The Path to 2075-Capital Market Size and Opportunity”.
   • The growth in Emerging Markets (EM) will continue to replace the developed market. 7 out of the top 10 world economies, at present, will become EMs by 2075.
   • India will record the largest increase in global market cap share – from a little under 3% in 2022 to 8% in 2050, and 12% in 2075.

3. According to the data released by the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA), the growth in enrolments of Atal Pension Yojana (APY) in FY23 witnessed 24% growth for the minimum pension of Rs 1,000.
   • On the other hand, the enrolments under higher pension slabs declined during the year.
   • Enrolments under the pension slabs of Rs 2,000, Rs 3,000, Rs 4,000 and Rs 5,000 declined by 5.3%, 8.2%, 10.6% and 12.6%, respectively, in FY23.
   • The share of enrolments under these pension slabs out of the total new enrolments in a financial year declined from 61.4% in FY16 to 7.9% in FY23.
   • Majority of unorganised workers, who opted for the Rs 1,000 slab, are in the age group of 21-30 years.
   • Enrolments under the slab of Rs 1,000 saw a growth of 24% to around 11 million in FY23.
   • The highest growth was recorded in Haryana and Punjab at 62% and 52%, respectively.
   • Among the 17 states, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, and Punjab are the only states that saw growth in collective enrolments in pension slabs between Rs 2,000 and Rs 5,000 in FY23.

4. IndiGo, India’s largest airline by market share, has placed a firm order for 500 A320 Family aircraft.
   • It is the world’s biggest A320 order and it is the biggest single purchase agreement in the history of commercial aviation.
     Source: Airbus
5. Insurance regulator IRDAI has extended the scope of the ‘Use and File’ procedure to cover more life insurance products.
   • Meaning – It allows insurers to launch a product first and then submit details to the regulator subsequently.
   • This procedure has now been extended to group unit-linked insurance products, individual ULIPs which are offered with new funds and combi products in which the life insurer acts as the lead.
     Source: The Hindu
6. Axis Bank launched ‘One-View’ – its latest feature on Axis Mobile Application.
   • Axis Bank is the first private sector Bank to introduce this new-age banking feature leveraging the Account Aggregator ecosystem to create a seamless banking experience for its customers.
   • This feature simplifies the process of managing finances for customers, by providing them access to multiple bank accounts on one single platform, enabling them to track their balances and spends on a real-time basis.
     Source: Axis Bank

GDP Forecasts

1. Fitch Ratings raised its growth forecast for the India to 6.3% for 2023-24.
   • The Reserve Bank of India projects the economy will grow 6.5% in FY24.
     Source: Reuters

Appointments

1. Petteri Orpo has been appointed as the PM of Finland.
   • Capital – Helsinki; Currency – The Euro
   • Recently, it became a member of NATO. It shares land borders with Russia, Sweden, and Norway.
   • It shares the sea borders with Baltic Sea.
     Source: HT

Important Days

1. June 21 – World Music Day; Theme – “Music on the Intersections”
   Source: IE

Awards

1. Chennai-based lawyer-activist Lalitha Natarajan has been awarded the 2023 Iqbal Masih Award for the Elimination of Child Labour by the US.
   • The Iqbal Masih Award is a US Congress-mandated, non-monetary award established by the Secretary of Labor in 2008 that honours extraordinary contributions to combat child labour.
   • The award commemorates World Day Against Child Labour (June 12).
     Source: ANI

2. Two films from the WHO South-East Asia Region have won awards at this year’s Health for All Film Festival (HAFF) organized by WHO.
   • 1st – ‘One in 36 million: Story of Childhood Lead Poisoning in Bangladesh’, directed by Arifur Rahma and Mitali Das and produced by Pure Earth Bangladesh won the award under the Better Health and Well-being category.
   • 2nd – ‘When Climate Change Turns Violent’, a film by Vandita Sariya from India, won the Special Prize under the Climate Change and Health category.
     Source: WHO
3. Tata Power emerged as India’s most attractive employer brand in 2023, followed by Amazon and Tata Steel, according to HR services firm Randstad.
   Source: Fortune India
4. ‘2022 Burgundy Private Hurun India 500: A Six-Month Update’ has been released by Burgundy Pvt (Axis Bank’s entity) and Hurun India.
   • Top – Reliance Industries Ltd, followed by Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), and HDFC Bank
     Source: LiveMint

Sports

1. Asia Cup 2023 will be played from August 31 to September 17 in a hybrid model in Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
   Source: TOI

Miscellaneous

1. Cormac McCarthy (American writer) has passed away.
   Source: NY Times

Start Quiz of 23rd June 2023 on Mobile

Start Quiz of 23rd June 2023 on Desktop