Current Affairs Quiz 2nd and 3rd September 2023 Quiz

Exp. UP govt increases amount of Mukhyamantri Kanya Sumangla Yojana

On the auspicious occasion of Raksha Bandhan, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath announced an increase in the amount of the Mukhyamantri Kanya Sumangla Yojana from Rs 15,000 to Rs 25,000 from the financial year 2024-2025.

This will make it easier for the daughters of the state to fulfil their dreams and become self-reliant along with being educated.

Under this scheme, a package of Rs 15,000 was given in six phases. “Starting next year, as soon as a daughter is born, an amount of Rs 5,000 will be transferred to her parents’ account.

Similarly, when the daughter turns one year old, Rs 2,000 will be transferred, when she enters the first grade, Rs 3,000; on entering the sixth grade, Rs 3,000; on entering the ninth grade, Rs 5,000; and if the daughter pursues a graduate, diploma, or certificate course, then an amount of Rs 7,000 will be transferred to her account.

About Uttar Pradesh

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

Exp. Ministry of Social Justice signs MoU with NSKFDC

A momentous collaboration has been cemented as the Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment and the National Safai Karamcharis Finance and Development Corporation (NSKFDC) inked a MoU for the fiscal years 2023-24 and 2024-25.

This strategic partnership aims to enhance the socio-economic upliftment of Safai Karamcharis, Manual Scavengers, Waste Pickers and their dependants.

NSKFDC is continuously working for the empowerment of these most vulnerable and deprived sections of society through its various loan based and non-loan-based schemes like Short Term Skill Development Training Programmes.

It focuses on complete mechanization of Sewer and Septic Tank cleaning operation by providing soft loans at low rates of interest to Sanitation Workers, Urban Local Bodies.

NSKFDC also provides loans upto Rs 1 lacs under its Mahila Samridhi Yojana and Micro Credit Finance Scheme. The overall rate of interest is 4% and 5%, respectively.

The other loan schemes are General Term Loan and Green Business Schemes under which loans upto Rs.15.00 lacs and upto Rs.30.00 lacs respectively are provided with rate of interest at 6% and 1% rebate for women beneficiaries.

Exp. Centre announces up to Rs 50 lakh grant for technical textiles startups

The government will provide a grant-in-aid of up to Rs 50 lakh for startups and individuals to promote innovation in the niche technical textiles segment.

The Startup Guidelines for Technical Textiles – Grant for Research and Entrepreneurship across Aspiring Innovators in Technical Textiles (GREAT) providing grant-in-aid of up to Rs 50 lakh for up to a period of 18 months has been approved.

With a strong emphasis on developing the Startup Ecosystem in Technical Textiles, the guidelines focus on supporting individuals and companies to translate prototypes to technologies & products, including commercialisation, he told reporters here on the important developments in the National Technical Textiles Mission (NTTM).

Under the GREAT scheme, the ministry envisages the research, which has already been conducted and some prototypes have been developed, to be made commercial.

An online portal will be developed to invite applications within 10-15 days. The scheme will be commensurate with the National Technical Textiles Mission. We are going to support 100-150 startups.

Exp. Minister Dharmendra Pradhan launches Comic Book Developed by NCERT, UNESCO

Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has launched a comic book on good health and wellness.

The comic book ‘Let’s Move Forward’ is designed to cater to the diverse requirements of adolescents and encapsulates crucial information pertaining to the 11 thematic components of the School Health and Wellness Programme.

The book is accessible in multiple languages, including Hindi, English, Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Odiya, Tamil, and Telugu, to ensure inclusivity across linguistic diversity.

Launching the comic book, developed by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) and UNESCO, the minister hoped the book would motivate students to prioritize holistic well-being while entertaining them through storytelling, with a key focus on good health and wellness.

It will be distributed across various educational and health institutions nationwide and will also be disseminated to the 29,000 schools affiliated with the CBSE.

An electronic version of the comic book will also be accessible on the ministry website and also on the websites of NCERT, UNESCO, and DIKSHA platforms.

This comic book signifies a significant stride towards augmenting the goals of the School Health and Wellness Programme (SHWP).

The SHWP, initiated under the Ayushman Bharat campaign in April 2018 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is an initiative undertaken by the Union Education Ministry and Union Health Ministry.

Its primary objective is to impart health education, prevent diseases, and enhance access to health services through wellness centres within educational institutions.

