Current Affairs Quiz 9th May 2023 Quiz

Exp. Telangana CM lays foundation of Hare Krishna Heritage Tower in Hyderabad

Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao has laid the foundation for the Hare Krishna Heritage Tower in Hyderabad.

The 400 feet (120 meters) tall structure will be constructed on six acres of land in Narsingi at a cost of Rs 200 crore.

The tower will house the temples of Sri Sri Radha Krishna and Sri Venkateswara Swamy.

The chief minister announced Rs 25 crore on behalf of the state government for the construction of the temple.

The tower will be another cultural landmark for Hyderabad. It will highlight the Telangana heritage in the form of Kakatiya architectural elements.

Accommodation facility will be available for 1,500 devotees.

About Telangana

• Established – 2 June 2014
• Capital – Hyderabad
• Chief Minister – K. Chandrashekar Rao
• Governor – Tamilisai Soundararajan

Exp. Oil Ministry panel proposes ban on 4-wheeler diesel vehicles by 2027

Four-wheeler vehicles powered by diesel may get banned by 2027.

An oil ministry panel has recommended the Indian government to ban the use of diesel-powered four-wheeler vehicles by 2027 and switch to electric and gas-fuelled vehicles in cities with more than a million people and polluted towns in order to cut emissions.

By 2030, no city buses should be added which are not electric…diesel buses for city transport should not be added from 2024 onwards.

The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas has set up an Energy Transition Advisory Committee, headed by former oil secretary Tarun Kapoor. It is not clear if the petroleum ministry will seek cabinet approval to implement the recommendations of its panel.

India is among the top emitters of greenhouse gases. Diesel accounts for about two-fifths of refined fuel consumption in India with 80% of that being used in the transport sector.

The country aims at producing 40% of its electricity from renewables to achieve its 2070 net zero goal.

Exp. New Lithium deposits discovered in Rajasthan after J-K

After Jammu and Kashmir, Lithium reserves have been traced in the Degana district of Rajasthan.

According to officials, the lithium reserves are higher than the ones recently found in Jammu and Kashmir.

Officials have also informed, that the quantity of lithium here can meet around 80% of India’s demand. For the first time, lithium reserves were found in Jammu and Kashmir’s Reasi in February 2023.

This was the first significant mineral discovery in India, as previously only a small reserve had been discovered in Karnataka. It attributes the discovery to the mines ministry’s new focus on rare earth.

Lithium reserves are concentrated in the lithium triangle in South America – Argentina, Bolivia & Chile, with 50% of the deposits concentrated in these regions. China, meanwhile, has the lead over other countries and China controls 75% of Lithium refining.

India’s plan to increase EV penetration by 30% by 2030 relies heavily on lithium – as of now, only a little more than 1% of all vehicle sales in the country are electric vehicles.

About Rajasthan

• Capital – Jaipur
• Chief Minister – Ashok Gehlot
• Governor – Kalraj Mishra

Exp. Centre for Innovation Incubation Research and Entrepreneurship inaugurated in Telangana.

The Centre for Innovation Incubation Research and Entrepreneurship was inaugurated at the KITS Warangal campus in Telangana. It was inaugurated by Telangana’s IT Minister K Taraka Ramarao.

The Centre will promote innovation and entrepreneurship in the student community to inculcate research and innovative skills among the students, faculty, and young researchers.

Over five crore rupees have been invested in the necessary infrastructural facilities.

The main objective of the Innovation Centre is to face the latest Engineering, technological and entrepreneurship challenges in the 21st Century and to adopt advanced technologies.

KITS Warangal is known for its quality education and the ethical behaviour of students in their place of work.

Exp. BEL signs MoU with Emjay Control Systems to develop electro-mechanical bollards

Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL) has signed an MoU with Emjay Control Systems to jointly manufacture and develop business for electro-mechanical bollards for use in various defence, homeland security, paramilitary, and export projects.

The bollards are envisaged to safeguard vital installations by pre-empting the unauthorized entry of heavy vehicles.

