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CURRENT AFFAIRS BOOSTER : 29th & 30th OCTOBER 2023
Current Affairs
29th & 30th October 2023
NATIONAL AFFAIRS
1) Indian
Oil Corporation Launches India’s 1st Gasoline & Diesel Reference Fuels
Union Minister Hardeep Singh
Puri, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MoPNG) launched the India’s 1st Reference
Gasoline and Diesel Fuels produced by Indian Oil Corporation Limited
(IOCL).
·
With this launch, India joined
the elite group of nations with domestic production of ‘Reference’ Petrol and
Diesel and IOCL becomes the 4th refiner in the world to produce
‘reference’ grade petrol and diesel.
·
IOCL’s Paradip
refinery (Odisha) will produce ‘reference’ grade petrol; IOCL’s
Panipat Refinery (Haryana) will produce ‘reference’ quality diesel.
Note: The production of ‘reference’
fuel is another step towards Aatmanirbhar Bharat (self-reliant India).
About Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL):
IOCL is a Maharatna Public Sector Enterprise (PSE) under MoPNG. It was
incorporated in 1964 by merging Indian Refineries Limited with Indian Oil
Company under the Indian Companies Act, 1956.
Chairman– Shrikant Madhav Vaidya
Headquarters– New Delhi, Delhi
2) Coal
Ministry & MNRE Collaborate to Work Jointly to Promote Green Energy
The Ministry of Coal and the
Ministry of New & Renewable Energy (MNRE) collaborated to work
together for the promotion of green energy.
MNRE will provide technical, policy, and capacity-building assistance, while
the Ministry of Coal will supply land and capital to construct solar energy,
green hydrogen, and other renewable energy projects.
·
Through this collaboration,
the roof-top solar will be installed in all the government buildings and houses
of CPSE employees in Mission Mode.
·
The de-coaled and surplus land
masses will be offered for the setting up of green hydrogen projects by private
investors.
·
MNRE is set to support the
Ministry of Coal and its CPSEs for capacity-building training of engineers,
technicians, and other functionaries through the National Institute of Solar
Energy (NISE)Gurgaon (Haryana).
·
MNRE will provide knowledge
partnerships through the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Roorkee
(Uttarakhand), the Solar Energy Corporation of India, and its other resource agencies.
Note:
The central public sector Enterprises(CPSEs) of Ministry of Coal have
installed 1600 MegaWatt (MW) solar Energy generation capacity and Work on
another 500 MW solar projects is at different stages.CPSEs target to create a
generation capacity of 12GW by 2030.
BANKING & FINANCE
3) Reserve
Bank of India (RBI) Issues New Guidelines NBFC – SBR Master Directions
2023
Reserve Bank of India (RBI)
has recently published a new set of guidelines called the “Master
Direction – Reserve Bank of India [Non-Banking Financial Company (NBFC)–
Scale Based Regulation(SBR)] Directions, 2023″.
It replaces the Non-Banking Financial Company–Non-Systemically
Important Non-Deposit taking (Reserve Bank) Directions, 2016, and the
Non-Banking Financial Company–Systemically Important Non-Deposit taking
Company and Deposit taking Company (Reserve Bank) Directions, 2016.
i.As the regulatory structure envisages scale based as well as activity-based
regulation, the following prescriptions shall apply in respect of the
NBFCs.
·
NBFC-P2P, NBFC-AA, NOFHC, and NBFCs without public funds and customer
interaction will consistently fall within the Base Layer of the regulatory
structure.
·
NBFC-D, CIC, NBFC-IFC, and HFC will be categorized in either the Middle
Layer or Upper Layer, as appropriate, excluding the Base Layer. SPD and
IDF-NBFC will always remain in the Middle Layer.
ii.The Reserve Bank of India is mandating Credit Information Companies (CICs) and Credit Institutions (CIs) to enhance customer service and grievance redress mechanisms, pursuant to Section 11(1) of the Credit Information Companies (Regulation) Act, 2005
4) RBL
Bank launches Zero-Balance Go Savings Account
RBL Bank, formerly known as Ratnakar
Bank, has launched the GO Savings Account, a zero-balance digital
banking product. The account has a subscription-based model means it will replace
minimum balance requirement, thus, finishing the hassle of maintaining a
minimum balance.
