Daily Current Affairs and GK | 15 July 2023

Topic: India and its neighbours

1. Government will provide free Doordarshan DTH connections in border villages on the Indo-China border.

• The Government has aimed to distribute one lakh 50 thousand Free Dish connections in villages in border areas.
• This initiative is part of achieving the goal of reaching out to the people living in far-flung and border areas.
• Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur was on a three-day tour to Leh-Ladakh as part of the “Vibrant Village” programme of the government.
• Anurag Thakur held close interaction with the local villagers and administrative officials.
• He also unveiled plans for future initiatives that would further enhance the development of border villages.
• These initiatives include upgrading infrastructure for better connectivity and promoting eco-tourism to leverage the region’s natural beauty.
• He also assured local people that their demands for better digital connectivity, enhancing tourism infrastructure, and sports infrastructure will be implemented on a priority basis.
• India shares 3488 kms of border with China that runs along Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh.

Topic: Summits/Conferences/Meetings

2. All-India Institute of Ayurveda (AIIA) organized a seminar on the occasion of Sushruta Jayanti-2023.

• The seminar commenced on July 13, 2023 and end on July 15, 2023.
• Sushruta Jayanti is celebrated every year on 15th July.
• Sushruta Jayanti is celebrated to honour the Sushruta, hailed as the father of surgery.
• To commemorate his contributions to the field of surgery, the AIIA's Department of Shalyatantra organised an event called "Shalyacon".
• The National Seminar on Shalya Tantra and Sangyaharan was organized in association with AAIM (Bharatiya Sangyaharak Association, Varanasi).
• The aim of the seminar is to promote the wisdom and practices of Sushruta.
• The Chairperson of the National Commission for Indian System of Medicine (NCISM) Dr. Deopujari Jayant was the chief guest for the inauguration ceremony.
• All-India Institute of Ayurveda is located at New Delhi. It was established in October 2015. Prof. Dr Tanuja Nesari is its director.

Topic: Banking System

3. HDFC Bank has become the first to link the digital rupee with the UPI QR code.

• HDFC Bank has launched a UPI QR code interoperable with India’s central bank digital currency (CBDC).
• Thus, it has become the first commercial bank in India to do so.
• RBI Deputy Governor T Rabi Sankar announced that interoperability will be implemented in July.
• With the interoperable UPI QR code, HDFC Bank merchants who have been onboarded on its CBDC platform can accept payments from their customers in the form of Digital Rupee currency.
• HDFC Bank has signed up 1,70,000 merchants and over 1 lakh customers in pilot programmes using the digital rupee 
• The payments in digital rupee are currently being facilitated by HDFC Bank in Delhi, Mumbai, Chandigarh, Bengaluru, Bhubaneswar, Ahmedabad, Guwahati, and Gangtok, among other cities.
• On November 1, 2022, RBI started a pilot on CBDC in the wholesale segment.
• With the help of UPI QR Code interoperable with Digital Rupee, consumers can transact money available in their CBDC wallet across UPI QR code.
• The consumers will not need to scan different QR codes at the same merchant.

Topic: Sports

4. India won nine medals at World Deaf Youth Badminton Championships in Brazil.

• These medals include four silver medals and five bronze medals.
• India won these medals in the 3rd edition of the World Deaf Youth Badminton Championships, which was held from July 10 to 12.
• Para de Minas, a municipality town in Brazil, staged the tournament.

• Soumyadeep and Shreya won three medals in the championship.
• Gauranshi, Aaditya, Jerlin and Piyush won two medals each.
• A few of these winners of World Deaf Youth Badminton Championships would participate in the World Deaf Badminton Championships, which is taking place from July 14 to 25.
• The World Deaf Badminton Championships are organized by International Committee of Sports for the Deaf since 2003. It is held every four years.

Topic: Indian Economy

5. Due to the slowdown in the global economy, India's total exports fell by 13% to $60.09 billion.

• India's total exports, including both goods and services, are estimated to be USD 60.09 billion in June 2023, showing a decline of about 13% from June 2022.
• Exports in June 2022 were USD 69.20 billion.
• Total imports are estimated to be US$ 68.98 billion in June 2023, a decline of about 14% from the 2022 figure of US$ 80.12 billion.
• However, the trade balance, i.e., the difference between exports and imports, narrowed to US$ 8.89 billion from US$ 10.92 billion in June.
• In April-June 2023 quarter, India's overall exports (merchandise and services combined) are estimated to exhibit a 7.29% decline over April-June 2022 at USD 182.70 billion.
• Total imports are estimated to decline by 10.18% to USD 205.29 billion in April-June 2023 as compared to April-June 2022.
• In April-June 2023-24, the trade deficit also narrowed to USD 22.59 billion from USD 31.49 billion.
• The commerce ministry said the global economy will slow down substantially to 2.1% in 2023 after growing at 3.1% in 2022.

