Daily Current Affairs and GK | 10 June 2023

Topic: National News

1. Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal launched the ‘SAGAR SAMRIDDHI’ dredging monitoring system.

• An online dredging monitoring system called “Sagar Samriddhi” has been launched to add impetus to the centre’s “Waste to Wealth” initiative.
• The system has been developed by the National Technology Center for Ports, Waterways and Coasts (NTCPWC), the technical arm of the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways.
• The new technology has been developed to bring improvement against the old system of the Draft & Loading Monitor (DLM) system.
• This system will bring synergy among multiple input reports like daily dredging reports, the pre and post dredging survey data before processing and producing real-time dredging report.
• It will help will in bring down the operational costs of the ports.
• At present, Cochin and Mumbai ports have adopted the “Sagar Samriddhi” monitoring system. New Mangalore Port and Deendayal Port are running it on a trial basis.
• From now on, major ports will be able to access the online dredging monitoring system.
• The annual maintenance of dredging at Major Ports and Waterways is around 100 million cubic meters.
• MoPSW issued ‘Dredging Guidelines for Major Ports’ in 2021 to address the objective of carrying out dredging with essential technical investigation.
• Capabilities of ‘Sagar Samriddhi’ are given below:
  • Real time dredging progress report.
  • Daily and monthly progress Visualisation.
  • Dredger performance and downtime monitoring.
  • Easy location track data with snapshot of loading, unloading and idle time.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: Geography

2. Indian monsoon reached the coast of Kerala after longest delay in four years.

• The monsoon causes 70% of the rain required for farms and recharge of reservoirs and aquifers of India.
• About half of India’s farmland depends on the June-September rains.
• So, the planting of rice, cotton, corn, soybean and sugarcane could be delayed due to late arrival of rain.
• India Meteorological Department (IMD) said Southwest Monsoon arrived in Kerala on the 8th June 2023 against the normal date of 1st June.
• IMD was expecting the rains to start over Kerala’s coast on 4 June. It delayed after the formation of cyclonic storm Biparjoy in the Arabian Sea.
• As per IMD data, India received 57% less rainfall than average in the first week of June. This reflects the delayed arrival of rains.
• IMD has forecast below average rains for June. For the whole four-month season, it has forecast average rain despite the likely formation of an El Nino phenomenon.
• In the past years, India has received below-average rainfall during most El Nino years.

Topic: Banking System

3. The 'I am Adyar, Adyar is me' campaign has been launched by Federal Bank in Chennai.

• The campaign has been launched to celebrate people and their culture by changing an entire bank branch into a museum of local stories.
• As part of this campaign, 40 compelling stories of individuals have been picked up.
• These stories are showcased in an exhibition at the Adyar branch of Federal Bank.
• The exhibition will continue for two weeks. The 'I am Adyar, Adyar is me' campaign is a first-of-its-kind micro-marketing initiative.
• Federal Bank:
  • It is an Indian private sector bank with headquarters in Aluva, Kochi.
  • Shyam Srinivasan is the CEO of Federal Bank. Its tagline is your perfect banking partner.

Topic: Miscellaneous

4. Global Alliance for Mass Entrepreneurship (GAME) and SIDBI have partnered to launch the NBFC Growth Acceleration Program (NGAP).

• The aim of the programme is to handhold smaller NBFCs that have at least 60% of their exposure to MSMEs.
• NGAP will build capacity of at least 100 smaller NBFCs with assets under management ranging from Rs 75 crore to Rs 250 crore and mainly lending to micro and small businesses in tier two and tier three cities.
• NGAP will also provide NBFCs technology support to help them develop their technology platform.
• The responsibility for executing the program lies with GAME.
• GAME will carry out a pilot with 20 NBFCs to test and outline NGAP’s strategy before expanding it to other financial service players.
• NGAP is likely to be rolled out in August 2023.
• Global Alliance for Mass Entrepreneurship (GAME) is a mass entrepreneurship enablement platform.
• Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI):
  • It is the principal financial institution in the MSME sector.
  • It is regulated and supervised by the Reserve Bank of India.
  • It was established in 1990. It is headquartered in Lucknow, UP.
  • Sivasubramanian Ramann is Chairman and Managing Director of SIDBI.

Topic: MoU and Agreements

5. Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs and Rashtriya Raksha University signed MoU for academic and research collaboration. 

