30th-31st May, 2023

1. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has successfully placed the NVS-01 navigation satellite, into Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit.
2. Uber (cab aggregator) and Government e-Marketplace have partnered to allow govt personnel to book taxis for official purposes from cab aggregator Uber.
3. Atal Bhujal Yojana (Atal Jal), India’s central sector water conservation scheme, has been extended for an additional two years beyond its original 2025 end date.
4. President Droupadi Murmu has gone on a six-day official visit to Suriname and Serbia from June 4-9.
5. India will launch its third lunar mission, Chandrayaan-3 in July 2023.
6. The union government has notified the Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme 2.0 for IT hardware, worth ₹17,000 crore and the window of applications under the scheme will open from June 1.
7. XPoSat (X-ray Polarimeter Satellite) is India’s first dedicated polarimetry mission to study various dynamics of bright astronomical X-ray sources in extreme conditions.
8. Union Ministry of Minority Affairs allocated Rs 35.52 crore to the Central Council of Research in Unani Medicine (CCRUM) and Rs 9.81 crore to the National Institute of Unani Medicine (NIUM) Bengaluru.
9. The Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute, a source on institutional investors and global capital, will organize its Global Wealth Conference (GWC) in London.
10. Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagged off northeast region’s first Vande Bharat Express virtually.
11. SpaceX launched a big telecommunications satellite named Arabsat BADR-8 on a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
12. China has sent 3 astronauts to its Tiangong space station on the Shenzhou 16 crew spacecraft from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi Desert.
13. Negotiations for the Supply Chains (Pillar-II) Agreement were substantially concluded during the second in-person Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) Ministerial Meeting held in Detroit, US.
14. ICICI Bank will increase its stake in its general insurance subsidiary, ICICI Lombard General Insurance by 4%.
15. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has launched the 2023-27 country partnership strategy (CPS) for India for accelerating structural transformation and job creation, promoting climate-resilient growth, and deepening social and economic inclusiveness as key focus areas.
16. National Statistical Office (NSO), Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) has released the Provisional Estimates of National Income for 2022- 23 and Quarterly Estimates of GDP for January-March of 2022-23 (Q4 2022-23) both at Constant and Current Prices.
17. As per the data released by banks, Bank of Maharashtra has emerged as the best bank in NPA reduction, with its net non-performing assets (NPAs) falling as low as 25% during FY23.
18. According to the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) data, foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows in India have declined by 22% to $46 billion in FY23, due to lower inflows in computer hardware and software, and automobile industry.
19. The Yes Bank has launched a new logo of the company and rolled out an integrated campaign with the tagline – ‘Life Ko Banao Rich’.
20. IBM Consulting has collaborated with Equitas Small Finance Bank to design and build a digital banking platform that delivers a modern and highly secure experience to the bank’s customers and partners.
21. Razorpay has partnered with Axis Bank and the National Payments Council of India (NPCI) to launch Turbo UPI.
22. Periodic Labour Force Survey for the Q4 of 2022-23 has been released by the National Statistics Office.
23. “The Indian Payments Handbook – 2022-27” report has been released by PwC India.
24. Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBIC) has released a standard operating procedure for scrutiny of GST returns for fiscal 2019-20 onwards.
25. According to industry group Sa-Dhan, microfinance loans in India increased 3% year-on-year (YoY) at Rs 3.5 trillion in Financial Year 2022-23 (FY23).
26. According to SEBI’s data, the value of P-note investments in Indian markets — equity, debt, and hybrid securities — stood at Rs 95,911 crore at the end of April as compared to Rs 88,600 crore in March-end.
27. Goldman Sachs has raised India’s GDP growth forecast for calendar year 2023 to 6.3%, citing a rise in exports.
28. India’s GDP is expected to grow in the range of 6-6.5% in FY24, according to Bank of Baroda’s economic research department (ERD).
29. Vigilance Commissioner Praveen Kumar Srivastava was sworn in by President Droupadi Murmu, as the Central Vigilance Commissioner (CVC).
30. Comptroller and Auditor General Girish Chandra Murmu was re-elected as the external auditor of the World Health Organisation (WHO) from 2024 to 2027.
31. May 28 – Menstrual Hygiene Day; Theme – “Making menstruation a normal fact of life by 2030”
32. May 28 – International Day of Women’s Health
33. May 28 – World Hunger Day; Theme – Celebrating sustainable solutions to Hunger and Poverty
34. May 29 – World Digestive Health Day; Theme – Your Digestive Health: A Healthy Gut from the Start
35. May 29 – International Everest Day (to mark the summit of Edmund Hillary from New Zealand and Tenzing Norgay Sherpa from Nepal on Everest)
36. May 29 – International Day of UN Peacekeepers (75th edition); Theme – “Peace begins with me”
37. May 30 – World Vape Day
38. Hrithik Roshan won the Best Actor award in a Leading Role (male) at International Indian Film Academy Awards (IIFA) 2023.
39. Cannes Film Festival 2023 (76th edition) –
40. Ambati Rayudu has retired from the Indian Premier League.
41. Max Verstappen (Dutch-Belgian motorsports racing driver) has won the Monaco Grand Prix.
42. Malaysia Masters (badminton) 2023 – Men’s Singles: Prannoy HS; Women’s Singles: A. Yamaguchi (Japan)
43. Chennai Super Kings won its 5th IPL title in 2023 by defeating Gujarat Titans at the Narendra Modi Stadium.
44. Gukesh defeated World champion Magnus Carlsen in the Norway Chess blitz tournament.
45. Jyothi Yarraji won the gold medal in the women’s 100m hurdles event in the T-Meeting 2023 athletics meet, in Tilburg, the Netherlands
46. Goa Governor P S Sreedharan Pillai has announced the release of five books published under the Raj Bhavan’s scheme for new writers titled ‘Nayi Pahal’.
47. Odisha’s CM Naveen Patnaik launched ‘Mo Ghara’ (My House) to provide credit to beneficiaries who face fund crunch to complete or upgrade their houses.
48. ‘NTR: A Political Biography’ book has been authored by Ramachandra Murthy Kondubhatla

