Daily Current Affairs – 18 March 2023

This post contains the current affairs for 18 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.

GDP

Indian Economy to Grow 5.9% in FY24: OECD

• The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has raised India’s growth estimate for FY24 to 5.9 percent, in its latest interim outlook report, titled “Fragile Recovery.
• This is an increase by 20 basis points, compared to 5.7% estimated earlier.
  • FY 23 – 6.9 percent
  • FY 24 – 5.9 percent
  • FY 25 – 7.1 percent
• Global Economy Estimate
  • 2023 – 2.6%
  • 2024 – 2.9%

National

PM inaugurates Global Millets (Shree Anna) Conference in New Delhi

• Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi inaugurated the Global Millets (Shree Anna) Conference in New Delhi on March 18, 2023.
• The Conference has been organised by the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India to stimulate the exports of millets from India and provide market linkage to the producers.
• The two-day global conference will focus on promotion and awareness of millets among producers, consumers and other stakeholders; millets’ value chain development; health and nutritional aspects of millets; market linkages; research and development etc.
• India is the largest producer of millets.

Odisha’s Mayurbhanj and Ladakh among TIME magazine’s list of ‘World’s Greatest Places of 2023’

• The TIME Magazine has unveiled its list of the ‘World’s Greatest Places of 2023’, which lists ’50 extraordinary destinations across the world to explore’.
• This list contains two locations from India as well. They are Odisha’s Mayurbhanj district and the Union Territory of Ladakh.
• While Mayurbhanj has been selected for their rare tigers and ancient temples, Ladakh has been chosen for its adventures and eats.
• The complete list of ‘World’s Greatest Places of 2023’
  1. Tampa, Florida
  2. Willamette Valley, Oregon
  3. Rio Grande, P. R.
  4. Tucson, Arizona
  5. Yosemite National Park, California
  6. Bozeman, Montana
  7. Washington, D.C.
  8. Vancouver
  9. Churchill, Manitoba
  10. Dijon, France
  11. Pantelleria, Italy
  12. Naples, Italy
  13. Aarhus, Denmark
  14. St. Moritz, Switzerland
  15. Barcelona
  16. Timisoara, Romania
  17. Sylt, Germany
  18. Berat, Albania
  19. Budapest
  20. Vienna
  21. Brisbane, Australia
  22. Kangaroo Island, Australia
  23. Dominica
  24. Mexico City
  25. Guadalajara, Mexico
  26. Torres del Paine National Park, Chile
  27. Pantanal, Brazil
  28. Medellín, Colombia
  29. Ollantaytambo, Peru
  30. Roatán, Honduras
  31. Ladakh, India
  32. Mayurbhanj, India
  33. Kyoto
  34. Nagoya, Japan
  35. Isan, Thailand
  36. Phuket, Thailand
  37. Jeju Island, South Korea
  38. Luang Prabang, Laos
  39. Giza and Saqqara, Egypt
  40. Chyulu Hills, Kenya
  41. Musanze, Rwanda
  42. Rabat, Morocco
  43. Dakar, Senegal
  44. Loango National Park, Gabon
  45. Freetown Peninsula, Sierra Leone
  46. The Red Sea, Saudi Arabia
  47. Aqaba, Jordan
  48. Jerusalem
  49. Sharjah, UAE
  50. Tuamotu Archipelago, French Polynesia

Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot announces 19 new districts and 3 new divisions

• The Chief Minister of Rajasthan, Ashok Gehlot has announced the launch of 19 new districts and 3 new divisions in Rajasthan.
• Presently there are 33 districts in the state.
• With the creation of these 19 new districts, the total number of districts in Rajasthan will increase to 52.
•  The three new divisional headquarters are Pali, Sikar and Banswara.
• The 19 new districts are Anoopgarh, which was part of Ganganagar; Balotra (Barmer), Beawar (Ajmer), Kekri (Ajmer), Deeg (Bharatpur), Deedwana-Kuchaman (Nagaur), Dudu (Jaipur), Gangapur City (Sawai Madhopur), Jaipur North, Jaipur South, Jodhpur East, Jodhpur West, Kotputli-Behror (Jaipur-Alwar), Khertal (Alwar), Neem Ka Thana (Sikar), Phalodi (Jodhpur), Salumber (Udaipur), Sanchore (Jalore) and Shahpura (Bhilwara).

International

China’s Baidu Launches AI Chatbot ‘ERNIE’

• The Chinese search engine company BAIDU has launched an artificial intelligence-powered chatbot known as Ernie Bot.
• This AI product is similar to ChatGPT, a product by OpenAI.
• Ernie is built on Baidu’s in-house models – Enhanced Representation through Knowledge Integration (ERNIE) and Pre-trained Dialogue Generation Model (PLATO).
• ERNIE is capable of literary creation, mathematical calculation, business writing, understanding the Chinese language and multi-modal generation, comprehend human intentions and deliver logical responses that are human-like and fluent.

Award

Tamil writer Sivasankari awarded Saraswati Samman 2022 for her book Survya Vamsam

• Tamil writer Sivasankari has been selected for the prestigious Saraswati Samman for the year 2022.
• She has been chosen for her 2019 memoir Surya Vamsam, written in Tamil Language.
• Saraswati Samman has been instituted by the K.K. Birla Foundation in 1991. It is recognized as the most prestigious and the highest literary award in the country. The award carries an prize money of Rs. 15 lakh, a Citation and a Plaque.

Appointment

G. Krishnakumar appointed as Chairman and Managing Director of BPCL

• The State-run Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) has appointed G. Krishnakumar as the Chairman and Managing Director of the company.
• He will remain the CMD till April 2025.
• Currently G. Krishnakumar is serving as the Executive Director (Lubricants) at BPCL since 1987.

Sports

Former Australia Test captain Tim Paine announces retires

• Former Australia Test captain and Wicketkeeper, Tim Paine has announced his retirement from cricket.
• His last match was Marsh Sheffield Shield on 17 March 2023 in which his team Tasmania played against Queensland at the Bellerive Oval.
• Paine has played 35 Tests for Australia, including 23 as skipper, and 35 ODIs.

Important Days

World Sleep Day 2022 : 18 March

• The World Sleep Day is held every year on the Friday before Spring Vernal Equinox.  
• In 2023, the World Sleep Day falls on March 17, 2023.
• The theme of 2023 is “sleep is essential for health.”
• It is organized by the World Sleep Day Committee of World Sleep Society with the objective to lessen the burden of sleep problems on society through better prevention and management of sleep disorders.

Global Recycling Day 2022: 18 March

• The Global Recycling Day is observed every year on 18th March to recognise the importance of recycling as a resource, not waste.
• Theme for 2023 is “Creative Innovation”.
• The Global Recycling Day was created in 2018 by the London-based Global Recycling Foundation to promote the concept and practice of recycling and reuse.

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