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CURRENT AFFAIRS : BANKING & FINANCE

HDFC Mutual Fund launches India's first defence fund 

• HDFC Asset Management Company (AMC) Limited, investment manager of HDFC mutual fund (HDFC MF) has announced the launch of India's first mutual fund - HDFC Defence Fund focussed on defence sector.

• The new fund offering (NFO) of HDFC Defence Fund, an open-ended equity scheme, would open on May 19, 2023 and close on June 2, 2023.

• The new scheme follows a bottom-up approach of portfolio construction within the defence ecosystem.

About HDFC Defence Fund :

• The defence fund is suitable for investors who are seeking long-term capital appreciation/income.

• The scheme will invest at least 80% of its Net Assets in Defence & allied sector Companies.

• It will seek to invest in companies with good quality management with demonstrated track records and aim to achieve diversification by following a multi-cap strategy.

• The scheme will be managed by Abhishek Poddar- Fund Manager – Equity and Senior Equity Analyst, Dealing & Investments, HDFC Asset Management Company Limited.

• The Fund’s focus would be on growth and quality at reasonable valuations by investing across large, mid, and small cap stocks.

About HDFC AMC Limited :

• Founded: 1999

• Headquarters : Mumbai, Maharashtra

• MD & CEO : Navneet Munot

NHB Asks Large Housing Finance Companies To Adopt Early Warning Signals Framework

• Regulator for housing finance firms National Housing Bank (NHB) has asked housing finance companies with asset size of over Rs 1,000 crore to adopt an early warning signals (EWS) framework to check financial frauds and also to prevent accounts from turning into non-performing assets.

• The analysis of the frauds reported by the housing finance companies (HFCs) has revealed that the reasons behind accounts being identified as fraud accounts are seller impersonation, submission of fake income/ employment documents, submission of fake title deeds, and collusion of the builder and borrower

• It has also been observed that such deficiencies are identified only when the borrower stops paying the EMIs after the disbursement of the loans.

• Through the Early Warning Signals (EWS) framework, HFCs will be encouraged to take into account fraud risks in their risk management practices.

• The mechanism needs to be put in place by April 1, 2024.

• The NHB has provided an indicative list of EWS for individual borrowers (retail).

• The NHB has also suggested an indicative list of EWS for corporate and project loans.

About NHB :

• Founded : 9 July 1988 under the National Housing Bank Act, 1987.

• Headquarters : New Delhi, Delhi, India

• Managing Director : Shri Sarada Kumar Hota

• NHB is the apex regulatory body for overall regulation and licensing of housing finance companiesin

• It is under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Finance (MoF), Government of India (GoI).

World Bank approves grant of Rs 51 crore to set up road safety enforcement system in Shimla & Nurpur police districts

• The World Bank (WB) has approved a grant of ₹51-crore to set up an integrated road safety enforcement system in Shimla and Nurpur police districts of Himachal Pradesh (HP) and develop the Palampur-Sheela chowk in Kangra as a “safe corridor”.

Key Highlights :

• The project envisages the establishment of a traffic enforcement control room in Shimla and the allocation of funds for interceptors and patrol vehicles, an intelligent traffic management system, artificial intelligence (AI) cameras and rescue equipment.

• For the first phase of the project, Shimla and Nurpur have been selected and a sum of ₹42-crore will be spent on the twin police districts to strengthen their emergency response systems.

• Further, the Palampur-Sheela chowk stretch of road in Kangra district has been chosen to be developed as a safe corridor under the Safe Corridor Demonstration Programme (SCDP) by making safety interventions and design improvements at a cost of ₹9-crore.

• In HP, the highest number of over 1,170 fatalities in about 2,600 road accidents was reported in Shimla district in the period from 2017 to 2022.

• The number of accidents in HP has come down from 3,114 in 2017 to about 2,600 in 2022.

About World Bank : 

• Established : December 1944
• Headquarters : Washington, D.C., United States of America
• President : Ajay Banga
• Membership : 189 countries

Zomato inks partnership with ICICI Bank to launch its own UPI offering - Zomato UPI

• Food aggregator platform Zomato has partnered with ICICI Bank to launch its own unified payments interface (UPI) offering called Zomato UPI, for some of its users.

