Current Affairs Quiz 9th January 2024 Quiz

Exp. Union Cabinet Approved India-Guyana MoU For Hydrocarbon Sector

The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has approved the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, India and the Ministry of Natural Resources, Guyana, on cooperation in the hydrocarbon sector.

The proposed MoU encompasses a comprehensive range of collaboration across the hydrocarbon value chain, underscoring the depth of engagement between the two nations.

The MoU with Guyana will strengthen bilateral trade, foster investment in each other countries and help diversify the source of crude oil, thus augmenting the energy and supply security of the country.

Recently India signed MoUs with others countries

• India and Malaysia sign an MoU for Cooperation in Broadcasting
• India and Italy signed Mobility and Migration Partnership Agreement
• India, Russia ink pacts on construction of future power generating units of Kudankulam nuclear plant, Tamil Nadu
• India provides $250 million Line of Credit to Kenya for agricultural modernization
• India and US sign MoU to connect dynamic startup ecosystems

Exp. 68 Rajya Sabha Members Set to Retire in 2024

68 Rajya Sabha members, including nine Union ministers, are completing their tenures this year, triggering a race of sorts among leaders across political parties to eye a six-year term in the Upper House of Parliament.

Of the 68 vacancies, elections have already been called for three seats in Delhi where AAP leaders Sanjay Singh, Narain Dass Gupta, and Sushil Kumar Gupta will complete their tenures on January 27.

As many as 57 leaders, including Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, Environment Minister Bhupendra Yadav, Health Minister Mansukh Madaviya, and former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, will complete their tenures in April.

Uttar Pradesh will have the highest number of vacancies of 10 seats, followed by Maharashtra and Bihar (six each), Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal (five each), Karnataka and Gujarat (four each), Odisha, Telangana, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh (three each), Jharkhand and Rajasthan (two each), and Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana and Chhattisgarh (one each).

Four nominated members are retiring in July.

Exp. Uttar Pradesh to set up pharma park

The Uttar Pradesh government will set up a pharma park in Lalitpur, Bundelkhand, covering 1,472-acre across five villages, according to the Uttar Pradesh State Industrial Development Authority (UPSIDA).

The plan will unfold in two phases, with an initial focus on immediate development efforts covering 300 acre of land.

The villages identified for the survey include Saidpur (426 acre), Gadolikala (249 acre), Largan (239 acre), Karounda (116 acre), and Rampur (441 acre).

The establishment of the Pharma Park and the acceleration of associated projects mark a strategic move by the Uttar Pradesh government towards fostering industrial growth and economic development.

UPSIDA is also taking steps to expedite development projects at site-1 and site-2 in Orai, along with the Plastic City project in Dibiyapur.

The plastic park, spread across 274.4 acre, encompasses industrial units, residential areas, and basic infrastructure.

About Uttar Pradesh

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

Exp. Gangasagar Mela begins in West Bengal

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has inaugurated the Gangasagar Mela.

The Mela will continue till 17th of January. The ‘Shahi Snan’ will be held on 15th and 16th January.

Chief Minister has also inaugurated nine projects at Sagar.

The state government has sent a letter to UNESCO to declare Gangasagar Mela a heritage site. This year pilgrimage tax has been waived off for the pilgrims, instead 5 lakhs rupees insurance will be given to all.

About West Bengal

• Capital – Kolkata
• Chief Minister – Mamata Banerjee
• Governor – C V Ananda Bose

Exp. Kyrgyzstan Declares Snow Leopard As National Symbol

Kyrgyzstan has officially declared the snow leopard as its national symbol, underscoring its commitment to conservation and ecological balance.

The snow leopard is not only a symbol of natural wealth and cultural prosperity, but also an indicator of the stability and health of the mountain ecosystem, which occupies 1/3 of the global territory.

The loss of snow leopards in the wild will lead to the risk of disturbing the fragile ecological balance, which will have a detrimental impact on various animal species and on humans.”

In ancient Kyrgyz culture, Panthera uncia, or the snow leopard, held significance as a totem animal linked to the legendary hero of the Kyrgyz people, Manas. Within Kyrgyz culture, the snow leopard symbolizes greatness, nobility, courage, bravery, and resilience.

Kyrgyzstan has taken a leading role in snow leopard conservation at the international level, hosting the inaugural Global Snow Leopard Forum in 2013 in the capital, Bishkek.