Exp. Government to set up 1,000 Khelo India Centres in country within a year

Youth Affairs and Sports Minister Anurag Singh Thakur has announced that one thousand Khelo India Centres will be established within a year in the country on the occasion of National Sports Day.

It will not only provide employment opportunities to former athletes but also give budding sportspersons a chance to take guidance from the veterans.

Each player will receive five lakh rupees to procure equipments for their centres and per year another five lakh rupees for operational expenses.

The Minister also launched the third edition of the Fit India Quiz, among other initiatives.

Thakur also launched an Information booklet on Sports Infrastructure Projects sanctioned under the Khelo India Scheme as well as launched a National Sports Federations portal.

Exp. NRL, IIT-Guwahati sign pact to develop green carbon from bamboo dust

The Numaligarh Refinery Ltd (NRL) and IIT-Guwahati have signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) to develop technology for production of marketable green carbon from bamboo dust.

As part of the project, a plant of capacity 5 MT/batch will be set up to produce green activated carbon by pyrolyzing bamboo dust.

The project also aims to develop technology for the production of high-grade chemically activated carbon.

Recent MoU

• NITI Aayog and UNDP sign MoU on fast-tracking SDGs
• AICTE partnered with Jio Institute for faculty development programme
• BHEL signs MoU with Greenstat to explore opportunities in Hydrogen value chain
• Voyager Space signed MoU with New Space India Limited (NSIL) to foster collaboration in spacecraft launch
• Defense ministry signs with HAL to upgrade Dornier Aircraft for ICG

Exp. SEBI reconstitutes panel on alternative investment policy

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has reconstituted its alternative investment policy advisory committee with 25 members to advise on issues impacting the development of the Alternative Investment Fund (AIF) space.

The committee is chaired by Infosys co-founder N R Narayana Murthy and includes members from SEBI, the Ministry of Finance, and industry associations.

The panel, which was constituted by Sebi in March 2015, had 20 members when it was last rejigged by the regulator in February 2022.

Till now, the committee has submitted three reports on the AIF (Alternative Investment Fund) industry.

Sebi has also replaced Renuka Ramnath, who was chairperson of the Indian Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (IVCA), from the list with the association’s new chairman Karthik Reddy.

In addition, the regulator has added Rajiv Dhar, who was appointed as Managing Director (MD) and CEO of the National Investment & Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) in May this year, in the committee.

Recent Committees

• Government sets up high power committee to review DRDO; chaired by – Prof K Vijay Raghavan
• Government forms new panel to review all official data; chaired by – Pronab Sen
• Chairman of the research advisory committee of ICAR – B Neeraj Prabhakar
• Government sets up panel to recommend reforms in arbitration law; Headed by – T K Vishwanathan (Former law secretary)
• Centre constitutes peace committee in Manipur; Chaired by the governor of Manipur

Exp. Razorpay partners with Truecaller for instant checkout

A global caller identification platform, Truecaller has partnered with Razorpay to provide a fast and secure online checkout experience for shoppers with its 1-Tap, OTP-Less Verification solution.

Through this solution by Truecaller, Razorpay will be able to deliver a faster, seamless checkout experience to the 200Mn+ customers that transact via Razorpay’s checkout annually.

Customers would no longer need to manually fill up their contact details or wait for OTPs during the checkout, as these details will get auto-populated by Truecaller with a single tap.

This solution will help businesses with reduced drop-offs and 5% higher conversion rates providing a faster checkout experience to their customers.

This strategic alliance between Razorpay and Truecaller is a testament to their commitment to ensuring a frictionless user buying experience.

Recent MoU in Banking Sector

• LIC Partners with Saraswat Cooperative Bank to Increase the life Insurance
• Airtel Payments Bank partnered with Frontier Markets to support 1 lakh women
• DBS partners with Maptrasco to complete the first eBL transaction
• Axis Bank partners with RBI innovation hub to launch KCCs and MSME loans
• NHA and IRDAI collaborate to boost digital health integration in insurance

Exp. GST collection grows 11% year-on-year to Rs 1.59 lakh crore

Goods and Services Tax (GST) collections grew by 11 percent to over Rs 1.59 lakh crore in August 2023.

The gross GST revenue collected in August 2023 is Rs 1,59,069 crore of which Central GST is Rs 28,328 crore, State GST is Rs 35,794 crore, Integrated GST is Rs 83,251 crore (including Rs 43,550 crore collected on import of goods) and cess is Rs 11,695 crore (including Rs 1,016 crore collected on import of goods).

