DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS 17-03-2023

Shankar School of Banking March 17 , 2023 185

NATIONAL NEWS

According to the government, 2 crore 18 lakh pucca houses have been built till 11 March 2023, under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Gramin (PMAY-G).
The government has set a target of constructing two crore 95 lakh pucca houses with basic facilities by March 2024.
The Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation launched the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana rural in 2016.
The scheme was initiated with the objective of ‘Housing for All by 2022’.
The scheme has 2 Components - Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban) and Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Rural).
Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana Gramin was earlier called Indira Awas Yojana which was renamed in March 2016.

Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Narendra Singh Tomar on 15 March inaugurated a 5-day cultural program ‘AgriUnifest’ in Bengaluru.
It was organized by Bangalore Agricultural University in collaboration with the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR).
More than 2500 meritorious students from 60 State Agricultural Universities, Deemed Universities and Central Universities participated in it.
The All India Inter Agricultural University Youth Festival was conceptualized and initiated by ICAR during 1999-2000 with the objective of integrating Indian agriculture by connecting various Indian cultures.
Its objective was to nurture the talent of the youth of the Agricultural Universities and represent Indian culture.

India and Luxembourg celebrating 75 years of friendship on March 15, 2023. To mark the occasion, both the countries launched a joint Commemorative Postage Stamp.
The Postage Stamp symbolises the long standing and strong ties between India and Luxembourg.
Both the countries have been cooperating in the steel sector for the last 20 years.
The Paul Worth company of Luxembourg has been working in India for the last two decades under this collaboration.
The partnership between India and Luxembourg in various fields reflects their commitment to strengthen their friendship and explore future opportunities for cooperation.

Japan has become the latest country to join an alternative mechanism, Multi-Party Interim Appeal Arbitration Arrangement (MPIA) to resolve the trade dispute mechanism at the World Trade Organization (WTO).
The MPIA is an alternative mechanism for resolving WTO disputes.
It was set up by the EU and their key partners.
Including Japan, 26 WTO members currently participate in the MPIA.
Any member can join the MPIA by notifying the Dispute Settlement Body and a range of members have done so.

The MoU involves both the central bank to explore Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) and examine interoperability between the CBUAE and the CBDCs of the RBI.
The cooperation aims to increase efficiency and reduce costs in cross-border transactions, which further the economic ties between India and the UAE.
The MoU also includes technical cooperation and knowledge sharing on matters related to fintech and financial products and services.
The collaboration between RBI and CBUAE is an important step towards fostering innovation and collaboration in the area of FinTech.
The joint exploration of CBDCs and cross-border testing is expected to pave the way for increased efficiency and cost reduction in cross-border transactions, benefiting both India and the UAE.

The Ministry of Tourism has won the Golden and Silver Star in ‘TV/Cinema Commercials International and Country International’ Category.
The Promotional films / television commercials that received the award were part of the Ministry of Tourism Post Covid Promotional Global Campaign.
The Ministry of tourism has developed the new Incredible India brand films for welcoming foreign tourists to India after the pandemic.
Shri Arvind Singh, Secretary (Tourism) Government of India received the award.
The Golden City Gate Tourism Multi-media Award is given annually in the sectors of Tourism and Hospitality.
The award ceremony takes place at ITB Berlin.

Indian Navy's long-range maritime reconnaissance aircraft P8I will participate in the third edition of the coordinated multilateral anti-submarine warfare (ASW) exercise 'Sea Dragon 23'.
The exercise, scheduled for 15 March 15 – 30 March, hosted by the US Navy, will emphasize coordinated anti-submarine warfare among participating nations.
The exercise will have representation from P8A of the US Navy as well as P8I of the Indian Navy, P1 of the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force, CP 140 of the Royal Canadian Air Force and P3C of the Republic of Korea Navy (RoKN).
The P8I aircraft of the Indian Navy arrived at Guam, US on 14 March.
The objective of the exercise is to achieve a high degree of synergy and coordination between the friendly navies.
It is an annual US-led multinational exercise.

The Singapore Army and Indian Army participated in the 13th edition of Exercise 'Bold Kurukshetra', a bilateral exercise at Jodhpur Military Station, India.
Organized by the Indian Army, soldiers from the 42nd Battalion, Singapore Armored Regiment and the Armored Brigade of the Indian Army participated in the exercise.
The exercise is conducted within the scope of joint military training and exercise between the Singapore Army and the Indian Army.
This exercise enhances cooperation between the two armies.

National Immunization Day is celebrated every year on 16 March.
The objective is to raise awareness about polio eradication worldwide.
India has set a target of vaccinating more than 324 million children through MR vaccination campaigns to eliminate measles and rubella.
Immunisation is an important aspect of public health that provides immunity to the body against pathogens that may cause diseases in the future.
National Immunization Day was first observed in 1995 when the Pulse Polio Immunization Program was launched to eradicate polio from India.

Renowned Bengali novelist and short story writer Sasthipada Chattopadhyay passed away at the age of 82 in Howrah, West Bengal.
He is well known in Bengali literature for the series stories of ‘Pandav Goenda’ (five detectives).
He created two more detective series – ‘Detective Ambar Chatterjee’ and ‘Goenda Tatar’.
He was awarded Bal Sahitya Puraskar in 2017 by the Sahitya Akademi for his contribution to children’s literature in Bengali
The West Bengal government in 2017 honoured him with the ‘Bangla Akademi Award’ for his contribution to children’s literature.

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