Current Affairs One-Liner : 1st July 2023

• National:
• On 28th June 2023, Kapil Moreshwar Patil, Minister of State (MoS) for the Ministry of Panchayati Raj (MoPR) released the Report on Panchayat Development Index (PDI) during the National Workshop on PDI held at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi.

• Certain changes were announced to the system of Tax Collection at Source (TCS) on payments under the Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS) and on overseas tour program packages. These were to take effect from 1st July 2023.
• Tamil Nadu has secured the top spot as India’s leading exporter of electronic goods in FY23, with exports reaching $5.37 billion, nearly triple the previous year’s figure. The state surpassed Uttar Pradesh, which was second with $4.90 billion and Karnataka third with $4.52 billion.
• On 30th June 2023, the Ministry of New & Renewable Energy (MNRE) announced comprehensive guidelines for the implementation of the Strategic Interventions for Green Hydrogen Transition (SIGHT) programme.
• Annual Hemis Monastery Festival Hemis Tsechu concluded with religious fervor and gaiety in Ladakh. This year, the festival was celebrated with the theme Zero Waste Festival to show special concern over environmental issues in the great Himalayan region of Ladakh
• ASK Private Wealth Hurun India Future Unicorn Index 2023. According to the Hurun Research Institute, this index is a ranking of India’s start-ups founded in the 2000s, worth at least US$200mn, not yet listed on a public exchange and most likely to ‘go Unicorn’ within three years (Gazelles) or five years (Cheetahs).
• leading digital transformation solutions company, has announced its role as an innovation vendor for Project Rosalind, an experiment in application programming interface (API) prototypes for central bank digital currencies (CBDC) from the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) and the Bank of England (BOE) via the BIS Innovation Hub London Centre.
• Government of India has extended the tenure of Brajendra Navnit as Ambassador and Permanent Representative of India to the World Trade Organization (WTO) by nine months till March 31, 2024.
• The Greater Chennai City Police (GCP) launched India’s first ‘Police Drone Unit’ on June 29, 2023 for aerial surveillance over vast areas and quick detection of criminal activities.
• The Government of Odisha and the Quality Council of India (QCI), in collaboration with industry associations such as ASSOCHAM, FICCI, EEPC, OASME, PHDCCI, CIPET, and FHRAI, launched the Odisha Gunvatta Sankalp (Odisha Quality Mission) in Bhubaneswar on June 26th 2023.
• The Union Consumer Affairs Ministry has decided to issue specific guidelines to control the increasing ‘dark patterns’ of misleading advertisements, creating false urgency, confirm-shaming, forced action, subscription traps and nagging on online platforms.
• The government on June 30 raised interest rates on select saving schemes by up to 0.3% for the July-September quarter in line with the high-interest rates in the banking system.
• World:
• The US Supreme Court has struck down US President Joe Biden’s proposal to wipe out billions in student debt. The 6-3 ruling effectively cancels the plan, which would have forgiven about $10,000 per borrower - and up to $20,000 in some cases.
• The US government has approved arms sales worth about 440 million dollars to Taiwan. The approval comes amid tension between the U.S. and China over human rights, military activities and economic practices.
• Iran will be formally approved as a member of the regional Shanghai Cooperation Organisation with China, Russia and Central Asian countries, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on June 30th.
• Sports
• The Indian men’s national football team has climbed further in the latest FIFA World Rankings, rising from 101 to 100, surpassing Lebanon and New Zealand
• Dipika Pallikal-Karthik and Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu won the Asian mixed doubles squash championships by defeating the Malaysian pair of Rachel Arnold and Ivan Yuen 11-10, 11-8 in the final
• The Indian men’s kabaddi team beat Iran 42-32 in a high-voltage final to defend its Asian Championships title at the Dong-Eui Institute of Technology Seokdang Cultural Center in Busan, Republic of Korea
• Appointments:
• The Appointments Committee of the Union Cabinet approved the reappointment of Tushar Mehta as the Solicitor General of India for a term of three years, beginning on July 1, 2023, this is his second extension.
• Federal Bank has appointed A.P. Hota, the former MD & CEO of National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), as its chairman following approval from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
• Awards:
• Mary Kom, the sporting legend and India’s first-ever Olympic medallist in women’s boxing, has been honoured with the Global Indian Icon of the Year award at the annual UK-India Awards in Windsor, south-eastern England.