Current Affairs Quiz 27th March 2024 Quiz

Exp. ECI launched Saksham app to facilitate easier voting for PwD

Election Commission has launched the Saksham App to ensure accessibility and inclusivity in the electoral process.

This initiative aims to address the needs of voters above 85 years of age and Persons-with-Disabilities (PWDs) with a 40 percent benchmark disability, allowing them to cast their votes from the comfort of their homes.

These targeted measures by the Election Commission signify a significant step towards fostering inclusivity and ensuring that every eligible voter can participate in the democratic process with ease and dignity.

Election Commission of India in News

• Meta partners with ECI to identify unlawful content from its platforms
• Google collaborates with ECI to enable voters to discover critical voting information
• ECI launched a new mobile application called Know Your Candidate (KYC).
• ECI launched a special campaign in Himachal Pradesh to boost voter turnout in 414 polling stations with less than 60% voting during the last Lok Sabha polls.

About Election Commissioner of India (ECI)

• It is a constitutional body to conduct and regulate elections in the country.
• It consists of a chief election commissioner (CEC) and two election commissioners (usually retired IAS or IRS officers)
• Founded – 25 January 1950
• 25 January – Voter’s Day
• HQ – New Delhi
• 1st Chief – Sukumar Sen
• 1st Women Chief – V.S. Ramadevi
• 25th Chief – Rajiv Kumar
• Commissioner – Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Gyanesh Kumar
• Tenure – 6/65yrs

Exp. Bharat Biotech starts clinical trials of Tuberculosis vaccine MTBVAC in India

Bharat Biotech International Ltd started clinical trials of the Tuberculosis vaccine MTBVAC on adults in India.

This is the first vaccine against Tuberculosis derived from a human source by the Spanish bio-pharmaceutical company, Biofabri.

The trials are carried out by Bharat Biotech in close collaboration with Biofabri.

After completing a dose escalation trial in HIV uninfected adults, a Phase2 study in HIV-infected adults has started in 2024 to determine whether MTBVAC is safe in this population.

Exp. Harivansh attends 148th assembly of Inter-Parliamentary Union in Switzerland’s Geneva

An Indian parliamentary delegation led by Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh participated in the 148th meeting of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, IPU, in Geneva, Switzerland.

The delegation attended the meetings of the IPU Asia Pacific Geo Political Group, APG BRICS Parliamentary Coordination Forum and IPU Forum of Women Parliamentarians.

It also held a bilateral meeting with the Parliamentary delegation of Thailand. During the meeting, the two sides discussed issues of mutual interest and ways to enhance bilateral Parliamentary cooperation.

About Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU)

• Founded- 1889, Paris, France
• Headquarters -Geneva Switzerland
• Member Country -180
• President- Tulia Ackson

Exp. Mumbai Overtakes Beijing to Become Asia’s Billionaire Capital: Hurun Report

Mumbai has dethroned Beijing as Asia’s billionaire capital, marking a historic milestone in the latest Hurun Global Rich List 2024.

With 271 billionaires, India now stands third globally in terms of billionaire count.

The report unveils a total of 3,279 billionaires globally, with 167 additions in the past year.

While China maintained its lead with 814 billionaires, India added nearly 100 new billionaires, while China saw a decline of 155.

The top 10 cities with billionaires include, New York, London, Mumbai, Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Hong Kong, Moscow, New Delhi, and San Francisco.

The top 10 nations with billionaires include, China, the US, India, the UK, Germany, Switzerland, Russia, Italy, France and Brazil.

The top 10 global billionaires include, Elon Musk (Tesla), Jeff Bezos (Amazon), Bernard Arnault (LVMH), Mark Zuckerberg (Meta), Larry Ellison (Oracle), Warren Buffet (Berkshire Hathaway), Steve Ballmer (Microsoft), Bill Gates (Microsoft), Larry Page (Alphabet), Mukesh Ambani (Reliance industries)

Exp. LIC world’s strongest insurance brand: Brand Finance Insurance

Insurance behemoth Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) has emerged as the strongest insurance brand globally, according to a report Brand Finance Insurance 100 2024.

The report said that LIC’s brand value remains steady at USD 9.8 billion, accompanied by a brand strength index score of 88.3 and an associated AAA brand strength rating.

Following LIC, the rankings highlight Cathay Life Insurance as the second strongest brand, experiencing a 9 per cent increase in brand value to USD 4.9 billion, closely followed by NRMA Insurance, which saw an 82 per cent rise in brand value to USD 1.3 billion.

