Daily GK Update: 12th March 2023

National & International Appointments

RBI has approved the appointment of Sumant Kathpalia as MD and CEO of IndusInd Bank for two years from 24 March 2023.
RBI's confirmation comes nearly six months after the bank's board of directors had cleared another term for Kathpalia.
He has been an MD & CEO of the bank since March 2020.
Before this role, he served as Head of the Consumer Bank at IndusInd Bank.
He has been instrumental in setting up several new businesses to cater to the needs of SME segments.

State Affairs

Uttarakhand has become India's first state to launch the Resham Keet Bima scheme for sericulturists.
In the first phase of this pilot project, 200 sericulturists from five blocks of four districts -- Dehradun, Haridwar, Udham Singh Nagar, and Nainital -- have been insured from the ill effects of climate change, scarcity of water, and other hazards.
This scheme will be run under Saral Krishi Beema.
Uttarakhand CM: Pushkar Singh Dhami; Governor: Gurmit Singh

State Affairs

According to the Landslide Atlas report, prepared by the National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC) of ISRO, the Rudraprayag district of Uttarakhand has the maximum exposure to landslide risk in the country.
Tehri district (Uttarakhand) ranked second on the list of landslide-prone districts.
As per the State Emergency Operation Centre data, Uttarakhand reported 253 landslides between 2018 and 2021.
Kerala's Thrissur and Palakkad districts ranked 3rd and 5th respectively.

Banking & Finance

Punjab National Bank has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Central Warehousing Corporation to facilitate financing under e-NWR (Electronic Negotiable Warehousing Receipt).
Aim: To provide easy access to finance to farmers/ food processors/ traders against the pledge of agriculture commodities stored in CWC warehouses
CWC is a statutory body under the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution.
Minister of Consumer Affairs: Piyush Goyal

National Affairs

The Task Force report titled “Production and Promotion of Organic and Bio-fertilizers with Special Focus on Improving Economic Viability of Gaushalas” was released by NITI Aayog.
It suggested measures to make Gaushalas economically viable, address the problem of stray and abandoned cattle, and utilization of cow dung and cow urine in the agriculture and energy sector.
It provides factual estimate of operating and fixed costs and other Gaushalas issues.

Obituaries

American Olympic athlete Pat McCormick died at 92 in California due to health-related problems and dementia.
She won the women’s 3-meter springboard and 10-meter platform competitions at the 1952 Olympics in Finland.
She was honored by the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) with the James E. Sullivan Award - amateur athlete of the year in 1956.
She was the 2nd woman to win the award after Swimmer Ann Curtis(1944).
She was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame

State Affairs

Odisha's state cabinet led by CM Naveen Patnaik has announced a new livelihood and income-generating scheme for the tribal people with an outlay of Rs 500 crore for three years (2023-24 to 2025-26).
The livelihood cluster development initiative will be implemented by the ST & SC Development, Minorities & Backward Classes Welfare dept under Mukhya Mantri Janajati Jeebika Mission.
The state-funded scheme will be implemented in 119 tribal sub-plan (TSP) blocks.

National & International Organizations

According to the WHO Global Report on Sodium Intake Reduction, two million deaths can be prevented by 2025 and seven million by 2030 if policies recommended by WHO to reduce sodium intake are implemented.
The world is off-track to achieve its global target of reducing sodium intake by 30% by 2025.
The global average salt intake is estimated to be 10.8 grams per day (more than double the WHO recommendation of fewer than 5 grams of salt per day (one teaspoon)).

Schemes

Union Minister Narayan Rane launched the MSME Competitive (LEAN) Scheme at the NDMC Convention Centre, Delhi.
Aim: To provide a roadmap to global competitiveness for the MSMEs of India
Under the scheme, MSMEs will implement LEAN manufacturing tools like 5S, Kaizen, KANBAN, visual workplace, and Poka Yoka.
MSMEs can reduce wastages substantially, increase productivity, improve quality, work safely, expand their markets, and finally become competitive and profitable.

National Affairs

The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) has issued operational guidelines, that the government will provide financial assistance to eligible agencies for undertaking initiatives for the promotion of Geographical Indications (GIs) products.
It can be extended to eligible agencies as 100% grants in aid for the promotion of GIs.
DPIIT is an arm of the commerce and industry ministry.
It deals with investments and intellectual property rights.