Current Affairs Quiz: March 21, 2024

Option B
Explanation:
Agnikul Cosmos Private Limited, a space start-up with its headquarters in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, will launch its first rocket, the Agnibaan Sub Orbital Technology Demonstrator (SOrTeD), from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh.
This launch is slated to be historic for several reasons. It will be the first rocket launch from a private launchpad in India, the first rocket launch powered by a semi-cryogenic engine, and the first-ever single-piece 3D-printed engine created and manufactured in the country.

Option B
Explanation:
YES Bank announced its partnership with the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) as the Official Banking Partner for Team India at the Paris Olympics 2024.As part of the collaboration, the bank launched the campaign ‘Milkar Jitayengey’ and introduced the ‘YES Glory Debit Card,’ specially designed for India’s Olympic athletes.The bank also unveiled the ‘YESGlory’ savings account proposition, extending benefits to athletes and their immediate family members.

Option B
Explanation:
Vaughan Gething was elected first minister of Wales, becoming the first Black leader of a government in the U.KZambian-born Gething will replace incumbent Mark Drakeford who in December announced his departure after five years leading the Welsh government, which has responsibility for a limited number of devolved areas including health and education.

Option B
Explanation:
India’s insurance sector has seen a robust foreign direct investment (FDI) in last decade. The total inflow by FDI in insurance sector totaled around Rs 54,000 crore over past nine years, according to Financial Services Secretary Vivek Joshi. The permissible FDI limit for insurance sector was increased from 26% in 2014 to 49% in 2015 and further to 74% in 2021.

Option C
Explanation:
The Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) facility at Thumba in Thiruvananthapuram, has developed a multi-purpose app SAKHI that will help astronauts on the Gaganyaan space flight mission carry out a range of tasks such as looking up vital technical information or communicating with one another.

Option C
Explanation:
The Ministry of Tourism launched the Dekho Apna Desh People`s Choice Poll 2024 to identify the most preferred tourist attractions and destinations of the country. The Poll was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi through Video Conferencing from Srinagar.Participants must select at least one attraction they have already visited from any of the five categories and choose at least one attraction that they wish to visit in the future. The voting will be open till 30th April 2024.

Option C
Explanation:
The Centre notified the new Cinematograph (Certification) Rules, 2024, to improve the process of film certification and enhance transparency, efficiency and ease of doing business for the film industry.
The ministry of information & broadcasting (MIB) in a statement said that the new rules aim to streamline and modernise the film certification process for the digital age, keeping pace with the emerging technologies and advancement in the film sector.

Option B
Explanation:
Fintech-focussed software-as-a-service firm Perfios said it has secured $80 million in funding from Teachers’ Venture Growth (TVG), a late-stage venture and growth investment arm of Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan.
With the fresh investment, the company’s new valuation will cross the $1 billion mark, said sources, which makes Perfios the second unicorn of 2024. Before it, Bhavish Aggarwal’s AI startup Krutrim had attained the coveted status

Option A
Explanation:
Exporters body FIEO said Ashwani Kumar has been elected as its new President.The Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) said that Kumar was elected as president unanimously. He has replaced A Sakthivel.

Option B
Explanation:
A new genus and species of parasitoid wasp has been discovered by a team of researchers at the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI), Kolkata, a significant find after nearly two decades.Named Indopria, with ‘Indo’ representing India and ‘pria’ from Latin meaning ‘little wasp’, says P.V. Theertha, a native of Kannur and senior research, fellow at ZSI, Kolkata.

Option C
Explanation:
Royal Challengers Bangalore broke years of jinx and won its first title across franchise leagues when it beat Delhi Capitals by eight wickets to claim the second season of the Women’s Premier League at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi.

Option C
Explanation:
Apurva Chandra, Union Health Secretary launched a National Action Plan for Prevention and Control of Snakebite Envenoming (NAP-SE) in India to reduce snakebite deaths by halve by 2030 through ‘One Health’ Approach.

Option C
Explanation:
The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has announced the formation of an expert committee to review the implementation of Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY).The 16-member committee, chaired by Dr. V K Paul, Member (Health) at NITI Aayog, will oversee the progress of AB-PMJAY in terms of beneficiary identification, hospitalisation, and modes of implementation.

Option D
Explanation:
Author Rakhi Kapoor wins her second Golden Book Award for her twenty-sixth book titled Breaking Free Embracing Me – healing from childhood abuse and Toxic Conditioning.

