Daily Current Affairs Analysis Today : 27 –February-2023 Daily current affairs analysis is an essential component of preparing for various competitive exams such as the UPSC, SSC, entrance exams, and other competitive exams. Staying updated on the current events is crucial as the questions in these exams are often based on the recent happenings around the world. The daily current affairs analysis helps aspirants to keep a track of the important events and developments taking place globally.
FATF adds South Africa and Nigeria to its ‘grey list’
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has added South Africa and Nigeria to its ‘grey list’.
The countries on the list are placed under special scrutiny to implement standards to prevent money laundering and terrorism financing.
South Africa and Nigeria were added to the list following a review, the Paris-based global financial crime.
Being put on the grey list could disrupt a country’s capital flows, the International Monetary Fund found in a 2021 paper, with banks possibly exiting relationships with customers based in high-risk countries to reduce compliance costs.
Financial Action Task Force (FATF):
Formation: 1989
Purpose: Combat money laundering and terrorism financing
Headquarters: Paris, France
Membership: 39
President: T Raja Kumar
Recently which countries have been included in the ‘Grey List’ by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF)? South Africa and Nigeria
Govt appoints Jishnu Barua as chief of India’s power regulator
The government has appointed Jishnu Barua, former Assam chief secretary, as chairperson of the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC).
Barua will succeed PK Pujari, whose extended tenure in the Commission got over in June 2022. The CERC was without a chief for nearly eight months.
He retired as Assam’s chief secretary in August last year.
Barua, a 1988-batch IAS officer of the Assam-Meghalaya cadre, retired as Assam’s chief secretary in August last year. Prior to his appointment as the state’s chief secretary, he had worked in various capacities in the Assam and the Central governments.
CERC:
The CERC is responsible for regulating and determining tariffs for inter-state transmission of electricity, issuing licences to persons to function as transmission licensee and electricity trader with respect to their inter-state operations.
Formed: 24 July 1998
Headquarters: New Delhi
Who has been appointed as the chairperson of the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC)? Jishnu Barua
Mahindra Lifespace CEO Arvind Subramanian resigns
Mahindra Lifespace Developers, the real-estate arm of Mahindra Group announced the resignation of its managing director and chief executive officer Arvind Subramanian.
Subramanian, who has decided to resign due to “personal reasons”, will continue to hold the charge till May 22, 2023.
Subsequently, he would be succeeded by Amit Kumar Sinha, senior managerial personnel of the Mahindra Group.
Subramanian joined Mahindra Lifespace over four years ago and was elevated as the MD & CEO in July 2020.
Sinha, his successor, has also been appointed as the company’s additional director.
Sinha had joined Mahindra Group in November 2020 as president – group strategy. He became a member of the group executive board in April 2021.
Sinha is also on the board of Mahindra Finance, Mahindra Logistics, Mahindra Susten, Mahindra First Choice, Mahindra Rural Housing Finance and Fifth Gear Ventures, it added.
Prior to joining the Mahindra Group, Sinha was a senior partner and director with Bain & Company. He was associated with the management consulting firm for over 18 years.
Mahindra Lifespace Developers Limited:
Founded: 1994
Headquarters: Mumbai, India
Chairman: Arun Nanda
Arvind Subramanian, who recently announced his resignation from his post, is the CEO of which Mahindra Group company? Mahindra Lifespace
Maha’s Aurangabad & Osmanabad renamed as Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar & Dharashiv
Maharashtra’s Aurangabad and Osmanabad cities have been renamed as Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar and Dharashiv respectively
Sambhaji was the eldest son of Chhatrapati Shivaji, the Maratha king after whom Shinde’s party Shiv Sena is named. He was killed on the orders of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb, who gave Aurangabad its name in the 17th century.
Osmanabad, named after Hyderabad’s last ruler Mir Osman Ali Khan, derives its new name, Dharashiv, from sixth-century caves near the city.
The state government had approved the renaming of these cities in 2022.
In March 2020, the MVA government cleared a proposal to rename Aurangabad airport as Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj Airport.