They are built to withstand the impact of IED-laden vehicles weighing from 24,000 to 1,50,000 kg and coming in at alarming speeds of 80 to 100 km/h.

According to the company, the bollards are indigenously designed, keeping with the government’s Make in India and Atmanirbhar Bharat policies.

Recent MoU

• NTPC and NPCIL sign agreement for joint development of nuclear power plant
• Vedanta partners with 20 Korean firms to establish electronics manufacturing hub
• Indian Oil Corp signed deal with Russia’s Rosneft to raise oil imports
• NTPC signed MoU with Indian Army for implementation of Green Hydrogen Projects
• GAIL signed MoU with Shell Energy India on ethane sourcing

Exp. ISRO to start online training programme for PG and and final-year UG students

The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has announced a new introductory-level online training programme called Space Science and Technology Awareness Training (START).

START is aimed at postgraduate and final-year undergraduate students of Physical Sciences and Technology.

The programme will cover various domains of Space Science, including Astronomy and Astrophysics, Heliophysics and Sun-Earth interaction, Instrumentation, and Aeronomy.

It will be delivered by scientists from Indian academia and ISRO centres.

Academic institutions can submit applications for the programme through the Jigyasa portal by May 20.

About Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO)

• Founded – 15 August 1969
• Headquarters – Bangalore, Karnataka
• Founder / 1st Chairman – Vikram Sarabhai
• 10th Chairman – S Somanath
• Aryabhata India’s first satellites Launched on 19 April 1975

Exp. Border Haat between India and Bangladesh inaugurated at Bholaganj in Sylhet

A new Border-Haat between India and Bangladesh was inaugurated in Bholaganj under the Companiganj upazila of Sylhet.

Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister of Bangladesh Imran Ahmed and Assistant High Commissioner of India Niraj Kumar Jaiswal jointly inaugurated the Border-Haat.

This is the fourth Border Haat in Sylhet division out of which three are currently functional. Three more Border Haats are planned to be opened in the Sylhet division.

The Border Haat will function on Wednesdays and Saturdays between 10 in the morning to 4 in the afternoon.

The Bholaganj Border Haat will have 26 stalls from India and 24 stalls from Bangladesh where traditional items from both countries will be sold duty-free.

About Bangladesh

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

Exp. Capacity building program organized in Mussoorie

In Uttarakhand, a capacity-building program for civil servants of Maldives and Bangladesh is being organized by the National Center for Good Governance (NCGG) at Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration, Mussoorie.

This training program will continue till 19th May.

50 administrative trainees from Maldives and 45 from Bangladesh are participating in this programme.

During this, trainees will be taken on tour to different places of India and will be given information about various schemes being run for good governance in the country, so that trainees can do better work in their respective countries.

Exp. Everest Annual ITS rankings: Accenture tops the list

Accenture takes the number one spot for the seventh straight year in the Everest 2023 PEAK Matrix Service Provider of the Year Awards for Information Technology (IT) services.

The ranking of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Capgemini, and Wipro has risen to take the number 2, 3, and 4 spots, respectively. HCL Tech ranks fifth.

Since Everest Group, a global IT research firm, launched the rankings in 2016, TCS has been in the top five, and this year it climbed to second place. Capgemini and Wipro each rose three positions in the rankings over last year.

There have been major ups and downs in rankings in this year with Capgemini moving to the third spot from sixth while Wipro moved up to fourth rank from seventh.

Infosys’s rankings declined to seventh from second while HCL dropped to fifth from fourth and Cognizant to sixth from fifth.

Exp. Capital SFB partnered with Max Life to offer life insurance solutions

Capital Small Finance Bank Limited has partnered with Max Life Insurance Company Limited to offer life insurance offerings to Capital SFB’s customers.

Through this tie-up, Capital SFB will offer its customers a range of savings, protection, retirement, and group life insurance plans of Max Life.

Prior to Max Life, Capital Small Finance Bank has also partnered with ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Limited and HDFC life insurance Limited to provide their life insurance products to its customers.

