21st March, 2023 Current Affairs

Sakshi Education

NATIONAL
India invited for G7 Hiroshima Summit in Japan

India and Japan have signed two documents on the sidelines of the bilateral talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. The agreements include the Renewal of the Memorandum of Cooperation in Japanese language, and Exchange of notes on JICA loan for 300 billion Yen on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad high-speed railway project.
Prime Minister Modi expressed his desire with Prime Minister Kishida to declare next year as the year of Youth Exchanges between the two countries.
Mr. Kishida formally invited Mr. Modi to the G7 Hiroshima Summit. Earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi held bilateral talks with his Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida in New Delhi.

Second G20 Sustainable Finance Working Group meeting to begin in Udaipur

The second Sustainable Finance Working Group (SFWG) meeting under India’s G20 Presidency will begin today at Udaipur in Rajasthan. The three-day meeting will focus on the identification of relevant policies and best practices for mobilizing sustainable finance to help ensure global growth and stability.
This is the first time for the SFWG to go beyond climate-related issues and engage in dialogue for enabling enhanced financing for select sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) primarily through nature-related data and reporting and social impact investing.
The SFWG's first meeting held in Guwahati on 2nd and 3rd February this year. The third meeting will be held in Mahabalipuram and fourth in Varanasi

Nepal, India agree to formulate modality to supply electricity to Indian states via Bihar

A meeting of the Nepal-India Power Exchange Committee is to prepare a modality for power export from Nepal to other states of India through a central transmission line via the Bihar grid.
The 14th meeting of the Committee concluded in New Delhi, India, and decided to prepare the modality of power to be exported by Nepal within a month. This will assure an additional market for the sale of Nepal's surplus electricity during the rainy season.
The meeting as per the Power Exchange Agreement has determined the price of per unit electricity at Rs 11.54 for the fiscal year 2022-23.
Kataiya (Bihar)-Kushaha (Nepal) and Raxaul-Parawanipur 132-KV transmission lines are connected with Bihar. Nepal imports electricity from India when needed through Power Exchange Agreement and as per the Mahakali Treaty as well as through competition. Electricity is being imported to Nepal through Dhalkebar-Muzaffarpur cross-border 400 KV double circuit transmission line and other transmission lines.
The Authority traded surplus electricity worth Rs 8.4 billion to India from the beginning of the current fiscal year 2022-23 to the date.

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INTERNATIONAL
Taliban bans festival of Nowruz in Afghanistan's Daikundi province

Taliban have banned the festival of Nowruz in the central Daikundi province, warning residents if they are caught celebrating the occasion, they will be treated accordingly.
The Taliban's Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice in an announcement said that Taliban observers visited at least 35 mosques in Daikundi, and asked people to resist the Western ideas and rituals.
The popular festival was also banned during the Taliban's previous rule between 1996 to 2001. Banning the Nowruz celebration, which marks the arrival of spring in Daikundi, prompted widespread criticisms.
Nowruz celebration is one of the ancient rituals of the people of Afghanistan, being celebrated in different ways, similar to other countries.

Nepal Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal wins vote of confidence in Parliament

Prime Minister of Nepal Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda' has won the vote of confidence in the House of Representatives.
Dahal received 172 votes in the 275-member Parliament. This was the second floor test after he took over as the Prime Minister on December 25 last. A total of 262 lawmakers were present at the vote of confidence and 89 votes were cast against the proposal.
As per the constitutional provision of Nepal, the PM should take a vote of confidence within 30 days after political parties supporting the government withdraw their support.

Newly-elected V PrezRamsahaya Prasad Yadav takes oath of office & secrecy

Newly-elected Vice-President Ramsahaya Prasad Yadav on Monday took oath of office and secrecy.
President Ram Chandra Paudel administered the oath to Yadav who was elected as the Vice-President of the country last Friday.
Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda', Speaker Debraj Ghimire, National Assembly Chair Ganesh Timilsina and other dignitaries were present.

US condemns attack on Indian Consulate in San Francisco

The United States has condemned the attack on the Indian Consulate in San Francisco. The US State Department said that it pledges to defend the safety and security of such facilities as well as the diplomats who work within them. US National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said that the vandalism done is absolutely unacceptable.
The State Department's diplomatic security service is working with local authorities to properly investigate the case and added that the department will work on infrastructure perspective to repair the damage.
The State Department's statement came after India registered a strong protest with a senior US diplomat over vandalism at the Indian consulate general in San Francisco by Khalistani extremists.