Which cities of Maharashtra have been renamed as Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar and Dharashiv respectively? Aurangabad and Osmanabad
‘RRR’ wins Best Int’l Film, 3 other awards at Hollywood Critics Association Awards
SS Rajamouli’s ‘RRR’ has won four awards at the Hollywood Critics Association Awards in US’ Los Angeles.
The film has won the awards for Best International Film, Best Action Film, Best Stunts and Best Original Song for ‘Naatu Naatu’, which is also nominated for the Oscars.
Highlights:
Best Picture: Everything Everywhere All at Once
Most awards: Everything Everywhere All at Once (6)
Honorary awards:
Spotlight Award – RRR
Star on the Rise Award – Gabriel LaBelle
Artisan Achievement Award – Rick Carter
Acting Achievement Award – Angela Bassett
Filmmaking Achievement Award – Rian Johnson
Winners list:
Best Picture: Everything Everywhere All at Once
Best Director: Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert – Everything Everywhere All at Once
Best Actor: Brendan Fraser – The Whale as Charlie
Best Actress: Michelle Yeoh – Everything Everywhere All at Once
Best Supporting Actor: Ke Huy Quan – Everything Everywhere All at Once
Best Supporting Actress: Angela Bassett – Black Panther: Wakanda Forever a
Best Cast Ensemble: Everything Everywhere All at Once
Best Voice or Motion-Capture Performance: Jenny Slate
Best Original Screenplay: Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert – Everything Everywhere All at Once
Best Adapted Screenplay: Sarah Polley – Women Talking
Best Action Film: RRR
Best Animated Film: Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio
Best Comedy: Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery
Best Documentary Film: Good Night Oppy
Best Horror Film: The Black Phone
Best Indie Film: Marcel the Shell with Shoes On
Best International Film: RRR
Best First Feature: Charlotte Wells – Aftersun
Best Short Film: All Too Well: The Short Film
Best Stunts: RRR
Which Indian film has won four awards at the Hollywood Critics Association Awards in US’ Los Angeles? RRR
Infosys collaborates with microsoft to accelerate industry adoption of cloud
Infosys, a next generation digital services and consulting, announced that it will expand its collaboration with Microsoft, to help accelerate enterprise cloud transformation journeys worldwide, via an exchange filing. According to the Infosys cloud radar, enterprises can add up to $414 billion in net new profits, annually, through effective cloud adoption.
he report also calculated that adopting cloud improved speed to market and the ability to discover new revenue streams and resulted in increased profit growth by up to 11.2 percent YoY.
The extended strategic collaboration between Infosys and Microsoft will greatly benefit enterprises by bringing them the best of Infosys Cobalt cloud offerings and Microsoft’s cloud computing technologies, led by Azure, across the business value-chain.
The deepening of the collaboration will entail the onboarding of Infosys Cobalt solutions to Microsoft’s industry clouds, to empower enterprises to build agile cloud-powered platforms and innovate at scale.
The joint capabilities across application modernization, enterprise solutions, data analytics and AI, digital workplace solutions, low-code, no-code power platforms and cybersecurity innovations will create a robust foundation for cloud-powered transformation.
These will bring enterprises the benefits that come from best of breed Microsoft platforms, along with Infosys Cobalt suite of cloud-powered solutions, implemented to minimize time-to-market and maximize value.
Infosys:
Founded 2 July 1981
Headquarters: Bangalore, Karnataka, India
Chairman: Nandan Nilekani
MD & CEO: Salil Parekh
COO: U. B. Pravin Rao
Which digital services has recently collaborated with Microsoft, to help accelerate enterprise cloud transformation journeys worldwide? Infosys
India, Guyana set to ink pact on oil & gas sector
India and Guyana have agreed to cooperate in the oil and gas sector, including long-term crude purchase from the South American country and investment in its upstream sector. Oil minister Hardeep Singh Puri met Guyana president Mohamed Irfaan Ali.
