Daily Current Affairs Analysis Today : 17 –March-2023 Daily current affairs analysis helps students to stay updated with the world around them and develop a better understanding of the recent developments. It helps them to prepare better for competitive exams as many questions are based on current events. Moreover, it also provides an insight into the world’s politics, economics, and international relations which can help in forming opinions and understanding the context of discussions.
Eric Garcetti confirmed as new US Ambassador to India after 2-year gap
Eric Garcetti has been confirmed as the new US ambassador to India, and will take up a position that has been vacant since Jan 2021. Garcetti’s appointment was confirmed by the US Senate.
He was originally nominated by President Joe Biden in July 2021, and renominated in January this year.
A Biden loyalist, Garcetti received 52 votes in his favour, with 42 votes going against him.
In New Delhi, the 52-year-old will succeed Ken Juster, who was nominated by then President Donald Trump and became the envoy to India in May 2017, and resigned after the change in presidency from Trump to Biden.
Eric Garcetti:
He was raised in the San Fernando Valley, and did both B.A. and M.A. from the Columbia University. He was a Rhodes Scholar at the Oxford University and also studied at the London School of Economics (LSE).
Garcetti also served as an officer in the United States Navy Reserve for 12 years.
From July 2013 to December 2022, he was the 42nd mayor of Los Angeles. The first Jewish mayor of the country’s second-largest city, he was also elected four times by his peers to serve as the President of the City Council (2006-2012).
Who has been named as the new US ambassador to India? Eric Garcetti
Indian American Ravi Chaudhary appointed US Air Force’s Assistant Secretary
The United States Senate confirmed Indian origin Ravi Chaudhary as the Assistant Secretary of Air Force for Energy, Installations, and the Environment.
Chaudhary will be the first Indian-American to serve as an Assistant Secretary of the Air Force.
Chaudhary served as an active duty Air Force pilot between 1993 and 2015, conducting numerous combat missions in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Following his retirement from military service, Chaudhary served for five years as a senior official within the Regions and Center Operations and Office of Commercial Space at the Federal Aviation Administration. He was also appointed by President Obama to serve on the President’s Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.
Which Indian was selected by the United States Senate as the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Energy, Installations and Environment? Ravi Chaudhary
India & World Bank signs loan agreement for construction of Green National Highway Corridors Project in 4 States
India and the World Bank have signed a loan agreement for the construction of the Green National Highway Corridors Project in four States.
These States are Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh.
The agreement has been signed for the construction of 781 kilometers in these States, with loan assistance of 500 million dollars.
The total project cost is over seven thousand 662 crore rupees.
The objective of the Green National Highway Corridors Project is to demonstrate safe and green highways keeping in view climate resilience and use of green technologies.
World Bank:
Established: December 1944
Headquarters: Washington, D.C., U.S.
Membership: 189 countries (IBRD), 174 countries (IDA)
President: David Malpass
MD: Axel van Trotsenburg
MD and CFO: Anshula Kant
Chief Economist: Indermit Gill
Recently, India and the World Bank have signed an agreement for how much loan assistance for the construction of the Green National Highway Corridor project in four states? 500 million dollars
RBI, UAE Central Bank sign pact to increase fintech cooperation
The RBI and the Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates (CBUAE) have signed an MoU to increase cooperation in various areas of fintech, including Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs).
Under the MoU (memorandum of understanding), the two central banks will collaborate on various emerging areas of FinTech, especially Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) and explore interoperability between the CBDCs of CBUAE and RBI.
the CBUAE and RBI will jointly conduct proof-of-concept (PoC) and pilot(s) of the bilateral CBDC bridge to facilitate cross-border transactions of remittances and trade.
This bilateral engagement of testing cross-border use cases of CBDCs is expected to reduce costs, increase the efficiency of cross-border transactions and further the economic ties between India and UAE.
The RBI launched pilot runs of CBDC in both wholesale and retail segments in 2022, in collaboration with several banks. A CBDC or e-rupee is a digital currency backed by a regulator as a legal tender. Globally, more than 60 central banks have reportedly expressed interest in CBDCs, with a few implementations already under pilot across both retail and wholesale categories.
Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates:
Established: 11 December 1980
Governor: Abdul Hamed Saed
Recently RBI has signed an agreement with the Central Bank of which country to enhance fintech cooperation? UAE
Shaktikanta Das named ‘Governor of the Year’ by Central Banking
RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das has been named ‘Governor of the Year’ for 2023 by the international economic research journal Central Banking.
Under Das’s leadership, the RBI implemented critical reforms, introduced innovative payment systems, and provided growth-supportive measures during the pandemic.
He is the second Indian central bank governor to have won the award, with the first being Raghuram Rajan in 2015.
Additionally, the central bank of the year award was given to the National Bank of Ukraine. Das’s leadership during a time of crisis and his contributions to India’s economic reforms make him a deserving recipient of the prestigious Governor of the Year award.
RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das:
Shaktikanta Das (born 26 February 1957) is serving as the current & 25th governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
He was earlier a member of the Fifteenth Finance Commission and India’s Sherpa to the G20.
During his career as an IAS officer, Das served in various capacities for Indian and Tamil Nadu governments, including as Economic Affairs Secretary, Revenue Secretary, Fertilizers Secretary. He has also served as India’s Alternate Governor in the World Bank, ADB, NDB & AIIB.
The central bank of the year award was given to which bank for 2023 by the international economic research journal Central Banking? National Bank of Ukraine
India’s IDFC Mutual Fund renames Bandhan Mutual Fund
IDFC Mutual Fund has rebranded itself as Bandhan Mutual Fund.
All the schemes of the fund house will be renamed to replace the word ‘IDFC’ with the word ‘Bandhan’.
