Dear Readers, Here we have given the list of Important Weekly Current Affairs of May 22nd to 31st May 2023. Candidates those who are preparing for Upcoming SBI Clerk 2023 and other competitive exams can make use of it.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: IMPORTANT DAYS

• Commonwealth Day is celebrated every year on May 24 & the theme was 'Forging a sustainable and peaceful common future'.
• International Day of Action for Women’s Health is observed annually on May 28.
• International Everest Day 2023 is observed on May 29.
• International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers is observed every year on May 29 & the 2023 theme, “Peace begins with me”
• World No Tobacco Day is observed every year on May 31 & the theme of 2023 is “We Need Food, Not Tobacco”.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: NATIONAL NEWS

• Competition Commission of India has formally notified the establishment of its regional offices in three cities.
• First Inter-Ministerial Committee Meeting held on World Food India 2023 in New Delhi.
• Union Minister Parshottam Rupala launched the Sagar Parikrama Yatra Phase-V at Karanja (Raigad Dist)
• Kalari is a special Dogra culinary item, which will be served at the upcoming G20 Summit in Srinagar.
• The Tea Board announced the formation of a 11-member committee to study the reasons behind the deteriorating quality of green tea leaves and to suggest remedial measures to reverse that.
• The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi inaugurated the International Museum Expo 2023 at Pragati Maidan in New Delhi & the theme for this year is ‘Museums, Sustainability and Well Being’.
• India’s energy efficiency policies have not only led to improvement in overall energy efficiency of Air-Conditioners but also accelerated the deployment of highly Energy Efficient inverter technology.
• Union Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology Shri Rajeev Chandrasekhar launched the 3rd Semicon India Future Design roadshow at IIT Delhi, with an aim to encourage innovation, facilitate investment and catalyse the Startups ecosystem in the semiconductor design and manufacturing space.
• Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs, Shri Hardeep S. Puri launched MoHUA’s mega campaign ‘Meri LiFE, Mera Swachh Shehar’.
• Under Azadi ka Amrit Kaal, Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) celebrates a new milestone of ensuring safe and clean drinking water through taps to more than 12 Crore rural households of the country.
• The Union Minister of Communications recently launched a citizen-centric Sanchar Saathi portal, aims to provide various reforms and services related to mobile connections and telecommunications.
• Doctors will now have to get a Unique Identification Number (UID) to be able to practise medicine in the country, as per the new regulations by the National Medical Commission (NMC).
• The Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA), Airport Authority of India (AAI) and Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) are organizing the upcoming edition of 'Wings India 2024'.
• A recent report by the Ministry of Statistics and programme implementation (MoSPI) reiterates the growing importance of the livestock and fishing sector in India’s agriculture mi
• The Ministry of Education and World Bank organised a one of its kind workshop on School-to-Work Transition under the STARS Program in Mumbai.
• India’s coal production has achieved 47% growth in the last 9 years.
• Union Minister Parshottam Rupala launched the Sagar Parikrama Yatra Phase-V at Karanja (Raigad Dist.).
• Union Minister Piyush Goyal will inaugurate the 44th edition of the ISO COPOLCO Plenary.
• The government has cut the subsidy on electric two-wheelers in an effort to overhaul the financial incentives given to this growing industry.
• A plan to develop eight new cities to alleviate population burden on the existing urban centres in the country is under consideration.
• The Union Education Ministry has decided to discontinue the ‘Shiksha Puraskar’ and the ‘Hinditar Bhashi Hindi Lekhak Puraskar’.
• Shri Piyush Goyal inaugurated the two-day National Workshop on National e-Vidhan Application (NeVA), organized by the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs, New Delhi.
• Indian Railways handed over 20 Broad Gauge (BG) locomotives to Bangladesh.
• PM Modi took part in the 3rd in-person Quad Leaders’ Summit in Hiroshima, Japan
• Union Minister Bhupender Yadav inaugurated the Centre of Excellence on Sustainable Land Management at Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education in Dehradun.
• Newly built Janganana Bhawan inaugurated by Home Minister Amit Shah in New Delhi.
• FSSAI stated that it will conduct nationwide surveillance of milk and milk products to check for adulteration.
• The Gevra project of South Eastern Coalfields Ltd (SECL) in Chhattisgarh recently became the first mine in the country to achieve 50 MT of coal production.
• In a bid to address challenges in the ship design and construction industry, defence PSU Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers Ltd. launched an innovation nurturing scheme that would help generate a large number of ideas.
• Central government formed a steering committee to review and monitor the Cheetah translocation project, an 11-member committee headed by Global Tiger Forum Secretary General Dr Rajesh Gopal has been formed to review and monitor the Cheetah translocation project.
• Government will launch a special commemorative coin of Rs 75 to mark the opening of the new Parliament building.
• Samarth campaign' has been launched by Shri Giriraj Singh to promote digital transactions in 50000 Gram Panchayats under Amrit Mahotsav in Lucknow.
• Central government signed an agreement with six states (Assam, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh (MP), Odisha, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh (UP)) to conduct a Digital crop survey.
• The Mumbai Trans Harbour Link Road, the longest sea link in India, is nearing completion, and will likely be open to the public by November 2023.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the new Parliament building in Delhi & the inauguration will include a grand puja, installation of the Sengol, screening of two short films and release of a commemorative coin and stamp.
• The Ministry of Home Affairs released a new set of rules under the Special Protection Group Act, 1988 (34 of 1988).
• The Centre notified several provisions of the Competition (Amendment) Act 2023, which received Presidential assent on April 11.
• India’s marine fish landing in 2022 registered a 15 per cent increase at 3.49 million tonnes compared to the figure in 2021.
• According to the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES), India is set to dramatically scale up its super-computing prowess and install an 18-petaflop system over the course of this year.
• The Ministry of Civil Aviation has launched UDAN 5.1 , a new version of the Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) specifically designed for helicopter routes.
• The Union Ministry of education and national assessment regulator PARAKH organised the first workshop to brainstorm school assessments, examination practices and equivalence of boards across the country.
• The eighth meeting of the NITI Aayog Governing Council was held at the New Convention Center at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi & the meeting focused on the theme “Viksit Bharat @ 2047: Role of Team India.”
• The next census form will have only the option of six distinct religions- Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Buddhist, Sikh and Jain.
• Over 1.38 lakh people died in the country due to extreme weather, climate and water-related events between 1970 and 2021, it has been revealed in new findings by the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO).