• Currently, Zomato UPI has been rolled out to select users only.

• Further expansion of the service will hinge on the initial customer response.

Key Highlights :

• With the introduction of Zomato UPI, customers can now sign up to create a new UPI ID after which they will be able to make payments by staying on the Zomato app itself, and will not be redirected to another app like Google Pay, PhonePe, or others, as is the case for certain users currently.

• In November,2022 it also rolled out the third iteration of its dining out program – Zomato Pay, using which customers can make payments at some of its partner restaurants and avail some cashbacks and offers.

• However, this is not a UPI offering.

• Customers can make payments using various methods like net banking, cards or even UPI.

About Zomato :

• Headquarters : Gurugram, Haryana, India

• MD & CEO : Deepinder Goyal

• Zomato is an Indian multinational restaurant aggregator and food delivery company.

About ICICI Bank :

• Founded : 5 January 1994

• Headquarters : Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

• MD & CEO : Sandeep Bakhshi

CURRENT AFFAIRS: NATIONAL NEWS

University Grants Commission (UGC) has launched a newly designed website and portal

• University Grants Commission (UGC) has launched a newly designed website and portal to transform higher education in India.

• In order to support universities and colleges in focusing on providing the younger generation with a high-quality education, the decision has been made to assist and facilitate these institutions.

• The decision is aimed at enhancing the educational experience and ensuring that students get a high-quality education that prepares them for the future.

• To make it more user friendly, informative and dynamic, UGC has redesigned the website.

• In addition, UGC has launched two new portals: 'UTSAH' and 'Professor of Practice'.

• The UGC will use the Undertaking Transformative Strategies and Actions in Higher Education (UTSAH) portal as a platform for providing detailed information about its initiatives for qualitative improvement in higher education.

• To get experienced professional experts in the required area, the Professors of Practice (PoP) portal is designed to facilitate institutions.

Dr Jitendra Singh inaugurated the 8th All India Pension Adalat inaugurated in Delhi

• 8th All India Pension Adalat inaugurated in Delhi.

• Union Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Jitendra Singh inaugurated it.

• At 8th All India Pension Adalat, chronic cases were taken up and resolved.

• Till date 7 All India Pension Adalats have been organised.

• Union Minister also presided over the 50th PRC (Pre-Retirement Counselling) Workshop.

• The PRC was conducted by the Department of Pension & Pensioners’ Welfare.

• It was organised for 1200 officers of all ministries and departments who will retire in next 6 months.

• Bhavishya platform introduced by Department of Pension & Pensioners’ Welfare has ensured end-to-end digitization of pension processing and payment.

• Bhavishya platform is an online Pension Sanction and Payment Tracking System.

Guwahati: AIR DG Dr. Vasudha Gupta releases Souvenir "Akashibarta" on the occasion of 67th Foundation Day of RNU

• 67th Foundation Day of Regional News Unit (RNU) of Akashvani Guwahati was celebrated in association with Oil India Limited.

• Vasudha Gupta, Director General, Akashvani News attended the 67th Foundation Day celebration of the Regional News Unit of Akashvani Guwahati.

• On the occasion of the 67th foundation day of RNU, Dr. Vasudha Gupta released the souvenir "Akashibarta".

• The Regional News Unit of Akashvani Guwahati started broadcasting news on the 15th of May 1957.

• Resident Chief Executive of Oil India Limited, Duliajan, Prasanta Borkakoty said that Akashvani played an important role for Oil India Limited during the Baghjan incident.

• The Baghjan incident refers to the gas and oil leak that happened in Oil India Limited's Baghjan Oilfield in Tinsukia district, Assam, India on 27 May 2020.

Gram Vikas Yojana Distribution program organised under Chairman KVIC in Hapur, Uttar Pradesh

• Under Chairman of the Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) Shri Manoj Kumar, Gram Vikas Yojana Distribution program has been organized in Nanpur village of Garh Mukteshwar tehsil, Hapur, Uttar Pradesh.

• It was conducted by the KVIC's Divisional office in Meerut.

• In this event, 300 bee boxes and bee colonies were provided to 30 beekeepers under the Honey Mission.