Notably, Chinese insurance brands maintain dominance in the global rankings, with Ping An leading with a 4 per cent increase in brand value to USD 33.6 billion, followed by China Life Insurance and CPIC defending their 3rd and 5th positions, respectively

Additionally, LIC India achieved the highest first-year premium collection of Rs 39,090 crore in FY23, while SBI Life Insurance and HDFC Life Insurance led the private sector with new business premium collections of Rs 15,197 crore and Rs 10,970 crore, respectively.

Exp. Federal Bank & NPCI partner for contactless payments

Federal Bank has launched a RuPay smart key chain called ‘Flash Pay’ for contactless NCMC (National Common Mobility Card) payments at enabled metro stations and PoS terminals.

Customers can make payments up to ₹5,000 without a PIN, whereas those over ₹5,000 will require PIN authentication. The per day limit at any PoS terminal has been capped at ₹1 lakh.

‘Flash Pay’ allows users to make secure payments with just a tap, eliminating the need for physical cards or cash.

Through the ‘Flash Pay’ device, users can can make payments at millions of merchants, with built-in security features such as tokenisation and encryption to ensure that transactions are safe and secure.

Recent Facilities Launched in Banking & Insurance Sector

• Airtel Payments Bank partners with Noise and Mastercard to unveil ‘A New Way To Pay’
• IndusInd Bank introduced Indus PayWear, a new wearable payment solution, available on Mastercard.
• Bank of Baroda launched BoB Earth Green Term Deposit Scheme with 7.15% interest
• Karnataka Vikas Grameena Bank launched a new loan scheme called ‘Vikas Spoorty’
• Future Generali India Insurance launched a women’s health insurance plan “HEALTH POWHER”

About Federal Bank

• Founded- 23 April 1931
• Founder- K.P Hormis
• Headquarters – Kochi, Kerala.
• CEO- Shyam Srinivasan

Exp. Government allocated Rs 6200 cr to boost RRB

The union government has allocated Rs 6212.03 crore to regional rural banks under the recapitalization scheme.

Under the scheme, recapitalization support is provided to RRBs to maintain the minimum prescribed capital-to-risk (Weighted) Assets ratio of nine per cent.

The performance of RRBs has improved significantly, with a consolidated CRAR (Capital to Risk-weighted Assets Ratio) at an all-time high of 13.83 per cent as of December 31, 2023.

Indian RRBs have shown the highest ever consolidated net profit of Rs 4,974 crores in FY22-23 and a net profit of Rs 5,236 crore up to the 3rd quarter of FY 2023-24.

Similarly, the credit expansion has led to an increase in the consolidated credit-deposit ratio to 72.13 per cent as of 30.09.2023, which is the highest in the last 15 years.

About Regional Rural Banks (RRBs)

• Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) are commercial banks owned by the Indian government that operate at the regional level in different states.
• RRBs were established in 1975 to provide basic banking and financial services to rural areas, particularly to small and marginal farmers, agricultural laborers, artisans, and small entrepreneurs.
• There are 43 RRBs sponsored by 12 scheduled commercial banks in India.

Exp. Star Housing Finance partners with Tata Capital Housing Finance

Star Housing Finance (Star HFL) has entered into a co-lending partnership with Tata Capital Housing Finance (TCHFL).

The partnership aims to leverage domain of Star HFL in low ticket affordable housing finance space and the mutual synergies arising out of operations.

Star HFL branch network across Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan, NCR and Tamil Nadu would be utilized in this partnership to provide housing finance assistance predominantly to home buyers in economically weaker section (EWS) and low-income group (LIG) segment.

Recent MoUs Signed in Banking Sector

• Airtel Payments Bank partners with Noise and Mastercard to unveil ‘A New Way To Pay’
• YES Bank partners with Indian Olympic Association for Paris Olympics 2024
• SANY India signs MoU with J&K Bank to give finance solution
• L&T Finance Holdings Ltd signed a financing pact with Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) for $125 million to support financing in rural and peri-urban areas in India, particularly women borrowers
• SBI partners with Aurionpro Solutions for its transaction banking platform

Exp. From A Car Shed To The Corner Room & Beyond authored by S Raman

A book titled “From A Car Shed To The Corner Room & Beyond ” is written by S Raman.

S Raman, who retired as CMD of Canara Bank, and as a wholetime Member of the board of SEBI, rose to the top, having started his career as a clerk with SBI.

Within two years, he was selected as a direct recruit officer in Bank of India and rose meteorically to be an Executive Director in Union Bank and then as CMD of Canara. He hails from a middle class Tamil family in Hyderabad.

