Daily Current Affairs 1st & 2nd January , 2023

Daily Current Affairs 1 & 2 January 2023 for Banking/Insurance/SSC and other related exams.

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NATIONAL NEWS

Ministry of Rural Development launches Prajjwala Challenge
With an aim to invite ideas, solutions and actions that can transform rural economy, the Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana – National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM) has launched the Prajjwala Challenge. It is one of the platforms where ideas are invited from individuals, Social Enterprises, Start up, Private Sector, Civil Society, Community Based Organization, Academic Institution, Start-ups, Incubation centres, Investors etc having potential to transform the rural economy.

• The Prajjwala Challenge was launched by Secretary, Ministry of Rural Development, Shri. Shailesh Kumar Singh in New Delhi. 
• The Mission is looking for ideas and solutions around Innovative Technology Solution, Inclusive Growth, Value Chain Interventions, Enhanced Women Entrepreneurship, Cost effective Solutions, Sustainability, place-based employment, localised models etc. 

India’s first underwater metro services to begin in Kolkata by December 2023
India’s first underwater metro service, The Kolkata Metro Rail Corporation (KMRC) said that the East-West Metro Corridor project, is expected to be completed by December 2023. 

• With this, another feather is being added to the crown of Kolkata Metro, the first metro railway in the country. Kolkata Metro, which started its journey in 1984, is being expanded to cover the whole city and its outskirts. 
• The underwater metro, which will be running through the Hoogly river will connect the twin cities of Howrah and Kolkata. 

BANKING & FINANCE

RBI launches Utkarsh 2.0 for the period 2023-2025
RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das launched Utkarsh 2.0, the second phase of the central bank’s medium-term strategy for strengthening regulatory and supervisory mechanism.

• Utkarsh 2.0 harnesses the strengths of Utkarsh 2022 by retaining the six Vision statements as well as Core Purpose, Values, and Mission statement. 
• The first strategy framework (Utkarsh 2022) covering the period 2019-2022 was launched in July 2019. It became a medium-term strategy document guiding the Bank’s progress towards realization of the identified milestones. 

SBI Card collaborates with Punjab & Sind Bank to launch co-brand credit cards
SBI Cards and Payment Services announced that it has partnered with Punjab & Sind Bank to launch co-brand credit cards for the bank’s customers.

• The company said that the collaboration also marks the introduction of ‘credit cards’ as a new product segment under the bank’s portfolio. Both the partners have rolled out three card variants – PSB SBI Card ELITE, PSB SBI Card PRIME, and PSB SimplySAVE SBI Card. 
• These variants have been launched to cater to the spending needs of the customers of Punjab & Sind Bank, across mass, mass premium and premium segments. PSB SBI Card ELITE and PSB SBI Card PRIME have been designed to offer lifestyle privileges and best in class experience to premium and mass premium customers, respectively.

BUSINESS & ECONOMY

Elon Musk 1st person in world to lose $200 billion in net worth
Tesla and Twitter CEO Elon Musk became the first person to lose $200 billion from his net worth. 

• Elon Musk has seen a drop of up to $137 billion in his wealth after a recent drop in Tesla Shares. The shares of his electric car company are down nearly 65 percent. Elon Musk became the richest person in the world for the first time in January 2021 with a net worth of more than $185 billion.
• However, he was replaced by Bernard Arnault, the chief executive of luxury brand Louis Vuitton’s parent company LVMH as the world’s richest man.

GST collections at Rs 1.49 lakh crore in December 2022
GST revenues rose by 15% in December 2022 to over ₹1.49 lakh crore, the Finance Ministry said. “The gross GST revenue collected during December 2022 is ₹1,49,507 crore, of which CGST is ₹26,711 crore, SGST is ₹33,357 crore, IGST is ₹78,434 crore (including ₹40,263 crore collected on import of goods) and cess is ₹11,005 crore (including ₹850 crore collected on import of goods),” the ministry said in a statement.  The monthly GST revenues more than ₹1.4 lakh crore for 10 straight months in a row. 

• The government has settled ₹36,669 crore to CGST and ₹31,094 crore to SGST from IGST as regular settlement. The total revenue of Centre and the States after regular settlements in the month of December 2022 is ₹63,380 crore for CGST and ₹64,451 crore for the SGST. 

SPORTS

Koneru Humpy wins silver at World Blitz Championship
Former world rapid champion Koneru Humpy has won India’s first-ever Silver medal in the FIDE World Blitz Chess Championships in Almaty, Kazakhstan. 

• Humpy defeated China’s Zhongyi Tan to win Silver in the 17th and final round. Fourth seeded Humpy scored an impressive 12.5 points, just half a point behind the gold medal winner Bibisara Balabayeva of Kazakhastan. 
• Humpy is the second Indian to win a medal at World Blitz, after Viswanathan Anand.

Madhya Pradesh Men’s and Haryana Women’s Team clinched 2Khelo India Youth Games 2022
In Hockey, Madhya Pradesh defeated Odisha 6-5 to clinch Khelo India Youth Games 2022 Men’s Under-18 Qualifiers title in Bhubaneswar. 

• In a thrilling final, Zameer Mohammad was the star of the final, scoring a hat-trick while Ali Ahmad, Mohammad Zaid Khan and Captain Ankit Pal netted one goal each for Madhya Pradesh. On the other hand, Anmol Ekka, Paulus Lakra, Deepak Minz, Akash Soreng and Anmol Ekka scored one goal each for Odisha.
• Haryana’s women’s team won the Khelo India Youth Games 2022 Women’s Under 18 Qualifiers title after defeating Madhya Pradesh 2-0 in the final  In the final match, Pooja and Gurmail Kaur scored a goal each for Haryana to turn the match in their favour.

APPOINTMENTS

IOB appoints Ajay Srivastava as MD & CEO 
The public sector lender said that the centre has appointed Ajay Kumar Srivastava as the managing director (MD) and chief executive officer (CEO) of the bank with effect from the date of assumption of office on or after 1 January 2023.

• Indian Overseas Bank (IOB) said that Partha Pratim Sengupta has demitted office as MD & CEO of the bank on 31 December 2022 being the date of his superannuation.
• Meanwhile, the bank also informed that Government of lndia has appointed Sanjay Vinayak Mudaliyar, chief general manager at Bank of Baroda as executive director in IOB for a period of three years with effect from the date of assumption of office on or after 1 January 2023.

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva sworn in as Brazil’s president for 3rd time
Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva took office for a third term as Brazil’s president, vowing to fight for the poor and the environment and “rebuild the country” after far-right leader Jair Bolsonaro’s divisive administration. 

• The 77-year-old veteran leftist, who previously led Brazil from 2003 to 2010, took the oath of office before Congress, capping a remarkable political comeback for the metalworker-turned-president less than five years after he was jailed on controversial, since-quashed corruption charges.

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