Current Affairs One-Liner : 13th July 2023

• National:
• The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has inaugurated the Product Design Centre (PDC) at C-DAC in Kolkata. The center has prototyping and system designing facilities equipped with all the software and printing technologies for system designing, prototyping, ideation, and fabrication.

• According to the United Nations, a total of 415 million people moved out of poverty in India within just 15 years from 2005/2006 to 2019/2021. India is also one of the 25 countries that have successfully halved their global MPI values within 15 years.
• According to the 5th edition of the Survey on Digital and Sustainable Trade Facilitation by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia Pacific’s (UNESCAP), India has emerged as the best-performing country in the South Asian region in terms of trade facilitation.
• The European Investment Bank (EIB), Asian Development Bank (ADB) and World Bank have pledged up to $27 billion to support India’s green energy sector. The EIB will support developing large-scale industry hub with a funding of 1 billion Euros.
• Citi has announced the launch of a new platform, CitiDirect® Commercial Banking, specifically to address the needs of Citi Commercial Bank (CCB) clients.
• India has topped the medal tally at the 34th International Biology Olympiad held at Al Ain, UAE with an all-gold performance. The four students representing India, Dhruv Advani, Ishan Pednekar, Megh Chhabda and Rohit Panda have grabbed global attention by turning in an all-gold performanc
• K Rajaraman, the Secretary of the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), has launched the Standards Coordination Portal.
• On 11th July 2023, the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe) issued an expression of interest (EoI) for the first-of-its-kind Transfer of Technology (ToT) of the small satellite launch vehicle (SSLV) to Indian private Space firms.
• The Government of Meghalaya and NTPC Limited have signed several MoUs to enhance the state’s power infrastructure, connectivity, and clean energy generation, MoUs were signed on July 10, 2023.
• Elon Musk has recently launched a new AI company called xAI. The goal of xAI is to understand the true nature of the universe. Musk has said that xAI will work closely with Twitter and Tesla, using public tweets to train its AI models.
• The Department of Space is considering the Transfer of Technology (ToT) associated with Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV) to eligible Indian Industries. The Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Centre (IN-SPACe) will facilitate the TOT of SSLV.
• a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) to promote the use of millets and healthy eating practices among the armed forces and ensure availability of safe and nutritious food
• Economy:
• The Index of Industrial Production (IIP) in India rose 5.2% on an annual basis in May 2023 from 4.2% in April and 1.1% in March 2023, according to the data provided by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI).
• Retail inflation, based on Consumer Price Index (CPI), stood at 4.81 percent in June this year. The Consumer Food Price Index (CFPI) for the last month rose to 4.49 percent as compared to 2.91 percent in May, mainly due to a rise in vegetable prices.
• The GST Council has decided to exempt cancer-fighting drugs, medicines for rare diseases, and food products for special medical purposes from GST tax. This was announced by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman after chairing the 50th GST Council meeting in New Delhi.
• World:
• Southeast Asia’s top diplomats are gathering in Indonesia amid pressure to address a bloody political crisis in Myanmar and resolve tensions in the South China Sea where some ASEAN members have overlapping territorial claims with China
• North Korea has launched several rounds of ballistic missiles into the waters off its east coast in less than two weeks, violating UN resolutions and provoking condemnation from the US, Japan, and South Korea.
• NASA has celebrated the first anniversary of the James Webb Space Telescope by releasing a new image of the Rho Ophiuchi cloud complex, the closest star-forming region to Earth. The image displays star birth like it’s never been seen before, full of detailed, impressionistic texture
• Sports:
• Nishad Kumar has clinched a silver medal in the ongoing Para Athletics World Championships 2023 in Paris. Nishad bagged this medal in the High Jump T47 Event. With this win, Nishad has become the second athlete at this event to grab a medal.
• Indian tennis ace Rohan Bopanna and his Australian partner Matthew Ebden have reached the Wimbledon 2023 men’s doubles semi-finals.
• In the US Open Super 300 badminton tournament, Indian shuttler PV Sindhu defeated her American opponent Disha Gupta 21-15, 21-10 in just 27 minutes to enter the second round.
• Important Days:
• International Malala Day is observed on July 12 each year to honor the bravery and activism of Malala Yousafzai, a Pakistani advocate for girls’ education and the youngest person to receive the Nobel Prize.The theme of International Malala Day is to promote education for girls and women.
• Appointments:
• Harsh Chouhan has resigned as the chairman of the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST) eight months before the completion of his term.
• Obituary:
• Nirmala Buch, the first and only woman Chief Secretary of Madhya Pradesh, passed away at the age of 97 in Bhopal on Sunday. She was considered a role model by several administrative officers and had the image of a tough and upright officer
• Awards:
• The Jammu and Kashmir Rural Livelihoods Mission (JKRLM) has bagged the SKOCH Award under the theme “State of Governance India 2047” in the Gold category for its outstanding efforts in creating marketing avenues for Self-Help Groups (SHGs) in the Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir.