Daily Current Affairs 1st July, 2023

Daily Current Affairs 1 July 2023 for Banking/Insurance/SSC and other related exams.

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NATIONAL NEWS

INS Rana & INS Sumedha undertook Maritime Partnership Exercise with French Navy ship FS Surcouf in Bay of Bengal
Indian Naval ships INS Rana and INS Sumedha undertook a Maritime Partnership Exercise with French Navy ship FS Surcouf in the Bay of Bengal.

• Ministry of Defence said, La Fayette class frigate Surcouf visited Visakhapatnam from 26 to 29 June 2023 and participated in a variety of activities with Indian Navy ships which included professional and social interactions, sports fixtures and cross deck visits.
• Ministry added that the Partnership Exercise signifies the strong navy-to-navy links, interoperability and strong bonds between Indian Navy and French Navy.

IAF to hold multilateral ‘Exercise Tarang Shakti’ with world’s top air powers this year
The Indian Air Force is preparing to host a mega exercise later this year that is expected to bring together 12 air forces, with the focus being on improving interoperability, imbibing best practices from one another and boosting military cooperation among the participating countries, officials aware of the matter said.

• The exercise, named Tarang Shakti, will be the biggest multi-nation air exercise to be conducted in the country and will involve fighter jets, military transport aircraft, mid-air refuellers and airborne warning and control system (AWACS) aircraft, HT has learnt.
• Tarang Shakti is in the planning stage and is likely to be conducted in October-November, said one of the officials cited above, asking not to be named. Six air forces will participate in the exercise, while the rest will attend the aerial drills as observers, said a second official, who also asked not to be named. The air forces of the US, the UK, France and Australia are among those likely to take part in the exercise.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

World losing tropical forests at fast pace, derailing the pledge to end deforestation by 2030: Report
A forest monitoring project report issued has highlighted that more than a year after countries pledged to end deforestation by 2030, the world is continuing to lose its tropical forests at a fast pace. 

• The annual survey by the World Resources Institute, a research organization, found that the world lost 10.2 million acres of primary rainforest last year, a 10 percent increase from the year before. It is the first assessment to cover a full year since November 2021, when 145 countries pledged at a global climate summit in Glasgow to halt forest loss by the end of this decade.
• The report, done in collaboration with the University of Maryland, documented tree loss in the tropics from deforestation, fires, and other causes. Last year’s destruction of trees resulted in 2.7 giga tons of carbon dioxide emissions, which is a significant amount.

BANKING & FINANCE

RBI grants non-banking institution licence to Mahalaxmi Cooperative Bank, cancels bank permit
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) cancelled the banking license of Karnataka based Mahalaxmi Co-operative Bank Limited. However, the RBI has been allowed to function as a Non-Banking institution.

• Accordingly, RBI has cancelled the licence dated March 23, 1994, granted to Mahalaxmi Cooperative Bank Ltd, Dharwad, Karnataka to carry on banking business in India, with effect from the close of business on June 27.

BUSINESS & ECONOMY

GST collection rises 12% to cross Rs 1.6 lakh crore mark in June this year
The Goods and Services tax (GST) revenue for the month of June, 2023 stood at around 1,61,500 crore rupees, which is 12 percent higher than the GST revenues in the same month of last year.

• Out of the total collection, Central Goods and Services Tax (CGST) was over 31 thousand crore rupees, State Goods and Services Tax (SGST) was above 38,290 crore rupees and Integrated Goods and Services Tax (IGST) was above 80,290 crore rupees.

UPI transactions dip 0.9% in June, but still show strong YoY growth
Transactions undertaken on the UPI (Unified Payments Interface) network dipped 0.9 per cent in June, both in terms of volumes and value of transactions, after touching a record high in May.

• UPI transactions fell to ₹14.75 lakh crore in June, with 933 crore transactions being processed during the month, according to National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) data. The number of transactions was higher by 59 per cent on the year, and the value of transactions was 45 per cent higher compared with June 2022.

India’s current account deficit narrowed to 1.3 billion dollars or 0.2 % of GDP in January-March quarter of FY23
India’s current account deficit narrowed to 1.3 billion dollars or 0.2 percent of GDP in the January-March quarter of FY23. According to the data released by the Reserve Bank, the decline was mainly due to moderation in the trade deficit and a robust increase in services exports. However, for fiscal 2022-23, the current account balance recorded a deficit of 2 percent of GDP compared to a deficit of 1.2 percent in 2021-22 as the trade deficit widened to 265.3 billion dollars from 189.5 billion dollars a year ago.

• RBI data has shown that net services receipts increased, both sequentially and on a year-on-year basis, on the back of a rise in net earnings from computer services.
• The Balance of Payment (BoP) figures for FY23 reveal that net FDI inflows stood at 28 billion dollars, lower than 38.6 billion dollars in 2021-22.  Net FPI recorded an outflow of 5.2 billion dollars in 2022-23 as compared with an outflow of 16.8 billion dollars a year ago. RBI data has further revealed that foreign exchange reserves were depleted by 9.1 billion dollars in the last fiscal.

ACQUISITIONS & MERGERS

Visa acquires Brazilian payments platform Pismo for $1 billion
Visa, the world’s largest payments processor, has announced its acquisition of Brazilian fintech platform Pismo for $1 billion in cash. This move aims to enhance Visa’s footprint in Latin America and demonstrates renewed confidence in the region amidst a slowdown in funding.

• The Pismo deal is the largest fintech exit in Latin America since Nubank went public in late 2021 and the largest disclosed startup exit so far this year.
• For Visa, the world’s largest payments processor, it is its first major takeover since 2021 when it bought European open banking platform Tink for $2.2 billion as well as British cross-border payments provider Currencycloud.

SPORTS

Asian Kabaddi Championship 2023: India beat Iran in final to win title
India emerged champions of the Asian Kabaddi Championship 2023 by beating Iran in the final in Busan, Korea.

• Iran started aggressively, but India stood tall in the all-important final. Pawan Sehrawat, the captain, helped India inflict the first all-out with two touch points and took the score to 10-4. India kept building pressure on the Iranians and produced another all-out. At the end of the first half, India led the final by 23-11.

Dream11 now principal jersey sponsor of Indian cricket team
According to reports, the popular fantasy gaming platform Dream11 has reportedly taken over as the main jersey sponsor for the Indian cricket team from July 2023 to March 2026, replacing Byju’s. The deal was reportedly secured at a base price of Rs 358 crore.

• Byju’s had quit after the end of the last financial cycle and Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) had invited closed bids for its new sponsor and Dream11 was one of the prominent names to have submitted its bid.

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