Daily Current Affairs and GK | 12 July 2023

Topic: Reports and Indices/Ranking

1. 415 million Indians came out of multidimensional poverty in 15 years: UNDP

• United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI) released the latest update of the global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI).
• As per the report, a total of 415 million people in India have come out of poverty between 2005-06 to 2019-21.
• The incidence of multidimensional poverty has fallen from 55.1 per cent to 16.4 per cent. In India, more than 230 million people are still poor.
• Among the three dimensions of the Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI), the "standard of living" dimension contributed 39.7 per cent, highest contribution to poverty in India.
• Health deprivation contributed 32.2 per cent and education deprivation 28.2 per cent.
• Around 1.1 billion people, or about 18% of the world's population are acutely multidimensionally poor.
• 25 countries, including India, have successfully decreased their MPI values by 50% in the last 15 years.
• Apart from India, a large number of people were lifted out of poverty in China (2010–14, 69 million) and Indonesia (2012–17, 8 million).
• Sub-Saharan Africa has 534 million and South Asia has 389 million poor people.
• Around two-thirds of all poor people (730 million people) live in middle-income countries.
• According to the MPI report, the poverty rate among children is 27.7 per cent, while among adults it is 13.4 per cent.
• The MPI measures poverty across 10 indicators in three dimensions- health, education, and standard of living. The MPI value ranges from 0 to 1, and higher values imply higher poverty.

Topic: State News/Uttar Pradesh

2. Uttar Pradesh is on second position in India in the disposal of cases of crimes against women.

• It is also the second state in India in the disposal of pending cases of crime against women.
• It ranks fifth in terms of registration of FIRs and investigation of cases of crime against women.
• It disposed of 97.80% of FIRs registered under Section-376 of the IPC and POCSO Act.
• Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman Diu is ranked at first place in solving cases of crime against women with 98.30% disposal of cases.
• Puducherry is ranked at the third place with 97.50% disposal of cases.
• Bihar has shown worst performance in solving cases of crime against women with 18.5% disposals. It is followed by Manipur at 20.6% and Assam at 46.7%.

Topic: Important Days

3. World Paper Bag Day: 12 July

• World Paper Bag Day is celebrated every year on 12 July.
• Seventh World Paper Bag Day is being celebrated in 2023 to spread awareness about the importance of using paper bags.
• Francis Wolle in the US created paper bags for the first time in the middle of the 19th century.
• The theme for World Paper Bag Day 2023 has not been announced yet.
• Last year, the theme of World Paper Bag Day was “If You're 'Fantastic', Do Something 'Dramatic' To Cut The 'Plastic', Use 'Paper Bags'.”

Topic: MoUs/Agreements

4. IFSCA and Climate Policy Initiative signed an agreement on sustainable finance.

• The agreement is for cooperation to increase the mobilization of global sustainable capital flows into India.
• Climate Policy Initiative (CPI) is an analysis and advisory organisation. It is based in San Francisco, California. 
• Its works include the improvement of the most important energy and land use practices around the world.
• IFSCA was set up in April 2020. It was set up under the International Financial Services Centres Authority Act, 2019. It is headquartered at GIFT City, Gandhinagar.

Topic: National news

5. Govt issued draft notification to make it mandatory to have air conditioning system in the cabin of trucks to be manufactured from January 01, 2025

• Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari said that truck drivers play an important role in ensuring road safety.
• The decision to make the air conditioning system mandatory will prove to be historic in the direction of improving the working conditions of truck drivers.
• It will be mandatory to install air conditioning systems in the cabin of motor vehicles belonging to the N-2 and N-3 categories.
• Motor vehicles of the N-2 category are considered better for carrying 3.5 tonnes and N-3 vehicles for carrying 12 tonnes of goods.
• All the stakeholders have been requested to give their comments/suggestions regarding the notification within thirty days.
• The performance test of the cabin equipped with an air conditioning system shall be as per IS 14618:2022 as amended from time to time.

