DAILY GK 2,3 APRIL
1. NEW INTEREST RATES ONSMALL SAVINGS SCHEMES
·
The
Department of Economic Affairs (DEA), Ministry of Finance (MoF) has announced
an interest rate hike on various Small Savings Schemes for the first quarter of
the financial year 2023-24 ( Q1 FY24) (i.e. April 1, 2023 to June 30, 2023),
marking the third consecutive quarter of rate hikes.
·
Small
Savings Schemes have about 40 crore subscribers, and the basket includes 12
instruments such as the National Savings Certificate (NSC), Public Provident
Fund (PPF), KisanVikas Patra (KVP), SukanyaSamridihi Account (SSA), Monthly
Income Savings Scheme, all post office time deposits, etc.,
·
The
interest rate on these savings instruments has been raised by 10-70 basis
points (bps) [one percentage point is equivalent to 100 bps].
·
However,
the interest rate for PPF scheme has been kept unchanged at 7.1% over Q1 FY24,
and its returns have remained constant at 7.1% for the last three years.
2. MOSPI)
REPORT - ‘WOMEN AND MEN IN INDIA 2022’
·
The
Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) released its report
titled ‘Women and Men in India 2022’ which is 24th in series.
·
As per
it, an average Indian woman, aged between 15 and 29 spends 5.5 hours doing
unpaid labour.
·
A man
in that age group spends about 50 minutes a day doing work that yields no
money.
·
A
senior woman (aged
above 60) too spends four hours a day doing unpaid labour, while a senior
man spends an hour and a half on the same.
3. GEORGIA
TO CONDEMN HINDUPHOBIA
·
Georgia,
United States of America(USA) passed a resolution condemning “Hinduphobia”
and “anti-Hindu bigotry”- becoming the first state in the country to do
so.
·
The
resolution was introduced by Representatives Lauren McDonald and Todd Jones from
Forsyth County in the suburbs of Atlanta, home to one of the largest Hindu and
Indian-American diaspora communities in Georgia.
4. IPPB
LAUNCHED BANKING SERVICES ON WHATSAPP
·
India
Post Payments Bank (IPPB),
under the ownership of the Department of Post, the Ministry of Communications, partnered
with New Delhi (Delhi)-based Bharti Airtel Limited to launch banking
services through WhatsApp for its customers.
·
With
this new IPPB WhatsApp Banking channel, users of the bank will be able to
easily connect with the bank on WhatsApp and access a variety of banking
services, including doorstep service requests and locating the nearest Post
Office.
5. SAGAR
SETU MOBILE APP LAUNCHED
·
The
Union Minister SarbanandaSonowal, Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways
(MoPSW) launched a mobile application – “SAGAR SETU”, the app Version of
National Logistics Portal (Marine) in New Delhi
·
The
SAGAR-SETU app helps custodians in easier access to functionalities on a
handheld device by reducing turnaround time for approval and compliances.
6. ANTI
TANK GUIDED MISSILE, AMOGHA-III TESTED
·
Bharat
Dynamics Limited (BDL)
successfully conducted a field firing test of its indigenous third generation
man-portable Anti Tank Guided Missile (ATGM), Amogha-III.
·
The
whole missile system comes with a command launch unit (CLU), remote operation
capability and a tripod.
·
The
missile also features a dual-mode Imaging Infrared (IIR) Seeker with a range of
200 to 2500 meters.
·
The
anti-armour tandem warhead of the missile can penetrate in excess of 650 mm
beyond Explosive Reactive Armour (ERA).
7. EARTH
HOUR 2023 – MARCH 25
·
Earth
Hour is annually observed across the globe on the last Saturday of March
by turning out the lights from 8:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. (local time) as a
symbolic act of support for the action taken on environmental issues and
protecting the planet.
·
The
theme of Earth Hour 2023
is “The Biggest Hour for Earth”.
·
Earth
Hour was initiated by the World Wide Fund of Nature (WWF), formerly the
World Wildlife Fund and partners as a symbolic lights-out event in Sydney,
Australia, in 2007.
