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Daily Current Affairs – 23 & 24 April 2023

This post contains the current affairs for 23 & 24 April 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

Jal Shakti Ministry Releases First Ever Census on Water Bodies in India

The Union Ministry of Jal Shakti conducted the first-ever census of water bodies across the nation, in order to have a comprehensive national database of all water bodies..
24,24,540 water bodies have been enumerated in the country. Of these, 97.1% (23,55,055) are in rural areas and only 2.9% (69,485) are in urban areas.
59.5% of water bodies are ponds, followed by tanks (15.7%), reservoirs (12.1%), Water conservation schemes/percolation tanks/check dams (9.3%), lakes (0.9%) and others (2.5%).
55.2% of water bodies are owned by private entities whereas 44.8% of water bodies are under public ownership.
Among all ‘in use’ water bodies, mostly water bodies are used in pisciculture followed by Irrigation.
78% water bodies are man-made water bodies whereas 22% are natural water bodies.
Read more here

President Murmu addresses 19^th convocation of ICAR National Dairy Research Institute at Karnal

The President of India, Smt. Droupadi Murmu addressed the 19^th convocation of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research – National Dairy Research Institute (ICAR-NDRI) at Karnal, Haryana on April 24, 2023.
The dairy sector contributes about 5 percent to the country’s GDP.

Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan inaugurates ‘Future of Work’ exhibition in Bhubaneswar

The Union Minister for Education and Skill Development & Entrepreneurship, Shri Dharmendra Pradhan, inaugurated ‘Future of Work’ exhibition on April 23, 2023.
This one of its kind exclusive exhibition was organised on the sidelines of the 3^rd Education Working Group (EdWG) meeting under G20 presidency from April 23^rd to 28^th at CSIR-Institute of Minerals and Materials Technology (IMMT), Bhubaneswar, Odisha.
The premier institutes and organizations from diverse sectors will display technologies that will drive the future of work with constant innovations in modern workplace, future skills, and innovative delivery models.

Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal inaugurates National Technology Centre for Ports, Waterways & Coasts, IIT M – Discovery Campus at Chennai

Union Minister of Ports, Shipping & Waterways and Ayush, Shri Sarbananda Sonowal inaugurated major infrastructure projects in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, worth more than ₹148 crore on APril 23, 2023.
These projects will help to boost the capacity of Chennai and Kamarajar ports in the state.
India and Russia are also planning to open up ‘Chennai-Vladivostok Maritime Corridor’ in order to bolster the maritime trade between the two countries.
The minister also inaugurated the National Technology Centre for Ports, Waterways and Coasts (NTCWPC) IIT M – Discovery Campus, at IIT Chennai.
The NTCWPC has been established at a cost of Rs. 77 Crore, under the Sagarmala Programme.

India, Iran and Armenia forms new trilateral to deepen regional relations

India, Iran and Armenia have formed a trilateral grouping, to further deepen regional cooperation between the three countries.
The first trilateral political consultation of this group was held between the foreign affairs ministries of the three nations, in Yerevan, Armenia.
Discussions were held on economic issues, regional communication channels and the prospects of deepening cultural and people-to-people contacts.
The trilateral grouping have agreed to hold future meetings in a trilateral format.
The initiative will open up opportunities in different areas for cooperation including energy, transportation, trade, investment and transportation.
Representatives of the three countries who led their delegation in the first consultation were
- JP Singh, the joint secretary of the Ministry of External Affairs of India
- Mnatsakan Safaryan, deputy foreign minister of Armenia
- Seyed Rasoul Mousavi, the assistant of the foreign minister of Iran
This is for the first time that trilateral group has been formed between the three nations.

India’s first Water Metro services to be launched in Kochi by PM Modi

India’s first “Water Metro” services will be inaugurated by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi on April 25, 2023 in Kochi, Kerala.
This initiative will give boost to economic growth, tourism and transport connectivity, as well as accelerate the growth and development of Kochi.
The Water Metro service is a unique urban mass transit system, which will give similar experience and ease of travel as that of conventional metro system.
Overall project cost is of Rs 1,136.83 crore, which will be funded by Government of Kerala and German bank KfW.
Read more here

DRDO and Indian Navy successfully tests sea-based BMD interceptor missile

The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and the Indian Navy successfully conducted a maiden flight trial of a sea-based endo-atmospheric interceptor missile off the coast of Odisha in the Bay of Bengal.
With this successful test, India has entered an elite club of nations which have the capability to fire a Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) interceptor from a naval platform.
Only a few countries like the US, Russia, Israel and China have fully-operational BMD system.
The purpose of the trial was to engage and neutralize a hostile ballistic missile threat.
Endo-atmospheric interception means the missile destroyed the incoming enemy ballistic missile within the Earth’s atmosphere.
On the other hand, Exo-atmospheric interception means destroying incoming enemy ballistic missiles outside of the Earth’s atmosphere at a higher altitude.