GO Savings Account Features:
·
Competitive interest rates of
up to 7.5% per annum.
·
A premium debit card.
·
Vouchers valued at Rs 1500 for
premier brands.
·
Comprehensive cyber insurance
cover, accident and travel insurance up to Rs 1 crore and free CIBIL report.
Key Points:
i.The subscription fee is Rs 1999 (plus taxes) for the first year, and
an annual renewal fee of Rs 599 (+taxes).
ii.The account has a simple account opening process and easy-to-operate
features. It caters to customers of all age groups.
About RBL Bank:
Managing Director & CEO– R Subramaniakumar
Headquarters– Mumbai, Maharashtra
Tagline– Apno Ka Bank
Establishment– 1943
5) AU
Small Finance Bank Launches ‘Planet first – AU Green Fixed Deposit’ with 8.5%
Interest Rate
AU Small Finance Bank (AU
SFB) Limited launched its first Green Fixed Deposit (FD) namely Planet
First – AU Green Fixed Deposit with an interest rate of up to 8.50%. This
launch represents bank’s commitment towards climate action, and
also allows customers to contribute to sustainability by dedicating
proceeds to green projects.
·
The Green FD was launched on 25th
October 2023, last Wednesday of October, which is celebrated as the
Sustainability Day.
Features of
Planet First-AU Green Fixed Deposit:
·
Interest rate of up to 8.50%
·
Minimum investment of Rs.
5,000
·
Tenure options from two to
five years
·
Interest payment options
including monthly, quarterly, and cumulative
Key Points:
i.With this launch, customers can secure Green FDs through Video
Banking, the AU 0101 App, Net Banking, or by visiting AU Small Finance Bank
branches, both existing and new AU SFB customers.
ii.A green fixed deposit (FD) is an interest-bearing deposit that funds
projects with environmental benefits. Green FDs are also known as
environmentally friendly fixed deposits.
iii.The Green Fixed Deposits will enable customers to contribute to
sustainability of planet through AU’s green offering.
6) Escrowpay
secures India’s 1st digital Escrow authorization from IFSCA
Escrowpay, a leading digital escrow
platform, has secured India‘s 1st digital escrow regulatory
fintech authorisation from International Financial Services Centres
Authority (IFSCA), Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City),
Gandhinagar, Gujarat.
·
The authorization will provide
secured and efficient financial solutions to 70 million Small and Medium
Enterprises (SMEs) in India.
·
The authorization will also
enable Escrowpay to further expand its suite of offerings and commence
cross-border transactions in over 14 world currencies.
·
It will also help to make
escrow banking more accessible, affordable, and secure for all users.
What is Escrow?
Escrow is a financial arrangement in which a third party, known as an escrow
agent, holds money or property on behalf of two other parties that are in the
process of completing a transaction.
About Escrowpay:
MD– Ashwin Chawwla
Headquarters– Gurugram, Haryana Established in 2015
APPOINTMENTS & RESIGNATIONS
7) 3
Indian Technology Experts Named in the 39-member UN High-level Advisory Body on
AI
On 26 October 2023, the United
Nations (UN) Secretary-General (SG) António Guterres
revealed the formation of a 39-member High-Level
Multistakeholder Advisory Body on Artificial Intelligence (AI)
in New York, the United States of America (USA).
·
The list featured 3 Indian
technology experts namely Amandeep Singh Gill, UN SG’s Envoy on
Technology(since 2022); Nazneen Rajani, Lead Researcher at Hugging
Face; and Sharad Sharma, Co-founder of iSPIRT Foundation.
·
The Board will support the
international community’s efforts to govern AI and its members’ list comprises
experts from the government, private sector, research community, civil society,
and academia.
About United Nations (UN):
Secretary-General– António Guterres
Headquarters– New York City, United States of America (USA)
Established on– 24 October 1945.
8) Actor Rajkummar Rao Named as ‘National Icon’ for Election Commission of India
Bollywood Actor Rajkummar
Rao was named as the ‘National Icon’ for voter awareness and
education by the Election Commission of India(ECI).
