Daily Current Affairs and GK | 19 May 2023

Topic: Summits/Conferences/Meetings

1. First Inter-Ministerial Committee Meeting held in New Delhi on 16th May 2023.

• Secretary of Food Processing Industries, Anita Praveen, chaired the meeting with senior representatives from Ministries/ Departments/ Boards.
• The meeting was held to apprise the officials of the preparation made so far for World Food India 2023.
• It was held to discuss the participation of respective Ministries/ Departments/ Organizations in the event.
• Secretary, Food Processing Industries, requested the officials to share specific plan of action regarding their participation/partnership in the Mega Food Event.
• World Food India 2023 will be organized between the 3rd and 5th November 2023 in New Delhi.
• It will be organised by the Ministry of Food Processing Industries.
• The next meeting of the Inter-Ministerial Committee will be held in June 2023.
• This will be held to firm up concrete partnership/participation of different stakeholders.
• The Investment Facilitation Cell (Invest India) and the event partner (FICCI) were directed to coordinate with the ministries and departments.

Topic: Geography

2. Overall mineral production increased by 6.8% in March 2023.

• The index of mineral production of the mining and quarrying sector for March 2023 was 6.8% higher as compared to March 2022.
• The index of mineral production of the mining and quarrying sector for March 2023 stood at 154.2.
• According to the provisional data of the Indian Bureau of Mines (IBM), cumulative growth for April-March 2022-23 over the same period of the previous year is 5.8%.
• Important minerals showing positive growth during March 2023 over March 2022 are given in the following table.

• Production level of important minerals in March, 2023 were as given in the following table.

Topic: Corporates/Companies

3. The proposed merger of Credit Suisse with UBS has been approved by the Competition Commission of India (CCI).

• The proposed combination relates to the proposed acquisition of Credit Suisse by UBS through an absorption merger and UBS will be the surviving legal entity thereafter.
• Following the transaction, all assets, liabilities and contracts of Credit Suisse will be transferred entirely to UBS.
• The proposed transaction was necessitated by Credit Suisse's financial difficulties.
• Credit Suisse Group AG (Credit Suisse) and UBS Group AG (UBS) are multinational investment bank and financial services company based in Switzerland.
• In India, UBS’ business is mainly focused on brokerage services.
• In India, Credit Suisse’s businesses mainly include wealth management and investment banking services.
• Competition Commission of India (CCI):
  • CCI was formed on 14 October 2003 under the Competition Commission Act, 2002.
  • It aims to eliminate practices that affect competition in the Indian market and protect the interests of the consumers.
  • Sangeeta Verma is the acting chairperson of CCI.
  • Recently, the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the appointment of Ravneet Kaur as chairperson of CCI.

Topic: Summits/Conferences/Meetings

4. CABSAT 2023 held at the Dubai World Trade Centre on 16 May.

• CABSAT 2023 is the premier exhibition for content creation, production, distribution, digital media, satellite communication, and space technology.
• Six Indian companies, including TATA Elxsi, exhibited during the 29th edition of CABSAT, showcasing their state-of-the-art OTT engineering and service delivery products.
• A platform has been provided through this program for professionals from around the world to network, collaborate and explore advancement opportunities.
• CABSAT has held its position as the largest gathering of the region's creative, broadcast and satellite communities.
• CABSAT 2023 was co-founded with the inaugural edition of Integrate Middle East.
• It brought together the global professional audio-visual (pro-AV) and media technology communities in the region for the first time.
• The future of Middle East broadcasting, technology, satellite communications and the thriving media and entertainment sector were highlighted through CABSAT.
• It is expected to experience significant growth at a compound annual growth rate of 12.9% from 2021 to 2027.
• Content Congress was the one of the notable initiatives at CABSAT 2023, which discussed the challenges of producing high-quality content.
• The SATEXPO summit also highlighted the importance of the satellite industry and its readiness to adopt cutting-edge technologies.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: Summits/Conferences/Meetings

5. G20 RIIG Conference on Scientific challenges and opportunities for a sustainable blue-economy organized in Diu.

• On 18 and 19 May, Research and Innovation Initiative Gathering (RIIG) Conference on Scientific Challenges and Opportunities for a sustainable blue economy organized in Diu as part of India’s G20 presidency.
• Dr Srivari Chandrasekhar, Secretary DST and chairman of G20 RIIG, chaired the meeting.
• “Research and Innovation for an Equitable Society” was the main theme of the conference.
• In the conference, more than 35 foreign delegates and 40 Indian experts, delegates and invitees participated.
• Various sessions held as part of the meeting discussed a range of issues including Blue Economy Sectors and Opportunities, Marine Pollution, Coastal and Marine Ecosystems and Biodiversity, Deep-Sea Exploration, and New and Renewable Offshore Energy.
• The Research Innovation Initiative Gathering (RIIG) is a new initiative of the G20 Forum, which was launched in 2022 during the Indonesian Presidency.
• During the meeting, India also presented the first draft of the Research Ministers declaration for discussions.
• On 5th July 2023, the Ministerial Declaration shall be adopted at the Research Ministers meeting in Mumbai.  

