Daily Current Affairs – 21 March 2023

This post contains the current affairs for 21 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.

Banking

Switzerland’s Leading Bank UBS to buy rival Credit Suisse for $3.25 billion

• Switzerland’s biggest bank, UBS Group AG, is acquiring its rival Swiss bank, Credit Suisse, for CHF 3 billion (approximately $3.25 billion).
• Both the financial units are headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland.
• The deal is expected to close by the end of 2023.
• As part of the merger, all shareholders of Credit Suisse will get 1 equity share in UBS for their 22.48 shares in Credit Suisse.
• Once the merger is completed, Colm Kelleher will be Chairman and Ralph Hamers will be Group CEO of the merged entity.
• The takeover of 167-year-old Credit Suisse by UBS will secure financial stability in the global banking market and protect the Swiss economy.
• It shall further strengthen UBS’s position as the leading Swiss-based global wealth manager.
• This deal will be the first mega-merger of systemically important global banks since the 2008 financial crisis.

Ranking

India Ranks 126th; Finland tops 2023 World Happiness Index

• Finland is again adjudged as the happiest country in the world, as per the United Nations’ annual World Happiness Report for the year 2023, released on March 20.
• This is the sixth consecutive year that Finland is top ranked country in the Happiness Index, with a score of 7.8.
  • Denmark is ranked at second spot while, Iceland is ranked at third place.
  • Other countries in top 10 are Israel, Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, Switzerland, Luxembourg and New Zealand.
• India is ranked at 126th spot among 137 nations.

National

Pune-based Sampanna Ramesh Shelar becomes fastest Indian to swim across Palk Strait

• Pune-based swimmer, Sampanna Ramesh Shelar has become the fastest Indian in under 21 group to swim across the Palk Strait.
• Palk Strait is a strait between the Tamil Nadu and Talaimannar in the island nation of Sri Lanka. The total length of the strait is 29kms.
• Shelar completed his swim in 5 hours and 30 minutes. The previous record was 8 hours and 26 minutes.

Padma Lakshmi becomes first transgender lawyer of Kerala

• Kerala-based Padma Lakshmi has become the first transgender lawyer in the state.
• Lakshmi was one among the 1,529 law graduates who were admitted on the rolls of the Kerala Bar Council as advocates.
• It must be noted that the first trans advocate in the country was Tamil Nadu based Satyashri Sharmila who got enrolled in 2018.

Agreement

India-Japan sign 4th tranche of Rs 18K crore loan for Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project

• India and Japan have signed the documents for the fourth tranche of loan for India’s bullet train from Mumbai-Ahmedabad.
• The documents for the fourth tranche of the total of Rs 18,000 crore loan by Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) for the high speed train was signed on March 20, 2023, during the visit of Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to India.
• In 2017, JICA had committed a loan package of approximately Rs 18,000 crore for the construction of the Mumbai-Ahmedabad high-speed rail..

International

New York ranked as world’s most expensive city for business travel in 2022: ECA International

• New York has been named as the most expensive destination in the world in 2022 for business travel, according to the UK-based consulting firm ECA International.
• New York was noted to have an average daily costs at a rate of $796 per day.
• Other cities in top 10 included Geneva, Washington DC, Zurich, San Francisco, Tel Aviv, Los Angeles, London, Luanda and Paris
• The following expenses are counted to rank a city:
  • Hotel room (3, 4 and 5 star)
  • Meals
  • Laundry
  • Alcoholic and soft drinks
  • Incidental costs
  • Journeys by taxi
• Hong Kong was the most expensive destination in Asia. The average daily costs in Hong Kong is of $520.

Appointment

Indian-Origin Laxman Narasimhan takes charge as Starbucks CEO

• India-origin Laxman Narasimhan has been appointed as the new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of global coffee giant Starbucks.
• He succeeds the founder of the company Howard Schultz.
• Starbucks is one of the largest coffee chains in the world, headquartered at Seattle, Washington in USA.

Important Days

International Day of Forests 2023: 21 March

• The International Day of Forests (also known as World Forestry Day) is celebrated every year on March 21.
• The theme for International Day of Forests 2023 is “Forests and Health”.
• The day aims to celebrate and raise awareness of the importance of all types of forests, and trees outside forests, for the benefit of current and future generations as well as to increase the public awareness among communities about the values, significance and contributions of the forests to balance the life cycle on the earth.
• This day was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on November 28, 2012.

World Poetry Day 2023: 21 March

• The World Poetry Day is celebrated on 21 March every year to promote the reading, writing, publishing and teaching of poetry throughout the world.
• Theme of World Poetry Day in 2023 is “Always be a poet, even in prose.”
• The day was declared by the UNESCO (the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) in 1999.
• The objective of the day is to “give fresh recognition and impetus to national, regional and international poetry movements”, with the aim of supporting linguistic diversity through poetic expression and increasing the opportunity for endangered languages to be heard.

World Down Syndrome Day 2023: 21 March

• The World Down Syndrome Day (WDSD) is observed every year on 21 March to raise public awareness for the rights, inclusion and well being of people with Down syndrome.
• The Theme of 2023 World Down Syndrome Day is ‘Inclusion Means‘. 
• The day was officially recognised by the United Nations General Assembly in 2012.
• It must be noted that the 21st day of March (the 3rd month of the year) has been selected to signify the uniqueness of the triplication (trisomy) of the 21st chromosome which causes Down syndrome.

International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination 2023: 21 March

• The International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination is observed annually on 21 March to remind people about the negative consequences of racial discrimination.
• 2023 Theme: “75th anniversary of the UDHR – an impetus to combat racism”
• The United Nations General Assembly called for the day in 1966 to encourage people to remember their obligation and determination to combat racial discrimination.

World Puppetry Day 2023: 21 March

• The World Puppetry Day is observed every year on March 21, to promote the puppet arts.
• The first celebration was held in 2003.
• Theme 2023: The Call of the Forest.
• The idea of World Puppetry Day was proposed the Iranian puppet theater artist Javad Zolfaghari in 2000 at the XVIII Congress of the Union Internationale de la Marionnette, (UNIMA) in Magdeburg.
• Two years later in June 2002, the date of the celebration was identified by UNIMA.

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