SPOTLIGHT

Monthly Current Affairs

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RBI - NABARD - SEBI

SPOTLIGHT – MARCH 2023
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Contents
NATIONAL NEWS ......................................................................................................................................................... 2
STATE NEWS............................................................................................................................................................... 37
AGRICULTURE AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT..................................................................................................... 47
DEFENCE NEWS ........................................................................................................................................................ 50
MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING ................................................................................................................ 56
INTERNATIONAL NEWS............................................................................................................................................ 63
REPORTS AND INDICES .......................................................................................................................................... 72
BANKING AND ECONOMY ....................................................................................................................................... 85
GDP FORECASTS .................................................................................................................................................... 112
APPOINTMENTS ....................................................................................................................................................... 114
IMPORTANT DAYS ................................................................................................................................................... 120
AWARDS ..................................................................................................................................................................... 126
SPORTS ...................................................................................................................................................................... 136
MISCELLANEOUS..................................................................................................................................................... 141
QUESTIONS ............................................................................................................................................................... 146

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NATIONAL NEWS
1. Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways has laid the foundation stone for the
world's largest and unique Divyang Park - Anubhuti Inclusive Park in Nagpur,
Maharashtra.
• It is the world’s first inclusive disabled park.

2. Asian Development Bank (ADB) President Masatsugu Asakawa and India Prime Minister
Narendra Modi met to discuss the country’s development priorities.
• ADB is planning to provide $20 billion–$25 billion resources over 5 years to advance the
country’s aspirations for fast, inclusive, and green growth.

3. Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation has released revised Guidelines on

Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS)-2023.
• Objective – MPLAD scheme aims to enable members of parliament (MPs) to recommend
works of developmental nature with emphasis on the creation of durable community assets
in their Constituencies.
• Launch Year – 1993
• Funding – It is a Central Sector Scheme fully funded by Central Government
• Under the scheme, MPs have choice to suggest District Collector for works to tune of Rs.5
Crores per annum to be taken up in their constituency.
o Rajya Sabha MPs can recommend works in one or more districts in the State from
where they are elected.
o Nominated Members of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha may select any one or more
Districts from any one State for implementation of their choice of work.
• Annual fund entitlement per MP constituency - Rs.5 crore.
• Minimum amount per project - Rs. 2.5 Lakh (earlier the limit was Rs 1 lakh)

4. Union Cabinet approved the extension of the term of the 22nd Law Commission of India upto
31st August 2024.
• Chairperson of the 22nd Law Commission of India - Justice Rituraj Awasthi (retd.)

5. 18th UIC World Security Congress was organised by the Railway Protection Force (RPF)
and the International Union of Railways (based in France).
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• The Congress ended with the adoption of the Jaipur Declaration.

6. Chief Justice of India (CJI) D Y Chandrachud has launched 'neutral citations' to ensure a
uniform pattern of citing the decisions of the Supreme Court.

7. Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has launched a nationwide 'Sarva Dawa
Sevan' or Mass Drug Administration (MDA) campaign to eliminate Lymphatic Filariasis
(LF) by 2027, which is three years ahead of the global target.
• The high-burden districts in Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh,
West Bengal, Karnataka, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, and Andhra Pradesh have jointly
launched the campaign.
Knowledge Nuggets -
• Disease elimination targets of India -
o Leprosy Eliminated - 2005
o Kala-azar - 2023
o TB – 2025
o Lymphatic Filariasis/ Elephantiasis – 2027 (Global 2030)
o Malaria – 2030
o AIDS epidemic – 2030

8. “International Bio-resource Conclave”, along with the 22nd Congress of the International
Society for Ethno-pharmacology and the 10th Congress of Society for Ethno-
pharmacology (ISE SFEC-2023) was held at the City Convention Centre, Imphal, Manipur.
• Theme - “Reimagine Ethnopharmacology: Globalisation of Traditional Medicine''

9. Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the ‘Barisu Kannada Dim Dimava cultural
festival’ at Talkatora Stadium in Delhi to celebrate Karnataka’s culture, traditions, and history
in line with the Prime Minister’s vision of ‘Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat’.
• The 75th-anniversary celebrations of the Delhi Karnataka Sangh also took place.

10. Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare organized a two-day “Chintan Shivir” on
“Drugs: Quality regulation and Enforcement” in Hyderabad, Telangana.
• The objective of the two-day Chintan Shivir is to review processes and implementation of
policies and programmes related to drugs quality and enforcement in the country.
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• A “Chintan Shivir” was also organized by Union Minister of Ayush Shri Sarbananda
Sonowal at Kaziranga National Park, Assam.

11. Australia’s Deakin University and University of Wollongong will become the first foreign
universities to set up its campus in India in Gujarat’s GIFT City.

12. Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology launched the Grievance Appellate
Committee (GAC) portal under the IT Rules, 2021.
• Purpose – to allow people who are dissatisfied with complaints to social media companies
on content takedown requests, to be heard by one of three Committees constituted by the
government.

13. India has approved its largest ever hydropower project - Dibang Multipurpose Project (MPP)
in Arunachal Pradesh.
• The project will be developed by National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC)
Limited at a cost of $3.9 billion.
• The 2,880-megawatt Dibang hydropower project is being built in the Lower Dibang Valley
District of Arunachal Pradesh on the Dibang River.

14. Minister of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying Shri Parshottam Rupala launched
three national flagship programmes at ICAR-CIBA campus, Chennai.
A) National Surveillance Programme for Aquatic Animal Diseases (NSPAAD)
• Union Minister of Fisheries and Animal Husbandry Parshottam Rupala launched the
Phase II of the National Surveillance Programme for Aquatic Animal Diseases
(NSPAAD).
• The Phase II of NSPAAD has been launched under the Pradhan Mantri Matsya
Sampada Yojana.
• The phase-II will be implemented at pan-India, and all the State Fisheries Departments
along with Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA).

About the NSPAAD -

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• The government has launched the National Surveillance Programme for Aquatic
Animal Diseases (NSPAAD) in 2013 for strengthening the farmer-based disease
surveillance system.
• The objective is to ensure that disease cases are reported immediately, investigated, and
farmers receive scientific assistance. The results of the first phase proved the reduction in
revenue losses due to diseases, increased farmers’ income and exports.
B) Genetic Improvement Program of Penaeus indicus (Indian white shrimp)-Phase-I
• The Department of Fisheries has sanctioned the “Genetic improvement program of
Penaeus indicus (Indian white shrimp)-Phase-I” with an outlay of Rs 25 crores under
the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY) under the Central sector
scheme to establish a National Genetic Improvement Facility for shrimp breeding.
C) The Minister has also launched a mobile app and laid the foundation stone for the
Genetic Improvement Facility at the premises of ICAR-Central Institute of Brackish-
water Aquaculture (ICAR-CIBA) in Chennai, Tamil Nadu.
• ICAR-CIBA developed a Shrimp Crop Insurance product with the support of Alliance
Insurance brokers which was filed with the IRDAI by Oriental Insurance Company Limited
in October 2022.

15. Chennai-based Global Logistics has operated India’s first coastal container feeder service
between Chennai and Puducherry Ports.

16. Union Minister Jitendra Singh launched VAIBHAV Fellowship Scheme for the Indian
Diaspora abroad on National Science Day.
• Purpose – for improving the research ecosystem by facilitating academic and research
collaborations between Indian institutions and the best institutions in the world through
mobility of faculty/researcher from overseas institutions to India
• Eligibility - the person should be from overseas and must have a Ph.D. or Masters’ degree

17. According to the Department of Pharmaceuticals’ data, the Pradhan Mantri Bharatiya
Janaushadi Pariyojana has achieved sales of more than Rs. 1100 Crore in 2022-23 which
has further led to savings of approximately Rs. 6600 Cr. to the citizens.
• During the financial year 2021-22, PMBJP has achieved sales of Rs. 893.56 crores (at
MRP).

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• Under the scheme, generic medicines available are priced 50-90% lower than branded
offerings. Product basket has also been increased to 1,759 drugs (generic) and 280
surgical instruments.
• 1st March to 7th March - Jan Aushadhi Week
March 1 Jan Aushadhi Rath
March 2 Jan Aushadhi Pratigya Yatra
March 3 Jan Aushadhi - Ek Kadam Matri Shakti
Ki Ore
March 4 Bal Mitra Diwas
March 5 Jan Aarogya Mela
March 6 Jan Aushadhi Shapath
March 7 Jan Aushadhi Diwas (5th edition)
o Theme of Jan Aushadhi Diwas is “जन औषधि सस्ती भी अच्छी भी” (meaning Jan
Aushadhi – Affordable and Effective)
• At present, the 9,082 Janaushadhi Kendras are operatal under the Pradhan Mantri
Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana (PMBJP). The target is to increase the numbers to
10,000 by December 2023.

18. G20 Foreign Ministers Meeting (FMM), which is scheduled to take place in physical format
from March 1-2, 2023 in New Delhi under India's Presidency is "one of the largest gatherings of
foreign ministers hosted by any G20 Presidency”.
• It will be under the chairmanship of External Affairs Minister, S Jaishankar.

19. Supreme Court has formed an expert committee headed by former apex court judge,
Justice Abhay Manohar Sapre, to investigate the causes of regulatory failure which led to
investors losing crores following Hindenburg Research’s report.

20. Ministry of Home Affairs has cancelled the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA)
licence of the Centre for Policy Research (a prominent public think tank).
• CPR, a non-profit organisation, which also receives grants from the Indian Council for
Social Science Research (ICSSR), is a recognised institution of the Department of
Science and Technology.

21. Quad Foreign Ministers meeting was held in New Delhi.

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• The Foreign Ministers of Quad member countries (India, US, Japan, and Australia) have
reaffirmed their commitment to supporting a free and open Indo-Pacific, which is inclusive
and resilient.
• The meeting was attended by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Japan foreign minister
Yoshimasa Hayashi and Australian foreign minister Penny Wong.

22. President Droupadi Murmu inaugurated the 7th International Dharma Dhamma Conference,
organised by the India Foundation in collaboration with the Sanchi University of Buddhist-
Indic Studies, in Madhya Pradesh's capital Bhopal.

23. Hindustan Samachar was awarded a new contract to provide news content in 12 languages
to Doordarshan and AIR for a period of 25-and-a-half months.

24. The 8th Raisina Dialogue was held in New Delhi on the theme of “Provocation, Uncertainty,
Turbulence: Lighthouse in the Tempest”.

25. The Atomic Minerals Directorate for Exploration and Research (AMD) has conducted the
preliminary surveys in Karnataka and found lithium reserves in the Madhya district.
• They indicate the presence of some 1,600 tonnes of the resource in pegmatite rocks.
• An estimated reserve of 5.9 million tonnes of lithium ore was found by Geological
Survey of India in Salal-Haimna areas of Reasi district in Jammu and Kashmir.
Knowledge Nuggets -
• The AMD is the oldest unit of India’s Department of Atomic Energy, set up in 1948.
• The organization is headquartered in Hyderabad and has seven regional centres.
• It is responsible for discovering mineral deposits needed for the country’s nuclear power
program.

26. Over 25 crore health records have been successfully linked to the Ayushman Bharat Health
Accounts (ABHA consist of 14-digit numbers).

27. Ministry of Tourism, in association with Indian Institute of Tourism & Travel Management
(IITTM), United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), and Responsible Tourism
Society of India (RTSOI), has organised the 3rd Regional Workshop on Development of
Sustainable and Responsible Tourist Destinations at Hyderabad.
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28. United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the NITI Aayog hosted ‘LIFEathon’,
a hybrid hackathon, for young people from across the world.
• Purpose - to contribute ideas and innovations to promote sustainable living and climate
positive behaviour – as part of the Government of India’s Mission LiFE
Knowledge Nuggets -
• In October 2022, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched Mission LiFE (Lifestyle for
Environment), in the presence of the UN Secretary General António Guterres, at the
Statue of Unity, Ekta Nagar, Gujarat.
• Mission LiFE aims to create and nurture a global network of Pro-Planet People
committed to adapting and promoting environmentally friendly lifestyles.
• Niti Aayog is the implementing and administrating agency of this mission.
• Mission Director of LiFE - Yugal Joshi from NITI Aayog
• At the 2021 UN Climate Change Conference (UNFCCC COP26), PM Narendra Modi
announced Mission LiFE to bring individual behaviours at the forefront of the global
climate action narrative.

29. The Crown Prince of Denmark Frederik Andre Henrik Christian and Crown Princess,
Mary Elizabeth were on a five-day visit to India from February 26 – March 02, 2023.
• His Royal Highness, the Crown Prince had last visited India in 2003.
• Highlights -
A) Letter of Intent
• Tamil Nadu and Denmark Environmental Protection Agency have signed a Letter of
Intent for leveraging technology for the conservation of water bodies and ensuring quality
of drinking water.
B) IIT-Madras and Denmark Collaboration
• Four projects will be completed via this collaboration.
• Three out of these four projects were announced to enable energy transition towards a
low-carbon future as envisioned by IIT Madras Energy Consortium.
• The fourth project was signed in the realm of Water to promote cooperation in
engineering education and scientific research between Danfoss, Denmark and IIT
Madras.

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o Both institutions will undertake joint work on drinking water for coastal regions
using renewable energy.
C) Silver Exhibition
• Venue – Delhi
• Purpose – showcase historical objects (made up of silver) of India and Denmark

30. Government of India and the World Bank have signed two complimentary loans worth $1
billion to support and enhance India’s healthcare infrastructure.
• Project 1 - The $500-million Public Health Systems for Pandemic Preparedness Program
(PHSPP) will support efforts to prepare India’s surveillance system to detect and report
epidemics of concern.
• Project 2 - Another $500 million Enhanced Health Service Delivery Program (EHSDP) will
support government’s efforts to strengthen service delivery through a redesigned primary
healthcare model.

31. A five-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court, headed by Justice KM Joseph,
has unanimously ruled that a high-power committee consisting of the Prime Minister,
Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, and the Chief Justice of India must appoint the Chief
Election Commissioner (CEC) and Election Commissioners (ECs).
• Article 324 of the Constitution deals with the mandate of the Election Commission and
appointment of Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners.
• In 2015, a public interest litigation was filed by Anoop Baranwal challenging the
constitutional validity of the practice of the Centre appointing members of the Election
Commission.

32. Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) is developing a research policy and
governance cell, which will work under the direct control of director general, ICMR Dr Rajiv
Bhal.
• The cell will be responsible for designing and implementing policies and strategies to
support research activity.

33. Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports and Information and Broadcasting Anurag Singh
Thakur launched Yuva Utsava - India@2047 from IIT-Ropar in Punjab.
• Dashboard of Yuva Utsav was also launched.
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• In the first phase, the Yuva Utsav is being organised in 150 districts across the country to
promote youth power till the 31st of March 2023.
• In the first phase, programmes are being conducted by schools and colleges of the districts.
• This all-India celebration of youth power will be held on three levels. Yuva Utsav will begin
with a one-day district-level programme. The first phase of the programme is planned to be
held in 150 districts from the 4th to 31st of March 2023.

34. Indian Railways has introduced the Bharat Gaurav Deluxe Tourist Train in the North-East
region, which is set to depart from the New Delhi Safdarjung railway station.
• The train will complete the 'North-East Discovery: Beyond Guwahati', a North-East
Circuit covering Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Tripura and Meghalaya for 15 days.

35. India developed the world’s first bamboo-made crash barrier (200 metre) and installed it on
the Vani-Warora Highway in Vidarbh, Maharashtra.
• Developer – National Highway Authority of India
• The barrier has been named as 'Bahu Balli'.

36. The second meeting of Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion (GPFI) under G20 India
Presidency was held in Hyderabad.
• A Symposium on Digital Innovations in Payments and Remittances was also
organised on the sidelines of the GPFI meeting for both G20 and non-G20 countries.

37. Election Commission of India will host the 3rd International Conference on the theme of
‘Inclusive Elections and Elections Integrity’ in the virtual format.
• ECI is leading the Cohort on Elections Integrity which was established as a follow-up to the
‘Summit for Democracy’ held in 2021.
• The first international conference of the Cohort was organized in November 2022 in
New Delhi on the theme of ‘Role, Framework and Capacity of Election Management
Bodies’.
• The 2nd Conference on the theme of ‘Use of Technology and Elections Integrity’ was
organised by the Election Commission in January 2023.

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38. Central Bureau of Communication, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and

Kolhapur Municipal Corporation together with Zilla Parishad Kolhapur have organized a
“Multimedia Exhibition” on the theme of ‘Women Empowerment’.
• In the inaugural session, a financial and digital literacy workshop was conducted by
Aparna Sawant, Program Director, Mann Deshi Foundation.

39. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese arrived on a two-day visit to Gujarat.

40. The first-of-its-kind 'SCO B2B Conference and Expo on Traditional Medicine' was
organized at Guwahati, Assam.
• India is hosting SCO Summit 2023 in Goa.

41. Ministry of Jal Shakti has organized the “Swachh Sujal Shakti Samman 2023”, to honour
the women champions of the rural water and sanitation sector.
• Jal Shakti Abhiyan – Catch the Rain 2023 was also launched at the award ceremony.
• 36 women WASH (Water, sanitation and health) Champions were conferred with the
‘Swachh Sujal Shakti Samman 2023’.
• They were awarded for their exceptional contribution in the implementation of Swachh
Bharat Mission – Gramin (SBM-G), Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM), Jal Shakti Abhiyan: Catch
the Rain (JSA-CTR).

Jal Shakti Abhiyan – Catch the Rain 2023 -

• Purpose – to conserve rainwater
• Theme 2023 - Source Sustainability for Drinking Water.
• Tag line: Catch the rain, where it falls, when it falls.
• Catch the Rain is a Jan Andolan campaign to encourage all stakeholders to create
rainwater harvesting structures.
• The campaign is implemented by the National Water Mission (NWM), Ministry of Jal
Shakti.
Knowledge Nuggets -
• Key schemes that are being implemented by Ministry of Jal Shakti -
o Jal Jeevan Mission
o Swachch Bharat Mission-Grameen

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o National Water Mission

o PM Krishi Sinchayee Yojana- Har Khet Ko Pani

42. Minister of Power and New and Renewable Energy, RK Singh, has launched the South
Asia Distribution Utility Network (SADUN) to modernise distribution of utilities in South Asia
via knowledge sharing among the region's discoms.
• SADUN is a joint initiative of the Ministry of Power, USAID and Power Finance
Corporation.
• All the member nations would benefit from the synergy, exchange of experiences and the
sharing of vision-enabled by the network.
• USAID had conceptualised SADUN in January 2020. The initiative aims at sharing
knowledge among discoms and enhancing focus on distribution issues at the regional-level,
the network aims to enable utility-to-utility (U2U) connect to reap the benefits of
aggregation.

43. Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw released a unique cover of the Department of Posts,
'Go Green, Go Organic' for the world's first organic state i.e., Sikkim.

44. Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has conducted Rail Track Rocket Sled
deployment tests of the Gaganyaan Pilot and Apex Cover Separation parachutes.
• The Gaganyaan parachute system development has been a joint effort by VSSC,
Thiruvananthapuram, and Aerial Delivery Research and Development Establishment
(ADRDE), Agra.

45. Indian School of Business (ISB) is collaborating with National Skill Development
Corporation (NSDC), under the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE),
as a knowledge partner for the G-20 Education Working Group (EWG).

46. Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) has published ‘IS 18149:2023 - Transportation of
Dangerous Goods — Guidelines’ for enhancing safety in the transportation of dangerous
goods.