Topic: MoUs and Agreements

6. An agreement has been signed by L&T and Navantia to bid for the Navy's P75 submarine program.

• On 12 July, Spain's Navantia and Larsen & Toubro signed a Teaming Agreement (TA) at the premises of the Spanish Embassy.
• The agreement has been signed for the purpose of submission of a techno-commercial bid for the Indian Navy's prestigious P75 (India) submarine program.
• The agreement was signed in the presence of SN Subramanian, CEO & MD of L&T, and Augustin Alvarez Blanco, Vice President of Naval Construction and Member of the Board – Navantia.
• The Indian bidder for Project 75(I) will have to tie up with a foreign collaborator (FC) and execute a program for the delivery of six conventional submarines equipped with Air-Independent Propulsion (AIP) while obtaining targeted indigenous content.
• Expected to be worth over 4.8 billion Euros, the project is India's largest defense acquisition project.
• The P75(I) will be the first program to be processed under the Defense Ministry's ambitious Strategic Partnership (SP) model of acquisition.
• On April 11, 2023, L&T and Navantia had signed an MoU for the P75(I) program in Madrid, which has now culminated in this agreement.
• As per the agreement, Navantia will design the P75(I) submarines based on its S80 class submarines.

Topic: Indian Economy

7. GST Council has exempted cancer-fighting drugs, medicines for rare diseases and food products for special medical purposes from GST.

• Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced this after chairing the 50th GST Council meeting in New Delhi on 11 July 2023.
• GST rates on uncooked, unfried extruded snack pallets have been cut from 18% to 5%.
• GST rates on fish-soluble paste have also been cut from 18% to 5%.
• Rates on imitation zari threads have been cut from 12% to 5%. 
• 28% tax will be levied on online gaming, horse racing, and casinos.
• GST Council has exempted GST on satellite launch services by private operators.
• Government also lowered the service tax levied on food and beverages consumed in cinema halls to 5 per cent.

Topic: National News

8. Special squads have been formed to take stringent action against pharmaceutical companies manufacturing spurious drugs.  

• Chemicals and Fertilizers Minister Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya said the regulatory authorities have begun the inspection and audit of plants.
• He said that 137 firms were inspected. Action has been taken against 105 firms.
• Production has been stopped at 31 firms. Cancellation and Suspension of Products have been issued against 50 firms.
• Schedule M will be made compulsory for the MSME pharma sector in a phased manner. This will help in quality assurance.
• He directed the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) to take action against all pharmaceutical manufacturing companies making spurious drugs.
• Schedule M comes under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act 1940. It deals with good manufacturing practices for pharma manufacturing units.

Topic: Summits/ Conferences/ Meetings

9. National Fish Farmers Day Meet - 2023 concluded at Mahabalipuram.

• The Department of Fisheries along with other stakeholders organized the National Fish Farmers Day meet and 'Start-up Conclave' at Mahabalipuram.
• It has been organized on 10th July and 11th July in Mahabalipuram.
• National Fish Farmers Day- 2023 given an opportunity to recognize the contribution of fish growers as well as their dedication to sustainable fisheries.
• The dedication of fish farmers, startups, innovation in adopting modern techniques and improving fish productivity have been highlighted during the National Fish Farmers Day Meet.
• The main aim of the meeting is to create an ecosystem to discuss the ways to sustainably manage fisheries resources.
• The 'Start-up Conclave' has provided a platform for entrepreneurs and start-ups in the fisheries sector to display their creative ideas, products and technology.
• National Fish Farmers Day is celebrated every year on 10 July.