• Under the Kumhar Sashaktikaran Yojana, 100 potters were provided with electric pottery wheel and 75 leather artisans were given footwear repairing toolkits.

• The Divisional Office of KVIC at Meerut covers 25 districts of 6 divisions of Uttar Pradesh.

• Khadi institutions produced Khadi worth around Rs 29,996 lakhs in the year 2022-23, and achieved sales of approximately Rs 47,385 lakhs.

• In addition, under the Prime Minister's Employment Generation Program (PMEGP), 10,960 units have been set up during the last three years, providing employment to about 87,680 people.

IT hardware PLI 2.0: Centre approves revised PLI scheme with Rs 17,000 cr outlay

• The Union Cabinet has approved the second edition of the production-linked incentive (PLI 2.0) scheme for IT hardware with a ₹17,000-crore outlay.

• This should be weighed in the light of the previous PLI schemes’ outcomes, which did not fully deliver on their promises.

• The government expects the scheme will result in additional production worth ₹35-lakh crore and investments of ₹2,430 crore during its duration.

• Furthermore, it aims to create employment opportunities for around 75,000 people within the next six years.

• The IT hardware industry is targeted to reach a production of $24 billion by 2025-26, with exports anticipated to be in the range of $12-17 billion during the same period.

• It will be implemented from July 1, with a cap on maximum incentives available to participating companies.

• These concessions come at a time when global IT players such as HP, Lenovo, Apple, Asus and Acer have been in discussion with the government to shape IT PLI 2.0 more favourably.

• The government, in February 2021, approved the first edition of the PLI scheme for IT hardware, with an outlay of ₹7,350 crore, but it failed to evince enough interest among investors.

• The PLI 2.0 scheme comes with a more than double budgetary outlay, a longer tenure of six years (as opposed to four years earlier) and a more attractive incentive package.

• The incentive under the new scheme will be around 5 per cent and can go up to 8 per cent.

• An assessment on claims and disbursements carried out by the DPIIT shows that as of March 31, 2023, disbursal of incentives are yet to begin for six sectors including textiles, white goods, automobiles, auto parts, solar PV modules and ACC battery.

• Of the ₹2,874.71 crore disbursed under the overall ₹97-lakh crore PLI scheme launched in April 2020, as much as ₹1,651 crore has gone to large-scale electronics manufacturing, including mobiles, followed by pharmaceuticals at ₹652 crore and food products at ₹486 crore with token amounts going to hardware, bulk drugs, medical devices, telecom products and drones.

Cabinet approves Rs 38,000 crore subsidy for P&K fertilisers for Kharif season

• The Union government has approved a subsidy of Rs 38,000 crore for phosphatic and potassic (P&K) fertilisers for the kharif 2023 season (April-September) under the nutrient-based subsidy (NBS) mechanism.

• The subsidy rates for the two fertilisers, which are mostly imported, have been fixed after taking into consideration the fall in international prices.

• The subsidy on P&K for the current kharif season is much lower than about Rs 61,000 spent during last kharif season.

• Along with this, the government will spend another Rs 70,000 crore on subsidy for urea which is the most commonly used fertiliser.

• In total, the government will spend Rs 1.08 trillion towards fertiliser subsidy in the summer season.

• For the 12 crore farmers in the country, each farmer gets Rs 21,223 as a subsidy for fertilizers.

• The government’s decision will have a positive impact of ensuring availability of P&K and other fertilizers to farmers at subsidized, affordable and reasonable prices during Kharif season.

• The crops that are sown in the rainy season are called Kharif crops and it is also known as the summer or monsoon crop in India.

• Kharif crops are usually sown with the beginning of the first rains in July, during the south-west monsoon season.

• The crops that are sown in the winter season are called Rabi crops and it is also known as the winter crop in India and Pakistan.

• Rabi crops are usually sown in October or November.

• The Subsidy on P&K fertilizers is governed by Nutrient Based Subsidy Scheme under the Department of Fertilizers since 2010.

• Under the scheme, a fixed rate of subsidy (in Rs per kg basis) is announced for nutrients namely Nitrogen (N), Phosphate (P), Potash (K) and Sulphur (S) by the government on an annual basis.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: ENVIRONMENT NEWS

5,000-year-old 'Great Grandfather' tress is officially the world's oldest

• A 5,000-year-old 'Great Grandfather' tree is believed to be the oldest tree in the world.

