Daily Current Affairs Analysis Today : 21 –March-2023 Daily current affairs analysis is an important tool for govt job aspirants. It helps them stay informed about the world around them, and stay up to date on the latest developments. It also provides a better understanding of politics, economics and international relations, which can help in forming opinions and understanding different contexts. Additionally, it assists in preparing for competitive exams, as many questions are based on current events.
Nepal, India agree to formulate modality to supply electricity to Indian states via Bihar
The 14th meeting of the Committee concluded in New Delhi, India, and decided to prepare the modality of power to be exported by Nepal within a month.
This will assure an additional market for the sale of Nepal’s surplus electricity during the rainy season.
The meeting as per the Power Exchange Agreement has determined the price of per unit electricity at Rs 11.54 for the fiscal year 2022-23.
Kataiya (Bihar)-Kushaha (Nepal) and Raxaul-Parawanipur 132-KV transmission lines are connected with Bihar.
Nepal imports electricity from India when needed through Power Exchange Agreement and as per the Mahakali Treaty as well as through competition.
Electricity is being imported to Nepal through Dhalkebar-Muzaffarpur cross-border 400 KV double circuit transmission line and other transmission lines.
The Authority traded surplus electricity worth Rs 8.4 billion to India from the beginning of the current fiscal year 2022-23 to the date.
Nepal:
Capital: Kathmandu
President: Ram Chandra Poudel
Prime minister: Pushpa Kamal Dahal
Currency: Nepalese Rupee
Under the Nepal-India Power Exchange Agreement, what is the per unit price of electricity fixed for the financial year 2022-23? Rs 11.54
3rd annual edition of International SME Convention 2023 begins
The 3rd edition of the International SME Convention 2023 (ISC) is organized from March 19 to 21 this year.
The event is focusing on India’s major four sunrise sectors, namely Cleantech & Green Energy, Manufacturing, Services Sector, and Agro food Processing & Agri Implements sector.
These sectors are crucial for India’s economic growth and have immense potential for job creation and sustainable development.
ISC 2023 is a platform that brings together SMEs, policymakers, and industry experts to discuss critical issues and explore opportunities for growth and sustainability.
It is jointly organized by the union ministries of MSME and external affairs, and India SME Forum.
The Madhya Pradesh Government is the key state partner and the Uttar Pradesh Government is the associate state partner for this event.
The ISC 2023 has partnered with the International Network for SMEs (INSME) and the World Union of Small and Medium Enterprises (WUSME) as international partners.
TATA AIA is the insurance partner for the convention, which underscores the importance of risk management for SMEs.
Name the key state partner for the 3rd edition of the International SME Convention 2023 (ISC) ? Madhya Pradesh
Dubai-based Emaar becomes the first overseas company to invest in Kashmir
Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) lieutenant governor Manoj Sinha laid the foundation stone for a ₹250-crore mega shopping mall at Srinagar’s Sempora area to be constructed by Dubai-based Emaar Group, calling it the first “foreign direct investment” in the Union territory.
Sinha also participated in the India-UAE investor meet at the Sher-i-Kashmir International Conference Centre (SKICC) on the banks of Dal Lake in Srinagar.
The mall will be constructed over an area of 10 lakh (1 million) square feet and is expected to be completed by 2026.
Set to be one of the largest malls in the region, the complex will have more than 500 shops.
For the first time, foreign direct investment (FDI) has happened in J&K by Emaar Group.
This mall will be constructed at a cost of ₹250 crore.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE)-based Emaar Properties, an integrated real estate development company, will invest ₹500 crore in J&K.
On August 5, 2019, the Centre abrogated Article 370 that gave J&K special status and bifurcated the erstwhile state into two Union territories.
Emaar:
Founded: 1997
Headquarters: Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Chairman: Jamal Bin Theniyah
MD-India: Zishan Baig
Which Dubai based company has become the first overseas company to invest in Kashmir? Emaar
India, World Food Programme sign MoU during Global Millets Conference
The agriculture and Farmers Welfare Ministry signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the World Food Programme (WFP) of the United Nations during the Global Millets (Shree Anna) Conference.
During the global conference, the MoU between WFP and the Government of India for cooperation between 2023-2027 was signed in the presence of Agriculture Minister Tomar.
The MoU will be jointly implemented by the Department of Food and Public Distribution, Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Ministry of Women and Child Development, Ministry of Rural Development and the Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change.
World Food Programme:
The World Food Programme (WFP) is an international organization within the United Nations that provides food assistance worldwide.
Formation: 19 December 1961
Headquarters: Rome, Italy
Head: David Beasley
Parent organization: United Nations General Assembly
Award: Nobel Peace Prize (2020)
The Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with which international organization during the Global Millets (Sri Anna) conference? World Food Programme
GAIL signs MoU with Shell Energy India on ethane sourcing
GAIL (India) has signed MoU with Shell Energy India Private Ltd to explore prospects of importing and handling of ethane and other hydrocarbons.
It is primarily used as petrochemical feedstock and is separated from the other components of natural gas in most well-developed gas fields.
GAIL is India’s largest natural gas company.
It owns and operates a network of around 14,830 kilometres of natural gas pipelines spread across the length and breadth of the country.
It commands around 68 per cent market share in gas transmission and sells 53 per cent of all gas sold in the country.
