Current Affairs Quiz 15th march 2023 Quiz

Exp. India signed MoC with Sweden to promote research networking

India and Sweden signed a Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) to strengthen cooperation and promote research networking between research institutions from both countries.

The MoC aims to promote mobility funding opportunities in both countries.

It will facilitate academic cooperation through mobility activities as well as through seminars, workshops, and conferences

This partnership will take forward joint Science and Technology efforts particularly in smart cities, Al, and many more.

Recently India signed MoUs with others countries

• India & Australia sign audio-visual co-production agreement
• India signed MoU with US for semiconductor supply chain
• Auckland University signed MoU wth Tata Memorial Hospital for cancer care
• India signed MoU with South Africa for cooperation in the Disability Sector
• India signed MoU with Chile for cooperation in the field of Agriculture and Allied sectors.

Exp. Vande Bharat Express gets Asia’s first woman loco pilot Surekha Yadav

Asia’s first woman loco pilot Surekha Yadav has now become the first woman to run India’s first indigenous semi-high-speed Vande Bharat Express train.

Yadav piloted the train between Solapur station and Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) on March 13, 2023.

The CSMT-Solapur Vande Bharat Express train was flagged off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on February 10, 2023. This is the country’s ninth semi-high-speed train.

In its route, the train connects important pilgrimage centers like Siddheshwar in Solapur, Akkalkot, Tuljapur, Pandharpur near Solapur, and Alandi near Pune.

It covers a distance of 400 km in 06:30 hours. During its journey, the train stops at Dadar, Kalyan, Pune, and Kurduwadi.

Exp. International Conference on ‘Buddhist Heritage’ begins in New Delhi

An international conference on ‘Shared Buddhist Heritage’ started in New Delhi.

It is being organized with a focus on India’s civilizational connection with the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) nations 2023.

India is also going to host SCO Tourism Ministers’ Meeting (TMM) on 17th -18th March 2023 in Kashi.

The conference on ‘Shared Buddhist Heritage’ is a first-of-its-kind event under India’s leadership of SCO. It brings together Central Asian, East Asian, South Asian and Arab countries on a common platform to discuss ‘Shared Buddhist Heritage’.

The SCO countries comprise of member states, observer states and dialogue partners, including China, Russia, and Mongolia.

Exp. IIT Guwahati partnered with Sathya Sai Hospital for cardiac research

The Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati has signed an MoU with Sri Sathya Sai Heart Hospital, Ahmedabad to foster Cardiac research.

It was signed to provide digital transformation, degradation, and information sharing related to cardiac diseases.

In collaboration with IIT Guwahati, we are looking forward to proceed with an R&D-led approach to find the cause of cardiac diseases and prevent it by sharing knowledge with respective stakeholders.

The Government of Assam has also inked an MoU with the Hospital to conduct sophisticated heart surgeries on 500 children.

Recent MoUs

• Cochin Shipyard partnered with IIT-Madras to support maritime startups
• IIT-Hyderabad developed affordable fibre-reinforced concrete
• NHPC signed an agreement with IIT Jammu to undertaking R&D activities
• IIT Madras researchers develop Ocean Wave Energy converter named Sindhuja-I

Exp. Mahindra Auto becomes title sponsor of IBA Women’s Boxing Championship

The Boxing Federation of India (BFI) has signed Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. as its title sponsor for the International Boxing Association (IBA) Women’s World Boxing Championships 2023.

MC Mary Kom and Bollywood actor Farhan Akhtar were also appointed brand ambassadors for the championship.

The tournament will be held from 15 March 2023 in Indira Gandhi Sports Complex, New Delhi.

India is hosting the event for the third time in its history.

Exp. Centre approved Rs 1816 crore to 5 states as disaster relief

Union government has approved additional assistance of Rs 1,816.16 crore under the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) to five states which were affected by flood, landslides, and cloudburst in 2022.

Under the fund, Rs 520.466 crore has been approved to Assam, Rs 239.31 crore to Himachal Pradesh, Rs 941.04 crore to Karnataka, Rs 47.326 crore to Meghalaya, and Rs 68.02 crore to Nagaland.

During the financial year 2022-23, the central government has released Rs 15,770.40 crore to 25 states in their SDRF and Rs 502.744 crore to four states from NDRF.

Exp. Kotak Mahindra AMC launched Silver ETF Fund of Fund

Kotak Mahindra Asset Management Company Ltd has launched Kotak Silver Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) Fund of Fund.

The New Fund Offer opens for public subscription on March 13, 2023 and closes on 27 Mar 2023.

It is an open-ended fund of fund scheme that invests in units of the Kotak Silver ETF.

The scheme offers diversification, easy liquidity and no storage costs.

Exp. Suryodaya Small Finance Bank launched Blossom Women’s Savings Account

Suryoday Small Finance Bank has launched a new savings account for women customers called the Blossom Women’s savings account.

The account is designed to provide women with a safe and secure platform to save and grow their money with best of the interest rate and a wide range of exclusive benefits and privileges.

Suryoday Small Finance Bank has announced the launch of ‘Blossom Women’s Savings Account’ with 7 percent per annum interest rate with monthly interest credit.

Additionally, specially designed RuPay Platinum Debit Card offering discount on shopping and online purchases will also be available with the account.

CEO of Suryoday SFB – R Baskar Babu

Recent Facilities Launched in Banks & Insurance Sector

• Bank of Maharashtra launched its own private cloud platform ‘MAHABANK NAKSHATRA’
• HDFC Bank launched a pilot project for offline digital payments ‘OfflinePay’
• The New India Assurance has launched a “Pay As You Drive” (PAYD) policy for vehicles.

