Daily GK Update: 21st March 2023

 Sports

1. Carlos Alcaraz wins Indian Wells 2023 to reclaim his World No.1 spot

• Spanish tennis player, Carlos Alcaraz (19) has won his maiden 2023 Indian Wells title after defeating Russian Daniil Medvedev 6-3, 6-2 in the final.
• With this feat, he has also dethroned Novak Djokovic to reclaim World No.1 spot.
• He also become the youngest world number one ever after his triumph and claimed his third Masters 1000 title.
• He joined Rafael Nadal as the only player to win at least three as a teenager.
• Nadal won six before turning 20.

 National & International Organizations

2. World Happiness Report 2023 released

• According to the World Happiness Report 2023, published by the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network, India ranked 125 based on the various parameters of happiness.
• India’s neighboring countries such as Nepal, China, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka have a higher ranking than India.
• Finland tops the ranking for the sixth consecutive year with a score of 7.8 followed by Denmark and Iceland.
• Out of the 137 countries, Afghanistan has ranked last.

 Agreement

3. India, Japan sign two agreements

• India and Japan signed two documents on the sidelines of the bilateral talks between PM Modi and Japanese PM Fumio Kishida.
• Agreements:
  1. Renewal of Memorandum of Cooperation in the Japanese language
  2. Exchange of notes on JICA loan for 300 billion Yen on Mumbai-Ahmedabad high-speed railway project.
• PM Kishida formally invited PM Modi to G7 Hiroshima Summit.
• PM Modi also urged the Japanese PM to declare 2024 as the year of Youth Exchanges between the two countries.

 National Affairs

4. Women employees constitute over 25% in nationalized banks in the country

• Women employees constitute over 25% of the total workforce on average in the nationalized banks in the country.
• The largest Public Sector Bank-- the State Bank of India (SBI), has 26.7% women employees in their total staff strength.
• While Indian Overseas Bank has a maximum of 36% women staff and the Punjab National Bank has the least 24% women staff strength.
• This data was provided by the Ministry of Finance in the Lok Sabha.

 Honours & Awards

5. Nepalese batsman Aasif Sheikh won 2022 CMJ Spirit of Cricket Award

• Nepalese batsman Aasif Sheikh was declared the winner of the 2022 Christopher Martin-Jenkins Spirit of Cricket Award.
• Reason: For his sporting conduct shown in a Men’s T20I between Nepal and Ireland in Feb 2022.
• The Award is presented every year by the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), UK in conjunction with the BBC.
• This award was created in 2013 by MCC and the BBC in memory of former MCC President and BBC Test Match Special commentator Christopher Martin-Jenkins (CMJ).

 Banking & Finance

6. IMF approves nearly $3 billion bailout for Sri Lanka

• The International Monetary Fund (IMF) executive board has approved a $3-billion four-year extended financing arrangement for Sri Lanka.
• It paves the way for an immediate disbursement of about $333 million to the cash-strapped country.
• The new Extended Fund Facility (EFF) arrangement program aims to restore Sri Lanka’s macroeconomic stability and debt sustainability, mitigate the economic impact on the poor and vulnerable, and safeguard financial sector stability.

 Banking & Finance

7. RBI fines RBL Bank for non-compliance with rules on loan recovery agents

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has imposed a monetary penalty of 22.7 million rupees ($274,915) on private lender RBL Bank Ltd.
• Reason: For not complying with certain directives on loan recovery agents
• The RBI has found deficiencies in regulatory compliance after it examined complaints received against RBL's recovery agents during the financial years 2018-19 to 2021-22.
• RBL Headquarters: Mumbai; MD & CEO: R. Subramaniakumar

 Banking & Finance

8. India state-run banks' gross NPA eases to 5.53%

• The gross NPA ratio was declining from 14.6% in March 2018 to 5.53% in December 2022.
• All PSBs are in profit with aggregate profit being Rs 66,543 crore in 2021-22 and that further increased to Rs 70,167 crore in the first nine months of the current financial year.
• At the same time, resilience has increased with the provision coverage ratio of PSBs rising from 46% to 89.9% in December 2022.
• The capital adequacy ratio improved from 11.5% to 14.5% in December 2022.

 Summits & Conferences

9. Dr Mansukh Mandaviya attended Global Conference on Digital Health attended

• Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya has virtually addressed the Global Conference on Digital Health  – Taking Universal Health Coverage to the Last Citizen.
• This conference is a co-branded event under India’s G20 Presidency organized by WHO – South-East Asia Region in collaboration with the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare.
• The Indian government aims to launch a global initiative on digital health as an institutional framework.

 Important Dates

10. International Day of Forests 2023: 21st March

• The International Day of Forests is celebrated each year on March 21 to raise awareness about the importance of forests and trees for the survival of humanity.
• 2023 theme: Forests and health
• This day can be traced back to 1971 when the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) established World Forestry Day.
• In 2011, the United Nations declared the years 2011 to 2020 as the International Decade of Forests.
• In 2012, the International Day of Forests was established.

 Agreement

11. NGEL, IOCL ink pact for setting up renewable energy projects

• NGEL (a wholly-owned subsidiary of NTPC Limited) has signed a Joint Venture Agreement with IOCL for setting up renewable energy projects to meet Round the Clock power requirement of IOCL Refineries.
• NGEL has set a target of building a renewable generation portfolio of 60 GW over the next decade to aggressively pursue its green energy business.
• Chairman, IOCL: Shrikant Madhav Vaidya
• CMD, NTPC: Gurdeep Singh

 National & International Appointments

12. Cotton Corporation of India appoints Lalit Kumar Gupta as CMD

• The government has approved the appointment of Lalit Kumar Gupta as CMD of the Cotton Corporation of India (CCI), with effect from the date of his assumption of charge of the post for a period of five years.
• He was recommended for the post of CMD of CCI by the PESB panel.
• Presently, he is serving as Director (Finance) in the same organization.
• He joined CCI in August 1994 and has a very long association with Cotton Corporation of about 25 years.

 National Affairs

13. Water stress to hit India’s food production by 2050

• According to the report, published GCEW, revealed that India will face a reduction of over 16% in food supply due to water and heat stress in 2050.
• However, the report placed China at the top, where food supply would be reduced by 22.4%, followed by South America by 19.4%.
• The water supply availability in India is between 1100-1197 billion cubic meters (bcm).
• In contrast, the demand is expected to grow from 550-710 bcm in 2010 to 900-1,400 bcm in 2050.