Current Affairs Quiz 7th February 2023 Quiz

Exp. NTPC hosts international seminar on ‘Carbon Capture Utilization and Storage’

NTPC Ltd, India’s largest integrated Power utility, hosted an international seminar on ‘Carbon Capture Utilization and Storage (CCUS)’ at the First Energy Transitions Working Group (ETWG) meeting under the aegis of G20 India presidency at Bengaluru.

During the event, more than 200 dignitaries, speakers, panellists and delegates of various countries participated in the seminar wherein they shared their knowledge and learnings pertaining to CCUS.

The event is likely to open new vistas for low-carbon downstream industries and academia to work and move ahead benefitting People & Planet.

NTPC to host seminar on ‘Carbon Capture Utilization and Storage

Exp. 15th Standing Committee of Central Zonal Council meeting held in Dehradun

The 15th meeting of the standing committee of the Central Zonal Council was organized in Dehradun.

The meeting was held under the chairmanship of Uttarakhand Chief Secretary S.S. Sandhu.

Officers from Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh attended the meeting. In the meeting, discussions were held on implementing the best practices.

Apart from this, emphasis was laid on promoting local products more and more in the States of the Central Zonal Council and including local products under the mid-day meal.

The discussion was held on providing banking facilities within a radius of five kilometres in remote villages and emphasis was also laid on increasing mobile connectivity through Bharat Net.

About Uttarakhand

Capital – Dehradun (Winter), Gairsain (Summer)

Chief Minister – Pushkar Singh Dhami

Governor – Gurmit Singh

Exp. UP CM inaugurated first VFS Global Joint Visa Application Centre

Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath has inaugurated the first VFS Global Joint Visa Application Centre in Lucknow.

The new centre will facilitate visa applications for 10 countries namely – Austria, Netherlands, Czech Republic, Switzerland, Estonia, Hungary, Portugal, Germany, Italy, and Saudi Arabia.

VFS Global is looking after passport and visa services for India in 12 countries around the world and has as yet undertaken nearly 2 crore visa applications since the company’s inception in 2001.

VFS Global is reportedly equipped to handle over 1,20,000 visa applications yearly.

About Uttar Pradesh

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

Exp. CAG to host 6th Shanghai Cooperation Organization SAI Leaders’ Meet

The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) is hosting the 6th Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Supreme Audit Institutions (SAI) Leaders’ Meeting in Lucknow.

Out of the eight SCO Supreme Audit Institutions (SAI) member country delegations participating in the event, the heads of SAIs from four countries – Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan, alongside the CAG of India.

CAG Girish Chandra Murmu has led the discussions on the theme “Integrating Emerging Technologies in Audit”.

Governor of Uttar Pradesh Anandiben Patel has inaugurates the meeting.

The participating delegates are expected to hold discussions and share experiences on Artificial Intelligence and Cyber Security as well as concerns of digital technology.

Exp. Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya chaired CEO Conclave at PLASTINDIA 2023

Union Minister for Chemicals & Fertilizers and Health & Family Welfare, Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya has chaired the CEO Conclave at PLASTINDIA 2023 in New Delhi.

The conference was attended by more than 90 CEOs from the plastics industry both from India and abroad.

The conclave will create opportunities to showcase India’s capabilities and help facilitate the growth of the Indian plastics industry.

Exhibitors from more than 45 countries of the world as well as more than 2,00,000 trade visitors from around the world participated in it.

About PLASTINDIA 2023

It refers to a series of exhibitions under the PlastIndia Foundation, the 11th International Plastics Exhibition and Conclave being organized from February 1 to 5, 2023 at ITPO Pragati Maidan, New Delhi.

The exhibition will provide employment generation opportunities, facilitate the growth of the Indian plastics industry and make India a hub for sourcing plastics for global needs.

It will promote India as a global source of processed plastics, raw materials, machinery and products for use in all aspects of human existence.

Exp. India provided 50 buses to Sri Lanka under the economic assistance scheme

India has supplied 50 buses to Sri Lanka on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of independence (4 February).

