Current Affairs Quiz 5th July 2023 Quiz

Exp. Election Commission launches web portal for Contribution Reports

Political parties will now be able to file their financial accounts online to the EC.

The Commission has launched a web portal for filing of Contribution Reports, Audited Annual Accounts and Election Expenditure Statements by Political Parties.

These financial statements are required to be submitted by political parties to the poll body from time to time as per the Representation of People’s Act and transparency guidelines.

The facility has been created to facilitate political parties in overcoming the difficulties in the physical filing of reports and to ensure the timely filing of financial statements.

The online availability of the data is expected to enhance the level of compliance and transparency. The portal also has a facility for sending reminders in the form of messages on the registered mobile number and registered emails of the authorised representatives of the political party.

The Poll Panel has said the political parties not wishing to file the financial report through online mode will have to convey the reasons for not filing online to it in writing and may continue to file its reports in hard copy along with CDs and Pen drives.

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 – Anup Chandra Pandey & Arun Goel
• Tenure – 6/65yrs

Exp. Home Minister approves release of Rs 6,194 crore disaster relief fund to 19 States

Union Home Minister Amit Shah has approved the release of Rs 6,194.40 crore to 19 states under the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF).

The amount includes Rs 1,209.60 crore as a central share of the SDRF to four states (Chhattisgarh, Meghalaya, Telangana, and Uttar Pradesh) for 2022-23.

Rs 4,984.80 crore will also be given to 15 states (Andhra Pradesh, AP Assam, Bihar, Goa, Haryana, HP, Kerala, Maharashtra, Manipur, Meghalaya, Odisha, Punjab, TN, and Tripura) for 2023-24.

The Central government has already approved the release of ₹3,649.40 crore as Central share of SDRF to nine States during 2023-24.

Based on the 15th Finance Commission’s recommendations, the Central government has allocated ₹1,28,122.40 crore for SDRF for the years 2021-22 to 2025-26.

Amit Shah in News

• Amit Shah launches Akshar River Cruise Sabarmati Riverfront in Ahmedabad
• Amit Shah lays foundation stone of ‘Balidaan Stambh’ in Srinagar
• Amit Shah unveils ₹8,000 crore schemes to strengthen disaster management
• Amit Shah lays foundation stone of campus of National Academy of Coastal Policing in Gujarat
• Amit Shah inaugurates training program on legislative drafting in New Delhi

Exp. DAY-NRLM launches eSARAS mobile App

The Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana- National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM) launched the eSARAS mobile App to support marketing for products made by women of Self-help Groups (SHGs).

eSARAS is an e-commerce mobile app that provides a platform for marketing handicrafts and hand-looms made by SHG Didis.

The eSARAS fulfillment centre will be managed by the Foundation for Development of Rural Value Chains (FDRVC), a not-for-profit company constituted jointly by the Ministry of Rural Development and Tata Trust.

This fulfillment centre will be used for processing, packaging and shipping of products that customers purchase through the eSARAS portal and eSARAS mobile app. It will handle the logistics required to bring an online order to a customer’s doorstep.

Exp. India’s first ‘Police Drone Unit’ launched in Chennai

Greater Chennai Police has established a ‘Drone Police Unit’ to assist cops in aerial surveillance.

This will particularly be helpful in case of large gatherings, real-time checking of vehicle registration data and spotting of suspects.

According to the police, a total of nine drones under three categories are available in this unit: Quick Response Surveillance Drones (6), Heavy Lift Multirotor Drone (1) and Long Range Survey Wing Place (2).

These are all equipped with built-in artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities and can be operated up to a distance of 5-10 km from the ground station.

These drones equipped with AI technology can accurate estimate crowds during festivals or other gatherings, thereby enabling police to correctly plan crowd control strategies. Also, the drones are equipped with ANPR cameras which are capable of doing real-time checking with the vehicles registration database and spot suspects, stolen vehicles.

The Heavy Lift Drone, equipped with thermal cameras, is capable of detecting and rescuing people caught in sea waves by deploying life jackets, even during the night.

Exp. PM inaugurates Sai Hira Global Convention Centre in Puttaparthi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has virtually inaugurated the Sai Hira global convention centre at Prasanthi Nilayam at Puttaparthi in Sri Sathya Sai district of Andhra Pradesh.

The next 25 years of India’s independence is going to be the “Kartavya Kaal” as the country will Accord top priority to performing its duties.

Moving forward towards the journey of 100 years of Indian independence, we have named this “Amrit Kaal” as the “Kartavya Kaal”.