47. Union Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs Nirmala Sitharaman visited Gurudongmar
lake at the Mangan district of Sikkim.
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48. Food and Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said that all the states should implement the
SMART-PDS, which is a technological driven initiative.
• SMART-PDS is a system where smart ration cards are issued to beneficiaries of public
distribution system, and ration is given through fair price shops on production of the smart
ration card by any member of the beneficiary family.
• The Scheme for Modernization and Reforms through Technology in Public
Distribution System (SMART-PDS) was proposed by the Department of Food and
Public Distribution.
Knowledge Nuggets -
• The expected procurement of coarse grains or millets is 7.50 LMT during the Kharif
marketing season of 2022-23 (Kharif & Rabi) as against actual procurement of 6.30 LMT
during Kharif marketing season of 2021-22.
• Karnataka will procure 6 LMT millets (5 LMT Ragi and 1 LMT Jowar) in Kharif season of
2022-23.

49. Competition Commission of India (CCI) is holding its 8th annual National Conference on
Economics of Competition Law in New Delhi.

50. India and Australia have launched the Australia India Research Students Fellowship
(AIRS Fellowship) program to support emerging researchers from India and Australia to
undertake short-term research exchanges
• Fellowships of up to AUD $10,000 have been awarded to 63 research students and
post-doctoral scholars (early-career researchers): 35 Indians and 28 Australians.
• The 2023 Fellows will undertake a research project during an exchange of 4 to 8 weeks, to
be completed by mid-October 2023.

51. Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) has decided to start exclusive
Research Grants for Women Scientists under CSIR-ASPIRE and an exclusive portal in this
regard will be available from April 1, 2023.
• Only women scientists across the country will be eligible to apply for research grants to
carry out R&D in major disciplines of science and engineering viz Life Sciences, Chemical
Sciences, Physical Sciences, Engineering Sciences and inter/trans disciplinary sciences.

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• The total budget of a research proposal including research fellow’s stipend should
generally not exceed the limit of Rs 25-30 lacs.
Knowledge Nuggets -
• Dr Jitendra Singh, Minister of Science and Technology, has informed that 68% of 2 crore
PM Awas-Gramin beneficiaries are women and over 23 crore MUDRA loans have been
granted to Women beneficiaries.
• For the first time, sex ratio in India has improved to 1,020 women per 1,000 men,
according to the NFHS-5 survey.
• Recently, the Indian Air Force posted Group Captain Shaliza Dhami as the first woman
officer to command a missile squadron in the Western sector facing Pakistan.

52. US has handed over NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) to ISRO.
• US Air Force C-17 aircraft landed in Bengaluru to handover NISAR.
• NISAR was envisioned by NASA and ISRO in 2014. It is expected to be launched in
January 2024 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre into a near-polar orbit. The satellite will
operate for a minimum of 3 years.
• It is a Low Earth Orbit (LEO) observatory. NISAR will map the entire globe in 12 days.
• NISAR will be the first radar of its kind in space to systematically map Earth, using two
different radar frequencies (L-band and S-band) to measure changes in our planet's
surface less than a centimetre across.
• The mission will provide critical information to help manage natural disasters and
agriculture management and food security. It will provide data for infrastructure monitoring
and management, such as monitoring of oil spills, urbanization, and deforestation.

53. Central Government has launched a High Price Day Ahead Market and Surplus Power
Portal (PUShP) – an initiative to ensure greater availability of power during the peak demand
season.
• To keep the prices of electricity generated through gas and coal, the Ministry has created a
separate segment called HP DAM for trading of such electricity.
• Only the generating companies which have cost of producing power of more than Rs. 12
per unit would be allowed to operate in HP-DAM.
• If the cost of production is less than Rs.12, the generators will have to offer power in the
Power Exchange’s Integrated Day Ahead Market (I-DAM) only with a ceiling price of
Rs.12.
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54. Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd (MRPL) and the Indian Institute of Chemical
Technology (IICT), a CSIR lab under the Union Ministry of Science and Technology, have
entered a ‘Master Research Alliance Agreement’ for collaborative research.

55. India-US bilateral Commercial Dialogue 2023 was co-chaired by the Minister of
Commerce and Industry Shri Piyush Goyal and the US Secretary of Commerce, Gina
Raimondo at Vanijya Bhawan, New Delhi.
• The Commercial Dialogue is a part of ongoing efforts to strengthen US-India
Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership.
• The Minister and the Secretary welcomed the US-India initiative on Critical and
Emerging Technology (iCET).
• The next Commercial Dialogue meeting will be held in Washington, DC, in 2024.
• During the Dialogue, India and the US signed an MOU on setting up a Semiconductor
Supply Chain and Innovation Partnership and established a semiconductor sub-
committee under the framework of the India-US Commercial Dialogue.
• The sub-committee will be led by the US’s Department of Commerce and, on the Indian
side, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) and the Ministry
of Commerce and Industry.
• The first meeting of the committee will be held in 2023.
• India and the US has launched a strategic trade dialogue to address export controls,
explore ways of enhancing high technology commerce, and facilitate technology transfers.

56. Minister of MSME launched MSME Competitive (LEAN) scheme to make it more beneficial
for enterprises and stakeholders.
• Under the revamped scheme, the Centre’s contribution will be 90% of the implementation
cost for handholding and consultancy fees as against 80% previously.
• However, under the revamped scheme, the consultancy has been divided into phases -
Basic (2 months), Intermediate (6 months) and Advanced (12 months).
• Purpose of the scheme - to improve quality, productivity, performance and capability to
change the mind-sets of manufacturers and transform them into world class manufacturers
• Through the LEAN journey, MSMEs can reduce wastages substantially, increase
productivity, improve quality, work safely, expanding their markets, and finally becoming
competitive and profitable.
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Knowledge Nuggets -
• Lean manufacturing is a production process based on an ideology of maximising
productivity while simultaneously minimising waste within a manufacturing operation.

57. The Ministry of Ports, shipping, and waterways has provided in-principle approval to four
floating jetty projects in Karnataka and four floating jetty projects in Tamil Nadu, under its
Sagarmala Programme.
• With these four additional projects in Karnataka, there is a total of 11 floating jetty projects
in the state.

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58. From 1st April 2023, the sale of only gold jewellery with HUID shall be permitted.
• HUID stands for Hallmark Unique Identification. It is a 6-digit alphanumeric code consisting
of alphabets and numbers. HUID is stamped at the BIS-certified Assaying and Hallmarking
Centre.

59. Hon’ble Union Minister of Power and New & Renewable Energy Shri R K Singh launched
the Star-rated appliances program at the 21st Foundation Day of Bureau of Energy
Efficiency in New Delhi on March 1.
• The Voluntary Star Labelling Programme has been launched for multi-door refrigerators,
table and wall-mounted fans, pedestal fans, and induction hobs.
• This program is expected to save approximately 11.2 billion units of electricity by 2030 and
will enable the reduction of CO2 emission close to 9 million tonnes by 2030.
• iDEEKSHA (Industrial Decarbonization and EE Knowledge-Sharing) Portal was also
launched under the Accelerating Smart Power and Renewable Energy (ASPIRE)
Technical 1 Assistance Programme.
• It aims to facilitate the exchange of information, knowledge and experience and best
practices amongst the Indian energy-intensive industries.
• BEE is a statutory body under the Ministry of Power.

60. 3rd Session of the National Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction (NPDRR) was held in
New Delhi.
• Theme - “Building Local Resilience in a Changing Climate”
• 3rd NPDRR was jointly organized by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), National Disaster
Management Authority (NDMA), National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), and National
Institute of Disaster Management (NIDM).
• India aims to become disaster-resilient by 2030 under the Vision-2047 (Amrit Kaal) of
Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi.

61. PM Narendra Modi inaugurated the world's longest railway platform at Hubballi in
Karnataka.
• Name of the station - Shree Siddharoodha Swamiji Hubballi Junction

62. Minister for Road Transport & Highways Nitin Gadkari has flagged off India’s 1st 100%
methanol-powered prototype truck in Bengaluru.
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• It is a joint initiative by Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL), Ashok Leyland, and
Indian Institute of Science (IISc).
• It is world's second 100% methanol (M100) prototype truck.

63. India-Australia CEO forum was held in Mumbai.

• Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA) was signed between India and
Australia to unlock the next level of potential in trade and investment.
• India and Australia have signed an audio-visual co-production agreement under which
private, quasi-government or governmental agencies of the two countries enter contracts to
produce films together.

64. NITI Aayog's Atal Innovation Mission and Australia's national science agency
Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) have joined
hands to encourage cooperation on innovations in areas of national challenges and shared
priorities.
• Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) and CSIRO have signed a letter of intent to drive innovation
activities in areas of national challenges and shared priorities of both countries.
• India Australia Innovation and Technology Challenge (IA-ITC) intends to leverage the
complementary capabilities and resources of the innovation ecosystem of both the
countries.
• Australia India trade association (AITA) hosted 20+ Australian clean energy
companies that have arrived in India as part of the SMART energy council delegation
headed by Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
• AITA works on facilitating trade relations between Australia and India and is headquartered
in Brisbane, Australia, with liaison offices in Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Delhi, Lucknow, and
Hyderabad.
• Secretary General of AITA - Vineet Rai

65. University Grants Commission has developed the “Undertaking Transformative

Strategies and Actions in Higher Education (UTSAH)” portal to track the qualitative
reforms by the higher education institutions (HEIs) in the country.
• The portal was launched to monitor the implementation of NEP 2020 in the HEIs.
• The portal will gather information from the HEIs in 10 major thrust areas which include
multidisciplinary; digital empowerment and online education; skill development and
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employability; research, innovation, and entrepreneurship; promotion of Indian languages

and Indian Knowledge Systems and internationalisation of education.
• The portal will be open 365 days, 24X7, so the HEIs can upload the information at their
convenience

66. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has announced that the Central Government will
continue the 50-year interest-free loans to state governments for one more year.
• The enhanced capex of Rs 10 lakh crore for infrastructure development is equivalent to
3.3% of the GDP.
• An expert committee will also be set up to make infrastructure classification and financing
framework suitable for Amrit Kaal.

67. Atal Innovation Mission (AIM)-NITI Aayog launched ATL Sarthi, a comprehensive self-
monitoring framework to strengthen the Atal Tinkering Labs (ATL).
• It provides a Monitoring and Evaluation framework to enhance the performance of ATLs.
• It has four pillars which will ensure the performance enhancement of ATLs through regular
process improvements viz:
o MyATL Dashboard: It is a self-reporting dashboard.
o Compliance SOPs for schools: It will ensure financial and non-financial
compliances.
o Cluster-based Approach: For on-ground enablement of ATLs in collaboration with
relevant local authorities.
o Performance-Enablement Matrix: To provide ownership to schools to analyze their
performance.
• As a pilot, ATL Sarthi will be executed with different partners in regions like Karnataka,
Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat.

68. National Statistical Office, Ministry of Statistical and Program Implementation, has
conducted its 78th round of survey for 2020-21.
• In the survey, it released the first-ever “Multiple Indicator Survey” which assesses progress
on various social indicators such as drinking water availability, sanitation facility etc.
• 21.3% of rural households have no access to any toilets.

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69. Government of India and the World Bank have signed an agreement for the construction of
Green National Highway Corridors Project (GNHCP) in an aggregate length of 781 km in
the states of Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh.
• The loan amount is USD 500 million against total project cost of USD 1288.24 million (Rs.
7,662.47 crore).

70. India and Ethiopia will soon finalize stalled agreements on visa waiver and sister-city projects.

71. In December 2022, Uzbekistan informed that 18 children died after consuming Marion
Biotech’s cough syrups, Ambronol and DOK-1 Max, which were contaminated with
unacceptable amounts of diethylene glycol or ethylene glycol.
• After this, India directed drug manufacturers to stop using propylene glycol.
• In October 2022, WHO had issued an alert stating that the four cough syrups being
supplied to Gambia by the India-based Maiden Pharmaceuticals Ltd were of substandard
quality and claimed that they were linked to the death of many children in Gambia.

72. Government is working on the Digital India Act, 2023 to regulate the digital economy of India.
It is in the consultancy stage now.
• The main highlight of the law is the “safe harbour” clause which gives immunity to the digital
media websites against the illegitimate content posted on their websites.
• The Act is a broad overhaul of the IT Act of 2000.

73. Mumbai-headquartered Central Railway has achieved a significant milestone with 100%
electrification of the entire broad-gauge network.
• The CR has completed the electrification of all broad-gauge routes, running 3,825 route
kilometres.

74. Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar inaugurated Vote Fest 2023 to create
awareness on the election process in Bengaluru.
• Electhon 2023, a 30-hour hackathon for securing the electoral future, was also
inaugurated to seek people's suggestions on improving voter turnout, ensuring the
registration of new voters, and how to ensure the involvement of urban youth in the
democratic process.

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75. India has announced that the facility of e-visa has been restored for nationals of Saudi
Arabia with immediate effect in all five sub-categories i.e., e-tourist visa, e-business visa, e-
medical visa, e-medical attendant visa & e-conference visa.
• India launched the e-Visa service for Saudi nationals in 2019, however, it was suspended
due to the Covid-19 pandemic, but it has now been reinstated, effective March 9, 2023.

76. The First Senior Officials Meeting of the SAI20 Engagement Group under India's G20
Presidency was organized in Guwahati.
• The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India, Shri Girish Chandra Murmu, has
been appointed as the Chair of the Supreme Audit Institutions-20 (SAI20) Engagement
Group.
• The priority areas of SAI20 are “Blue Economy” and “Responsible Artificial
Intelligence”.
• SAI India’s International Centre for Environment Audit and Sustainable Development
(ICED), located in Jaipur, has been established as a Centre of Excellence for the Blue
Economy and the first national training programme will be rolled out at the end of April.

77. Union Minister of Commerce & Industry, Piyush Goyal with Australian Minister for Trade
and Tourism, Don Farrell organized India-Australia 18th Joint Ministerial Commission in
New Delhi.
• They discussed negotiations for a full-scale free trade pact and steps to spur investment
flows into both countries.

78. A high-level delegation from the Saudi Space Commission, led by CEO Dr Mohammed
Saud Al-Tamimi, visited India to hold discussions on space cooperation.
• The delegation also visited the Indian Institute of Space Sciences and Technology,
Thiruvananthapuram, and a technical team separately visited the National Remote
Sensing Centre, Hyderabad.
• Saudi Arabia will host the Space Economy Forum at the end of this year.

79. The Central Govt has approved the additional central assistance of over Rs 1,816 crore
under the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) to five states which were affected by
the floods, landslides, and cloud bursts in 2022.
• These States are Assam, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Meghalaya and Nagaland.
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• The assistance was approved by a High-Level Committee chaired by Union Home

Minister Amit Shah.

80. The two-day international conference of Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) on

“Shared Buddhist Heritage” was inaugurated at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi, with focus
on India’s civilizational connect with the SCO nations.
• The two-day programme is being organized by the Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of
External Affairs and the International Buddhist Confederation (IBC-as a grantee body
of the Ministry of Culture).

81. A three-day event named ‘Yoga Mahotsav 2023’ has been inaugurated by Union Minister
Sarbanand Sonowal in Delhi to commemorate 100 days countdown to International Day of
Yoga (June 21).
• 100 Cities and 100 Organizations will participate in the 100 days countdown to promote
Yoga.

82. Rs 3.61 lakh loan has been given to MSME under the Emergency Credit Line Guarantee
Scheme.
• The scheme was launched in 2020 as part of Aatmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan to support
eligible MSMEs and business enterprises to restart their businesses in the context of the
disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

83. The Central Government has decided to set up a Committee of Secretaries to meet at
frequent intervals to fast-track the pending projects.

84. The Central Government has introduced the Inter-Services Organizations (Command,
Control and Discipline) Bill, 2023 in Lok Sabha to strengthen tri-services commanders'
power.
• The Bill seeks to empower the Commander-in-Chief or the Officer-in Command of Inter-
Services Organisations in respect of service personnel for the maintenance of discipline
and proper discharge of their duties.
• These commanders are covered under the Air Force Act, 1950, the Army Act, 1950 and the
Navy Act, 1957.

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85. The meeting of the Business 20 Summit will be organized in Gangtok, Sikkim under India’s
G20 presidency.
• The Summit will be held in Delhi under the theme of R.A.I.S.E. (Responsible,
Accelerated, Innovative, Sustainable and Equitable Businesses).

86. Wildlife Institute of India has released the “Lion@2047: A Vision for Amrut Kaal” report.
• As per the report, Barda Wildlife Sanctuary in Gujarat has been identified as a suitable
location for re-locating 40 adults and sub-adult Asiatic lions from the Gir National Park.

87. 'Kashi' (Varanasi) has been declared as the first tourism and cultural capital of the
Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) during the SCO tourism ministers’ conference
in Varanasi.
• The meeting adopted the Action Plan for “Year of Tourism Development in the SCO
Space” in 2023.
• The next meeting of the SCO Heads of Tourism Administrations will be held in
Kazakhstan in 2024.

88. Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved for listing of Indian
Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA) - a CPSE under Ministry of New &
Renewable Energy (MNRE) - on the stock exchanges.
• The listing will take place through an initial public offer (IPO) by part sale of government's
stake in it and to raise funds for IREDA through issue of fresh equity shares.
• IREDA is currently a wholly owned Government of India, Mini-ratna (Category-I) CPSE
incorporated in 1987 and is engaged in financing of Renewable Energy (RE) and Energy
Efficiency (EE) projects in India.

89. Ministry of Textiles has approved the setting up 7 Mega Integrated Textile Region and
Apparel (PM MITRA) Parks with a total outlay of Rs. 4,445 crores.
• The Parks will come up in Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Gujarat, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh,
Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra.
• A Special Purpose Vehicle owned by the Centre and State Government will be set up for
each park which will oversee the implementation of the project.
• The ministry of textiles will provide financial support in the form of Development Capital
Support up to Rs 500 crore per park.
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• A competitive incentive support (CIS) up to Rs 300 crore per park will be given to the
units in PM Mitra Park to incentivise speedy implementation.

90. The Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi inaugurated the ‘Global Millets (Shree Anna)
Conference’ in New Delhi.
• Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar held bilateral meetings with his
counterparts from various countries like Guyana, Suriname, Zambia, Mauritius, and Sri
Lanka.
• India and UN World Food Program have signed an MOU for cooperation for Shree Anna
(millets) during 2023-27.
• International Year of Millets is being celebrated so that the Indian Shree Anna, its
recipes, and value-added products are accepted globally as a people's movement.
• PM Modi will unveil a stamp and currency coin on International Year of Millets 2023.
• An exclusive millet gallery was set up during GULFOOD 2023 wherein start-ups, new
entrepreneurs, FPOs, exporters, women entrepreneurs displayed their millet products.
• APEDA (Ministry of Commerce and Industry) has formulated a robust strategy to increase
India’s millets exports to achieve USD 100 million targets by 2025.
Knowledge Nuggets -
• India’s export of Millets is $64 million in the year 2021-22.
• There is an increase in export of Millets by 12.5% during the period April-December
2023 as compared to the same period last year.
• Shift in major importing countries - USA, Australia, Japan, Belgium etc. were major
importers of Indian millets in 2011-12 which had been shifted to Nepal (USD 6.09
million), UAE (USD 4.84 million) and Saudi Arabia (USD 3.84 million) in 2021-22.
• The other seven destinations in the current top-ten list of India’s millet export are Libya,
Tunisia, Morocco, UK, Yemen, Oman and Algeria.
• India is exporting millets to 139 countries across the globe. The export of value-added
products of Indian millets are also spread across the world.
• India is the largest producer of millets.
• India produced 17.96 million Metric Tonne (MT) of Millets.
• Millet grown in India are Pearl Millet, Sorghum, Finger Millet and minor Millets like
Proso Millet, Kodo Millet, Little Millet, Foxtail Millet, Browntop Millet, Barnyard Millet,
Amaranthus and Buckwheat.

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• Major millet producing states - Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh,

Madhya Pradesh, etc.

91. 23rd Commonwealth Law Conference was inaugurated by Goa Governor P.S. Sreedharan
Pillai.

92. Two-day Labour20 (L20) engagement group’s inception meeting, as part of India’s G20
presidency, was organized in Amritsar, Punjab.