• A giant tree has lived for thousands of years in the forest in southern Chile and is in the process of being recognized as the oldest in the world.

• The tree trunk, four meters (13 feet) in diameter and 28 meters tall, is also believed to contain scientific information that could shed light on how the planet has adapted to climate change.

• It is on the verge of replacing Methuselah, a 4850-year-old Great Basin bristlecone pine found in California in the United States, as the oldest tree on the planet.

• Great Grandfather is located on the edge of a ravine in a forest in the southern Los Ríos region, 800 kilometers (500 mi) south of the capital Santiago.

• It is Fitzroya cupressoides, a type of cypress tree that is endemic to the south of the continent.

• It is the largest tree species in South America, which is also known as the Patagonian cypress.

• In 1972, Park warden Anibal Henriquez had discovered the tree while patrolling the forest.

CURRENT AFFAIRS : INTERNATIONAL NEWS

India & Bangladesh launched '50 Start-ups Exchange Programme'

• India and Bangladesh have jointly launched the '50 Start-up Exchange Programme' under which 50 Start-ups from India and 50 Start-ups from Bangladesh will exchange visits to each other’s countries.

• These visits will be for exploring partnerships, expanding business relations, sharing experience and knowledge and expanding youth and entrepreneurial cooperation.

Objective :

• To strengthen bilateral relations between India and Bangladesh by promoting cooperation in start-up and innovation sectors.

• The framework of the programme was decided by the Prime Ministers (PM) of the two countries i.e. Bangladesh PM Ms Sheikh Hasina& India PM Shri Narendra Modi during their bilateral summits.

Key Highlights :

• The first group of 10 start-up companies as part of the 50 start-ups exchange programme returned to Bangladesh after completing a successful visit to India from 8-12 May, 2023.

• The start-ups belong to e-commerce, health, transport and logistics, energy, education and skill development sectors.

• The startups were introduced to India’s ‘Start-up India’ initiative.

• They participated in interactive sessions focused on establishing a Start-up and business model creation process, role of incubator, marketing of projects and services, cyber security and artificial intelligence including data protection, start-up evaluation and methods to secure funding.

About Bangladesh :

• Prime Minister : Sheikh Hasina
• President : Mohammed Shahabuddin
• Capital : Dhaka
• Currency : Taka

1st Ministerial meeting of India-EU Trade and Technology Council to be held in Brussels

• The first ministerial meeting of the India-EU Trade and Technology Council (TTC) will be held in Brussels, Belgium.

• Union Minister for Commerce & Industry, Textiles, Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution, Shri Piyush Goyal is one of the co-chairs along with External Affairs Minister (EAM) and Union Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY).

• The EU side is co-chaired by Executive Vice Presidents Dombrovskis and Ms. Vestager.

• The formation of the TTC was announced by the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi and H.E. Ms. Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission in New Delhi in April, 2022.

• It has been formed with the aim of creating a high-level coordination platform to deal with strategic challenges in alliances related to trade, reliable technology.

Key Highlights :

• The following 3 Working Groups under the mechanism will report on roadmaps for future cooperation between the two sides:

1. Working Group on Strategic Technologies, Digital Governance and Digital Connectivity

2. Working Group on Green and Clean Energy Technologies

3. Working Group on Trade, Investment and Resilient Value Chains.

• Union Minister Shri Piyush Goyal had a bilateral meeting with EVP Dombrowskis, followed by Working Group-3 stakeholder consultations in the presence of business leaders from both EU and India.

• The WG3 meeting focused on trade, technology and resilient supply chains and was attended by 6 business leaders from the EU and India

Laos begins to prepare for ASEAN Tourism Forum 2024

• Lao tourism authorities are preparing to host the annual ASEAN Tourism Forum in 2024, which will take place in the Lao capital Vientiane on 22-27, 2024

• The theme of the forum will be "Quality and Responsible Tourism -- Sustaining ASEAN Future".

• The forum will include a tourism exhibition and serves to spur tourism and further service improvement in associated businesses.

