Current affairs 23 May 2023

PM Modi conferred with the highest honours of Fiji and Papua New Guinea.

• PM Modi has been conferred with the highest honors by Fiji and Papua New Guinea.
• He was conferred with the "The Companion of the Order of Fiji" by his Fijian PM, Sitiveni Rabuka for his global leadership.
• While Papua New Guinea conferred its highest civilian order, Grand Companion of the Order of Logohu for championing the cause of unity of Pacific Island countries.
• PM Modi is on a visit to Papua New Guinea to attend the third India-Pacific Islands Cooperation Summit.

SpaceX sends Saudi astronauts, including first Arab woman, to ISS.

• Saudi Arabia’s Rayyanah Barnawi has made history as the first Arab woman astronaut to travel to the International Space Station (ISS) as part of the private Ax-2 mission.
• She is a breast cancer researcher and was joined on the mission by fellow Saudi Ali Al-Qarni, a fighter pilot.
• The Axiom Mission 2 (Ax-2) crew took off aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, Florida.
• The team also includes Peggy Whitson and John Shoffner.

No TCS on debit card, credit card forex payments of up to Rs 7 lakh.

• The Ministry of Finance has notified that no Tax Collection at Source (TCS) will be levied on individual payments using international debit and credit cards of up to Rs 7 lakh in a financial year from July 1, 2023.
• Further, the Union Budget 2023 has increased TCS for foreign remittances under the LRS from 5% to 20% (except for education and medical purposes).
• This rule will be effective from July 1, 2023.

Indian athlete Shaili Singh bags bronze medal at Golden Grand Prix 2023.

• Indian athlete Shaili Singh clinched a bronze medal at the Golden Grand Prix 2023 athletics meet in the women's long jump in Japan.
• She has attempted a jump of 6.65 meter, which provided her third place on the podium.
• Germany’s Maryse Luzolo won the gold medal with an effort of 6.79 meter while Australia’s Brooke Buschkuehl bagged the silver medal with a 6.77 meter leap.
• During the Indian Grand Prix 4 athletics meet in Bengaluru, she has registered a jump of 6.76 meter.

PM Modi releases Tamil classic "Thirukkural" in Tok Pisin language.

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi along with his Papua New Guinea counterpart James Marape released the Tamil classic Thirukkural in the Tok Pisin language.
• Aim: To bring Indian thought and culture closer to the people of this southwestern Pacific nation.
• Tok Pisin is the official language of Papua New Guinea.
• Thirukkural is a collection of couplets on ethics, political and economic matters, and love, is written by Poet Thiruvalluvar.