• One 97 Communications Ltd, the parent company of fintech firm Paytm, has appointed Bhavesh Gupta as its president and chief operating officer. Gupta was CEO of lending and head of payments at the company. Prior to joining Paytm in 2020, Gupta held roles including CEO of Clix Capital (formerly known as GE Capital), head of SME & business banking at IDFC Bank.

• Union Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions Dr. Jitendra Singh inaugurated the 8th All India Pension Adalat in Delhi. The objective of the event is to address and resolve old pension cases. The Department has organised 7 All India Pension Adalats to handle a total of 24,218 cases out of which 17,235 cases have been resolved successfully.
• The minister will chair the 50th Pre-Retirement Counseling (PRC) workshop, which is being organised by the Department of Pension and Pensioners' Welfare. The PRC Workshop has been designed for 1200 officials from various Ministries and Departments who will be retiring within the next 6 months.

• According to Morgan Stanley, India is benefitting from a combination of cyclical and structural tailwinds and is expected to contribute 16 per cent of the global gross domestic product (GDP) growth over 2023-24.
• As the Indian economy continues to outperform its counterparts in Asia and defy the weakness seen outside the region, the country is benefitting from a combination of cyclical and structural factors. With various indicators pointing towards a robust and broad-based recovery, India is expected to contribute 16% to global GDP growth over the period of 2023-2024.

• Mobile phones are now considered a necessity by all citizens as you are all aware. This supports people in their day to day activities. On mobile, there are many different sorts of citizen information. Theft of a mobile device in this circumstance causes a lot of issues for the public. In consideration of this the Central Government has introduced the Sanchar Saathi portal.
• Through this platform, residents may locate their stolen cellphone. It can also be blocked in addition to this. We shall explain how to register on the Sanchar Saathi Portal to you through this article. You will also be given more important details about this portal, including its objective, benefits, required documents and other details.

• Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) would set up an ethanol plant at Jeetpur Baheri in Una district at a cost of Rs 500 crore. Sukhu stated that the government is prepared to contribute 50% of the equity in the project and would offer the company assistance in establishing the facility.
• The Chief Minister received an assurance from HPCL that the company's Board of Directors would discuss the government's request. The district government was also given instructions by the chief minister to guarantee that all barriers to the plant's construction are eliminated and to begin land acquisition for the approach route from Bhanjal to Jeetpur Behri within 10 days.

• Gajraj Corps of the Indian Army conducted a Joint Flood Relief ‘Exercise Jal Rahat’ at Hagrama Bridge on Manas River, Assam to validate joint drills and coordinate preparedness by multi-agency flood relief columns.
• Apart from Indian Army- SSB, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), District Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) and police representatives took part. The event included coordination and rehearsals for rescue mission of people from inundated areas by joint efforts of specialist teams from Army, NDRF and SDRF.

• The bilateral exercise between India and Indonesia, known as Samudra Shakti-23, has commenced recently. The indigenously built anti-submarine warfare corvette INS Kavaratti arrived at Batam, Indonesia to take part in this exercise
• The primary purpose of the Samudra Shakti exercise is to enhance interoperability and mutual cooperation between the naval forces of India and Indonesia. By conducting joint exercises and sharing best practices, the navies aim to strengthen their operational capabilities and foster regional peace and stability.

• The Government of India has appointed Ravneet Kaur, 1988-batch Punjab cadre IAS officer as the new chairperson of the Competition Commission of India (CCI). Her appointment will be for five years from the date she assumes charge or till the date of attaining the age of 65 years or until further orders, whichever is earlier. Sangeeta Verma has been serving as the acting Chairperson of CCI.
• Presently, Ravneet Kaur is the Additional Chief Secretary and Financial Commissioner at the Department of Revenue, Rehabilitation and Disaster Management in Chandigarh.

• “Gauri,” a documentary based on journalist and activist Gauri Lankesh, directed by Kavitha Lankesh, has won the “Best Long Documentary Award” at the South Asian Film Festival of Montreal 2023. The documentary “All That Breathes”, which was an Oscar nominee, was also in competition and won the runner-up prize.
• The documentary film “Gauri” has been commissioned by Free Press Unlimited, Amsterdam. Free Press Unlimited mission stems from Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes the freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.

Download Daily GK PDF of 17 May 2023