• Previously, Laos hosted the ASEAN Tourism Forum in 2004 and 2013.

• The Lao government is working to promote the country’s potential as a nature-based tourism destination.

• Many foreign tourists have visited the Southeast Asian country to explore scenic attractions as well as local lifestyles and traditions.

• In the first three months of 2023, more than 831,000 foreign tourists came to Laos, compared with just 211,898 overseas visitors in the first 6 months of 2022 during the COVID-19 pandemic.

About Laos :

• President : Thongloun Sisoulith

• Prime Minister : Sonexay Siphandone

• Capital : Vientiane

• Currency : Kip

CURRENT AFFAIRS : STATE NEWS

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin inaugurates 570-metre skywalk bridge at T Nagar

• Tamil Nadu (TN) Chief Minister (CM) Muthuvel Karunanidhi Stalin inaugurated one of India’s biggest Skywalk bridges.

• The 570-metre long and2-meter wide skywalk bridge connects the Mambalam railway station and T Nagar bus terminus.

• The skywalk, constructed at a cost of ₹28.45 crore, is the longest in TN.

• As many as 20,000 pedestrians are expected to use the skywalk daily.

• The skywalk has been built along Madley Road and Railway Market Road to ease congestion in stretches such as Ranganathan Street and Natesan Street in the commercial areas of T.Nagar.

• It is expected to be used by around one lakh people on a daily basis.

About Tamil Nadu :

• Governor: R. N. Ravi

• Chief minister: M. K. Stalin

• Capital: Chennai

• Dance : Bharatnatyam, Karakattam

• National Park : Mudumalai National Park, Mukurthi National Park, Guindy National Park, Gulf of Mannar Marine National Park

• Wildlife Sanctuaries : Kalakad Wildlife sanctuary, Karikili Bird Sanctuary, Vedanthangal Bird Sanctuary

• Tiger Reserve : Anamalai Tiger Reserve

• Biosphere Reserve : Agasthyamalai Biosphere Reserve

Kalangummukal becomes kerala's first fully insured ward  

• Kalangummukal,became Kerala’s first fully insured ward as 1,382 residents in the 5 to 70 age group were eligible for insurance coverage against accidental death and disability

• Kalangummukal, Ward 32 of the Punalur municipality, is a nondescript rural part mostly populated by underprivileged families.

Key Highlights  :

• An initiative of ward councillor Jayaprakash, the entire ward has an insurance coverage of over ₹13.82 crore under a plan provided by United India Insurance, a public sector company.

• All permanent and temporary residents of the ward have been offered the financial safety net of insurance coverage, and the policies will be handed over to them by next week.

• This is a first-of-its-kind initiative in the country, and the councillor contributed half the amount required for the premium from his honorarium.

• The rest of the amount was sponsored by Thomas Senior Secondary School at Punalur, which came to around ₹2 lakh.

• Dependents of any policyholder will receive ₹1 lakh in case of accidental death, while those with permanent or partial disability will receive financial assistance up to a maximum of ₹1 lakh based on the percentage of disability

About Kerala :

• Governor : Arif Mohammad Khan

• Chief Minister : Pinarayi Vijayan

• Capital : Thiruvananthapuram

• National Park : Eravikulam National Park, Silent Valley National Park

• Wildlife Sanctuary : Chinnar Wildlife Sanctuary, Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary

Madhya Pradesh’s Bhopal becomes 1st Indian city in India to measure Sustainable Development Goals progress

• Madhya Pradesh (MP) capital Bhopal has become the first city in India to accept the localization of the United Nations (UN)-mandated Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).

• Now, Bhopal will have voluntary local reviews (VLR) to demonstrate local government’s capacity and commitments.

• Chief Minister Shri Shivraj Chouhan launched an Agenda for Action: Sustainable Urban Transformation in Bhopal, MP.

Key Highlights :

• Bhopal Municipal Corporation & UN-Habitat and over 23 local stakeholders collaborated for the purpose of voluntary local reviews to track progress towards the 2030 Agenda.

• The voluntary local reviews of Bhopal will show its local government’s capacity and commitments.

• Bhopal’s voluntary local reviews (VLR) incorporated quantitative and qualitative approaches to the review of SDGs.