Indian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Gopal Baglay handed over these buses to Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe.

Commercial vehicle maker Ashok Leyland had bagged the contract for supplying 500 buses to the Sri Lanka Transport Board, of which 75 buses have already been delivered earlier this year.

The order is a part of a Line of Credit extended by the Export-Import Bank of India, under the Economic Assistance Scheme of the Indian government.

About Sri Lanka

• Legislative capital– Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte
• Executive and Judicial capital– Colombo
• Currency– Sri Lankan rupee
• President– Ranil Wickremesinghe
• Prime Minister – Dinesh Gunawarden

Exp. PM Modi inaugurated helicopter manufacturing plant of HAL

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has inaugurated a helicopter manufacturing plant of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) in Tumakuru (Karnataka).

The Greenfield Helicopter factory, spread across 615 acres, will manufacture the Light Utility Helicopters.

It has Heli-runway, flight hangar, final assembly hangar, structure assembly hangar, air traffic control and support services. It complies fully with Industry 4.0 standard tools and techniques for its operations.

This plant is to become India’s largest helicopter manufacturing facility offering one-stop solutions for helicopter repair and maintenance in the days to come.

The Light Utility helicopter designed in India is a three-ton class, single-engine, multipurpose utility helicopter with unique features.

The Prime Minister laid the foundation stone for this plant in 2016.

About Karnataka

• Capital –Bengaluru

Chief Minister –Basavaraj Bommai

Governor – Thawar Chand Gehlot

PM Modi in News

• PM Modi inaugurated a three-day India Energy Week in Bengaluru
• PM Modi released special Rs 75 coin to mark 75 successful years of NCC
• PM Modi addressed 1111th Avataran Mahotsav of Bhagwan Devnarayan in Bhilwara, Rajasthan.
• PM Modi launched several development projects in Karnataka, Maharashtra
• PM Modi inaugurated 2nd phase of Saansad Khel Mahakumbh 2022-23 in Basti District of Uttar Pradesh
• PM Modi virtually flagged off the 8th Vande Bharata Express train connecting Secunderabad with Vishakhapatnam.

Exp. Indian Railways introduces Garvi Gujarat tour

Indian Railways is introducing Bharat Gaurav Deluxe AC Tourist Train under the ‘Ek Bharat Shrestha Bharat’ Scheme.

This “Garvi Gujarat” tour will depart on 28th February from Delhi Safdarjung Station.

This train Tour has been designed on the lines of the “Ek Bharat Shrestha Bharat” scheme to showcase the heritage of vibrant Gujarat.

The visit to prominent pilgrimage and heritage sites of Gujarat including the Statue of Unity, Champaner, Somnath, Dwarka, Nageshwar, Beyt Dwarka, Ahmedabad, Modhera and Patan will be the major attractions in the itinerary.

Tourists can also board or deboard at Gurugram, Rewari, Ringas, Phullera and Ajmer Railway Stations on this tourist train. IRCTC has also tied up with payment gateways for providing EMI payment options to customers.

Exp. Amit Shah laid the foundation of Nano Urea Plant in Jharkhand

Union Home Minister Amit Shah has laid the foundation stone of a Rs 450-crore nano urea plant and township of the Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative (IFFCO) in Deoghar, Jharkhand.

This will be India’s fifth nano urea plant.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the world’s first nano urea plant in Gujarat in 2022.

Nano urea improves crop productivity, soil health, and nutritional quality of produce and aims to address the imbalanced and excessive use of conventional urea.

Jharkhand Industrial Area Development Authority (JIADA) has allotted 20 acres of land to IFFCO for the complex in Jasidih area in Deoghar district.

Recent Inauguration by Amit Shah

• Amit Shah laid the foundation stone for National Forensic Sciences University in Karnataka.
• Amit Shah inaugurated 120-feet-tall polo statue in Manipur
• Amit Shah has laid the foundation stone of the Central Detective Training Institute (CDTI) at Devanahalli in Karnataka.
• Amit Shah inaugurated Mega Dairy at Mandya, Karnataka
• Amit Shah launched the Prahari app of the Border Security Force

Exp. Shamika Ravi appointed as member in EAC-PM

Economics professor and researcher Shamika Ravi has been appointed as a member of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM).