National News

1. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has successfully placed the NVS-01 navigation satellite, into Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit.
   • The satellite was launched on the GSLV-F12 rocket from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR, Sriharikota.
   • NVS-01 is the first of the second-generation satellites envisaged for the Navigation with Indian Constellation (NavIC) services.
   • For the first time, an indigenous atomic clock will be flown in NVS-01.
     Source: ISRO
2. Uber (cab aggregator) and Government e-Marketplace have partnered to allow govt personnel to book taxis for official purposes from cab aggregator Uber.
   • The government e-marketplace (GeM) portal was launched in 2016 by the commerce ministry for buying goods and services by central ministries and departments to bring transparency in government procurement.

3. Atal Bhujal Yojana (Atal Jal), India’s central sector water conservation scheme, has been extended for an additional two years beyond its original 2025 end date.
   • Launched in 2020, Atal Jal is active across 8,220 water-stressed Gram Panchayats within 80 districts of seven Indian states, including Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh.
     Source: LiveMint
4. President Droupadi Murmu has gone on a six-day official visit to Suriname and Serbia from June 4-9.
   • This is her maiden visit to Suriname and her first state visit since assuming office in July 2022.
     Source: BS
5. India will launch its third lunar mission, Chandrayaan-3 in July 2023.
   • Chandrayaan-3 will be launched by Launch Vehicle Mark-3 (LVM3).
   • The first moon rocket, Chandrayaan-1, was launched in 2008, and was successfully inserted into lunar orbit. Chandrayaan-2 was successfully launched and inserted into lunar orbit in 2019.
     Source: HT
6. The union government has notified the Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme 2.0 for IT hardware, worth ₹17,000 crore and the window of applications under the scheme will open from June 1.
   • According to the Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY), the scheme is expected to lead to total production of about ₹3.35-lakh crore, to bring an additional investment of ₹2,430 crore in electronics manufacturing and will lead to generation of 75,000 additional direct jobs.
   • The scheme will promote large scale manufacturing in laptops, tablets, all-in-one personal computers (PCs), servers and ultra small form factor (USFF) devices and contribute significantly to achieve electronics manufacturing turnover of around $300 billion by 2025-26.
   • Approved applicants of existing PLI will also be allowed to apply under PLI 2.0.
   • The scheme has three category of applicants-global companies, hybrid (global/ domestic) companies and domestic companies.
     Source: HBL
7. XPoSat (X-ray Polarimeter Satellite) is India’s first dedicated polarimetry mission to study various dynamics of bright astronomical X-ray sources in extreme conditions.
   • The spacecraft will carry two scientific payloads in a low earth orbit.
   • The mission consists of two payloads POLIX (Polarimeter Instrument in X-rays) and XSPECT (X-ray Spectroscopy and Timing).
   • ISRO is collaborating with the Raman Research Institute (RRI), Bengaluru, an autonomous research institute, to build the X-Ray Polarimeter Satellite (XPoSat) that is scheduled to be launched later this year.
     Source: ISRO and Indian Express
8. Union Ministry of Minority Affairs allocated Rs 35.52 crore to the Central Council of Research in Unani Medicine (CCRUM) and Rs 9.81 crore to the National Institute of Unani Medicine (NIUM) Bengaluru.
   Source: PIB
9. The Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute, a source on institutional investors and global capital, will organize its Global Wealth Conference (GWC) in London.
   • Sovereign wealth funds have directly invested $6.714 billion into India in 2022, compared to just $4.3 billion in 2021.
     Source: ET