93. India and the Maldives conducted the 4th Defence Cooperation Dialogue (DCD) in Male.
• Co-chair - Defence Secretary Shri Giridhar Aramane and his Maldivian counterpart, Chief
of Defence Force, Maldives National Defence Forces Major General Abdulla Shamaal

94. Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida arrived in Delhi to hold bilateral discussions with India.
• India and Japan have signed two documents. The agreements include the Renewal of the
Memorandum of Cooperation in Japanese language, and Exchange of notes on JICA
loan for 300 billion Yen on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad high-speed railway project.
• Mr. Kishida formally invited Mr. Modi to the G7 Hiroshima Summit 2023.

95. The second Sustainable Finance Working Group meeting will take place at Udaipur in
Rajasthan under India’s G20 presidency.

96. The three-day Nepal-India Literature Festival was organized by Biratnagar Metropolitan
City and Krantidhara Literature Academy of Meerut, India.

97. Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will launch OneWeb India-2 mission from
Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh.
• ISRO will launch 72 satellites of the UK-based Network Access Associates Limited and
place them in low Earth orbits under a commercial agreement with NewSpace India
Limited.
• The first set of 36 satellites was launched on October 23, 2022, by the LVM3 M2 launch
vehicle.
• In the second mission on March 26th, 2023, the remaining 36 satellites will be placed in 450
km circular low Earth orbit by LVM3 M3 launch vehicle.
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98. The Central Government has so far disbursed over Rs 2.41 lakh crore to over 11 crore
farmers in the country under Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN).
• This scheme has been implemented since 1st December 2018.

99. Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi and Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina jointly
inaugurated the India-Bangladesh Friendship Pipeline (IBFP) in a virtual mode.
• The foundation stone for the construction of this pipeline was laid by both Prime Ministers in
September 2018.
• Numaligarh Refinery Limited has been supplying petroleum products to Bangladesh
since 2015. This is the second cross-border energy pipeline between India and its
neighbours.
• IBFP is the first cross border energy pipeline between India and Bangladesh with a
capacity to transport 1 million Metric Ton Per Annum (MMTPA) of High-Speed Diesel
(HSD) to Bangladesh.

100. The ‘City Finance Rankings 2022’ portal (www.cityfinance.in/rankings) has been
launched by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA).
• The Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) across the country can now participate in the Rankings
through an entirely digital, 100% paperless, process.
• The ‘City Finance Rankings 2022’ have been launched with the objective of evaluating,
recognizing and rewarding municipal bodies across the country based on the quality of their
current financial health and improvement over time in financial performance.
Knowledge Nuggets -
• ‘City Finance Rankings 2022’ was launched by Shri Hardeep Singh Puri, Hon’ble
Minister Housing and Urban Development in 2022.
• The ULBs are assessed on 15 indicators across three key municipal finance
assessment parameters, namely: (i) Resource Mobilization, (ii) Expenditure
Performance and (iii) Fiscal Governance.
• The cities will be ranked based on their scores under any one of the following four
population categories: (i) Above 4 million (ii) Between 1-4 million (iii) 100K to 1 million
(iv) Less than 100,000.

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• The top 3 cities in each population category will be recognized and rewarded at the
national level as well as within each state/state cluster.

101. IndiaFirst Life Insurance Company (IndiaFirst) has received final approval from SEBI to
launch its initial public offering (IPO).
• Bank of Baroda promoted and Mumbai-based IndiaFirst is life insurance company is a
private life insurer, which had filed its draft papers in October 2021.

102. NTPC REL has signed an MoU with Indian Army for setting up Green Hydrogen Projects
in its establishments on Build, Own, and Operate (BOO) model.
• NTPC REL will also design, develop, and install renewable energy projects (solar, wind,
etc.) for the Indian Army.

103. Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) has launched the first series of Lesson Plans under
Learning Science via Standards.
• This initiative aims to show the use of scientific concepts, principles and laws to help
students understand their practical applications in manufacturing, functioning and testing of
quality characteristics of different products.

104. Union Home Minister Amit Shah will inaugurate the Vedic Heritage portal for helping
researchers in deeper understanding of the Vedic knowledge tradition and help the common
people to have a general understanding of the ancient scriptures.
• The portal hosted by the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts will be launched
during the week-long IGNCA Foundation Day celebrations.
• The IGNCA was launched on 19th November 1985 by the late Prime Minister Shri Rajiv
Gandhi.
• IGNCA is also working on a project “Vrihattar Bharat” wherein the cultural linkages of
India with 40 other countries are being compiled.

105. Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is likely to launch its Chandrayaan-3,
India's third lunar mission, by the middle of 2023.

106. The two-day G20 Research and Innovation Initiative Gathering (RIIG) Conference will
begin in Dibrugarh, Assam.
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107. Asia’s largest 4-metre International Liquid Mirror Telescope (ILMT) has been
inaugurated at the Devasthal Observatory of ARIES in Devasthal, Uttarakhand.
• Uttarakhand governor Lt. Gen Gurmeet Singh (Retd) and Union science & technology and
space minister Jitendra Singh were present during the inauguration.
• ILMT is the first liquid mirror telescope designed exclusively for astronomical
observations and this is the largest aperture telescope available in the country at present
and is also the first optical survey telescope in India.
• India collaborated with institutes from Belgium, Poland, Uzbekistan, and various
universities from Canada for the ILMT.

108. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has launched the ‘Call Before u Dig’ (CBuD) app, an
initiative of the Department of Telecommunications, Ministry of Communications.
• Purpose - to prevent losses of about Rs 3,000 crore ($400 million) every year due to
damage to underlying assets like optical fibre cables

109. Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled the Bharat 6G Vision Document and launched
the 6G research and development test bed.
• 6G test bed would create an enabling environment for innovation, capacity building, and
faster technology adoption in the country.

110. The two-day G20 Research and Innovation Initiative Gathering (RIIG) Conference will
be held at Dibrugarh, Assam.
• The department's secretary Dr Srivari Chandrasekhar, who is the G20 RIIG Chair, will
lead the conference proceedings.

111. Investment Board Nepal (IBN) has permitted NHPC Limited, India, to carry out a study of
the 450 MW Seti River-6 Hydropower Project.
• The proposed project will be constructed in Doti and Achham districts.

112. As many as 156 critical infrastructure gaps to ports and for movement of bulk
commodities such as coal, cement, fertilizers and foodgrains, have been identified for
intervention under the PM Gati Shakti initiative.

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• So far, 44 Network Planning Group meetings held at the central level, wherein 66 major
infrastructure projects worth Rs 5 lakh crore, have been evaluated.

113. Ministry of Corporate Affairs has set up a Centre for Processing Accelerated
Corporate Exit (C-PACE) at the Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs (IICA) in Haryana to
enable quick and faceless decision-making on requests from companies for winding up
operations and exit.
• The new body set up under section 396 of the Companies Act, 2016 comes into force
from 1 April.
• The new centralised facility will make decisions on corporate requests for winding up and
companies will no longer have to go to the Registrar of Companies (RoCs) in the state
where they are registered.

114. Indian Higher Education Meet 2023 will be held at Dhaka, Bangladesh.
• It is being conducted under the aegis of the Study in India programme in Dhaka.
Knowledge Nuggets -
• The ‘Study in India’ programme is a flagship project launched by the Ministry of
Education, Government of India in 2018.
• The programme is designed to encourage and invite the global student community to
pursue their higher education in India.
• Since its inception, the Study in India programme has drawn students from over 150
countries, including Bangladesh.

115. Union Minister of Ports, Shipping & Waterways, Sarbananda Sonowal inaugurated
India’s first National Centre of Excellence in Green Port & Shipping (NCoEGPS) in
Gurugram, Haryana.
• The centre is housed within the TERI complex in Gurugram. It will work towards meeting
the obligations under the Paris Agreement.
• NCoEGPS will act as a technological arm of MoPSW for providing the needed support on
Policy, Research and Cooperation on Green Shipping areas for Ports.
• The Ministry also launched the ‘Green Tug Transition Programme’ (GTTP).
• A tug is a small powerful boat that is used for pulling ships into a port, etc.
• The ‘Green Tug Transition Programme’ aims to have green tugs in all major ports by
2025. At least, 50% of all the Tugs are likely to be converted into Green Tugs by 2030.
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Knowledge Nuggets -
• India aims to become the global hub of Green Ship Building by 2030.
• India aims to reduce Carbon emissions per ton of cargo handled by ports in India by
30% by 2030.
• India has been selected as the first country under the IMO Green Voyage 2050 project to
conduct a pilot project related to Green Shipping.
• The ministry has already identified Paradip Port, Deendayal Port and V.O. Chidambaram
Port to developed as Hydrogen Hubs - capable of handling, storing and generation of
green hydrogen by 2030.

116. Central Government has launched a digitised claim settlement module — DigiClaim —
under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) to help farmers receive the disbursed
amount electronically like in the case of PM-Kisan.
• It has been made operational in six States with demonstration of actual transfer of claims
in bank accounts of beneficiary farmers.
• Through the DigiClaim module, insurance claims of ₹1,260.35 crore were disbursed to
farmers in Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand and
Haryana.
• The technology has been enabled through the integration of National Crop Insurance
Portal (NCIP) and Public Finance Management System (PFMS).

117. Indian Highways Management Company Limited (IHMCL) has collaborated with ‘MeitY
Start-up Hub’ to organize a Hackathon for Indian tech start-ups to find solutions to address
the challenges of tolling and traffic management on the National Highways in India.
• The theme of the hackathon was barrierless tolling system and Intelligent Traffic
Management System (ITMS) that will enhance safety and efficiency on our National
Highways.
• The eminent panel of jury consisting of senior officials from NHAI, MeitY and IIT Madras
shortlisted top 5 applicants in each of the two categories of Barrierless Tolling and ITMS.
• The shortlisted Startups were provided a seed money of Rs. 10 lakh each to conduct a
Proof of Concept (POC). The POCs were conducted by these applicants in the month of
February 2023 at various identified locations in Delhi NCR.

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118. Unique Identification Authority of India and state-owned Society for Electronic
Transactions and Security signed a pact to conduct joint research for the development of
tools and products in deep tech domains.

119. Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways (MoPSW) launched Sagar Manthan
dashboard to monitor and track the progress of the ministry’ projects.
• It will ensure the timely completion of projects, informed decision-making, increased
efficiency & effectiveness of projects.

120. Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has extended the subsidy of Rs 200
per LPG cylinder for a period of one year under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana.
• The subsidy of Rs 200 per LPG cylinder will be provided to the beneficiaries for up to 12
refills per year.
• The total expenditure on it in 2022-23 will be Rs 6,100 crore and in 2023-24 will be Rs
7,680 crore.
• The average LPG consumption of Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana consumers has
increased by 20% from 3.01 refills in 2019-20 to 3.68 in 2021-22.
• Government had launched Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana in May 2016 to provide
deposit-free LPG connections to adult women of poor households.

121. The 1st G20 Trade and Investment Working Group (TIWG) meeting under India’s G20
Presidency is scheduled in Mumbai, from March 28th − 30th, 2023.
• An International Conference on ‘Trade Finance’ will be held during the meet. This
conference will be organized by Export Credit Guarantee Corporation of India and Exim
Bank.

122. Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Shri Bhupender Yadav
launched the Aravalli Green Wall Project, a major initiative to make the 5 km buffer area
around the Aravalli Hill Range green in four states.
• Aravalli Mountain Range is spread across Gujarat-Delhi-Rajasthan-Haryana.
• The project was launched during the celebrations of International Day of Forests at Tikli
Village in Haryana. Theme of the Day is Forests and health.
• In the initial phase, 75 water bodies will be rejuvenated under the project, starting with five
waterbodies each in every district of Aravalli landscape on March 25th.
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• The project will cover degraded land in Gurgaon, Faridabad, Bhiwani, Mahendergarh and in
Rewari districts of Haryana.
• At the event, the National Action Plan to Combat Desertification and Land Degradation
Through Forestry Interventions was also launched.
• India aims to achieve the national goal of creating an additional 2.5 billion tonnes of
carbon sink by 2030.

123. National Science Centre, Delhi organized the inaugural ceremony of the Innovation
Festival to provide a unique platform to Innovative and creative Innovators.

124. The Central government has raised the daily wage rates under the Mahatma Gandhi
National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) by up to 10.4% for FY24 from
a year before.
• In absolute terms, the daily wages have been raised in the ₹7-26 range.
• The revised wages for different states and Union territories range from ₹221 per day
(Chhattisgarh/Madhya Pradesh) to ₹357 (Haryana) for FY24.
• Rajasthan saw the highest increase (10.4%) in the wage rate for FY24 and Goa the
lowest hike (2.2%).
• According to the government's revised estimate, spending on the MGNREGS is expected
to rise to Rs 89,400 crore this fiscal year from the budgeted Rs 73,000 crore.
• The government has budgeted Rs 60,000 crore for FY24.

125. The four astronauts have been selected for India’s first Human Space Flight
Programme or the Gaganyaan have successfully completed the first semester of crew
training.
• The candidates who are Indian Air Force (IAF) test pilots have been undergoing
Gaganyaan Mission specific training at the Astronaut Training Facility in Bengaluru.
• The first trial (uncrewed flight) for Gaganyaan is being planned by the end of 2023 or
early 2024. This will be followed by sending Vyom Mitra, a humanoid and then with the
crew onboard.

126. The second Environment and Climate Sustainability Working Group meeting was held
under India's G20 presidency at Mahatma Mandir Convention and Exhibition Centre at
Gandhinagar in Gujarat.
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• The meeting focused on thematic areas like arresting land degradation, accelerating
ecosystem restoration and enriching biodiversity, encouraging resource efficiency and
Circular economy, and promoting a sustainable and climate-resilient blue economy.

127. The second G20 Infrastructure Working Group (IWG) meeting under G20 Indian
Presidency is scheduled to take place at Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh on March
2023.
• Theme of the IWG Meeting - Economic Cities of Tomorrow
• The first G-20 IWG summit was held in Maharashtra's Pune.

128. Mahila Samman Savings Certificate Scheme has been announced in the Union Budget
2023-24 with a deposit facility up to Rs 2 lakh in the name of women or girls for a tenure of two
years at a fixed interest of 7.5%.
• A one-time new small savings scheme, Mahila Samman Savings Certificate, will be made
available for a two-year period up to March 2025.
• The scheme will allow partial withdrawal option.

129. Union Ministry of Environment and Forest will celebrate Gaj Utsav 2023 at Kaziranga
National Park, Assam on April 7 and 8 to commemorate the successful completion of 30
years of Project Elephant.
• The State of Assam holds the second largest wild elephant population in India.
Karnataka has the highest number of wild elephant population.
• Kaziranga is a UNESCO World Heritage site. It is famous for inhabiting one-horned
rhinoceros, tigers, elephants, wild water buffalo and bears as well as aquatic species
including the Ganges River dolphin.

130. The world’s highest railway bridge named as ‘Chenab Bridge’ is being built by Indian
Railways to connect Jammu & Kashmir to the rest of India.
• The project is likely to be completed by December 2023 or January 2024.
• The 1.3 km long bridge forms a very important link in the 111 km stretch from Katra to
Banihal. This bridge is 35 metres taller than the Eiffel Tower in Paris.
• The ambitious project is being executed by Konkan Railway Corporation Ltd at an
estimated cost of Rs 1486 crore.

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131. Union Minister of State for Skill Development & Entrepreneurship and Electronics &
IT, Rajeev Chandrasekhar has launched a Skill Hub Portal in Bengaluru to offer industry-
ready employable skills to the youth in the entire country.

132. Directorate General of Foreign Trade has allowed the import of urea through India
Potash Limited for another year until March 2024.
• Besides India Potash Limited, the import of fertilizer is already allowed through Rashtriya
Chemicals and Fertilizers.

133. Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has allocated Rs 318 crore for the
construction of 150-km-long Tanakpur-Pithoragarh all-weather road in Uttarakhand.

134. Ministry of Finance has constituted a panel, chaired by TV Somanathan (Finance

Secretary), to suggest reforms in the National Pension Scheme.
• The govt wants more and more state governments to adopt the NPS.
• The state governments of Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Punjab and Himachal
Pradesh have shifted back to the Old Pension Scheme.
• The states have requested a refund of corpus accumulated under the NPS.
• Under the OPS, retired government employees received 50% of their last drawn salary as
monthly pensions. The amount keeps increasing with hike in the DA rates.
• Under OPS, the employees do not have to contribute which increases the burden on the
exchequer.

135. National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Ministry of Health and Family Welfare,
has launched the National Rabies Control Programme (NRCP) for prevention and control of
Rabies.
• Key points of the program -
o provision of rabies vaccine & rabies immunoglobulin through national free drug
initiatives
o training on appropriate animal bite management, prevention and control of rabies,
surveillance and intersectoral coordination
o strengthening surveillance of animal bites and rabies deaths reporting
o creating awareness about rabies prevention

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• Ministry of Health & Family Welfare and Ministry of Fisheries Animal Husbandry &
Dairying have jointly launched ‘National Action Plan for Dog Mediated Rabies
Elimination (NAPRE) from India by 2030’.
• The stray dog population control and management of the stray dogs is the mandate of the
local bodies.

136. Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi inaugurated the new International
Telecommunication Union (ITU) Area office & Innovation Centre in India at a programme
in Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi.
• India signed a Host Country Agreement in March 2022 with ITU for the establishment of
Area Office.
• It will serve India, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Afghanistan and Iran,
enhancing coordination among nations and fostering mutually beneficial economic
cooperation in the region.
• Prime Minister extended his greetings on the new year of the Hindu calendar as per the
Vikram Samvat 2080.
• World Telecommunications Standardization Assembly of ITU will be held in October
next year in Delhi.

137. The Central Government has sanctioned a new greenfield for Electronics Manufacturing
Cluster (EMC) at Dharwad in Karnataka.

138. National Aluminium Company Limited (NALCO) has successfully developed India's first
Bauxite Certified Reference Material (CRM) naming as BARC B1201 in collaboration with
Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC).
• NALCO is the Navratna CPSE, under Ministry of Mines and country’s leading manufacturer
and exporter of alumina and aluminium.
• This is the first of its kind CRM in India and 5th in the World.

139. Telecom Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw inaugurated India's first quantum computing-
based telecom network between Sanchar Bhawan and the National Informatics Centre office
located in CGO Complex in New Delhi.
• The Minister announced a ₹10 lakh prize money for ethical hackers who can break the
encryption of the system, developed by Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DoT).
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140. Union Minister for Rural Development Sh. Giriraj Singh onboarded 19 Captive
Employers, a unique initiative under the Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya
Yojana (DDU-GKY).
• Captive employers will train Rural Poor Youth and provide employment to trained youth in
their company or subsidiary.
• Captive employers will be providing training to rural poor youth in their respective industries,
namely, hospitality, apparel & textiles, manufacturing, IT/ITeS, telecom, retail, Power etc.
Note: Cover the Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana from the Government Scheme’s
document.

141. G20 Expert Group on Strengthening Multilateral Development Banks has been
constituted under G20 India’s Presidency.
• Professor Lawrence Summers (President Emeritus, Harvard University) and N K Singh
(Chairperson, 15th Finance Commission of India) are co-convenors of the G20 Expert
Group on strengthening MDBs.
• Functions - The panel would ascertain the scale of funding required by and from MDBs for
addressing their and member countries' increased financing needs for SDG and
transboundary challenges.
• The expert group will submit its report to the Indian Presidency of G20 before June 30,
2023.

142. Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has constituted a nine-member

task force to make India a ‘product developer and manufacturing nation’.
• The task force will be chaired by additional secretary (MeitY), Bhuvnesh Kumar with
joint secretary (electronics), Amitesh Kumar Sinha as the member convenor.

143. National Informatics Centre has developed ‘Maaptol Grievance’ app to facilitate online
registration and time-bound redressal of consumer grievances related to the Legal
Metrology Act and rules framed thereunder.