Recent Books

• The Man Who Lot India – Meghna Pant
• Conspiracy to oust me from the Presidency – Gotabaya Rajapaksa
• The Gems of Indian Art – Harish Khullar
• Doing Business in Uncertain Times – Ramesh Nair
• Goa 1961:The complete story of Nationalism and Integration – Valmiki Falero
• The Great Flap of 1942: How the Raj Panicked over a Japanese Non-invasion – Mukund Padmanabha

Exp. Soumendu Bagchi appointed India’s next ambassador to Iraq

Soumendu Bagchi, currently a deputy director general at the Indian Council of World Affairs (ICWA), has been appointed as the country’s next envoy to Iraq.

Bagchi is a 1993-batch officer of the Indian Foreign Service (IFS).

While, Abhilasha Joshi, presently additional secretary in the ministry, has been appointed as India’s next ambassador to the Republic of Chile.

Joshi is a 1995-batch IFS officer.

Recent Appointment in Foreign

• Director of Independent Evaluation Office (IEO) of World Bank’s Global Environment Facility (GEF) – Geeta Batra
• Country Director for India in ADB – Mio Oka (replace Takeo Konishi)
• US Representative on WHO Board – Vivek Murthy
• Secretary General of BIMSTEC – Indra Mani Pandey (replace Tenzin Lekphell Bhutan)
• ‘Class C’ Director on Board of Directors of Federal Reserve Bank of New York – Rajiv Shah

Exp. Kenya allrounder Collins Obuya retires from cricket

Kenya allrounder Collins Obuya has retired from cricket following their defeat to Uganda in the third-place play-off match in the African Games.

A legspinning allrounder, Obuya played 104 ODIs for Kenya, scoring 2044 runs and taking 35 wickets.

He is their third-highest run-scorer in the format, with Kenya stripped of their ODI status in 2014.

He is also Kenya’s highest run-scorer in T20Is, with 1794 runs from 76 appearances.

Obuya was named Kenya’s captain after the 2011 World Cup, but he stepped down in 2013 after they failed to qualify for the 2014 T20 World Cup.

Recently Retired Players

• Matthew Wade (Australia) – First-class cricket
• Neil Wagner (New Zealand) – International cricket
• Manoj Tiwary (West Bengal) – All forms of cricket
• Heinrich Klaasen (South Africa) – Test cricket
• David Warner (Australia) – International ODI & Test

Exp. Sreeja Akula wins women’s singles title at WTT Feeder Beirut II 2024

In Table Tennis, India’s Sreeja Akula won the women’s singles title at the WTT Feeder Beirut II 2024 table tennis tournament at the Al Kawthar Secondary School in Lebanon.

Akula, the world No. 47, beat Luxembourg’s Sarah De Nutte to win what was her second WTT singles career title.

The 25-year-old’s maiden crown came at the Feeder Corpus Christi 2024 in Texas.

For the mixed doubles crown, India’s Poymantee Baisya and Akash Pal beat Sathiyan Gnanasekaran and Manika Batra, while in Men’s Doubles Final, Manush Shah and Manav Thakkar won the event of the WTT Feeder Beirut- II tournament in Lebanon.

Exp. Carlos Sainz wins F1 Australian GP

Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz ended Red Bull’s Formula 1 winning streak by winning the Australian Grand Prix.

Sainz, who started on the front row alongside Verstappen, kept his place into turn one, but passed the Dutchman on lap two at turn nine for the lead and took control once his rival retired two laps later with a fiery mechanical failure.

Verstappen had won the first two F1 races of the season in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia and was on a nine-race winning streak.

Exp. 25 March – International Day of Solidarity with Detained and Missing Staff Members

The International Day of Solidarity with Detained and Missing Staff Members is observed every year on 25 March.

The day marked anniversary of abduction of Alec Collett, a former journalist who was working for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East when he was abducted by armed gunman in 1985.

His body was finally found in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley in 2009.

The day is to observed year on 25 March to mobilise action, demand justice and strengthen our resolve to protect UN staff and peacekeepers, as well as colleagues in the non-governmental community and the press.

Exp.  26 March – Purple Day of Epilepsy

World Purple Day, also known as Epilepsy Awareness Day is observed every year on 26 March.

This day holds special significance as it aims to raise awareness about epilepsy, a neurological disorder characterised by recurrent seizures.

World Purple Day traces its origins back to 2008 when Cassidy Megan, a young Canadian girl, initiated the idea to increase awareness about epilepsy.  

Exp. March 27 – World Theatre Day

World Theatre Day is celebrated every year on March 27 to honour the art of theatre.

Objective – To raise awareness about the role of theatre in our lives, and to promote its growth.

The history of World Theatre Day dates back to 1962, when the first World Theatre Day was celebrated.