The habitat of snow leopards spans the mountainous regions of 12 countries in Asia, including Afghanistan, Bhutan, China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.

According to the World Wildlife Organization, this extensive range covers approximately 772,204 square miles, with China hosting 60% of the habitat. Notably, over 70% of the snow leopard’s habitat remains unexplored.

About Kyrgyzstan

• Capital- Bishkek
• Currency- Kyrgystani Som
• Official languages- Kyrgyz, Russian
• Continent- Asia
• President- Sadyr Japarov

Exp. Fino Payments Bank applies to RBI for SFB license

Fino Payments Bank has applied to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), seeking a small finance bank license.

During the quarter ended 31 December 2023, the RBI received one application under the Guidelines for ‘on tap’ Licensing of Small Finance Banks in the Private Sector dated December 5, 2019 from Fino Payments Bank Limited.

As per the norms, payment banks that are controlled by residents and have completed five years of operations are eligible for conversion into small finance banks after complying with the legal and regulatory requirements of various authorities.

Fino Payments Bank started operations in 2017 and completed five years of business in 2022. In July 2023, MD and CEO Rishi Gupta said that the bank was keen to become a small finance bank.

The payments bank is a subsidiary of Fino Paytech, which is backed by investors such as Bharat Petroleum, ICICI Group, Blackstone, IFC, Intel, and Life Insurance Corporation of India, among others.

Originally a remittance service provider, Fino Payments converted all its Fino Money Mart outlets into bank branches after it received the payments bank license. It is also the only payment bank to be listed on the bourses.

Exp. Puneet Chhatwal Appointed Chairman of FAITH

The Federation of Associations in Indian Tourism & Hospitality (FAITH) has appointed Puneet Chhatwal as its Chairman.

Chhatwal will be taking over from Nakul Anand, the former executive director at ITC Hotels.

Chhatwal is the managing director and chief executive officer at Indian Hotels Company Limited. He will also continue as the president of the Hotel Association of India (HAI), a position he was re-elected to in 2022.

Exp. SEBI Appoints G Ram Mohan Rao As Executive Director

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has appointed G Ram Mohan Rao as Executive Director (ED) for a period of three years.

Rao will be handling the investigation department and the internal inspection department.

He has been with the markets regulator for over 25 years during which he has supervised diverse portfolios such as inspections, litigation, recovery, investor awareness, grievance redressal, etc.

Prior to the appointment, Rao was the regional director of the Eastern Regional Office of Sebi.

About Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI)

• Founded – 12 April 1988
• Act – 1992
• Headquarters – Mumbai
• Chairman – Madhabi Puri Buch
• Executive Director – G Ram Mohan Rao
• SEBI Set up – Uday Kotak committee

Recent Appointment in Banking & Insurance Sector

• MD & CEO of National Asset Reconstruction Company (NARCL) – P Santhosh (replace Natarajan Sundar
• MD & CEO of Kotak Mahindra Bank – Ashok Vaswani (replace Dipak Gupta)
• Chairman of 16th Finance Commission – Arvind Panagariya (15th Finance Commission – N K Singh)
• Secretary of 16th Finance Commission – Ritvik Ranjanam Pandey

Exp. Sheikh Hasina wins fifth term in Bangladesh PM

Bangladesh’s Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has been re-elected for a fifth term, marking a significant milestone in the country’s political landscape.

The ruling Awami League, under Hasina’s leadership, has triumphed once again, securing more than half of the parliamentary seats.

This victory reaffirms Sheikh Hasina’s position as the world’s longest-serving female head of government.

Instead of any political party, independent candidates secured a total of 63 seats, the second highest after Hasina’s Awami League (AL), which won 222, creating a problem of finding a parliamentary opposition.

The current opposition, the Jatiya Party, managed to secure just 11 of the 300 parliamentary seats, according to the Election Commission.

About Bangladesh

• Capital– Dhaka
• Currency – Taka
• President – Mohammed Shahabuddin Chuppu
• Prime Minister – Sheikh Hasina

Newly Appointed Prime Minister & President

• President of Congo – Felix Tshisekedi (2nd term)
• President of Egypt – Abdel Fattah El-Sisi (3^rd term)

• Prime Minister of Poland – Donald Tusk

• Prime Minister of Luxembourgish – Luc Frieden

• Prime Minister of Spain – Pedro Sanchez (re-elected)

• Prime Minister of Slovakia – Robert Fico (4th time)

Exp. Rashmi Shukla becomes Maharashtra’s first woman DGP

The Maharashtra government has appointed 1988 batch Indian Police Service (IPS) officer Rashmi Shukla as the Director General of Police.

