Today's Current Affairs-23rd November 2022

INTERNATIONAL

In a first, turbaned Sikh appointed deputy mayor of Canada's Brampton

• Brampton city in Canada got its first turbaned Sikh deputy mayor with the appointment of Harkirat Singh. Harkirat Singh, who represents wards 9 and 10, has been appointed deputy mayor from 2022-26. The deputy mayor presides at council and other committee meetings and assumes ceremonial and civic event duties on behalf of the mayor if the mayor is absent or unavailable.
• In the present Canadian Parliament there are 18 Sikhs members. Currently Harjit Sajjan, Bardish Chagger are the two Sikhs who are ministers in the Justin Trudeau government in Canada. Prior to his role as councillor, he served a four-year term as school trustee at the Peel District School Board.

Cuttack Bali Yatra enters Guinness Book of World Records

• Cuttack Baliyatra has made it into the Guinness World Record after achieving the feat of making 22,000 paper boats in 35 minutes. During the Baliyatra festival, more than 2,100 students from 22 schools made paper boats and created a world record at an event organized at Barabati Stadium by the district administration and Cuttack Municipal Corporation.
• The world record was attempted to attain global recognition for Cuttack’s Baliyatra, the largest open-air trade fair in the state.
• The headquarters of the Guinness World Records in London was contacted for an attempt to make 10,000 paper boats in just 15 minutes.
• The record book authorities had issued the protocol for organizing the event and the administration roped in around 3,000 students who have also imparted training on making paper boats.

 NATIONAL

Manipur Sangai 'Festival of Oneness 2022' begins

• The Sangai Festival of Manipur begins, it is the largest tourism festival in Manipur. The festival is named after the State Animal which is found only in Manipur have been organized grandly this time after the COVID-19 pandemic hit the festival in the last two years.
• The Union Minister of Tourism, Culture, and DoNER G. Kishan Reddy along with Chief Minister N. Biren Singh attended the inaugural ceremony of the Manipur Sangai Festival 2022.
• The Sangai Festival was held at Sangai Ethnic Park located at Moirang Khunou of Bishnupur district.
• This time the festival is being held at 13 different places in Manipur to showcase the varieties of cultural items to both domestic and international tourists.
• The theme of the festival is the ‘festival of oneness’. The ten days festival is expected to attract tourists to Manipur.

Rural Development Minister Giriraj Singh inaugurates SARAS AAJEEVIKA MELA, 2022 at India International Trade Fair in New Delhi

• Union Minister for Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Shri Giriraj inaugurated the “SARAS AAJEEVIKA MELA, 2022” at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi. Shri Singh informed that the Ministry of Rural Development has received over 60,000 applications from 3 states for start-up ventures in niche products and crafts areas.
• Shri Singh informed that it was Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, who launched StartUp India from the ramparts of Red Fort in 2015, and now we have more than 80,000 start-ups from 400 odd start-ups in 2014.
• India ranks 3rd in the world in terms of the start-up ecosystem and there are over 100 unicorns active in the country.
• Women of SHG Members will have their start-ups as the proposals are under active consideration by the ministry.
• The Rural Development Minister informed that NRLM has been undertaking several efforts in supporting businesses run by rural SHG women that are engaged in producing food products, handicrafts, handloom, etc.

Anamalai Tiger Reserve in Coimbatore launches 'jumbo trails'

• The Anamalai Tiger Reserve (ATR) has launched ‘jumbo trails’ at Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu, a programme aimed to educate visitors to the tiger reserve about elephants, the flora, and fauna of ATR and the aboriginal tribes who live in the hills. An initiative by ATR Field Director S. Ramasubramanian and Deputy Director (Pollachi Division) Bhargava Teja, the first jumbo trail will happen on November 26.
• According to Assistant Conservator of Forests V. Selvam, the jumbo trails start at ‘Anamalaiyagam’, a newly-established forest interpretation centre at Sethumadai. The programme is organised by the Advanced Wildlife Management Training Centre (Attakatti) and implemented by Keelpoonachi Eco Development Committee.
• The biologist and other resource persons from the Forest Department will explain the exhibits at the interpretation centre and provide the registered participants with an overall view of ATR.
• The participants will be taken to Top Slip in a Forest Department vehicle from where they will be taken for a nature trail to Ambili watch tower that offers a panoramic view of Pollachi.