144. Japan has committed Rs 7,084.5 crore to India for three infrastructure projects.

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• The projects are Forest and Biodiversity Conservation for Climate Change Response in
West Bengal, Patna Metro Rail Construction Project, and Rajasthan Water Sector
Livelihood Improvement Project.

145. The First Meeting of G20-Chief Science Advisers Roundtable (G20-CSAR) was held at
Ramnagar, Uttarakhand.
• Four Themes -
o Opportunities in One Health for better disease control and pandemic preparedness;
o Synergizing Global Efforts to Expand Access to Scholarly Scientific Knowledge;
o Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility in Science & Technology (S&T); and,
o An Institutional Mechanism for Inclusive, Continuous and Action- Oriented Global
S&T Policy Dialogue

STATE NEWS
1. Uttar Pradesh government and Tata Technologies signed an MoU to upgrade 150 state-
run industrial training institutes (ITIs) in accordance with the requirements of Industry 4.0.

2. Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma attended the foundation stone laying ceremony
of northeast India's first-ever compressed biogas plant project at Domora Pathar in
Sonapur under Kamrup (Metropolitan) district.

3. The foundation stone of the Yadgir multi-village drinking water supply scheme under the
Jal Jeevan Mission was laid at Kodekal, Yadgir district, Karnataka.
• The foundation stone of the Narayanpur Left Bank Canal – Extension Renovation and
Modernisation Project (NLBC – ERM) has also been laid to provide irrigation facility in
adjoining areas.

4. Asian Development Bank (ADB) will provide a funding of Rs 1,311.20 crore to Himachal
Pradesh for tourism projects.
• Himachal Pradesh CM - Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu
• Himachal Pradesh Governor - Shiv Pratap Shukla

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5. Uttarakhand has announced to create India's first government mother milk bank for
Orphan children in the state at Amar Ujala's Emerging Leaders of Garhwal program.
• Under the scheme, lactating women will be able to donate milk in this bank. Through this
milk bank, milk will be made available to those new-borns whose mother dies during
delivery.
• India already has human milk banks at various places but those are private milk banks. This
milk bank is the first GOVERNMENT milk bank.

6. Tamil Nadu government has signed an MOU with the United Nations Environment
Programme (UNEP) for implementing Urban Cooling Programme in the state to meet the
objectives under the Tamil Nadu State Action Plan on Climate Change.
• It will facilitate comprehensive city and state-level planning for plastics waste
management through scientific assessments and decision support systems, extended
producers’ responsibility implementation frameworks, enforcement of single-use plastics
bans, capacity building and awareness generation.
• The State government is also setting up Tamil Nadu Green Climate Fund with a fund size
of ₹1,000 crore.

7. Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu launched the Unified Payment
Interface (UPI) and 'Swadhan-e-pension-Gov' services for Kangra Central Cooperative
Bank.

8. Garcinia pedunculata, a medicinal plant commonly called 'Borthekera' in Assam, has been
found to protect from heart diseases.
• The plant is traditionally forbidden for raw consumption.
• Scientists of Institute of Advanced Study in Science and Technology (IASST), an
autonomous institute of the Department of Science and Technology (DST), explored this
medicinal plant's potential to prevent heart diseases.

9. Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) signed a loan agreement with the
Government of India to provide Japanese ODA loan amounting to JPY 9,918 million
(approximately Rs 560 crore) for the development of a 164-bed Super-Specialty Cancer and
Research Centre in Mizoram.

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10. Assam’s pyramid-like structures known as moidams or maidams have met all the technical
requirements of UNESCO’s World Heritage Centre.
• Charaideo in eastern Assam has more than 90 moidams, the mound-burial system of the
Ahoms who ruled large swathes of the present-day State and beyond for some 600 years
until the advent of the British in the 1820s.

11. Hyderabad is hosting ‘India & The Global South: A Vision for a Shared Future’ meeting on
the theme of Knowledge and experience exchange Programme for the emerging
economies of the global south during 4th-6th March.
• It will provide a platform to discuss ways to accelerate development in the Global South.
• The event was addressed by G20 India Chief Coordinator Harsh Vardhan Shringla in
Hyderabad.

12. Odisha government approved 25 industrial projects worth Rs 5,827.27 crore, which will
create employment for 25,000 people.

13. Tamil Nadu CM M.K. Stalin inaugurated the Keeladi museum, a testimony to the regal life
lived by ancient Tamils during the Sangam Age, in Sivaganga district.

14. The Economic Survey of Maharashtra for the year 2022-23 projected that the state
economy is expected to grow by 6.8%.
• The highest growth of 10.2% was projected in agricultural and allied sector.

15. Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik unveiled the Dakota DC-3 aircraft for public viewing at the Biju
Patnaik Airport in Bhubaneswar to mark the 107th birth anniversary of the former chief
minister.

16. Telangana has launched ‘Aarogya Mahila’ scheme, women’s health programme, to provide
medical services to women at the health centres for free of cost.
• The state will also launch the “Nutrition Kit” scheme for pregnant women, this Ram
Navami.

17. Himachal Pradesh has begun the commercial cultivation of mulethi (liquorice in English)
for the first time.
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• Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) - Institute of Himalayan

Bioresource Technology (IHBT), Palampur has distributed the samplings to the farmers.
• Director of the Institute - Dr Sanjay Kumar
• Scientific name of Mulethi - glycyrrhiza glabra

18. Punjab govt has presented its state budget for 2023-24.
• Bhavantar Bhugtan Yojana (price difference payment scheme) for horticulture
farmers has been announced in Punjab Budget 2023-24.
• Under this scheme, the state govt. pays farmers the difference between official minimum
support price (MSP) and the rate at which they sell their crops or model price whichever is
higher.
• Budgeted outlay – Rs 15 crores
• Madhya Pradesh govt is also implementing a similar scheme with the same name i.e.,
Bhavantar Bhugtan Yojana, whereby the government pays farmers the difference
between official Minimum Support Price and the rate at which they sell their crops or Model
Price whichever is higher.

19. Kochi Metro has become the first metro in India to accept digital currency for parking
facilities.

20. Odisha govt has launched the Livelihoods Cluster Development initiative under the
‘Mukhya Mantri Janajati Jeebika Mission’ to invest Rs 500 crore for empowering tribal
communities in the state.
• Purpose - to empower tribal households by providing them with access to quality inputs,
infrastructure support, training, capacity-building support, and marketing assistance
• The initiative aims to enable tribal households to engage in well-planned farm-based and
off-farm livelihood activities at the household level to enhance their income and quality of
life.

21. Mauganj has become the 53rd district of Madhya Pradesh.

22. Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) and the Sweden India Business
Council (SIBC) signed an MOU for sustainable infrastructure and defence manufacturing.

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• The MoU will focus on waste to energy (green initiatives), financial services including export
credit financing agencies in Sweden, sustainable infrastructure and transportation and
defence sector manufacturing amongst others.

23. Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented a Rs 1.18 lakh crore budget for
Jammu and Kashmir UT, for the year 2023-24, in the Lok Sabha.
• The budget assures to double the UT's GDP within 5 years.
• It has themes of good governance; strengthening grass-root democracy; promoting
sustainable agriculture; facilitating investment and industrial growth; employment
generation; accelerated development and inclusive growth; and women empowerment and
social inclusion.
• Kashmir is likely to be connected to the rest of the country through rail network by the end
of 2023 and the government also plans to roll out light metro rail in Jammu and Srinagar
during the next financial year.

24. Uttarakhand has become the first state in the country to start 'Resham Keet Bima' scheme
for protecting its sericulturists (a producer of raw silk).
• Under the pilot project, which started from Uttarakhand, in the first phase, 200 sericulturists
from five blocks of four districts -- Dehradun, Haridwar, Udham Singh Nagar and Nainital --
have been insured from the ill effects of climate change, scarcity of water and other
hazards.
• The scheme is being run under Saral Krishi Beema.
• Other prominent schemes of Uttarakhand – Atal Ayushman Yojana, Chief Minister
Swarozgar Yojana

25. Yaoshang, Manipuri version of Holi, which lasts for five days, has begun.

26. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese were on
a two-day visit to Gujarat.
• Both watched the first day of the fourth Test match between the two countries at the
Narendra Modi stadium in Ahmedabad.
• Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel, Governor Acharya Devvrat and other dignitaries
also joined the Australian PM at Raj Bhavan.

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27. Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma received a certificate from the Guinness
World Records for the maximum number of essays written about a single person, who is
Ahom general Lachit Borphukan to mark his 400th birth anniversary.

28. Rajasthan will organize the International Rajasthani Conclave on September 23 and 24,
2023 in Jaipur for the non-resident Rajasthanis (NRRs) from all over the world.

29. A tiger and tigress were reintroduced in the Madhav National Park (MNP) in Madhya
Pradesh’s Shivpuri district to revive the tiger population in the area.
• The tiger was transferred from Satpura Tiger Reserve (from Narmadapuram District of
Madhya Pradesh), and the tigress was shifted from Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve (Madhya
Pradesh) in the state.
• A third tiger from Panna Tiger Reserve (Panna and Chhatarpur districts of Madhya
Pradesh) is expected to arrive at the park in two-three days.

30. The 3rd Divya Kala Mela was organized at Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh.
• Madhya Pradesh Governor - Mangubhai Patel
• Madhya Pradesh CM - Shivraj Singh Chouhan

31. Uttarakhand has given approval to the 10% horizontal reservation to the statehood
activists in the state government job.
• The Cabinet also given approval to new solar policy and to the proposal of increasing MLA
Local Area Development Fund from Rs 3.75 crore to Rs 5 crore per year.

32. Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has announced the creation of 19 new districts.
This is the first time, in 15 years, that the state is creating new districts.
• Rajasthan had 33 districts before the change.
• After this change, the state will have 52 districts.

33. Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren launched the Jharniyojan Portal to provide a
platform to employers and candidates looking for employment.

34. Asia’s largest Tulip Garden has opened for public at Srinagar in Jammu and Kashmir.

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35. Dubai-based Emaar, a real estate developer from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), has
become the first overseas company to invest ₹250 crore to set up the mega-mall, spread
over 10 lakh square feet in Srinagar.
• The mega-mall is the first significant Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) investment in Jammu
and Kashmir.

36. Tamil Nadu has announced to provide ₹1000 monthly assistance to eligible women heads
of families w.e.f. September 2023.
• In Tamil, the assistance is officially known as "Magalir Urimai Thogai," which means
"Women's Right to Assistance."

37. Tamil Nadu Millet Mission has been launched for a period of 5 years. The mission will
provide subsidy for bringing millet cultivation to fallow lands and crop diversification to
millets in 50,000 acres.
• The mission would be implemented with financial assistance from the union and State
governments at a cost of ₹82 crore.

38. Ugadi is a Hindu festival, which is celebrated on March 22, 2023. Ugadi is also known as
Yugadi.
• It is the New Year's Day for the States of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Karnataka.
• On the same day, Marathi and Konkani Hindus celebrated Gudi Padwa - the traditional new
year for the Hindus of Maharashtra and Goa.

39. Bihar Day marks the creation of Bihar and Orissa as separate states on March 22, 1912.
• Bihar Diwas 2023 will be celebrated from March 22 - 24 on the theme of "Yuva Shakti
Bihar Ki Pragati".

40. Thanthai Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary has been notified as the 18th wildlife sanctuary of
Tamil Nadu.

41. Tamil Nadu has presented the state budget for 2023-24.
• The schemes highlighted in the budget are -
o Annal Ambedkar Business Champions Schemes – to procure machineries for SC/ST
entrepreneurs
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o Iyothee Thass Pandithar Habitation Development scheme – to ensure basic

amenities in Adi Dravidar habitations in both urban and rural areas
o Chief Minister’s Breakfast Scheme – launched in 2022

42. Umagine Chennai 2023, Asia’s largest summit on technology and innovation, will happen
in Chennai from March 23 to 25.

43. Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel launched the ‘Mukhyamantri Vriksh
Sampada Yojana’, a mega scheme aimed at encouraging commercial plantation.
• Objective - to increase farmer’s income and to promote commercial plantation on their
lands with their consent
• Chhattisgarh government will provide full subsidy for tree plantation on up to 5 acres of
land.
• For those who wish to plant trees on more than 5 acres of land, the government will provide
a 50% financial subsidy.

44. Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. K. Stalin will
jointly inaugurate the State-level celebrations in connection with the centenary year of the
Vaikom Satyagraha at Vaikom.
• Vaikom Satyagraha was a non-violent agitation from 30 March 1924 to 23 November 1925
for access to the prohibited public environs of the Vaikom Temple in the Kingdom of
Travancore.

45. West Bengal has launched a unique human-driven initiative, named "Gajamitra (Friends of
Elephants)" to check the rising incidents of human-elephant conflict (HEC).
• Under this scheme, the state Forest Department has started the process of appointing 600
local youth from HEC-prone areas.
• The selected youths will procure advance information about the movement of elephant
herds, alert the forest department and local people, so that preventive measures can be
taken for avoiding HEC.

46. Uttar Pradesh has announced to include millets in the midday meal programme in schools
and will also be made available to people through public distribution system.

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• The state government is running 'Shree Anna Punaruddhar Karyakram (Shree Anna
rejuvenation programme)' with a proposed expenditure of Rs 186 crore in the next four
years.

47. Karnataka government launched three programmes aimed at Mysuru and other parts of the
southern state to expand the information technology (IT) and startup ecosystem beyond the
capital city of Bengaluru.
• As part of the Karnataka Digital Economy Mission (KDEM), the state launched Mysuru
Cluster Seed Fund (MCSF), Mysuru Global Technology Centre (MGTC) and Karnataka
Accelerator Network (KAN).
• The Rs 25-crore Mysuru cluster seed fund is expected to benefit 70-80 startups in that
region.
• Karnataka Accelerator Network is expected to address the challenges involved in the
startup journey.

48. Ministry of Railways has approved the doubling of the railway line between Gooty and
Pendekallu stations in Andhra Pradesh.
• This handles busy train traffic between Hyderabad and Bengaluru

49. Uttar Pradesh and Quality Council of India, in collaboration with ASSOCHAM, FICCI, IIA
and PHDCCI, have launched the Uttar Pradesh Gunvatta Sankalp (Uttar Pradesh Quality
Mission) at Lucknow.
• This Gunvatta Sankalp, the first of its kind being organised by QCI in India in partnership
with a State, focuses on four key pillars - quality as a driver of the USD 1 trillion economy,
MSMEs, healthcare services and education and vocational training.
Knowledge Nuggets -
• The Quality Council of India was established in 1997 by the Government of India and the
Indian industry.
• Chairman of Quality Council of India - Jaxay Shah

50. Rajasthan has passed the Right to Health Bill to give every resident of the state the right to
avail free Out-Patient Department (OPD) services and In-Patient Department (IPD) services
at all public health facilities.
• Rajasthan has become the first state to do so.
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• Similar healthcare services will be provided free of cost at select private facilities.
• According to the Bill, free healthcare services, including consultation, drugs, diagnostics,
emergency transport, procedure and emergency care, will be provided at all public health
institutions and select private facilities.

51. World Bank has approved a $108 million loan to help Assam improve disaster
preparedness and enhance flood forecasting.
• The project will benefit around 6 million people and is part of a larger $500 million
investment program for Assam.
• The Assam Integrated River Basin Management Project will help the state reduce
vulnerability to floods and river erosion by building green infrastructure in the Beki and
Buridehing river basins, protecting around 100,000 people.
• The $108 million loan from the International Bank of Reconstruction and Development
(IBRD) has a maturity of 11.5 years and a grace period of 4 years.

52. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee inaugurated the 'Pathashree-Rastashree'
project in Bengal's Singur.
• The project aims to strengthen road infrastructure and enhance connectivity to villages by
constructing 12,000 km of roads in 22 districts of the state.

53. Odisha government has declared the Gandhamardan hill, as the third biodiversity
heritage site of the state.
• With this announcement, Gandhamardan has become the 37th biodiversity heritage site
of India.
• The Mandasaru gorge in Kandhamal district was notified as the first such site in Odisha in
2019, followed by Mahendragiri hills in 2022.

54. World Bank has announced a loan of $100 million for Odisha to strengthen early
forecasting systems for improved response to disasters; and enhance its social protection
coverage for poor and vulnerable households, through digital platforms.
• The bank also approved a $363 million loan to Karnataka to provide clean drinking
water supply to 2 million rural households in the state through a piped water connection in
their homes.

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55. Madhya Pradesh has released two tigers in Shivpuri’s Madhav National Park.
• The tiger was transferred from Satpura Tiger Reserve, and the tigress was shifted from
Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve in the state.
• A third tiger from Panna Tiger Reserve is expected to arrive at the park in two-three days

AGRICULTURE AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT

1. Indian Farmer Fertiliser Cooperative Organization (IFFCO) has launched the nano DAP
fertiliser in the market.
• IFFCO MD - U S Awasthi

2. National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Limited (NAFED) and

National Consumers Cooperative Federation of India Limited (NCCF) have been directed
to intervene in the market and immediately start procurement of red onion directly from
farmers.
• Reason – fall in onion prices

3. Union Minister of Food Processing Industries Pashupati Kumar Paras inaugurated

Bhojpur’s Millet Festival in Bihar.
• It is part of the many Millet-related events conducted in 2023 as part of International Year
of Millets.

4. Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Shri Narendra Singh Tomar, inaugurated
the Pusa Krishi Vigyan Mela, organized by the Indian Agricultural Research Institute
(IARI) in Pusa, New Delhi.
• Theme - “Nutrition, Food and Environmental Protection with Shree Anna (millets)”

5. Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare has approved three Centre of Excellence for
Horticulture Crops under the Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH).
• CoE for Kamlam (Dragon Fruit) will be set up at Bengaluru, Mango and Vegetables at
Jaipur (Odisha), and Vegetables and Flowers at South Goa.
Note: MIDH scheme is comprehensively covered in Govt Schemes document. Prepare the scheme
thoroughly.

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6. Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying Shri Parshottam Rupala released the
‘Basic Animal Husbandry Statistics 2022’.
• It is the primary source of data on production estimates of four Major Livestock
Products (MLPs) like Milk, Egg, Meat and Wool for the year 2021-22 and other technical
aspects of Integrated Sample Survey (ISS).
• Data -
Milk -
• Total Production - 221.06 million tonnes
• Annual Growth Rate - 5.29%
• Top 5 major milk producing States - Rajasthan (15.05%), Uttar Pradesh (14.93%),
Madhya Pradesh (8.06%), Gujarat (7.56%) and Andhra Pradesh (6.97%)
• The per-capita availability of milk is 444 gram/day during 2021-22 increased by 17
gram/day over previous year.
Egg -
• Total Production - 129.60 billion nos
• Annual Growth Rate - 6.19%
• Total 5 major egg producing States - Andhra Pradesh (20.41%), Tamil Nadu (16.08%),
Telangana (12.86%), West Bengal (8.84%) and Karnataka (6.38%)
• In 2021-22, the per-capita availability of egg is 95 nos/annuum increased by 5 nos/annum
over previous year.
Meat -
• Total Production - 9.29 million tonnes
• Annual Growth Rate - 5.62%
• Total 5 major meat producing States - Maharashtra (12.25%), Uttar Pradesh (12.14%),
West Bengal (11.63%), Andhra Pradesh (11.04%), and Telangana (10.82%)
• The per-capita availability of meat is 6.82 kg/annuam during 2021-22 increased by 0.30
kg/annuam over previous year.
Wool -
• Total Production - 33.13 thousand tonnes
• Annual Growth Rate - (-) 10.30% (showing decline)
• Total 5 major meat producing States - Rajasthan (45.91%), Jammu and Kashmir
(23.19%), Gujarat (6.12%), Maharashtra (4.78%) and Himachal Pradesh (4.33%)
Other Important Facts -

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• During 2014-15 and 2020-21, the value addition of sector grew at a compound annual
growth rate of 7.93%.
• In 2020-21, the share of Livestock at constant prices in Agriculture Sector and total GVA
was 30.13% and 4.9% respectively.

