Daily Current Affairs and GK | 19 and 20 November 2023

Topic: Important Days

1. World Children's Day: 20 November

• World Children's Day is every year observed on 20th November.
• This day marks the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child by the UN General Assembly in 1959 and the Declaration of the Rights of the Child.
• The theme for this year's World Children's Day is ‘For every child, every right’.
• It was first observed as Universal Children's Day in 1954.
• It is observed for promoting the international brotherhood, and awareness about child welfare and their rights.
• World Children's Day gives an opportunity to raise awareness about child rights and their welfare.

Topic: Summits/ Conferences/ Meetings

2. Annual UN Forum will begin on 21 November in New Delhi.

• The Annual United Nations (UN) Forum 2023 will begin in New Delhi on 21 November.
• This two-day forum will be organized by the United Service Institution of India in collaboration with the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Centre for UN Peacekeeping Operations.
• The main objective of the forum is to discuss the applicability and limitations of implementing International Humanitarian Law frameworks in UN peace operations through an interactive, multi-stakeholder approach.
• For research and debate on national security and military affairs, the United Service Institution of India is India’s oldest think-tank established in 1870.
• The forum's main aim is to contribute towards developing training modules and policy frameworks.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: International News

3. Right-wing libertarian Javier Milei became the new president of Argentina on 19 November.

• In the election, Javier Miley got 55.8% votes and Economy Minister Sergio Massa got 44.2% votes.
• In his first address as President-elect, he said Argentina's situation was dire and promised to make major changes after assuming the presidency.
• Argentina is the third largest economy in Latin America and is struggling with the problems of inflation, increasing recession, and increasing poverty.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: Sports

4. Australia has won the Cricket World Cup title for the sixth time.

• On 19 November, Australia defeated host India by six wickets in the final at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmadabad.
• Australia won by achieving the target of 241 runs for four wickets in 43 overs.
• The Australian team has won six editions of the World Cup – 1987, 1999, 2003, 2007, 2015 and 2023 editions.
• Virat Kohli was selected as the best player of the tournament.
• Travis Head was named player of the match for the World Cup final.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: National Appointment

5. Senior UP cadre IPS officer Alok Sharma has been appointed as SPG director.

• On 17 November, senior Indian Police Service (IPS) officer Alok Sharma was appointed as the director of the Special Protection Group (SPG), the elite security unit responsible for protecting the Prime Minister.
• Sharma's appointment was approved by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet.
• After the death of SPG Director Arun Kumar Sinha in September, Alok Sharma was the Additional Director General of SPG.
• Arun Kumar Sinha was the longest-serving chief of SPG (2016–2023).
• The SPG is an agency of the Government of India whose sole responsibility is to protect the Prime Minister of India and, in some cases, his family.
• It was formed in 1988 by an Act of the Parliament of India.

Topic: Important Days

6. World Toilet Day 2023: 19 November

• Every year on 19 November, World Toilet Day is celebrated.
• The theme of World Toilet Day 2023 is “Accelerating Change for Safe Sanitation.”
• World Toilet Day has been celebrated annually since 2013.
• UN General Assembly adopted World Toilet Day on 24 July 2013.
• Only 37% of India was open defecation-free (ODF) in 2014 and by 2019, it had almost achieved saturation by building a record number of toilets.
• A 5-week Clean Toilet Challenge has been launched from 19th November to 25th December.
• This is the first nomination-based toilet challenge of its kind.
• It aims to ensure the functionality and sustainability of CT/PTs through a 5-week long mass sanitation and maintenance campaign aimed at improving the operation and maintenance of all toilets in urban India.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: National Appointments

7. Ashok Vaswani has been appointed as MD and CEO by Kotak Bank board.

• The Board of Directors of Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd. appointed Ashok Vaswani as a Director, Managing Director & CEO of the bank.
• He has been appointed for a period of three years with effect from January 1.
• He will assume charge on January 1 upon the end of Dipak Gupta’s term as the MD & CEO on December 31.
• Earlier, RBI had approved the name of Mr. Vaswani as the MD & CEO of Kotak Mahindra Bank.
• Kotak Mahindra Bank:
  • It is India’s 3rd largest private sector bank by market capitalisation.
  • It was founded in 2003. It is headquartered in Mumbai. Uday Kotak is its founder.

Topic: Committees/Commissions/Taskforces

8. Ministry of Consumer Affairs has formed a committee to draft a “Safety Pledge” to stop the online sale of hazardous products.

• The Safety Pledge would be a voluntary commitment by e-commerce players to stop the sale of hazardous products through their platforms.
• The aim of the pledge is to make sure that appropriate measures are taken by online platforms to stop the sale of unsafe goods.
• Rohit Kumar Singh, Secretary, Department of Consumer Affairs chaired a stakeholder consultation in this regard.
• Members from e-commerce platforms, consumer associations, industry bodies and National Law Universities are included in the committee.
• The committee will submit its report in two weeks.
• The proposed principles of the Safety Pledge for e-commerce platforms are:
  • Detecting and preventing the sale of unsafe products
  • Co-operating with statutory authorities responsible for product safety
  • Raising consumer product safety awareness amongst third-party sellers
  • Empowering consumers on product safety issues
• Section 2(9) of the Consumer Protection Act recognizes consumer rights to be protected against the marketing of goods, products or services that are hazardous to life and property.
• Consumer Protection Act empowers consumer commissions to pass directions to entities to not offer hazardous or unsafe goods for sale.