Shamika is currently non-resident senior fellow of the governance studies program at the Brookings Institution Washington D.C.

EAC-PM, chaired by economist Bibek Debroy, currently has one member and six part-time members.

Part-time members of the advisory body include economist Rakesh Mohan and Sajjid Z. Chinoy, Managing Director and Chief India Economist at J.P. Morgan.

ABOUT EAC-PM

Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM) is an independent body constituted to give advice on economic and related issues to the Government of India, specifically to the Prime Minister.

Recent Appointment

• Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) – Dr. Rajeev Singh
• First CEO of Gujarat Maritime Cluster – Madhvendra Singh
• New head of Morgan Stanley (India) – Arun Kohli
• Chairman of Amul – Shamalbhai B Patel
• Administrator of Shooting World Cup 2023 – Former SC Judge AK Sikri

Exp. Raul Rebello appointed as MD and CEO of Mahindra Finance

Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services Ltd’s Board of Directors appointed Raul Rebello as Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) designate.

He will replace Ramesh lyer, who will be retiring on April 29, 2023.

Currently, he is serving as the chief operating officer (COO) of the company.

Before to joining Mahindra Financial, he worked as the executive vice president and head of rural lending and financial inclusion at Axis Bank Ltd.

Recent Appointment in Banking Sector

• As member of Advisory Committee of SIFL, SEFL by RBI – V Ramachandra
• CEO of JP Morgan Chase & Co (India)  – Prabdev Singh
• RBI Deputy Governor – Michael Patra (reappointment)
• MD & CEO of  Paytm Payments Bank Limited (PPBL) – Surinder Chawla
• Interim CEO of BharatPe – Nalin Negi
• CEO of Bank of Singapore – Jason Moo

Exp. Jupiter beats Saturn to become the planet with most moons

Jupiter is not just the largest planet in our solar system, it also has the most moons.

This revelation was made after scientists found another 12 moons orbiting it.

So, in total, 92 moons are revolving around the massive planet. The new discovery means there is a 15% rise in the gas giant’s known moons.

The Minor Planet Center (MPC) operated by the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory has published the orbits of the newly found 12 moons of Jupiter, as per a new report from Sky and Telescope.

Jupiter planet has overtaken Saturn planet, which has 83 moons at present.

The orbits of the 12 hitherto undiscovered moons of Jupiter have been published by the Minor Planet Center (MPC). Of the 12 new moons, nine are particularly distant.

The MPC estimates that these nine moons have orbits longer than 550 days.

Exp. 65th Grammy Awards Announced

The most prestigious 65th Grammy Awards in the music world have been organized on 5 February 2023 in Los Angeles.

The 65th Grammy Awards were hosted by Trevor Noah.

India’s music composer Ricky Kej along with rock legend Stewart Copeland has won the Grammy Award for Best Immersive Audio Album for the album Divine Tides.

Kej has become the only Indian to win three Grammy Awards.

Winners in different categories – Read More

Exp. 6 February – International Day of Zero Tolerance for FGM

International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is observed every year on February 6.

Objective – To spread awareness and educate people about the consequences and problems that females faced due to genital mutilation.

Theme 2023 – Partnership with Men and Boys to transform Social and gender Norms to End FGM.

The UN General Assembly designated February 6 as the International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation in 2012.

Exp. Legendary playback singer Vani Jairam passed away

Padma Bhushan awardee legendary playback singer Vani Jairam passed away.

She was awarded the Padma Bhushan, India’s third-highest civilian award, in Jan 2023.

Jairam started her singing career in Bollywood and got her first break in the Hindi film Guddi (1971) directed by Hrishikesh Mukherjee.

She won the National Film Award for Best Female Playback Singer thrice.

She also won state government awards from the states of Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and Gujarat.