Topic: Banking System

6. RBI cancelled the license of 2 cooperative banks.

• On July 11, Sri Sharada Mahila Co-operative Bank, Tumkur, Karnataka, and Harihareshwar Sahakari Bank, Wai, Satara license has been cancelled by the RBI as the lenders did not have adequate capital and earning prospects.
• Harihareshwar Sahakari Bank ceased banking business with effect from on July 11, 2023.
• On liquidation, each depositor will be entitled to receive the deposit insurance claim amount of up to Rs 5 lakh from the DICGC.
• The Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation (DICGC) will pay the full amount to around 99.96% of depositors of Harihareshwar Sahakari Bank.
• DICGC will pay the full amount to around 97.82% of the depositors of Sri Sharada Mahila Co-operative Bank.
• As a result of the cancellation of their licenses, banks are prohibited from carrying on the business of 'banking' which includes accepting deposits and repayment of deposits.
• Till June 12, 2023, DICGC has already paid Rs 15.06 crore of total insured deposits to the depositors of Shri Sharda Mahila Sahakari Bank.
• The Cooperative Commissioner and Registrar of Cooperative Societies, Maharashtra have also been requested to issue an order to wind up the bank and appoint a liquidator for the bank.
• Deposit Insurance & Credit Guarantee Corporation (DICGC):
  • It is a fully owned subsidiary of RBI. It was established in July 1978 under the Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation Act, 1961.
  • It insures deposits in public and private sector banks, local area banks, small finance banks, regional rural banks, cooperative banks, Indian branches of foreign banks and payments banks.
  • Dr. M.D. Patra is the Chairman of DICGC. It is headquartered in Mumbai.

Topic: Indian Polity

7. Union Cabinet has approved changes to the Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Bill, 2023.

• This bill seeks to decriminalise minor offences by amending 183 provisions in 42 Acts.
• It proposes amendment in 183 provisions across 42 Acts administered by 19 ministries.
• Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal introduced the Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Bill in the Lok Sabha on December 22, 2023.
• The bill was referred to a joint committee of parliament. Its report was laid before Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha in March 2023.
• The bill also envisages the rationalisation of monetary penalties, based on the gravity of the offence.
• The Acts which are being amended are given in the following table.

Topic: Books and Authors

8. Vinod Mankara’s book was released from the rocket launchpad at Satish Dhawan Space Centre.

• The title of the book is 'Prism: The Ancestral Abode of Rainbow'. It is a collection of science articles.
• It is a compilation of 50 articles from space science, astronomy, biology, anthropology and mathematics.
• It covers topics like the James Webb space telescope, dark sky tourism, black hole confirmation, and the dog Laika's first space journey
• The book was released by ISRO Chairman S Somnath, whio has also penned the foreword for the book.
• He released the book by handing it over to Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) Director S Unnikrishnan Nair.
• Vinod Mankara is a national award-winning filmmaker writer.
• He is also the maker of 'Yanam', a science-Sanskrit documentary on India's Mars Orbiter Mission 'Mangalyaan'.
• 'Chandranu Nere Choonduviral' is also among Mankara's documentaries.

Topic: International News

9. India and France decided to co-develop the jet engine.

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron addressed a joint press conference at the Elysee Palace in Paris.
• Both countries announced that they will extend their defence cooperation in advanced aeronautical technologies.
• They will co-develop the combat aircraft engine and also the engine for the Indian multi-role helicopter (IMRH).
• India and France will also cooperate on the motorization of heavy-lift helicopters under the IMRH programme.
• To enable progress on the IMRH programme, HAL and Safran Helicopter Engine will sign a shareholders’ Agreement.
• Both also announced cooperation on small and advanced modular reactors.
• India and France also agreed to support the adoption of a road map for joint actions in the Indo-Pacific and the finalization of the joint Earth observation satellite.
• Recently, HAL and General Electric signed a MoU to manufacture the F-414 engine for the indigenous Light Combat Aircraft MK2.

