Current Affairs Quiz: March 19, 2024

Option A
Explanation:
Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar said the poll watchdog has launched a new mobile application called ‘Know Your Candidate’ (KYC) which will enable voters to find out if any electoral candidate in their constituency has any criminal records.

Option B
Explanation:
Jammu and Kashmir hosted its first-ever Formula 4 car race in Srinagar on the banks of Dal Lake.

Option C
Explanation:
Uday Bhatia and Manasi Gupta, hailing from Delhi and Haryana respectively, have been honored with the prestigious Diana Legacy Awards in the UK. Prince William presented the awards to Bhatia and Gupta at a ceremony held at London’s Science Museum.These awards celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Diana Award charity, established in memory of Princess Diana.

Option C
Explanation:
In a major boost to Indian athletics and swimming, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik inaugurated India’s first Indoor Athletics Centre and Indoor Aquatic Centre at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar. He also laid the foundation stone for the Indoor Diving Centre.The Indoor Athletics Centre stands as India’s first capable of hosting indoor continental and regional championships.

Option B
Explanation:
India’s foreign exchange reserves are on their way to crossing their record-high levels, after increasing for the third straight time in the week ended March 8. Reserves rose $10.47 billion during the week, recording the highest weekly increase since July 14, 2023, to touch a two-year high of $636.1 billion as of March 8, as per Reserve Bank of India data.

Option B
Explanation:
Senior bureaucrat Rahul Singh has been appointed as the chairperson of the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), as part of a senior-level bureaucratic reshuffle effected by the Centre. Singh succeeding Nidhi Chhibber.Singh, a 1996-batch IAS officer of the Bihar cadre, is currently serving as the Additional Secretary in the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT).
Chhibber, the outgoing CBSE chairperson, has been appointed as Advisor to the Niti Aayog. The reshuffle also includes the appointment of A P Das Joshi, a 1994-batch IAS officer of the Assam-Meghalaya cadre, as the new Additional Secretary in DoPT, replacing Singh.

Option B
Explanation:
Aditya Birla Sun Life AMC Limited (ABSLAMC) has introduced MyMutualFundGPT, an information tool aimed at improving the overall investor experience across their digital platforms.The Gen AI-based tool goes beyond simple keyword matching by understanding the context of searches and producing solutions based on their meaning.

Option B
Explanation:
TATA AIG General Insurance Company Limited, a prominent general insurance provider, has unveiled “Travel Guard Plus,” a comprehensive travel insurance product that redefines full coverage for travellers through a variety of package options.

Option C
Explanation:
Cashinvoice, a digital supply chain finance platform, has teamed with SBI Global Factors Limited, India’s leading factoring provider, to broaden the use of factoring solutions for MSMEs in India.This collaboration is positioned to demonstrate the potential of invoice factoring to reduce working capital requirements and improve credit availability for Indian MSMEs.

Option C
Explanation:
UGRO Capital Limited, a leading DataTech NBFC focused on MSME lending, unveiled a new business loan, ‘PRAGATI’, for female entrepreneurs. U GRO Capital demonstrates its commitment to women’s empowerment by simplifying loan processes and offering a 50% reduction on processing expenses for loans granted until March 31, 2024.

Option C
Explanation:
Private sector general insurer Royal Sundaram has partnered with non-banking finance company Dvara KGFS to offer its comprehensive suite of general insurance products, aimed at enhancing insurance penetration in rural areas of the country.

Option D
Explanation:
The National Common Mobility Card (NCMC), offering seamless digital payments across multiple public transport systems in the country, has found limited adoption to date. But that may change now, thanks to regulatory latitude over use cases.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has now allowed such cards to be issued with a limit of ₹3,000 without any KYC. This will likely allow more such cards to be issued – and used.

Option A
Explanation:
As on March 15, the total number of registered enterprises on Udyam and UAP crossed four crore, which is a major milestone for the formalization initiative undertaken by the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs)

Option C
Explanation:
The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has approved One97 Communications Limited (OCL), which operates popular fintech company Paytm, to participate in UPI as a Third-Party Application Provider (TPAP) under the multi-bank model. Four banks (Axis Bank, HDFC Bank, State Bank of India, YES Bank) shall act as PSP (Payment System Provider) banks to OCL, as per an NPCI release.

Option C
Explanation:
The Indian defence industry is making forays in the Caribbean with the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) planning to soon acquire two new aircraft from New Delhi with a $23.27 million loan from Export-Import Bank of India.With the signing of this LOC Agreement, the Government of Guyana has received a total of eleven (11) LOCs from the Indian EXIM Bank over the years.

Option B
Explanation:
The Indian Army has raised an elite tech unit that will undertake research and evaluation of futuristic communication technologies like 6G, artificial intelligence, machine learning and quantum computing for military use given the changing nature of the field.The Signals Technology Evaluation and Adaptation Group or STEAG is mandated to nurture technologies spanning the complete spectrum of wired and wireless systems, officials said.

Option C
Explanation:
A bilateral tri-service exercise between India and the US will be held on the Eastern Seaboard in the US from March 18 to 31.The exercise, Tiger Triumph-24, is aimed at “developing interoperability” for conducting Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) operations and refine Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) to enable rapid and smooth coordination between forces of both countries.

Option A
Explanation:
Tata Sons, the holding company of the Tata Group, will be selling 2.34 crore shares or 0.65 per cent equity of Tata Consultancy Services through a block deal for ₹9,362.3 crore ($1.13 billion).

Option C
Explanation:
Poonawalla Fincorp, a non-banking financial corporation (NBFC), named Arvind Kapil as its Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO).

Option C
Explanation:
A national tumour biobank and cancer teleconsultation network are among the projects that will be supported by a ₹100 crore contribution towards the National Cancer Grid (NCG), from Axis Bank.As part of the five year partnership, Axis Bank will support NCG, a network of 300-plus cancer centres across the country, coordinated by the Tata Memorial Hospital (TMH), under the Tata Memorial Centre.

Option C
Explanation:
The Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India signed a MoU with Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL), South Asia at IFMR. J-PAL, SA@ IFMR will act as a knowledge partner on inclusive development to put rural poor women on the path to self-sufficiency.As part of this partnership, J-PAL South Asia will support MoRD in catalysing the adoption of scientific evidence and data in their decision-making.