Today's Current Affairs 19th January 2023

INTERNATIONAL

Pakistan's economy South Asia's weakest, World Bank report says amid crisis

• World Bank forecast Pakistan’s economic growth to slow further to two percent during the current year. This will mark a drop of two percentage points from its June 2022 estimates, according to the World Bank’s Global Economic Prospects report. The report said that Pakistan’s economic output was not only declining itself but also bringing down the regional growth rate as well. Forecasting Pakistan’s GDP growth rate to improve to 3.2 per cent in 2024, the report said, “Policy uncertainty further complicates the economic outlook” of Pakistan.
• This pace reflects still robust growth in India, Maldives, and Nepal, offsetting the effects of the floods in Pakistan and the economic and political crises in Afghanistan and Sri Lanka. The deteriorating global environment, however, will weigh on investment in the region,” the report said pointing to a “sharp, long-lasting slowdown” with the global growth expected at 1.7 per cent this year.

 NATIONAL

PM inaugurates second phase of Sansad Khel Mahakumbh

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the second phase of Saansad Khel Mahakumbh 2022-23 via video conferencing. Saansad Khel Mahakumbh 2022-23 has been organized in Basti district, Uttar Pradesh by Harish Dwivedi, Member of Parliament from Basti since 2021.
• The Khel Mahakumbh includes various competitions in both indoor and outdoor sports like wrestling, kabaddi, kho kho, basketball, football, hockey, volleyball, handball, chess, carrom, badminton, table tennis, etc. There are several other competitions including essay writing, painting, rangoli making, etc are also organized during the Khel Mahakumbh.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi has noted that Basti is the pious land of Maharishi Vashist which is made up of labor and meditation, asceticism, and renunciation.

J&K completely shift to digital mode of governance, becomes first UT to do so

• Jammu & Kashmir becomes the first union territory in India to completely switch to a digital method of administration, leading the way in the digital transformation of governance. All governmental and administrative services in Jammu & Kashmir are currently only offered digitally.
• The declaration was made during the meeting of the Committee of Secretaries. Chief Secretary Dr. Arun Kumar Mehta instructed the commissioner of IT during the meeting to make sure that all government services would only be accessible online.
• According to the state administration’s guidelines, no service will be unavailable, and applicants won’t need to go to a government office.
• Arun Mehta also instructed all the secretaries to make sure that services were delivered online without difficulty and tasked them with organizing public awareness campaigns in panchayats and educational institutions.
• The UT administration constituted a ‘Coordination Cell’ for monitoring the progress of the implementation of online services in Jammu and Kashmir.

 OBITUARY

World's oldest known person Lucile Randon dies at 118 in France

• The world’s oldest person, French nun Lucile Randon, has died aged 118. Randon, also known as Sister Andre, was born in southern France on February 11, 1904, a decade before World War I. She was long regarded as the oldest European, but the death of Japan’s Kane Tanaka at the age of 119 last year made her the world’s oldest person. The record for oldest confirmed age reached by a human belongs to Jeanne Calment, also of southern France, who died in 1997 at the age of 122. Guinness World Records had officially recognised her status in April 2022.
• At the age of 26, she converted to Catholicism and was baptized. Driven by a desire to “go further,” she entered the Daughters of Charity order of nuns at the rather late age of 41. Sister Andre was thereafter posted to a Vichy hospital, where she stayed for 31 years. Spending most of her life dedicated to religious service, Sister André also held the record for the oldest nun living.  

 IMPORTANT DAYS

National Disaster Response Force Day 2023: History & Significance

• 18th National Disaster Response Force day is celebrated on January 19, 2023 by the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF). The day has been celebrated on this day since 2006 when the rescue force was officially formed. The specialised, multi-skilled rescue force is made up of battalions from the Border Security Force (BSF), Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) and the Assam Rifles. The NDRF is the primary agency responsible for conducting rescue operations during disasters like drowning, building collapses, landslides, devastating floods, earthquakes and cyclones.
• With 12 battalions and 13,000 NDRF personnel spread across the country, the NDRF has managed to save 1.44 lakh human lives and evacuated more than 7 lakh stranded individuals in its 17 years of service. In 2021 alone, the NDRF saved 12,000 lives in various rescue operations. The NDRF Raising Day is an important day as it provides an opportunity for the brave personnel of the rescue force to be recognised, honoured and awarded for their work. On NDRF Raising Day 2022, 8 NDRF rescuers were given the ‘Union Home Minister’s Special Operation Medal’ for their extraordinary work in 2021.