·
Rajkummar Rao and ECI entered
into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for a period of 3 years at the
event held in New Delhi, Delhi, in the presence of the Chief Election
Commissioner (CEC), Rajiv Kumar, and Election Commissioners Anup Chandra Pandey
and Arun Goel.
About this
Partnership:
i.This collaboration aims to use Rajkummar Rao’s impact and popularity
to inspire citizens, especially youth, across the country to actively engage in
the voting process.
ii.Through this collaboration, Rajkummar Rao will
promote voter awareness in various TV talk shows/ programs and digital
campaigns about the importance of voting and strengthening the roots of
democracy by fostering a more engaged and informed electorate.
iii. ECI collaborates with renowned Indians from various
fields and designates them as ECI’s national icons to inspire voters to join in
the celebration of democracy.
·
Former Indian cricketer and
Bharat Ratna awardee Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar as the National Icon in August
2023.
·
Actor Pankaj Tripathi was
named as the National Icon in 2022.
·
Singer Jasbir Jassi and
diversity and inclusion consultant Dr. Niru Kumar were named as the National
Icons in 2020.
·
During the 2019 Lok Sabha
Elections, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Aamir Khan and Mary Kom were the ECI National
Icons.
About Rajkummar
Rao:
i.Rajkummar Rao made his acting debut with the anthology film Love Sex
Aur Dhokha (2010).
·
Rajkummar Rao acted as an
election officer in ‘Newton’ movie which was released in 2017.
·
Rajkummar Rao is noted for his
acting in movies like Shahid (2012), Trapped (2016), Stree (2018), Badhaai Do
(2022), Monica, and O My Darling (2022).
·
He is the brand ambassador of
the brands including Cashify, Syska Group and ‘The New Shop’.
ii.He won the best actor award in the 2014 National
Flim Awards for acting in ‘Shahid’ movie which was a real life story of
Shahid Azmi, slain lawyer and human rights activist from Mumbai, Maharashtra
State of India.He shared the best actor award with Suraj Venjaramoodu for
Malayalam film “Perariyathavar”.
9) Worldsteel
elects Nucor’s Leon Topalian as Chairman & TATA Steel’s T V Narendran as
Vice Chairman
Leon J. Topalian, President and Chief Executive
Officer(CEO) of Nucor Corporation (the United States of America-USA),
was elected as the 45th Chairman of the World Steel
Association(worldsteel), the international industry association for the
iron and steel sector.
·
India’s
Thachat Viswanath(TV) Narendran, CEO & Managing
Director(MD) of Tata Steel Limited and Choi Jeong-Woo, CEO of POSCO
Holdings were elected as the Vice Chairman of Worldsteel.
·
Choi Jeong-Woo served as the 44th
Chairman of the WorldSteel.
Other Elected
Office Bearers:
·
Timoteo Di Maulo, CEO of
Aperam S.A. (Belgian-French Company), as the Chairman of worldstainless.
Note: worldstainless is a not-for-profit research
and development association which was founded in 1996 as the International
Stainless Steel Forum. worldstainless is not a separate legal entity.
Worldsteel provides administrative support to worldstainless.
Key Points:
·
Leon J. Topalian, TV Narendran
and Choi Jeong-Woo were also elected as the members of the
2023-2024 Executive Committee
·
The board members of
Worldsteel has also elected the executive board of directors for the period 2023-2024.
The executives of the board of Worldsteel will hold office for 1 year.
About TV Narendran:
i.Narendran served as the Vice President – Safety, Flat Products &
Long Products Divisions of Tata Steel from 2010 till his appointmnet as MD of
Tata Steel in November 2013.
ii.He is also a member on the Board of Tata Steel and he is the Chairman
of Tata Steel Europe.
iii.He is also a member of the Council of Indian Institute of Science,
Bangalore.
iv.He was the co-chair of the Mining & Metals Governors Council of
the World Economic Forum(WEF) from 2016 to 2018.
v.He served as the President of the Indian Institute of Metals from 2021
to 2022 and as President of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) from
2021 to 2022.
About World Steel Association(worldsteel):
Worldsteel was founded as the International Iron and Steel Institute on 10 July
1967 and renamed as Worldsteel in 2008.