• AU Small Finance Bank has launched the SwipeUp platform.
• LIC India launched Jeevan Azad (Plan No. 868) limited premium payment plan

Exp. India’s retail inflation drops to 6.44% in February 2023

According to the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, India’s consumer price inflation (CPI) based inflation eased marginally to 6.44 percent in February 2023.

This is lower than 6.52 percent in January but still above the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) upper tolerance limit of 6 percent.

The rural inflation was 6.72 percent and urban inflation was 6.10 percent.

The combined food inflation was also near 6 percent limit at 5.95 percent. It was 6 percent in January.

The RBI has raised its benchmark repo rate by 250 basis points since May last year. According to reports, there is expectations of another 25 basis points hike to 6.75 percent in April before it hits the pause button.

The RBI earlier lowered the CPI forecast to 6.5 percent for the current fiscal from 6.7 percent. Before that in December, the inflation was at a one-year low of 5.72 percent.

Recent CPI-based Retail inflation in India

• October 2022 – 6.77%
• November 2022– 5.88%
• December 2022 – 5.72%
• January 2023 – 52%
• February 2023 – 44%

Exp. Shreya Ghodawat appointed as India’s ambassador of ‘She Changes Climate’

Climate entrepreneur Shreya Ghodawat has been appointed as India’s ambassador for She Changes Climate.

The global non-profit organization launched a special initiative for International Women’s Day titled ‘Embrace Equity’ that aims to amplify the voices of women around the impacts of climate change.

The campaign promotes the role of women in accelerating climate change.

According to UN Women, more than 150 countries have laws that discriminate against women.

Recent Brand Ambassador

• Sachin Tendulkar – Savlon Swasth India
• Ayushmann Khurrana UNICEF’s National Ambassador for Child Rights
• Yastika Bhatia & Renuka Singh Thakur – Hyundai Motor India Ltd
• Harmanpreet Kaur – Puma India
• Nikhat Zareen – NMDC (National miner company)
• Smriti Mandhana – Herbalife Nutrition
• Sourav Ganguly – Jahaan Bandhan, Wahaan Trust campaign (Bandhan Bank)

Exp. Gyan Chaturvedi awarded Vyas Samman 2022 for ‘Pagalkhana

Noted Hindi writer Dr. Gyan Chaturvedi’s 2018 satirical novel, Pagalkhana, has been selected for the 32nd Vyas Samman 2022.

Instituted by the KK Birla Foundation in 1991, the annual Vyas Samman is given to an outstanding Hindi literary work by an Indian citizen published during the last 10 years. It carries an award money of ₹4 lakh.

After considering the works published during 2012-2021, a selection committee headed by eminent litterateur Prof Ramji Tiwari picked Dr. Chaturvedi’s Pagalkhana (mental asylum) for the prestigious Vyas Samman.

Besides the Vyas Samman, the KK Birla Foundation has also instituted Saraswati Samman and Bihari Puraskar.

While the Saraswati Samman, which carries an amount of ₹15 lakh, is given to an outstanding literary work of an Indian citizen in any of the languages included in Schedule VIII to the Constitution of India and published during a period of 10 years, the Bihari Puraskar with an amount of ₹2.5 lakh is meant for Hindi/Rajasthani writers of Rajasthan.

Recent Awards

• Pritzker Prize 2023 – David Chipperfield
• PEN/Nabokov Lifetime Achievement Award 2023 – Vinod Kumar Shukla
• BBC Indian Sportswoman of The Year for 2022 – Mirabai Chanu
• Entrepreneur of the Year 2022 – Sajjan Jindal
• Marconi Prize 2023 – Hari Balakrishnan

Exp. Ashleigh Gardner & Harry Brook won ICC Player of the Month for February

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has announced the winners of the ICC Player of the Month awards for February 2023.

Australia’s Ashleigh Gardner was named the ICC Women’s Player of the Month, and England’s Harry Brook was named the ICC Men’s Player of the Month.

Ashleigh Gardner was awarded the award for her performance in the Women’s T20 World Cup 2023 held in South Africa.

ICC Men’s Player of the Month

• October 2022– Virat Kohli (India)
• November 2022 – Jos Buttler (England)
• December 2022 – Harry Brook (England)
• January 2023 – Shubman Gill (India)
• February 2023 – Harry Brook (England)

ICC Women’s Player of the Month

• October 2022 – Nida Dar (Pakistan)
• November 2022 – Sidra Ameen (Pakistan)
• December 2022 – Ashleigh Gardner (Australia)
• January 2023 – Grace Scrivens (England)
• February 2023 – Ashleigh Gardner (Australia)

Exp. 14 March – International Day Of Action For Rivers

The International Day of Action for Rivers is observed every year on March 14 to raise awareness of how crucial rivers are to our daily lives.

The day also seeks to spread awareness about unequal access to clean water and the growing pollution of freshwater habitats like rivers as a result of blatant human activity.

This year the 26th International Day of Action for Rivers is being celebrated.

Theme 2023 – Rights of Rivers

The first International Day of Action for Rivers was observed in March 1997.

Exp. 14 March – International Mathematics Day

International Day of Mathematics or Pi Day is celebrated every year on March 14.

The day is written in the month and date (MM/DD) format to represent the value of Pi which is 3.14.

It is celebrated by mathematics enthusiasts and educators around the world to recognize and appreciate the importance of mathematics in our lives.

Theme 2023 – Mathematics for Everyone

The first Pi Day was celebrated in 1988, by physicist Larry Shaw at the San Francisco Exploratorium.