State News

1. Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagged off northeast region’s first Vande Bharat Express
   • The train will connect Guwahati in Assam with New Jalpaiguri in West Bengal.
     Source: ET
2. Odisha’s CM Naveen Patnaik launched ‘Mo Ghara’ (My House) to provide credit to beneficiaries who face fund crunch to complete or upgrade their houses.
   Source: The Hindu

International News

1. SpaceX launched a big telecommunications satellite named Arabsat BADR-8 on a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
   Source: Space.com
2. China has sent 3 astronauts to its Tiangong space station on the Shenzhou 16 crew spacecraft from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi Desert.
   Source: Space.com
3. Negotiations for the Supply Chains (Pillar-II) Agreement were substantially concluded during the second in-person Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) Ministerial Meeting held in Detroit, US.
   • The IPEF Supply Chains (Pillar-II) Agreement is one of the fastest ever concluded plurilateral economic cooperation Agreements.
   • Objectives of the agreement –
   • Make supply chains more resilient, robust, and well-integrated through crisis response measures;
   • Cooperation for mitigation of the effect of disruptions to better ensure business continuity, and improve logistics and connectivity;
   • Promoting investments particularly in critical sectors and production of key goods; and
   • Worker role enhancement through requisite upskilling and reskilling, and increasing comparability of skills credentials frameworks across IPEF
   • It entails cooperative and collaborative efforts among the IPEF partners.

Source: PIB and USTR

Banking and Economy

1. ICICI Bank will increase its stake in its general insurance subsidiary, ICICI Lombard General Insurance by 4%.
   Source: ET
2. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has launched the 2023-27 country partnership strategy (CPS) for India for accelerating structural transformation and job creation, promoting climate-resilient growth, and deepening social and economic inclusiveness as key focus areas.
   • ADB projects India to grow at 6.4% in FY24.
   • Focus areas of CPS –
   • Climate sustainability
   • Inclusive growth
   • Increase support for education, health, and social protection
   • Improvements in urban liveability and rural development
   • Contribute to national flagship programmes on industrial corridors, multimodal logistics systems, urban infrastructure, skill ecosystem, and small businesses
     Source: ET
3. National Statistical Office (NSO), Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) has released the Provisional Estimates of National Income for 2022- 23 and Quarterly Estimates of GDP for January-March of 2022-23 (Q4 2022-23) both at Constant and Current Prices.

• The next release of quarterly GDP estimates for the quarter April-June of 2023-24 (Q1 2023-24) will be on 31.08.2023.

