DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS

By admin: April 30, 2023

India, Russia to explore possibility of accepting RuPay and Mir cards

Tags: Economy/Finance

India and Russia will explore the possibility of accepting RuPay and Mir cards in each other's country for hassle-free payments amid sanctions imposed by the West on Moscow.

An overview of the news

• In the recent meeting of the High Level Inter-Governmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technological and Cultural Cooperation (IRIGC-TEC), it was discussed and agreed to explore the possibility of allowing acceptance of these cards.

• The mutual acceptance of RuPay (India) and Mir cards (Russia) will help Indian and Russian citizens to make hassle-free payments in Indian rupees and Russian ruble in their respective countries

• The meeting was co-chaired by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Russia Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov.

• They agreed to explore the possibility of interaction with the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) of National Payment Corporation of India and the Faster Payments System (FPS) of the Bank of Russia.

• The two countries agreed to adopt the Russian Financial Messaging System, the Service Bureau of the Bank of Russia's Financial Messaging System, for cross-border payments.

What is Mir?

• Mir is a payment system in Russia.

• It waslaunched in 2017.

• The Central Bank of Russia has established the function of this payment option.

• The Russian national card payment system operatesit.

• Sberbank was the first Russian bank to issue payment cards under the Mir brand.

PM Modi's 100th episode of 'Mann Ki Baat' broadcast live at UN Headquarters

Tags: National National News

The 100th episode of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's radio program 'Mann Ki Baat' was broadcast live at the United Nations Headquarters here late on April 29, local time.

An overview of the news

• India's Permanent Representative and Ambassador to the United Nations Ruchira Kambojsaid that Mann Ki Baat was aired at the Trusteeship Council of the United Nations Headquarters in New York.

• Indian missions in various countries including UK, China, South Africa, Chile, Morocco, Mexico, Congo, Iraq and Indonesia also made special arrangements to listen to the 100th episode of 'Mann Ki Baat'.

• External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, who is on an official visit to Guyana, Panama, Colombia and the Dominican Republic, also attended the special event organized by the Indian community.

'Mann Ki Baat' program

• The program 'Mann Ki Baat' started on 3 October 2014 and is broadcast on thelast Sunday of every month.

• It inspires millions of people to participate in India's development journey.

• On 30th April it completed its 100th episode.

• The episodes aired between 2014 and 2019 were more general and motivational in nature, with the latter episodes discussing a lot of government policies and initiatives.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh to visit Maldives

Tags: International Relations International News

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh is set to embark on athree-day official visit to Maldives on 30th April. 

An overview of the news

• During the visit, Rajnath Singh will hold bilateral talkswith Maldivian Defense Minister Ms. Maria Ahmed Didi and Foreign Minister Abdulla Shahid.

• All aspects of defense relations between the two countries will be reviewed during the consultations.

• Rajnath Singh will also meet Maldivian President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih.

• In line with India's commitment to capacity building of friendly countries and partners in the region, Rajnath Singh will gift a Fast Patrol Vessel ship and a landing craft to the Maldivian National Defense Forces.

• India and Maldives are working together to effectively address common challenges including maritime security, terrorism, radicalism, piracy, smuggling, organized crime and natural disasters.

• India's vision of SAGAR (Security and Growth for All in the Region) along with its ‘Neighbourhood First’ policy as well as Maldives’ ‘India First’ policy seek to work together to jointly develop the capabilities within the Indian Ocean Region.

About Maldives

• It is also called Maldives Islands, an independent island country in the north-central Indian Ocean.

• It extends more than 510 miles (820 km) from north to south and 80 miles (130 km) from east to west.

• Basis of economy -fisheries, tourism

• Industries - handicraft or cottage including the making of coir (coconut-husk fibre) and coir products, fish canning, and boatbuilding.

• Capital -Male

• President -Ibrahim Mohamed Solih

• Official Language - Dhivehi (Maldivian)

• Official Religion - Islam

• Currency -Rufiyaa

Rajasthan Housing Board got National Award for Real Estate

Tags: Awards National News

On April 26, 2023, the National Real Estate Award was presented to the Rajasthan Housing Board by the Central Government Agency National Real Estate Development Council (NAREDCO).

An overview of the news

• National Real Estate Development Council National President Rajan Bandelkar and RERA Delhi Chairman Anand Kumarpresented the award to Rajasthan Housing Commissioner Pawan Arora at a national level function.

• The Rajasthan Housing Board was honored with the award for registering the maximum number of housing projects in the country under RERA, selling the maximum number of houses and doing excellent work in the field of real estate.

• Earlier in the function, Rajasthan Housing Commissioner was specially invited for a panel discussion on the topic 'Real Estate in the Era of RERA'. He was also honored on this platform.

• Rajasthan Housing Board has become the biggest organization to register 101 project RERA numbers.

• Under the leadership of Housing Commissioner Pawan Arora, the board has received a total of 15 awards in the last four years.

• These include World Book of Records in house sales, Scotch Award-2021, Award of Excellence, Honor by National Real Estate Development Council, National Housing Award, I.B.C. and prestigious awards like 'Star of Governance-Gold Award'.

G7 should adopt ‘risk-based’ AI regulation

Tags: International News

Digital ministers from the Group of Seven advanced nations (G7) agreed on 30 April that they should adopt "risk-based" regulation on artificial intelligence.

An overview of the news

• European lawmakers hurry to introduce an AI Act to enforce rules on emerging tools such as ChatGPT.

• G7 ministers said in a joint statement issued at a two-day meeting in Japan that such regulation should "preserve an open and enabling environment" for the development of AI technologies and be based on democratic values.

• The ministers recognized that the policy tools to achieve the common vision and goal of trustworthy AI among G7 members may differ.

• The agreement sets a milestone for how major countries regulate AI amid privacy concerns and security risks.

• Governments in particular have taken note of the popularity of generative AI tools such as ChatGPT.

• A chatbot (ChatGPT) developed by Microsoft Corp-backed OpenAI has become the fastest-growing app in history since its launch in November.

What is ChatGPT?

• It is a natural language processing tool powered by Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology that allows chatbots to do much more than just have human-like conversations.

• This language model can answer questions and assist with tasks such as writing emails, essays and code.

• ChatGPT was created by OpenAI, an AI and research company.

• A chatbot (ChatGPT) developed by Microsoft Corp-backed OpenAI has become the fastest-growing app in history since its launch in November.

What is Artificial Intelligence?

• It is a broad branch of computer science that deals with building smart machines capable of performing tasks that would normally require human intelligence.

About G7

• The G7 is a group of seven major industrialized countries, including Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

• The G7 holds annual meetings to discuss various global issues, but these meetings are usually held in different locations each year.

• The 48th G7 summit was hosted by Germany in 2022.