• They include qualitative mapping of 56 developmental projects across the 3 pillars of People, Planet and Prosperity, and an in-depth quantitative review of SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities).

• The UN member states report progress towards the SDGs through a voluntary national review (VNR) to the UN's high-level political forum (HLPF).

• The Agenda 2030, which includes 17 SDGs and 169 goals, was endorsed by all 193 UN members earlier in 2015 as a strategy for prosperity of the planet.

• The UN’s High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) receives reports from the member states on their progress towards achieving the goals through Voluntary National Reviews (VNRs).

• According to the UN, as at least 60% of the 169 targets could not possibly be met, the cities and regions are vital to accomplishing the Agenda 2030.

• New York City became the first city to present its VLR to the UN’s high-level political forum (HLPF) in 2018.

• By 2021, 114 VLRs or similar review documents would have been made public in about 33 countries.

Karnataka election results : Congress wins by largest vote share in 34 years

• Congress has won the 2023 Karnataka Assembly elections with the largest vote share and seats after 34 years.

• Congress won 135 seats out of a total 224 Assembly seats and secured 42.88% vote share.

• The election is the biggest victory for "any party in Karnataka" since 1989 during Veerendra Patil's rule, when the Congress won 178 seats with a vote share of 43.76%.

• Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won 66 seats, JD(S) won 19 seats, while 4 seats were won by others.

• In 2018, the BJP had won 104 seats with a vote share of 36.3%.

• State elections are administered by the Election Commission of India under Article 324.

About Karnataka :

• Governor: Thawar Chand Gehlot

• Capital: Bengaluru

• National Park : Bandipur NP, Kudremukh NP, Bannerghata NPRajiv Gandhi NP

• Wildlife Sanctuaries : B R Hills Wildlife Sanctuary, Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary, Gudavi Bird Sanctuary, Bhadra Wildlife Sanctuary

• Tiger Reserve : Nagarahole Tiger Reserve, Bhadra Tiger Reserve

• Festival : Hampi, Mahamastakabhisheka (Shravanabelagola)

• Dance : Yakshagana,

CURRENT AFFAIRS: RANKING AND INDEX

MEA rejects U.S. State Department report citing deteriorating religious freedom in India

• India rejected the United States State Department's report on religious freedom, describing it as motivated and biased.

• US State Department 2022 Report on International Religious Freedom remains based on misinformation and flawed understanding.

• The report includes a chapter on India.

• It was released on 15 May 2023.

• The U.S. report on religious freedom had criticised Indian anti-conversion laws.

• It referred to Hindus in Kashmir who claimed that the government was not allowing them to leave the valley despite being targeted by radical Islamist militants.

• It mentioned the BJP approximately 28 times in its description of purported hate crimes and statements made by party leaders against minorities.

• It mentioned BJP state politician Haribhushan Thakur Bachaul, P.C. George, former BJP Rajasthan legislator Gyan Dev Ahuja and others.

• The report mentioned the Vishva Hindu Parishad 24 times and the Bajrang Dal seven times.

• It also mentioned Union Home Minister Amit Shah's public meeting in Hyderabad.

• The names of Mohammad Zubair, Bilkis Bano, and Umar Khalid also appear in the report.

• International Religious Freedom Report describes the status of religious freedom in every country.

• The U.S. Department of State submits this annual report to the Congress.

CURRENT AFFAIRS : APPOINTMENTS & RESIGNATIONS

Dr Manoj Soni takes oath as new Union Public Service Commission chairman

• Eminent educationist Manoj Soni took oath as the chairman of the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC).

• The Oath was administered by Smita Nagaraj, senior most Member of the Commission.

About Manoj Soni :

• Manoj Soni joined the Commission as a member on June 28, 2017, and has been performing the duties of the UPSC chairman since April 5, 2022.

• He served a total of 3 terms as Vice-Chancellor of the M.S. University of Baroda (one term) and Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Open University, Gujarat for two terms.

• He has been the youngest-ever Vice Chancellor in independent India.

Awards & Honors : 

• In 2013, he was conferred with the rare honour of “Honorary Mayor-President of the City of Baton Rouge” by the Mayor-President of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA, for his exemplary leadership in empowering disadvantaged sections of society with IT literacy.

