Q1: Defence min. Rajnath Singh attended the India- Africa Army chief’s Conclave in which city?
a) Bengaluru
b) Pune
c) Mumbai
d) Cuttack
Show solution
Solution: option b.)
In a sign of New Delhi’s deepening defence engagement with Africa, Pune played host to senior army officers as well as civilian and defence officials for the first India-Africa Army Chiefs’ Conclave.
The meeting, which was organised on the sidelines of the AFINDEX joint exercises, was attended by defence minister Rajnath Singh and chief of the army staff general Manoj Pande among others.
The 10-day exercise features participation from 23 African nations including Ethiopia, Egypt, Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria, Rwanda, Seychelles and South Africa among others.
The focus of the exercises will be humanitarian mine action and peacekeeping operations. Given India’s substantial presence in United Nations peacekeeping operations in Africa, strengthening interoperability between militaries will improve overall effectiveness.
Q2: Who has been appointed Independent Director of NDTV for a period of two years effective from March 27, 2023?
a) P.K Sinha
b) Parvinder Kaur
c) U.K Sinha
d) Chris Martin
Show solution
Solution: option c.)
U K Sinha and Dipali Goenka have been appointed Independent Directors of NDTV for a period of two years effective from March 27, 2023.
The appointment is based on the recommendations of the Nomination and Remuneration Committee and is subject to the approval of shareholders and the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
U K Sinha has also been designated as the Non-Executive Chairperson of NDTV.
UK Sinha, a former bureaucrat, served as the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) between 2011 and 2017.
He has also served as Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Finance.
Q3: The government has sanctioned a new greenfield for Electronics Manufacturing Cluster at which city?
a) Udaipur
b) Gandhinagar
c) Vidarbh
d) Dharwad
Show solution
Solution: option d.)
The central government sanctioned a new Greenfield project for Electronics Manufacturing Cluster (EMC) at Dharwad in Karnataka as an attempt to make India an electronics manufacturing hub.
It is expected to create over 18,000 jobs and the cluster is worth Rs 180 crore.
This new EMC has a strategic locational advantage and is well connected with NH-48 (1 Km), Hubli Domestic Airport (33 Km), which will reduce the logistics/ transportation cost of the industry in the EMC.
It is likely to attract investments to the tune of over Rs 1,500 crore soon.
The cluster is being set up at Kotur-Balur Industrial Area in the Dharwad District of Karnataka.
Q4: Who has clinched double gold in AFI Indian Grand Prix 2023?
a) Archana Suseendran
b) Moeen Ali
c) Dhanush Loganathan
d) Jyoshna Sabar
Show solution
Solution: option a.)
Tamil Nadu’s Archana Suseendran has clinched two gold medals in 100m and 200m at the AFI Indian Grand Prix 2, held in Kerala on March 27, 2023.
In the Women’s 100m final, she defeated Assam sprinter Hima Das and completed her 100m race in 11.52 seconds.
While she completed the 200m race in 23.21 seconds. In the Men’s 100m race category Sanjeet from Haryana clinched the gold.
The AFI Indian Grands Prix 3 and 4 will be held in Bengaluru on April 10 and 15.
Q5: Department of Consumer Affairs has constituted a committee to monitor the stock of tur. What is the name of the committee?
a) Nidhi Khare
b) Deepak Verma
c) S.S Dubey
d) Iqbal Khan
Show solution
Solution: option a.)
The Department of Consumer Affairs has constituted a Committee under the chairmanship of Additional Secretary, Smt. Nidhi Khare to monitor the stock of Tur held by entities such as importers, millers, stockists, traders etc. in close coordination with the state governments.
The latest announcement of a Committee to monitor stock disclosure indicates the government’s intention to deal with hoarders and unscrupulous speculators in the market.
It also indicates the government’s determination to keep prices of Tur under control in months ahead.
It may be recalled that the government had issued an advisory to the States/UTs on 12th August 2022, to enforce stock disclosure in respect of Tur under the Essential Commodities Act, 1955.