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: National News

6. A curtain-raiser event for Wing India 2024 was organised on May 18 in New Delhi.

• At the event, Jyotiraditya Scindia stated that the government is giving special attention to capacity building for the fast-growing aviation market of the country.
• The government has simplified processes and procedures and is ensuring that there are no bottlenecks for the aviation industry.
• It is the endeavour of the government to increase the number of airports, heliports and waterdromes to more than 200 in the next three to four years.
• The number of domestic passengers was 60 million in 2014 and has increased to 144 million in 2019.
• India is currently connected to less than 100 destinations globally, but there is huge potential for improving international connectivity.
• Under the UDAN scheme, new airports are being inaugurated and this will enable more people from Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities to come on the domestic aviation map.
• From 18th to 21st January 2024, the Wings India 2024 will be held at Begumpet Airport in Hyderabad. It is Asia's largest event on Civil Aviation on Commercial, General and Business Aviation.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: India and its neighbours

7. Imran Khan, the Former Prime Minister of Pakistan, has been granted pre-arrest bail by anti-terrorism court.

• An anti-terrorism court in Pakistan has approved pre-arrest bail till June 2 to Imran Khan in three terrorism cases including Jinnah House attack case filed against him.
• Police has continued their cordon around the house after the 24-hour deadline set by the Punjab government for Imran Khan to hand over the suspects allegedly hiding in the house expired on 18 May.
• Police has claim that 30-40 people involved in the violent protests following Khan's May 9 arrest are reportedly hiding in Khan's house.
• On 9 May 2023, Imran Khan was arrested from inside the High Court in Islamabad by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on charges of corruption in relation to the Al-Qadir Trust run by him and his wife Bushra Bibi.
• His Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party says the cases against him are politically motivated.
• Soon after his arrest, his supporters enraged and there were widespread violence and rare attacks on state and military facilities.
• On 11 May, Supreme Court of Pakistan ruled that the arrest of Khan was unlawful and ordered to release him.
• There are around 200 cases registered against Imran Khan.
• Mr Khan was shot in the leg while leading a protest march in November 2022.
• Imran has accused a senior intelligence officer of carrying out the attack, which was strongly denied by the military.
• The army warned him against making "baseless allegations", a day before his arrest after he again accused a senior officer of plotting to kill him.
• In April 2022, Imran Khan was ousted from power after losing a no-confidence vote.
• Currently, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is leading the Pakistan government.

Topic: State News/Karnataka

8. Siddaramaiah has been elected as the new legislative party leader.

• Siddaramaiah will take oath as the new Chief Minister of Karnataka on 20th May.
• The Congress Legislative Party meeting was held in Bengaluru on 18 May 2023. It elected him as the new legislative party leader.
• D K Shivakumar has been elected as the Deputy Chief Minister.
• Siddaramaiah and D K Shivakumar met Governor Thawarchand Gehlot to stake a claim for the Government.
• The Congress had gained a majority in the May 10 Assembly election.
• The swearing-in ceremony will be held on May 20 afternoon.
• The Governor will administer the oath of office to Siddaramaiah as CM and D K Shivakumar as Deputy CM.
• Siddaramaiah was also the Chief Minister of Karnataka from 2013 to 2018.
• He is only the second person to hold that office for a full five-year term. He won from the Varuna Assembly constituency in the 2023 elections.

Topic: Defence

9. Indian Navy ships carry relief material to Yangon under Operation Karuna.

• External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar said three Indian Navy ships reached Yangon on 18 May 2023 under Operation Karuna.
• A fourth ship will reach on 19 May 2023. The ships have emergency food items, tents, essential medicines, water pumps, clothes, portable generators, sanitary and hygiene items. 
• India has extended a hand of friendship to the people of Myanmar affected by Cyclone Mocha.
• Cyclone Mocha was a tropical cyclone in the North Indian Ocean. It affected Myanmar and parts of Bangladesh in May 2023.
• It was the first cyclonic storm of the 2023 North Indian Ocean cyclone season.

Topic: State News/ Assam

10. Seven religious sites in Guwahati will be connected by waterways.

• The Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways (MOPSW) has made commitment to develop inland waterways.
• In this sequence, an MoU was signed on May 19, 2023 in Assam for a river-based tourism circuit being developed on the Brahmaputra River.
• The MoU was signed between Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI), Sagarmala Development Company Limited (SDCL), Assam Tourism Development Corporation Limited (ATDC) and Directorate of Inland Water Transport (DIWT).
• The project is being developed under the Sagarmala program at an initial cost of 40-45 crores.
• SDCL and IWAI will together contribute 55% of the project cost while ATDC will bear the remaining cost.
• DIWT has agreed to allow the usage of Ghats near the temples free of cost for this project.
• This Sagarmala project will connect the historical temples of Kamakhya, Pandunath, Ashwaklanta, Doul Govinda, Umananda, Chakreshwar and Auniati Satra located in Guwahati.
• The circuit will depart from Hanuman Ghat, Uzan Bazar and will complete its rounds connecting all the above-mentioned temples through waterways.
• The ferry service is expected to reduce the total travel time to less than 2 hours to complete one round trip.