Ranking

India is Fourth biggest military spender in world: SIPRI Report

India was the fourth biggest military spender in the world in 2022 as per the report published by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (Sipri) on April 24, 2023.
The total military spending of India was of $81.4 billion in 2022. It was 6.0 percent more than in 2021, and up by 47% from 2013.
AS per the report, the United States emerged as the largest military spender, reaching $877 billion in 2022.
China (2nd)($292 billion), Russia (3rd) ($86.4 billion) and Saudi Arabia (5th) ($75.0 billion) are the top 5 biggest military spender in 2022.
The total global military expenditure in 2022 increased by 3.7 percent in real terms to reach an all-time high of $2240 billion. This was an increase for the eighth consecutive year.
The three largest spenders of 2022, that means the United States, China and Russia,—accounted for 56 percent of the world total spending.

Banking

HDFC Bank and Axis Bank to acquire 9.94 percent stake each in Go Digit’s life insurance business

Private sector lenders Axis Bank and HDFC Bank have signed definitive agreements to acquire up to a 9.94 percent stake each in insurance tech startup GoDigit Life Insurance.
Both the banks will invest ₹69.90 crore each in two tranches.
The banks have already made the payment of first tranche of Rs 10.93 crore each.

Sports

India Wins 4 medals including 2 gold at 2023 Archery World Cup Stage-I in Turkey

The stage -I of the 2023 Archery World Cup was held from 18-23 April at Antalya, Turkey.
India managed to win 4 medals which included 4 gold, 1 silver and 1 bronze.
Jyothi Surekha Vennam won the gold medal in Women’s compound individual event
The duo of Jyothi Surekha Vennam and Ojas Pravin Deotale won in mixed compound team event.
The silver medal was won by the Indian men’s recurve team after losing to China in a shoot-off.
The bronze medal came from Dhiraj Bommadevara, in men’s recurve individual.

Days

World Book and Copyright Day: 23 April

The World Book and Copyright Day is an annual event organized on April 23 by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to promote reading, publishing, and copyright.
It is also known as‘International Day of the Book’ and ‘World Book Day’.
Theme for 2023 – Indigenous Languages!
The first World Book Day was celebrated on 23 April 1995.
April 23 is chosen because it marks the birth and death of several prominent authors. For instance, William Shakespeare, Miguel de Cervantes, and Josep Pla died on April 23 and Manuel Mejia Vallejo and Maurice Druon were born on April 23.
World Book Capital
- As a part of the Day, UNESCO selects the World Book Capital every year for a one-year period, effective 23 April each year. The World Book Capital for 2023 is Accra, Ghana.

UN English Language Day & UN Spanish Language Day : 23 April

The UN English Language Day and UN Spanish Language Day is observed annually on 23 April.
For English, 23 April has been chosen to mark both the birthday and date of death of William Shakespeare.
For Spanish Language, the Day was chosen because the day is also observed as Hispanic Day in Spain, meaning the Spanish speaking world.

National Panchayati Raj Day: 24 April

In India, the National Panchayati Raj Day (National Local Self-Government day) is observed annually on 24 April by the Ministry of Panchayati Raj to celebrate the Panchayati Raj System in the country.
The first National Panchayati Raj Day was declared by the then Prime Minister of India Shri Manmohan Singh, on 24 April 2010.
The day marks the passing of Constitution (73rd Amendment) Act, 1992 that came into force with effect from 24 April 1993.

World Day for Laboratory Animals 2023: 24 April

The World Day For Animals In Laboratories (WDAIL) is observed every year on 24 April.
WDAIL is also known as World Lab Animal Day or World Day for Laboratory Animals.
The day was instituted in 1979 by the National Anti-Vivisection Society (NAVS), as an “international day of commemoration” for animals in laboratories.
WDAIL aims to end the suffering of animals in laboratories around the world and promote their replacement with advanced scientific non-animal techniques.
Apart from this, the “World Week for Animals In Laboratories” (Lab Animal Week) is celebrated from April 20 to 26.

International Day of Multilateralism and Diplomacy for Peace: 24 April

The International Day of Multilateralism and Diplomacy for Peace is marked on 24 April since 2019.
The day was declared by the UN General Assembly in December 2018 and was observed for the first time on 24 April 2019.
The day aims to spread knowledge about the advantages of multilateralism and diplomacy for peace, including through educational and public awareness-raising activities.

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