NATIONAL NEWS

Desert National Park May Get UNESCO World Heritage Status

The Desert National Park (DNP) is located in the Rajasthan State of India and covers an area of 3162 km⊃2;.

Out of this, 1900 km⊃2; is in Jaisalmer district and the remaining 1262 km⊃2; is in Barmer district.

The park was established in 1980 and is situated in an extremely hot and arid region, with very low rainfall .

DNP is the natural habitat of the Great Indian Bustard (state bird), Chinkara (state animal), Khejri (state tree) and Rohida (state flower).

It is the only place where these species are found together.

A World Heritage Site is a location that has been recognised by UNESCO for its cultural or physical significance.

Such sites are a part of the International 'World Heritage Programme', which is managed by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

AP Moller-Maersk Reveals World’s Largest Methanol-Powered Container Ship

AP Moller-Maersk has revealed the Ane Maersk, the world’s largest Ship that can run on the green hydrogen

It was named after Ane Maersk Mc-Kinney Uggla, Chairman of the Parent Company AP Moller Holding.

It can carry 8 times more containers than Danish Logistics Company’s Laura Maersk, which became the world’s first methanol dual-fuel container ship when it was launched in September 2023.

AP Moller-Maersk has revealed the Ane Maersk, the world’s largest Ship that can run on the green hydrogen

It was named after Ane Maersk Mc-Kinney Uggla, Chairman of the Parent Company AP Moller Holding.

It can carry 8 times more containers than Danish Logistics Company’s Laura Maersk, which became the world’s first methanol dual-fuel container ship when it was launched in September 2023.

BANKING              

Zomato Payments Gets RBI's Nod to Operate As An Online Payment Aggregator

Zomato Payments, a wholly owned subsidiary of Zomato Limited, has received the certificate of authorisation from the Reserve Bank of India to operate as an online payment aggregator.

In an exchange filing, the food delivery platform stated the central bank has allowed it to carry out the business as payment aggregator and issuer of pre-paid payment instruments with effect from January 24, 2024.

Last year, Zomato had joined hands with ICICI Bank to launch its own unified payments interface (UPI) offering -- Zomato UPI.

The feature was offered to select users and did not involve a KYC process.

It eliminated the need for users to navigate to other payment apps, such as Google Pay, Paytm, and PhonePe, while placing orders on Zomato.

With this, Zomato, just like Tata Pay, Razorpay, Cashfree, among others, managed to secure the much-awaited payments licence.

Earlier this month, Tata Payments and Bengaluru-based identity verification startup DigiO secured the payment aggregator (PA) licence from the RBI.

BUSINESS

Ola Founder’s Krutrim Becomes India’s First AI Unicorn

Krutrim, an AI startup founded by Ola founder Bhavish Aggarwal, stated it has raised a funding round that values it at $1 billion.

The startup, founded last year, is the fastest to become a unicorn in India, it claimed in a press statement.

It’s also the first Indian AI startup to become a unicorn, it stated.

Matrix Partners India — which has also backed Aggarwal’s other two startups, ride-hailing platform Ola and EV startup Ola Electric — led the $50 million “first round” in Krutrim.

TechCrunch reported last year that Aggarwal was in talks to raise $50 million for his new AI venture.

Krutrim, which means “artificial” in Sanskrit, is building a large language model that has been trained on local Indian languages in addition to English.

The startup plans to launch a voice-enabled conversational AI assistant that understands and speaks multiple Indian languages, the startup stated.

SPORTS

Australia Open 2024

Grand Slam Australian Open 2024, India's famous tennis player Rohan Bopanna has created history by winning the men's doubles title.

Rohan Bopanna got this opportunity with Matthew Ebden in the men's doubles of the Australian Open.

Bopanna-Ebden pair defeated Italy's Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori in the final in straight sets.

The pair of Rohan Bopanna of India and Matthew Ebden of Australia have won this title for the first time.

Bopanna and Ebden won the match 7-6 (7-0), 7-5. Both of them won the first set 7-6 (7-0) which went to the tiebreaker.

After this, the second set was won by a margin of 7-5.

APPPOINTMENTS & RESIGNATIONS

New Chairman of AEPC

Shri Sudhir Sekhri, an Apparel industry veteran, has taken over as the new Chairman of Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC).

Shri Sekhri has been into the business of Readymade Garment Manufacturing for more than four decades and is currently Managing Partner of Trendsetter International.

He stated that ‘Our target to reach 40 billion USD of RMG export by 2030 can be a reality and my duty is to take every possible step to reach this target.

He has been an Executive Committee member of the Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC) since 1990, Chairman (Export Promotion Committee) of AEPC for several years and Vice Chairman, AEPC for the year 2022 and 2023.

He has been an Executive Committee member of the Garment Exporters and Manufacturers Association (GEMA) since its inception and is its current Senior Vice President.

Indian Army’s First Woman Subedar

Havildar Preeti Rajak, a notable trap shooter, has made history by becoming the first woman within the Indian Army to be promoted to the rank of Subedar.

The promotion was announced as a significant milestone in the chapters of military history.

Subedar Rajak enlisted in the Army under the Corps of Military Police in December 2022.

She quickly emerged as a pioneer in the sports field, becoming the first outstanding female athlete in shooting to join the Army as a Havildar.

Rajak's most notable achievement is securing a silver medal during the 19th Asian Games held in Hangzhou, China.

She showed exceptional skills in the trap women's team event, further strengthening her reputation as a solid competitor on the international stage.

Currently ranked sixth in India in the trap women's event, she continues to show her skills at the Army Marksmanship Unit (AMU) in preparation for the upcoming Paris Olympics in 2024.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

ISRO to Launch INSAT-3DS Satellite

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is set to launch its latest meteorological satellite, INSAT-3DS, marking a significant advancement in India’s space capabilities.

This satellite, designed to enhance weather forecasting and disaster management, represents a culmination of rigorous testing and collaboration between ISRO and various stakeholders.

INSAT-3DS is engineered to provide continuity of services to its predecessors, INSAT-3D (launched in 2013) and INSAT-3DR (2016), while also augmenting the capabilities of the INSAT platform.

Its design, based on ISRO’s well-proven I-2k bus platform, boasts a lift-off mass of 2,275 kg, making it a robust addition to India’s satellite fleet.