Daily Current Affairs Quiz: Feb 23, 2023

The United Nations has expressed concern over Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decision to withdraw from the
New START treaty, which is aimed at the reduction of states’ nuclear arsenals.

“A world without nuclear arms control is a far more dangerous, unstable one, with potentially catastrophic
consequences,” UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said.

The New START treaty, signed in 2010 in Prague, is an agreement between the United States and Russia to reduce their nuclear arsenals.
The treaty imposes limits on the size and makeup of the nuclear stockpiles of both nations.

This treaty has been the only remaining arms control agreement between the two countries.

Russia Capital: Moscow
Currency: Ruble

Solution: option c.)

Central Bank of India (CBoI) has entered into a co-lending partnership with Moneywise Financial Services Pvt Ltd for
lending to micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs).

This will result in expanded portfolio for both entities, CBoI said in a regulatory filing.

Under the arrangement, Moneywise Financial Services (a non-banking financial company focused on MSME lending)
will process MSME loan proposals as per jointly formulated credit parameters and eligibility criteria, while
CBoI awill take into its books 80 per cent of the MSME loans under mutually agreed terms.

Solution:option b.)

The International Union of Railways and Railway Protection Force (RPF) have come together to organize the 18th World Security Congress in Jaipur this year from February 20 to 23, a statement said on Monday.

The International Union of Railways represents the railway sector and promotes rail transport worldwide.

The Railway Protection Force (RPF) is a prime security and Law Enforcement Agency in the field of Railway Security in India.

Solution: option b.)

India has collaborated with Singapore in order to introduce the ‘UPI-PayNow’ linkage which is a digital payment system.

The Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi along with the Prime Minister of Singapore, Lee Hsien Loong participated in the virtual
launch event of cross-border connectivity between the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) of India and PayNow of Singapore
on February 21 (Tuesday).

PM Modi announced that this digital initiative will help people from both countries to transfer funds or initiate
payments instantly and at a low cost from their mobiles. Through this facility, cheaper and real-time options will
be available for monetary transactions between the two countries.

Solution: option c.)

Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) will soon launch India’s first virtual shopping app, ‘Momentum 2.0’ for commuters. With the help of this app,
passengers will be able to access personalised services like digital lockers, last-mile connectivity options
,and e-commerce options at metro stations.

“The app will enable the metro commuters to buy a range of products and book services while travelling in the metro and collect their orders at
the destination stations,” DMRC was quoted by NDTV.

Passengers can use a QR code to make purchases through selected brands’ extended reality product and service displays in the app.

Solution: option d.)

The United Arab Emirates is set to host the first vice-ministerial meeting of the I2U2 in Abu Dhabi this week. It will be attended by senior officials from the four countries – India, Israel, the United States and the UAE.

Under Secretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment Jose W Fernandez will lead the US delegation at the meeting in Abu Dhabi on February 21-22, according to an official statement. Fernandez will
represent the US at the I2U2 Business Forum, hosted by the UAE; it is the first vice-ministerial meeting since the grouping was jointly
announced by President Joe Biden, Israeli Prime Minister Lapid, UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan,
and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Solution: option a.)

Governor Prof Ganeshi Lal on Saturday launched India’s first AI chatbot for the agriculture sector – Ama KrushAI at the valedictory session of ‘Krushi Odisha 2023’.

Ama KrushAI chatbot will help farmers with the best agronomic practices, government schemes and loan products from more than 40 commercial and cooperative banks. It will run under a pilot project
involving more than 10,000 farmers and will be implemented in full-fledged in the next two months.

Solution: option b.)

A series of round table conferences have been lined up for the next few months. A roundtable titled ‘Gandhian Trusteeship: A panel discussion on Sustainable Lifestyles and Enduring Pace’ will be held.

This will be followed on March 9 by a roundtable on ‘The world we women and girls want:

Technology-driven social and economic advancement’.

Solution: option a.)

To showcase the strengths of India’s indigenous shipbuilding and underscore the vision of
Aatma Nirbhar Bharat.’
INS Sumedha:
It is the third ship of the indigenously built Saryu class Naval Offshore Patrol Vessels.
It was commissioned into the Indian Navy in 2014.

The lender does not have adequate capital and earning prospects.
About 98.4% of the depositors of the bank are entitled to receive the full amount of their
deposits from Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation (DICGC).
The bank is prohibited from conducting various activities, such as acceptance, and
repayment of deposits with immediate effect.

“India will set up 100 labs for development of applications using 5G services in areas,
including smart classrooms, healthcare and smart cities, finance minister Nirmala
Sitharaman said while presenting the Budget for FY2023-24.

TCA Ramanujam, retired Chief Commissioner of Income Tax, advocate, Sanskrit scholar and columnist with BusinessLine, passed away on Tuesday. He was 88. He is survived by his son, TCA Arvind Rangarajan, and daughter.

Mr. Ramanujam had been to Tirupati over the weekend to deliver the keynote address at the Ananthalwar
festival. He complained of uneasiness and was admitted to a private hospital where he died on Tuesday at 11.30 p.m., said Ms. Sangeetha.

Mr. Ramanujam retired in 1992 as Chief Commissioner of Income Tax and served as a member of the Income Tax Appellate
Tribunal for a year.

Seattle is explicitly banning discrimination on the basis of caste, making it the first city in the US to take such a step.

The Seattle City Council approved an ordinance on Tuesday that amends the city’s municipal code to include caste as a protected class, alongside categories such as race, religion and gender identity. The law prohibits caste
discrimination in employment, housing, public accommodations and other arenas, and allows caste-oppressed people in the city to
lodge complaints of discrimination.

Solution:option c.)

Credit rating and research agency, India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) projected the growth of the Indian economy to 5.9% year on year during 2023-24.
The GDP growth estimate of the agency is lower than the 6.4% real GDP growth projected
by the RBI for FY24.
According to the agency, there are fault lines in the economic recovery that is happening in the Private final consumption expenditure, Government Final Consumption
Expenditure, and net exports.