Current Affairs Quiz 19th January 2023 Quiz

Exp. NCERT notified India’s first national assessment regulator ‘PARAKH’

The National Council for Education Research and Training (NCERT) has notified India’s first national assessment regulator, PARAKH.

PARAKH stands for Performance Appraisal, Review and Analysis of Knowledge for Holistic Development.

The regulator aims to set up assessment guidelines for all boards to help remove disparities in scores of students enrolled with different state boards.

PARAKH has been launched as part of the implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP)-2020 that envisaged a standard-setting body to advise school boards regarding new assessment patterns and the latest research and promote collaborations between them.

PARAKH will work on three major assessment areas: large-scale assessments, school-based assessment, and examination reforms.

To begin with, PARAKH will work on bringing an equivalence in the recognized school boards in India in terms of the academic standards among learners.

It will set up assessment guidelines for all the boards to help remove disparities in scores of students enrolled with different state boards.

PARAKH will closely work with the state directorates of education, state education boards and international organizations working in the area of assessment and evaluation.

Exp. Telangana CM launched second phase of ‘Kanti Velugu’

Telangana Chief Minister, K Chandrasekhar Rao has launched the second phase of the ‘Kanti Velugu’ initiative in Khammam district.

It is considered to be the world’s largest eye screening programme.

Under the Kanti Velugu, free eye screening will be held at the special health camps for 100 days with 1500 medical teams.

The first phase of Kanti Velugu was conducted for eight months by 827 health teams. The health camps will commence on January 19 in the rest of the state.

Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan, his Punjab counterpart Bhagwant Singh Mann, and Delhi Counterpart Arvind Kejriwal will also be taking part in the programme.

About Telangana

• Capital – Hyderabad
• Chief Minister – K. Chandrashekar Rao
• Governor – Tamilisai Soundararajan

Exp. Kerala Literature Festival concludes in Kozhikode

The 6th edition of the Kerala Literature Festival concluded in Kozhikode, Kerala.

The event was included in the World Tourism Calendar.

The Thrissur Pooram and the Kochi-Muziris Biennale are other events in Kerala that have found a place in the World tourism calendar.

The 7th edition would be held at the same venue from January 11 to 14, 2024.

About Kerala

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

Exp. ASI discovers two 1200-year-old miniature stupas at Nalanda, Bihar

The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has discovered two 1200-year-old miniature stupas within the complex of the world heritage site ‘Nalanda Mahavihara’ in the Nalanda district of Bihar.

The figures of Buddha are shown on the stupa carved out of stone. Such stupas were popular as votive offerings in India as early as the 7th century.

The stupa is a hemispherical structure symbolizing the burial mound of the Buddha. It rose to prominence after the advent of Buddhism and reached its peak during the reign of Ashoka.

Stupas evolved from chortens in Tibet and pagodas in East Asia.

Nalanda was a Mahavihara, a large Buddhist monastery in the ancient kingdom of Magadha (modern Bihar) in India.

 About Archaeological Survey of India (ASI)

• ASI is responsible for archaeological research and the conservation and preservation of cultural and historical monuments in India.
• Founded – 1861
• Founder – Alexander Cunningham
• Headquarters – New Delhi
• Director General -V Vidyavathi

Exp. Punjab government to launch ‘Schools of Eminence’ project

The Punjab government will launch its first major education project, ‘Schools of Eminence’.

It will be launched at the Indian School of Business (ISB), Mohali.

Under the project, the state government will upgrade existing government schools into ‘Schools of Eminence’ for classes 9 to 12.

Under phase 1, the govt plans to upgrade nearly 110 government schools as ‘Schools of Eminence’.

The Punjab government had set aside a fund of Rs 200 crore for this project.

About Punjab

• Capital – Chandigarh
• Chief Minister – Bhagwant Mann
• Governor – Banwarilal Purohit

Exp. Kollam becomes first constitution-literate district in India

Kerala Chief Minister, Pinarayi Vijayan has declared Kollam district as the first Constitution-literate district in the country.

It is achieved through ‘The Citizen’, a Constitution literacy campaign.

The district’s success is the result of a seven-month campaign launched by the Kollam district panchayat, the District Planning Committee, and the Kerala Institute of Local Administration (KILA) to educate citizens about the country’s laws and their rights.

The campaign has been launched to educate the residents of Kollam district of Kerala about the basics of the Constitution. Its objective is to make Kollam district a constitutionally literate district.

Under this campaign, more than seven lakh families of the district are being educated on the basic principles of the Constitution.

About Kerala

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

Exp. Uttar Pradesh tops charts for mobile gaming destination in India

Uttar Pradesh has emerged as the top destination for mobile gamers, followed by Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Bihar, and West Bengal, according to India Mobile Gaming Report 2022 by gaming platform Mobile Premier League.

Odisha, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, and Himachal Pradesh have seen the highest increase in mobile gamers in 2022 compared to 2021.

In terms of games, Ludo Dice, Snakes and Ladders, Carrom, Fruit Dart, Block Puzzle and Poker were some of the top games played by gamers across different Indian cities.

In Uttar Pradesh, Lucknow, Kanpur, Varanasi, Ghaziabad, and Allahabad have the highest share of gamers.

Thirty-six percent of the total gamers in UP hail from these cities.

India’s gaming market was worth $SD 2.6 billion in the financial year 2022 and it will reach $8.6 billion by 2027 with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 27 percent

Exp. PM Modi inaugurated the second phase of Saansad Khel Mahakumbh

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has inaugurated the second phase of Saansad Khel Mahakumbh 2022-23 in Basti District of Uttar Pradesh via video conferencing.

The Khel Mahakumbh organizes diverse competitions in both indoor and outdoor sports like wrestling, Kabaddi, Kho Kho, Basketball, Football, Hockey, Chess, Badminton, and Table Tennis.

Apart from these, competitions in essay writing, painting, rangoli making are also organized.

The Saansad Khel Mahakumbh is being organized in two phases. The first phase was organized from 10th to 16th December last year. The second phase of Khel Mahakumbh will be held from January 18 to 28.

About Uttar Pradesh

• Capital – Lucknow
• Chief Minister – Yogi Adityanath
• Governor – Anandiben Patel

PM Modi in News

• PM Modi virtually flagged off the 8th Vande Bharata Express train connecting Secunderabad with Vishakhapatnam.
• PM Modi announced the “Aarogya Maitri” project during the Voice of Global South Summit
• PM Modi inaugurated 26th National Youth Festival at Hubbali in Karnataka
• PM Modi virtually inaugurated the 7th edition of the Global Investors Summit in Indore, Madhya Pradesh.
• PM Modi chaired the Annual General Meeting of the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library Society in New Delhi
• PM Modi launched world’s longest river cruise from Varanasi to Assam

Exp. Shah Rukh Khan ranks third on world’s richest actors list

Shah Rukh Khan has been ranked fourth in a list of 8 richest actors in the world, released by World of Statistics.

SRK’s net worth is 770 million dollars. Shah Rukh Khan is the only Indian on the list.

The actor is ranked above Hollywood star Tom Cruise.

The list is led by Seinfeld star Jerry Seinfeld and Tyler Perry with $1 billion.

They are followed by Dwayne Johnson, with $800 million.

Richest actors in the world

1. Jerry Seinfeld (US)- $1 Billion
2. Tyler Perry (US)- $1 Billion
3. Dwayne Johnson (US)- $800 million
4. Shah Rukh Khan (India)- $770 million
5. Tom Cruise (US)- $620 million
6. Jackie Chan (Hong Kong)- $520 million
7. George Clooney (US)- $500 million
8. Robert De Niro (US)- $500 million

Exp. Janani Ramachandran becomes first LGBTQ woman of colour city council

A 30-year-old Indian American social justice lawyer, activist, and artist, Janani Ramachandran has become the youngest and the first LGBTQ woman of colour to serve on Oakland City Council in the US state of California.

Ramachandran currently serves on the California Commission on Asian and Pacific Islander American Affairs and has previously served as a Commissioner at the City of Oakland Public Ethics Commission.

The Stanford University and University of California, Berkeley pass-out has worked in several legal non-profits.

