Current Affairs in English – April 4 2023

April 4, 2023

National Events:

Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs:

• The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs informed the Rajya Sabha that under the PM SVANidhi scheme, 42.7 lakh loans worth ₹5,152.37 crore have been disbursed to street vendors. Shockingly, only 9.3% of these loans were granted to hawkers from minority communities, totaling 3.98 lakh loans.
• To assist street vendors in overcoming the economic difficulties caused by the pandemic, the government launched the PM SVANidhi micro-credit scheme in 2020. This initiative provides collateral-free loans of ₹10,000, with 7% interest subsidy, and subsequent loans of ₹20,000 and ₹50,000.

Fino Payments Bank:

• Fino Payments Bank, in April 2023, announced that it has renewed its association with Rajasthan Royals for season 16 of the Indian Premier League (IPL).
• The partnership is expected to provide innovative digital banking solutions to a wider audience. In 2023, Fino Bank is also powering a grassroots-level talent hunt called “Cricket Ka Ticket” to discover India’s next cricketing superstar.

GDP:

• According to a report released on 4 April 2023 by the World Bank, India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth is predicted to slow down on April 1 to 6.3% from 6.6% in the fiscal year 2024.
• The World Bank estimated 2023 fiscal year’s growth at 6.9%. It projected the current account deficit to narrow to 2.1% of gross domestic product for the current fiscal year from an estimated 3% in 2022.

CDRI:

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 4 April 2023 addressed the 5th International Conference on Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (ICDRI) 2023.
• CDRI is an international coalition of countries that aims to promote disaster-resilient infrastructure. The theme of the conference for the year 2023 is ‘Delivering Resilient and Inclusive Infrastructure’.

SHGS:

• Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on 3 April 2023, approved a proposal for giving 8% interest subsidy on loans obtained by the members of women’s self help groups (SHGS) from Mahila Nidhi.
• Mahila Nidhi is the State’s first-ever women’s cooperative fund. Established in Jaipur in August 2022, It is operated entirely by women and acts as a complementary body with the formal banking system.

Cool Roof:

• Telangana government, on 3 April 2023, launched the ‘cool roof’ policy to reduce temperatures in Hyderabad and other urban areas in the State.
• In the first year, the State government has set a target to ‘cool roof’ an area of 7.5 square kilometers, including 5 sq km in Hyderabad. Cool roofing can be implemented by using paints, tiles, or other materials to reflect sunlight.

Mahavir Jayanti:

• Mahavir Jayanti is going to be celebrated on April 4, 2023. It celebrates the birth of Lord Mahavir, the twenty-fourth and last Tirthankara in Jainism.
• He was born on the 13th day of Shukla Paksha in the month of Chaitra. He was born into the Ikshvaku dynasty as the son of King Siddhartha of Kundagrama and Queen Trishala. He was named ‘Vardhaman’, meaning “One who grows”.

GI:

• The world-famous Basohli painting from Jammu and Kashmir’s Kathua district obtained the Geographical Indication (GI) Tag on 3 April 2023.
• The GI tag to a product, goods or speciality grants legal protection to the original producers and prevents their unauthorised use by third parties.
• Basohli painting of Kathua is the first independent Gl tagged product from Jammu region.

B20:

• Nagaland’s capital Kohima will host Business-20 (B20) Conferences in the North East Region from April 4-6, 2023.
• The conferences will be held in partnership with the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) and North Eastern State governments for exploring partnerships among business communities.
• The B20 is the official G20 dialogue forum representing the global business community.

International Events:

Japan:

• Japan has begun purchasing Russian oil at prices above the cap of $60-a-barrel in April 2023.
• According to the report, Japan got the US to agree to the exception.
• The report suggests that Japan is the only Group of Seven nation not to supply lethal weapons to Ukraine, and Prime Minister Fumio Kishida was the last G-7 leader to visit Ukraine after Russia’s invasion.

Hinduphobia:

• The Georgia Assembly in the United States of America (USA) on 2 April 2023, passed a resolution condemning Hinduphobia, making it the first American State to take such a legislative measure.
• Condemning Hinduphobia and anti-Hindu bigotry, the resolution said Hinduism is one of the world’s largest and oldest religions with over 1.2 billion adherents in over 100 countries.

Kenya Space Agency:

• The Kenya Space Agency is set to launch the country’s first operational earth observation satellite on 10 April 2023.
• Taifa-1, or one nation in Swahili, is scheduled to be launched on April 10 on board the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. In 2018, Kenya launched its first experimental nanosatellite from the International Space Station.