7. Union Minister of Home Affairs and Cooperation has said that India will be contributing
33% of the world’s total milk production by 2033-34. India’s milk production will reach 330
million metric tonnes per annum.
• At present, India’s milk processing capacity is about 126 million litres per day, which is
the highest in the world.
• Shah was speaking at the final day of the 49th Dairy Industry Conference organized by
the Indian Dairy Association (IDA) on the theme of ‘India dairy to the world:
Opportunities & Challenges’.
• India’s dairy sector has grown by 6.6% annually in the past decade.
• The National Dairy Development Board (NDDB), along with the Animal Husbandry
Department, will jointly work to set up gramin dairies in the 2 lakh panchayats of the
country to increase the growth rate of dairy sector from 6.6% to 13.80%.
Knowledge Nuggets -
• At present, India is the world’s largest milk producer.
• The dairy sector’s contribution to the GDP stands at 4.5% whereas that in agriculture
GDP stands at 24% which is the highest in the world.
• IDA president - R S Sodhi

8. Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by the Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri
Narendra Modi, has given its approval for the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for Raw Jute
for 2023-24 season.
• The MSP of Raw Jute has been fixed at Rs 5050/- per quintal for 2023-24 season.
• The Jute Corporation of India (JCI) act as the Nodal Agency for Central Government to
undertake Price Support Operations and the losses incurred, if any, in such operations, are
fully reimbursed by the Central Government.

9. Department of Consumer Affairs constituted a committee, headed by Nidhi Khare

(Additional Secretary of the Department), to monitor the stock of Tur held by importers,
millers, traders, and other such entities.
pg. 49
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• Tur is included in the Essential Commodities Act, 1955.

10. The three-day International Conference on ‘Blended Learning Ecosystem for Higher
Education in Agriculture 2023’ was jointly hosted by the Indian Council of Agricultural
Research (ICAR) and the World Bank.
• The conference was held as part of the National Agricultural Higher Education Project’s
(NAHEP) Resilient Agricultural Education System (RAES) development initiative.
• During the conference, “Delhi Declaration” was adopted to strengthen digital
infrastructure, including e-learning content, and deployment of emerging immersive
technologies across agricultural higher education institutions in India.

DEFENCE NEWS
1. Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd has received the Indian Technical Standard Order (ITSO)
authorisation from Directorate General of Civil Aviation for its indigenously developed
Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) and Flight Data Recorder (FDR) – Black Boxes.

2. INS Nireekshak awarded on-the-spot chief of the naval staff unit citation for deep sea
diving & undertaking rescue operations under the most challenging circumstances.
• INS Nireekshak is a Dive Support and Submarine Rescue Vessel of Indian Navy. Built by
Mazgaon Dockyard Shipbuilders in 1985. The ship has been in service with the Navy
since 1989 and was commissioned in the year 1995.

3. Gopalan Aerospace has formed a joint venture with Slovakian companies to manufacture
precision drones.
• Under the partnership, the companies will work closely to explore opportunities to develop
drone-based service applications in the Indian Defence Sector.
• Gopalan Aerospace signed a joint venture with Omnipol Group (Czech-based company)
and a partner of NATO in the field of defence and security, to integrate Passive Radars for
the Indian Defence Industry in the border areas.

4. Indian firm ICOMM, a group company of Megha Engineering & Infrastructures Ltd (MEIL), has
signed the first-ever Transfer of Technology agreement with UAE-based small arms
company CARACAL for defence articles.
pg. 50
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• CARACAL’s complete line of small arms will be produced at the ICOMM’s design,
development and manufacturing centre in Hyderabad.

5. National Board of Wildlife has cleared the induction of Indian Air Force's Mountain Radar
in Ladakh.
• The radar is expected to be situated just off the proposed new IAF base which will come up
across 500 hectares in the Changsheng sanctuary.

6. Union Cabinet approved the acquisition of 70 HTT-40 basic trainer aircraft from Hindustan
Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) for ₹6,828.36 crore.
• The HTT-40 is a turbo-prop aircraft and is designed to have good low-speed handling
qualities and provide better training effectiveness.
• Union Cabinet approved signing of a contract with Larsen & Toubro Ltd (L&T) for
acquisition of 3 cadet training ships, at an overall cost of ₹3,108.09 crore, under Buy
(Indian-IDDM (Indigenously Designed, Developed and Manufactured)) category.
• The delivery of ships is scheduled to commence from 2026.

7. The first edition of the Naval Commanders’ Conference of 2023 will commence. India’s
first indigenous aircraft carrier, INS Vikrant was onboarded on this conference.

8. Indian Navy’s major Operational level exercise TROPEX for the year 2023, has concluded this
week in the Arabian Sea.
• The exercise was conducted across the expanse of Indian Ocean Region over a duration of
four months from Nov 22 - Mar 23.
• The overall exercise construct included Coastal Defence exercise Sea Vigil and the
Amphibious Exercise AMPHEX.

9. Indian Air Force (IAF) will receive three S-400 Triumf ‘SA-21Growler’ long-range surface-to-
air missile (SAM) systems from Russia by 2023.
• It is the 3rd squadron of the S-400.

10. Indian warship INS Trikand has arrived at Mina Salman seaport in Bahrain to participate in
the International Maritime Exercise/Cutlass Express 2023 (IMX/CE-23), organized by the
US-led Combined Maritime Forces (a 34-nation naval group), for the first time.
pg. 51
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• IMX/CE-23 is one of the world’s largest multinational maritime exercises.

11. India has ordered two ACH160 helicopters from Airbus, first sale of any helicopter in the
H160 range in the region.

12. Indian Army and French Army will conduct its first Joint Military Exercise named FRINJEX-
23 at Pangode Military Station in Kerala's Thiruvananthapuram.

13. Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) has received approval from the Directorate General
of Civil Aviation (DGCA) for a new variant of the Hindustan 228-201 LW aircraft.
• It is a modified form of Dornier-228 which the Indian Navy and the Coast Guard use for
short-range maritime patrolling and surveillance.

14. Indian Army's Chetak Corps conducted 'Exercise Chetak Chaukas' with all stakeholders to
strengthen Rear Area Security.

15. Ministry of Defence signed a contract for the procurement of six Dornier-228 aircraft for the
Indian Air Force (IAF) from Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) at a cost of Rs 667 crore.

16. Ministry of Defence signed a contract for the Normal Refit of the Sindhukirti submarine, at
Hindustan Shipyard Limited (HSL), Visakhapatnam.
• The contract, worth Rs 934 crore, aims to enhance the submarine's operational capability
and extend its operational life.
• The Sindhukirti submarine, which was commissioned into the Indian Navy in 1990, is a
part of the Sindhughosh class of submarines.

17. 13th edition of Exercise Bold Kurukshetra, a bilateral military exercise between India and
the Singapore army, was held at Jodhpur Military Station, Rajasthan.

18. Indian Navy successfully test-fired the ship-launched version of the BrahMos supersonic
missile in the Arabian Sea.
• BrahMos Aerospace Pvt Ltd, an India-Russian joint venture, produces supersonic cruise
missiles that can be launched from submarines, ships, aircraft, or land platforms.
• BrahMos missile flies at a speed of 2.8 Mach or almost three times the speed of sound.
pg. 52
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19. INS Sahyadri (Indian Navy's indigenously built guided missile frigate) participated in the
Maritime Partnership Exercise (MPX) with French Navy in the Arabian Sea.

20. Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) conducted two consecutive
successful flight tests of Very Short-Range Air Defence System (VSHORADS) missile at the
Integrated Test Range, Chandipur off the coast of Odisha.

21. Defence Acquisition Council (DAC), under the chairmanship of Raksha Mantri Shri
Rajnath Singh, has accorded Acceptance of Necessity for capital acquisition amounting to
over Rs 70,500 crore under Buy {Indian-IDDM (Indigenously Designed, Developed and
Manufactured)}.
• Out of the total proposals, Indian Navy proposals constitute more than Rs 56,000 crore,
which largely includes indigenous BrahMos missiles, Shakti Electronic Warfare (EW)
systems, Utility Helicopters-Maritime etc.

22. Ministry of Steel has signed 57 MoUs with 27 companies for specialty steel under the
Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme.
• Under the PLI scheme, the government has approved Rs. 6,322 crores to give a new
impetus to the steel sector.
• India is set to become a powerhouse of manufacturing which will increase the share of
Steel in GDP from 2 to 5%.
• India is on course to achieve record production of 125 million tonnes and 11% to 12%
growth in consumption levels.
Knowledge Nuggets -
• PLI Scheme for Speciality Steel -
o Objective: To boost domestic production of ‘Specialty Steel’ by attracting
significant investment.
o Launch Year: 2021.
o Nodal Ministry: Ministry of Steel.
o Duration: FY 2023-24 to FY 2029-30.
o Budgetary outlay: Rs. 6,322 crores.
o It is applicable to five categories of specialty steel viz.
▪ Coated/Plated Steel Products
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▪ High Strength/Wear resistant Steel

▪ Specialty Rails
▪ Alloy Steel Products and Steel wires
▪ Electrical Steel
• Significance: It is expected to generate an investment of about Rs. 30,000 Crores and
additional capacity creation of about 25 million tonnes of specialty steel in the next 5
years.

23. Murugappa Group-owned Carborundum Universal Limited (CUMI) has signed a licensing
agreement for transfer of technology (LAToT) with DRDO’s Research Centre Imarat (RCI)
laboratory to manufacture ‘Ceramic Radomes (GELCAST Process) Technology’ used in
missile systems.
• The ceramic radome technology is considered state-of-the-art missile technology around
the world.

24. ‘INS Androth’, the second of 08 x ASW Shallow Watercraft (SWC) Project, being built by
M/s GRSE for Indian Navy was launched.

25. The second edition of the Africa-India Field Training Exercise (AFINDEX- 2023) between
India and 23 nations of the African continent commenced at Foreign Training Node,
Aundh, Pune.
• The participants were addressed by Lt Gen Rakesh Kapoor, Corps Commander, Desert
Corps.
• The joint exercise commenced in 2008 through the India-Africa Summit and has been
thereafter held in 2015 and 2019.
• The theme of the exercise is focused on Humanitarian Mine Action and Peace Keeping
Operations.

26. INS Sujata, a ship based at Southern Naval Command, Kochi, visited Port Maputo,
Mozambique as a part of Overseas Deployment from March 19-21.
• INS Sujata, along with Mozambique Navy undertook maiden joint Exclusive Economic
Zone (EEZ) surveillance off the Mozambique coast from March 21 to 23.

pg. 54
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27. Indian Navy, in association with the Navy Welfare and Wellness Association (NWWA), is
organizing the “SAM NO VARUNAH,” a maritime awareness coastal motor car expedition
that will cover the entire Indian coastline in March 2023.
• Purpose – to create awareness about the role played by Indian Navy

28. Hawking Defence Services, an Indian defence firm, has entered into an agreement with
Amphibian Aerospace Industries (AAI), an Australia-based aircraft manufacturer, to
manufacture the Albatross Amphibious Aircraft.
• It is a 28-seater aircraft that can land and take off from land, snow, and water.

29. Indian Army and the Indian Air Force conducted a multi-domain air-land exercise 'Vayu
Prahar' in Arunachal Pradesh.

30. Ministry of Defence has signed a contract with Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) for buying
‘Arudhra’ radar and DR-118 RWR worth Rs 3,700 Crore for Indian Air Force (IAF).

31. The annual bilateral maritime exercise between the Indian Navy and UK's Royal Navy was
conducted off the Konkan coast in Western Ghat Region of India in the Arabian Sea.
• INS Trishul, a guided missile frigate, and HMS Lancaster, a Type 23 guided missile
frigate, participated in 'Konkan 2023'.

32. Ministry of Defence has launched the “Project Himshakti” for procuring two Integrated
Electronic Warfare Systems from Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL), Hyderabad at an
overall cost of approximately Rs 3,000 crore.
• The project is under the Buy {Indian – IDMM (Indigenously Designed Developed and
Manufactured)} category comprising contemporary and niche technologies.
• This category and other such procedures for procuring defence goods have been
elucidated in the Defence Procurement Procedures 2020.

33. The ships of the First Training Squadron (1TS) of the Indian Navy, INS Tir and ICGS Sarathi
visited Port Antsiranana, Madagascar from 20 to 23 March 2023 as part of long-range
training deployment.
Knowledge Nuggets –
• Capital of Madagascar – Antananarivo
pg. 55
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• Currency of Madagascar – Ariary

• Government type – Unitary semi-presidential republic

MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING
1. Ministry of Rural Development and Meesho have signed an MOU to onboard rural women
entrepreneurs in various states to launch and grow their businesses online.
• Meesho is an e-commerce platform owned by Bengaluru-based Fashnear Technologies
Private Limited.
• The MOU aims to drive digital inclusion of all women registered under State Rural
Livelihood Missions (SRLMs) and enable them to sell online.
2. Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) signed MOU with IIT Guwahati, IIT Gandhinagar and NIT
Calicut for establishment of ‘BIS Standardization Chair Professor’ at these institutes.
• Purpose - research and development, teaching and training in the field of Standardization
and Conformity Assessment in the country
• The chair will focus on the areas of Civil, Electrical, Mechanical, Chemical, Earthquake
Engineering, Development and Management of water resources and renewable energy
projects, Infrastructure Development, Medical Biotechnology & Nanotechnology,
Biomaterials, etc.
• This will promote excellence and leadership in teaching and research & development in the
field of science and various disciplines.

pg. 56
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3. India Pulses and Grains Association (IPGA) and IBRAFE, Brazil have signed an MoU at
the recently held sixth edition of the Pulses Conclave in Mumbai.
• Purpose - to establish co-operative actions to contribute to the food security of both
countries
• IBRAFE is the Brazilian Institute of Beans, Pulses and Special Crops.

4. CSC Academy, a subsidiary of Common Service Centre e-Governance Services India Limited,
and NIELIT (National Institute of Electronics and Information Technology) have signed an MoU
to boost digital literacy and skill development in India.

5. Department of Science and Technology (DST) and Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy
Systems (Germany) have signed a Letter of Intent for a long-term collaboration focusing on
hydrogen technologies.
• DST will provide the enabling framework for cooperation in the hydrogen valley cluster
projects, support activities, and facilitate the resources needed wherever applicable and
possible.

6. V-Guard Industries Ltd has signed an MoU with ESAF Small Finance Bank to provide
financing options to customers looking to install V-Guard's solar rooftop Power System.
• Under the agreement, ESAF Bank will provide various financing options, including loans
and attractive instalment payment plans.

7. IIT-Guwahati has signed an MoU with Samagra Shiksha, Assam, (SSA) under the Rashtriya
Avishkar Abhiyan to develop scientific temper and strengthen students’ ability to handle
challenging environments.
• Under the Rashtriya Avishkar Abhiyan of the Ministry of Education, the institute is
collaborating with other higher education institutes for mentoring higher secondary schools
across Assam.
Knowledge Nuggets -
• The Rashtriya Aavishkar Abhiyan (RAA) was launched in 2015 by Late Dr. A.P.J.
Abdul Kalam, Former President of India.
• Purpose – for nurturing a spirit of inquiry and creativity, love for Science and
Mathematics and effective use of technology amongst children and encourage those who

pg. 57
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show an inclination and talent for these subjects to be encouraged and supported to
heights of academic excellence and research
• Rashtriya Avishkar Abhiyan will target students in the age group of 6 - 18 years and in
turn the execution of RAA will span across MHRD’s schematic interventions of Sarva
Shiksha Abhiyan.

8. Tata Steel has signed an MOU with Gail India to reduce carbon footprint in its operations, and
for the supply of natural gas to its Ferro Alloys Plant at Athgarh in Odisha's Cuttack district.

9. Ministry of Rural Development has extended its MOU with the National Institute of Fashion
Technology (NIFT) to provide design support for the products made by Self Help Groups
of the Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana -- National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM).

10. National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) and the National Council of Educational Research
and Training (NCERT) have signed an MoU to strengthen value-based sports education
amongst school children and teachers.
• The UNESCO Value-Based Sports Education toolkit will also be promoted in every
classroom under the MoU.

11. Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment and Brahma Kumaris, Mount Abu have
signed an MOU at Dr. B.R Ambedkar International Centre, New Delhi to promote Nasha Mukt
Bharat Abhiyan.
• The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment (MoSJE) has been implementing
National Action Plan for Drug Demand Reduction (NAPDDR).
• This is an umbrella scheme under which financial assistance is provided to State
Governments/Union Territory (UT) Administrations for Preventive Education and
Awareness Generation, Capacity Building, Skill development, vocational training and
livelihood support of ex-drug addicts, Programme for Drug Demand Reduction.
• The Ministry has initiated ambitious Nasha Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan (NMBA) currently
operational in 372 districts of the country.

12. India and Mexico have signed an MOU to promote research, technology and innovation
collaborations.

pg. 58
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13. AIIMS-Delhi signed an MOU with the PSC Mauritius to conduct examinations for Medical
and Health Officers, Senior Medical Officers, Dental Surgeons and Senior Dental Surgeons to
join the Public Service in the Republic of Mauritius.

14. India's top explorer Oil and Natural Gas Corp has signed an MOU with French major
TotalEnergies for exploration of deep-water blocks.

15. Union Home Ministry has approved the signing of an MOU between India's Narcotics Control
Bureau (NCB) and Nigeria's National Drug Law Enforcement Agency on prevention of illicit
trafficking in narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances and precursor chemicals.

16. Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE) Ltd has signed an MoU with Kerala
Electrical & Allied Engineering (KEL), a state-owned enterprise of Kerala, for the joint
research and development of a lightweight bailey bridge with a carbon fibre composite
deck.

17. Bharat Electronics Ltd. (BEL) has signed an MoU with the National Institute of Technology
Karnataka (NITK Surathkal) for cooperation in research and development for the development
of emerging technologies and technical solutions for both defence and non-defence
applications.

18. Lockheed Martin, the US-based defence and aerospace giant, and Tata Group have signed
an agreement to commence production of fighter wing shipsets at their joint venture, Tata
Lockheed Martin Aerostructures Limited (TLMAL), located in Hyderabad, India.
• Under the MOU, both entities will produce 29 fighter wing shipsets by 2025.

19. Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB) and The Swedish Foundation for
International Cooperation in Research and Higher Education (STINT), Stockholm,
Sweden, signed a Memorandum of Cooperation to strengthen cooperation and promote
research networking between research institutions from both countries.

20. Indian Institute of Information Technology Design and Manufacturing, Kurnool (IIITDM
Kurnool) and United Nations Association (UNA) mission group for Andhra Pradesh and
Telangana.

pg. 59
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• As part of the MoU, students of IIITDM will adopt two to three villages in the Mahanandi to
Achampet region and educate the people including students about the importance of
conserving forests, land, and quality of air for the next 5 years as part of this programme.
• Students will also be allowed to up research projects on the topics the UNA mission
promotes under this MoU.

21. RBI and the Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates (CBUAE) signed a Memorandum of
Understanding (MoU) in Abu Dhabi, to enhance cooperation and jointly enable innovation in
financial products and services.
• Both entities will collaborate on various emerging areas of FinTech, especially Central
Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) and explore interoperability between the CBDCs of
CBUAE and RBI.
• CBUAE and RBI will jointly test bilateral CBDC bridge to facilitate cross-border CBDC
transactions of remittances and trade.

22. Ministry of Ayush and Ministry of Rural Development signed an MoU to collaborate in
developing skilled personnel by imparting training for the Ayush healthcare system.
• The course will also include training of rural youth as panchakarma technicians, which will
be started on a pilot basis.
• The proposed training will be imparted under Deen Dayal Upadhyaya-Grameen
Kaushalya Yojana (DDU-GKY), which is the Ministry of Rural Development’s flagship
program.
• 22,000 rural poor youth will be trained in National Skills Qualifications Framework
(NSQF)-compliant courses such as Panchakarma Technician, Panchkarma Assistant,
Ayurvedic Masseur, Kshara Karma Technician, Cupping Therapy Assistant, etc.