Topic: Indian Economy

10. Government raised windfall tax on crude oil to Rs 1,600 per tonne.

• The Indian government imposed the windfall tax on domestic crude oil production to Rs 1,600 per tonne.
• The Government has also increased the Special Additional Excise Duty (SAED) on domestic crude oil from Zero to Rs 1,600 per tonne from 15 July.
• The Special Additional Excise Duty (SAED) on petrol, diesel and aviation turbine fuel (ATF) will remain unchanged.
• In May 2023, India had cut the windfall tax on petroleum crude to zero from 4,100 rupees per metric ton.
• India imposed the windfall profit tax for the first time on 1 July 2022 to control inflation and to ensure availability of the transport fuels in the local market.
• A windfall profit tax is imposed by governments on businesses or economic sectors when economic conditions result in large and unexpected profits.

Topic: Summit/Conference/Meetings

11. Shri Ashwini Vaishnav inaugurated the Curtain Raiser of IMC-2023 on 12 July.

• The 7th edition of India Mobile Congress (IMC), Asia's premier digital technology expo, will be held from October 27 to 29, 2023, at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi.
• IMC will be organized jointly by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) and the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI).
• The theme of IMC 2023 is 'Global Digital Innovation'.
• The IMC 2023 event will see approximately 100,000+ participants, 5,000+ CXO-level delegations, 350+ speakers and 400+ exhibitors.
• Since the inception of IMC in the year 2017, it has strengthened India's position.
• It has also served as a premier platform for global thought leaders to design the next wave of digital innovation led by India.
• The launch of 5G in India during the 2022 IMC by Prime Minister Modi received an overwhelming response from the industry.
• IMC 2023 will also expand to related technology sectors like Broadcast, Satcom, Manufacturing, Semiconductors, etc. through partnerships with Alicina, IESA, ISPA, DFI, and many other associations.
• IMC 2023 also plans to engage major universities and students and create a global buyer forum, apart from several B2G and B2B forums and industry round tables.

Topic: Infrastructure and Energy

12. Eastern Cross Taxiways, and the fourth runway inaugurated by Scindia at Delhi airport.

• On 14 July, Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia inaugurated dual elevated Eastern Cross Taxiways and the fourth runway at the Delhi airport.
• The Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA), is the largest airport in the country, which handles over 1,500 aircraft movements every day.
• The Eastern Cross Taxiways (ECT) is 2.1 kilometers long and will reduce the time spent by passengers on the tarmac after landing and before take-off of flights.
• With the ECT, this airport will be the only airport in India to have an elevated taxiway with roads passing beneath it.
• The ECT will connect the northern and southern airfields on the eastern side of the airport and reduce the taxiing distance for aircraft by seven kilometers.
• It can handle wide-body aircraft, including A-380 and B-777 and B-747.
• IGIA will now have four runways including RW 09/27, RW 11R/29L, RW 10/28, and RW 11L/29R.
• The Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL), which is a consortium led by GMR Airports Infrastructure Ltd, operates IGIA.

Topic: Space and IT

13. Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) launched the Chandrayaan-3 on 14 July.

• Indian rocket LVM3 successfully lifted off the 3,897.89 kg Chandrayaan-3 from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh.
• Chandrayaan-3 will make a second attempt to land a spacecraft on the moon.
• Chandrayaan-3 will cover a distance of 3.84 lakh km. It will reach to the moon after travelling for 42 days.
• The Vikram lander of the mission is expected to soft-land on the surface of the South Pole region of the Moon on around August 23 or August 24.
• The Chandrayaan-3 mission will explore the South Pole region of the moon.
• The Chandrayaan-3 has been built for Rs 615 crore.
• Chandrayaan-3 mission consists of an indigenous lander module (LM), propulsion module (PM), and a rover.
• The rocket will eject the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft at an altitude of about 179 km.
• The spacecraft would orbit the earth about 5-6 times in an elliptical cycle.
• India is aiming to become the fourth country to land an unmanned spacecraft on the surface of the moon.

Topic: Important Days

14. World Youth Skills Day: 15 July

• World Youth Skills Day is celebrated every year on 15 July.
• The theme for World Youth Skills Day 2023 is Skilling teachers, trainers and youth for a transformative future.
• The theme highlights the essential role that teachers, trainers and other educators play in providing skills to youth. 
• In 2014, the United Nations General Assembly declared 15 July as World Youth Skills Day.
• It is observed to highlight the importance of equipping young people with skills for employment, decent work and entrepreneurship.
• Technological advancements and shifting labour market dynamics compel us to adopt new skill sets.