Romania & India:

• Romania’s deputy defence minister, Simona Cojocaru, recently met with India’s defence secretary, Giridhar Aramane, in New Delhi, during which the two countries signed their first Defence Cooperation Agreement.
• Cojocaru emphasised the significance of the pact, saying that it would provide the basis for expanding their military relationship and offering opportunities to work together in various fields.
• She also noted that Romania and India had already collaborated in a multinational environment, such as UN missions, and highlighted their joint contribution to enhancing stability and strengthening peace and security.

Cope India:

• Next week, India’s Sukhoi-30s, which are made in Russia, will participate in an exercise named ‘Cope India’ that involves dogfighting with American F-15 Strike Eagle fighter jets. The exercise was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and is taking place after a four-year gap.
• Cope India is a series of wargames that originated in 2004 as a fighter training exercise held at Gwalior air station.
• Over the years, the exercise has expanded to include a variety of training activities, including subject matter expert exchanges, air mobility training, airdrop training, and large-force exercises, in addition to fighter-training exercises. The previous edition of the exercise was held in 2019.

International Day of Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action:

• Every year on April 4, the world observes the International Day of Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action, with the aim of creating awareness about the dangers of explosive mines and generating support for efforts aimed at eliminating them.
• The UN Mine Action Service (UNMAS) leads the mine action community, which plays a crucial role in achieving the goals of mine action.
• The United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) has selected the theme “Mine Action Cannot Wait” for this year’s campaign, which seeks to draw attention to the long-standing issues caused by explosive mines in countries like Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam.

Black Hole:

• Scientists have made a noteworthy discovery in astronomy by identifying the nearest black hole to our planet, which is located nearby in space.
• This remarkable discovery presents new prospects for studying these mysterious entities and comprehending their impact on the structure of the cosmos.
• Astronomers have utilized the Gaia satellite of the European Space Agency to detect a black hole called BH1.
• The black hole has been located within a distance of only 1,000 light-years from Earth, which is the closest proximity that any black hole has ever been found. The Gaia satellite has been created to accurately measure the movements and positions of stars present in the Milky Way galaxy.

Artemis II:

• After a 50-year break, NASA has announced the names of the four astronauts who will be taking humans back to the Artemis II Moon Mission. For the first time, a woman astronaut, Christina Koch, and a black astronaut, Victor Glover, will be part of a lunar mission.
• The team, along with Reid Wiseman and Jeremy Hansen, will orbit the Moon in a capsule in late 2022 or early 2025. While they will not land on the Moon, their mission will prepare the way for a future crew to make a touchdown.
• The most recent human spaceflight mission to the Moon was Apollo 17 in December 1972, and the first landing was made by Apollo 11 in 1969.
• The next lunar landing, known as Artemis-3, is not expected to happen until at least a year after Artemis-2. Currently, NASA does not possess a system that can bring astronauts down to the lunar surface, but Elon Musk’s SpaceX company is developing one.

Anjali Sharma:

• Anjali Sharma has made her state and country proud by successfully scaling the peak of Mount Kilimanjaro in South Africa while wearing a traditional Gaddi dress (Luanchadi).
• She is the first Indian woman to achieve this feat while wearing the Gaddi costume, and she aims to promote Gaddi culture on mountain peaks.
• Anjali had previously conquered a peak of 5289 meters at the age of 15 and also climbed Hanuman Tibba and Pahar Deo, both over 6001 meters in height. The Gaddi dress, or Luanchadi, is a traditional costume from the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh.

Chinese government:

• To lay claim to areas inside the Indian territory, the Chinese government on 4 April 2023 announced it would “standardise” the names of 11 places in Arunachal Pradesh.
• Releasing a list of the 11 places along with a map that shows parts of Arunachal Pradesh that China refers to as Zangnan. In 2017, the Chinese Ministry of Civilian Affairs put out a similar list of six places.

Sports Events:

Asian Kho Kho Championships:

• India emerged as the winners in both men’s and women’s categories at the 4th Asian Kho Kho Championships held in Tamulpur, located in the Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR) of north-central Assam’s Baksa district.
• In the finals, the Indian men’s team beat Nepal by a margin of 6 points and an inning, while the Indian women’s team outscored their Nepalese opponents by 33 points and an inning.