• Prime Minister Narendra Modi on May 28 released a special commemorative postage stamp and a 75 coin to mark the inauguration of the new Parliament building. He released the coin and the stamp at the inauguration event held at the Lok Sabha chamber of the new Parliament building.
• The obverse face of the coin bears the Lion Capital of ‘Ashoka Pillar’ in the centre with the legend ‘Satyamev Jayate’ inscribed below. The Ashoka Pillar is flanked by the word ‘Bharat’ in Devnagri script on the left periphery and the word ‘INDIA’ in English on the right periphery.

• A three-day international labour conclave was inaugurated by Kerala Chief Minister Shri Pinarayi Vijayan. The conclave has been organised by the Labour department in association with the State Planning Board.
• Telangana Labor Minister Chamkura Malla Reddy, Bihar Labor Resources Minister Surendra Ram, and India head of the International Labor Organization (ILO) Satoshi Sasaki attended the inauguration. It will pave the way for new policies and changes in the labour sector in Kerala.

• Union Minister Giriraj Singh launched the SAMARTH campaign to promote digital transactions at the Gram Panchayat level. The campaign aims to empower women and promote digital transactions in rural areas. The campaign was launched in Lucknow as part of the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav.
• It is an initiative of the Ministry of Rural Development.
• It aims to promote digital transactions in 50,000 gram panchayats across India. The campaign is in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav to mark 75 years of India's independence. The campaign started on February 1, 2023 and will run till August 15, 2023.

• The second meeting of the G-20 Anti-Corruption Working Group (ACWG) organized by the Union Ministry of Defense and Tourism from 25 to 27 May 2023 was held in Rishikesh (Tehri).The meeting witnessed wide participation of 90 delegates from 20 member countries, 10 invited countries and 9 international organizations including UNODC, OECD, Egmont Group, INTERPOL and IMF.
• A unique ancillary event was organized on the first day of the G-20 Anti-Corruption Working Group on 'Gender and Corruption'. India looks forward to hosting the delegates again in Kolkata on 9-11 August 2023 for the 3rd meeting of the ACWG. India will also host the first ever in-person anti-corruption ministerial meeting to give further momentum to the G-20 agenda of strengthening the international fight against corruption.

• Patna Municipal Corporation in Bihar, India, has become the first municipal corporation in the country to adopt Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC). The digital currency called e-Rupee generated by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will be used in the entire Patna Municipal Corporation area.The launch event took place on May 23, 2023 with the participation of the Mayor, Deputy Mayor and Municipal Commissioner of Patna Municipal Corporation.
• The implementation of the CBDC will start from the municipal headquarters in the Maurya Lok complex, and later extend to all regional offices and payment counters within the corporation.
• A workshop was organised for the corporators to educate them about the benefits and applications of digital e-Rupee currency.

• Government of Goa and the Government of Uttarakhand have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to collaborate towards enhancing the tourism landscape of both Goa and Uttarakhand.
• The MoU is aimed at promoting bilateral cooperation in the travel and tourism sector and facilitating travel between the states to increase the number of tourists visiting Goa and Uttarakhand respectively.

• Indian Army’s Sapta Shakti Command conducted the exercise ‘Sudarshan Shakti 2023’ From May 22 to 25, along Rajasthan’s western borders. ‘Sudarshan Shakti 2023’ was created to test operational plans in a network-centric setting. Combat power, combat support, and logistic support were used in tandem across all domains of enemy danger, including Grey Zone Warfare, as part of high-tempo operations.

• The sea phase of the second edition of bilateral exercise ‘Al Mohed Al Hindi 23’, between the Indian Navy and the Royal Saudi Naval Force (RSNF) has been conducted successfully.
• The exercise was held from May 23-25 in Al Jubail, Saudi Arabia. The three-day exercise at sea witnessed a wide spectrum of maritime operations. The successful conduct of 'Al Mohed Al Hindi - 2023' showcased the high level of professionalism, interoperability and exchange of best practices between the two navies. The bilateral exercise has been successful in meeting all its set objectives.

• Dr. Jagadish Pillai of Varanasi created a Guinness World Record by singing Shri Ramcharitmanas for 138 hours, 41 minutes and two seconds.This achievement made Shri Ramcharitmanas the longest song in the world.
• Dr. Jagadish Pillai has been credited with five years of broadcast of Sri Ramcharitmanas recitals on more than 100 official audio channels across the globe.His rendition was streamed on official music platforms such as Apple Music, Spotify, Amazon Music and others.The entire process of recording, editing and mixing took four years, 63 days and 295 hours to complete. The previous record for the longest song was held by UK's Mark Christopher Lee and The Pocket Gods on December 1, 2021 with a duration of 115 hours and 45 minutes.

• Five-time World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen won the 2023 Superbet Rapid & Blitz Poland, the second leg of the Grand Chess Tour (GCT) at the Museum of the History of Polish Jews. The Norwegian Grandmaster, the World No.1, finished with a score of 24/36, taking home the $40,000 1st place prize.
• Placed second was local favourite and defending champion Jan-Krzyzstof Duda, who led until the final day and ended just a point behind with 23/36, after nearly winning a final game against Carlsen that would have forced a playoff. Tied for third were Wesley So of the United States and France’s Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, each with 21.5 points, with Levon Aronian finishing in clear fifth place with 20.5.

Download Daily GK PDF of 28 May 2023