Daily Current Affairs and GK | 24 and 25 November 2024

Topic: International Appointment

1. Abdoulaye Maiga appointed Prime Minister by Mali's ruling junta.

• On November 21, Mali's ruling junta appointed its spokesman, Abdoulaye Maiga, as Prime Minister, while Choguel Maiga, who had criticized the administration the day before, was dismissed.
• Choguel Maiga was quoted at the weekend as saying the junta had denounced its failure to hold elections as promised within 24 months for a return to democracy - a statement that angered the ruling generals.
• The military rulers, who seized power through successive coups in 2020 and 2021, had promised to hold elections in February but have postponed the vote indefinitely, blaming technical issues.
• Choguel Maiga is a civilian who was appointed Prime Minister by the military junta in 2021.
• Choguel Maiga's dismissal comes amid signs of growing frustration and division among Malian politicians, even those who initially supported the coup and worked with the junta.

Topic: Banking System

2. The transaction limit for UPI 123Pay increased from ₹5,000 to ₹10,000 by the RBI.

• This change will benefit millions of feature phone users across India who have limited access to the Internet.
• UPI 123Pay is a unique service that allows digital payments on feature phones without the need for internet connectivity.
• As per instructions from the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), this update, which is already effective, requires full compliance by January 1, 2025.
• Transactions of up to ₹10,000 are aimed to be enabled by this update, enhancing access to digital payments in these underprivileged areas.
• In areas with unreliable internet access, UPI 123Pay offers offline functionality through methods like Interactive Voice Response (IVR), missed calls, OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) apps, and even voice technology for payment processing.
• This increase in transaction limits means that farmers, small traders, and microenterprises can now carry out large transactions digitally, reducing their dependence on cash.

Topic: India and its Neighbours

3. India and Maldives signed a pact for cross-border transactions in local currencies.

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to boost the use of local currencies.
• This framework will enable exporters and importers to invoice and settle in their respective domestic currencies.
• It will facilitate the development of trading in the INR-MVR pair in the foreign exchange market.
• The use of local currencies will optimise costs and reduce settlement time for transactions.
• This MoU will promote the use of INR and MVR in current account transactions.

Topic: MoUs /Agreements

4. UN sustainable tourism declaration has been signed by more than 50 countries.

• More than 50 governments have signed the UN Sustainable Tourism Declaration to make tourism more climate-friendly around the world.
• The global tourism industry contributes around 3% of global GDP and is the source of 8.8% of greenhouse emissions.
• The declaration has been adopted with different other initiatives such as a framework presented by the hotel industry body World Sustainable Hospitality Alliance.
• The countries that have signed the Enhanced Climate Action on Tourism have taken a pledge to consider the need of tourism while drafting climate plans such as their Nationally Determined Contributions.
• Tourism has a large share in the government's hard currency revenues, particularly in emerging countries.
• The collated data would help the tourism industry and travellers understand their impact.