• The MoU main aim is to synergise the professional capabilities of IICA and RRU for capacity building, education, research and consulting in the field of Internal Security, Financial Crimes, Law Enforcement. 
• The MoU also provides for exchange of knowledge and resources between IICA and RRU for conducting research, training and consultancy.
• IICA in collaboration with RRU look forward to safeguarding the economic security of the country through training and upskilling the officers of relevant stakeholders from banks, financial institutions, investigating agencies and other professionals in the financial landscape.
• This collaboration will be a significant step towards strengthening the existing financial system of the nation.”
• Professor (Dr.) Naveen Sirohi, IICA signed the MoU and also shared the objective details of the collaboration.
• RRU is an Institute of National Importance under the Ministry of Home Affairs. It is the leading National Security and Police University of India.
• Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs (IICA):
  • IICA is an organization established by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA), Government of India as an autonomous body.
  • It functions as a think-tank and center of excellence to support the growth of the corporate sector in India through an integrated and multi-disciplinary approach.

Topic: MoUs/Agreements

6. US, UK form new economic partnership to counter Russia and China.

• On 8 June, the United States and Britain have announced a new strategic agreement and their leaders restored the "special relationship" to counter Russia, China and economic instability.
• During the White House summit, US President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak discussed Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the lightning-fast development of artificial intelligence.
• This was Rishi Sunak's first White House summit.
• The leaders have adopted an "Atlantic Declaration" aimed at boosting industry ties on defense and renewable energy in the face of growing competition from China.
• The Atlantic Declaration includes plans to mitigate some of the impact of the US flagship Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) on the UK economy, with proposals to remove barriers which affected trade in electric vehicle batteries.
• The leaders also agreed on a new civil nuclear partnership to reduce dependency on Russian energy and support green energy cooperation.
• Both leaders agreed that the world economy was undergoing the greatest changes since the Industrial Revolution, driven by AI.
• Sunak said Biden supported his plan to convene "like-minded" countries for the world's first AI summit in Britain later this year.
• The prime minister also wants the UK to host a future AI regulator.

Topic: State News/Haryana

7. Haryana Chief Minister launched the biennial Integrated Water Resources Action Plan (2023-25).

• The plan aims to meet the challenges of water depletion and water logging.
• During the launch ceremony, Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar expressed confidence that the plan will serve as a roadmap to meet the targets of water saving and water management in the state.
• He said that coming together of all the water-related departments through various interventions to conserve water would save around 6.97 lakh crore litres of water in the next two years.
• According to Haryana CM, the agriculture department had suggested measures in the action plan.
• Accordingly, 3.14 lakh acres of the area would be covered under crop diversification.
• Haryana CM said the total water availability of the state was 20,93,598 crore litres.
• The total water demand was 34,96,276 crore litres. There is a gap of 14 lakh crore litres between total water availability and total water demand.

Topic: Summits/Conferences/Meetings

8. First global summit on artificial intelligence safety will be hosted by Britain later this year.

• The risks of AI, including frontier systems will be considered during the summit. 
• During the summit, it will also be discussed how the risks can be mitigated through internationally coordinated action.
• The date of the summit is not announced yet.
• Palantir Technologies is expected to announce plans to make the UK its new European headquarters for AI development. It is a U.S. technology company.
• Different countries are exploring ways to curb the risks of Artificial Intelligence (AI).
• Regulators around the world are trying to develop rules governing the use of generative AI.
• Generative artificial intelligence (generative AI):
  • Generative AI can create text and images. It is a type of Artificial Intelligence.
  • Notable generative AI systems are OpenAI's ChatGPT and Google’s Bard.

Topic: International News

9. Five new countries have been elected as non-permanent members of UN Security Council.

• The UNGA elected five countries as non-permanent members to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) for two years.
• These countries include Algeria, Guyana, Sierra Leone, Slovenia and South Korea. Their term will begin on 1 January 2024.
• The Security Council is responsible for the maintenance of international peace and security.
• The 10 non-permanent members are elected by the General Assembly.
• Algeria, Guyana, Sierra Leone and the Republic of Korea have been elected unopposed.
• Slovenia defeated Belarus for the Eastern Europe seat.
• The voting was conducted by secret ballot. A candidate must win a two-thirds majority to be elected.
• Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States are five permanent members of the UNGA. They enjoy the right to veto on any resolution or decision.

Topic: International News

10. EU members agreed to reform migration and asylum laws.

• After the negotiations with Italy and Greece, European Union ministers agreed on a deal to overhaul the asylum laws.
• Poland and Hungary voted against the proposals, while Bulgaria, Malta, Lithuania and Slovakia abstained from voting.
• EU members have formed agreed-upon new policies including a fine of €20,000 per person on Countries which refuse to accept refugees.
• The new asylum and migration management regulation (AMMR) will replace the current Dublin regulation.
• The new policies will change the way asylum seeker applications are processed at the borders of the EU, and the process of relocation of refugees across Europe.
• As per the new law, there will be a fixed quota of migrants for each member.
• The new proposals also give member states greater autonomy in deciding which countries they view as “safe”. It will empower them to refuse asylum seekers from unsafe countries.
• The Dublin regulation is an agreement which was signed in 1990. It has been revised three times.
• It is a law that determines which EU Member State is responsible for the examination of an application submitted for asylum.

