Daily Current Affairs and GK | 11 and 12 June 2023

Topic: National Appointments

1. Amit Agrawal becomes the new CEO of the Unique Identification Authority of India.

• Subodh Kumar Singh has been appointed as the Director-General of the National Testing Agency.
• Amit Agrawal and Subodh Kumar Singh both are Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers of the Chhattisgarh cadre.
• Subodh Kumar Singh is currently serving as an additional secretary in the Department of Food and Public Distribution.
• Richa Sharma, additional secretary in the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change will take the place of Subodh Kumar Singh.
• Rashmi Chowdhary has been appointed as secretary in the Central Information Commission.
• Shyam Jagannathan will be the new Director-General (Shipping) in the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways.
• Sanjeev Kumar Chadha will be the new additional secretary in the Ministry of Women and Child Development.
• Sunil Kumar Barnwal has been appointed as the additional secretary in the Department of Higher Education under the Ministry of Education.
• The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has also approved the in-situ upgradation of two officers to the level of additional secretary.

Topic: Sports

2. India wins the Women's Junior Hockey title by defeating South Korea.

• Indian women’s team defeated South Korea by 2-1 in the finals of the Women’s Junior Asia Cup title in Kakamigahara, Japan.
• India has won this title for the first time. South Korea has won this title four times.
• Annu and Neelam scored a goal each from India while Park Seoyeon scored a goal from South Korea.
• Hockey India has declared a cash prize of Rs 2 lakh for each player, while the support staff will get Rs 1 lakh each as a token of appreciation.
• India with this win secured his spot in the FIH Women's Junior World Cup 2023 in Chile.
• Before this, India's best-ever finish in the tournament was in the 2012 edition in Bangkok.

Topic: Sports

3. Novak Djokovic won the final of the French Open.

• Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic made history by becoming the first person to win 23 grand slam titles.
• Djokovic won over Casper Ruud in the men's singles final of the French Open 2023 in Paris.
• It is his third title on Parisian clay, he surpassed rival Rafael Nadal in winning the most number of major titles.
• With this win, he will take over the No. 1 spot from Carlos Alcaraz in the ATP rankings.
• He overtook Rafael Nadal as the oldest Roland Garros champion at 36 years and 20 days old.
• With this win, he became the first man to win all four Grand Slam events at least three times.

Topic: Sports

4. Australia has won World Test Championship 2023 final.

• On 11 June, Australia defeated India by 209 runs in the World Test Championship final at The Oval in England.
• Travis Head won Man of the Match trophy for final match.
• Australia created history by becoming the first team to win all major ICC trophies.
• Australia has won a total of five ICC ODI World Cup titles, the most by any team.
• Australia also won its first ICC T20 World Cup title in 2021.
• Now, the Australian team has also won the World Test Championship, completing their ICC trophy collection.
• ICC World Test Championship:
  • It is a league competition for Test cricket run by the International Cricket Council (ICC), which started on 1 August 2019.
  • The first ICC World Test Championship began with the 2019 Ashes series and concluded in June 2021 with New Zealand winning the championship trophy after defeating India.
  • The second ICC World Test Championship began on 4 August 2021 with the Pataudi Trophy series.

Topic: State News/ Uttar Pradesh

5. E-marketing and related workshops for buyers and sellers will be organized in 75 districts of Uttar Pradesh.

• From 12 June, Government e-market place (GeM) will organize buyer-seller workshops in all districts of Uttar Pradesh.
• GeM is an online platform for procurement of goods and services by government departments, public sector units and other agencies.
• The objective of these workshops is to enhance the awareness about the activities of the Government e-Market Place among the sellers and buyers of the State.
• These workshops will serve as a platform to resolve queries, guide and discuss the difficulties of the users at the district level.
• The workshops will continue till 31st August this year.
• The buyer-seller workshop is an important step to ensure access to all sectors of the state and increase their participation.
• The benefits of this platform will be effectively extended to the buyers and sellers in the remotest districts of the state by providing them with the necessary information and resources.
• In the workshops, the participants will get comprehensive training on the features of GeM, registration procedures and various aspects of online procurement.
• GeM experts will be available to assist and address specific concerns of buyers and sellers.
• GeM, conceptualized in August 2016 under the leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, has revolutionized the public procurement ecosystem in India.
• By digitizing processes, using advanced analytics and taking all stakeholders on board, GeM has promoted efficiency, transparency and inclusiveness in public procurement.