Topic: Awards and Prizes

11. Union Sports Minister presented citations and trophies to 3 National Sports Award winners.

• On 18 May, Union Sports Minister Shri Anurag Singh Thakur presented the awards along with citations to the winners of the National Sports Awards, who had not earlier received their awards from the President of India.
• Indian shooter Anjum Moudgil (Arjuna Award), hockey coach Sarpal Singh (Dronacharya Award) and family members of late tennis coach Naresh Kumar (Dronacharya Award) were honored with citations and trophies.
• Anjum has received the Arjuna Award for the year 2019 at the event.
• At the same time, hockey coach Sarpal Singh was awarded the Dronacharya Award for 2021.
• Also, on behalf of late Naresh Kumar, his granddaughter- Shivani Mirchandani has received her grandfather's Dronacharya Award (2020).
• ‘Arjuna Award for outstanding performance in Sports and Games’ is given for good performance over a period of previous four years.
• 'Dronacharya Award' is given to outstanding coaches in Sports and Games.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: Environment and Ecology

12. As per WMO, next five years are expected to remain the warmest on record.

• According to the UN’s World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the combined effect of El Nino and greenhouse gases will increase the temperature.
• World Meteorological Organization said that global temperatures are likely to surpass 1.5 ° Celsius of warming by 2027. 
• It said that there is a 98- percent chance that at least one of the next five years will set a new record of warmth.
• There is a 66% chance of temporarily exceeding of temperature from 1.5°C in at least one year.
• The entire period of 2023-27 is likely to remain the warmest ever on record. WMO said that a warming El Niño is likely to develop in the coming months.
• Global temperatures are expected to exceed the ambitious target set out in the Paris Climate Accord.
• Eight of the hottest years ever have been recorded between 2015 and 2022. Now, as climate change accelerates, the prospect of increasing temperatures is increasing.
• The global mean temperature in 2022 was 1.15 Celsius above the 1850-1900 average.
• Paris Agreement’s objective is to hold global average temperature increase to “well below 2°C above preindustrial levels and pursuing efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels”.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: Corporates/Companies

13. Amazon Web Services is planning to invest 12.7 billion dollars in cloud infrastructure in India by 2030.

• Amazon Web Services (AWS) has announced to invest 12.7 billion dollars in cloud infrastructure in India by 2030. It will meet the growing needs of customers of cloud service in India.
• The investment will be made in data centre infrastructure in India. The cloud platform will offer more than 200 services, including storage, robotics, and artificial intelligence.
• This investment in data centre infrastructure will support an estimated average of 1,31,700 full-time equivalent (FTE) jobs in Indian businesses each year. These jobs include construction, facility maintenance, engineering, telecommunications, and others.
• Earlier, Amazon Web Services invested Rs 30,900 crore (USD 3.7 billion) between 2016 and 2022 in India.
• The total investment of AWS in India will reach to Rs 1,36,500 crore (USD 16.4 billion) by 2030.
• This investment will contribute Rs 1,94,700 crore (USD 23.3 billion) to India’s total gross domestic product (GDP) by 2030.
• AWS has invested more than Rs 30,900 crore in the AWS Asia Pacific (Mumbai). It includes both capital and operating expenditures related to construction, maintaining and operation of data centres in the region.
• AWS helps several Indian businesses in building digital solutions locally.

Topic: National Appointments

14. Arjun Ram Meghwal becomes the new Law and Justice Minister.

• Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs and Culture Arjun Ram Meghwal becomes the new Law and Justice Minister.
• He has taken the place of Kiren Rijiju, who has been assigned Ministry of Earth Sciences.
• He is a member of Lok Sabha from the Bikaner constituency, Rajasthan since 2009.
• Prof. SP Singh Baghel has been made the Minister of State in the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. He was serving as the Minister of State in the Ministry of Law and Justice.
• According to Article 75, the Council of Ministers is collectively responsible to the House of the People.
• A Minister holds office at the pleasure of the President. President allocates portfolios on the advice of the Prime Minister. 
• The President administers the oath of office and secrecy to the Ministers.
• The article 75(5) states that “A Minister who for any period of six consecutive months is not a member of either House of Parliament shall at the expiration of that period cease to be a Minister”.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: Reports and Indices/Ranking

15. World Economic Situation and Prospects report has been released by the United Nations.

• The United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) released a mid-year update of its World Economic Situation and Prospects report.
• The report has projected that the Indian Economy is expected to grow by 5.8% in 2023 and 6.7% in 2024.
• India will remain the fastest-growing major economy in the world. India’s economic growth will be supported by resilient domestic demand. 
• India’s inflation is expected to decelerate to 5.5 percent in 2023 due to a decrease in global commodity prices and slower currency depreciation.
• As per the report, the world economy is projected to grow by 2.3 per cent in 2023 and 2.5 percent in 2024. The earlier forecast of world economic growth was 1.9 per cent for 2023.
• The report highlights that the labour markets in the developed countries have shown remarkable resilience.
• Recently, Fitch Ratings said that India would be one of the fastest-growing sovereigns around the world. It forecasted 6 per cent gross domestic product growth for 2023-24.