Q6: Humza Yousuf has become Scotland’s 1st Minister. He replaced whom?
a) Mike Pompeo
b) Ulf Kristersson
c) John Tedros
d) Nicola Sturgeon
Show solution
Solution: option d.)
Scotland’s parliament on Tuesday confirmed Humza Yousaf will replace Nicola Sturgeon as first minister, the devolved nation’s youngest and the first Muslim leader of a government in western Europe.
Yousaf, 37, narrowly won a Scottish National Party (SNP) leadership battle on Monday to clinch the top job, vowing to rejuvenate the stalled pursuit of independence for Scotland.
He then secured the nominations of a majority of lawmakers in the early afternoon vote Tuesday to become the new first minister and will be formally sworn in at a ceremony.
Scotland Capital: Edinburgh
Scotland Currency: Pound
Q7: Which Bank has partnered with Swedish company Crutchfield to pilot a project for offline payments?
a) HDFC Bank
b) IDFC FIRST Bank
c) ICICI Bank
d) Axis Bank
Show solution
Solution: option d.)
IDFC First Bank on Monday said it has partnered with Swedish company Crunchfish to pilot a project to demonstrate offline retail payments.
IDFC First Bank is set to be a part of RBI’s pilot project to enable offline payments, the private sector lender said, adding that the project will give access to digital payments even when there is no network.
The unique digital payment solution was designed by Crunchfish for merchants and customers under the RBI’s Regulatory Sandbox Program, IDFC First Bank said in a release.
IDFC First Bank MD: M. Vaidyanath
IDFC First Bank (H.Q): Chennai
Q8: Recently, S&P keeps India’s economic growth forecast unchanged at what % in FY24?
a) 7%
b) 6.75%
c) 6%
d) 6.25%
Show solution
Solution: option c.)
S&P Global Ratings has kept its forecast for India’s economic growth unchanged at 6% for 2023-24 and 6.9% for 2024-25.
In the quarterly economic update for Asia-Pacific, S&P highlighted that the inflation rate will be eased to 5% in 2023-24 from 6.8% in the current financial year (2022- 23).
It has also been forecasted that the GDP of India will grow by 7% in the current financial year ending March 31 (2022-23).
S&P Global HQ: New York, U.S.
Q9: Who has been awarded Kerala’s highest civilian honour “Kerala Jyothi”?
a) MT Nair
b) Nitin Khanna
c) Charanjit Singh
d) Rajesh Kumar
Show solution
Solution: option a.)
M T Vasudevan Nair awarded Kerala’s highest civilian honour: M T Vasudevan Nair received the highest civilian honour in Kerala, the “Kerala Jyothi.” Actor Mammootty, former civil service officer T Madhava Menon, and writer Omchery NN Pillai shared the second-highest award, “Kerala Prabha.”
Arif Muhammad Khan, the Governor of Kerala, has presented the inaugural edition of the “Kerala Puraskarngal” awards, which recognize individuals who have made notable contributions to various aspects of social life.
The awards were presented in three categories – “Kerala Jyothi,” “Kerala Prabha,” and “Kerala Shri.
Q10: Government of India launched the National Rabies Control Program (NRCP) for the prevention and control of Rabies. On which date we celebrated ‘World Rabies Day’?
a) 2nd July
b) 28TH Sept
c) 15th Feb
d) 28th Dec
Show solution
Solution: option b.)
The Central Government has launched the National Rabies Control Programme (NRCP) for the prevention and control of Rabies recently.
Provision of Rabies Vaccine and Rabies Immune Globulin through the National Free Drug Initiative.
Training on proper management of animal bites, prevention and control of rabies, surveillance and inter-sectoral coordination.
World Rabies Day :
The day is observed every year on 28 September to raise awareness about the effects of rabies virus disease and ways to prevent it.
The day is celebrated to mark the anniversary of Louis Pasteur’s death.
Louis Pasteur developed the first rabies vaccine and laid the foundation for the prevention of rabies.
The theme of this day for the year 2022 is ‘Rabies: One Health, Zero Deaths’.
Q11: Who has won a bronze medal in the 25m pistol event at the 2023 ISSF World Cup?
a) Gagan Slathia
b) Vikram Rathod
c) Manu Bhaker
d) Abhinav Bindra
Show solution
Solution: option d.)
India’s star shooter Manu Bhakar settled for the bronze medal at the Bhopal ISSF World Cup to take India’s medal tally to seven on Saturday.
The Indian finished behind Germany’s gold medal winner Doreen Vennekamp and China’s Ziyue Du in the final. Bhaker, the multiple World Cup medal winner, had shot 290 in the precision round on Friday and entered the second day of the competition well-placed for the rapid round.
In the rapid round on Saturday, she again shot three superb series of 98, 99 and 97 to aggregate 294 and advance to the ranking round placed third.
Q12: Which country recently declared an outbreak of the highly contagious and deadly virus Marburg virus, which causes viral hemorrhagic fever?
a) Sudan
b) Tanzania
c) Nigeria
d) Namibia
Show solution
Solution: option b.)
Five people are dead following eight confirmed cases of the first-ever outbreak of the Marburg virus in Tanzania, health officials are reporting.
Marburg is a high-death viral hemorrhagic fever with symptoms broadly similar to those of Ebola, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
In a statement released late Tuesday, WHO reported the deaths of five people in the northwest Kagera region whom they said developed symptoms including fever, vomiting, bleeding and renal failure.
Q13: Cheetah died of kidney disease in Kuno National Park. The Kuno National Park is situated in which state?
a) Tamil Nadu
b) Karnataka
c) Madhya Pradesh
d) Goa
Show solution
Solution: option c.)
A cheetah named Sasha, brought from Namibia, died on March 27 due to kidney disease.
This female cheetah was four and a half years old.
The first batch of cheetahs translocated from Namibia to India was released on 17 September at Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh.
About Kuno National Park:
It is a protected area located in Madhya Pradesh, India, named after the Kuno River.
It was established as a wildlife sanctuary in 1981 with an initial area of 344.686 km (133.084 sq mi) in the Sheopur and Morena districts.
Q14: Hopi which was seen in the news, is an ethnic group of people living in which country?
a) Israel
b) USA
c) Australia
d) UK
Show solution
Solution: option b.)
The Hopi are a Native American ethnic group who primarily live on the Hopi Reservation in northeastern Arizona, United States. As of the 2010 census, there are 19,338 Hopi in the country. The Hopi Tribe is a sovereign nation within the United States and has government-to-government relations with the United States federal government.
Q15: Vani Moto inaugurates Gujarat’s 1st electric rickshaw and tempo battery swapping centre in which city?
a) Surat
b) Vadodara
c) Ahmedabad
d) Kutch
Show solution
Solution: option a.)
Even though electric vehicles are becoming increasingly popular in India, the hassle of charging the batteries is becoming a major inconvenience. A Surat-based startup identified this issue and responded by opening the first-of-its-kind “battery swapping centre,” where drivers of electric rickshaws and tempos can swap batteries without having to wait for their vehicles to charge.
Owners of rickshaws and tempos in Surat can now drive freely on city roads without having to worry about charging batteries for long periods, thanks to Jenish Shah, the founder of Surat’s Vani Moto Pvt Ltd., which sales electric rickshaws and tempos under the brand name “Zoomroo.”
Q16: Which Bank issues an Electronic bank guarantee with NesL from March 2023?
a) PNB
b) SBI
c) ICICI
d) Yes Bank
Show solution
Solution: option d.)
YES, Bank has issued its first electronic-Bank Guarantee (e-BG) in partnership with National E-Governance Services Limited (NeSL).
The API integration with the Digital Document Execution (DDE) platform of NeSL has enabled complete digitisation of the existing paper-based process for issuance and maintenance of Bank Guarantee (BG). This includes digital stamping and signing, which significantly reduces the issuance turnaround time (TAT).
The NeSL portal will manage the entire lifecycle of the bank guarantee including issuance, amendment, invocation and cancellation, enabling trade finance stakeholders to access the documents from this secure repository.
YES Bank MD: Prashant Kumar
YES Bank (H.Q): Mumbai