The revenues for the month of August 2023 are 11 percent higher than the GST revenues in the same month last year.

During the month, revenue from import of goods was 3 percent higher and the revenues from domestic transactions (including import of services) are 14 percent higher than the revenues from these sources during the same month last year.

The Goods and Services Tax (GST) collection was over Rs 1.43 lakh crore in August 2022.

GST Collection of Previous Months

• January 2023 – 1,55,922 crore
• February 2023 – 1,49,577 crore
• March 2023 – 1,60,122 crore
• April 2023 – 1,87,035 crore
• May 2023 – 1,57,090 crore
• June 2023 – 1,61,497 crore
• July 2023 – 1,65,105 crore

Exp. US state of Georgia declares October as ‘Hindu Heritage Month’

The state of Georgia in the United States has formally designated October as “Hindu Heritage Month” to recognize and appreciate the valuable contributions made by the vibrant Hindu-American community residing in the state.

In an official proclamation, Governor Brian Kemp has declared October as ‘Hindu Heritage’ month.

October is a significant month for Hinduism as it contains major festivals like Navaratri and Diwali.

This declaration highlights the intention to celebrate Hindu heritage by emphasizing its rich culture and the diverse spiritual traditions that originate from India.

Exp. MS Dhoni Appointed as the Brand Ambassador of Swaraj Tractors

Industrialist Anand Mahindra appointed Mahendra Singh Dhoni as the Brand Ambassador of Swaraj Tractors, a company of Mahindra & Mahindra.

Swaraj Tractors is an Indian tractor manufacturing company headquartered in Mohali, Punjab, and a subsidiary of Mahindra & Mahindra.

Established in 1974, its mission was to be self-reliant and develop India’s first indigenous tractor.

Presently Swaraj Tractors is one of the leading tractor manufacturers in India with a market share of over 10%.

Recent Brand Ambassador

• Chef Sanjeev Kapoor – Indian Oil ‘s XTRATEJ LPG brand
• Iga Swiatek – Infosys’s Global Brand Ambassador
• Rafael Nadal – Infosys brand and Infosys Digital Innovation
• Rahul Dravid – Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL)
• Shraddha Kapoor – Asics India Private Limited (a sports gear company)
• Rashmika Mandanna – Printer company Epson India
• Smriti Mandhana – Wrangler brand
• Hrithik Roshan – Zebronics TV

Exp. Falabella appoints Ashutosh Dabral as MD for its India office

Ashutosh Dabra has been appointed as the Managing Director for Falabella, India.

Ashutosh has held significant positions at companies like Yahoo, Target, Dell, AOL, and Tata CLIQ.

Falabella is a dynamic retail Latin American conglomerate and a leading global innovator at the forefront of revolutionizing retail and technology landscape.

Set up in 2018, Falabella India has become the nucleus of innovation and technological evolution within the Falabella group.

The innovation hub in Bangalore, which currently consists of over 450 developers is predominantly focused on niche technology and transformational efforts for the Falabella Group.

Recent Appointment

• First woman CEO and chairperson of the Railway Board – Jaya Varma Sinha (replace Anil Kumar Lahoti)
• First Woman to head Indian mission in Pakistan – Geetika Srivastava (replace M Suresh Kumar)
• First Woman field Director of Kaziranga NP – Dr Sonali Ghosh (replace Jatindra Sarma)
• New country chair of Shell India – Mansi Madan Tripathy (replace Nitin Prasad)
• Chairman of Smart eMobility – Manoj Kohli

Exp. Dr. Vasudha Gupta assumes charge as Principal DG of Akashvani

Senior Indian Information Service officer Dr. Vasudha Gupta has assumed charge as the Principal Director General of Akashvani and News Services Division.

She was serving as Director General in Akashvani. In the last one year, Dr Gupta has been instrumental in the revamping and reviving of Akashvani.

A 1989-batch officer, Dr. Gupta has served in various capacities in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting in her over 33-year-long career. She has also served as Director General, the Press Information Bureau (PIB).

During her stint in PIB, Dr. Vasudha Gupta played an instrumental role in devising and implementing information dissemination products during the challenging period of COVID pandemic.