Recent Appointment

• First minister of the new Ministry of Indigenous People in Brazil – Sonia Guajajara
• First woman president of Indian Olympic Association – PT Usha

• First woman officer to be posted at BRO – Captain Surbhi Jakhmola
• First woman chief secretary of Telangana – Santhi Kumari
• First female Sikh judge in US – Manpreet Monica Singh

Exp. Pankaj Kumar Singh appointed as Deputy NSA

Former Director General of the Border Security Force (BSF), Pankaj Kumar Singh has been appointed as the Deputy National Security Adviser (NSA) in National Security Council Secretariat for two years.

He is a 1988-batch IPS officer of the Rajasthan cadre. He retired as the BSF chief on December 31, 2022.

He had earlier served as inspector General of CRPF in Chhattisgarh and IG (Operations) at CRPF Headquarters in Delhi.

He has also served in the Rajasthan Police and CBI.

National Security Adviser -Ajit Doval

Other Appointment

• Director General of BSF – Sujoy Lal Thaosen (additional charge)
• Director General of CISF – Subodh Kumar Jaiswal
• Director General of ITBP – Anish Dayal Singh
• Director General of CRPF – Sujoy Lal Thaosen
• Director General of NSG – M A Ganapathy
• Director General of Indian Coast Guard – Virender Singh Pathania

Exp. Rohit Sharma breaks MS Dhoni’s record of most sixes in ODIs in India

Indian captain Rohit Sharma has shattered a long-standing record held by MS Dhoni to become India’s most prolific six-hitter in the history of ODI cricket at the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium in Hyderabad.

Rohit achieved this remarkable feat during the first ODI between India and New Zealand.

Rohit and Dhoni are the only two Indians with more than 100 sixes in the 50-over format, with Yuvraj Singh a distant third in the list.

His effort in the series opener was a testament to his prowess as a batsman, and a reminder of the legacy he is creating in the world of cricket.

Most Sixes in ODI in India

Rohit – 125

Dhoni – 123

Yuvraj – 71

Exp. ISRO ‘Shukrayaan’ mission to planet Venus reportedly shifted to 2031

According to a report, P. Sreekumar, the Satish Dhawan Professor at the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and advisor to its space science programme, stated in a talk that the organization has not yet received approval from the Indian government for the Venus mission and that, as a result, the mission may be delayed until 2031

The mission was scheduled to launch in December 2024.

The concept was conceived in 2012; five years later, after the Department of Space got a 23% increase in the 2017–2018 budget, ISRO started preliminary investigations. In April 2017, the organization requested payload proposals from research institutions.

The best time to launch from Earth to Venus is once every 19 months or thereabouts. In case it misses the 2024 window, ISRO has “backup” launch dates in 2026 and 2028. But every eight years, new better windows present themselves that further cut down on the quantity of fuel needed for takeoff.

The VERITAS and EnVision missions of the American and European space agencies, respectively, both have Venus missions scheduled for 2031, but China might go anytime: 2026, 2027, whenever they want to go.

Exp. South Indian Bank partnered with SAIL for financing dealers

South Indian Bank has partnered with Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) to provide financial assistance to the dealers of SAIL across the country.

With the vast network of the bank, they will be able to serve the MSME and corporate customers of SAIL located in different geographies.

SAIL has a vast network of dealers who ensure the availability of quality steel in virtually all districts of the country.

MD & CEO of South Indian Bank – Murali Ramakrishnan

Recent MoUs Signed in Banking Sector

• 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
• Axis Bank partnered with OPEN to launch a fully digital current account
• Niva Bupa and Sundaram Finance signed corporate agency agreement
• HDFC Bank partnered with Microsoft for digital transformation
• SBI Card partnered with Punjab & Sind Bank to launch co-brand credit cards

Exp. World’s oldest person Lucile Randon dies at the age of 118

The world’s oldest person, French nun Lucile Randon has died aged 118.

Randon – who assumed the name Sister André when she took holy orders in 1944 – died in her sleep at her nursing home in Toulon, France.

She was born on 11 February 1904 in Southern France.

In the year 2022, the world’s oldest person Ken Tanaka of Japan died. He was 119 years old.

After Tanaka’s death, 118-year-old Sister Lucille Randon became the oldest person in the world.

Guinness World Records had officially recognized her status in April 2022.

The record for oldest confirmed age reached by a human belongs to Jeanne Calment, also of southern France, who died in 1997 at the age of 122.