DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS 20-03-2023

Shankar School of Banking March 20 , 2023 354

NATIONAL NEWS

The Jharkhand government launched ‘Jharniyojan’ portal where all private establishments have to register themselves.
Its objective is to fulfill the state government's promise of ensuring 75 percent employment to local candidates in the private sector of the state.
The portal will act as a platform for employers to share information related to occupations and manpower and for candidates looking for jobs.
Employers using the portal will have to comply with the 'Jharkhand State Employment of Local Candidates in Private Sector Act, 2021'.
Local companies and employers are expected to voluntarily comply and provide employment opportunities to local youth/women.

Recently, the Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare approved a Centre of Excellence (CoE) for Dragon Fruit (Kamalam Fruit) to be established by the Indian Institute of Horticultural Research (IIHR), Bengaluru, Karnataka.
Dragon Fruit is a herbaceous perennial climbing cactus widely known as Pitaya, has its origin in Southern Mexico, Central America and South America.
The plant sustains yield for more than 20 years, is high in nutraceutical properties (medicinal effects) and good for value-added processing industries.
In this endeavor under the Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH), a roadmap is being prepared for the cultivation of this crop.

Bandhan Mutual Fund has launched Bandhan US Treasury Bond 0-1 Year Fund of Fund.
This is India’s first passive debt fund in international space.
The fund is an open-ended fund of fund scheme investing in units/shares of overseas index funds and/or Exchange Traded Funds (ETF) which track an index with US treasury securities in the 0–1-year maturity range as its constituents.
The new fund offers (NFO) opened on March 10, 2023, and will close on March 23, 2023.
It will provide investors with a convenient route to create a dollar asset that benefits from the relatively high quality, reasonable safety, and current high yield of US Treasuries.

The Union Government approved the listing of the Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA) on the stock exchanges.
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) decided to approve an Initial Public Offer (IPO) by way of partial sale of the government's stake in CPSEs to raise funds by issuing fresh equity shares.
The Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) will carry out the listing process.
The approval will help the IPO unlock the value of the government's investment and provide an opportunity to the public to own a stake in national assets and earn from it.
This will help IREDA to raise a part of its capital requirement for carrying out development plans without depending on the exchequer.

India's Rohan Bopanna becomes the oldest tennis player to win an ATP Masters 1000 title.
Rohan Bopanna and Matthew Ebden defeated Wesley Koolhof of the Netherlands and Neil Skupski of Britain 6-3, 2-6, 10-8 in the final in California, United States.
Bopanna has so far won 24 ATP titles, including five ATP Masters 1000 titles.
It was his second title this year after winning the Qatar Open with Ebden.

According to the Ministry of Education, Bihar has the lowest literacy rate in India at 61.8%, while Kerala has the highest at 94%.
Apart from Bihar, other states with low literacy rates are Arunachal Pradesh at 65.3% and Rajasthan at 66.1%, while Lakshadweep with 91.85% and Mizoram with 91.33% follow Kerala.
The literacy rate in rural India is 67.77%, while the literacy rate in urban areas is 84.11%.
The objective of the plan was to raise the country's overall literacy rate to 80% and reduce the gender gap to 10% by the end of the Twelfth Five Year Plan. The program was extended till 31 March 2018.
The objective of the Samagra Shiksha scheme is to provide universal access and retention in education, bridge gender and social category gaps and enhance learning levels from pre-school to senior secondary level.

Noted Tamil writer Sivasankari has been conferred with the prestigious Saraswati Samman for the year 2022.
The award is for his book ‘Surya Vamsam’, a memoir published in Tamil in 2019.
Sivasankari is a prolific writer who has made significant contributions to Tamil literature, and the award is a recognition of his talent and dedication.
Sivasankari's recognition with the Saraswati Samman will help bring greater visibility to Tamil literature and inspire new generations of writers in the language.
It is given annually to an outstanding literary work written in any Indian language and published during the last 10 years.
The award carries a cash prize of Rs. 15 lakhs, a citation and a plaque.

Ram Sahai Prasad Yadav has been elected as the third Vice President of Nepal and is the leader of the Janata Samajwadi Party.
In the voting, Yadav defeated Astalakshmi Shakya of CPN (UML) and Mamta Jha of Janmat Party.
Yadav received support from the ruling coalition, including the Nepali Congress, CPN (Maoist Centre) and CPN (Unified Socialist).
According to the Constitution of Nepal, the Vice President can perform the duties of the President during the absence of the President.
The term of the Vice President is five years from the date of his election.

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) signed a contract for refit of the INS Sindhukirti (S61) submarine at the Hindustan Shipyard Limited (HSL), Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh (AP) at an overall cost of Rs 934 crore.
INS Sindhukirti (S61) is the 7th Sindhughosh-class diesel-electric submarine of the Indian Navy.
It was built at the Admiralty Shipyard and Sevmash in the Soviet Union.
Sindhukirti is the 3rd Kilo Class Diesel Electric Submarine.
It was commissioned on 09 December 1989 in the Soviet Union.

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