Option A
Explanation:
A new colourful flowering plant species, ‘Begonia Narahari’, with a distinctive feature of displaying a vivid blue iridescence in direct light, was discovered in Mishmi Hills of Arunachal Pradesh’s Lohit district by scientists.The plant has been named after a scientist from Hyderabad, G. Narahari Sastry in recognition of “his immense contribution to establishing the Germplasm Conservation Centre for the Bioresources at NEIST campus.

Option B
Explanation:
Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai launched ‘Krishak Unnati Yojna’ to provide input assistance to farmers and released Rs 13,320 crore to 24.72 lakh cultivators. The scheme was launched at a function at Saryu Prasad Agrawal stadium in Balod district.

Option B
Explanation:
The Indian Council of Agricultural Research and Krishi Jagran Pvt Ltd signed a MoU for the dissemination & promotion of ICAR’s initiatives for the growth of Indian Agriculture and farmers’ welfare. Dr. U.S. Gautam, Deputy Director General (Agril. Extension) ICAR and Shri M.C Dominic, Founder & Editor-In-Chief, Krishi Jagran Pvt Ltd, signed the MoU for their respective organisations.

Option B
Explanation:
The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur and the Indian Navy have joined hands to drive innovation through research partnership, according to a statement issued by the institution.

Option B
Explanation:
In a significant step towards combating human trafficking, the National Commission for Women (NCW) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Railway Protection Force (RPF) to combat human trafficking across India.

Option B
Explanation:
National Highways Infra Trust (NHIT), the infrastructure Investment Trust by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), has successfully concluded fund-raising through ’InvIT Round-3’forNational Highway stretches of aggregate length of 889 kilometers at an Enterprise Value of over Rs. 16,000 crore, which is the largest monetization by NHAI and one of the largest transactions in the history of Indian road sector.

Option B
Explanation:
The central government has approved the ‘TG’ prefix, replacing ‘TS’ for vehicle registration number plates in Telangana. The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways issued a gazette notification.

Option B
Explanation:
The Ministry of Home Affairs announced the celebration of ‘Hyderabad Liberation Day’ every year on September 17. The day will be celebrated to remember the martyrs who liberated Hyderabad on this day.The city was liberated from Nizam’s rule on September 17, 1948, after a police action namely ‘Operation Polo’.

Option C
Explanation:
The World Bank’s board of executive directors has approved a new programme to help Assam improve connectivity for over 1.8 million people living in rural areas, especially during extreme weather.The US $452 million Assam Resilient Rural Bridges Program aims to strengthen the resilience and management of roads and bridges to help people living in 1,739 villages

Option B
Explanation:
India’s ranked improved to 113 out of 190 countries in the World Bank’s Women, Business and Law index, according to the 10th edition of the report released recently.Globally, none of the countries has a full score in the new index, indicating that women did not enjoy equal rights in any of the countries. Indian women enjoyed 60% of the legal rights given to men as per the new report, lower than the global average of 64.2%.

Option D
Explanation:
The Centre said it would keep the interest rates on small savings schemes unchanged for the April-June quarter of the new fiscal. The Finance Ministry on a regular basis reviews the interest rates of small savings schemes on a quarterly basis. This is for the first time in seven quarters that rates on these instruments have not been tweaked.The PPF rates were kept unchanged for more than 3 years. It was last tweaked in April-June 2020, when it was slashed to 7.1 per cent from 7.9 per cent.

Option B
Explanation:
Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Singh Thakur has released a book titled Israel War Diary written by Vishal Pandey at a function in New Delhi.

Option A
Explanation:
Earth Sciences Minister Kiren Rijiju took additional charge as the Union Minister of Food Processing Industries.Earlier in the day, President Droupadi Murmu accepted the resignation of Union Food Processing Industries Minister Pashupati Kumar Paras.

Option B
Explanation:
In a move towards further centralization, the State Bank of India (SBI) is planning to shift its global back office operations from Kolkata to Mumbai, India’s financial capital. This decision comes after a previous attempt in March 2007 to relocate these departments faced resistance from SBI staff in Kolkata.

Option C
Explanation:
The Reserve Bank of India it has imposed penalties on DCB Bank and Tamilnad Mercantile Bank for non-compliance with certain directions related to ‘interest rate on advances’.RBI said Rs 1.31 crore penalty was imposed on TMB for non-compliance on ‘Interest Rate on Advances’ and ‘Central Repository of Information on Large Credits (CRILC) – Revision in Reporting’. Similarly, DCB Bank was imposed a penalty of Rs 63 lakh for non-compliance with directions on ‘Interest Rate on Advances’.

Option B
Explanation:
Abu Dhabi’s leading technology holding group, G42, has partnered with Cerebras Systems, a pioneer in accelerating generative AI, to build the supercomputer Condor Galaxy 3.