The new global convention centre established with the generous support of philanthropist Ryuko Hira, is a testament to the vision of promoting cultural exchange, spirituality and global harmony.

PM Modi in News

• PM Modi inaugurates National Sickle Cell Anemia Eradication Mission 2047 in Lalpur village of Madhya Pradesh
• PM Modi inaugurated 17th Indian Cooperative Congress in New Delhi
• PM Modi chairs 42ndPRAGATI interaction
• PM Modi inaugurated first-ever National Training Conclave in New Delhi
• PM Modi launched two schemes named Amrit Dharohar and MISHTI (Mangrove Initiative for Shoreline Habitats and Tangible Incomes).

Exp. World Bank approves USD 1.5 bn financing for India’s low-carbon transition

World Bank’s board of executive directors has approved $1.5 billion in financing to accelerate India’s development of low-carbon energy.

The financing will help India promote low-carbon energy by scaling up renewable energy, developing green hydrogen, and stimulating climate finance for low-carbon energy investments.

Centre has set a target of achieving 500 GW of installed renewable energy capacity by 2030 and reaching net zero by 2070.

Further, recently the Indian government launched the much-anticipated incentive scheme for the production of green hydrogen worth over ₹17,000 crore.

The ‘First Low-Carbon Energy Programmatic Development Policy Operation’, the first in a series of two envisaged operations, will support India in developing green hydrogen.

The program will support the successful implementation of the National Green Hydrogen Mission that aims to stimulate $100 billion in private sector investment by 2030,”

About World Bank

• Founded – 1944
• Headquarters – Washington Dc
• President – Ajay Banga
• MD & CFO – Anshula Kant
• Chief Economist – Carman Reinhart
• Executive Director – Rajesh Khullar
• Member Countries -189
• World Bank Group – 5 (IBRD, IDA, IFC, MIGA and ICSID)

Exp. Indian Bank rolls out digital services under ‘Project WAVE’ initiative

Indian Bank, in partnership with National E-Governance Service Limited (NeSL), has rolled out e-BG (electronic bank guarantee) services under Project WAVE to reduce the number of old paper-based process.

CEO and Managing Director of Indian Bank, S L Jain has launched the digital service at an event in Chennai.

The e-BG rollout will reduce the turn-around time of the bank issuance and delivery to the beneficiary within few minutes from the 3-4 working days. In addition, e-BG by Indian Bank would replace physical stamp paper and physical signatures of customers by e-signature and e-stamps.

Besides, Indian Bank has also introduced a new facility under Project WAVE, to ensure fully end-to-end digitally pre-approved business loans, for easy and smooth loan process. The facility is available to process a loan of ₹25 lakh.

Recent Facilities Launched in Banks & Insurance Sector

• Bank of India launched Centralised Pool Buy-Out and Co-Lending Cell
• Aditya Birla Sun Life Insurance launches ‘Nishchit Pension Plan’
• Axis Bank launches ‘One-View’ feature on its mobile application
• Paytm introduces UPI SDK for seamless online merchant payments
• Kotak Mahindra Bank launches ‘ActivMoney’, auto sweep account

Exp. SBI appoints Kameshwar Kodavanti as new CFO

The State Bank of India board has appointed Kameshwar Kodavanti as the new Chief Financial Officer (CFO).

He has replaced Charanjit Surinder Singh Attra, who has resigned from his post.

He has been working with the State Bank of India since August 1991 and has experience in fields of banking, forex, finance, and accounting.

He brings expertise in banking, forex, finance, and accounting to his new position.

Recent Appointment in Banking & Insurance Sector

• Chairman of TransUnion Cibil – V Anantharaman
• MD & CEO of UCO Bank – Ashwani Kumar (replace Soma Sankara Prasad)
• MD & CEO of Karnataka Bank – Srikrishnan Hari Hara Sarma
• Part-time chairman of Paytm – Vijay Shekhar (reappointment)
• Deputy MD of IDBI Bank – Jayakumar S. Pillai

Exp. Govt re-appoints Brajendra Navnit as India’s ambassador to WTO

Union government has re-appointed Brajendra Navnit as India’s ambassador to World Trade Organization (WTO) for 9 months.

He assumed office in June 2020 and his tenure ended in June 2023.

This decision comes ahead of the crucial 13th ministerial conference of the WTO in 2024.

India seeks extension of the waiver for global intellectual property rights concerning Covid therapeutics and diagnostics.

The 13th Ministerial Conference of the WTO will take place in Abu Dhabi in Feb 2024.

