Today's Current Affairs 17th March 2023

NATIONAL

Bengaluru honoured with 2023 Partnership for healthy cities award for Tobacco control efforts

Bengaluru is among five global cities that have been recognised for achievements in preventing noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) and injuries, with the Indian tech city's efforts in tobacco control winning a $150,000 award by a leading global initiative supported by the WHO.

Bengaluru was honoured with the 2023 Partnership for Healthy Cities Award, along with Montevideo in Uruguay; Mexico City, Mexico; Vancouver, Canada and Athens, Greece, at the inaugural Partnership for Healthy Cities Summit held in London, a statement by the World Health Organisation (WHO) said. The cities were recognised for positively impacting the health of their population and making sustainable and lasting strides toward NCD and injury prevention that can be replicated in other jurisdictions.

Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport adjudged best airport in South Asia: Skytrax

Delhi airport has been adjudged the best airport in India and South Asia, according to international air transport rating organisation Skytrax. The Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) in the national capital has also moved up to the 36th position this year from 37th in 2022, according to a release.

The Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL), a GMR Airports Infrastructure Ltd-led consortium, is operating IGIA, which is also the country's largest airport. A release on Thursday said Delhi airport is the only Indian airport to feature on the prestigious list of top 50 airports across the world since 2020. Regionally, it has topped the list of best airports in South Asia as per Skytrax.

SPORTS

Gianni Infantino re-elected as FIFA president

Gianni Infantino, a contentious figure in the world of football, on Thursday secured a new term as Fifa president after an election in which he was the only candidate, Infantino, 52, got the post for another four years by acclamation at Fifa’s 73rd Congress in the Rwandan capital of Kigali. All but a small number of Fifa’s 211 national federations rose to applaud Infantino, making his re-election as head of football’s governing body a formality.

Upon getting the crown, Infantino promised record revenues in the next four-year cycle of $11 billion as he called for more football to be played around the world. He also appeared to acknowledge that he was not universally popular amid controversies, including the treatment of migrant workers in the run-up to last year’s World Cup in Qatar and a failed plan to play the tournament every two years.

 APPOINTMENS & RESIGNATIONS

India's KR Parvathy appointed as UN Resident Coordinator in Tajikistan

India's Kavilmadam Ramaswami Parvathy, who has served in leading roles at the World Food Programme in Türkiye and Afghanistan, has been appointed by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres as the United Nations Resident Coordinator in Tajikistan,

Parvathy took up her new post as Resident Coordinator in Tajikistan Wednesday, following the appointment by the Secretary-General and confirmation from the host Government, Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesman for the Secretary-General, said at the daily news briefing. "We remain with full gender parity among our 130 Resident Coordinators," Dujarric said.

Parvathy brings more than 30 years of experience in development and humanitarian sectors, focusing on strategic planning, performance, risk management, people management, conflict analysis and humanitarian access negotiations,

Rajesh Gopinathan resigns from TCS, Succeeded by K Krithivasan.

Rajesh Gopinathan, CEO of TCS for six long years has resigned from the post. He is succeeded by TCS' BFSI unit president K Krithivasan.

Tata Consultancy Services, an Indian provider of IT services, announced in a regulatory filing that Rajesh Gopinathan, its chief executive officer, has resigned. He is succeeded by K Krithivasan, who was named CEO-designate on and stated that, subject to shareholder approval, he will take on the roles of CEO and managing director in the coming fiscal year.

IMPORTANE DAYS

World Sleep Day

World Sleep Day (the Friday before the northern hemisphere vernal equinox) is an annual event organized by the World Sleep Day Committee of the World Sleep Society, formerly World Association of Sleep Medicine (WASM), since 2008.[1] The goal is to celebrate the benefits of good and healthy sleep and to draw society's attention to the burden of sleep problems and their medical, educational, and social aspects, and to promote the prevention and management of sleep disorders.

SUMMIT'S & MOU's

Ministry of Ayush and Ministry of Rural Development signed MoU for skilling of rural youth & empowering women

In order to empower women and rural poor youth, the Ministry of Ayush (MoA) and Rural Development signed MoU to collaborate in developing skilled personnel by imparting training for the Ayush healthcare system. The course will also include training of rural youth as panchakarma technicians, which will be started on a pilot basis. The proposed training will be imparted under Deen Dayal Upadhyaya-Grameen Kaushalya Yojana (DDU-GKY), which is the Ministry of Rural Development’s flagship program, charged with the dual goals of diversifying the incomes of rural poor families and catering to the career ambitions of rural youth.

MoA will aid its institutes to conduct courses, training, and provide certification to the candidates. The Ministry will also depute nodal agencies across the country, who will ensure mobilization, counselling, training, placement, and tracking of candidates as per DDU-GKY norms in their respective designated states.

Two-day SCO Tourism Ministers’ meeting to begin at Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh : 17 March

The two-day Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Tourism Ministers’ Meeting will start today in Varanasi. Union Minister for Tourism G. Kishan Reddy reached Varanasi yesterday to take part in the meeting.  During the meeting, the Tourism Joint Action Plan on the Development of Cooperation in Tourism among SCO member countries would be adopted.

The Joint Action Plan will include actions relating to the promotion of the SCO tourism brand, the promotion of the cultural heritage of the SCO Member States in tourism, sharing and exchange of information and digital technology in tourism, and promoting mutual cooperation in medical and health tourism. 

AWARDS & RECOGNITION

Hello Ujjivan app wins the prestigious 13th Aegis Graham Bell Awards

Ujjivan Small Finance Bank is proud to announce that its Hello Ujjivan app has won the 13th Aegis Graham Bell Awards (AGBA) in the "Innovation in Consumer Tech" category. The thirteenth edition of the prize is an initiative of Aegis School of Data Science, backed by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology; NITI Aayog and Skill India to foster an innovative culture in India. Hello Ujjivan, is the first mobile banking app in India that enables speech, visual, and vernacular features to give bank's MicroBanking and Rural customers access to banking financial services who have limited reading and writing abilities. The app has intuitive AI and machine learning capabilities, to enable customers transact conveniently and safely in the language of their choice

RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das Named 'Governor Of The Year' At Central Banking Awards 2023

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor Shaktikanta Das has been selected as the 'Governor of the Year' for 2023 by Central Banking, an international economic research journal.

Mr Das has been praised by the publication for his leadership role at the Central bank during his tenure, which began in December 2018, and has been marked by a series of grave challenges, starting with the collapse of a major non-bank firm, moving through the first and second waves of the coronavirus, and then, in 2022, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and its inflationary impact.