Current Affairs (27th April, 2023)

Current Affairs

SBI, the largest lender in India, has launched a dedicated branch for startups in Mumbai's Bandra Kurla Complex, making it their fourth startup-centric branch and the first one in Mumbai, with the other three located in Bengaluru, Chennai, and Gurugram.
SBI has stated that the new branch will function as a hub for all players involved in the startup ecosystem, providing comprehensive financial and advisory solutions from beginning to end.

As per a report released by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), India ranked as the world's fourth-largest military spender in 2022, following the United States, China, and Russia.
India has intensified its efforts to enhance its defence capabilities and bolster military infrastructure along its border with China.
Saudi Arabia was in fifth place. The five countries accounted for 63% of the world’s military spending.

Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI):

SIPRI is an independent international institute dedicated to research into conflict, armaments, arms control and disarmament.
Established in 1966, SIPRI provides data, analysis and recommendations, based on open sources, to policymakers, researchers, media and the interested public. Based in Stockholm, SIPRI is regularly ranked among the most respected think tanks worldwide.

Jupiter, a startup in the neobanking sector, has secured a non-banking financial company (NBFC) license from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), authorizing the firm to extend credit from its own resources.
Jitendra Gupta, the founder of Amica Financial Technologies Ltd. that runs Jupiter, has revealed that the firm will hire a professional CEO to lead the NBFC operation.

Every year on April 26^th, International Chernobyl Disaster Remembrance Day is observed to commemorate and pay tribute to those who lost their lives.
In 1986, an explosion occurred at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, which led to the dispersal of a radioactive cloud over extensive regions of the former Soviet Union, encompassing the current territories of Ukraine, Belarus, and the Russian Federation.
The radiation impacted nearly 8.4 million individuals residing in these three countries.

Parkash Singh Badal, the leader of the Akali Dal and a former five-time chief minister of Punjab, passed away at the age of 95 in Mohali.
He began his political career as a village sarpanch and subsequently contested assembly elections in 1957 for the first time at the age of 30.
Parkash Singh Badal became the youngest Chief Minister in the history of Punjab at the age of 43.

In October 2023, Tanzania will witness the establishment of the first Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in Africa.
As per the Director V Kamakoti's presidential address at IIT Madras' 64^th Institute Day, IIT Madras plans to inaugurate its maiden international campus in Zanzibar, Tanzania, and commence classes by October 2023.
Earlier this year, a group of five professors from IIT Madras visited Tanzania and held talks with several officials to initiate the campus.

In response to the devaluation of the Zimbabwean currency, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) has disclosed its strategy to introduce a digital currency that is backed by gold.
The RBZ will issue digital gold tokens, which will function as a type of electronic currency and will be supported by the gold reserves maintained at the RBZ.
This move will offer individuals holding small sums of Zimbabwean dollars the opportunity to exchange their currency for tokens and safeguard themselves against exchange rate fluctuations.

Belgium’s Vito is soon expected to launch a project to generate biodiesel from waste in Ayodhya. The temple town has been selected for the two-year pilot project.
Initially, the pilot scheme will employ one metric ton of plastic refuse to manufacture biodiesel.
Vito executives have conferred with officials from the Ayodhya administration and conducted a workshop for the Ayodhya Municipal Corporation officials.
The company will utilize the corporation's material recovery facility for segregating waste before erecting its own facility.
Ayodhya was chosen for the test project owing to the predicted increase in waste production due to the influx of devotees after the opening of the Ram temple in January 2022.
The Sri Ram Janmabhoomi Tirath Kshetra Trust has estimated a monthly attendance of numerous lakhs of devotees, which will generate more refuse and pose a significant garbage disposal challenge for the corporation.