NATIONAL NEWS

Maiden International Cruise Vessel, MV Empress in Chennai

• Union Minister for Ports, Shipping and Waterways, Sarbananda Sonowal flagged off India's first international cruise vessel - MV Empress, from Chennai to Sri Lanka.

• This is the launch of the International Cruise Tourism Terminal at Chennai built at a cost of Rs 17.21 crore, ushering in a new era of cruise tourism and maritime trade in the country.

• On the occasion of Environment Day, Sonowal along with the port officials also planted 2,500 saplings at the port.

• The launch of the first cruise service between Chennai and Sri Lanka has opened a new chapter in the cruise tourism sector in the country.

• This is the result of an MoU signed during the Incredible India International Cruise Summit in 2022.

Wage Payments Made Through Aadhaar Based Payment Bridge System

• The Rural Development Ministry has informed that about 88 per cent of the wage payment has been made through Aadhaar Based Payment Bridge System (ABPS) till May this year (2023).

• States will organise camps and follow up with beneficiaries to achieve hundred per cent % ABPS.

• The Ministry has made it clear to all the States that the beneficiary who comes for work should be requested to provide the Aadhaar number but will not be refused work on this basis.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

1st India-Namibia Joint Commission of Cooperation

• External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar recently co-chaired the first India-Namibia Joint Commission with Namibian Foreign Minister Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah in Windhoek.

• The Joint Commission will assess the progress of India-Namibia relations. In addition, high-level visits and ongoing interactions will strengthen the India-Namibia partnership in the future.

• During his visit, the External Affairs Minister inaugurated the India-Namibia Center of Excellence in Information Technology in Windhoek.
• The center will contribute to research, cyber security and good governance.

BANKING

Financial Inclusion Dashboard Antardrishti

• Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das launched a financial inclusion dashboard named 'Antardrishti'.
• The dashboard will provide necessary insights to assess and monitor the progress of financial inclusion by capturing relevant parameters.
• The progress of financial inclusion will be assessed against set parameters through an Antardrishti dashboard. Along with this, it will also help in monitoring.
• With the help of the dashboard, the areas of lack of financial services on a large scale in the country can be detected and then work will be done on the basis of this.
• Currently, the Antardrishti Dashboard will be used internally by RBI.
• Multi stakeholder approach will be adopted for the Antardrishti Dashboard to enhance financial inclusion in future.

India’s 1st Mobile-Based Expense Management Card

• Karbon Card, a B2B (Business to Business) payment solution provider, has launched India’s 1st mobile-based expense management card called Card++.

• It is to help thousands of startups and small businesses that are constantly facing challenges in finding a reliable and accessible expense solution, causing disruptions in their day-to-day operations and forced to use multiple payment instruments.

• Card ++ is free to use and comes with uncapped cash-back offers.
• It is currently live and already gaining mass traction amongst both startups and Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
• Its features include allowing payments on platforms like Google, Amazon, Swiggy, Ola,
• It offers a comprehensive and user-friendly expense management experience with its 2-click sign-up process, intuitive Android app for on-the-go access, seamless top-up options, and exciting uncapped cashback offers for spends.
• Karbon Card aims to onboard approximately 5000 new customers on Card++ by the end of 2023.

RANKS, INDICES & REPORTS

PSU Lenders Chart in Profit and Loan Growth in FY23

• State-owned Bank of Maharashtra (BoM) has emerged as the top performer among public sector lenders in terms of loan and deposit growth in percentage terms during 2022-23.

• BoM also recorded highest growth in profitability with bottomline growing almost 126% to ₹2,602 crore during the year.

• However, all the 12 public sector banks together recorded a 57% jump in net profit at ₹1,04,649 crore in FY23, according to published yearly numbers of public sector banks (PSBs).

• In terms of percentage increase in gross advances, BoM recorded 29.4% jump in loans at Rs 1,75,120 crore as of March 2023.

• It was followed by Indian Overseas Bank (IOB) and UCO Bank with 21.2% and 20.6% growth, respectively.

• With regard to deposit growth, BoM witnessed 15.7% rise and mobilised Rs 2,34,083 crore at the end of March 2023.
• According to the data, Bank of Baroda (BoB) was second with 13% growth in deposits (Rs 10,47,375 crore) while Punjab National Bank (PNB) recorded 11.26% increase at Rs 12,51,708 crore.
• BoM retained the top position in terms of garnering low-cost Current Account and Savings Account (CASA) deposits with 53.38% followed by Central Bank of India (50.18%).

NIRF Ranking for 2023

• The Ministry of Education today announced the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) ranking for the year 2023.

• The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras has been declared the best educational institute under the overall category.

• Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore got second position and Indian Institute of Technology, IIT-Delhi, awarded third position in the same category.

• All India Institute of Medical Science, 5th position and Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi got the 10th position in the overall category.

• In the category of top ten Universities in the country, IISc, Bangalore is in First position and JNU in second position.
• Jamia Millia Islamia got 3rd position, Banaras Hindu University 5th position and Aligarh Muslim University bagged 9th position in this category.
• The University of Hyderabad is also in 10th position in the same category.
• The Ministry announced ranking for several categories including Overall, Top ten Universities, Engineering, Pharmacy and Management.

AWARDS & PRIZES

Highest Civilian Honour of Suriname

• Suriname awarded President Draupadi Murmu its highest civilian honour, the Grand Order of the Chain of Yellow Star on 05 June, making her the first Indian to receive the award.

• President Murmu was presented with the award by Chandrikaprasad Santokhi, President of the Republic of Suriname.

• He dedicated the award to successive generations of the Indian-Surinamese community, in recognition of the important role of the Indian diaspora in strengthening the fraternal ties between the two countries.

• In addition, India and Suriname signed four important Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) in the fields of health, agriculture and capacity building.

APPOINTMENTS & RESIGNATIONS

Wrangler Signs Smriti Mandhana as Brand Ambassador

• Ace Turtle Omni Pvt Ltd., a retail company, has selected Indian cricketer Smriti Mandhana as the brand ambassador for its Wrangler brand.

• Ace Turtle is the licensee of Wrangler in India.

• The company aims for significant expansion in the fiscal year 2024.

• Mandhana embodies the company's values and is expected to inspire customers to embrace their uniqueness and pursue their dreams.
• Mandhana has established herself in international women's cricket and gained a global fan base through her exceptional talent and fearless approach.

OBITUTARY

Noted Theater Actor and Director Aamir Raza Hussain

• A noted theatre actor and directo, Amir Raza Hussain has passed away. He was at the age of 66.
• He was known for his large outdoor stage productions like The Fifty Day War (2000), based on the Kargil War and The Legend of Ram (2004), based on the epic Ramayana.
• He was also the Creative Director of the Stagedoor Theatre company, established in 1974, which has presented over 91 productions and more than 1,100 performances.
• He has acted in super hit movies ‘Baahubali’ and ‘RRR’.
• He will also be seen in the movie ‘Adipurush’ which will be released on 16 June 2023.
• Husain was honoured with the fourth-highest civilian award of the Republic of India, Padma Shri in 2001 by the Government of India (GoI) for his outstanding contributions.