Daily Current Affairs 18th April 2023

Current Affairs 18th April 2023 are incorporated with the important news that made the current affairs headlines for banking or other competitive exams. Daily Current Affairs is the complete bag of important news that is held all day long. One should have complete knowledge about banking terms, current affairs news, etc. So, here is the GK update for 18th April 2023 to help you prepare the Current affairs part. After reading this section, you can successfully attempt Current Affairs Quiz. 

Here is the Current Affairs 18th April 2023 covering the following news headlines: 16th Visa application center, US-India univ partnerships, largest ‘narco-state, Tsho Sum Namyig Lhakhang, Water Budget.

Top 15 Daily Current Affairs: National & International News:

Here is providing below the top 15 important Daily General Knowledge 2023 updates with national & international news.

                                   National News

1. India opens its 16th Visa application center in Kushtia

• The 16th Indian Visa Application Centre (IVAC) in Bangladesh was inaugurated by High Commissioner Pranya Verma in Kushtia town.
• The opening ceremony was attended by Mahbubul Alam Hanif, a Member of Parliament from Kushtia-3.
• The IVAC is expected to provide more convenience and accessibility to the residents of Kushtia and nearby areas who need to apply for visas to travel to India.

2. India-born academic named in task force to expand US-India univ partnerships

• Neeli Bendapudi, an academic of Indian origin, has been selected as one of the five co-chairs of an Association of American Universities (AAU) task force that aims to enhance research and academic collaborations among higher education institutions in the United States and India.
• In collaboration with the Biden administration’s US-India initiative on critical and emerging technology, AAU has established a national task force that aims to expand technological and industrial cooperation between the United States and India.

                                International News

3. Syria becomes world’s largest ‘narco-state’: Report

• According to reports, Syria has now become the world’s largest narco-state, with the majority of its foreign currency earnings coming from the production and export of Captagon, a highly addictive amphetamine commonly referred to as “poor man’s coke”.
• In line with the definition provided by Collins Dictionary, Syria can be classified as a narco-state as the illegal trade of narcotics, specifically Captagon, forms a significant portion of its economy, accounting for over 90 percent of the country’s foreign currency earnings.

                                        State News

4. Arunachal Pradesh CM inaugurates Shar Nyima Tsho Sum Namyig Lhakhang

• The Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh, Pema Khandu, inaugurated the newly renovated Shar Nyima Tsho Sum Namyig Lhakhang (Gonpa) at Gyangkhar, his native village in Tawang district.
• The Gonpa has great historical significance for the well-being of humans, particularly for the people of Shar Nyima Tsho Sum and all Buddhists in general.
• The 11-12th century Gonpa was on the verge of collapse, but it has now been renovated, and all the necessary rituals and blessings have been performed to restore it to its former glory.

5. In a first, Kerala adopts Water Budget to tackle problem of summer water shortage

• An abundance of rivers, streams, backwaters and a good amount of rainfall contribute to the lush greenery in Kerala, many parts of which yet face acute water scarcity when it comes to the summers.
• And this has led to the state adopting a Water Budget — the first of its kind in the country.
• The details of the first phase of the Water Budget in the state covering 94 grama panchayats in 15 block panchayats were unveiled by Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.

                                 Economy News

6. CBIC likely to introduce new system of publishing daily currency exchange rates

• The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) is reportedly set to replace the existing fortnightly notification system for currency exchange rates with a daily publishing system on the integrated customs portal.
• The move is expected to capture daily fluctuations in exchange rates, enabling importers and exporters to calculate customs duties with greater precision.
• The current system requires the CBIC to manually notify exchange rates of 22 currencies every fortnight, based on rates from the State Bank of India.

7. UAE India’s second largest export destination and third largest source of imports

• According to recent figures released by the Indian Ministry of Commerce, the UAE remains the second most significant export destination for India.
• The US and UAE held onto their first and second positions, respectively, during the financial year 2022-23.
• The ministry’s figures, released two weeks into the new fiscal year, indicate a six percent increase in India’s overall exports of goods and services during the financial year that concluded last month.

8. India to challenge WTO panel ruling on ICT import duties at appellate body

• India is set to appeal against the recent ruling by the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) trade dispute settlement panel, which found that the country’s import dues on certain information and technology products are inconsistent with global trade norms.
• The dispute was filed by the European Union, Japan, and Taiwan, which argued that the import duties imposed by India on certain informational and technology products violated WTO rules.

9. Wholesale inflation continues downtrend, moderates to 1.34% in March

• India’s wholesale-price based inflation eased in March 2023, as input prices continued to moderate.
• According to government data released on Monday, 17 April 2023.
• The annual wholesale price inflation (WPI) was recorded at 1.34% year-on-year, which is a significant decrease from the previous month’s reading of 3.85%.
• The figure is also lower than the Reuters poll estimate of 1.87%, indicating that the Indian economy is showing signs of stability.

                                        Banking News

10. What is Rupee Vostro Account system?

• The Rupee Vostro Account system is a financial arrangement that enables foreign banks to conduct transactions in Indian rupees with domestic banks.
• The term “vostro” is derived from the Latin phrase “in nostro vostro,” which translates to “in our account, in your account.”
• In this context, the domestic bank is referred to as the “vostro” bank, and the foreign bank is the “nostro” bank.

11. Sekhar Rao appointed as interim MD and CEO of Karnataka Bank

• Karnataka Bank, a private lender based in Mangaluru, announced that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has granted approval for the appointment of Sekhar Rao, the bank’s executive director, as the interim managing director and chief executive officer.

                                   Important Days

12. World Heritage Day 2023 observed on 18th April

• April 18th marks the observance of World Heritage Day, also referred to as International Day for Monuments and Sites.
• The primary objective of this day is to raise awareness of the significance of safeguarding cultural heritage, including historical structures, landmarks, and archaeological locations, and to celebrate the variety of global heritage.

                                      Science and Technology

13. DRDO Industry Academia Centre of Excellence inaugurated at IIT Hyderabad

• The inauguration of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) Industry Academia Centre of Excellence (DIA-CoE) took place at the Indian Institute of Technology-Hyderabad, making it the largest facility of its kind in the country.
• DRDO Chairman, Dr Samir V Kamat, inaugurated the facility at the IIT-Hyderabad campus in Telangana, and stated that the centre will take on futuristic projects for long-term research needed by DRDO.

14. IIT-I collaborates with NASA to develop low cost camera setu

• IIT Indore, in partnership with NASA-Caltech and the University of Gothenburg in Sweden, has designed an inexpensive camera setup that can capture multispectral images of four chemical species in a flame using a single DSLR camera.
• Previously, capturing such images required a complicated system with four cameras, but this new setup can simultaneously capture multiple spectral three-dimensional images of four chemical species in a flame using only one DSLR camera.

                                    Awards News

15. Raj Subramaniam honoured with Pravasi Bharatiya Samman

• Raj Subramaniam, the CEO of FedEx, a renowned global transportation company, and an Indian-American, was recently honored with the distinguished Pravasi Bharatiya Samman award.
• This award is the highest civilian recognition bestowed by India upon individuals of Indian descent and Indian diaspora.
• Due to travel restrictions, Subramaniam, aged 55, received the award from Taranjit Singh Sandhu, India’s Ambassador to the US, at a ceremony held at India House on Saturday instead of receiving it in India earlier this year.

Important Current Affairs of 18th April 2023