Topic: Indian Economy

9. India’s food subsidy is likely to be Rs 2.3 trillion for FY25.

• The central government food subsidy outlay will likely be Rs 2.3 trillion for the FY25.
• India’s revised estimate of food subsidy for FY24 has increased by Rs 17000 crores to Rs 2.14 trillion.
• The revised food subsidy has increased due to an increase in the minimum support prices (MSP) for key crops.
• The food subsidy budget estimate for FY25 is likely to be around 7% more than the FY24 revised estimate.
• The increase in the food subsidy in the current financial year will not affect the government's aims of containing the fiscal deficit at 5.9% of GDP.
• This year’s MSP increase is the highest since 2018-19 for all rabi and kharif crops.
• The MSP of wheat has been raised by 7.05% to Rs 2,275/quintal for 2024-25.
• Under Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY), the government is providing free grains to the NFSA beneficiaries.

Topic: Banking System

10. Finance Ministry directed PSU banks to take steps to strengthen cybersecurity.

• After the UCO Bank incident, PSU banks have been advised to review systems and processes related to their digital operation.
• The banks have been directed to check their cybersecurity robustness and take measures to strengthen them.
• Amidst the increasing digitalization in the financial sector, the Finance Ministry and RBI keep giving instructions to PSU banks at regular intervals.
• Recently, UCO Bank reported a credit of Rs 820 crore to account holders of the bank via Immediate Payment Service (IMPS).
• Due to technical problems in IMPS, transactions done by holders of other banks were credited to account holders of UCO Bank.
• However, the bank has recovered Rs 649 crore out of Rs 820 crore, which is about 79 per cent of the amount.

Topic: Personality in News

11. ChatGPT creator OpenAI has fired CEO Sam Altman.

• On November 17, OpenAI dismissed CEO Sam Altman because the company no longer had confidence in his ability to lead the firm.
• Mira Muratti, the company's chief technology officer will replace Altman on an interim basis.
• OpenAI created ChatGPT about a year ago, which renders human-level content like poetry or artwork in seconds.
• OpenAI's board said in a statement that he was not consistently candid in his communications with the board, hindering its ability to exercise its responsibilities.
• Microsoft has invested billions of dollars in OpenAI and has given company's technology into its offerings, including search engine Bing.
• OpenAI's board of directors includes OpenAI Chief Scientist Ilya Sutskever, Quora CEO Adam D'Angelo, technology entrepreneur Tasha McCauley, and Helen Toner of the Georgetown Center for Security and Emerging Technology.

Topic: Summits/ Conferences/ Meetings

12. 2^nd India-Australia 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue will be held on November 20, in New Delhi.

• Australian Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Mr Richard Marles will visit India from 19 to 20 November 2023 to co-chair the dialogue with Defense Minister Shri Rajnath Singh.
• On November 20, a bilateral meeting on defense cooperation will be held between both ministers followed by a 2+2 dialogue.
• The 2+2 dialogue will be co-chaired by Rajnath Singh and External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar along with their Australian counterparts, Richard Marles and External Affairs Minister Ms Penny Wong.
• The 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue was inaugurated in New Delhi in September 2021.
• India and Australia share a comprehensive strategic partnership and Minister Markles' visit is expected to provide further impetus to cooperation as well as bilateral defense cooperation.
• A wide range of issues of mutual interest are to be discussed by both the countries in the 2+2 dialogue talks and bilateral Defense Ministers' meeting.
• On 19 November, Minister Marles will also attend the Cricket World Cup final between India and Australia in Ahmedabad, Gujarat.

Topic: National News

13. Indian patent office granted a record 41,010 patents till November 15.

• Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said that Indian patent office has granted the "highest" number of 41,010 patents till November 15 this fiscal year.
• As per the World Intellectual Property Organization Report, the number of patent applications by Indians has grown by 31.6% in 2022.
• It is an important milestone in India’s journey to become an innovation-driven knowledge economy.
• 4,227 patents were granted in 2013–14.
• The rise in patents has shown the innovative zeal of youth and is a positive sign for the Indian economy.
• The increase in patent filing has improved India’s ranking in the Global Innovation Index to 40th rank out of 132 economies in 2023.
• The patent in India is governed by the Patents Act of 1970. It was amended by the Patents (Amendment) Act, 2005 and the Patents Rules, 2003
• The patent is granted for 20 years from the date of filing of the application.
• A Patent is a statutory right for an invention granted for a limited period of time to the patentee by the government.

Topic: Personality in News

14. Former RBI Governor S. Venkitaramanan passed away in Chennai.

• S. Venkitaramanan, RBI Governor from Dec. 1990 to Dec. 1992, died at the age of 92 years.
• He served as the 18th RBI governor during which India faced the balance of payments crisis.
• During his term, India adopted the stabilisation programme of IMF under which the Rupee was devaluated.
• He also served as Finance Secretary to the Government of India from 1985 to 1989.
• Before appointment as RBI governor, he was the advisor of the Karnataka government.
• He was born in the town of Nagercoil in the Padmanathapuram division of the princely state of Travancore.