Source: PIB

4. As per the data released by banks, Bank of Maharashtra has emerged as the best bank in NPA reduction, with its net non-performing assets (NPAs) falling as low as 25% during FY23.
   • This is the lowest ratio among all banks having total business above Rs 3 lakh crore (including private and public sector banks).
   • HDFC Bank is at the 2nd position with net NPA falling to 0.27% and Kotak Mahindra Bank clinching the 3rd spot with 0.37% of net advances.
   • Among the Public Sector Banks, BoM was followed by State Bank of India (SBI) with net NPAs falling to 0.67% and Bank of Baroda at 0.89% at the end of March 2023.

   Data on other indicators –

   • BoM has the highest Provision Coverage Ratio at 98.28% followed by UCO Bank at 94.50% and Indian Bank at 93.82%.
   • With regards to Capital Adequacy Ratio, BoM has the highest CAR of 18.14% among PSBs followed by Punjab & Sind Bank at 17.10% and Canara Bank at 16.68% as of March 31, 2023.
   • In terms of loan growth, BoM retained the top spot among the scheduled commercial banks by recording a 29.49% increase on an annual basis. Indian Overseas Bank stood at second spot with a rise of 21.28% followed by IndusInd Bank with 21% increase.
   • With regards to deposits growth rate, HDFC Bank was at the first spot with 20.80%, followed by Federal Bank with 17% rise and Kotak Mahindra Bank (KMB) with 16.49% rise.
   • In terms of low-cost Current Account and Savings Account (CASA) deposits, BoM is again at the top with 53.38% followed by IDBI Bank with 53.02% and KMB at 52.83%.
     Source: ET
5. According to the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) data, foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows in India have declined by 22% to $46 billion in FY23, due to lower inflows in computer hardware and software, and automobile industry.
   • The FDI inflows stood at $58.77 billion during FY22.
   • Total FDI inflows, which include equity inflows, re-invested earnings and other capital, declined by 16% to $70.97 billion in the last fiscal.

6. The Yes Bank has launched a new logo of the company and rolled out an integrated campaign with the tagline – ‘Life Ko Banao Rich’.

7. IBM Consulting has collaborated with Equitas Small Finance Bank to design and build a digital banking platform that delivers a modern and highly secure experience to the bank’s customers and partners.
   Source: IBM
8. Razorpay has partnered with Axis Bank and the National Payments Council of India (NPCI) to launch Turbo UPI.
   • Turbo UPI claims to make UPI payments faster and reduce potential payment failures. The company will also allow merchants to integrate Turbo UPI at the payment gateway.
     Source: TOI
9. Periodic Labour Force Survey for the Q4 of 2022-23 has been released by the National Statistics Office.
   • Urban unemployment declined to 6.8% from 7.2%.
   • Among the major states, Chhattisgarh had the highest female labour force participation rate at 31.5%, followed by Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu at 30.5% and 27.4%, respectively. Uttar Pradesh was the worst performer with a FLFPR of 13.3%.
   • Overall, unemployment rate was the highest in Chhattisgarh at 12.5%. It was lowest for Delhi at 3.1%.

10. “The Indian Payments Handbook – 2022-27” report has been released by PwC India.
    • UPI transactions are likely to reach 1 billion per day by 2026-27, accounting for 90% of all the retail digital payments in the country.
    • UPI accounted for about 75% of the total transaction volume in the retail segment during 2022-23.
      Source: ET
11. Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBIC) has released a standard operating procedure for scrutiny of GST returns for fiscal 2019-20 onwards.
    • CBIC has informed that the Directorate General of Analytics and Risk Management (DGARM) will identify returns for scrutiny depending on various risk parameters.
    • The DGARM is an attached office of the CBIC.
      Source: CNBC
12. According to industry group Sa-Dhan, microfinance loans in India increased 3% year-on-year (YoY) at Rs 3.5 trillion in Financial Year 2022-23 (FY23).
    Source: BS
13. According to SEBI’s data, the value of P-note investments in Indian markets — equity, debt, and hybrid securities — stood at Rs 95,911 crore at the end of April as compared to Rs 88,600 crore in March-end.
    • Participatory notes (P-notes) are issued by registered Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) to overseas investors who wish to be part of the Indian stock market without registering themselves directly.
      Source: ET