About World Trade Organization (WTO)

• Founded – 1 January 1995
• Headquarters – Geneva Switzerland
• 1st Director General – Peter Sutherland
• Director General – Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala (Nigeria)
• Member Countries – 164

Recent Appointment

• Solicitor General of India – Tushar Mehta (re-appointment)
• Chairman of Coal India Limited (CIL) – P M Prasad (replace Pramod Agrawal)
• Senior advisor of Deloitte – Manoj Kohli
• Special Director of CBI – Ajay Bhatnagar
• Additional Director of CBI – Anurag

Exp. Debadatta Chand takes charge as Bank of Baroda MD

Debadatta Chand has assumed charge as Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Bank of Baroda (BoB).

He has taken over charge from Sanjiv Chadha, whose tenure ended on June 30, 2023.

Before this role, Chand was serving as the Executive Director at the bank since March 2021.

He was overseeing corporate & institutional credit, corporate & institutional banking, treasury & global markets, mid-corporate business, and trade & foreign exchange.

Recent Appointment in Banking & Insurance Sector

• Part-time Chairman of Federal Bank – AP Hota
• MD of DBS Bank India – Rajat Verma
• Deputy Governor of RBI – Swaminathan Janakiraman (MD of SBI)
• MD & CEO of Equitas Small Finance Bank – P N Vasudevan
• Part-time Chairman of Axis Bank – N S Vishwanathan

Exp. SpaceX launches European space telescope Euclid to explore ‘dark universe’

SpaceX launched the European Space Agency’s Euclid observatory toward its ultimate destination 1.5 million km away.

The telescope’s highly anticipated 3D map of the cosmos will span both space and time in a bid to explain how the dark universe evolved and why its expansion is speeding up.

The lead scientist for the $1.5 billion mission (€1.4 billion) said Euclid will measure dark energy and dark matter with unprecedented precision.

Four metres tall and almost as wide, Euclid sports a 1.2-meter telescope and two scientific instruments capable of observing the cosmos in both visible light and near-infrared.

This telescope has been named after the ancient Greek mathematician, Euclid.

It will take a month to get there and another two months before it starts its ambitious six-year survey this autumn.

Exp. HESS Triveni Continental Kings crowned champions of Global Chess League

Triveni Continental Kings were crowned champions of the inaugural Global Chess League after defeating Mumba Masters 2-0 in the final.

The Kings finished the league stage with 15 points, two points ahead of Mumba Masters

The final was played in a best-of-three format, with each team playing two rapid games. The Kings won the first rapid game, with Levon Aronian defeating Maxime Vachier-Lagrave

The winner was decided through three stages of tie-breaks. After two rounds of rapid ending in a draw, another two rounds of blitz were played, but still finished with draws.

The champion was ultimately decided in a series of sudden-death blitz games where the decisive outcome came in the fourth game.

With this crucial victory, Bjerre not only clinched the title for his team but also won the $500,000 prize. The overall prize fund for the tournament was a stunning $1 million.

Exp. Haryana wins 6th Youth Women’s National Boxing Championships

Haryana has won the 6th Youth Women’s National Boxing Championships in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh.

Haryana finished with a total of 13 medals, including five gold, four silver, and four bronze

Uttarakhand and Delhi claimed the second and third spots with 32 and 20 points respectively.

Led by 2 times Asian Junior Champion Nikita Chand, Uttarakhand won 3 gold and 1 silver medal. Delhi ended their campaign with 3 silver and 1 bronze medal.

Haryana’s Priya (57kg) was adjourned best boxer due to her phenomenal display in the 57kg category while Madhya Pradesh’s Anjali Singh won the most promising boxer award

Exp. India won the title of SAFF Championship 2023

India has won the South Asian Football Federation Championship 2023.

The Indian men’s football team beat Kuwait 5-4 in a thrilling penalty shootout.

India triumphed in their ninth SAFF Championship out of 14 editions.

The final took place at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bangalore.

Goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh turned out as the hero for the Indian side, saving the final kick from the Kuwaiti captain.

In the semi-final, India defeated Lebanon while Kuwait defeated Bangladesh 1-0 in the other last-four clash.

SAFF Championship 2023 Prize Winners

• Winner – India
• Runner-up- Kuwait
• Top goal scorer- Sunil Chhetri (6 goals)
• Most Valuable Player (MVP) Sunil Chhetri
• Fairplay Award- Nepal Football Team
• Best Goalkeeper- Anisur Rahman Zico