NATIONAL NEWS

India Internet Governance Forum 2023

· 'India Internet Governance Forum 2023' will be held in New Delhi.

· The forum is a multi-stakeholder platform bringing together representatives from various groups to discuss public policy issues related to the Internet.

· The theme of the event is Moving Forward - Calibrating Bharat’s Digital Agenda.

· Electronic and IT Ministry stated that the event is an effort to discuss issues such as building a secure, trusted and resilient cyberspace for Bharat, Enabling Innovation for India’s Developmental Goals, Bridging Divides and Calibrating Bharat’s Digital Agenda.

· The India Internet Governance Forum is an initiative associated with the UN Internet Governance Forum.

Panchayati Raj Ministry Launches “Gram Manchitra” App

· In a strategic move to enhance spatial planning at the Gram Panchayat level, the Ministry of Panchayati Raj introduced the Geographic Information System (GIS) application known as “Gram Manchitra”.

· “Gram Manchitra” serves as a unified Geo Spatial platform, providing a comprehensive view of developmental works across various sectors.

· It enables Gram Panchayats to visualize and plan for projects effectively, offering a decision support system for the Gram Panchayat Development Plan (GPDP).

· Complementing “Gram Manchitra,” the Ministry has introduced “mActionSoft,” a mobile-based solution designed to capture photos with Geo-Tags, incorporating GPS coordinates.

· The assets geo-tagged using the “mActionSoft” application seamlessly integrate with “Gram Manchitra,” offering an enhanced visualization of developmental works in Gram Panchayats.

PM Modi Unveil the Statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj

· Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled the statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj at Rajkot Fort in Maharashtra's Sindhudurg district.

· Modi paid homage to the rich maritime heritage of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj who constructed several coastal and sea forts, including the Sindhudurg Fort.

· The Maratha empire founder's seal inspired the new naval ensign that was adopted last year when PM Modi commissioned the first indigenous aircraft carrier, INS Vikrant.

BANKING

RBI Allows Banks to Open Current Accounts for Export

· The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) permitted banks to open additional current accounts for export proceeds in addition to special rupee vostro accounts with a view to provide greater operational flexibility to exporters.

· To provide greater operational flexibility to exporters, banks maintaining a special rupee vostro account as per the provisions of the RBI circular dated July 11, 2022 are permitted to open an additional special current account for its exporter constituent exclusively for settlement of their export transactions.

· In July 2022, the RBI had asked banks to put in place additional arrangements for export and import transactions in Indian rupees in view of increasing interest of the global trading community in the domestic currency.

· Accordingly, authorised Indian banks must open and maintain special rupee vostro accounts of the partner trading country's banks.

· These accounts keep the foreign bank's holdings in the Indian counterpart in rupees.

RANKS, INDICES & REPORTS

The Richest Person in the World by Bloomberg Billionaires Index

· The Bloomberg Billionaires Index is a daily ranking of the world's richest people.

· South African-born Elon Musk is the new richest person in the world, having recently surpassed United States Jeff Bezos

· They are followed by Frances Bernard Arnault , who is in the 3^rd position.

· The rest of the Top 10, in order, are: Bill Gates, Larry Ellison, Steve Ballmer, Warren Buffet, Larry Page, Mark Zuckerberg, and Sergey Brin.

· Gautam Adani becomes 16th richest globally as Adani Group and his wealth tops $70 billion.

NCRB Report 2022

· According to the latest report of the National Crime Records Bureau, Delhi has recorded the highest number of cases of crimes against women at 14,158 among the 19 metropolitan cities of India in 2022.

· With an average three rapes a day, Delhi is still among the most unsafe metropolitan city for women in the country, according to data shared by the National Crime Records.

· This figure was a slight increase from the 13,982 crimes against women reported in 2021.

· In criminal cases, Uttar Pradesh is first in the entire country, Maharashtra is second, while Madhya Pradesh is third.

· Delhi tops the list of recorded crime cases among cities, followed by Mumbai and Bengaluru.

· However, Jaipur was the most unsafe city in India, with a rate of 239.3 crimes against women. The Rajasthan capital reported 3,479 crimes against women.

AWARDS & PRIZES

Asian Awards

· Riyadh, (IANS) Hangzhou 2022 Asian Para Games gold medallist Asila Mirzayorova from Uzbekistan and the winner of China’s historic first cross-country skiing gold medal, Peng Zheng were announced as best female and best male athlete at the fourth edition of Asian Awards at an awards ceremony during the Asian Paralympic Committee’s Conference and General Assembly.

· India’s Sheetal Devi, the ‘armless archer’ who went viral after her performances in Hangzhou picked up the best youth athlete.

· Award winners were announced in six categories – Best Male Athlete, Best Female Athlete, Best Youth Athlete, Best Team Performance, Best Photography and Exemplary Asian Official.

· The best team performance went to R. Iran’s Men’s Wheelchair Basketball Team.

·  The best photography award went to Masamine Kawaguchi from Japan for his images from Beijing 2022 Winter Paralympic Games which captured the dynamism, skill, and speed of the downhill skiers.

· The final award for exemplary Asian official went to Young-ju Lee from the Republic of Korea who is the coach of the Korean Para Cycling Team.

TAI Tunnelling Awards 2023        

· National Capital Region Transport Corporation(NCRTC) bagged the award in “Environmental Initiatives of Tunnelling” category at the 4th edition of the prestigious TAI Tunnelling Awards 2023, organised by the Tunnelling Association of India.

· These awards celebrate the most ambitious underground projects in India as well as the latest innovations, techniques, and methods in tunnelling.

· Nimisha Singh, Executive Engineer (Civil), NCRTC, was also awarded with the “Young Tunneller of the Year” award.

· Ms. Singh has been a crucial part of NCRTC’s tunnelling team, helped overcome the challenges encountered during the tunnelling process, and has shown commitment to use new methods to achieve project targets.

Jimmy George Award

· Kerala-born long jumper Murali Sreeshankar will receive the Jimmy George Award for the best sportsperson from the state.

· The Indian athlete is the recipient of the 35th Jimmy George Foundation Award, courtesy of his excellent performance at the Asian Games 2023.

· Sreeshankar will receive a cash prize of ₹1 lakh and a plaque.

· The Indian long jumper was picked up as the best sportsperson from Kerala by the award committee.

· The 24-year-old athlete will receive the Jimmy George Award at the Jimmy George Sports Academy in Kannur.

APPOINTMENTS & RESIGNATIONS

IDFC Board of Directors

· US President Joe Biden has nominated Indian-origin Deven Parekh to the board of directors of the International Development Finance Corporation (IDFC).

· IDFC partners with the private sector to provide financing to address challenges facing developing countries.

· The International Development Finance Corporation Board of Directors consists of four members on the recommendation of the US President.

· Deven Parekh has been appointed to this post on the recommendation of the US Senate.

· Deven Parekh is currently Managing Director at Insight Partners, a New York-based growth equity investment fund.

MISCELLANEOUS

Rizz Crowned Oxford Word of the Year 2023

· Oxford Word of the Year 2023 is rizz.

· This year, a shortlist of eight words was created, all chosen to reflect the mood, ethos, or preoccupations of the past year, and put them to the public to vote for their favourites.

· Through head-to-head competitions over a four-day voting period, the public narrowed down our shortlist of worthy contenders to four finalists: rizz, Swiftie, prompt, and situationship.

· These words were then put to our language experts, who considered our corpus data, the vote counts, and the public commentary around the words to choose the definitive word of the year for 2023.

· ‘rizz’ is a colloquial noun, defined as ‘style, charm, or attractiveness.