CURRENT AFFAIRS : INTERNATIONAL NEWS

• Germany announced 2.7 billion euro ($3.0 billion) of military aid to Ukraine, its biggest such package yet since Russia’s invasion, and pledged further support for Kyiv for as long as necessary.
• The World Health Organization (WHO) has launched a global network to help swiftly detect the threat from infectious diseases, like COVID-19, and share the information to prevent their spread.
• The 2080s of the Bikram Samvat will be marked as ' the Visit Nepal Decade' and the year 2025 as the special year for tourism.
• Ireland is set to become the first country to introduce mandatory health warnings on alcohol products.
• After Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj’s statue, the bust of freedom fighter Vinayak Damodar Savarkar also known as Veer Savarkar will be unveiled in the port Luis capital city Mauritius on May 28,2023 Savarkar’s birth anniversary.
• Mount Etna, Europe’s most active volcano, was erupting, spewing ash on Catania, eastern Sicily’s largest city, and forcing a suspension of flights at that city’s airport.
• Australian Prime Minister (PM) Mr.Anthony Albanese announced that Australia will now open a new Consul-General in Bengaluru, Karnataka in May, 2023 as part of the efforts of the two countries to enhance bilateral ties.
• World’s fourth-largest economy and Europe’s largest, Germany, has entered into recession after the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) recorded its second quarterly contraction.