Ms. Shukla became the first woman police officer to hold the top police post in the State.

She takes over from another 1988 IPS batch officer Rajnish Seth, who retired last week to take charge as chairman of the Maharashtra Public Service Commission (MPSC).

Mumbai police commissioner Vivek Phansalkar has been holding additional charge as Maharashtra DGP Maharashtra since Mr. Seth retired on December 31.

Ms. Shukla was on Central deputation heading the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) – the border guarding force, before her latest appointment as Maharashtra DGP.

Prior to this, she was appointed as Additional Director-General of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) in February 2021.

Recent Appointment

• CEO of Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone – Ashwani Gupta
• CEO of Indian Olympic Association – Raghuram Iyer
• MD & CEO of National Investment and Infrastructure Fund Limited (NIFFL) – Sanjiv Aggarwal (replace Rajiv Dhar)
• President of All India Rubber Industries Association (AIRIA) – Shashi Singh (Ramesh Kejriwal)

• Senior VP of AIRIA – Zafar Ahmed

About Maharashtra

• Capital – Mumbai
• Chief Minister – Eknath Sindhe
• Deputy Chief Minister – Devendra Fadnavis & Ajit Pawar
• Governor – Ramesh Bais

Exp. NIVEA India Appoints Geetika Mehta As New MD

Nivea India has appointed Geetika Mehta as Managing Director (MD). With this, she joins the growing list of women heading fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) companies.

Mehta’s previous stint was at Hershey India for two and a half years as MD, and before that she was at the country’s largest FMCG firm, Hindustan Unilever, for 18 years.

Geetika, with a distinguished career in the FMCG sector, has a proven track record of developing small businesses as well as managing large-scale corporations across markets including South Asia, Thailand, Brazil, and South Africa.

Her extensive experience and strategic vision align seamlessly with Nivea India’s objective of providing consumers with superior product quality in line with its care proposition.

Exp. Aruna Nayar takes over as Secretary of Railway Board

Aruna Nayar has been appointed as Railway Board Secretary. She is an Indian Railway Personnel Service (IRPS) Officer of 1987 Batch and Level-16 empanelled IRMS officer.

Nayar was earlier working in Railway Board as Additional Member, Staff, from May 2023, and as Principal Executive Director/Staff, Railway Board, from Feb 2022 to May 2023.

Nayar is also the first IRPS officer to be empanelled in IRMS in Level-16.

Nayar has worked as Principal Chief Personnel Officer (PCPO) in Eastern Railway, Dy. CPO, Metro Railway/Kolkata, PCPO in Southern Railway and in other capacities in Railway Recruitment Board (Chennai), Railway Divisions of Chennai & Palghat and Golden Rock Workshop & Division at Tiruchirapalli.

She has also worked as Director (Pers), in the Department of Information Technology, Ministry of Communications & IT under Central Staffing Scheme from 2005 to 2009.

Exp. South Africa batter Heinrich Klaasen announces retirement from Test cricket

South Africa swashbuckling batter Heinrich Klaasen has announced retirement from Test cricket (longest format of the game).

Klaasen, who was among the top run getters for South Africa in last year’s ODI World Cup, wasn’t a regular in the red ball setup.

Having made his debut in 2019, the 32-year-old only had four Test matches under his belt. However, on the tour of the West Indies, Klaasen notched up a mere 56 runs from four innings.

Recently Retired Players

• David Warner – International ODI & Test – Australia
• Dean Elgar – International cricket – South Africa
• Asad Shafiq – All forms of cricket – Pakistan
• Gurkeerat Singh Mann – International Cricket – India
• Meg Lanning – International Cricket – Australia
• Sunil Narine – International cricket – West Indies

Exp. 9 January – Pravasi Bharatiya Divas

Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) or NRI Day is celebrated in India every year on 9 January.

The day commemorates the return of Mahatma Gandhi, the greatest Pravasi from South Africa to India in 1915 for the struggle of Independence.

One of the main aims of recognising Pravasi Bharatiya Divas is to pay homage and honour to the Overseas Indian community who play a significant role in the development of the country.

The inaugural celebration of Pravasi Bharatiya Divas took place in 2003.