 RANKING

Global Firepower Index 2022 - World Military Strength Rankings

• The Global Firepower Index ranks the countries based on their potential military strength. India is ranked fourth in the index. The Global Firepower Index ranked 145 countries. The countries were evaluated based on prolonged offensive and defensive military campaigns.
• The Global Firepower Index is calculated using fifty individual factors from geography to logistical capability.
• It also includes manpower, land forces, airpower, natural resources, naval forces, logistics and financials.
• Under manpower, the factors considered are total population, paramilitary, reaching military age annually, active reserves and active services.
• The finance factors include external debt, defence budget, reserves of foreign exchange and gold and purchasing power parity.

TCS, Infosys consolidate their positions among top three global IT brands

• Tata Consultancy Services and Infosys grew their brand value to retain their positions as the second and third most valuable IT services brands, according to the ‘IT Services 25’ list prepared by UK-based consultancy Brand Finance for the year 2023.
• Accenture retained the top slot for the fifth year straight, with a brand valued at $39.8 billion. It is the strongest IT services brand in the ranking with a Brand Strength Index (BSI) score of 87.8 out of 100 and a corresponding AAA brand rating.
• TCS’s brand value was up 2 per cent at $17.2 billion. TCS has delivered many tailored transformation programmes as clients migrated to various hybrid working methods, said the Brand Finance report.
• Infosys’s brand value rose 2 per cent to $13 billion as it consolidated its position amongst the top three most valuable IT services brands globally. A rating of AAA helped Infosys to enter the top 150 most valuable brands in the world.

 BOOKS & AUTHORS

Book “Come! Let’s Run” Authored by Health Minister of Tamil Nadu Released

• The English version of the book titled ‘Come! Let’s Run’ by Tamil Nadu Health and Family Welfare Minister, Ma. Subramanian was released by Krishnamachari Srikkanth, former Captain of the Indian Cricket team. The Tamil version of the same book titled ‘Odalam Vanga’ was released on March 8, 2021. The book was published by Emerald Publishers and the English translation was done by Geeta Padmanaban (a teacher) along with J. Joicy and Sharon.
• This book is a fascinating account of the physical, emotional, and historical journey taken by Thiru. Subramanian during the course of running his marathons in Tamil Nadu, in India, and all over the world. He includes interesting facts and details about each place he ran a marathon while talking about the challenges of running each race. Every volunteer in the party has perseverance and is always ready to face challenges and win. This book is proof of that.

 BANKING AND ECONOMY

Amazon has reclaimed the top spot as the world's most valuable brand

• Billionaire Jeff Bezos’s e-commerce company Amazon has become the most valued brand, overtaking Apple, last year’s topper. Amazon has reclaimed the top spot as the world’s most valuable brand despite its brand value falling 15 per cent this year from $350.3 billion to $299.3 billion. According to brand valuation consultancy Brand Finance’s report, “Global 500 2023”, while Amazon is back at No 1, its brand value has fallen by over $50 billion this year, with its rating slipping from AAA+ to AAA. This is as consumers evaluate it more harshly in the post-pandemic world.
• iPhone maker Apple slipped to the second slot to be ranked the world’s second most valuable brand (brand value down 16% to $297.5 billion from $355.1 billion). This year’s fall in brand value relates to a fall in forecast revenue with supply chain disruptions and a constrained labour market expected to limit the supply of its marquee hardware products.

 Google India pilots 'Soundpod by Google Pay' for UPI payments

• Google is actively working on a Soundbox for the India market, similar to the Paytm or PhonePe ones that you see at your neighbourhood shop which gives a sound alert on the digital payment that has been made. The company has branded them as ‘Soundpod by Google Pay’ and is currently distributing it as a pilot with some shopkeepers in north India, including Delhi.
• The ‘Soundpod by Google Pay’ is accompanied by a QR code of a merchant linked with their Google Pay for business account. Users can use any UPI-based app to make a payment by scanning the code.