CURRENT AFFAIRS : STATE NEWS

• Odisha Chief Minister (CM) Shri Naveen Patnaik launched the State Dashboard, a data and analytics-powered platform which will streamline performance monitoring of government schemes, aiding data-driven decision-making.
• The Uttar Pradesh (UP) government has roped in NDDB Dairy Services, a wholly-owned subsidiary of National Dairy Development Board (NDDB), for providing technical support for managing three women-owned milk producer companies — Saamarthya Milk Producer Company (Raebareli), Shri Baba Gorakhnath Kripaa Milk Producer Company (Gorakhpur) and Srijanee Milk Producer Company (Bareilly) set up in UP.
• Home Minister Mohammed Mahmood Ali launched the initiative called ‘Sahas’ in the presence of Director General of Police Anjani Kumar, Additional Director General of Police (DGP), Women Safety Wing Shikha Goel, Femina Miss India Manasa Varanasi and senior representatives from industry.
• In a first-of-its-kind initiative in Andhra Pradesh (AP), Visakhapatnam district launched the Niramaya Health Insurance scheme.
• Madhya Pradesh (MP) Chief Minister (CM) Shri Shivraj Singh Chouhan flagged off a batch of 32 senior citizens comprising 24 men and 8 women on pilgrimage to Uttar Pradesh's (UP) Prayagraj from Bhopal, MP via flight under the scheme of 'Mukhya Mantri Tirath Yatra Yojana'
• Andhra Pradesh (AP) Chief Minister (CM) Shri YS Jagan Mohan Reddy inaugurated the Machilipatnam Port works, at Manginapudi in Krishna district, AP emphasising its potential for accelerated development and job creation.
• Cisco will set up a manufacturing plant in Tamil Nadu (TN) to make two of its highest volume products: switching networks and cutting-edge router platforms.                               
• Kudumbashree is the largest network of women in Kerala for empowerment and poverty eradication, which was completed 25 years ago.
• Chief secretary Durga Shankar Mishra of Government of Uttar Pradesh (UP) inaugurated an online rural education programme ‘Pahal’ at Government UP Sainik Inter College, Sarojini Nagar in Lucknow, UP.
• Kerala is set to declare itself India’s first “total e-governed state”, to its strides towards a knowledge-based society and economy, and 100% digital literacy.
• A three-day international labour conclave was inaugurated by Kerala Chief Minister Shri Pinarayi Vijayan.
• The Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) played an important role in conserving and reviving the Handmade Paper-making art of Tawang, Arunachal Pradesh.
• Kangra tea of Himachal Pradesh (HP) has become the second product after Basmati Rice of the country to get registered with the European Union (EU) as a protected Geographical Indication (GI), paving the way for the sale of the product in European countries.
• The government of Rajasthan has made the decision to promote the usage of manufactured sand (M-Sand) as an inexpensive and easy alternative to river sand.
• The Government of Madhya Pradesh (MP) has unveiled the new scheme named Mukhyamantri Seekho-Kamao Yojana (CM Learn and Earn Scheme) for unemployed youth.
• Rajasthan Chief Minister (CM) Shri Ashok Gehlot virtually inaugurated ‘Jungle Safari’ at Jaisamand Wildlife Sanctuary.
• Arunachal Pradesh government will set up Institute for Transforming Arunachal (ITA) with the help of NITI Aayog to take the development of the state to the next level.
• Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation, Shri Amit Shah laid the foundation stone of Guwahati campus of National Forensic Science University (NFSU) in Assam & this will be the world's 11th campus and the country's 10th campus has been established in Guwahati.
• Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation, Shri Amit Shah launched the web portal 'Assam Police Seva Setu' to make the services of the Assam Police more accessible and transparent for the people.

