Current Affairs (16th March, 2023)

Current Affairs

Environmental, Social, and Governance Law (ESG) issues have emerged as a significant area of concern for individuals, governments, and businesses worldwide in recent years.
India is not an exception to this trend, as the country's corporate sector and regulators place an increasing emphasis on ESG issues.
It is worthwhile to examine the current state of Environmental, Social, and Governance Law India 2023 (ESG law in India) and the prospects for this rapidly developing field as we approach the year 2023.

India dropped from the fifth to the eighth most polluted nation in the world in 2022, according to the "Global Air Quality" study published by the Swiss company IQAir.
According to the findings, the PM2.5 level in the Indian cities with the highest levels of pollution is 53.3. Bhiwadi, a suburb of Delhi, and Delhi, which came in at 92.6, were the two Indian cities that made the list of the world's most polluted cities.
Simultaneously, 39 out of 50 urban communities in the rundown of most dirtied urban areas are from India.

State Bank of India (SBI) has raised Rs 3,717 crore through its third Basel III compliant Additional Tier 1 bond issuance in the current financial year at coupon rate of 8.25 per cent.
According to SBI, the issue received bids totaling Rs 4,537 crore from investors and was oversubscribed by approximately 2.27 times compared to the base issue of Rs 2,000 crore.
53 bids were submitted, indicating greater participation. Insurance companies and pension funds were among the investors.

Bandhan Mutual Fund is the new name for IDFC Mutual Fund. The name change will take effect on March 13. The word "Bandhan" will be used in all the fund house's schemes instead of "IDFC."

The first bullet train in India, according to railways and telecom minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, will operate in August 2026.
Because several of the project's suppliers have begun receiving export orders, the project will boost the economy.
In August 2026, the government intends to begin operating the first bullet train. In 2027, the objective is to operate the bullet train on a larger section.
Over a 508-kilometer route, Indian Railways is building the nation's first bullet train from Ahmedabad, Gujarat, to Mumbai, Maharashtra.
The high-speed train will travel the distance in three hours at a top speed of 350 kilometers per hour.

A bilateral Armour training exercise known as Operation Bold Kurukshetra took place in India's Jodhpur Military Station from March 6–13, 2023. The Singapore Army and the Indian Army participated in the thirteenth iteration.
The first command post exercise in the series included computer wargaming and planning at the battalion and brigade levels for both armies.
Members in the activity, which was held by the Indian Armed force, included individuals from the 42nd Unit, Singapore Heavily clad Regiment, as well as an Indian Armed force defensively covered detachment.

The mathematical constant Pi, which represents the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter, is celebrated annually on March 14 as International Day of Mathematics, also known as Pi Day.
Pi has a value of 3.14. Every year, schools, museums, libraries, and other venues host events that are open to the public and students from all over the world.
The Executive Council of UNESCO established March 14 as the International Day of Mathematics at its 205th meeting.

The two-day international conference of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) on "Shared Buddhist Heritage" was launched at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi with an emphasis on India's civilizational ties to the SCO states.
The first of its kind, this historic gathering brings together nations from Central Asia, East Asia, South Asia, and the Arab world to discuss "Shared Buddhist Heritage."
For a year, from September 17, 2022, to September 23, 2023, it takes place under India's leadership of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).

To encourage young minds to be curious, creative, and imaginative, Atal Innovation Mission is establishing Atal Tinkering Laboratories (ATLs) in schools across India and instill abilities like a mindset of design thinking, computational thinking, adaptive learning, physical computing, and other similar skills.
Currently, 10,000 schools have received funding from AIM to establish Atal Tinkering Labs (ATLs).
By developing frameworks and tools to improve ATL performance and accomplish the desired goals, AIM is continuously strengthening this ecosystem.
One such effort in this direction is ATL Sarthi. A charioteer, Sarthi will help the ATLs become more effective and efficient, as the name suggests.

The most recent version of OpenAI's large language model, GPT4, has been announced. This model powers popular apps like ChatGPT and the new Bing.
As per San Francisco-based research organization OpenAI, GPT-4 is further developed than the past form and has been prepared on additional information, costing more to work.

According to data released on March 13 by the Ministry of Statistics and Program Implementation, India's retail inflation for February is 6.44 percent, down from 6.52 percent in January 2023.

The Green National Highway Corridors Project has an agreement between the Indian government and the World Bank for $500 million in loan assistance against the total project cost of $1,288.24 million (Rs 7,662.47 crore).
In the states of Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, and Andhra Pradesh, a total of 781 kilometers will be built.

Despite a 11% decline in arms purchases between 2013–17 and 2018–22, India remains the world's largest importer of military equipment, according to a study by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (Sipri).
The publication of the report comes at a time when India has increased its efforts to become self-sufficient in the manufacturing of defense equipment.
In comparison to the previous three years' defense budgets of Rs 84,598 crore, Rs 70,221 crore, and Rs 51,000 crore, this year's defense budget included approximately Rs 1 lakh crore for domestic purchases.

According to the government, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has granted banks from 18 nations permission to open Special Vostro Rupee Accounts (SVRAs) to settle payments in rupees.
Union Minister of State for Finance Bhagwat Kishanrao Karad stated in the Rajya Sabha that the RBI has granted 60 of these approvals.
These 18 nations include Botswana, Fiji, Germany, Guyana, Israel, Kenya, Malaysia, Mauritius, Myanmar, New Zealand, Oman, Russia, Seychelles, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Uganda and the United Kingdom.

Microsoft makes a deal to make Xbox PC games available on the Boosteroid cloud gaming platform. This is the latest move the company has made to placate antitrust regulators who are looking at its purchase of Activision Blizzard, a game developer.