Recent Appointment

• CEO of Viacom 18 for digital business – Kiran Mani
• Part-time chairperson of UIDAI – Neelkanth Mishra
• Chairman of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) – CJ of the Calcutta HC Prakash Shrivastava (replace Shiv Kumar Singh)
• Chairman of Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) – Shrikant Madhav Vaidya (reappointment)
• Additional Director General of Indian Coast Guard – S Paramesh

Exp. Jaya Varma Sinha appointed as Chairman of Railway Board

The Secretariat of the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has appointed Jaya Verma Sinha as the first woman CEO and chairperson of the Railway Board.

She succeeds Anil Kumar Lahoti.

Sinha as the CEO and Chairperson of the Railway Board, making her the first woman to ever hold that post in the Ministry of Railways’ 105-year-old history.  Vijaylaxmi Vishwanathan was the first female member of the Railway Board.

Ms Sinha, an alumnus of Allahabad University, joined the Indian Railway Traffic Service (IRTS) in 1986 and worked in three railway zones: Northern Railway, South Eastern Railway, and Eastern Railway.

Her tenure will end on August 31, 2024.

Ms Sinha was the public face of the railways in the wake of the tragic Balasore accident, that killed nearly 300 people in Odisha, explaining the complex signaling system to the media.

During her four-year tenure as Railway Advisor in the High Commission of India in Dhaka, Bangladesh, she played a key role in the inauguration of the Maitree Express, a train service that connects Kolkata and Dhaka.

Recent Appointment

• First Woman to head Indian mission in Pakistan – Geetika Srivastava (replace M Suresh Kumar)
• First Woman field Director of Kaziranga NP – Dr Sonali Ghosh (replace Jatindra Sarma)
• First female IPS officer of Arunachal Pradesh – Tenzing Yangki
• First woman to chair the Rajya Sabha – Phangnon Konyak (Nagaland)
• 1st woman to be top Navy officer in US history – Lisa Franchetti
• First woman director of IIT, to led IIT Zanzibar – Preeti Aghalayam
• First Muslim woman federal judge in US history – Nusrat Chowdhary

Exp. ISRO successfully launched Aditya L1 Mission

ISRO has successfully launched the Aditya L1 mission from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, India.

It is India’s first solar space observatory mission that was launched on the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) XL.

The separation of Aditya-L1 and its injection into an elliptical orbit around the Earth was successful and took about 63 minutes.

The mission will study the Sun’s atmosphere, including the chromosphere and corona. It will also study the solar wind and its interaction with the Earth’s atmosphere.

The Aditya L1 spacecraft is a 1.5-ton satellite that is equipped with seven payloads. The payloads will study the Sun’s atmosphere using a variety of methods, including remote sensing and in-situ measurements.

The spacecraft will be placed in a halo orbit around the Sun-Earth Lagrange Point 1 (L1), which is located about 1.5 million kilometers from Earth.

The Aditya L1 mission is expected to last for five years. During this time, it will collect valuable data about the Sun that will help scientists to better understand its behavior and its impact on Earth.

What are Lagrange Points?

• Lagrange Points are positions in space where the gravitational forces of a two-body system like the Sun and Earth produce enhanced regions of attraction and repulsion. These can be used by spacecraft as “parking spots” in space to remain in a fixed position with minimal fuel consumption.
• There are five special points where a small mass can orbit in a constant pattern with two larger masses. The Lagrange Points are positions where the gravitational pull of two large masses precisely equals the centripetal force required for a small object to move with them.
• This mathematical problem, known as the “General Three-Body Problem” was considered by Italian-French mathematician Joseph-Louis Lagrange in his prize-winning paper (Essai sur le Problème des Trois Corps, 1772).
• Of the five Lagrange points, three are unstable and two are stable. The unstable Lagrange points – labeled L1, L2, and L3 – lie along the line connecting the two large masses.
• The stable Lagrange points – labeled L4 and L5 – form the apex of two equilateral triangles that have the large masses at their vertices. L4 leads the orbit of earth and L5 follows.  

Exp. 2 September – World Coconut Day

World Coconut Day is celebrated every year on September 2.

The day also aims to raise awareness about the benefits of coconut cultivation and consumption.

Theme 2023 – Coconuts: Transforming Lives

The Asian and Pacific Coconut Community (APCC), headquartered in Jakarta, Indonesia, was founded in 1969 to support the growth, production, sell and export of coconuts in Asian countries.

In 2009, APCC started the initiative of celebrating World Coconut Day on September 2 every year. India, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, Kenya, and Vietnam are some of the countries that are members of APCC.

West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh are the main states in India that grow coconuts.