This represents steel producers, national and regional steel industry
associations, and steel research institutes. Its Members represent around 85%
of global steel production.
Director General– Edwin Basson
Headquarters– Brussels, Belgium
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
10)
India’s HAL, France’s Safran ink MoU to
Manufacture Commercial Engine Parts
On October 27, 2023, a
memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed between Hindustan Aeronautics
Limited (HAL) and Safran Aircraft Engines, a French aerospace engine
manufacturer, to develop industrial cooperation in ring forging manufacturing
for commercial engines.
Note: HAL is a Navaratna Status Public Sector Undertaking (PSU) under
the Ministry of Defence(MoD).
Signatories:
It was signed by Mihir Kanti Mishra, CEO (Bangalore Complex)
of HAL, and Dominique Dupuy, Senior Vice-President (Purchasing) of
Safran Aircraft Engines during a ceremony at Bengaluru, Karnataka.
What will be done under the MoU?
HAL will produce LEAP (Leading Edge Aviation Propulsion) engine forgings at its
foundry and forge facility in Bengaluru.
·
LEAP powers the Airbus A320
Neo family and Boeing 737 Max.
Key Points:
i.An Industrial Cooperation Contract was also signed by Anil Kumar VN,
GM (F&F) of HAL, and Jean Michel, Strategy Director and India Development
for Safran Military Division to further strengthen this strategic partnership.
ii.Safran already has three production facilities in India (between
Hyderabad, Telangana and Bengaluru), which will be completed by a fourth site
at Hyderabad dedicated to the LEAP MRO activities by 2025.
·
The Helicopter Engine MRO
(HE-MRO) facility being developed in Goa jointly with HAL will be
5th Safran facility in India. This will become operational by 2025.
About Hindustan Aeronautics
Ltd. (HAL):
Chairman and Managing Director (Additional Charge)– CB Ananthakrishnan
Headquarters– Bengaluru, Karnataka
Establishment– 1964
About Safran Aircraft Engines:
CEO– Jean-Paul Alary
Headquarters– Paris, France
OBITUARY
11)
Ex-Union Minister Babanrao Dhakne
Passed Away
Babanrao Dhakne, Former Union Minister and
senior politician, passed away in Ahmednagar, Maharashtra at the age of 86. He
was born on 10 November 1937 in Akola, Ahmednagar in Maharashtra.
·
He served as the Union State
Minister in the Ministry of Energy (1990 to 1991) under the primership of
Chandra Shekhar (8th Prime Minister of India – 1990 to 1991)
About
Babanrao Dhakne:
Babanrao Dhakne served as the Member of Parliament(MP) as a part of the 9th Lok
Sabha. He represented Beed constituency of Maharashtra as a member of Janata
Dal (JD).
·
He was the 1st person of
Vanjari Community to become the member of the 9th Lok Sabha.
Political affiliation:
i.He was associated with Indian National Congress
(INC) (Undivided) till 1969 and served as President of Janara Party (JP),
Maharashtra from 1978 to 1980.
ii.He also served as the Executive Member of JP in 1979 and as Executive
Member of JD Maharashtra in 1989.
Career:
i.He served as the Chairman of Panchayat Samiti, Pathardi in Maharashtra
from 1972 to 1975.
ii.He was also a State and Cabinet Minister of Maharashtra from 1978 to
1980.
iii.He served as the Leader of the Opposition and Deputy Speaker in the
Maharashtra Legislative Assembly from 1981-82 and 1988-89 respectively.
BOOKS & AUTHORS
12)
PM Narendra Modi Releases Three Books
at Tulsi Peeth in Chitrakoot in Madhya Pradesh
Prime Minister Narendra Modi
released three books, including ‘Ashtadhyayi Bhashya’, ‘Ramanandacharya
Charitam’, and ‘Bhagwan Shri Krishna ki Rashtraleela‘, during his
visit to Tulsi Peeth in Chitrakoot, Madhya Pradesh.
·
The three books were written
by Jagadguru Rambhadracharya of Tulsi Peeth.