 OBITURY

Rasna founder Areez Khambatta passes away at 85

• The founding chairman of the popular drink Rasna, Areez Pirojshaw Khambatta has passed away. The 85-year-old industrialist, who was suffering from a prolonged illness. Decades back, his father Phiroja Khambatta started a modest business which Areez took to being the largest concentrate manufacturer in the world, with a presence in over 60 countries. He created affordable soft drink packs of Rasna in the 1970s as an alternative to soft drink products sold at high costs. It is sold at 1.8 million retail outlets in the country.
• Khambatta was the former chairman of the World Alliance of Parsi Irani Zarthostis (WAPIZ). He also served as the past president of the Ahmedabad Parsi Panchayat and the vice president of the Federation of Parsi Zoroastrian Anjumans of India.

 AWARDS & RECOGNITION

Karnataka Vikas Grameena Bank  Awarded for Atal Pension Yojana enrolment

• Karnataka Vikas Grameena Bank (KVGB) has bagged the national award from Pension Fund regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) for significant enrolment under Atal Pension Yojana (APY). So far, the bank has enrolled 3,34,687 (cumulative) accounts under APY. During 2022-23, the bank enrolled 69,132 accounts against the target of 50,320.
• Notably: Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority is the regulatory body under the jurisdiction of Ministry of Finance, Government of India for overall supervision and regulation of pension in India.
• PFRDA has given a target of an average 80 accounts per branch, the bank has achieved an average of 110 accounts against the target. This achievement is highest among all other banks in South India. At present, the bank has 629 branches in the nine districts from Vijayapura to Mangaluru. KVGB is playing a pivotal role in implementing all the three social security schemes (PMJJBY, PMSBY and APY) launched by central Government. The bank’s priority is to ensure access to social security benefits to villagers and people from unorganised sector.

BANKING AND ECONOMY

Airtel Payments Bank rolls-out e-KYC based on face authentication

• Airtel Payments Bank introduces a new option, Face authentication-based electronic KYC. Previously a user had to link his Aadhaar card to his account before completing OTP verification or biometric fingerprint authentication.
• However, now you need to verify your face to register an account. Recently, a mobile application for authentication was created by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI). Now, business correspondents will only need a smartphone or a document to open an account.
• According to Anubrata Biswas, MD & CEO of Airtel Payments Bank, the KYC capability employs the Face Authentication RD program, which is based on AI/ML.
• It will help prevent fraud by matching the person’s photo to the image recorded in Aadhaar and enabling secure user onboarding.

ICICI Bank surges on launching two new products for NRI customers at GIFT City branch

• Private sector lender ICICI Bank has launched two new products – loan against deposits(LAD) and dollar bonds – for non-resident Indians at its GIFT City branch in Gujarat. The bank is the first to offer these products in GIFT City.
• Loan against Deposits (LAD): LAD resembles a loan in foreign currency against a deposit in India (including Rupee NRE FDs).The customers can avail LAD for their short-term cash requirement without having to prematurely close their Term Deposits and thereby avoid paying a penalty for breaking the deposit. They can avail up to 95%* of their deposit value. With a simple documentation process, customers can get flexible tenure with fixed or floating interest rates.

RBI report says, Indian economy on track and likely to grow at 7% in 2022-23

• The seventh edition of the Handbook of Statistics on Indian States 2021-22 is released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). Which seeks to provide comprehensive data about the regional economies of India.
• It covers sub-national statistics on socio-demographics, state domestic product, agriculture, price and wages, industry, infrastructure, banking, and fiscal indicators across the states during various time periods ranging from 1951 to 2021-22. Two new sections have been included in the recent edition – health and environment.
• The Indian economy showed remarkable resilience to multiple consecutive shocks it experienced since early 2020. It retained the macroeconomic stability and sustained the momentum of economic growth’s recovery.
• The macroeconomic outlook is positive in the current fiscal. However, India is still impacted by global headwinds.
• Karnataka has the highest total installed capacity of grid-interactive renewable power among all states. It had total installed capacity of 15,463 megawatts (MW).