Current Affairs Quiz 17th February 2023 Quiz

Exp. India signed MoU with South Africa for cooperation in the Disability Sector

The government of India has signed an MoU with the Government of the Republic of South Africa for cooperation in the Disability Sector.

The MoU will encourage cooperation between the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities of India and the Government of South Africa through joint initiatives in the disability sector.

In another decision, the Union Cabinet has approved the signing of an MoU between India and Chile for cooperation in the field of Agriculture and Allied sectors.

The MoU provides for cooperation in the field of agriculture and allied sectors. Under the MoU, a Chile-India Agricultural Working Group is to be constituted which will be responsible for the supervision, review and assessment of the implementation of this MoU as well as for establishing frequent communication and coordination.

Recently India signed MoUs with others countries

• India & South Africa signed MoU to introduce 12 African Cheetahs
• India’s Ministry of Culture signed MoU with the Government of Egypt to strengthen cultural ties.
• Indian High Commission signed MoU to establish Hindi Chair at Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka
• India signed an agreement with Austria for migration and mobility
• India & Cyprus sign agreement on defence and military cooperation
• India and Germany signed Migration and Mobility Agreement

Exp.  G20 culture working group meeting to be held in Khajuraho

The First G20 Culture Working Group meeting will be held at Khajuraho in Madhya Pradesh from 22 to 25 February 2023.

The vision of this meeting is to harness the potential of existing and emerging technology to promote and facilitate access to cultural goods and services, as well as to preserve culture for future generations.

Culture and creative industries account for 3.1 percent of global GDP and provide 6.2 percent of all employment.

The event will also have an exhibition which will be organized at the Maharaja Chhatrasal Convention Centre, which will be inaugurated by Union Minister for Culture G Kishan Reddy.

G20 in News (Note – All Meetings are Under the Presidency of G20 by India)

• First Agriculture Deputies Meeting of the Agriculture Working Group – Indore (14 February 2023)
• Digital economy working group meeting – Lucknow (13 February 2023)
• Inception Meeting of G-20 empower group of Women & Child Development Ministry – Agra (11-12 February 2023)
• G20 Cyber Security Exercise and Drill inaugurated – MeitY Secretary Alkesh Kumar Sharma
• India’s first Model G-20 Summit inaugurated by- India’s G-20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant

Exp. India’s industrial production index grows 4.3% in December 2022

As per the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation data, India’s Industrial Production (IIP) index grew by 4.3 percent in December 2022.

It grew by 5.4% during April to December of the current fiscal 2022-23.

The manufacturing sector’s output grew by 2.6 percent in December 2022, while the mining output rose by 9.8 percent and electricity production increased by 10.4 percent during the month.

For the month of December 2022, the Quick Estimates of IIP with base 2011-12 stands at 144.7.

Exp. Andhra Pradesh CM inaugurated tourist police stations at 20 centres

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy has inaugurated Tourist Police Stations at 20 important religious and tourist places in various districts of the state.

The purpose of this move is to give boost to tourism security.

The tourist police stations would be run by specially trained police personnel and headed by a Sub Inspector or an ASI rank officer.

Linked to local police stations, each Tourist Police Station would have six police personnel, including women constables, it said.

These security kiosks would work as additional police stations and exclusively attend to complaints from tourists.

About Andhra Pradesh

• Capital – Amaravati
• Chief Minister – YS Jagan Mohan Reddy
• Governor – Abdul Nazeer

Exp. Air India signed 470 aircraft deal with Airbus, Boeing

Tata-owned Air India has confirmed an agreement to buy a total of 470 wide-body and narrow-body planes from Airbus and Boeing.

Of the 470 new aircraft ordered by Air India, 250 are from Airbus and 220 from Boeing.

The two deals involve the purchase of 40 Airbus A350, 20 Boeing 787 and 10 Boeing 777-9 wide-body aircraft, along with 210 Airbus A320 and A321neo and 190 Boeing 737 MAX single-aisle planes. The first of these new planes will enter service in late 2023, and the bulk will arrive starting mid-2025.

The A350s will be powered by Rolls-Royce engines. The 777s and 787s will have engines from GE Aerospace, while all single-aisle aircraft will be powered by engines from CFM International.

Ans.6.(d)

Exp. Two-day Global Tech Summit held in Visakhapatnam

The series of G-20 tech and business events begin with the two-day Global Tech Summit (GTS) on February 16.

The GTS may bring many persons from the technology, pharma, and agriculture industries to discuss the latest trends and advancements prevailing across the globe.

Nearly 1,000 delegates from more than 25 countries will attend, says Srinubabu Gedela, CEO, Pulsus Group and GTS co-convener.

G20 in News (Note – All Meetings are Under the Presidency of G20 by India)

• Secretariat for Science 20 (S20) Meeting – IISc Bengaluru
• G20 Foreign Ministers Meeting – New Delhi (March 2023)
• First Tourism Working Group (TWG) Meeting – Dhordo in Rann of Kutch, Gujarat (7 – 9 February 2023)

• First G20 Environment and Climate Sustainability Working Group Meeting – Bengaluru (9 -11 February 2023)

• First Meeting of the Youth-20 Group – Guwahati (6 – 8 February 2023)

Exp. ICICI Bank signed MoU with BNP Paribas for providing financial service

ICICI Bank has signed an MoU with BNP Paribas to cater to the banking requirements of European corporates operating in India.

It establishes a framework of the partnership between the two banks for providing financial services to corporate customers operating in India.

BNP Paribas Group has been in India since 1860 and is among the leading international financial institutions.

About Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation of India (ICICI) Bank

• Founded – 1994
• Headquarters – Mumbai
• MD & CEO – Sandeep Bakhshi
• Tagline – Hum Hai Na Khayal Apka

Recent MoUs Signed in Banking Sector

• HDFC Bank partnered with NIIT Limited for building pipeline of High-Quality
• SBI General Insurance partnered with HP Police and Doers NGO to reduce the number of traffic accidents
• South Indian Bank partnered with SAIL to provide financial assistance to the dealers of SAIL
• Axis Bank signed MoU with IISc Bengaluru to set up Centre for Mathematics and Computing
• Hockey Wali Sarpanch signed an agreement with NABARD to strengthen farmers

Exp. Paytm Payments Bank becomes first to launch UPI LITE feature

Paytm Payments Banks Limited (PPBL) has launched the UPI LITE feature for multiple small-value UPI transactions and become the first payments bank to launch such feature.

The UPI LITE feature will help with faster real-time transactions with a single click through Paytm as the bank aims to drive the adoption of digital payments across the country.

The NPCI designed the feature which was launched by Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in September 2022.

The small value transactions would now only show in the Paytm balance and history section, and not in the bank passbook.

Once loaded, a UPI LITE wallet allows a user to do instant transactions of up to ₹200, making the entire experience quick and seamless. A maximum of ₹2,000 can be added twice in a day to UPI LITE, making the cumulative daily usage up to ₹4,000.

Exp. Hyundai Motors India signs two more women cricketers as ambassadors

Hyundai Motor India Ltd has signed two more women cricketers named Yastika Bhatia and Renuka Singh Thakur, to its roster of brand ambassadors.

Bhatia and Thakur will join Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, and Jemimah Rodrigues in the list of brand ambassadors for Hyundai.

The company said it recognizes these women as rising sport stars and that they will be a catalyst in this women’s cricket calendar of 2023.

Hyundai Motor India has announced the next edition of its ‘The Drive Within’ campaign with these five women cricketers.

Recent Brand Ambassador

• Harmanpreet Kaur – Puma India
• Nikhat Zareen – NMDC (National miner company)
• Smriti Mandhana – Herbalife Nutrition
• Sourav Ganguly – Jahaan Bandhan, Wahaan Trust campaign (Bandhan Bank)
• Anushka Sharma – Puma India
• Deepika Padukone – American furniture retailer Pottery Barn
• Virat Kohli – Wearables martwatch leader Noise
• Prasoon Joshi – Uttarakhand State
• Janhvi Kapoor – Marico’s Saffola Fittify
• Deepa Malik – Ambassador of Nikshay Mitra (TB Campaign)

Exp. Kollam district won Swaraj Trophy for Best District Panchayat

Kerala’s Kollam district panchayat has won the Swaraj Trophy for the best district panchayat in the State for the 2021-22 financial year.

The Kannur district (Kerala) panchayat stood second in the rankings.

The Thiruvananthapuram Corporation bagged the trophy for the best corporation.

The Mulanthuruthy grama panchayat won the award for the best grama panchayat in the State and Pappinissery and Marangattupilly grama panchayats won the second and third places.

About Kerala

• Capital – Thiruvananthapuram
• Chief Minister – Pinarayi Vijayan
• Governor – Arif Mohammad Khan

Recent Awards

• First Shane Warne Men’s Test Player of the Year award – Usman Khawaja
• Kerala’s Akbar Kakkattil award – Subhash Chandran (for Samudrasila novel)
• UNESCO Peace Prize in Ivory Coast – Angela Merkel
• Raja Ram Mohan Roy National Award – Journalist A.B.K. Prasad
• Golden Book Awards 2023 – Rakhi Kapoor (For – Now You Breathe)

Exp. The 6th edition of India-US exercise TARKASH’ concluded in Chennai

The 6th edition of the joint exercise TARKASH’ has concluded in Chennai by the National Security Guard (NSG) and the US Special Operations Force (SOF).

“Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear (CBRN) Terror Response” has been included in this exercise for the first time.

An exercise to deal with chemical and biological attacks by terrorists was also included in the exercise. Chemical and biological attacks have been made part of the exercise in the backdrop of the Russia-Ukraine war.

Last year, Russia accuses Ukraine of receiving aid from Western countries and of carrying out a chemical attack in Kharkiv.

Recent Exercise

• Indan Army, IAF, and CAPFs conducted joint training exercise “Exercise Trishakti Prahar” in North Bengal.
• The Indian Navy organized mega biennial tri-services amphibious ‘exercise AMPHEX 2023’ near Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh.
• Indian Army and Egyptian Army have commenced Exercise Cyclone-I, the first-ever joint exercise between their special forces at Jaisalmer in Rajasthan.
• The 21st edition of the bilateral naval exercise between India and France titled ‘Varuna’ began on the western seaboard.
• Indian Air Force (IAF) and Japanese Air Self Defence Force (JASDF) will conduct their first Air exercise “Veer Guardian 23” from January 16 to 26 at Hyakuri air base and Iruma air base in Japan.

Exp. 15 February – International Childhood Cancer Day (ICCD)

International Childhood Cancer Day (ICCD) is observed every year on 15 February.

Objective – To raise awareness and show support for children and adolescents suffering from cancer.

The day was created by Childhood Cancer International, an umbrella organization of various child cancer support groups created by parents.

Theme 2023 — Better Survival

Childhood Cancer International was established in 1994. It is the largest patient-support organisation for childhood cancer in the world.

Exp. Actor Javed Khan Amrohi passed away

Veteran actor Javed Khan Amrohi passed away at the age of 60.

He was known for his work in films such as Once Upon A Time in Mumbai, Chak De India, Lagaan and Andaz Apna Apna.

He was best known for his roles in the popular DD serial Nukkad.

Amrohi’s other notable titles are the ’90s hit films such as Hum Hain Rahi Pyaar Ke, Laadla, Ishq, and the 1988 TV series Mirza Ghalib.