Topic: National News

11. 71st edition of Miss World 2023 pageant will be hosted by India in November or December.

• This was announced by Julia Morley, Chairperson and CEO of the Miss World Organization on 9 June in New Delhi.
• This beauty pageant will be organizing in India after a long gap of 27 years. 
• In 1996, India last hosted this competition.
• Although the United Arab Emirates (UAE) was chosen to host this year's contest in February but the decision was revised and India was chosen.
• The decision to confer this prestigious honour on India is in recognition of the country's rich cultural heritage and its commitment to promoting diversity and empowering women.
• Contestants from over 130 countries will converge in India to showcase their unique talents, intelligence and compassion.
• Miss India World 2022 Sini Shetty will represent India at the 71st Miss World 2023 contest.
• In 1966, Rita Faria was the first Indian to win the Miss World title.
• Nearly three decades later, Aishwarya Rai became Miss World in 1994, followed by Diana Hayden (1997), Yukta Mookhey (1999), Priyanka Chopra (2000) and most recently Manushi Chhillar (2017).

Topic: New Developments

12. A haemoglobin self test kit developed by IITR gives result in 30 seconds.

• An indigenous innovative Rapid Haemoglobin Detection Test Kit named 'SenzHB' has been developed by CSIR-Indian Institute of Toxicology Research (IITR).
• It is a paper-based kit that gives results in just 30 seconds and costs just Rs 10 for a test.
• SenzHb is economical and easy to use as compared to testing facilities available in the market.
• Similar kits available in the market are expensive, do not give accurate results and are also not 'Made in India'.
• This paper-based, colorimetric strip-type sensor from SenzHb addresses these challenges by providing a rapid and reliable hemoglobin assay.
• All that has to be done during the test is to prick with the help of the needle that comes with the strip and then drop blood on the strip.
• As soon the strip colour changes, match it with the 'changed colour guidelines' given along with the kit.
• The results can help to know whether he or she is anaemic or not.
• It is a Point-of-Care Test (POCT) kit that can be used in the absence of advanced laboratory facilities, even in remote or rural areas.

Topic: Geography

13. Cyclonic storm Biparjoy has developed in the Arabian Sea.

• Cyclone Biparjoy in the Arabia Sea has intensified into a severe cyclonic storm. It is the first cyclone in the Arabian Sea of this year.
• ‘Biparjoy’ name is suggested by Bangladesh. Its means 'disaster' in Bengali.
• The effect of this storm can be seen in the coastal areas of Goa, Karnataka, North Kerala.
• According to Meteorologists, Cyclone has impacted the intensity of monsoon.
• Scientists claimed that due to climate change cyclonic storms in the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea are intensifying for a longer duration.
• As per IMD, the southern peninsula will receive rain due to this cyclonic storm and the development of a low-pressure system in the Bay of Bengal.
• As per a study, the intensity of cyclones in the Arabian Sea has increased by 20 per cent in the post-monsoon period and 40 per cent in the pre-monsoon period.
• The number of cyclones in the Arabian Sea has increased by 52 percent.
• The increasing cyclone activities in the Arabian Sea are linked to rising ocean temperature and higher availability of moisture.
• As per a study, the Arabian Sea has warmed up by almost 1.2 degrees Celsius since March. It makes the condition more favourable for the rapid intensification of a cyclone.

Topic: Sports

14. India finished on top in the International Shooting Sport Federation Junior World Cup.

• India won a total of 15 medals including six gold, six silver, and three bronze medals.
• With this achievement, India has finished on top of all the ISSF Junior World Cups and World Championships held since 2019.
• In this edition, Sainyam, Dhanush Srikanth, Amanpreet Singh, Abhinav Shaw and Gautami Bhanot won gold medals.
• In the men's trap event, Bakhtyaruddin Malek was the highest-ranked Indian. He finished in 23rd position with a score of 111.
• Bhavya Tripathi finished ninth with a score of 110 among the women's trap shooters.
• A total of 39 Indian shooters competed in the ISSF Junior World Cup 2023.
• The ISSF Junior World Championship 2023 was held in Suhl, Germany.
• Junior World Championships will be organized in Changwon, Republic of Korea from July 14 to 25.