·
Tulsi Peeth is
a religious and social service institution which was established by Jagadguru
Rambhadracharya in 1987 and is one of the leading publishers of Hindu
religious literature.
·
Jagadguru Rambhadracharya
awarded Padam Vibhushan in 2015 in the field of Literature and
Education.
Note:
Astadhyayi is a Sanskrit Treatise on grammar written in 6th to 5th century B.C.
by the Sanskrit grammarian Panini.
IMPORTANT DAYS
13)
International Animation Day 2023-
October 28
International Animation Day (IAD) is annually
observed across the globe on 28 October to honour the birth of
animation, recognised as the first public performance of projected moving
images at Emile Reynaud’s Théâtre Optique in Paris (France), on the
28th of October 1892.
·
28 October 2023 marks the observance of the 22nd International
Animation Day.
IAD is annually coordinated
and promoted by the Association Internationale du Film d’Animation (ASIFA)
(International Animated Film Association).
Background:
i.In 2002, the Association Internationale du Film d’Animation (ASIFA)
decided to observe the 28th of October every year as International Animation
Day (IAD) to commemorate the birth of Animation.
ii.The first IAD was observed on 28 October 2002.
About Association Internationale du Film d’Animation (ASIFA):
President – Deanna Morse
Founded in– 1960
Headquarters– Annecy, France
STATE NEWS
14)
Karnataka launches ‘HAWK’ centralized
wildlife crime management system
The Karnataka Forest
Department, along with Wildlife Trust of India(WTI) has launched the Hostile
Activity Watch Kernel (HAWK) system, a specialised software platform to monitor
all aspects of forest and wildlife crime.
·
The initiative is supported by
NTT DATA, an Information technology (IT) services provider, under its
Corporate Social Responsibility(CSR) programme.
Background:
i.HAWK has been an official system of the Kerala Forest Department since
it was launched in 2019.
ii.In 2022, The implementation of a customised version of HAWK began in
Karnataka in collaboration with the Karnataka forest department’s ICT
(Information and Communication Technology) cell.
About HAWK:
i.HAWK is a cloud-based information Management System designed to manage
interlinked databases of wildlife crime, wildlife criminals, and
wildlife mortality.
·
It helps officials to analyse
the information and develop actionable intelligence to prevent wildlife crimes.
·
It acts as a tool in catching
poachers and smugglers slipping past state borders and boosts the forest
department’s legal arm by expediting the process to ensure conviction.
ii.The system connects the entire state forest
department in real-time and the access is restricted through access levels.
·
Frontline forest staff will be
trained to use the system and a dedicated helpdesk will assist them in the
integration process under the supervision of the Chief Wildlife Warden’s
office.
iii.The platform will be available on mobile through
which forest personnel can monitor the movement of suspects, vehicles, and live
responses and exchange intelligence with their counterparts in the neighbouring
states.
Note:
The Wildlife Crime Control Bureau(WCCB) under the Ministry of Environment and
Forests, is in the process of taking HAWK as the national wildlife crime
management system.
About Karnataka:
Chief Minister – Siddaramaiah
Governor – Thaawar Chand Gehlot
Tiger Reserve – Biligiri Ranganathaswamy Temple (BRT) Tiger Reserve,
Bandipur Tiger Reserve
Festivals – Hampi Festival,Karaga Festival
15)
Indigenous ATMAS inaugurated at Biju
Patnaik Airport, Odisha
The Indigenously built state
of the art Air Traffic Management Automation System (ATMAS) at the Biju Patnaik
International Airport, in Bhubaneswar, Odisha.
The ATMAS was jointly developed by Airports Authority of India (AAI) and
Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL).
·
The MoU for the development of
the indigenous ATMAS was signed during the Wings India 2022 in Hyderabad,
Telangana in 2022.
The ATMAS was jointly
inaugurated by Sanjeev Kumar, Chairman of AAI and hanu Prakash Srivastava ,
Chairman and Managing Director(CMD) of BEL.
·
The ATMAS will help to improve
the safety, efficiency, and capacity of air traffic management in India.
· This will reduce the AAI’s foreign dependency for procurement of Air Navigation Services(ANS) infrastructure and save foreign exchange outlay.
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