Ethane is mainly used to produce ethylene, which is then used by the petrochemical industry to produce a range of intermediate products, most of which, are converted into plastics, packaging films, wire coatings, squeeze bottles and synthetic rubber, among others.
GAIL:
Founded: 1984
Headquarters: New Delhi, India
Chairman & MD: Sandeep Kumar Gupta
Owner: Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Government of India
GAIL (India) has recently signed MoU with which company to explore possibilities of import and management of ethane and other hydrocarbons? Shell Energy India Private Ltd
India’s Rohan Bopanna and Matthew Ebden of Australia win Men’s Doubles title at Indian Wells Masters in California, US
In Tennis, Indian Rohan Bopanna and Matthew Ebden of Australia have won the Indian Wells doubles title in California, United States.
The unseeded team of Bopanna and Ebden defeated top-seeded pair of Dutch players Wesley Koolhof and Neal Skupski from Great Britain.
Bopanna and his partner Ebden beat Americans Jack Sock and John Isner to reach the Summit clash.
Bopanna surpassed his former partner Daniel Nestor to become the oldest ATP Masters 1000 finalist and then broke the Canadian’s record by becoming the oldest ATP Masters 1000 champion.
Bopanna was competing in his 10th ATP Masters 1000 final and now has 24 tour-level trophies after the win.
Bopanna, a former World No. 3, climbed four spots to No. 11 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Doubles Rankings as a result of his trophy run.
Ebden, who won Wimbledon with fellow Australian Max Purcell in 2022, won his ninth tour-level title and first at the ATP Masters 1000 level.
This tournament, the 35-year-old moved up 19 spots to No. 18 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Doubles Rankings.
Current champions (2023)
Men’s singles: Carlos Alcaraz (Spain)
Women’s singles: Elena Rybakina (Kazakhstan)
Men’s doubles: Rohan Bopanna (India), Matthew Ebden (Australia)
Women’s doubles: Barbora Krejčíková (Czech Republic), Kateřina Siniaková (Czech Republic)
Who has won the Men’s single title at the Indian Wells Masters in California, US? Carlos Alcaraz (Spain)
Jayanti Chauhan to head Bisleri International
Jayanti Chauhan, daughter of Bisleri International chairman Ramesh Chauhan, will head the bottled water company now that Tata Consumer Products Ltd (TCPL) has withdrawn from the acquisition process.
Jayanti is currently the vice chairperson of the company.
Jayanti has been involved in the company’s business for several years.
Of late, she has been working on expanding Bisleri’s Vedika brand.
The 82-year-old Chauhan had earlier agreed to sell the brand to Tata Group for an estimated Rs 7,000 crore.
However, the deal was later called off by Tata Consumer due to “indecisiveness”.
Bisleri was originally an Italian company set up by Felice Bisleri.
It entered Mumbai in 1965 with its packaged drinking water brand.
Four years later, Ramesh Chauhan and his brothers acquired the firm for Rs 4 lakh.
Bisleri:
Founded: 1970s
Founder: Ramesh Chauhan
Headquarters: Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
CEO: Angelo George
Who will head the Bisleri International after Tata Consumer Products Limited (TCPL) opted out of the acquisition process? Jayanti Chauhan
UBS to buy Credit Suisse in a historic deal brokered by Swiss government
According to reports, the UBS Group AG, Switzerland’s largest banking group, has agreed to acquire the crisis-hit Credit Suisse Group AG in a historic, government-brokered deal.
UBS is paying more than $2 billion to buy its rival, the report said.
The all-share deal has priced Credit Suisse at around one-fourth of its closing price at the end of the trading session on March 17, when the lender valued at about $8 billion.
US authorities have been working with their Swiss counterparts because both lenders have operations in the US and are considered systemically important in Switzerland. Authorities sought an agreement before markets opened again in Asia.
Earlier UBS had sought a $6 billion guarantee from the Swiss government to cover the risks involved in the takeover of Credit Suisse.
Note: The 167-year-old Credit Suisse is the biggest name ensnared in the turmoil unleashed by the collapse of US lenders Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank, spurring a rout in banking stocks and prompting authorities to rush out extraordinary measures to keep banks afloat.
UBS Group AG
CEO: Ralph Hamers
Founded: 29 June 1998
Headquarters: Zürich, Switzerland
Formerly: Union Bank of Switzerland (1862–1998)
Name the Switzerland’s largest banking group, that has agreed to acquire the crisis-hit Credit Suisse Group AG in a historic, government-brokered deal? UBS Group AG
Iran, Iraq sign security cooperation agreement
Iran and Iraq have signed an agreement on security cooperation in Baghdad.
Joint security agreement includes coordination in “protecting the common borders between the two countries and consolidating cooperation in several security fields”.
Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Secretary Ali Shamkhani signed the deal with Iraq’s National Security Adviser Qasim al-Araji, in the presence of Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed al-Sudani.
Under the signed security deal, Iraq pledges it would not allow armed groups to use its territory in the Iraqi Kurdish region to launch any border-crossing attacks on neighbour Iran.
Iran:
Capital: Tehran
President: Ebrahim Raisi
Currency: Iranian rial
Iraq:
Capital: Baghdad
Currency: Iraqi Dinar
President: Abdul Latif Rashid
With which country, Iraq has recently signed an agreement on security cooperation in Baghdad? Iran