• In 2015, the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, London, UK, honoured him with the World Education Congress Global Award for Distance Learning Leadership.

About UPSC :

• Founded : 1 October 1926

• Headquarters : New Delhi, Delhi

• UPSC, is India's premier central recruitment agency for recruitment of all the Group 'A' officers under Government of India.

• It is a Constitutional Body under Articles 315-323 of the Indian Constitution.

• The Commission is headed by a chairman and it can have a maximum of 10

• The chairman and other members of the UPSC are appointed by the President of India.

• The members of UPSC can hold office for a term of 6 years or till they attain the age of 65 years, whichever is earlier.

UPSC-Constitutional Provisions :

• Article-315. Public Service Commissions for the Union and for the States.

• Article-316. Appointment and term of office of members.

• Article-317. Removal and suspension of a member of a Public Service Commission.

• Article-318. Power to make regulations as to conditions of service of members and staff of the Commission.

• Article-319. Prohibition as to the holding of offices by members of Commission on ceasing to be such members.

• Article-320. Functions of Public Service Commissions.

• Article-321. Power to extend functions of Public Service Commissions.

Air Marshal Ashutosh Dixit Takes Over As Deputy Chief Of Air Staff

• Air Marshal Ashutosh Dixit took over as the 47th Deputy Chief of the Air Staff.

• He succeeds Air Marshal Narmdeshwar Tiwari.

About Air Marshal Ashutosh Dixit :

• He is an alumnus of the National Defence Academy (NDA), he was Commissioned in the fighter stream on 06 December 1986.

• He is a Qualified Flying Instructor as well as an Experimental Test pilot, with over 3300 hours of flying experience on fighter, trainer and transport aircraft.

• He participated in Operation Safed Sagar and Rakshak.

• He commanded a Mirage 2,000 Squadron, a frontline fighter base in the Western sector, as well as a premier fighter training base.

• Earlier, he has served as Principle Director Air Staff Requirement, Assistant Chief of the Air Staff (Projects) &Assistant Chief of the Air Staff (Plans) at Air Headquarters.

• He has also been the Air Defence Commander of Southern Air Command and was Senior Air Staff Officer, South Western Air Command prior to taking over as the Deputy Chief of the Air Staff.

CURRENT AFFAIRS : DEFENCE NEWS

Indian Naval Ships Delhi & Satpura visit Sihanoukville, Cambodia

• As part of the Indian Navy’s deployment to Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries, Indian Naval ships INS Delhi and INS Satpura under the command of Rear Admiral Gurcharan Singh, Flag Officer Commanding Eastern Fleet departed Sihanoukville, Cambodia.

• The port call demonstrates India’s cordial ties with the Kingdom of Cambodia.

• During the port call, personnel from both the navies will engage in a wide range of professional interactions, deck visits and sports exchanges, aimed at enhancing interoperability and mutual understanding.

• The three-day port call showcased India's cordial relations and rapidly growing cooperation with the Kingdom of Cambodia.

• Training sessions on Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) and firefighting were also conducted.

About INS Delhi :

• INS Delhi is India’s first indigenously built guided missile Destroyer.

• It was built at the Mazagon Dock Limited in Mumbai, Maharashtra and commissioned on 15 November 1997.

• This class is among the largest warships to be designed and built in India.

About INS Satpura :

• INS Satpura is an indigenous multi-purpose stealth Frigate.

• The ship was built at Mazagaon Docks Ltd, Mumbai, and commissioned on 20 August 2011.

• The two ships are equipped with a versatile array of weapons and sensors and can carry multi-role helicopters.

About Ministry of Defence : 

• Defence Minister :  Rajnath Singh

• Minister of State : Ajay Bhatt

• Defence Secretary : Giridhar Aramane

CURRENT AFFAIRS: BOOKS AND AUTHOR

Book Release: Supreme Court on Commercial Arbitration by Dr. Manoj Kumar

• Dr Manoj Kumar's book, ‘Supreme Court on Commercial Arbitration,’ released and published by Legal Matrix Publication

• This book is a compendium of three volumes with Judgments spanning from the year 1988 till 2022 covering the Arbitration Act 1940 and 1996.

• The book Foreword has been written by Shri R. Venkataramani.

• The book was released on 13 May, the foundation day of Hammurabi & Solomon Partners.

About the book:

• The Hon'ble Supreme Court of the Country has established significant legal precedents regarding commercial arbitration that cross multiple statute frameworks.

• To better comprehend how the law has changed, it was necessary to compile all the important judgments of the Apex Court on commercial arbitration in one location.

• The stated goal is intended to be accomplished by this work, which takes the form of a compilation of three volumes containing judgments covering the Arbitration Act of 1940 and the Arbitration and Conciliation Act of 1996 and spanning the years 1988 through 2022.

Daily CA One- Liner: May 19

• University Grants Commission (UGC) has launched a newly designed website and portal to transform higher education in India.

• 8th All India Pension Adalat inaugurated in Delhi.

• 67th Foundation Day of Regional News Unit (RNU) of Akashvani Guwahati was celebrated in association with Oil India Limited.

• Under Chairman of the Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) Shri Manoj Kumar, Gram Vikas Yojana Distribution program has been organized in Nanpur village of Garh Mukteshwar tehsil, Hapur, Uttar Pradesh.

• The Union Cabinet has approved the second edition of the production-linked incentive (PLI 2.0) scheme for IT hardware with a ₹17,000-crore outlay.

• The Union government has approved a subsidy of Rs 38,000 crore for phosphatic and potassic (P&K) fertilisers for the kharif 2023 season (April-September) under the nutrient-based subsidy (NBS) mechanism.

• A 5,000-year-old 'Great Grandfather' tree is believed to be the oldest tree in the world.

• India rejected the United States State Department's report on religious freedom, describing it as motivated and biased.

• Dr Manoj Kumar's book, ‘Supreme Court on Commercial Arbitration,’ released and published by Legal Matrix Publication.

• HDFC Asset Management Company (AMC) Limited, investment manager of HDFC mutual fund (HDFC MF) has announced the launch of India's first mutual fund - HDFC Defence Fund focussed on defence sector.

• Regulator for housing finance firms National Housing Bank (NHB) has asked housing finance companies with asset size of over Rs 1,000 crore to adopt an early warning signals (EWS) framework to check financial frauds and also to prevent accounts from turning into non-performing assets.

• The World Bank (WB) has approved a grant of ₹51-crore to set up an integrated road safety enforcement system in Shimla and Nurpur police districts of Himachal Pradesh (HP) and develop the Palampur-Sheela chowk in Kangra as a “safe corridor”.

• Food aggregator platform Zomato has partnered with ICICI Bank to launch its own unified payments interface (UPI) offering called Zomato UPI, for some of its users.

• India and Bangladesh have jointly launched the '50 Start-up Exchange Programme' under which 50 Start-ups from India and 50 Start-ups from Bangladesh will exchange visits to each other’s countries.

• The first ministerial meeting of the India-EU Trade and Technology Council (TTC) will be held in Brussels, Belgium.

• Lao tourism authorities are preparing to host the annual ASEAN Tourism Forum in 2024, which will take place in the Lao capital Vientiane on 22-27, 2024

• Tamil Nadu (TN) Chief Minister (CM) Muthuvel Karunanidhi Stalin inaugurated one of India’s biggest Skywalk bridges.

• Kalangummukal,became Kerala’s first fully insured ward as 1,382 residents in the 5 to 70 age group were eligible for insurance coverage against accidental death and disability.

• Madhya Pradesh (MP) capital Bhopal has become the first city in India to accept the localization of the United Nations (UN)-mandated Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).

• Congress has won the 2023 Karnataka Assembly elections with the largest vote share and seats after 34 years.

• Eminent educationist Manoj Soni took oath as the chairman of the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC).

• Air Marshal Ashutosh Dixit took over as the 47th Deputy Chief of the Air Staff.

• As part of the Indian Navy’s deployment to Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries, Indian Naval ships INS Delhi and INS Satpura under the command of Rear Admiral Gurcharan Singh, Flag Officer Commanding Eastern Fleet departed Sihanoukville, Cambodia.