ECONOMY
Switzerland's biggest bank UBS agrees to take over troubled Credit Suisse in emergency rescue deal

The Swiss National Bank said that UBS would be taking over embattled lender Credit Suisse. The announcement came after a weekend of emergency talks in Switzerland between the two banks and the country's financial regulators.
The Swiss National Bank said, the deal was the best way to restore the confidence of financial markets and to manage risks to the economy. Swiss President Alain Berset said that the Swiss Federal Council welcomed the takeover as it was the best solution to restore and strengthen market confidence in Credit Suisse and the Swiss financial center.
However, the Swiss Government and banking officials had been locked in urgent talks to rescue the embattled lender, which was given a 54 billion dollar lifeline by the country's central bank this week. Swiss Finance Minister Karin Keller-Sutter said that the government in Bern had agreed to provide guarantees of up to 9 billion Swiss francs to underwrite the takeover. However, The US Federal Reserve and other central banks also sought yesterday to ease fears through a coordinated effort to increase liquidity in the banking sector. The British, Canadian, Swiss, and EU central banks are reportedly involved in the effort to step up access to dollars in swap line operations.

IMF approves Sri Lanka’s much-awaited bailout package

The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund has approved Sri Lanka’s bailout program under an Extended Fund Facility. The package of 2.286 billion special drawing rights equivalent to about 3 billion dollars will be available over 4 years. The Executive Board’s decision will enable an immediate disbursement of 333 million dollars.
With the approval of the much-awaited bailout, Sri Lanka will look to restore macroeconomic stability and debt sustainability, while safeguarding financial stability, and stepping up structural reforms to unlock its growth potential.
Since defaulting on its dollar debt in April last year, Sri Lanka has taken tough measures to put its economy back on a steadier path. Some of the measures include cutting subsidies, raising taxes and loosening its control on the currency. With the IMF programme approved, Sri Lanka will look to unlock further funding lines through other International Financial Institutions and multilateral organisations.
This is Sri Lanka’s 17th credit programme with the IMF. The focus now shifts to debt talks which experts say could take some time. Sri Lanka is going through its worst-ever economic crisis since its independence in 1948, with an acute shortage of foreign exchange reserves. India had provided unprecedented and generous assistance of 4 billion dollars to the island nation to tide over the crisis.

ANDHRA PRADESH
AP State Assembly passes 10 Bills

Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly passed 10 Bills on Monday, including the Andhra Pradesh Education (Amendment) Bill, 2023, the Andhra Pradesh Charitable and Hindu Religious Institutions and Endowments (Amendment) Bill, 2023, the Andhra Pradesh Excise (Amendment) Bill, 2023, the Andhra Pradesh Prohibition (Amendment) Bill, 2023 and the Andhra Pradesh Advocates Welfare Fund (Amendment) Bill, 2023.
The State Assembly passed by voice vote, Andhra Pradesh Education (Amendment) Bill, 2023 and the Andhra Pradesh Public Libraries (Amendment) Bill, 2023 moved by the Minister for Education Botcha Satyanarayana. The two Bills were tabled on Sunday.
The Assembly also passed the Andhra Pradesh Charitable and Hindu Religious Institutions and Endowments (Amendment) Bill, 2023, moved by Deputy Chief Minister (Endowments) K Satyanarayana, the Andhra Pradesh State Minorities Commission (Amendment) Bill,2023 moved by Deputy Chief Minister (Minority Welfare) Amzath Basha, the Registration (Andhra Pradesh) Amendment Bill, 2023 moved by Minister for Revenue, Registrations and Stamps DharmanaPrasada Rao.
The Andhra Pradesh Excise (Amendment) Bill, 2023 and the Andhra Pradesh Prohibition (Amendment) Bill, 2023 moved by Deputy Chief Minister (Excise) K Narayana Swamy were passed by voice vote. The Andhra Pradesh Advocates Welfare Fund (Amendment) Bill, 2023, tabled by Minister for Municipal Administration and Urban Development Audimulapu Suresh and the Andhra Pradesh Commission for Backward Classes Other than Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in the State of Andhra Pradesh (Amendment) Bill, 2023 moved by Minister for Backward Classes Welfare Ch Srinivasa Venugopala Krishna were also passed by voice vote. The Andhra Pradesh Milk Procurement (Protection of Farmers) and Enforcement of Safety of Milk Standards Bill, 2023 was also passed.

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
A Future Aircraft Designed Using Advanced Supercomputing at NASA

NASA and Boeing have joined forces to design a Transonic Truss-Braced Wing (TTBW) aircraft, incorporating cutting-edge technology that could significantly enhance the fuel efficiency of commercial aircraft.
The TTBW aircraft has a unique structure, featuring a high aspect ratio wing and wing and jury struts, resulting in intricate flow phenomena such as transonic buffet, separated flow, and a turbulent wake.
The standard industry practice employs Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS)-based computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis for predicting buffet onset, but accurate forecasting may require more precise scale-resolving CFD simulations to anticipate buffet onset and separated flow development.
Therefore, NASA’s Advanced Air Transport Technology Project has initiated a collaborative, multi-center effort to create new simulation techniques to forecast the TTBW’s performance and that of similar truss-braced wing configurations, particularly for predicting transonic buffet onset.

Published date : 21 Mar 2023 06:35PM