(Source: PIB)

Topic: Miscellaneous

10. India secured the first position in the medal tally at the 34th International Biology Olympiad, UAE.

• The 34th International Biology Olympiad was organized from 3-11 July 2023 in UAE.
• India topped the medal tally with four Gold at the 34th International Biology Olympiad (IBO) 2023.
• For the first time that India has topped the medals tally in IBO.
• Dhruv Advani, Ishan Pednekar, Megh Chhabda and Rohit Panda have won the Gold medals at the IBO 2023.
• Prof. Madan M. Chaturvedi (Former Senior Professor, Delhi University) and Dr Anupama Ronad accompanied the team.
• 293 students from 76 countries took part in the IBO 2023. Singapore was the only country to win four gold medals.
• Total 29 gold medals were awarded at the 34th International Biology Olympiad (IBO) 2023.
• Earlier, India has topped the medals tally in Astronomy & Astrophysics (2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2015 and 2021), Physics (in 2018) and Junior Science (in 2014, 2019, 2021, and 2022).

(Source: PIB)

Topic: Important Days

11. International Malala Day 2023: 12 July

• Every year on July 12, International Malala Day is observed on the birthday of Malala Yousafzai.
• In 2013, The United Nations (UN) designated July 12 as Malala Day to honour the young woman who advocated for women's education.
• Malala Yousafzai became an international symbol of the fight for girls' education.
• In 2012, she was shot for opposing Taliban restrictions on female education in Pakistan.
• In December 2014, she became the youngest-ever Nobel Peace Prize laureate.
• In 2015, an asteroid was named (316201 Malala) in honour of Yousufzai.

Topic: India and its Neighbors

12. Bilateral trade in rupees started by India and Bangladesh.

• On 11 July, it was launched in Dhaka at an event jointly organized by Bangladesh Bank and the Indian High Commission.
• From July 11, India and Bangladesh will trade in the Indian rupee along with the normal transaction method in the US dollar.
• The trade agreement will be applicable only to export amounts from Bangladesh in Indian rupees, while balance imports from India will be settled in US dollars.
• The trade and transactions with India on the Bangladesh side will be handled by Eastern Bank and Sonali Bank Limited, while the operations on the Indian side will be handled by the State Bank of India and ICICI Bank.
• Bangladesh is India's largest trading partner in South Asia and India is Bangladesh's second-largest trading partner in Asia.
• The Reserve Bank of India has allowed banks from 18 countries including Germany, Russia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, the United Kingdom, Myanmar, Oman, and others to trade in rupees.
• Bangladesh became the 19th country to trade with India in rupees.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: Indian Polity

13. SC holds extension granted to ED Director Sanjay Mishra as invalid.

• Supreme Court quashed the Union government’s decision to extend the tenure of Enforcement Directorate (ED) chief Sanjay Kumar Mishra for the third time.
• Supreme Court termed the order “illegal” but allowed Sanjay Mishra to continue in office until 31 July.
• A bench of Justices BR Gavai, Vikram Nath and Sanjay Karol said the extension of tenure is contrary to a 2021 judgment by a division bench of the Supreme Court.
• In this judgement, Supreme Court had barred further extensions beyond November 2021. So, the extensions given after the verdict is invalid.
• Sanjay Mishra was first appointed the ED director in 2018 for two years. After that his tenure was extended for one year in 2020.
• In 2021, the SC Bench of Justices B R Gavai and L Nageswara Rao upheld the Centre’s order extending the tenure of Mishra beyond two years.
• However, the Bench said that extension of officers who attained the age of retirement should be done only in rare and exceptional cases.
• Section 25(d) of the Central Vigilance Commission Act, 2003, lays down the minimum tenure of the Enforcement Director.

Topic: National Appointment

14. Abhijit Chakravorty has been appointed as MD and CEO of SBI card.

• India’s largest credit card issuer, SBI Cards and Payment Services (SBI Card), has appointed Abhijit Chakravorty as MD and CEO for two years.
• He is currently a Deputy MD at SBI.
• He will assume charge as MD and CEO of SBI Card on 12 August. He will replace Rama Mohan Rao Amara.
• Chakravorty will assume his new role at a time when the Indian credit card industry is showing robust growth in terms of volumes and card spending.