Daily GK Update: 31st January 2023

 Honours & Awards

1. Usman Khawaja wins Shane Warne Men’s Test Player of the Year award 2023

• Australia's opening batter, Usman Khawaja has claimed the inaugural Shane Warne Award as the men’s Test player of the year in 2023.
• He has been Australia’s top run-scorer in the five-day format since rejoining the Test team, with 1020 runs at 78.46 during the voting period.
• Other winners:
  • Belinda Clark Award (Women's): Beth Mooney
  • Allan Border Medal (Men's): Steve Smith
  • Men's ODI Player of the Year: David Warner
  • Women’s ODI Player of the Year: Beth Mooney

 National & International Appointments

2. Morgan Stanley appoints Arun Kohli as new country head for India

• Arun Kohli has been appointed as the new head of Morgan Stanley (India).
• He has replaced Sanjay Shah, who is set to retire.
• He has been associated with Morgan Stanley for the past 15 years.
• Currently, he is serving as the chief operating officer (COO) for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) region.
• Earlier, he was the MD for firm strategy and execution for five years, stretching from 2007 to 2012.
• Morgan Stanley, CEO: James P. Gorman; Headquarters: New York. USA

 Banking & Finance

3. IMF expects Indian economy growth to slow down to 6.1% in 2023

• According to IMF’s World Economic Outlook, the economic growth of India would decline from 6.8% in 2022 to 6.1% in 2023, before picking up to 6.8% in 2024.
• The report has also stated that the growth in emerging and developing Asia is expected to rise in 2023 and 2024 to 5.3% and 5.2%, respectively.
• Reason: China’s uncertain economic conditions
• The IMF also expected that global growth would fall from around 3.4% in 2022 to 2.9% in 2023 and rise to 3.1% in 2024.

 Obituaries

4. Noted writer K.V. Tirumalesh passes away

• Well-known poet and writer, KV Tirumalesh passed away at the age of 82 in Hyderabad (Telangana) due to an age-related illness.
• In 2016, he was honoured with the Sahitya Akademi award for his collection of poems - Akshaya Kavya - along with several other literary awards.
• His critical works include an essay on Da Ra Bendre's poems and existentialism in Kannada.
• He was also a retired professor, who taught at the English and Foreign Languages University, Hyderabad.

 National & International Appointments

5. Puma India ropes Harmanpreet Singh as brand ambassador

• Puma India (Sports brand) has appointed women’s cricket team captain, Harmanpreet Kaur as a brand ambassador.
• She will endorse the footwear, apparel, and accessories throughout the year.
• With this, Harmanpreet joins PUMA’s roster of brand ambassadors which includes Virat Kohli, Neymar Jr, Sunil Chhetri, MC Mary Kom, Harleen Deol, K L Rahul, and Avani Lekhara.
• Harmanpreet Kaur has the record of the fourth fastest women’s T20I hundred in the world to her name.

 Honours & Awards

6. Best marching contingents & tableaux of Republic Day Parade 2023

• The government has announced the list of the best marching contingents and tableaux for the Republic Day Parade 2023.
• Results have been announced on the basis of the assessment of the panels and online poll for the popular choice.
• Best three Tableaux (States/UTs): 
  • Panel-based: Uttarakhand, Maharashtra, and UP
  • online poll-based: Gujarat, UP, Maharashtra
• Best Tableau (Central Ministries/Departments):
  • Panel-based: Ministry of Tribal Affairs
  • online poll-based: CAPF

 State Affairs

7. Assam cabinet approves floriculture mission

• The Assam Cabinet, headed by CM Himanta Biswa Sarma, approved a state floriculture mission with an initial investment of Rs 150 crore that covers 20,000 farmers.
• The cabinet has also approved several other essential decisions including setting up a different CM secretariat at Dibrugarh and building a new Raj Bhavan in Tezpur.
• Under State Floriculture Mission, the flower cultivation area will be expanded from 2,200 hectares to 3,288 hectares within three years.

 Banking & Finance

8. Infibeam Avenues brand CCAvenue to process Digital Rupee

• Infibeam Avenues Ltd’s brand 'CCAvenue' has become India’s FIRST payment gateway player to process Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) or Digital Rupee transactions for online retail merchants.
• The RBI launched the first pilot of the digital rupee for the retail segment on December 1, 2022.
• The retail CBDC pilot has identified 8 banks:
  • 1st Phase: SBI, ICICI Bank, Yes Bank, and IDFC First Bank
  • 2nd Phase: BoB, Union Bank of India, HDFC Bank, and Kotak Mahindra Bank

 Banking & Finance

9. Edelweiss MF launches India’s first passive short-term index fund

• Edelweiss Mutual Fund launched India's first passive short-duration fund named Edelweiss CRISIL IBX 50:50 Gilt Plus SDL Short Duration Index Fund.
• It will invest in a diversified portfolio of Indian government bonds and state development loans (SDL).
• The scheme will invest 50% in Indian government bonds and 50% in SDLs.
• The index will be rebalanced every quarter with an effective date as the first business day of the month.
• Edelweiss AMC CEO: Radhika Gupta

 State Affairs

10. Delhi govt launched real time pollution factors gathering mechanism

• Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal has inaugurated a “super site” and a mobile van to collect real-time pollution data and tell its constituents.
• Delhi would become the first city in the country to get a real-time source segmentation of air pollution.
• It will identify factors that are responsible for the increase in air pollution in Delhi.
• The project has been initiated by the Delhi Pollution Control Committee in collaboration with IIT Kanpur, IIT Delhi, and TERI.

 Agreement

11. GRSE, Rolls Royce sign MoU for manufacturing marine engines in India

• Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE) Ltd has signed an MoU with Rolls Royce Solutions of Germany for the manufacture of high-quality marine diesel engines at the former's plant in Ranchi.
• The MoU deals with the transfer of technology related to engine assembly, painting, parts sourcing, and after-sales service for these engines
• Both will co-operate in the license production and localization of the technologically advanced MTU S4000 governmental marine engines

 National Affairs

12. IIM Ahmedabad ranked top MBA colleges in India

• According to the latest ranking, released by the Indian Institutional Ranking Framework (IIRF), the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Ahmedabad is the best college to pursue the Master of Business Administration (MBA) course in India.
• IIM Ahmedabad is followed by IIM Bengaluru and IIM Kolkata at second and third spots, respectively.
• Among private colleges, the Xavier Labour Relations Institute (XLRI), Jamshedpur has topped the rankings.

 Sports

13. Murali Vijay announces retirement from all forms of international cricket

• Veteran India opener, Murali Vijay (38) announced his retirement from international cricket.
• He last represented India in 2018 against Australia in the Perth Test.
• He had played 61 Tests, 17 ODIs, and 9 T20Is for India since making his debut in November 2008 in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
• He scored 3,982 runs for India in the longest format that including 12 centuries and 15 fifties.
• In the one-day, he had 339 runs that included a half-century.