Daily GK Update: 16th May 2023

 National & International Appointments

1. Manoj Soni to take oath as UPSC chairman

• Manoj Soni has taken oath as the chairman of the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) on May 16, 2023.
• He administered the oath of office and secrecy as chairman of UPSC by Smita Nagaraj, a senior member of the Commission.
• He joined the Commission as a member on June 28, 2017, and has been performing the duties of the UPSC chairman since April 5, 2022.
• He served as VC at Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Open University (Gujarat), and Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda.

 Sports

2. Telangana's Prraneeth Vuppala becomes 82nd Grandmaster of India

• Prraneeth Vuppala (16) from Telangana has become the 82nd Grandmaster of India.
• He achieved the required 2,500 FIDE rating points during the Baku Open tournament.
• He had already achieved three GM norms earlier and needed to cross 2,500 rating points.
• He got the required points after defeating GM Hans Niemann of the USA in the penultimate round of the Baku Open.
• Prraneeth is now the sixth Grandmaster from the State of Telangana.

 National & International Appointments

3. Govt appoints Ravneet Kaur as CCI Chairperson

• A 1988 Punjab cadre IAS officer, Ravneet Kaur has been appointed as the Chairperson of the Competition Commission of India (CCI) for five years.
• She has replaced CCI Member Sangeeta Verma, who has been serving as an acting Chairperson since October 2022.
• There has been no full-time Chairperson for the competition regulator since Ashok Kumar Gupta was demitted from office.
• The Chairperson will get a consolidated salary of Rs 4,50,000 per month without a house and car.

 Banking & Finance

4. RBI imposes penalty on Mizoram Rural Bank, Tripura Gramin Bank

• RBI has imposed a monetary penalty of Rs 5 lakh on Mizoram Rural Bank and 2 lakh rupees on Tripura Gramin Bank for contravention of various norms.
• Reason: Both banks have failed to categorize certain loan accounts as non-performing in line with the Income Recognition and Asset Classification (IRAC) norms
• The bank was asked to provide a justifiable reason as to why a penalty should not be imposed for its non-compliance with the directions.

 Banking & Finance

5. NPCI introduces CVV-less payments for tokenised cards

• RuPay has introduced the CVV (Card Verification Value) free payment experience for its debit, credit, and prepaid cardholders who have tokenized their cards on the merchant application or webpage.
• It ensures that the cardholder will not have to reach out to their wallet or remember card details if they have saved their card on the e-commerce merchant.
• Tokenization is a simple technology to secure card transactions without sharing real card details with the merchants.

 International Affairs

6. Nepali sherpa becomes world's second person to scale Everest 26 times

• Pasang Dawa Sherpa, who is also known as Pa Dawa, scaled Mount Everest on May 14, 2023, and become the world's second person to scale Everest 26 times.
• Kami Rita Sherpa was the first person who climbed Mount Everest 26 times.
• He reached the summit along with a Hungarian climber.
• Pa Dawa had climbed the peak 25 times before, including twice in 2022.
• Since making his first successful of climb of the peak in 1998, Dawa has made the trip almost every year.

 International Affairs

7. EU approves Microsoft's $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard

• European Union regulators have approved Microsoft's proposed acquisition of gaming firm Activision Blizzard for $69 billion.
• This approval is subject to remedies offered by Microsoft to address antitrust concerns, particularly in the field of cloud gaming.
• The European Commission (EC) has stated that Microsoft has addressed competition concerns while offering 10-year free licensing deals and fair market access for European consumers and cloud game streaming services.

 National & International Appointments

8. Air Marshal Ashutosh Dixit takes over as Deputy Chief of Air Staff

• Air Marshal Ashutosh Dixit took over as the Deputy Chief of the Air Staff.
• He is a qualified flying instructor as well as an experimental test pilot, with over 3,300 hours of flying experience on fighter, trainer, and transport aircraft.
• He participated in the operations 'Safed Sagar' and 'Rakshak'.
• He is an alumnus of NDA and was Commissioned in the fighter stream in 1986.
• He is a graduate of the Staff Course (Bangladesh), and National Defence College (New Delhi).

 Agreement

9. India & Bangladesh launch '50 Start-ups Exchange Programme'

• Under the 50 start-ups exchange program between India and Bangladesh, the first group of 10 start-up companies returned to Dhaka after completing a successful five-day visit to India from 8-12 May 2023.
• Under this program, 50 Startups from Bangladesh and 50 Startups from India will exchange visits to each other’s countries.
• Reason: To explore partnerships, expand business relations, share experience and knowledge, and expand youth and entrepreneurial cooperation

 National Affairs

10. Minister Bhupender Yadav launches mobile application Meri LiFE

• Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav has launched a mobile application named Meri LiFE (My life) in New Delhi.
• This app is inspired by the concept of LiFE, envisioned by PM Modi at COP 26.
• This app will showcase the power of citizens, especially young people in saving the environment.
• Mission LiFE (Lifestyle for Environment) was launched in October 2022 at Kevadia, Gujarat.
  • Focus: Behaviour changes in individuals through simple easy-to-do actions

 National Affairs

11. WPI inflation seen below zero in April for first time since July 2020

• India's Wholesale Price Index (WPI) inflation fell below zero in April 2023 for the first time since July 2020.
• The WPI inflation fell (-) 0.92% in April 2023, as compared to 1.34 percent recorded in March 2023.
• Reason: Fall in prices of basic metals, food products, mineral oils, textiles, non-food articles, chemical and chemical products, rubber and plastic products, and paper products
• It was at 3.85% in February 2023 and 4.73% in January 2023.

 International Affairs

12. 76th Cannes Film Festival begins in France

• The 76th Cannes Film Festival has been started in France on May 16, 2023.
• The festival has officially kicked off with the world premiere of the Johnny Depp starring film Jeanne Du Barry.
• MoS for I&B, Dr. L Murugan lead an Indian delegation at the 12-day event, accompanied by filmmaker Guneet Monga and others.
• The Indian Pavilion has been conceptualized and designed by the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad with the theme - ‘Showcasing India’s Creative Economy’.

 Summits & Conferences

13. ASEAN Tourism Forum 2024 will host by Laos

• The annual ASEAN Tourism Forum will be hosted by Laos in January 2024.
• The theme of the forum will be "Quality and Responsible Tourism -- Sustaining ASEAN Future".
• The forum will include a tourism exhibition and serves to spur tourism and further service improvement in associated businesses.
• Previously, Laos hosted the ASEAN Tourism Forum in 2004 and 2013.
• The Lao government is working to promote the country’s potential as a nature-based tourism destination.

 National Affairs

14. MCA launches C-PACE to simplify striking off of companies from the register

• The Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) has set up the Centre for Processing Accelerated Corporate Exit (C-PACE).
• Reason: To centralize the process of striking off companies from the MCA Register
• The C-PACE will reduce the burden on the registry and provide stakeholders with hassle-free filing, timely and process-bound striking off of their company’s names from the register.
• The C-PACE institution is established under sub-section (1) of section 396.

 Banking & Finance

15. IRDAI sets up expert panel for matters related to mental health

• IRDAI has constituted a five-member expert committee to advise it on matters related to mental health and insurance.
• The committee is headed by Pratima Murthy, Director, NIMHANS, Bangalore.
• The panel will advise on coverages offered/to be offered under insurance products, for mental illnesses.
• The panel will also provide expert advice/inputs on terminology, concept, and the like on matters relating to mental illnesses from the medical domain perspective.