07-04-23 Daily-Karnataka-KPSC Current Affairs

In the first quarter (Jan-Mar) of 2023, Bengaluru saw the highest absorption of officespaceamong all Indian cities, according to estimates by global real estate consulting firmCBRE.

Of the country-wide absorption of 12.6 million sqft of office space, Bengaluru accounted for 3.5 mn sqft. The overall absorption marks a 9% increase in lease of office space compared to the first three months of 2022, the report said. One of the key movers, CBRE said, is companies moving back to working from the office.

Bengaluru has long been the leader in office space leasing, mainly driven by the IT/ITeS sector. Major transactions in the latest quarter included the 458,000 sqft leased by Table Space, 350,000 leased by HDFC Bank, and 240,000 leased byZebra Technologies. Bengaluru was followed by New Delhi at 2.4 million sqft of absorption, Chennai at 2 mn sqft, Mumbai at 1.6 mn sqft, Hyderabad at 1.4 mn sqft, and Pune at 1.2 million sqft.

In terms of addition to the office space by real estate players, Bengaluru, Delhi-NCR, Pune and Hyderabad led the supply, accounting for a cumulative share of nearly 82%. Nearly half of the newly completed developments during the current quarter were green-certified (LEED or IGBC), indicating a strong emphasis on sustainability, CBRE said.

The Rajya Sabha approved the Competition Amendment Bill, 2023, aimed at modernizing the two-decade-old anti-trust law to align with changes in the economy. The Competition Amendment Bill, 2023 aims to modify the Competition Act, 2002, which authorizes the Competition Commission Of India (CCI) to prevent practices that adversely impact competition and consumer interests.

India has developed a country-level mathematical model that estimates the prevalence of tuberculosis (TB) cases in the country. The model allows for TB incidence and mortality estimate data to be available by March each year, months before the World Health Organization (WHO) releases its annual estimates in October. The model, which draws from data such as an individuals infection and disease status, healthcare utilization, and treatment outcomes, was presented at the 36th Stop TB PARTNERSHIP Board meeting in Varanasi. The Indian model estimated the TB incidence rate in India to be 196 in 2022, lower than the WHOs estimate of 210 and suggested 3.20 lakh TB mortality absolute numbers in 2022, lower than WHOs estimated 4.94 lakhs

India has made significant efforts to increase the National TB Elimination Program coverage and generate more evidence. Laboratory Services have been scaled up and decentralized with high-quality rapid diagnostic tests. In addition, India has introduced a daily regimen for first-line treatment of tuberculosis, integrating the regimens in the public and private sectors to ensure universal access to TB care. Patients with drug-resistant TB have been provided with injection-free, shorter, and better second-line treatment. The use of Nikshay, a tracking system for patients, has helped to improve the treatment outcomes of all types of patients in both the public and private sectors, including those who may have otherwise been lost to follow-up.

The well-known Gond painting of Madhya Pradesh has been granted the coveted Geographical Indication (GI) tag, which safeguards and acknowledges the work of tribal artists and requires approval from a committee for non-tribal artists to use the art. A GI tag is a symbol used on items that are exclusively produced in a specific geographical region and have characteristics or a reputation that are associated with that location. This tag is applied to a variety of goods, including food products, handicrafts, industrial items, <a href="https://exam.pscnotes.com/Agriculture-notes-for-state-psc-exams”>Agriculture products, and alcoholic beverages. The GI Tag certifies that only the registered and authorised user is permitted to use the name of the popular product

The Gaj Utsav-2023 was inaugurated at the Kaziranga by the President of India, Smt Droupadi Murmu. During her speech, she highlighted the significant bond between nature and humanity, which is regarded as sacred. India has always identified itself with a culture of respecting nature. Our country has a unique connection between nature and culture, where both have been intertwined and nourishing each other. Elephants have been held in high esteem in our tradition, and are considered a symbol of prosperity. As the National Heritage Animal of India, safeguarding elephants is an essential element of our national duty to conserve our national heritage.

The Gaj Utsav 2023 is a significant event in India that commemorates the 30th anniversary of Project Elephant, a flagship conservation initiative launched by the Indian government in 1992.

The event aims to promote awareness about the conservation of elephants and their habitats, reduce human-elephant conflicts, and ensure the welfare of captive elephants.

According to data from the Moscow Exchange, the yuan accounted for 23.6% of Russias Foreign Exchange turnover in the first quarter of 2023, while the dollars share was 22.5%. This marks the first time the yuan has surpassed the dollar in Russias currency market

The rise of the yuan in Russia is part of a broader trend of increasing acceptance of the Chinese currency in international trade and finance. China has been actively promoting the internationalization of the yuan, encouraging its use in cross-border transactions and investing in to support its use in global markets