The leaders agreed on direct government-to-government cooperation across the entire spectrum of the oil and gas sector including increased long-term offtake, participation in exploration and production activities in Guyana, technical cooperation in the midstream and downstream sector and capacity building.
India is the third-largest consumer and importer of oil worldwide and nearly 85 per cent of its oil demand is met through imports from abroad that includes nearly 10 per cent from Latin America and Caribbean region (LAC).
In the world arena, with the growing energy demand in Asia, crude oil from Latin Americais moving eastward into China and India. LAC with its surplus crude and opportunities for investment fits in perfectly within India’s energy security strategy. Crude petroleum oil traded between India and Latin America has become central to India’s energy security.
India has expressed interest in accessing Guyana’s crude oil. Guyana’s Minister of Natural Resources and India’s Minister of Petroleum Hardeep Puri met in October 2022 on the sidelines of Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference (ADIPEC 2022) in the United Arab Emirates where they discussed areas of cooperation in the energy sector.
Indian companies are importing significant volumes of petroleum coke, a by-product of oil upgrading and an alternative to coal, from Venezuela. Pet coke is inexpensive compared to coal whose prices have surged immensely. The high quality, large-scale production, low sulphur content and competitive price have made Venezuelan petcoke very attractive despite the downside that the cargo takes nearly 50 days to arrive in India.
Colombia, which produces more than 1 million barrels a day (60 percent of energy generated is hydro-electrical)and is relentlessly working towards the diversification of sources of energy can be India’s clean partner in the energy sector.
Guyana:
Capital: Georgetown
President: Irfaan Ali
Prime minister: Mark Phillips
Currency: Guyanese dollar
Recently India and Guyana have agreed to cooperate in which field? Oil and Gas
Lt Gen RS Reen takes over as Director General Quality Assurance
Lt Gen RS Reen took over as Director General Quality Assurance. A 1986-batch officer, Lt Gen Reen is an alumnus of Indian Military Academy, Dehradun.
The Officer had completed his BE (Electrical) from National Institute of Technology, Srinagar, Specialisation in Radio Engineering and post-graduation in Communication Engineering from MC EME, Secunderabad. He was a senior faculty at Defence Institute of Quality Assurance, Bengaluru.
In addition, the Officer is a certified Six Sigma Black Belt from Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata.
The Officer has headed a Senior Quality Assurance Estt., Brig at Headquarters, Directorate General of Quality Assurance (DGQA) and was Controller (Missile System) in Secunderabad. The Officer headed the DQA(L) as Additional Director General (Electronics) at HQ DGQA, New Delhi.
DGQA:
The DGQA is an Inter-Service Organisation functioning under the Department of Defence Production in the Ministry of Defence. It is responsible for second party Quality Assurance of all defence stores and equipment, both imported as well as indigenous, for the Indian Army, Indian Navy (excluding Naval Armaments) and common user items for the Indian Air Force procured from private sector and public sector undertakings.
Who took over as Director General Quality Assurance under the Department of Defence Production in the Ministry of Defence? Lt Gen RS Reen
Bezos Gets Highest French Honor
Amazon.com Inc. founder Jeff Bezos received France’s highest honor at a ceremony hosted by President Emmanuel Macron at the Elysee Palace.
Macron, who has been promoting the country’s tech industry, personally handed the world’s third-richest person the Legion of Honor award.
The Legion of Honor, founded by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1802, is a rare distinction for a foreigner and isn’t necessarily made public when given to a non-French citizen.
It may be given to outsiders who have rendered “cultural or economic services to France, or promoted causes that it defends.
Bezos, 59, joins Microsoft Corp. founder Bill Gates and its former Chief Executive Officer Steve Ballmer, who were given the award in 2017 and 2011 respectively.
Amazon:
Founded: July 5, 1994
Founder: Jeff Bezos
Headquarters: U.S.
Executive chairman: Jeff Bezos
President and CEO: Andy Jassy
Amazon.com Inc. Founder Jeff Bezos has received which highest French honor from President Emmanuel Macron at the Elysee Palace? The Legion of Honor
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