- National:
- An MoU for a ‘Riverine based tourism Circuit’ being developed over river Brahmaputra was signed between Inland Waterways Authority of India, Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, Sagarmala Development Company Limited, Assam Tourism Development Corporation Limited and Directorate of Inland Water Transport Assam in Guwahati on 19th May 2023
- The Union Minister of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying Parshottam Rupala launched the Sagar Parikrama Yatra Phase-V in Karanja in the Raigad district of Maharashtra. The Government of India has started phase-V of the ‘Sagar Parikrama’ from the Gateway of India in Mumbai to the Coastal parts of Goa
- Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM) has been ranked as the world’s top public business incubator by the UBI Global World Benchmark Study 2021-2022 of Business Incubators and Accelerators
- On May 16, 2023, the Ministry of Finance, Government of India (GoI) in consultation with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) omitted Rule 7 of the Foreign Exchange Management (Current Account Transactions) Rules, 2000 under Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) and included the international credit cards (ICCs) spendings outside India under the RBI’s Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS) and also be subjected it to a higher rate of 20% Tax Collected at Source (TCS) effective after July 1, 2023
- SpaceX launched 22 of its “V2 mini” Starlink broadband satellites to orbit early Friday morning (May 19) and landed the returning rocket at sea. A Falcon 9 rocket topped with 22 next-generation Starlink spacecraft lifted off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on Friday at 2:19 a.m. EDT (0619 GMT)
- Himachal Pradesh’s Kangra tea has been registered with the European Union (EU) as a protected Geographical Indication (GI). The registration is an important tool to recognize the quality, genuineness, and reputation of the product in the European markets and this would boost the sale of Kangra tea
- Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik launched the State Dashboard, a data and analytics-powered platform which will streamline performance monitoring of government schemes, aiding data-driven decision-making
- Telangana Home Minister Mohamood Ali formally launched the initiative called SAHAS (which means Courage) yesterday. It is a programme that aims at strengthening the support ecosystem for women who face workplace sexual harassment
- Congress leader Siddaramaiah was sworn in as the Chief Minister of Karnataka for the second term. Along with him, DK Shivakumar was sworn in as the Deputy Chief Minister
- Banking:
- YES BANK has launched a mobile application called YES PAY EASY that enables small-scale merchants such as traders, retailers, and professionals to accept instant cashless payments from their customers
- The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) has relaxed norms for ‘surety bonds’ to increase availability and expand the surety insurance market. The solvency requirement applicable for such products has been reduced to 1.5 times from 1.875 times and the 30% exposure limit on each contract underwritten by insurers has been removed
- JCB International Co. has partnered with National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) to offer 40% cashback to RuPay JCB cardholders on in-store purchases12. The offer is available on all in-store purchases irrespective of size or category of the merchant
- ICICI Lombard has announced a strategic partnership with actyv.ai, a Singapore-based enterprise SaaS platform with embedded B2B, BNPL (Buy Now Pay Later) and insurance. This collaboration aims to co-create innovative insurance products specifically tailored for enterprises and their supply chain partners, empowering sustainable growth and mitigating business risks in the evolving market landscape
- On May 16, 2023, the Ministry of Finance, Government of India (GoI) in consultation with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) omitted Rule 7 of the Foreign Exchange Management (Current Account Transactions) Rules, 2000 under Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA)
- The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has decided to withdraw Rs. 2,000 denomination bank notes from circulation as part of its ‘Clean Note Policy’. The notes will continue to be legal tender and the existing Rs. 2,000 notes can be deposited or exchanged in banks until September 30, 2023
- The Finance Ministry has announced that any payments by an individual using their international Debit or Credit cards up to seven lakh rupees per financial year will be excluded from the Liberalized Remittance Scheme and hence, will not attract any Tax Collection at Source (TCS)
- World
- Japan has expressed keen interest in joining India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI) system. Japanese Digital Minister Kono Taro highlighted the ongoing digital cooperation between the two countries and said that this move aims to enhance interoperability and mutual recognition of e-IDs
- President Joe Biden informed leaders of the Group of Seven countries during a meeting in Japan that he will support joint training of Ukrainian fighter pilots on F-16s. This begins the process of fulfilling a repeated request by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for those jets
- Sports:
- The World Table Tennis Championships Finals 2023 are taking place in Durban, South Africa1Achanta Sharath Kamal, the Commonwealth Games winner, and Manika Batra, India’s best women’s player, will lead the Indian campaign
- Appointments:
- In a recent Union Cabinet reshuffle, Arjun Ram Meghwal replaced Kiren Rijiju as the Law Minister. Meghwal was assigned the independent charge as Minister of State in the Ministry of Law and Justice, in addition to his existing portfolios1. Kiren Rijiju has now been assigned the portfolio of the Ministry of Earth Sciences
- Pramod Bhasin, the founder of Genpact and current Chairman of ICRIER, has been appointed as the new Chairman of the Data Security Council of India (DSCI), effective from April 1, 2023. He takes over the position from Rajendra S Pawar, the Chairman and Co-Founder of NIIT Group, who served as the DSCI Chairman for the past three year
- Awards:
- “Gauri,” a documentary based on journalist and activist Gauri Lankesh, directed by her sister Kavitha Lankesh, has won the “Best Long Documentary Award” at the South Asian Film Festival of Montreal 2023
- Trichy International Airport’s new terminal project has been awarded the international safety award by the British Safety Council in the first-class merit category. The company which has been engaged in the construction of the new terminal building in Trichy, ITD Cementation India Limited, received the award on May 10
