Current Affairs Quiz: May 7, 2024

Option A) New Delhi
Explanation: The Army Dental Centre of Research & Referral (ADC R&R) celebrated 25 years of establishment on 01 May 2024. General Officer Commanding in Chief, Western Command Lieutenant General MK Katiyar visited the Dental Centre on the occasion and released a Special Postal Cover.

Option C) $5.6 Billion
Explanation:A new study led by Tata Memorial Hospital has estimated that premature oral cancer deaths have cost India productivity losses to the tune of $5.6 billion or 0.18 per cent of its GDP in 2022. One of the key findings of the study, according to its lead author Dr Arjun Singh, Assistant Professor, Tata Memorial Hospital, is that 91 per cent of the deaths or terminal stages were among patients with a median age of 41.5 years.

Option E) Manipur
Explanation:Manipur, Governor Sushri Anusuiya Uikey inaugurated ‘School on Wheels’ at a ceremony held in Imphal. The initiative which is being implemented by Vidya Bharati Shiksha Vikash Samiti Manipur aims to reach out to the students in the relief camps in the State. The school bus is equipped with a library, computers and sports items with a teacher and visits relief camps in different places in the State. The initiative aims to bridge the educational gap for students residing in relief camps across the State.

Option B) Chile
Explanation:Environment journalists worldwide are facing increasing violence, with as many as 44 journalists killed in 15 years, according to a new report released by UNESCO on the occasion of World Press Freedom Day on May 3, 2024. Over 70 per cent of the total 905 journalists and agencies surveyed from 129 countries informed that they had been attacked, threatened or pressured, according to the report Press and Planet in Danger. The report was launched at the 2024 World Press Freedom Day Global Conference being held in Santiago, Chile from May 2-4, 2024.

Option D) Nostro Account
Explanation:The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced that standalone primary dealers (SPDs) may borrow in foreign currency from their parent companies and other authorised entities. Standalone primary dealers will also be allowed to access overdraft facilities in nostro accounts solely for operational use. Nostro is a bank account held in another country by a domestic bank, but in the currency of the foreign country. The circular titled ‘Master Direction – Risk Management and Inter-Bank Dealings: Amendments’ further noted that “such borrowings shall be within the limit for foreign currency borrowings” prescribed in the RBI.

Option A) P-Notes
Explanation:The International Financial Services Centres Authority has allowed non-banking entities registered as foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) with SEBI to issue derivatives in GIFT-IFSC, with underlying Indian securities. This move comes as a follow-up to the announcement made by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman during the Budget Speech of 2023-24, wherein Offshore Derivative Instruments (ODIs) issued in GIFT-IFSC were recognised as valid contracts.

Option D) London
Explanation:Galytix, a London-headquartered GenAI-focused fintech, has launched a game-changing Generative AI-based Credit Agent solution, CreditX, for the Indian banking sector that would help banks here to deliver credit better, faster and cheaper.

Option D) Both A & B
Explanation:State-run lenders will look to set up specialised ‘green cells’ with dedicated employees for climate-specific initiatives. These measures are part of the Enhanced Access and Service Excellence (EASE) reform version 7.0, which was rolled out last week. A senior bank executive emphasised that in the fiscal year 2025, Public Sector Banks (PSBs) will prioritise enhancing their capabilities for raising green funds and expanding their green lending portfolios.

Option
Explanation:For the first time, a microprocessor chip designed, owned, and marketed from India is set to be out in the open market and will soon power smart electronic devices. Mindgrove Technologies, incubated by IIT Madras Pravartak Technologies Foundation and IIT Madras Incubation Cell, and supported by Peak XV Partners, has launched Secure IoT, India’s debut high-performance SoC (system on chip).
A system-on-chip (SoC) combines many electronic parts into one chip, like a mini-computer. It goes into the printed circuit board (PCB) and is used in various devices, making them smaller and more efficient.

Option
Explanation:India Ratings and Research upgraded its GDP growth forecast for 2024-25 to 7.1% from 6.5%, citing strong support to the growth momentum from sustained government capex and deleveraged corporate and bank balance sheets, even as consumption demand and exports pose constraints.The agency said it expects the growth in private final consumption expenditure to jump to 7 per cent in FY25, up from 3 per cent in FY24, and added that this will be a three-year high.