Topic: Government Schemes and Initiatives

6. SACRED portal was launched by Social Justice and Empowerment Ministry for senior citizens.

• As the NDA government completed nine years in May, Akashvani News brought a series of exclusive stories on the initiatives taken by the government.
• The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment implemented several schemes for the welfare of senior citizens.
• As a part of promoting the silver economy, an open invitation has been put out on the portal named Seniorcare Aging Growth Engine (SAGE).
• Through this, entrepreneurs are encouraged to think about the problems of the elderly and to come up with innovative out-of-the-box solutions.
• Under this scheme, financial assistance of up to one crore rupees is provided in the form of maximum 49% equity participation.
•  The SACRED portal provides the Senior Citizens platform to connect with private enterprises for certain positions.
• India's elderly population is growing rapidly and the government's emphasis is on building an ecosystem that supports their needs more holistically.
• In India, there are 110 million elders who are above 60 years of age.
• As per the latest reports, the share of the elderly as a percentage of the total population in the country is expected to increase from around 7.5% in 2001 to around 12.5% by 2026 and over 19.5% by 2050.
• In 2021, Government launched SAGE initiative and SAGE portal for elderly people.
• On 1 October 2021, Government launched SACRED Portal for senior citizen, who is seeking to work.

Topic: Summits/ Conferences/ Meetings

7. 53^rd DG level Border Coordination Conference between BSF & BGB started in Delhi.

• During the 53rd Director General Level Border Coordination Conference, Border Security Force (BSF) delegation will meet the Border Guard of Bangladesh (BGB) delegation.
• The BSF delegation will be headed by Director General, BSF, Dr. Sujoy Lal Thaosen, and the BGB delegation will be led by Maj Gen A K M Nazmul Hasan.
• The conference is being held to discuss border-related issues and better coordination between BSF and BGB.
• During the conference, the ways to jointly curb the various trans-border crimes will be discussed.
• The last BSF-BGB Coordination Conference was organized in Dhaka in 2022.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: National Appointments

8. Nitin Agarwal appointed as the Director-General of BSF.

• Nitin Agarwal has been appointed as the new Director- General of the Border Security Force (BSF). The post was vacant for more than five months.
• Nitin Agarwal is currently serving as the Additional DG of operations at the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) headquarters in Delhi.
• After the retirement of Pankaj Kumar Singh on December 31, 2022, the post was vacant.
• CRPF DG Sujoy Lal Thaosen was handling the additional charge of BSF.
• The new DG is expected to take charge of the BSF from 14 June.
• Nitin Agarwal has earlier served in the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB).
• Border Security Force (BSF):
  • It was founded on 1 December 1965.
  • It is one of the seven Central Armed Police Forces of India.
  • ‘Jeevan Paryant Kartavya’ is the motto of the Border Security Force.
  • It works under the Ministry of Home Affairs.
  • Its headquarters is located in New Delhi.

Topic: Important Days

9. World Day Against Child Labour: 12 June

• World Day Against Child Labour is celebrated every year on June 12.
• This day is aimed at catalyzing the growing worldwide movement against child labour.
• The theme for this year’s World Day Against Child Labour is ‘Social Justice for All. End Child Labour!’.
• It stresses on the link between child labour and social justice.
• This day was first started by International Labour Organization in 2002 to increase awareness regarding child labour.
• World Day Against Child Labour 2023 is the 21st World Day Against Child Labour. 
• As per United Nations, 160 million children are involved in child labour.
• Africa ranks highest in the percentage of children in child labour and the absolute number of children in child labour.
• Asia and the Pacific rank second highest in the percentage of children in child labour and the absolute number of children in child labour.
• These three regions together account for almost nine out of every ten children in child labour worldwide.

Summits/ Conferences/ Meetings

10. CAG India is hosting SAI20 summit in Goa.

• Under G20 Presidency, Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG) of India is the Chair of the Supreme Audit Institutions-20 (SAI20) Engagement Group.
• SAI20 is scheduled to take place from 12th to 14th June 2023 in Goa.
• CAG of India Shri Girish Chandra Murmu is the chair of the SAI20 engagement group under India's G20 presidency
• The delegates of SAIs of Australia, Brazil, Indonesia, Republic of Korea, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Türkiye, Bangladesh, Egypt, Mauritius, Nigeria, Oman, Spain, UAE, Morocco and Poland are participating in the summit.
• The CAG India has proposed collaboration on two priority areas- Blue Economy and responsible Artificial Intelligence (AI) among the SAI20 Engagement Group.
• Blue Economy is the Sustainable use of ocean resources for economic growth with the conservation of the health of the ecosystem.
• SAIs are looking for opportunities to adopt AI into their audit techniques to increase their effectiveness.
• The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) is an independent authority established under Article 148 of the Indian Constitution.