23. India Post, the government operated postal service, signed an MOU with logistics aggregator
firms Shiprocket and Pickrr to help MSMEs and enhance last-mile e-commerce delivery
services across the country.
• The collaboration will also enable automated shipping and faster delivery for merchants,
resulting in cost-effectiveness and business growth.

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24. The Africa India Economic Foundation (AIEF) and African Union (AU) have signed an
MOU to collaborate on promoting business and trade relations between the MSMEs,
private and public sectors of African countries and India.
• The MOU was signed at the African Union Headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia by G
Rathinavelu, Chairman & Co-Founder of AIEF, and Ambassador Albert Muchanga,
Commissioner, African Union Commission, the Economic Development, Trade,
Tourism, Industry and Minerals (ETTIM) Department.
• AIEF was also the first private Indian business organisation to be expressly recognised
by the African Union in 2020.
Knowledge Nuggets -
• AIEF is an Institutional Mechanism established to integrate and develop close business
links between the private sectors and MSME entities of India and Africa

25. National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd. (NAFED) has signed
an MoU with the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare to extend its support to Millets’
initiatives.
• Under the collaboration, NAFED has started extending marketing linkage to Millets-centric
Startups, setting up a Millet Corner in NAFED Bazaar Retail Stores, installation of Millet
Vending Machines across Delhi-NCR.
• NAFED is also in the process to establish a Millets Experience Centre at Delhi Haat, INA.
• India aims to become the "Global Hub for Millets".
Knowledge Nuggets -
• National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd. (NAFED) was
established on the auspicious day of Gandhi Jayanti on 2nd October 1958.
• It is under the administrative control of Ministry of Agriculture.
• Chair - Bijender Singh

26. Samunnati has signed an MOU with the Madhya Pradesh government, facilitated by
Heartfulness Institute, Hyderabad.
• Purpose - to strengthen the Chief Minister’s Community Leadership Development
Programme (CMCLDP) of Madhya Pradesh, by redesigning the course curriculum
pertaining to agriculture and rural economic empowerment, enhancing the web portal and
learning app to promote sustainable practices

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• Samunnati is India’s largest agri-enterprise that aims to unlock the trillion-dollar-plus

potential of Indian agriculture with smallholder farmers at the centre of it.

27. Himachal Pradesh has signed an MOU with French Development Agency AFD to improve
drinking water and sanitation services in five towns of the state.

28. Minister of Textile, Piyush Goyal and Tamil Nadu govt have signed an MOU to establish the
first PM Mega Integrated Textile Regions and Apparel (PM MITRA) Park in Tamil Nadu's
Virudhunagar district.
• The Parks will come up in Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Gujarat, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh,
Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra.

29. Department of Social Justice & Empowerment has signed an MOU with Sant Nirankari
Mandal to spread the awareness about the Nasha Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan.
• The Ministry has initiated ambitious Nasha Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan (NMBA) currently
operational in 372 districts of the country with an aim to create awareness about ill effects
of substance abuse among the youth.

30. National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd. (NHIDCL), a CPSE
under the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways and CSIR-SERC (Structural Engineering
Research Centre), Chennai have signed an MoU for sharing knowledge on innovative ideas
and technologies in the field of highway engineering.
• This collaboration will strengthen R&D activities in Road Sector and expected to provide
lead in conducting, coordinating research, development and training in Development of
Highway Infrastructure.

31. Ministry of Ayush and Department of Ex-servicemen Welfare/ Ex-Servicemen

Contributory Health Scheme (ECHS), Ministry of Defence have signed an MOU to integrate
Ayurveda in ECHS Polyclinics as an OPD service for 5 years period.
• These will be established at 10 polyclinics based at Ambala, Mysore, Ranchi, Nagpur,
Bhopal, Bhubaneshwar, Chennai, Meerut, Danapur, and Allepey (Alappuzha).
• Ayurveda centres are already in place in 37 cantonment Hospitals, 12 military hospitals of
AFMC and Ayurveda OPD in AH R&R, AF Hospital Hindan and five ECHS polyclinics.

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32. Telangana government and Western Australian government have signed three MOUs,
when a delegation led by Western Australia’s Minister for Emergency Services, Innovation and
Digital Economy, Stephen Dawson visited State-led startup incubators T-Hub and WE-Hub.
• 1st MOU - Hyderabad’s Cyber Security Centre of Excellence, DSCI and Western
Australia’s CyberWest, a government-funded innovation hub, to harness the expertise of
both organisations using innovation, design, workshops and industry engagement.
• 2nd MOU - Cyber Security Centre of Excellence, DSCI and Edith Cowan University for
mutual benefit including research, education, innovation, incubation, marketing,
hackathons, corporate innovation and training programs.
• 3rd MOU - A Letter of Intent between WE-Hub and CyberWest to accelerate growth in the
local and international ecosystem and support goals of diversity and inclusion within the
cyber security sector.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS
1. Tokamak Energy (a UK based fusion power research company) has developed “Demo4”
super magnet to test the nuclear fusion power plants.
• It is world-first set of “super” magnets that can be used for testing nuclear fusion power
plants.

2. UK has surpassed India as the world’s sixth-largest equity market for the first time in
almost nine months.

3. Sri Lanka has accepted a $442 million wind power project of Adani Green Energy.

4. NASA and SpaceX have launched Crew-6 spacecraft to the International Space Station.
• The spacecraft consisted of NASA's astronaut Stephen Bowen and Woody Hoburg, the
United Arab Emirates' Sultan Al Neyadi (1st Arab Astronaut), and Russian cosmonaut
Andrey Fedyaev.

5. United States has approved the sale to Taiwan of $619 million in munitions for F-16 fighter
jets.

pg. 63
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6. According to the annual World Bank report, the UAE scored 82.5 out of 100 for enacting
legislation and regulations that support women’s rights and workplace roles.
• The report covers 190 countries.
• The report assesses countries across 35 sub indicators divided into eight major areas of the
report: Mobility, Workplace, Pay, Marriage, Parenthood, Entrepreneurship, Assets, and
Pension.

7. The Atacama Large Millimetre/submillimetre Array (ALMA) — a radio telescope comprising

66 antennas located in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile — is set to get software and
hardware upgrades that will help it collect much more data and produce sharper images than
ever before.
• The upgrades would take around five years to finish and cost $37 million.
Knowledge Nuggets -
• ALMA is operated under a partnership among the United States, 16 countries in
Europe, Canada, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and Chile. It was operational since
2013.
• The radio telescope was designed, planned, and constructed by the US’s National
Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO), the National Astronomical Observatory of
Japan (NAOJ) and the European Southern Observatory (ESO).

8. Japan has launched the Senior Mission Leaders’ (SML) course to prepare senior personnel
for future roles and responsibilities as mission leaders in United Nations (UN) peacekeeping
operations, enabling them to plan, manage, and lead such missions.

9. Windsor Framework has been adopted by Northern Ireland and UK to veto any EU
regulations that may adversely impact the region.

10. South Korean and U.S. militaries will hold their biggest joint field exercises in five years
later this month.
• South Korea and USA will conduct the Freedom Shield exercise, a computer-simulated
command post training, from March 13 to 23 to strengthen their defense and response
capabilities.
• They will also conduct separate large-scale joint field training exercises called Warrior
Shield FTX.
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11. Belarus has sentenced its Nobel Peace Prize winner Ales Bialiatski to 10 years in prison.
• Ales Bialiatski won Nobel Peace Prize in 2022, along with Russian rights group Memorial
and Ukraine's Center for Civil Liberties.

12. European Union has set up a humanitarian air bridge to deliver aid to Goma in the conflict-
hit eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
• Goma is the capital of North Kivu province, where fighting with the rebel group M23 has
displaced more than six lakh people.

13. UN member countries have adopted the ‘High Seas Treaty’ to preserve the marine
biodiversity in international waters.
• The treaty would provide the legal framework for would placing 30% of the world’s
oceans into protected areas.
• The treaty is vital for achieving ocean-related goals and targets of the 2030 Agenda for
Sustainable Development, and the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.
• The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework refers to the so-called ‘30x30’
pledge to protect a third of the world's biodiversity – on land and sea – by 2030. The
Framework was adopted at the UN conference in Montreal in December 2022.

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Knowledge Nuggets -
• United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (1994) divides water into 5 zones -
o Internal waters - water inside the base line and coast
o Territorial sea - 12 nm from base line
o Contiguous zone - 24 nm from base line
o Exclusive Economic Zone - 200 nm from base line
o High seas - sea beyond EEZ

14. 48th edition of the Middle East Energy 2023 was organized at Dubai World Trade Centre to
showcase over 800 exhibitors from 170 countries as well as 20,000 energy professionals and
utilities decision-makers.
• India’s pavilion was organized by the Engineering Export Promotion Council of India,
Ministry of Commerce and Industry on to reduce carbon footprint and enhance the power
utilization efficiency of renewables.
• India pavilion was inaugurated by Dr Aman Puri, Consul General of India at Dubai.
Knowledge Nuggets -
• In engineering, UAE remains among the top three export destinations for Indian
engineering products with a share of around 5.5% in India's global engineering exports.
• India’s cumulative engineering exports for April-December 2022-23 stood at $79.83
billion, registering a decline of 3.03% as compared to April-December 2021-22.

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15. Colombia has opened military service to women for the first time in 25 years. A cohort of
1,296 women have been enlisted in Colombia’s Army last month, February.

16. Saudi Arabia has announced to develop a new city designed on the concept of sustainability,
named “The Murabba”.
• In line with Saudi Vision 2030, the world largest downtown is being developed in Riyadh
by New Murabba Development Company (NMDC).
• Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund (PIF) has already announced to invest $48
billion in The Murabba city project.
• Saudi Arabia is also developing a new smart and sustainable city named NEOM.

17. USA has launched world’s first GM poplar tree.

• Poplar's scientific name - Populus

18. UN Development Program has signed a pact with Euronav for purchasing a Very Large
Crude Carrier.

19. The 3rd edition of the La Perouse multilateral exercise will be held in the Indian Ocean Area.
• The Royal Australian Navy, French Navy, Indian Navy, Japanese Maritime Self Defence
Force, Royal Navy, and United States Navy will participate in this exercise.

20. China will increase its defense spending this year by 7.2% to 1.56 trillion yuan ($230
billion).

21. Iran government claims it has discovered a massive deposit of lithium (8.5 million tons).

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22. 19th BIMSTEC Ministerial Meeting was virtually held in Bangkok under the chairmanship of
Thailand.
• The meeting also approved the draft Host Country Agreement between India and the
BIMSTEC Secretariat (which is in Dhaka) for establishing BIMSTEC Centre for Weather
and Climate in India.

23. 146th Inter-Parliamentary Union Assembly was held in Manama, Bahrain from 11 to 15
March 2023, hosted by the Parliament of Bahrain.
• IPU is headquartered in Geneva.
• Theme - Promoting peaceful coexistence and inclusive societies: Fighting intolerance

24. Iran has reached a deal to buy advanced Su-35 fighter planes from Russia.

25. UK, USA, and Australia have met at San Diego, California to finalise the AUKUS deal.
• Under the AUKUS pact, Australia is to get its first nuclear-powered submarines - at least
three - from the US.

26. Signature Bank was closed by New York state financial regulators as the fallout from last
week’s closure of SVB Financial Group’s Silicon Valley Bank spreads to other lenders.

27. United States recognises the McMahon Line as the international boundary between China
and Arunachal Pradesh.

28. Taiwan unveiled its first portable attack drone, an unmanned aerial vehicle like a U.S. model
used in Ukraine's fight against Russia, as China steps up military pressure on the island.

29. ‘Exercise Sea Dragon 23’, a coordinated multi-lateral Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW)
exercise for Long Range MR ASW aircraft, was organized at Guam, USA.
• India’s P8I aircraft participated in this exercise.
• Other Participating Nations – USA, Republic of Korea, Japan, and Canada
• Guam is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia
subregion of the western Pacific Ocean.

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30. VA Tech Wabag, a water technology firm, has won a Rs 800 crore project funded by the
World Bank and Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) in Bangladesh.
• The Chennai-based company will design, build and operate a sewage treatment plant with
a capacity of 200 million litre per day (MLD) in Dhaka.

31. Elevate is a pitching series organized by the Consulate General of India in Dubai for
providing a platform for startups to connect with investors and global counterparts.
• The first season of Elevate commenced at the India Pavilion in Expo 2020 Dubai and
featured twenty sessions. The second season began in May 2022, and this episode marks
the sixth instalment of the season.

32. In a ‘historic’ trip to Ukraine, Japan Prime Minister Kishida visited Bucha, a town near Kyiv.

33. Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund has approved Sri Lanka’s bailout
program under an Extended Fund Facility.
• Sri Lanka will immediately receive an initial disbursement of $333 million.
• The extended fund facility of $3 billion will be available through tranches over a 4-year
period.

34. UNDP and Green Climate Fund have signed a new Accreditation Master Agreement (AMA)
to deliver vital climate finance to countries in critical decade for action.
• UNDP signed its first AMA with the GCF in 2017 covering a five-year period of partnership
from 2017-2021. This second AMA now extends UNDP’s accreditation for other five-years
from 2023-2027.
• This agreement allows UNDP to use GCF for providing finances to developing and least-
developed countries for adopt to climate-friendly technology.
Knowledge Nuggets -
• The Green Climate Fund (GCF) is a fund established within the framework of the
UNFCCC to provide finances to developing countries for countering climate change.
• GCF HQ - Incheon, South Korea
• The Secretariat is headed by the Executive Director (Yannick Glemarec), who is
appointed by and accountable to the Board.

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35. North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles. The country has also tested its nuclear
capable drone named ‘Haeil’.

36. Egypt has joined the BRICS New Development Bank (NDB). The approval for the same was
granted in 2021.
• United Arab Emirates (UAE), Uruguay and Bangladesh also received the approval in 2021
to join NDB.
• 2023 BRICS Summit - South Africa
Knowledge Nuggets -
• The New Development Bank (NDB) is a multilateral development bank established by
Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS).
• NDB was set up in 2015, with headquarter in Shanghai, China.

37. UAE Food Bank has been launched to remove food waste and distribute 3 million meals
during Ramadan.
• UAE Food Bank aims to raise public awareness regarding the crucial goal of achieving
zero food waste.
• The organisation has partnered with Ne’ma -the national initiative to reduce food loss and
wastage, to enhance community awareness, education, and empowerment in making better
decisions regarding food consumption.

38. German defence ministry announced that the first shipment of third-generation Leopard-2
tanks from the country has been sent to Ukraine.

39. Uganda’s Parliament has passed the Anti-Homosexuality Bill 2023.

• People who identify as gay in Uganda risk life in prison.

40. Tanzania has reported its first-ever outbreak of Marburg Virus. It is a highly contagious and
deadly virus that causes viral haemorrhagic fever just like Ebola.
• Its symptoms include fever, vomiting, bleeding, and renal failure.
Knowledge Nuggets -
• Lake Natron is in the Arusha Region of Tanzania. It is an alkaline lake.
• The lake is located on the border of Kenya and Tanzania.

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41. James Webb Space Telescope of NASA has detected exoplanet VHS 1256 b in the
atmosphere.

42. World Health Organization (WHO) has certified Azerbaijan and Tajikistan as Malaria-free
countries for achieving elimination of malaria in their territories.
• The certification follows a sustained, century-long effort to eradicate the disease by these
countries.
• With this new addition, a total of 41 countries and 1 territory have been certified as
malaria-free by WHO, including 21 countries in the European Region.
Knowledge Nuggets -
• India aims to eliminate malaria by 2030.
• The Global Technical Strategy for Malaria 2016–2030 (GTS) calls for reducing malaria
cases and deaths by at least 40% by 2020, at least 75% by 2025 and at least 90% by
2030.
• 11 countries are classified as high-burden-high-initiative for malaria.
o Burkina Faso, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ghana, India,
Mali, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Uganda and the United Republic of Tanzania

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REPORTS AND INDICES

1. Brand Finance has released the “Telecom 150” 2023 report.

2. “Indian States' Electricity Transition (SET)” report has been released by Institute for
Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA).
• Karnataka and Gujarat are the Indian states making the most progress in overall
preparedness and commitment in the transition to clean electricity.
• The report analyses 16 Indian states, which together account for 90% of the country’s
annual power requirement, across four dimensions.

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3. ILO and UNICEF have released their second joint report on social protection for children titled
as “More than a billion reasons: The urgent need to build universal social protection for
children”.
• The report appraises India’s PM-Cares for Children scheme among other countries and
their welfare schemes.
• As per the report, the PM-Cares for Children scheme has been launched by 31 Indian
States and UT. Introduced in March 2020, it aims to support orphan children.
• So far, 4,302 children have received support from the scheme (as per Supreme Court of
India’s data, 2021).
• Benefits given under PM-Cares for Children -
o Income support to 18-23 years old – Rs 1 million (US$12,635) corpus
o Ayushman Bharat Health Insurance scheme coverage for children – Rs 5,00,000
(US$6,153) to orphaned children
o An annual scholarship of 20,000 rupees (US$246) for each school-age child (from
primary to upper secondary school)
• Eligibility – Children who have lost one or both parents due to Covid-19

4. World Bank has released the “Women, Business and the Law 2023” report.
• Indian working women’s pay, and pension do not provide for equality with Indian men,
dragging India’s score in a World Bank index on the life cycle of a working woman down
to 74.4 out of a possible 100.
• India scored higher than the 63.7 average for the South Asian region, though lower than
Nepal which had the region’s highest score of 80.6.
• Out of the 190 economies covered in the index, only 14 scored a perfect 100: Belgium,
Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Latvia, Luxemburg, The
Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and Sweden.
• India needs to improve laws regarding equal pay for same work. India should consider
reforms to improve legal equality for women.
• To improve on the Pay indicator, India may wish to consider mandating equal remuneration
for work of equal value, allowing women to work at night in the same way as men, and
allowing women to work in an industrial job in the same way as men.

5. V-Dem Institute (based in Sweden) has released the Democracy Report 2023.
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• Total – 202 countries

• Sub-Indices -
o Liberal Democracy Index
o Electoral Democracy Index
o Liberal Component Index
o Egalitarian Component Index
o Participatory Component Index
o Deliberative Component Index
• India has been classified as an “Electoral Autocracy”.

6. UNICEF has released the “Undernourished and Overlooked: A Global Nutrition Crisis in
Adolescent Girls and Women” report.
• Highlights of the report -

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o The gender gap in food insecurity has more than doubled between 2019 (49
million) and 2021 (126 million).
o Girls and women across the world found themselves disproportionately hit by the
impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on livelihoods, income and access to nutritious
food.
o In the 12 hardest-hit countries, the number of pregnant and breastfeeding women
and adolescent girls suffering from acute malnutrition has increased from 5.5
million to 6.9 million – or 25% – since 2020.

7. International Energy Agency (HQ - Paris) has released the “Methane Global Tracker”
report.
• 120 million metric tonnes of methane were released into the atmosphere in 2022.
• 40% of the methane emissions are from the energy sector.

8. Global Public Policy Institute has released the “Academic Freedom Index 2023” report.
• Total - 179 countries
• Top – Czech Republic, followed by Estonia and Belgium

• India’s rank – score: 0.38

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• Parameters -
o Freedom to research and teach
o Freedom of academic exchange and dissemination,
o Institutional autonomy of universities
o Campus integrity
o The freedom of academic and cultural expression.
• Score Scale - 0 (low) to 1 (high)

9. “WHO Global Report: On Sodium Intake Reduction” report has been released.
• The largest number of diet-related deaths, an estimated 1.89 million each year, is
associated with excessive intake of sodium, a well-established cause of raised blood
pressure and increased risk of cardiovascular disease.
• The global average sodium intake is estimated to be 4310 mg/day (10.78 g of salt per
day), which far exceeds the physiological requirement and is more than double the World
Health Organization (WHO) recommendation of <2000 mg of sodium (equivalent to <5 g
of salt) per day in adults.

10. Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) has released the “Trends in
International Arms Transfers, 2022” report.
• The five largest arms importers in 2018–22 were India, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Australia
and China.
• The five largest arms exporters were the United States, Russia, France, China and
Germany.

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11. Hyderabad-based National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC) of ISRO has released the
“Landslide Atlas of India”.
• Top 5 Landslide Prone Areas in India -

12. 2022 World Air Quality Report (5th edition) has been released by IQAir.
• Lahore (Pakistan) has the worst air in the world. In 2021, Lahore’s rank was 15th.
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• Lahore is followed by Hotan (China), Bhiwadi (Rajasthan), Delhi, and Peshawar (Pakistan).
• This report presents PM2.5 air quality data from 7,323 cities across 131 countries,
regions, and territories.
• Top 5 countries with worst air quality – Chad, Iraq, Pakistan, Bahrain, and Bangladesh

13. International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) has released the “Global Landscape of
Renewable Energy Finance 2023” report.
• In 2022, global investments in energy transition technologies – renewable energy,
energy efficiency, electrified transport and heat, energy storage, hydrogen and carbon
capture and storage (CCS) – reached USD 1.3 trillion despite the prevailing
macroeconomic, geopolitical and supply chain challenges.
• Energy transition will require the mobilisation of USD 0.7 trillion per year from fossil fuels
to energy-transition-related technologies; but fossil fuel investments are still on the rise.
• In 2020, the fossil fuel investments went down 22% from the USD 1 trillion invested in 2019.
Nevertheless, 2021 saw fossil fuel investments bounce back up 15% to USD 897 billion.
The preliminary data for 2022 suggest that the investments would reach pre-pandemic
levels of USD 953 billion.

14. Global Commission on the Economics of Water (GCEW) has released ‘The What, Why
and How of the World Water Crisis: Global Commission on the Economics of Water
Phase 1 Review and Findings’ report.
• India will face a reduction of over 16% in food supply due to water and heat stress in
2050.
• However, the report placed China at the top, where food supply would be reduced by
22.4%, followed by South America by 19.4%.
• India ranks 13 globally on the facing water stress in 2019.
• The water supply availability in India is between 1100-1197 billion cubic meters (bcm). In
contrast, the demand is expected to grow from 550-710 bcm in 2010 to around 900-1,400
bcm in 2050.
Knowledge Nuggets -
• The Global Commission on the Economics of Water (GCEW) is convened by the
Government of the Netherlands and facilitated by the Organisation for Economic Co-
operation and Development (OECD).

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• It was launched in May 2022 with a two-year mandate.

15. Standing Committee on Water Resources has released the “Groundwater: A Valuable but
Diminishing Resource” report.
• States like Punjab, Haryana, Telangana and Tamil Nadu offer completely free power, while
other states have provision for collection of token charges.
• The committee is headed by BJP member Parbatbhai Savabhai Patel/
• The over-extraction of groundwater for meeting irrigation needs is prevalent mainly in
northern states, particularly in Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan, which are extracting 97%,
90% and 86% of groundwater, respectively.
• Other states such as Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh are also significant users
of groundwater for irrigation as they are using approximately 89%, 92% and 90%,
respectively, of their total groundwater extraction for agricultural purposes.

16. Celebrity Brand Valuation Report 2022 has been released.

17. QS World University Rankings by Subject 2023 has been released.

• The QS World University Rankings by Subject 2023 cover a total of 54 disciplines,
grouped into five broad subject areas.
Subject World’s Best India’s Best

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Arts & Humanities Harvard University -

Engineering and Technology Massachusetts Institute of IIT-Bombay (47th rank)
Technology (MIT) IIT-Delhi (48th rank)
Life Sciences & Medicine Harvard University -
Natural Sciences Harvard University Mathematics (Sub-category in
Natural Sciences)
IIT-Bombay (92nd)
IIT-Madras (98th)
Social Sciences & Harvard University -
Management

18. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has released the Synthesis Report on
IPCC’s Sixth Assessment Report 2023.
• This Synthesis Report (SYR) of the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report (AR6) summarises the
state of knowledge of climate change, its widespread impacts and risks, and climate
change mitigation and adaptation.
• It integrates the main findings of the Sixth Assessment Report (AR6), which was released
in three parts in 2021 and 2022.
• The AR6 Synthesis Report: Climate Change 2023 summarizes five years of reports on
global temperature rises, fossil fuel emissions and climate impacts.
• The last report i.e., fifth assessment report was released in 2014.
Main Findings of this report -
• Human-caused environmental damages are causing economic and human losses.
• GHG emissions will lead to increasing global warming in the near term, and it's likely
this will reach 1.5°C between 2030 and 2035.
• At present, the global temperature is around 1.1°C and current climate policies are
projected to increase global warming by 3.2°C by 2100.
• To keep global warming within the 1.5°C limit, emissions need to be reduced by at least
43% by 2030 compared to 2019 levels, and at least 60% by 2035. This is the decisive
decade to make that happen.

19. FIS (global fintech company) has released the “2023 Global Payments Report”.

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• As per the report, cash use in POS transaction has reduced from 71% of value in 2019 to
just 27% in 2022 in India.
• India has emerged as a global leader in payments with the development of its next-
generation real-time payments (RTP) infrastructure.
• India's e-commerce account-to-account (A2A) payments grew up to US $12 billion, up
53% from 2021 to 2022 and digital wallets growth from 5% to 35% of POS value.
• Cash use is expected to decline by 34% in transaction value by 2026 and digital wallets
are expected to rise in transaction value by 88% by 2026.
• The e-commerce market size is expected to grow by 82% by 2026 providing a greater
boost to digital payments.
• India's e-commerce market is projected to grow from US $83 billion in 2022 to US $150
billion in 2026.

20. UNICEF has released “The Triple Threat” report which highlights how disease, climate
risks, and unsafe water, sanitation and hygiene create a deadly combination for children.
• Globally, 600 million children still lack safely managed drinking water.
• 1.1 billion lack safely managed sanitation and 689 million lack basic hygiene service.
• 149 million children still face the indignity of practising open defecation and unsafe water,
sanitation and hygiene (WASH) is still responsible for the deaths of around 1,000 children
under 5 every day.
• It is estimated that at least $114 billion per year will be needed in developing countries to
meet the WASH-related SDG targets by 2030.

21. United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has released the
Technology and Innovation Report 2023.
• As per the report, the market size of green technologies will increase up to USD 9.5
trillion by 2030, up from USD 1.5 trillion in 2020.
• The total exports of green technologies from developed countries jumped to more than
USD 156 billion in 2021 from about USD 60 billion in 2018.
• While exports from developing countries rose to only about USD 75 billion from USD 57
billion.
• The report included the ‘frontier technology readiness index’. As per the report, green
frontier technologies such as electric vehicles, solar and wind energy, and green
hydrogen are expected to reach a market value of USD 2.1 trillion in 2030.
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• The frontier technology readiness index has ranked 166 countries. BRICS rankings -
Brazil (40th rank), China (at 35), India (at 46), the Russian Federation (at 31), and South
Africa (at 56).

22. UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network has released the World Happiness
Report 2023.
• The report has been released annually since 2012 as part of the International Day of
Happiness celebration (March 20).
• Total countries - 136 countries
• Parameters - social support, income, health, freedom, generosity, and absence of
corruption
• Top ranker – Finland, followed by Denmark
o Lithuania (in Europe) is the new entrant in the Top 20 countries at the 20 th rank.
• India’s rank – 126th
o In 2022, India ranked 136th position out of 146 countries.
o India is ranked behind Nepal, China, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.
• Bottom ranker – Afghanistan

23. NITI Aayog released the “Production and Promotion of Organic and Bio fertilisers with
Special Focus on Improving Economic Viability of Gaushalas” report.
• The report has been released by the Task Force (Prof Ramesh Chand, Member
(Agriculture), NITI Aayog).
• The Task Force was constituted by NITI Aayog to suggest measures to make gaushalas
economically viable, address problem of stray and abandoned cattle and effective utilization
of cow dung and cow urine in agriculture and energy sectors.

24. World Bank has released the “Falling Long-Term Growth Prospects: Trends,
Expectations, and Policies” report.
• India’s economy can achieve a boost if the government implements the reforms agenda.
• The report also made recommendations for banking and infrastructure sectors.

25. Institute of Economics and Peace has released the Global Terrorism Index 2023 (10th
edition).
• Total countries - 163 countries
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• Most affected country - Afghanistan

• India’s rank – 13th (score 7.175)

26. Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI) has released a report titled “Blueprint for realising
India’s E-Commerce Exports Potential”.
• India’s merchandise imports for the fiscal year ending March 2023 are estimated to touch
US $710 billion, up from $613 billion in FY2022, an increase of over 15.8% over last year.

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27. Arton Capital has released “The Passport Index 2023”.

• Top – UAE (score 181)
• India’s rank – 71st, shared with Tajikistan and Zimbabwe

28. World Food Program of FAO has released “The State of School Feeding Worldwide
2022”.
• The State of School Feeding worldwide publication is issued every two years and uses the
best available data sources to provide an overview of coverage, implementation practices
and costs of school-based health and nutrition programmes worldwide.
• 349 million people in 79 countries are marching towards starvation, including 153 million
children and young people.
• The report also showcases the work of the School Meals Coalition.

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• 418 million children now benefit from school meals worldwide, which is 30 million more
than the 388 million children reached before the pandemic in early 2020.

Knowledge Nuggets -
• School Meals Coalition was launched in 2021 as a global partnership between
governments, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and education experts to fight
hunger.
• UN’s World Food Program has also collaborated with the coalition.

BANKING AND ECONOMY

1. RBI has released the “Do Bank Mergers Improve Efficiency? The Indian Experience”
paper.
• Authors – Snehal S. Herwadkar, Shubham Gupta, and Vaishnavi Chavan
• The paper highlights that the bank mergers are beneficial for the banking ecosystem of
India.

2. CarDekho has partnered with Delhi-based Medulence to provide emergency medical

services.

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3. According to the latest Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade data, the
foreign direct investment (FDI) in India declined by 15% to USD 36.75 billion during the
April-December 2022.
• FDI inflows stood at $43.17 billion during the April-December 2021.
Source Country • During April-December 2022-23, Singapore
emerged as the top investor with USD 13 billion
FDI.
• It was followed by Mauritius (USD 4.7 billion), the US
(about USD 5 billion), the UAE (USD 3.1 billion), the
Netherlands (USD 2.15 billion), Japan (USD 1.4
billion), and Cyprus (USD 1.15 billion).
Top Sector • The computer software and hardware sector
receiving FDI attracted the highest inflows of USD 8 billion during
the nine-month period of this fiscal.
• It was followed by services (USD 6.6 billion), trading
(USD 4.14 billion), chemicals (USD 1.5 billion),
automobile industry (USD 1.27 billion) and
construction (infrastructure) activities (USD 1.22
billion).
Top State • Among states, Maharashtra ($10.7 billion) and
receiving FDI Karnataka ($8.7 billion) attracted maximum FDI
inflow between April-December FY-23.
• Gujarat’s FDI inflow stood at $4.1 billion while Delhi
attracted investment of $6.1 billion during the period.

4. Singapore-based RBB Ship Chartering Pte Ltd (RSCPL) became the first ship leasing
operator at India’s first International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) in Gujarat
International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City), Gandhinagar.

5. State Bank of India has integrated its BHIM SBIPay with the new real-time payments system
i.e., UPI-PayNow between India and Singapore.
• It allows peer-to-peer fund transfers through participating banks and other financial
institutions.

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6. Axis Bank has successfully enabled cross border transaction in real time via the UPI
Network.
• This initiative is a part of the joint initiative between the RBI and the Monetary Authority of
Singapore (MAS) to develop cross-border payments between India and Singapore.
• The UPI of India and PayNow of Singapore will be linked to enable faster and cost-efficient
transfer of cross-border remittances.

7. Infosys will expand its collaboration with Microsoft to help accelerate enterprise cloud
transformation journeys worldwide.

8. Central Bank of India has entered a co-lending partnership with Moneywise Financial
Services Pvt Ltd for lending to micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs).

9. Policybazaar has partnered with Niva Bupa Health Insurance and Tata AIA Life Insurance
to offer health, wealth, and life solution.

10. Niva Bupa Health Insurance Co Ltd (formerly known as Max Bupa Health Insurance
Company Limited) has launched ‘ReAssure 2.0’ to give a premium discount of up to 30% on
policy renewal basis health points earned.
• Other benefits include no capping on room rent, any hospitalization of 2 hours and above
will be covered, Smart Health + rider – offering unlimited tele consultations - and Day one
coverage for diabetes and hypertension.

11. Paisalo Digital Ltd. was entering into a co-lending loan agreement with Karnataka Bank to
meet the funding requirements of priority segments such as agriculture, retail, MSME, and
women entrepreneurs.

12. India’s Ola Electric Mobility Pvt. is planning to build world’s largest electric vehicle hub
with an investment of Rs 7,610 crore ($920 million) in Tamil Nadu to localize the supply chain
for cleaner transport.

13. NSE Indices Ltd, the subsidiary of India’s National Stock Exchange (NSE), has launched the
country’s first ever Municipal Bond Index in the backdrop of rising appetite for such
instruments among investors.

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• The index will track the performance of municipal bonds issued by Indian civic bodies
across maturities with an investment-grade credit rating.
• It currently has 28 municipal bonds issued by 10 issuers rated AA.

14. Life Insurance Corporation of India has diluted its stake in Industrial Investment Trust Ltd
from 5.433% stake to 3.362%.
Knowledge Nuggets -
• Industrial Investment Trust Limited (IITL), was incorporated in the year 1933 as an
investment trust company.
• IITL sought to provide its shareholders an expert advice on investment portfolio.

15. Bank of Maharashtra (BoM) has partnered with Experian India to provide a comprehensive
suite of services such as credit risk, advanced analytics, and fraud prevention.
• Bank of Maharashtra will gain a better understanding of customers’ needs, analyse their
risk behaviour, and efficiently manage the credit portfolio.

16. Bharti AXA Life Insurance has entered in a bancassurance partnership with Unity Small
Finance Bank to sell its life insurance products through the bank’s network.
• Bharti AXA is a joint venture between Bharti Enterprises and global insurance firm AXA (a
French multinational insurance company).

17. Aditya Birla Sun Life Insurance has launched “ABSLI Nishchit Aayush Plan”, which is a
non-linked non-participating individual savings life insurance plan.
• The plan offers guaranteed regular income starting as early as end of first policy month
along with a lump-sum benefit at maturity.
• The maximum entry age to avail ABSLI Nishchit Aayush Plan is 55 years, while the
minimum age is 30 days (long term income option) and 30 years (whole life income).
• The minimum annualised premium is ₹30,000.

18. RBL Bank and Export Import Bank of India (EXIM) have collaborated to support the cross-
border payment transactions under the Trade Assistance Programme (TAP).
• Using the TAP, India Exim Bank aims to facilitate and enhance India’s exports globally by
providing credit enhancement to trade instruments.

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19. Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) has set up a subsidiary named Reliance SOU for developing
properties for commercial use.

20. National Statistical Office (NSO), Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, has
released the 2nd advance estimate of National Income for 2022-23.
• NSO has also released the First Revised Estimates of National Income, Consumption
Expenditure, Saving and Capital Formation for 2021-22.
2nd advance estimate of National Income for 2022-23 -
• GDP Growth Rate – 7%
• Real GDP for the year 2022-23 - INR 159.71 trillion (US$1.94 trillion)
• Real gross value added (GVA) at basic prices for 2022-23 - INR 147.12 trillion
(US$1.78 trillion) in 2022-23, showing a growth of 6.6% over the previous fiscal.
• Nominal GDP growth rate for 2022-23 - 15.9%
• Nominal GDP for 2022-23 - INR 272.04 trillion ($3.30 trillion)
• Nominal GVA at basic prices - INR 247.07 trillion (US$2.99 trillion) in 2022-23,
registering a growth of 15.2% over previous fiscal
1st Revised Estimates of National Income, Consumption Expenditure, Saving and Capital
Formation for 2021-22
• Nominal GDP (GDP at current prices) - Rs 198.3 lakh crore
• Nominal GVA (at current prices) - Rs 181.89 lakh crore
• Real GDP (at constant prices of 2011-12) - Rs 136.87 lakh crore
• Real GVA (at constant prices of 2011-12) - Rs 126.81 lakh crore

21. Angel One (broking firm) has received an in-principle approval from SEBI for sponsoring a
mutual fund.

22. Private sector lenders IDFC First and Federal Bank will partner with association of
microfinance institutions Sa-Dhan and Delhi-based fintech solutions provider NextGen to
promote digital payments by feature phone users.
• In 2022, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), in collaboration with the National Payments
Corporation of India, launched the Unified Payment Interface (UPI) for feature phone
users known as UPI123Pay.

23. RBI has recently released the Sectoral Deployment of Bank Credit – January 2023 report.
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• Credit growth to agriculture and allied activities improved to 14.4% (y-o-y) in January 2023
from 10.4% a year ago.
• Credit to industry registered a growth of 8.7% (y-o-y) in January 2023 as compared with
5.9% in January 2022.
• Credit growth of medium industries was 18.1% as against 52.4% last year. Credit to micro
and small industries registered a growth of 15.2% in January 2023 (23.3% a year ago).
• Credit to services sector rose by 21.5% (y-o-y) in January 2023 as compared with 5.7% a
year ago, primarily due to the improved credit offtake to ‘NBFCs’.
• Personal loans growth accelerated to 20.4% (y-o-y) in January 2023 from 12.8% a year
ago, largely driven by ‘housing’ and ‘vehicle loans’.

24. GST Council has decided to reduce GST rates on pencil sharpeners, jaggery, and
examination institutions.
• GST on pencil sharpeners will be 12% from 1 March. Earlier, it used to be 18%.
• The GST rate on Rab (liquid jaggery) has been slashed from 18% to Nil if sold loosely. And,
if pre-packaged and labelled, it will attract 5% GST.

25. Axis Bank has completed the acquisition of the consumer businesses of Citibank India and
its non-banking finance arm, Citicorp Finance (India), for a cash consideration of Rs 11,603
crore.

26. Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) has signed an MoU with ShowReel for
developing an online digital platform for providing handholding support to aspiring innovators
with practical-based hand holding demonstration and equity funding to channelise ideas
offering solutions to multitude of problems.
• The platform will be a one-stop-shop for innovators, providing access to training videos,
market analysis, and mentorship, in addition to a virtual incubation program.

27. IRCTC has partnered with the HDFC Bank to launch the "IRCTC HDFC Bank Credit Card",
which will be in a single variant exclusively available on NPCI’s Rupay network.

28. SEBI has allowed the National Stock Exchange (NSE), the largest stock exchange in India,
to introduce futures contracts for NYMEX WTI Crude Oil and Natural Gas (Henry Hub) in
its Commodity derivatives section.
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• The approval would enable NSE to provide rupee-denominated derivative contracts for
Indian investors in major international benchmarks.

29. Bajaj Finserv Limited has received final approval from SEBI to start its mutual fund
operations under Bajaj Finserv Mutual Fund.
• The Bajaj Finserv Asset Management Limited (BFAML) is the Investment Manager of
this fund.

30. Olectra Greentech Limited, a group company of Megha Engineering & Infrastructures Limited
(MEIL), has developed Olectra e-tipper, which is India's first certified heavy-duty electric
tipper engineered and manufactured indigenously.
• The electric tipper is India's first 6x4 heavy-duty electric truck.