Option E) Wipro
Explanation:IT major Wipro announced that it has teamed up with Microsoft to launch a suite of cognitive assistants for financial services powered by generative artificial intelligence (GenAI). These assistants, named Wipro GenAI Investor Intelligence, Wipro GenAI Investor Onboarding, and Wipro GenAI Loan Origination, aim to revolutionise how financial professionals operate.

Option A) HCLTech
Explanation:IT services firm HCLTech said it has partnered with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to ‘accelerate GenAI-led enterprise digital transformation’. The companies will work together to implement AWS GenAI (generative AI) services such as Amazon Bedrock, Amazon CodeWhisperer, Amazon SageMaker and Amazon Titan for enterprises across multiple industries.

Option C) 2026
Explanation:India is set to become the third largest consumer market in 2026, surpassing Germany and Japan, according to a UBS report. The report predicts that the affluent category will double in the next five years, with 88 million people with over $10,000 annual income by 2028. Consumption growth is expected to remain muted at 4-5% in the current and next fiscal, below the 6.5-7% average annual growth seen during FY11 and FY20.

Option D) China
Explanation:China completed a Thomas and Uber Cup double as both men’s and women’s teams beat Indonesia to win their respective world team championship finals in Chengdu. The men, who won 3-1, lifted China’s first Thomas Cup since they beat Japan in 2018 – and their 11th in all. But it meant agony again for 14-time winners Indonesia, who lost its second successive final after falling to India two years ago in Bangkok. In the women’s event, Indonesia had earlier been powerless to prevent a flawless China lifting the Uber Cup for a record-extending 16th time with a 3-0 victory

Option
Explanation:McLaren’s Lando Norris has won the first Formula One race of his career with a shock victory over world champion Max Verstappen in the Miami Grand Prix Norris, who had 15 podiums before his first win, took full advantage of the safety car and with Verstappen struggling to catch up, he secured his maiden victory.

Option A) Andrey Rublev
Explanation:Andrey Rublev overcame an opening set wobble to beat Felix Auger-Aliassime 4-6 7-5 7-5 in the final of the Madrid Open, to win his second Masters 1000 title.
Women’s Single – World No. 1 Iga Swiatek etched her name in the history books by winning her first WTA 1000 Madrid Open Singles title. In a thrilling final, she prevailed over Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus with a hard-fought victory, 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (9/7).
Men’s Doubles Title – Jordan Thompson (Australia) and Sebastian Korda (United States) emerge victorious against Adam Pavlesak (Czech Republic) and Ariel Behra (Uruguay)
Women’s Doubles Title – The Spanish duo of Sara Sorribes and Cristina Bucsa made their nation proud by clinching the Women’s Doubles title.They defeated the pair of Barbora Krejcikova (Czech Republic) and Laura Siegemund (Germany)

Option C) Ibrahim Ali Khan
Explanation:Sports brand Puma India has announced actor, Ibrahim Ali Khan Pataudi, as its newest ambassador and said with a legendary legacy in both the realms of sports and cinema, he is the perfect addition to the brand’s family.

Option B) Rakesh Singh
Explanation:Paytm Money, the wholly-owned subsidiary of One97 Communications, has appointed Rakesh Singh as the new CEO after Varun Sridhar resigned from the role, the company said. Sridhar, former head of Paytm Money Ltd, will transition to Chief Executive Officer of Paytm Services Private Limited, focusing on the distribution of mutual funds and wealth management products.

Option A) Panama
Explanation:Jose Raul Mulino, a stand-in for a former president banned from running, has won the country’s presidential elections. The 64-year-old former security minister had nearly 35% of the votes with more than 92% of the votes counted, giving him a nine-point lead over his nearest competitor.

Option C) NMAM Institute of Technology team
Explanation:A team from Nitte Mahalinga Adyanthaya Memorial (NMAM) Institute of Technology, Karkala in Udupi district of Karnataka, won the ninth annual Boeing National Aeromodelling Competition, which attracted more than 2,350 students from 855 institutions in India.
Meghraj M, Sathvik Poojary, and Sanjana S from Nitte Mahalinga Adyanthaya Memorial (NMAM) Institute of Technology, Karkala, Udipi District, Karnataka were declared winners of the competition.