• Lt. Manmeet Colon, a 37-year-old Indian-origin Sikh woman officer has assumed charge as the assistant police chief in the US state of Connecticut, becoming the department's first-ever second-in-command of Asian descent.
• Colon, a 15-year New Haven Police Department (NHPD) veteran, was sworn in as the city's third assistant police chief in a ceremony, the New Haven Independent newspaper reported.

• The first joint conference of army chiefs of India and African countries is being held in Pune.Defense Minister Rajnath Singh will attend the conference as the chief guest. Army Chief General Manoj Pandey will also be present.
• This will be the first-ever conference of Army Chiefs of these countries. Army chiefs of 10 countries along with 31 representatives of African countries are present in this conference. A defence exhibition will be held under the Atmanirbhar Bharat campaign and the aim of the exhibition is to target African countries as a market for defence products.

• Rajasthan becomes the first state in India to pass the ‘Right to Health (RTH) Bill’ in the Assembly. The RTH bill gives every resident of the state a right to avail free Out Patient Department (OPD) services and In Patient Department (IPD) services at all the public healthcare facilities.
• This would be provided free of cost at select private facilities. Under this bill, private hospitals will not be able to charge emergency patients and will be compensated by the state.Free healthcare services including diagnostics, drugs, emergency transport, emergency care, and procedure will be provided at public institutions.

• Shaktikanta Das-led Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is expected to hike the repo rate by 25 basis points (bps) come April, as retail inflation continues to remain hot and above the central bank’s upper tolerance limit of 6%.
• This is despite the fact that the recent collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank in the US has resulted in analysts saying the US Federal Reserve is likely to pause its rate hike spree to let the country’s banking system take a breather.

• NPCI, through a circular has recommended PPI charges for UPI payments. Introduction in interchange is in the range of 0.5-1.1 per cent. Here's all details about the charges, applicable from April 1, 2023.
• A recent circular from the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) suggested PPI charges to be applicable on merchant transactions on UPI from April 1.

• India, as the current chair of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), is set to host a meeting of National Security Advisors (NSA) and top officials in New Delhi.Pakistan and China are likely to attend the SCO-NSA meeting virtually.National Security Adviser Ajit Doval will make opening remarks at the meeting.
• The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) is an intergovernmental organization established in 2001 and it comprises eight member states, namely, India, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

• The Board of Directors of CEAT Ltd, an RPG Group company, has appointed Mr Anant Goenka as the Vice Chairman of the tyre major.The appointment will come into effect from April 1, 2023.
• Meanwhile, Mr Anant Goenka has resigned as the Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of CEAT Tyres, with effect from March 31, 2023.CEAT has appointed current Chief Operating Officer (COO) Mr Arnab Banerjee as the MD & CEO of CEAT Tyres for a tenure of 2 years starting April 1, 2023.

• Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras) Researchers have developed a three-dimensional (3D) paper-based portable device that can detect adulteration in milk within 30 seconds.
• This new technology can be used at home and only one milliliter of liquid sample is required to test for adulteration.The device can detect various commonly used adulterant agents such as detergent, soap, hydrogen peroxide, urea, starch, salt, and sodium-hydrogen-carbonate.  The traditional methods to test the purity of milk which are expensive and time consuming, this new technology is cost effective.

• South Indian Bank is associated with the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) for direct tax collections from retail and corporate taxpayers.The payment facility will allow taxpayers to remit Direct Taxes under ‘Over the Counter Mode’. The bank’s customers can make payments via ‘Over the Counter’ as well as ‘Internet Banking’ modes.

• The Foundation of SAARC Writers and Literature (FOSWAL) honoured Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman with a special literary award for his trilogy - Unfinished Memoirs, The Prison Diaries and The New China 1952.
• The award was presented at the ceremony to Bangladeshi writers and researchers Ramendu Majumdar and Mofidul Haque by eminent Punjabi novelist and founder president of FOSWAL Ajit Kaur.The award was given to Sheikh Mujibur Rahman for his outstanding literary excellence, as he is a towering figure of national emancipation of the oppressed people of the world.

Download Daily GK PDF of 29 March 2023