Daily Current Affairs – 17 March 2023

This post contains the current affairs for 17 March 2023. These current affairs are important for banking exams, insurance exams and other competitive exams like IBPS PO and Clerk, SBI PO and Clerk, RBI Assistant and Grade B, etc. You can also attempt our Current Affairs Quiz after reading our daily current affairs.

National

Surekha Yadav becomes Asia’s first woman Loco Pilot to operate Vande Bharat Express

• Surekha Yadav has become the first-ever female loco pilot to run the Vande Bharat Express train.
• She piloted the Vande Bharat Express train between Solapur station and Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) in Mumbai on March 13, 2023.
• With this Yadav has now become the first women loco pilot in Asia to run Vande Bharat train.
• Surekha Yadav, who is a native of Satara district in western Maharashtra, is also India’s first female train driver, who achieved this feat in 1988.
• Vande Bharat express was inaugurated in 2019 and the first Vande Bharat Express train was flagged off on New Delhi-Kanpur-Allahabad-Varanasi route.

Report

India continues to remain world’s largest arms importer: SIPRI report

• India has retained its place as the world’s top arms importer, despite a decline in arms imports in the last five years, according to an analysis by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).
• As per the annual SIPRI report, India was the world’s biggest importer of major arms in 2018-22.
• During this period, out of the total global arms import, India’s share was 11 percent.
• The country is the top arms importer since 1993-2022.
• Russia was the largest arms supplier to India during 2018-2022. India largely imports arms from Russia, France, and Israel.
• India was followed by Saudi Arabia (9.6%), Qatar (6.4%), Australia (4.7%), and China (4.7%) as world’s largest arms importer.

GDP

CRISIL Projects Indian Economy to grow 6% in FY24

• The rating agency CRISIL has projected the economy of India to grow 6 percent in the next fiscal, 2023-2024 (FY24)
• The economy is projected to grow 7 percent in the current fiscal FY23 (2022-2023).
• CRISIL also projects the economy to grow at an average of 6.8 percent over the next five fiscals.
• Crisil Chief Economist DK Joshi.

Business

LIC sells 2% stake in NMDC for Rs 702 crore

• The Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) has sold 2 percent of its equity stake in state-owned NMDC, as of March 14, 2023.
• This will take the total shareholding of LIC in NMDC to 11.69 percent from 13.69% earlier through open market transaction.  The deal was executed at an average price of Rs 119.37 per share.
• Under the deal, LIC received Rs 702 crore, as it sold about 5.88 lakh shares at an average price of Rs 119.37 per share.
• The national miner NMDC is engaged in exploration and production of iron ore.

Appointment

Gianni Infantino re-elected as FIFA President

• Gianni Infantino has been re-elected as the President of FIFA, the world football’s governing body.
• This will be his third term as the FIFA President. His four year term will end in 2027.
• The 52-year-old Swiss lawyer, Gianni Infantino took over his first four year term in 2016, where he succeeded Sepp Blatter.
• The election was held at FIFA’s 73rd Congress in Kigali, Rwanda, where Gianni Infantino was the only candidate for the election.
• FIFA Headquarters: Zurich, Switzerland

TCS MD & CEO Rajesh Gopinathan steps down; K Krithivasan named successor

• The Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) CEO Rajesh Gopinathan has announced to resign from the post, to pursue other interests.
• His resignation will be effective from September 15, 2023.
• Meanwhile, K Krithivasan, who serves as president and head of global financial services business at the company, has been named as the CEO-designate, effective from March 16, 2023.
• Krithivasan would take over as CEO and managing director in September 2023.

Award

Indian American Teen Neel Moudgal Wins US Regeneron Science Talent Search Prize 

• An Indian-origin American teen, Neel Moudgal has won the 2023 Regeneron Science Talent Search.
• It is the the oldest and most prestigious science and math competition for high school seniors, in the United States. It is also known as the US’ Junior Nobel in math and science.
• The award carries $250,000 prize for the top winner.
• The 17-year-old Neel hails from Saline, Michigan. He won the first place, from among 40 finalists,  for developing a computer model that can rapidly and reliably predict the structure of various RNA molecules using only easily accessible data.
• Emily Ocasio of Fairfax, Virginia won second place, while the Ellen Xu of San Diego, California, won the third place..

Sports

ICC Player of the Month for January and February 2023

• The International Cricket Council (ICC) has announced the winners of the ICC Player of the Month awards for January 2023 and February 2023.
• The winners are as follows:
  • January 2023 ICC Women’s Player of the Month -England’s Grace Scrivens
  • January 2023 ICC Men’s Player of the Month – India’s Shubman Gill
  • February 2023 ICC Women’s Player of the Month – Australia’s Ashleigh Gardner
  • February 2023 ICC Men’s Player of the Month – England’s Harry Brook

Aleem Dar from Pakistan steps down from ICC’s Elite Panel of Umpires

• Pakistani umpire Aleem Dar has stepped down from the ICC’s Elite Panel after being a part of it for 19 years.
• The 54-year-old has officiated in a record 435 men’s Tests (144), ODIs (222) and T20Is including four World Cup finals.
• Dar was the first Pakistan umpire to be named on the Elite Panel.
• Additionally, ICC has onboarded two new umpires onto their Elite Panel. This takes the total number of Umpires on the list to 12 from 11..
• They are Adrian Holdstock (South Africa) and Ahsan Raza (Pakistan).
• Other umpires on the list are Chris Gaffaney (New Zealand), Kumar Dharmasena (Sri Lanka), Marais Erasmus (South Africa), Michael Gough (England), Nitin Menon (India), Paul Reiffel (Australia), Richard Illingworth (England), Richard Kettleborough (England), Rodney Tucker (Australia), Joel Wilson (West Indies).

Important Days

World Sleep Day: March 17

• The World Sleep Day is observed globally on March 17 every year to highlight the importance of sleep.
• The day was started in 2008 by the World Sleep Day Committee of the World Sleep Society.
• The theme of the day in 2023 is “Sleep Is Essential for Health”.

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