CURRENT AFFAIRS : BANKING & FINANCE

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI), in the exercise of powers conferred on it under Section 45-IA (6) of the RBI Act, 1934, has cancelled the Certificate of Registration of 7 Non-Banking Finance Companies (NBFCs).
• Leading broking firm Geojit Financial Services Limited has introduced FLIP, its newest mobile trading platform in an aim to replace the current platform SELFIE and provide traders and investors a flexible and all-encompassing trading experience supported by a number of cutting-edge features.
• The country's largest bank State Bank of India (SBI) reported an 83% year-on-year (yoy) jump in net profit at ₹16,694.51 crore for the fourth quarter of 2022-23 fiscal on higher interest income and low provisioning.
• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has decided to withdraw the Rs 2000 denomination banknotes from circulation & it asked all to exchange these notes by September 30, 2023.
• Public sector banks' (PSB) cumulative profit crossed the Rs 1 lakh crore-mark in the financial year ended March 2023, with market leader State Bank of India (SBI) accounting for nearly half of the total earnings.
• RuPay has introduced the CVV (Card Verification Value) free payment experience for its debit, credit and prepaid cardholders who have tokenized their cards on the merchant application or web page.
• Aditya Birla Capital through its lending arm, Aditya Birla Finance has started Udyog Plus, an one-stop business platform designed for Indian micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) customers.
• The Regulator Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) proposed to tighten norms for insurance advertisements by assigning higher responsibility on senior management of insurers in designing and approving media campaigns for product promotion.
• The International Financial Services Centre Authority (IFSCA), the regulatory body overseeing GIFT City’s international financial services centre, is considering permitting unsponsored depositary receipts (UDRs) for Indian shares.
• The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) has constituted a task force to facilitate ease of doing Know Your Customer (KYC) by insurers using Aadhaar, the 12-digit individual identification number.
• Google Pay in association with the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) rolled out support for RuPay credit cards on Unified Payments Interface (UPI).
• Payments through international debit or credit cards up to ₹7 lakhs will not come under the Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS).
• Bharti AXA Life Insurance rolled-out and completed the first phase of its ‘Project Servottam’ - under which 20 policy servicing journeys were re-considered and the project enabled a 360-degree transformation of physical services into digital services.
• Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) stated that in a set of guidelines that Online gaming platforms need not deduct tax at source on winnings withdrawn by players if the amount is less than ₹100 a month and meets certain riders.
• Bank of Baroda (BoB), one of India's leading public sector banks,launched two innovative customer service initiatives a Live Video Calling service – bob Video Chat and a Live Web Chat facility – bob Live Chat on its website, to enhance the overall experience for customers and prospective customers.
• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has announced its economic activity index (EAI) nowcast, forecasting a strong Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate of6% for the first quarter of the fiscal year 2023-2024 (Q1 FY24).
• SBI General Insurance, the non-life insurance arm of India's largest lender State Bank of India (SBI), has announced the launch of the General Surety Bond Bima (Conditional & Unconditional) insurance product.
• One97 Communications Limited (OCL) that owns the brand Paytm, India’s leading payments and financial services company and the pioneer of QR and mobile payments, announced that it has launched Paytm UPI SDK.
• Japan's Digital Minister Kono Taro has expressed keen interest in joining India's Unified Payments System (UPI), referring to the ongoing digital cooperation between the two countries.
• India made a funding request of approximately $55 million to the World Bank’s Pandemic Fund in its first call in May 2023.
• Paytm Money subsidiary of One97 Communications Limited (OCL) that owns the brand Paytm, has launched a bonds platform for retail investors in India.
• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has imposed a penalty of ₹84.50 lakh on the Central Bank of India (the bank) for non-compliance with certain provisions of norms related to fraud classification and reporting.
• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has sanctioned the voluntary Scheme of Amalgamation of Maratha Sahakari Bank with The Cosmos Co-operative Bank.
• Insurance behemoth Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) posted a more than 5-fold jump in consolidated net profit to ₹13,191 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 2023.
• India's Finance Ministry has notified a total of 21 nations, investments from which in Indian start-ups will be exempted from Angel Tax.
• The government capped the amount of interest subvention at Rs 10 crore per IEC (import-export code) holder in one financial year.
• Indian Bank has been empanelled as a Clearing and Settlement Bank with the Indian Clearing Corporation Ltd (ICCL) & Mahesh Kumar Bajaj, Executive Director, Indian Bank exchanged the agreement with Devika Shah, Managing Director (MD) & Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of ICCL to formalise Bank’s empanelment at a recently held event.
• Agriculture Insurance Company of India (AIC) has announced its plans to introduce insurance products for the livestock, aquaculture, and sericulture sectors, following the approval and licensing received from the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI).
• Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) cut its holding in National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) to 3.19% in the March quarter from 3.48% in the preceding quarter.
• According to reports, the Union government has ended the paper-based communication system & introduced a digital communication mechanism between Public Sector Undertakings (PSU) banks & the Central Economic Intelligence Bureau (CEIB) to check Loan Defaults.
• Axis Bank, one of the largest private sector banks in India, has launched ‘Sarathi’, a first of its kind digital onboarding journey to enable Electronic Data Capture (EDC) or Point of Sale (POS) for merchants.
• HDFC Bank in association with the Manipal Global Academy of BFSI (Banking, Financial Services & Insurance) has launched Future Bankers 2.0, a pan-India recruitment programme to transform young graduates into banking professionals within one year.
• Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Government of India (GoI) signed a USD 141.12-million loan to support the development of high-quality internal infrastructure in Andhra Pradesh (AP).