31. According to the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) data, India's
unemployment rate rose to 7.45% in February 2023 from 7.14% in the previous month.

32. State-owned power giant NTPC has commissioned India's first air-cooled condenser at
North Karanpura super critical thermal plant in Jharkhand.
• This project has been envisaged with Air Cooled Condenser (ACC) which has almost 1/3rd
water footprint as compared to a conventional Water-Cooled Condenser (WCC).

33. SEBI has imposed a penalty of Rs 6 lakh on Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) for violating
regulations pertaining to data entries of Sikkim-based clients.
• The matter relates to incorrect input of State code and City code as Sikkim by seven trading
members of MCX in the UCC (Unique Client Code) database.
• Sebi found that MCX imposed a penalty of Rs 10,000 per client on these trading members
for wrong entries in June 2022.
Knowledge Nuggets -
• The Multi Commodity Exchange of India Limited (MCX), India’s first listed exchange,
is a state-of-the-art, commodity derivatives exchange that facilitates online trading of
commodity derivatives transactions, thereby providing a platform for price discovery and
risk management.

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• The Exchange, which started operations in November 2003, operates under the
regulatory framework of Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).

34. The GST collections have risen by 12% to Rs 1.49 lakh-crore in February 2023.

35. State Bank of India has completed its first non-dollar transaction in Sri Lankan Rupees.
• Reason – Sri Lanka’s forex reserves have reduced to just $2.1 billion as of end-January,
leading to worsening of the economic crisis of the island nation.

36. ICICI Bank has launched ICICI STACK for Capital Markets & Custody to offer digital
services to capital market investors.
• 3-in-1 account for stockbrokers and clients; digital account opening for PMS (Portfolio
Management Service) clients; self-service portal; value-added services for AIFs; digital
payment solutions are some of the offerings in this stack.

37. RBI launched two key surveys - Inflation Expectations Survey of Households (IESH) and
Consumer Confidence Survey (CCS) - for the month of March 2023.
• The results of these surveys provide "useful inputs" for the central bank's bi-monthly
monetary policy.
• The IESH aims at capturing subjective assessments on price movements and inflation,
based on their individual consumption baskets, across 19 cities.
o The survey seeks qualitative responses from households on price changes (general
prices as well as prices of specific product groups) in the 3 months ahead as well as

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in the 1 year ahead period and quantitative responses on current, three months
ahead and one year ahead inflation rates.
• The Consumer Confidence Survey will also be conducted in 19 cities.

38. New India Assurance has become the 2nd domestic insurance company to offer the surety
insurance bonds.
• In December 2022, Union highways minister Nitin Gadkari had launched the country's first
surety bond insurance for infrastructure projects by Bajaj Allianz.

39. Technology giant Apple has partnered with an environmental NGO, Frank Water, to develop
data and analytics-driven solutions to strengthen water management and conservation in
India.
• Both entities have initiated surveying households and analysing multiple data sources in
Benglauru to map how water is used in the area.

40. RBI has imposed a penalty of over ₹3.06 crore on Amazon Pay (India) Private Limited for
non-compliance with certain provisions related to Prepaid Payment Instruments (PPIs) and
Know Your Customer (KYC) direction.

41. Apple's contract manufacturer Foxconn will reportedly invest up to $1 Bn to set up a

manufacturing facility on the outskirts of Bengaluru.

42. Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and UN Women India launched ‘FinEMPOWER’
programme at the BSE.
• It is a year-long joint capacity-building programme between BSE and UN Women to
empower women towards financial security.
• The initiative aims to increase investment in women-led enterprises.
• To increase investment in female leaders and entrepreneurs at BSE, BSE and UN Women
India together organized the “Ring the Bell for Gender Equality ceremony” on the
International Women’s Day.

43. Adani Power has amalgamated its six subsidiaries, including Adani Power (Mundra), with
itself.

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• Subsidiaries are Adani Power Maharashtra Ltd (APML); Adani Power Rajasthan Ltd
(APRL); Udupi Power Corporation Ltd (UPCL); Raipur Energen Ltd (REL); Raigarh Energy
Generation Ltd (REGL) and Adani Power (Mundra) Ltd (APMuL).

44. RBI setup a "3-day Trade Fair" for the benefit of small entrepreneurs at Shilparamam,
Madhapur, Hyderabad under the G20 Presidency of India.
• The fair will help in nourishing the entrepreneurship by encouraging small entrepreneurs.
• In addition to this, RBI organised a "Workshop on Consumer Protection" under the
leadership of Shri. Chinmoy Kumar, Ombudsman of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana and
Chief General Manager, Reserve Bank of India.

45. The Central Government has clarified that the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002
will apply to trade in virtual digital assets (including cryptocurrencies and non-fungible
tokens).
• The financial institutions will also have to register details of their NGO clients on the Darpan
portal of the Niti Aayog and maintain the record for five years after the business
relationship between a client and a reporting entity has ended or the account has been
closed, whichever is later.
• 'Reporting entities' are banks and financial institutions, firms engaged in real estate and
jewellery sectors. They are required to maintain a record of all transactions, including the
record of all cash transactions of more than Rs 10 lakh.

46. SEBI has asked investors to link PAN card to Aadhar.

• The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) issued a circular in March 2022, whereby the
PAN allotted to a person would become inoperative if it is not linked with Aadhaar by March
31, 2023.

47. Ujjivan Small Finance Bank has tied up with Max Life Insurance Company to offer life
insurance products to its customers.

48. Paytm has signed an agreement with the Andhra Pradesh government to drive initiatives in
financial inclusion, public health, cyber security.
• The agreement was signed during the Andhra Pradesh Global Investors Summit 2023.

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• Under the pact, Paytm plans to empower merchants, street vendors and street hawkers in
Andhra Pradesh to accept digital payments and provide them access to loans through its
lending partners.
• Reliance Industries has announced to invest in a 10-gigawatt renewable solar energy
project in Andhra Pradesh.
• Godrej Agrovet Limited (GAVL) has signed an MoU with the Andhra Pradesh govt to set
up manufacturing facility for Edible Oil Refinery & Solvent Extraction Plant.

49. City Union Bank (CUB) announced rolling out of its first-ever credit card, the Dhi CUB Visa
Signature Credit Card.
• It is launched in partnership with credit cards-as-a-service provider 42 Card Solutions Pvt
Ltd (42 CS), as part of its portfolio offerings for its customers.
• 42 CS would manage the end-to-end credit card processing services for CUB by
leveraging an all-in-one cloud-native card management system from Brazilian technology
company, Pismo.
• MD and CEO of CUB - N Kamakodi

50. RBI launched the Mission ‘Har Payment Digital’ during the Digital Payments Awareness
Week (DPAW) 2023, which is observed from March 6 to 12.
• This is part of RBI’s endeavour to make every person in India a user of digital payments.
• The campaign’s theme is “Digital Payment Apnao, Auron ko bhi Sikhao” (Adopt digital
payments and, also teach others).
• RBI will initiate a ‘75 Digital Villages’ programme in observance of 75 years of
Independence. Under this programme, Payment System Operators (PSOs) will adopt 75
villages across the country and convert them into digital payment enabled villages.

51. GST Council has launched e-invoice registration through various private Invoice
Registration Portals.

52. Google announced the completion of the first cohort of its startup’s accelerator programme
for female founders in India.
• The three-month programme included curriculum and engagement opportunities
addressing areas like access to networks, capital, hiring challenges and mentorship.

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53. Kotak Mahindra Asset Management Company has launched a digital campaign called
‘DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality’ to promote digital literacy
among the women.
• The digital campaign showcases Kotak group’s women employees sharing their stories
about supporting and empowering other women in their lives by imparting them the
knowledge of digital literacy.

54. Bengaluru-headquartered Ujjivan Small Finance Bank has launched the 'Unpause
Initiative', a programme designed to assist women who have taken a career break for any
reason and are now ready to return to the workforce.
• As part of the 'Unpause Initiative,' Ujjivan SFB has announced a special Hiring Drive and
Employee referral programme for women who are resuming their careers.
• The hiring programme will be implemented across the bank, and women from all walks of
life and diverse backgrounds are encouraged to apply.

55. One Point One Solutions, a Business Process Management solutions provider, has signed
agreements with Kotak Mahindra Bank and DMI Finance, a pan India credit platform, to
expand its services in Banking, Financial Services and Insurance (BFSI).

56. Yes Bank has partnered with Aadhar Housing Finance to offer home loans at competitive
interest rates.
• This partnership is in accordance with the co-lending framework of the RBI to enable
banks and non-banking companies to come together for lending.

57. SEBI has extended the timeline until March 15 for submission of public comments on the
proposed regulatory framework on ESG rating providers (ERP). Earlier, the deadline for
submission of the comments was March 8.
• Under the consultation paper, ERPs can be allowed to register with the regulator under the
CRA (Credit Rating Agencies) norms.
• The role of ERPs has become important in making investment decisions, but their activities
are not typically subject to regulatory or supervisory at present.
• Therefore, SEBI proposed a regulatory and supervisory framework for ERPs.

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58. SEBI has unveiled a framework for the adoption of cloud services by stock exchanges,
clearing corporations and other regulated entities (REs) including depositories,
Stockbrokers through exchanges, asset management companies (AMCs) and KYC registration
agencies (KRAs).
• The cloud framework has been drafted to provide baseline standards of security and for the
legal and regulatory compliances by the Regulated Entities (REs). It will be in addition to
the existing circulars, guidelines and advisories of Sebi.

59. SEBI has imposed restrictions on the placement of bids, price and volume for the companies
undertaking share buyback through the stock exchange route.
• Under the restrictions, a company will not be able to purchase more than 25% of the
average daily trading volume (in value) of its shares in the 10 trading days preceding the
day in which such purchases are made.

60. SEBI has released the “Securities and Exchange Board of India (Grant of Reward to
Informant under Recovery Proceedings) Guidelines, 2023”.
• Under this mechanism, Rs 20 lakhs or 10% of the amount recovered (whichever is less)
will be given to informants as reward.
• An informant is the person who provides credible information about the assets of the
defaulter under recovery proceedings.

61. National Stock Exchange (NSE) and Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) issued a list of 15
designated Qualified Stockbrokers (QSBs).
• These trading platforms act as QSB w.e.f., July 1, 2023.
• A stockbroker will be designated as QSB based on four parameters — number of active
clients, total available assets of clients, trading volumes. and end-of-day margin obligations.
• All stockbrokers with a total score greater than or equal to 5 on these four parameters
are identified as QSBs.
• QSBs must follow enhanced obligations and discharge responsibilities to ensure
appropriate governance structure, appropriate risk management policy and processes,
scalable infrastructure and appropriate technical capacity among other things.
• List of QSBs -
o Zerodha Broking, 5Paisa Capital, HDFC Securities, IIFL Securities, ICICI Securities,
Motilal Financial Services, Kotak Securities, Sharekhan, Angle One, Anand Rathi
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Share & Stockbrokers, Global Capital Market, Jainam Broking, Nextbillion Wealth
and Investment, and RKSV Securities India, which is operated under the brand
Upstox.

62. India has the 5th highest number of female billionaires at 9 as per the City Index 2023,
based on Forbes’ Live Billionaires Index (March 2023).
• USA has the highest number of female billionaires at 92, followed by China at 46, and
Germany at 32.

63. Bank of Baroda has approved up to 49% divestment in its subsidiary named BoB Financial
Solutions.
• BFSL is a 100%-owned subsidiary of Bank of Baroda.

64. PNB Metlife launched “Genius Plan”, an Individual, Non-Linked, Non-Participating, Savings.
Life Insurance Plan.
• The plan is helping in protecting the child’s future in case of the beneficiary’s absence
ensuring continued benefits.

65. Punjab National Bank (PNB) and Central Warehousing Corporation (CWC) has signed an
MoU to facilitate financing under e-NWR (Electronic Negotiable Warehousing Receipt).
• Purpose - to provide easy finance to farmers, processors and traders against the pledge of
agricultural produce stored in Central Warehousing Corporation (CWC) godowns

66. PayNearby, India’s branchless banking and digital network, has released its annual
‘PayNearby Women Financial Index (PWFI)’ – a detailed analysis on ‘financial consumption
by women at retail stores’ in 2022-23 - in association with the Reserve Bank Innovation Hub
(RBIH).
• As per the report, more than 10,000 women entrepreneurs have dispensed over ₹900
crores of financial services in the last financial year.
• It is the 3rd edition of the report.
• According to the survey, more than 75% of the retailers mentioned that women within the
age group of 18-30 years were the most digitally adept, with over 60% of this age bracket
owning a smartphone and accessing digital content through it. This was immediately
followed by the age group 31-40 years.
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67. Axis Bank has collaborated with ITC Limited to offer Rural Lending Products to farmers.
• This partnership will enable Axis Bank to cater to the financial requirements of the unserved
and under-served farmers based in the remote regions of the country.

68. PhonePe has received the ‘payment aggregators’ licence from RBI.
• Recently, PhonePe has achieved an annualised total payment value of $1 trillion (or ₹84
lakh crore), mainly on account of its lead in UPI transactions.

69. Ministry of Corporate Affairs is going all out to build capacity among its cadre/ posts and
other organisations to meet the requirements of a vision of ‘New India’.
• The Centre’s ‘New India’ vision aims to transform India into a modern and developed
country. The vision encompasses various sectors, including the economy, infrastructure,
social welfare, healthcare, education, and agriculture.
• MCA has appointed Grant Thornton Bharat LLP to assist in the capacity building.

70. Indian Bank has launched the “IND SUPER 400 DAYS”, term deposit scheme.
Category Interest Rates
Rate of Interest Public: 7.10 % p.a
Women: 7.15 % p.a
Additional Interest Senior Citizen: 0.50 % p.a
Rate Super Senior Citizen: 0.75 % p.a
Staff: 1.00% p.a.
Staff Senior Citizen: 1.50% p.a.
Staff Super Senior Citizen: 1.75 % p.a

71. India-based IDFC Mutual Fund is set to operate under a new brand name, called Bandhan
Mutual Fund.

72. RBI has infused liquidity amounting to ₹82,650 crore into the banking system via the 14-day
Variable Rate Repo (VRR) auction.
• Right now, the RBI is aiming at tightening liquidity.
• Against the notified ₹1 lakh crore under the VRR auction, banks borrowed ₹82,650 crore
at a weighted average rate of 6.53%.
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• Reason for infusing money – maturity date for LTROs (long-term repo operations) is
coming near. Banks’ will have to make payment back to RBI. Banks’ liquidity will get sucked
up and it needs to be filled again.

73. Suryoday Small Finance Bank has launched the ‘Blossom Women’s Savings Account’
with 7% per annum interest rate with monthly interest credit.
• Minimum age for opening the account – 18 years

74. RBI has granted an ‘Infrastructure Finance Company’ (IFC) status to Indian Renewable
Energy Development Agency (IREDA). It was earlier classified as ‘Investment and Credit
Company’ (ICC).
• Benefit - The recognition of IREDA as an IFC will increase the investors’ confidence,
enhance the brand value, and generate positive outlook in the market.
• With IFC status, IREDA will keep contributing towards Govt. of India’s target of 500 GW
installed capacity of non-fossil fuels by 2030.
Knowledge Nuggets -
• Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency Limited (IREDA) is a Mini Ratna
(Category – I) Enterprise under the administrative control of Ministry of New and
Renewable Energy (MNRE).
• It was established as an NBFC in 1987 under the Companies Act of 1956. It is also
registered with RBI as an NBFC. It extends finance for new and renewable energy
projects.
• IREDA’s Motto is “Energy for Ever.”
• Chairman and MD of IREDA - Pradip Kumar Das

75. The Wholesale Price Index (WPI)-based inflation declined to a 25-month low of 3.85% in
February 2023.
• This is the ninth straight month of decline in WPI-based inflation.

76. Jammu and Kashmir Bank (J&K Bank) has signed a corporate agency agreement with Life
Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) to sell LIC’s insurance products through banks’
network.
• The agreement will be operational/effective from April 1, 2023.

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77. State-owned Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) has sold 2% of its equity stake in NMDC.
• After this divestment, the stake would be reduced to 11.69%.

78. HDFC Bank has launched the first co-branded credit card for Kirana members and small
merchants with Flipkart Wholesale.

79. Bandhan Mutual Fund’s recently launched US Debt (ETF) Fund has been renamed as the
Bandhan US Treasury Bond 0-1 Year Fund of Fund.
• The US Treasury Bond 0–1-year Fund of Fund is an open-ended FoF that will invest in
units of JPMorgan BetaBuilders US Treasury Bond 0–1-year ETF.
• IDFC Mutual Fund was renamed Bandhan MF after the lender acquired the asset
manager.

80. PNB MetLife, has introduced a Sustainable Equity Fund to invest in companies which are
leading in Environment, Social and Governance (ESG).
• PNB MetLife India Insurance Company Limited (PNB MetLife) recently announced the
launch of its 20 new branches across the country.

81. Canara Bank has launched the Rupay Credit Card through UPI using the BHIM app in
collaboration with NPCI.
• With this introduction, Canara Bank customers can link their active Rupay Credit Card to
UPI and make merchant payments without the physical use of a card, like account-based
UPI transactions.

82. Go Digit General Insurance has launched three new plans under Digit Health Insurance
policy.
• The three plans — Digit Double Wallet plan, Digit Infinity Wallet plan, and Digit
Worldwide Treatment plan — will cater to the newly-evolved health insurance needs of
Indians post the pandemic.

83. ICICI Bank has launched the ‘Startup Ecosystem Banking’ - a digital and physical suite of
banking services for startups.

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84. According to the National Statistics Office (NSO) data, the per capita income in terms of
net national income, in current prices, stood at ₹1,72,000 in 2022-23 with a growth rate of
15.8% over the previous year.
• This would be nearly double of ₹86,647 in 2014-15.
• Per capita income at the current prices was estimated at ₹1,27,065 and ₹1,48,524
respectively for the years 2020-21 and 2021-22.

85. Jio Platforms, the digital arm of Reliance Industries Ltd, will buy US-based communications
equipment maker Mimosa Networks for $60 million to bolster its 5G telecom and broadband
services.

86. According to the Chief Economic Advisor V. Anantha Nageswaran, India’s inflation rate
was expected to ease in 2023-24, but added monsoon-related issues would be a key risk.
• El Nino conditions could have a bearing on the monsoon, which in turn, would have an
impact on food prices, inflation and economic growth.
• In 2022, developed economies saw a high inflation rate of 8-9%, compared with their
average of 2%, while India saw an inflation rate of 7%.
• India would likely be a $3.4 trillion economy in 2022-23 and could become a $5 trillion
economy by 2025-26 or 2026-27 and reach $7 trillion by 2030.

87. Ministry of Finance has amended the Prevention of Money Laundering (Maintenance of
Records) Rules for widening the scope of Know your Customer (KYC) norms to include
Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs), non-profit organisations (NPOs) and those dealing in
virtual digital assets (VDA) as reporting entities.
• The decision has been taken ahead of the expected Financial Action Task Force (FATF)
assessment of India later this year.
• The Ministry has also lowered the ownership percentage from 25% to 10% in a reporting
entity, thereby treating any individual or group holding 10% ownership in a reporting entity
as a “beneficial owner” for the purpose of PMLA rules.
• According to the notification, every banking company, financial institution or intermediary
will have to register the details of a non-profit organisation client on the Darpan portal of
NITI Aayog.

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• They will also have to maintain such registration records for a period of 5 years after the
business relationship between a client and a reporting entity has ended or the account
closed, whichever is later.

88. Silicon Valley Bank (SVB)—the 16th largest bank in the United States—was shut down by
federal regulators on March 10, 2023.
• The bank's failure came because of several factors, including its investments losing value
and its depositors withdrawing large amounts of money.
• Reason – Federal Reserve increased interest rates in response to high inflation, Silicon
Valley Bank’s bonds became riskier investments. