24th-25th May, 2023

1. Union Minister of Ports, Shipping & Waterways (MoPSW) and Ayush, Shri Sarbananda Sonowal, has made five major announcements under the ‘Panch Karma Sankalp’.
2. Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs, Shri Hardeep S. Puri launched MoHUA’s mega campaign ‘Meri LiFE, Mera Swachh Shehar’.
3. Union Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry has extended the deadline of its Smart Cities Mission from June 2023 to June 2024 to enable all 100 smart cities to not only complete their projects but also document and disseminate the learnings from the mission.
4. Uttarakhand Metro Rail Corporation (UKMRC) has announced its plans to develop state-of-the-art rapid transit systems in Dehradun, Haridwar, and Rishikesh.
5. Uttar Pradesh govt, in collaboration with IIT-Kanpur, has launched ‘Pahal’ initiative at the Government UP Sainik Inter College, Sarojini Nagar in Lucknow.
6. Puducherry administration has signed a pact with L&T Engineering Limited to augment infrastructure in tourism spots.
7. Odisha has signed an MOU with Infosys and NASSCOM for undertaking up-skilling and developing the employability of students of Odisha’s Higher Education Institutions.
8. The annual five-day-long Great Prayer Festival, “Ladakh Monlam Chenmo,” a mass prayer camp by Buddhist monks and nuns for world peace and happiness was held in Leh, Ladakh.
9. Garuda Aerospace and Naini Aerospace Engineering Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL), have signed a joint development partnership to manufacture advanced precision drones.
10. Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers Ltd has launched the GRSE Accelerated Innovation Nurturing Scheme (GAINS 2023) to support the start-up ecosystem in India.
11. Startup Incubation and Innovation Centre (SIIC) of the IIT-Kanpur and YES Bank have signed an MoU to identify innovative startups and extend them the required financial support.
12. International Arbitration & Mediation Centre, Hyderabad has signed an MOU with the Energy Disputes Arbitration Center (EDAC) of Türkiye in Istanbul.
13. WHO has launched International Pathogen Surveillance Network (IPSN) to help protect people from infectious disease threats through the power of pathogen genomics.
14. According to the data from the World Meteorological Department, extreme weather, climate and water-related events caused 573 disasters in India between 1970 and 2021 that claimed 1,38,377 lives.
15. According to the International property consultant Knight Frank’s ‘Data Centre Q1 2023’ report, Shanghai, Tokyo and Mumbai have emerged as the top data centre markets in the Asia-Pacific region.
16. World Bank has released the annual “State and Trends of Carbon Pricing” report at Innovate4Climate, the flagship climate action event of the World Bank Group, held this year in Bilbao, Spain, from May 23 to 25.
17. Boston Consulting Group (BCG) has released a report of the top 50 companies in 2023 that are most innovative in their operations.
18. JSW Steel has signed an agreement with JFE Steel to establish a 50:50 joint venture company (JV) to manufacture cold-rolled grain-oriented (CRGO) electrical steel in India.
19. Bank of Baroda has launched two innovative customer service initiatives to allow its customers to effortlessly get in touch with the Bank and seamlessly address their banking queries.
20. RBI has approved the transfer of Rs 87,416 crore as dividend, to the Union Government for the accounting year 2022-23.
21. Google Pay, in collaboration with the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), has rolled out support for RuPay credit cards on Unified Payments Interface (UPI).
22. Public sector banks’ cumulative profit has crossed the ₹1 lakh crore mark in the financial year ended March 2023.
23. CCAvenue, a payments aggregator in the Middle East and a part of the Infibeam Avenues group, has partnered with PayPal to provide global payment acceptance solutions for businesses in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.
24. Axis Bank has launched ‘Sarathi’, a first of its kind digital onboarding journey, to enable onboarding of merchants for Electronic Data Capture (EDC) or Point of Sale (POS) for merchants.
25. Plotch, which aims to bring over 10,000 sellers to the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC), has launched an ONDC-focused payment solution NodePe, in collaboration with IDFC First Bank.
26. SBI General Insurance has launch the General Surety Bond Bima (Conditional & Unconditional)’ insurance product.
27. Sony Sports Network has roped in Sania Mirza as the Tennis Ambassador for Sony Sports Network.
28. Former Indian Cricket captain Sourav Ganguly has become the tourism brand ambassador of the Tripura state government and will promote sporting talents of the state.
29. IDBI Bank has appointed Jayakumar S. Pillai as Deputy Managing Director on the Bank’s Board for 3 years.
30. Paytm Payments Bank has received RBI approval to re-appoint Paytm CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma as part-time chairman for a year.
31. 3rd Friday in May (May 19, 2023) – National Endangered Species Day (in United States)
32. May 23 – International Day to End Obstetric Fistula; Theme – “20 years on – progress but not enough! Act now to end fistula by 2030!”
33. May 23 – World Turtle Day; Theme – ‘I love Turtles’
34. The regional winners of the Commonwealth Short Story Prize 2023 have been announced.
35. Twenty countries and territories are represented on Forbes’ 30 Under 30 Asia 2023 list. India ranked first with 75 entries, followed by China (34), Japan (32), Singapore (30) and South Korea (28).
36. “Time Shelter” novel, written by Georgi Gospodinov and translated into English by Angela Rodel, has won the International Booker Prize 2023.
37. Renowned Telugu writer strong>Kethu Viswanatha Reddy has passed away.

National News

1. Union Minister of Ports, Shipping & Waterways (MoPSW) and Ayush, Shri Sarbananda Sonowal, has made five major announcements under the ‘Panch Karma Sankalp’.
   • The announcements are –
   • MoPSW will provide 30% financial support for the promotion of Green Shipping;
   • Under the Green Tug Transition Programme, Jawaharlal Nehru Port, VO Chidambaranar Port, Paradip Port and Deendayal Port, Kandla will procure two tugs each;
   • Deendayal Port and VO Chidambaranar Port, Tuticorin will be developed as Green Hydrogen Hub;
   • Single Window Portal to facilitate and monitor river and sea cruises;
   • Jawaharlal Nehru Port and VO Chidambaranar Port, Tuticorin will become smart port by next year.
   • In the last 8 years under the Sagarmala Programme, 90 port modernisation projects have been completed.
   • The cargo handled by coastal shipping has grown to 151 MMTPA (Million Metric Tonnes Per Annum) in 2022-23 which was 74 MMTPA in 2014-15.
   • All these announcements were made during the ministry’s second Chintan Shibir held in Munnar, Kerala.
     Source: PIB
2. Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs, Shri Hardeep S. Puri launched MoHUA’s mega campaign ‘Meri LiFE, Mera Swachh Shehar’.
   • The campaign is launched to champion the RRR’s of waste management- Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle.
   • The RRR Centres will serve as one-stop solution for citizens, institutions, commercial enterprises, etc. to deposit unused or used plastic items, clothes, shoes, footwear, books, and toys.
   • The Meri LiFE, Mera Swachh Shehar will culminate on 5th June, 2023 (World Environment Day) with the Pledge for LiFE.
     Source: PIB
3. Union Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry has extended the deadline of its Smart Cities Mission from June 2023 to June 2024 to enable all 100 smart cities to not only complete their projects but also document and disseminate the learnings from the mission.
   • The mission, which was launched in 2015, selected 100 cities through a competitive process from January 2016 to June 2018.
   • Under the mission, 66 of the cities are small, with less than 1 million population and are implementing two-thirds of the projects.
   • Under the mission, all 100 cities had set up integrated command and control centres at a total cost of Rs 11,775 crore.
   • In total, Rs 71,000 crore has been released to the cities, of which Rs 38,000 crore is from the Centre and the remaining from states and urban local bodies.
   • Around 90% of the released funds have been utilised and the Rs 8,000 crore that has been budgeted for 2023-2024 would be enough to complete the projects.
     Source: Indian Express

State News

1. Uttarakhand Metro Rail Corporation (UKMRC) has announced its plans to develop state-of-the-art rapid transit systems in Dehradun, Haridwar, and Rishikesh.
   • UKMRC GFX will be the nation’s first Neo Metro. It will be implemented on two corridors in Dehradun, while Haridwar will witness the introduction of the country’s inaugural Pod taxi.
   • The Neo Metro is a rubber tire-based mass transit system. It will draw power from an overhead electric conductor and operate on a dedicated elevated track.
     Source: NBMCW
2. Uttar Pradesh govt, in collaboration with IIT-Kanpur, has launched ‘Pahal’ initiative at the Government UP Sainik Inter College, Sarojini Nagar in Lucknow.
   • Under this programme, free online education will be provided at 10 government secondary schools of the state in the initial phase.
   • Through these classes, students of rural areas will be able to get the latest information related to science and mathematics.
   • On the occasion, the rural online education programme was started in 10 government schools in Uttar Pradesh. This facility will be provided in 40,000 schools in the state in the coming days.
   • This initiative is in line with PM Narendra Modi’s mantra of Triple S (skill, scale and speed), first you learn, scale-up and then through speed, benefit all the people.
     Source: HT
3. Puducherry administration has signed a pact with L&T Engineering Limited to augment infrastructure in tourism spots.
   • Purpose – to include the areas of Puducherry and Karaikal regions under the Centre’s Swadesh Darshan 2.0 scheme
   • Under the scheme, the government is expecting financial assistance of around ₹80 crore for each region to develop tourist places having heritage and cultural significance.
   • The Centre has appointed L&T Engineering Limited as its project management consultant for the Swadesh Darshan Scheme 2.0 in Puducherry and Karaikal regions.
     Source: The Hindu
4. Odisha has signed an MOU with Infosys and NASSCOM for undertaking up-skilling and developing the employability of students of Odisha’s Higher Education Institutions.
   • Infosys aims to provide digital skills to over 10 million people in India by 2025 through the Infosys Springboard program.

5. The annual five-day-long Great Prayer Festival, “Ladakh Monlam Chenmo,” a mass prayer camp by Buddhist monks and nuns for world peace and happiness was held in Leh, Ladakh.
   • The event is being organised by the All Ladakh Gonpa Association.
     Source: News on Air

Defence News

1. Garuda Aerospace and Naini Aerospace Engineering Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL), have signed a joint development partnership to manufacture advanced precision drones.
   • As part of the partnership, 5000 drones are planned in the first year.

2. Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers Ltd has launched the GRSE Accelerated Innovation Nurturing Scheme (GAINS 2023) to support the start-up ecosystem in India.
   • Under the program, the GRSE will identify and encourage the development of innovative solutions as part of the shipyard’s technology development efforts.
   • GAINS aims to address present and emerging challenges in the ship design and construction industry, and aims at achieving the objectives of Atmanirbhar Bharat.
   • GRSE has also launched the GAINS challenge (a two-stage process) to select the startups for support.
   • The selected entities would be given a sum of a maximum ₹5 lakh each, against delivery of the project report.
     Source: Hindu Business Line

Memorandum of Understanding

1. Startup Incubation and Innovation Centre (SIIC) of the IIT-Kanpur and YES Bank have signed an MoU to identify innovative startups and extend them the required financial support.
   • With this collaboration, both entities aim to enhance the startup ecosystem in India by granting them access to a diverse range of resources through YES Head-Startup program, a full-service banking solution for tech or tech-enabled startups.
     Source: IIT-K
2. International Arbitration & Mediation Centre, Hyderabad has signed an MOU with the Energy Disputes Arbitration Center (EDAC) of Türkiye in Istanbul.
   • Purpose – to promote arbitration and mediation on an international scale in the energy sector
   • IAMC Hyderabad is an international arbitration and mediation centre, established in 2021 as a public charitable trust authored by the then Chief Justice of India (NV Ramana).
     Source: IAMC

International News

1. WHO has launched International Pathogen Surveillance Network (IPSN) to help protect people from infectious disease threats through the power of pathogen genomics.
   • The platform will provide a platform to connect countries and regions, improving systems for collecting and analyzing samples, using these data to drive public health decision-making, and sharing that information more broadly.
   • The Secretariat of the IPSN will be hosted by the WHO Hub for Pandemic and Epidemic Intelligence.
   • It will work to detect and respond to disease threats before they become epidemics and pandemics, and to optimize routine disease surveillance.
   • The IPSN was launched on the sidelines of the World Health Assembly in Geneva.
     Source: WHO
2. According to the data from the World Meteorological Department, extreme weather, climate and water-related events caused 573 disasters in India between 1970 and 2021 that claimed 1,38,377 lives.
   • Globally, 11,778 reported disasters led to more than two million deaths and USD 4.3 trillion in economic losses during this period.
   • Over 90% of the reported deaths worldwide occurred in developing countries.
   • The information was revealed at the World Meteorological Congress 2023 in Geneva (quadrennial event) in Switzerland.
   • The “United Nations Early Warnings for All initiative” is one of the top strategic priorities due to be endorsed by the World Meteorological Congress, WMO’s top decision-making body.
   • The WMO aims to ensure that early warning services reach everyone on earth by the end of 2027.
   • Between 1970 and 2021, Asia accounted for 47% of all reported deaths worldwide, with tropical cyclones being the leading cause of reported deaths.
   • Tropical cyclone Nargis in 2008 led to 1,38,366 deaths. It had formed in the Bay of Bengal and
   • Bangladesh reported the highest number of human deaths (5,20,758) in Asia due to 281 events.
   • According to the Annual Statement on Climate of India of the India Meteorological Department, India recorded 2,227 human casualties due to extreme weather events in 2022.
     Source: The Print

Reports and Indices

1. According to the International property consultant Knight Frank’s ‘Data Centre Q1 2023’ report, Shanghai, Tokyo and Mumbai have emerged as the top data centre markets in the Asia-Pacific region.
   • The report was released in partnership with leading data centre research and analytics platform DC Byte.
   • The report focuses on nine rapidly emerging markets in APAC – Bangkok, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Mumbai, Seoul, Shanghai, Singapore, Sydney and Tokyo.
   • Mumbai is the only city from India in the study.
     Source: ET
2. World Bank has released the annual “State and Trends of Carbon Pricing” report at Innovate4Climate, the flagship climate action event of the World Bank Group, held this year in Bilbao, Spain, from May 23 to 25.
   • Revenues from carbon taxes and Emissions Trading Systems (ETS) have reached a record high about $95 billion.
   • This is despite the challenging context for governments facing high inflation, fiscal pressures, and energy crises.
     Source: World Bank
3. Boston Consulting Group (BCG) has released a report of the top 50 companies in 2023 that are most innovative in their operations.
   • Tata Group is the only Indian company to feature in the Top 50 list. It was placed in the twentieth spot in the list of most innovative companies in the world.
   • Apple has topped in this list.
     Source: Business Standard

Banking and Economy

1. JSW Steel has signed an agreement with JFE Steel to establish a 50:50 joint venture company (JV) to manufacture cold-rolled grain-oriented (CRGO) electrical steel in India.
   • JFE Steel holds a 15% equity stake in JSW Steel.
     Source: MoneyControl
2. Bank of Baroda has launched two innovative customer service initiatives to allow its customers to effortlessly get in touch with the Bank and seamlessly address their banking queries.
   • The Bank has introduced a Live Video Calling service – bob Video Chat and a Live Web Chat facility – bob Live Chat on its website.
   • In addition, the Bank has also launched an easy-to-remember, single 8-digit toll-free number – 1800 5700 – with 24x7x365 customer support, which is available in 11 languages.
   • Bank of Baroda is the first PSU bank to offer live video chat and live web chat services to its customers.

3. RBI has approved the transfer of Rs 87,416 crore as dividend, to the Union Government for the accounting year 2022-23.
   • This is a 188% jump from the last year’s (2021-22) surplus transfer of Rs 30,307 crore, which was also the lowest in 10 years.
   • The Union Budget had expected a dividend of around Rs 48,000 crore from both banks and RBI.
   • The RBI transferred Rs 99,126 crore in FY21 to the government. In FY19, it approved a record transfer of Rs 176,051 crore, including a surplus or dividend of Rs 1,23,414 crore and a one-time transfer of excess provisions of Rs 52,637 crore.
     Source: Indian Express

   
   
4. Google Pay, in collaboration with the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), has rolled out support for RuPay credit cards on Unified Payments Interface (UPI).
   • This means that Google Pay users can now link their RuPay credit cards with Google Pay to pay at all online and offline merchants where RuPay credit cards are accepted.
   • According to the GooglePay, this feature is available to RuPay credit card holders of Axis Bank, Bank of Baroda, Canara Bank, HDFC Bank, Indian Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Punjab National Bank and Union Bank of India.
     Source: Times of India

5. Public sector banks’ cumulative profit has crossed the ₹1 lakh crore mark in the financial year ended March 2023.
   • The profit of PSBs touched ₹1,04,649 crore in 2022-23. These 12 PSBs witnessed a 57% increase in total profit compared to ₹66,539.98 crore earned in 2021-22.
   • The government has implemented a comprehensive 4R strategy: Recognising NPAs transparently, Resolution and recovery, Recapitalising PSBs, and Reforms in the financial ecosystem.
   • As part of the strategy, the government infused a record of ₹3,10,997 crore to recapitalize PSBs during the last five financial years — from 2016-17 to 2020-21.

• Bank with highest profit – State Bank of India
• Banks with highest percentage of growth in profit – Bank of Maharashtra, followed by UCO Bank, and Bank of Baroda
• Bank with negative profit growth – Punjab National Bank

Source: LiveMint and Economic Times

6. CCAvenue, a payments aggregator in the Middle East and a part of the Infibeam Avenues group, has partnered with PayPal to provide global payment acceptance solutions for businesses in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.
   Source: TOI
7. Axis Bank has launched ‘Sarathi’, a first of its kind digital onboarding journey, to enable onboarding of merchants for Electronic Data Capture (EDC) or Point of Sale (POS) for merchants.
   • Now, the merchants are not required to fill out the cumbersome forms or wait for extended periods to have their POS terminals installed.
     Source: Axis Bank
8. Plotch, which aims to bring over 10,000 sellers to the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC), has launched an ONDC-focused payment solution NodePe, in collaboration with IDFC First Bank.
   • Founded in 2020 by Craftsvilla.com founders Manoj and Monica Gupta, Plotch has built-in technology support for businesses to launch their ecommerce buyer or seller app nodes on ONDC quickly.
   • NodePe will currently use the NOCS platform of National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) for payment settlement between parties.
   • The company will settle funds to sellers instantly upon delivery of the product by the seller.
   • According to a report by McKinsey, India’s digital consumption is expected to rise fivefold to reach $340 billion by 2030.
   • Indian e-commerce market is set to cross the $100 billion milestone by 2024.
     Source: ET
9. SBI General Insurance has launch the General Surety Bond Bima (Conditional & Unconditional)’ insurance product.
   • The Surety insurance product consists of a wide range of bonds, such as bid bonds, advance payment bond, performance bond, and retention money bond.
     Source: Business Standard

Appointments

1. Sony Sports Network has roped in Sania Mirza as the Tennis Ambassador for Sony Sports Network.
   • Sony Sports Network is the broadcaster to three out of the four Grand Slams, the Australian Open, Roland-Garros, US Open, along with the Davis Cup, making it the Home of Tennis in India.
   • Sania Mirza has won six Grand Slam titles across Australian Open (2), US Open (2), Roland Garros (1) & Wimbledon (1), including three women’s doubles titles and three mixed doubles titles.
     Source: ANI
2. Former Indian Cricket captain Sourav Ganguly has become the tourism brand ambassador of the Tripura state government and will promote sporting talents of the state.
   Source: Times of India
3. IDBI Bank has appointed Jayakumar S. Pillai as Deputy Managing Director on the Bank’s Board for 3 years.
   • IDBI Bank has two Deputy Managing Director (DMD) positions. The other DMD is Suresh Khatanhar.
   • Samuel Joseph Jebaraj (former DMD) has moved to the National Bank for Financing Infrastructure and Development (NaBFID) as Deputy Managing DIrector (Lending & Project Finance) in early April 2023.
     Source: Hindu Business Line
4. Paytm Payments Bank has received RBI approval to re-appoint Paytm CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma as part-time chairman for a year.
   Source: ET

Important Days

1. 3rd Friday in May (May 19, 2023) – National Endangered Species Day (in United States)
   • This year marks the 18th anniversary of the day.
   • According to the Endangered Species Coalition, “Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the Endangered Species Act” is the theme of this day.
     Source: CNBC and Endangered.org
2. May 23 – International Day to End Obstetric Fistula; Theme – “20 years on – progress but not enough! Act now to end fistula by 2030!”
   Source: UN
3. May 23 – World Turtle Day; Theme – ‘I love Turtles’
   • Zoological Survey of India, in collaboration with Zoological Garden, Kolkata, organized an awareness program on World Turtle Day.
   • Zoological Survey of India is also organising an “Adopt Health Lifestyle” week starting from May 23 at ZSI, Kolkata.
   • Centre for Socio-Economic Development of GB Pant National Institute of Himalayan Environment (NIHE), Delhi, organized an awareness campaign programme for mushroom cultivation under Mission LiFE theme ‘Adopt sustainable food system’ and ‘Adopt healthy lifestyle’.
   • This year, India plans to celebrate World Environment Day 2023 with a focus on the Mission LiFE.
   • Regional Museum of Natural History, Mysore conducted “Introduction to Insect Life activity” as part of MISSION LiFE for visitors.
     Source: PIB and CNBC

Awards

1. The regional winners of the Commonwealth Short Story Prize 2023 have been announced.
   • Winners – Agnes Chew (Singapore, Asia), Hana Gammon (South Africa, Africa), Kwame McPherson (Jamaica, Caribbean), Himali McInnes (New Zealand, Pacific), and Rue Baldry (United Kingdom, Canada and Europe)

2. Twenty countries and territories are represented on Forbes’ 30 Under 30 Asia 2023 India ranked first with 75 entries, followed by China (34), Japan (32), Singapore (30) and South Korea (28).
   Source: Forbes
3. “Time Shelter” novel, written by Georgi Gospodinov and translated into English by Angela Rodel, has won the International Booker Prize 2023.
   • This is the first time a novel originally published in Bulgarian has won the annual award.
   • The Italian translation of “Time Shelter” won the Premio Strega Europeo prize last year.

Source: Indian Express

Miscellaneous

1. Renowned Telugu writer Kethu Viswanatha Reddy has passed away.
   Source: Telangana Today

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