CURRENT AFFAIRS : APPOINTMENTS & RESIGNATIONS

• The Supreme Court collegium headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud recommended to the Centre the names of Andhra Pradesh High Court Chief Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra and senior advocate KV Viswanathan as judges of the apex court.
• The Board of Directors of IDBI Bank approved the appointment of Jayakumar S. Pillai as Deputy Managing Director (DMD) on the Bank’s Board for 3 years.
• S.P. Singh Baghel has been assigned as Minister of State (MoS ) in the Health and Family Welfare Ministry.
• The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has roped in German sportswear major Adidas as the kit sponsor for the Indian cricket team.
• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has given its approval to Paytm Payments Bank Limited (PPBL) for the re-appointment of Paytm Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Vijay Shekhar Sharma as part-time chairman for one year for a third term.
• The National Council of Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has elected R Dinesh, executive vice-chairman of TVS Supply Chain Solutions, as the president of CII for 2023-24 & he takes over from Sanjiv Bajaj, chairman and managing director, Bajaj Finserv Limited who served as president of CII for 2022-23.
• Harsh Jain, co-founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of Dream Sports has been elected as the chairman of the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) for the period of next two years & jain has replaced Sanjay Gupta, Vice President and Country Manager, Google India at IAMAI.
• Ioannis Sarmas, a senior judge, was sworn in as Greece's caretaker prime minister (PM) to lead the country to a repeat election on June 25, 2023 & he took over from centre-right Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.
• President Droupadi Murmu, exercising her powers conferred to her by Clause (1) of Article 217 of the Constitution of India 1950, has appointed Justice Sanjay Vijaykumar Gangapurwala as the Chief Justice of the Madras High Court.
• Billionaire Mukesh Ambani has been appointed as the member of Advisory Committee to the President of the 28th Session of the Conference of the Parties (COP28) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
• Discount brokerage firm 5paisa Capital Limited (5paisa.com) has appointed former Google executive Narayan Gangadhar as Chief Executive Officer (CEO).
• Vedanta-Foxconn Semiconductors Limited (VFSL), a joint venture (JV) between Foxconn and Vedanta Group has appointed Mike Young as Senior Vice President of the Project Management Office and Manufacturing Operations.
• Private sector lender Karnataka Bank appointed Srikrishnan Hari Hara Sarma as managing director (MD) and chief executive officer (CEO) of the bank for a period of 3 years.
• Realme has appointed Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan as its brand ambassador for realme smartphones.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: AWARDS AND HONOURS