MD & CEO of Capital SFB: Sarvjit Singh Samra

Recent MoU in Banking Sector

• Axis Bank partnered with India Shelter Finance for co-lending small loans
• Shivalik SFB partners with Arya.ag to empower small farmers
• Chennai Metro launched Singara Chennai Card with SBI
• Agri-tech company Fasal ties up with SBI to help farmers get easy access to loans
• HDFC Bank signs with Export-Import Bank of Korea for $300 million

Exp. BharatPe rebrands PAYBACK India as ‘Zillion’

BharatPe Group has rebranded its multi-brand loyalty program, Payback India to Zillion.

It aims to target customers across age groups and add a new dimension to their overall shopping experience, across categories and brands.

Zillion will offer a wide range of options for customers to earn and redeem at a wide range of partners across the country.

Customers will be able to earn Zillion coins across the network of offline and online partners, including groceries, fuel, entertainment, travel, apparel, and more.

BharatPe CEO (Interim) – Nalin Negi

Exp. Cashfree Payments tie up with YES Bank to offer international payment collection

Cashfree Payments and YES Bank have partnered to offer ‘Global Collections’, an international collection service for exporters, who are account holders of YES Bank.

Under this partnership, the bank’s account holders will be able to collect payments in over 30 foreign currencies using the Global Collections service.

The funds so received can then be converted into rupee and settled into their local bank account in India within one business day.

Additionally, it will also enable global collections in over 30 currencies up to the equivalent of USD 10,000 in line with the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI’s) Online Payment Gateway Service Providers (OPGSP) requirements and guidelines.

About Yes Bank

• Founded – 2004
• Headquarters – Mumbai, Maharashtra
• MD & CEO – Prashant Kumar
• Chairman – Sunil Mehta
• Tagline – Experience our Expertise

Exp. K.K. Shailaja comes with her new book ‘My Life as a Comrade’

Former CEO of the Kochi Biennale Foundation and journalist K.K. Shailaja has come up with her new book ‘My Life as a Comrade’.

It is published by Juggernaut Books, a Delhi-based publishing house.

It has been co-written with Manju Sara Rajan.

1. K. Shailaja is an Indian politician and former Health Minister of Kerala who hails from Kannur district.

Shailaja currently serves as the Member of the Legislative Assembly representing Mattanur constituency.

In this superb memoir, she tells her story – from her childhood as a shy, fearful girl, her days as a school teacher where she learnt the art of managing difficult students to her entry into politics leading to a tenure as health minister where she dealt with two terrifying epidemics.

Recent Books

• Collective Spirit, Concrete Action – Shashi Shekhar Vempati
• Smoke and Ashes – Amitav Ghosh
• Sachin@50: Celebrating A Maestro – Boria Majumdar
• Gandhi: Siyasat aur Sampradaiykta – Piyush Babele
• Courting India: England, Mughal India and the Origins of Empire – Nandini Das

Exp. Book ‘Made in India: 75 Years of Business and Enterprise’ released

The book “Made in India: 75 Years of Business and Enterprise” is written by Amitabh Kant, who is a retired Indian Administrative Service (IAS) and served as CEO of NITI Aayog.

It is published by Rupa Publications India.

His other books include Branding India-An Incredible Story, Incredible India 2.0, etc.

The book coincides with India becoming the 5th largest economy in the world, overtaking the United Kingdom after 75 years of independence.

This book presents a multidimensional survey of India’s business heritage and culture to understand the country’s remarkably strong and resilient growth story of Indian business and enterprise.

Recent Books

• Crosscourt – Jaidip Mukerjea
• The Human Connect – Manoj Gursahini
• Women and Men in India 2022 – Launched by Inderjit Singh Rao
• Mundaka Upanishad: The Bridge to Immortality – Karan Singh (released by – VP Jagdeep Dhankhar)
• India’s Struggle for Independence: Gandhian Era – P. Jyothimani & G. Balan (released by SC Judge V. Ramasubramanian)