Topic: National News

11. The first National Training Conference will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

• On June 11, 2023, the first National Training Convention will be inaugurated by PM Shri Narendra Modi at International Exhibition and Convention Centre, Pragati Maidan, New Delhi.
• The Prime Minister has been an proponent of reforming the governance process and policy implementation in the country, through capacity building of the civil service.
• Under the guidance of this vision, the National Programme for Civil Services Capacity Building (NPCSCB) – ‘Mission Karmayogi’ has been launched.
• Its objective is to create an administrative service to suit the needs of the future, with the right attitude, skills and knowledge.
• This conference is another step in this direction.
• Capacity Building Commission is hosting the National Training Conclave.
• Its objective is to foster collaboration among civil services training institutes and strengthen the training infrastructure for civil servants across the country.
• More than 1500 delegates from training institutes including Central Training Institutes, State Administrative Training Institutes, Regional and Divisional Training Institutes and Research Institutes will participate in the conference.
• Administrative officers from Central Government Departments, State Governments, Local Governments as well as experts from the private sector will participate in the conclave.
• The conclave will promote exchange of ideas, identify challenges being faced and opportunities available and come up with actionable solutions and formulate comprehensive strategies for capacity building.
• The conference will have eight panel discussions, each focusing on key topics related to administrative services training institutions such as faculty development, training impact assessment and content digitization.

Topic: MoUs/Agreements

12. An MoU signed between Indian Council of Agricultural Research and Amazon Farmer for the empowerment of farmers.

• The purpose of signing the MoU is to guide the farmers on scientific cultivation of various crops, for higher yield and income, to combine the strengths of both the organizations by creating synergy.
• ICAR will provide technical support to farmers through Amazon's network.
• As a result, the livelihood of farmers will improve and crop yield will also increase.
• This MoU will partner with farmers through the 'Amazon Farmers Program' to help ensure consumers have access to high-quality fresh produce.
• The MoU has been signed by Dr. US Gautam on behalf of ICAR and Mr. Sidhrtha Tata from Amazon Fresh Supply Chain & Kisan.
• Krishi Vigyan Kendra will strengthen a wider group of farmers by enhancing the technical base through transfer of technology and skill building programmes.
• Both will work together on other farmer engagement programs in Krishi Vigyan Kendras.
• Apart from this, Amazon will provide training and support to farmers in marketing their produce through its online platform so that they can have a direct connection with the consumers.

Topic: Banking System

13. Government announced four initiatives for strengthening Urban Co-operative Banks.

• Four important initiatives have been notified by the government to strengthen 1,514 Urban Co-operative Banks (UCBs).
• The main aim of these initiatives is to achieve Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s vision of ‘Sahakar se Samridhi'.
• These initiatives have been notified by the Reserve Bank of India to strengthen Urban Co-operative Banks. The initiatives have been given below:
  • Urban cooperative banks will now be able to open 10 percent new branches every financial year in approved areas without taking permission from the Reserve Bank.
  • To use this facility, UCBs will have to obtain approval from their boards and have efficient financial management.
  • UCBs can also do one-time settlement at par with Commercial Banks. Now, co-operative banks through board-approved policies may provide a process for technical write-off as well as settlement with borrowers.
  • The deadline for Urban Co-operative Banks to meet their Priority Sector Lending targets have been extended by two years i.e up to 31st of March 2026 by RBI.
  • RBI has also designated a Nodal Officer for closer coordination.

Topic: National Appointments

14. Praful Patel and Supriya Sule have been appointed as working presidents of NCP.

• Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president Sharad Pawar announced the name of the working president.
• Current Vice president Praful Patel and Sharad Pawar’s daughter Supriya Sule becomes the working presidents of NCP.
• His announcement has been made at the 25th anniversary of Nationalist Congress Party.
• The responsibility of Odisha, West Bengal, farmers, and minority department has been given to party’s national general secretary Sunil Tatkare.
• Praful Patel has been given in-charge of Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Goa, and Rajya Sabha.
• Supriya Sule will be in charge of NCP affairs in Maharashtra, Haryana, Punjab, and issues related to women, youth, students and the Lok Sabha.
• Nationalist Congress Party:
  • It was founded on 10 June 1999 by Sharad Pawar, P. A. Sangma, and Tariq Anwar.
  • It is the largest opposition party in Maharashtra and third largest party in Nagaland.
  • The election symbol of NCP is an analogue alarm clock.
  • Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) national party status has been recently taken back by the Election Commission of India.