• Sweden’s Loreen won Eurovision 2023 with the song “Tattoo” in Liverpool, northern England, becoming the first woman to triumph for a second time in the contest.
• Chandrasekaran received France's highest civilian award Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur.
• Three Indian peacekeepers were awarded the Dag Hammarskjold Medal by the United Nations & the three Indians include Border Security Force (BSF) personnel Head Constables Shishupal Singh and Samwali Ram Vishnoi & Shaber Taher Ali.
• Skoch SILVER Award 2023 presented to the Department of Animal Husbandry and Fisheries, Chandigarh.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: BUSINESS NEWS

• Real money gaming has become the top violative sector in terms of advertisement & this sector was followed by education and healthcare, as per the annual complaints report for FY23 released recently by the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI).
• The Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras) has partnered with Google to establish the Centre for Responsible Artificial Intelligence (CeRAI), focusing on responsible AI research and development.
• Tata Consumer Products recently said that it will delist its global depository receipts (GDRs) from the London Stock Exchange and Luxembourg Stock Exchange.
• In a bid to give a fillip to diverse and sustainable sourcing, Hindustan Unilever (HUL) and Genpact have launched Be.Seen — a program to help scale businesses owned by minority and under-represented groups in India.
• Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) announced that a consortium, headed by the prominent IT company, has been awarded an advance purchase order worth more than ₹15,000 crore by the government-owned BSNL.
• Flipkart group-owned fashion commerce platform Myntra has rolled out ‘MyFashionGPT’, a search feature powered by ChatGPT.
• Nvidia Corp soared about 25% near a market value of $1 trillion after its stellar forecast showed that Wall Street has yet to price in the game-changing potential of AI spending.
• According to the Third Advance Estimates of Production of major crops for agricultural year 2022-23, released by the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Foodgrains production in the country in 2022-23 is estimated at 330.53 million tonnes, the highest ever, and a big jump over 315.61 million tonnes recorded in 2021-22.

CURRENT AFFAIRS : DEFENCE NEWS

• The 6th Scorpene Submarine of Project-75, Yard 11880, Indian Navy’s Kalvari class, ‘Vaghsheer’ commenced her sea trials.
• India’s defence production rose more than 12% in FY 2022-2023 and crossed the 1 trillion rupee ($12 billion) threshold for the first time.
• In a major move aimed at enhancing cooperation between the Indian Navy and the Royal Saudi Naval Force, the Saudi Arabian Armed forces collaborated for the first ever Maiden Afloat Training of Saudi Cadets.
• The second edition of Al-Mohed-Al Hindi, Joint Naval Exercise between India and Saudi Arabia, conducted from 21 - 25 May 2023 off Al Jubail, Saudi Arabia.
• Iran's defence ministry unveiled the 4th generation of its Khorramshahr ballistic missile, with a range of 2,000 kilometres (1,242 miles) and a capacity to carry warheads weighing over a tonne.
• The Sapta Shakti Command of the Indian Army conducted exercise 'Sudarshan Shakti 2023' along the western borders in Rajasthan and .

CURRENT AFFAIRS: MOUS AND AGREEMENT

• The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, was apprised of signing of Project Collaboration Agreement between the Department of Health Research (DHR) and the World Health Organization (WHO) for promoting access to high quality affordable assistive technology mainly through fostering research, innovation, and capacity building.
• The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Hon'ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi approved the signing of Memorandum of Understanding between Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) and The Chartered Accountants of the Maldives (CA Maldives).
• The Government of Goa and the Government of Uttarakhand have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to collaborate towards enhancing the tourism landscape of both Goa and Uttarakhand.
• Agritech firm Arya.ag has joined forces with Bayer CropScience in a strategic collaboration aimed at promoting sustainable agriculture.
• Toonz Animation Studios through its education services arm Vizdem has announced that it is collaborating with the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) Pune to offer animation and visual effects courses.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: RANKING AND REPORTS

• Global plastic pollution can reduce by 80 per cent by 2040 if countries and companies make deep policy and market shifts using existing technologies and shift to a circular economy, according to a new report launched by United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
• The report ' ‘Born too Soon: Decade of Action on Pre-term Birth” was recently released by the World Health Organization (WHO), United Nations Children’s Fund and Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (PMNCH).
• The Hanke’s Annual Misery Index (HAMI) 2022 list of the world's most miserable countries is out, as per the index, Zimbabwe has topped the list of world's most miserable countries.
• According to the NITI Aayog’s annual ‘State Health Index’ (5th edition) for the Covid year of 2020-21, the three southern states of Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Telangana emerged as the top performers among the ‘larger states’.

CURRENT AFFAIRS : ACQUISITIONS & MERGERS

• SBI Funds Management Limited (SBIFML) has received Reserve Bank of India (RBI) approval to increase stake in HDFC Bank to 9.99% in 6 months i.e. by November 15, 2023.
• Fair-trade regulator Competition Commission of India (CCI) approved the proposed merger of Credit Suisse Group AG with UBS Group AG.
• JSW Steel announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary JSW Steel Coated Products Limited (JSWSCPL) will complete the acquisition of National Steel and Agro Industries (NSAIL) for a total consideration of ₹621 crore.
• The Competition Commission of India (CCI) approves acquisition of additional Series E compulsorily convertible preference shares of Acko Technology & Services Private Limited by Multiples Private Equity Fund III and CPP Investment Board Private Holdings (4) Inc (CPHI-4).

CURRENT AFFAIRS : SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

• Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras incubated ePlane Company, a developer of Electric Vertical Takeoff and Landing (eVTOL) aircrafts has become India’s first electric aircraft company to receive the Design Organisation Approval (DOA) from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).
• Microsoft has unveiled a new generative Artificial Intelligence (AI)-driven multilingual chatbot called 'Jugalbandi', designed for farmers and other users living in rural India.
• IT major Infosys Ltd launched a platform called ‘Infosys Topaz’ for generative artificial intelligence (AI) & it helps amplify the potential of humans, enterprises, and communities to tap into the next generation of opportunities to create value from unprecedented innovations, connected ecosystems, and pervasive efficiencies.
• The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is collaborating with the Raman Research Institute (RRI), Bengaluru, Karnataka to build the X-Ray Polarimeter Satellite (XPoSat) that is scheduled to be launched later 2023.
• South Korea successfully launched Next Generation Small Satellite-2 (NEXTSAT-2), the first commercial-grade satellite aboard Korean Satellite Launch Vehicle Two (KSLV-II), nicknamed "Nuri,"rocket lifted off from the Naro Space Center in Goheung, South Korea.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: SPORTS NEWS

• McDonald’s, the fast food chain, has signed a new contract with FIFA to remain as a World Cup sponsor until the 2026 edition in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
• Indian Olympic Association (IOA) approved the inclusion of Gatka in the 37th National Games-2023.
• V.Prraneeth became Telangana’s sixth and India’s 82nd Grandmaster when he outwitted GM Hans Niemann of US in the penultimate round of Baku Open 2023.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be the chief guest at the inaugural function of the Khelo India University games in Lucknow. & it is the third edition of the Khelo India University games.
• The Emilia Romagna Grand Prix has been cancelled due to adverse weather in the region.

CURRENT AFFAIRS : OBITUARIES

• The eldest of four Hinduja brothers, Hinduja Group chairman and founder of IndusInd Bank Srichand Parmanand Hinduja (S.P., Hinduja) passed away at the age of 87 in London, United Kingdom (UK).
• Renowned British novelist Martin Amis has passed away at the age of 73 in Lake Worth, Florida,United States of America (USA).
• Tina Turner, popularly known as the 'Queen of Rock 'n' Roll, passed away at the age of 83.