The rebranding includes a change of the name and the logo. According to the fund house, the name and ownership change will have no bearing on the investment strategy and processes of the schemes.
The Securities and Exchange Board of India had cleared the Bandhan-linked consortium’s proposed acquisition of IDFC Mutual Fund in December 2022.
Earlier in 2022, a consortium of Bandhan Financial Holdings GIC, and Chrys Capital signed an agreement to buy IDFC AMC and IDFC AMC Trustee Company from parent IDFC for Rs 4,500 crore.
The company, which was earlier a part of the IDFC group, was acquired by a Bandhan Financial Holdings-led consortium in April 2022. The deal was approved by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) in November 2022.
Which investment service has rebranded itself as Bandhan Mutual Fund? IDFC Mutual Fund
Microsoft inks licensing deal with cloud gaming provider Boosteroid
Microsoft strikes a deal to make Xbox PC video games available on the Boosteroid cloud gaming platform, its latest move to appease antitrust regulators scrutinising its purchase of game maker Activision Blizzard.
The US tech giant said the 10-year agreement would also include Activision Blizzard titles like the popular Call of Duty franchise if or when the acquisition gets approved.
Microsoft aims to boost its firepower in the booming videogaming market against leaders Tencent and Sony, and lay the base for its investment in metaverse.
Also, Microsoft has been announcing new partnerships as it tries to persuade regulators in the U.S. and Europe to allow the $69 billion all-cash transaction to go through.
Ukraine-based Boosteroid’s access to Call of Duty is conditional on regulatory approval for the Activision deal. The agreement will also bring Microsoft’s Xbox PC games to Boosteroid’s cloud gaming platform.
Microsoft has similar licensing deals with Nvidia, Nintendo and U.S. distributor Valve Corp, owner of the world’s largest video game distribution platform, Steam.
EU antitrust regulators are expected to approve Microsoft’s takeover of Activision conditional on such licensing deals. The UK watchdog however could be more difficult to convince.
In addition to Ukraine, Boosteroid also has gamers in the United States, the United Kingdom and EU countries.
Which tech giant has recently entered into a licensing deal with cloud gaming provider Boosteroid? Microsoft
Banks from 18 countries get RBI’s nod to trade in rupee
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has permitted banks from 18 countries to open Special Vostro Rupee Accounts (SVRAs) to settle payments in rupees.
These 18 nations include Botswana, Fiji, Germany, Guyana, Israel, Kenya, Malaysia, Mauritius, Myanmar, New Zealand, Oman, Russia, Seychelles, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Uganda and the United Kingdom.
The process of SVRAs began in July 2022 when the RBI announced that, “it has been decided to put in place an additional arrangement for invoicing, payment, and settlement of exports/imports in INR [Indian rupees]”.
The announcement came against the backdrop of the commodities crisis triggered by the Western sanctions against Russia after President Vladimir Putin launched the “special military operation” against Ukraine in February 2022.
Trade in local currencies have been mooted as a solution to avoid the current wave of wartime international sanctions that are hampering supply chains and global trade flows.
Vostro Account:
A vostro account is an account that domestic banks hold for foreign banks in the former’s domestic currency, in this case, the rupee.
Domestic banks use it to provide international banking services to their clients who have global banking needs.
The SRVA is an additional arrangement to the existing system that uses Freely convertible currencies and works as a complimentary system.
The existing systems require maintaining balances and position in such currencies like US dollar and pound to facilitate trade.
Recently Reserve Bank of India has allowed banks of how many countries to open Special Vostro Rupee Accounts (SVRA)? 18
Tamil writer Sivasankari to be awarded Saraswati Samman for 2022
Tamil writer Sivasankari has been selected for Saraswati Samman for the year 2022 for her book Survya Vamsam.
This is a book of memoirs in Tamil language and was published in 2019.
She is the author of 36 novels, 48 novellas, 150 short stories, 15 travelogues, seven collections of essays and three biographies, including one on former prime minister Indira Gandhi.
Many of Sivasankari’s works have been translated into several Indian languages, and in English, Japanese and Ukrainian. Eight of her novels have been made into films and directed by renowned directors. Her novel ‘Kutti’ on girl child labour, filmed by director Janaki Viswanathan, won the national as well regional ‘Best Mega Serial’ awards.
The author was invited under the International Writers Program and the International Visitors Program in 1986 by lowa University in the US. She is among four writers whose works were recorded in their own voices for the Archives of US Library Congress to mark its bicentennial celebrations.
Saraswati Samman:
It was instituted by the K.K. Birla Foundation in 1991.
It is recognized as the most prestigious and the highest literary award in the country.
It carries an award money of 15 lakh rupees, a Citation, and a Plaque.
The recipient is chosen by the Chayan Parishad under the chairmanship of former Supreme Court judge Arjan Kumar Sikri that comprises outstanding scholars and writers of the country.
Besides the Saraswati Samman, the Bihari Puraskar and the Vyas Samman are other literary awards instituted by the foundation.
Tamil writer Sivasankari has been selected for the Saraswati Samman for the year 2022 for which of his book? Survya Vamsam
Govt appoints Deepak Mohanty as PFRDA chairman
Deepak Mohanty has been appointed as the chairman of the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA).
He replaced Supratim Bandyopadhyay, whose term ended in Jan 2023.
Before this, Mohanty was a former executive director of the Reserve Bank of India.
He was appointed PFRDA member (Economic) in August 2020 for a period of three years or till attaining the age of 62 years.
PFRDA:
Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) is the regulatory body for overall supervision and regulation of pensions in India. It operates under the jurisdiction of Ministry of Finance in the Government of India. It was established in 2003 based on the recommendations of the Indian government OASIS report and was part of the establishment of the Indian National Pension Scheme.
Who has been appointed as the chairman of the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA)? Deepak Mohanty