GDP Forecasts

1. Goldman Sachs has raised India’s GDP growth forecast for calendar year 2023 to 3%, citing a rise in exports.
   Source: LiveMint
2. India’s GDP is expected to grow in the range of 6-6.5% in FY24, according to Bank of Baroda’s economic research department (ERD).
   • The fiscal deficit target of 5.9% of GDP for FY24 will be met.
     Source: Hindu Business Line

Appointments

1. Vigilance Commissioner Praveen Kumar Srivastava was sworn in by President Droupadi Murmu, as the Central Vigilance Commissioner (CVC).
   • Central Vigilance Commission is a statutory body under the Central Vigilance Commission Act of 2003.
   • It was already functioning since 1964. It was set up on the recommendations of the Committee on Prevention of Corruption, headed by Shri K. Santhanam.
     Source: The Hindu
2. Comptroller and Auditor General Girish Chandra Murmu was re-elected as the external auditor of the World Health Organisation (WHO) from 2024 to 2027.
   • He currently has this position for a four-year term and will serve till 2023.
   • The election took place at the 76th World Health Assembly in Geneva, Switzerland.

Source: Business Today

Important Days

1. May 28 – Menstrual Hygiene Day; Theme – “Making menstruation a normal fact of life by 2030”
   Source: UNFPA
2. May 28 – International Day of Women’s Health
   Source: CNBC

Note: According to some unauthenticated websites, “Our voices, our actions, our demand: Uphold Women’s health and rights now” is the theme for 2023.

3. May 28 – World Hunger Day; Theme – Celebrating sustainable solutions to Hunger and Poverty
   Source: ETV Bharat
4. May 29 – World Digestive Health Day; Theme – Your Digestive Health: A Healthy Gut from the Start
   Source: NDTV
5. May 29 – International Everest Day (to mark the summit of Edmund Hillary from New Zealand and Tenzing Norgay Sherpa from Nepal on Everest)
   Source: CNBC
6. May 29 – International Day of UN Peacekeepers (75th edition); Theme – “Peace begins with me”
   • Under the ‘India-ASEAN Initiative for women in UNPK operations’, India will provide tailor-made courses for women peacekeepers of ASEAN member-states at the Centre for United Nations Peacekeeping (CUNPK) in New Delhi this September.
     Source: UN and The Hindu
7. May 30 – World Vape Day
   Source: World Vape Alliance

Awards

1. Hrithik Roshan won the Best Actor award in a Leading Role (male) at International Indian Film Academy Awards (IIFA) 2023.
   • Alia Bhatt won Best Actor in a Leading Role (female) at IIFA 2023 for Gangubai Kathiawadi.
     Source: HT
2. Cannes Film Festival 2023 (76th edition) –

Sports

1. Ambati Rayudu has retired from the Indian Premier League.
   Source: India Today
2. Max Verstappen (Dutch-Belgian motorsports racing driver) has won the Monaco Grand Prix.
   Source: Formula 1
3. Malaysia Masters (badminton) 2023 – Men’s Singles: Prannoy HS; Women’s Singles: A. Yamaguchi (Japan)
   Source: BWF
4. Chennai Super Kings won its 5th IPL title in 2023 by defeating Gujarat Titans at the Narendra Modi Stadium.
   • Chennai Super Kings captain MS Dhoni became the first Indian to record 300 dismissals in T20 cricket during the IPL 2023.
     Source: HT and Sportstar
5. Gukesh defeated World champion Magnus Carlsen in the Norway Chess blitz tournament.
   Source: Sportstar
6. Jyothi Yarraji won the gold medal in the women’s 100m hurdles event in the T-Meeting 2023 athletics meet, in Tilburg, the
   Source: ANI

Miscellaneous

1. Goa Governor P S Sreedharan Pillai has announced the release of five books published under the Raj Bhavan’s scheme for new writers titled ‘Nayi Pahal’.
   • Under this scheme, the government will sponsor the cost of printing and publishing fiction, non-fiction, poems, autobiography, or an anthology of short stories. The Raj Bhavan, however, will not be involved in the sale process of the books.
     Source: TOI
2. ‘NTR: A Political Biography’ book has been authored by Ramachandra Murthy Kondubhatla
   • It is the biography of NTR Rama Rao (actor turned politician).
     Source: Hindu Business Line

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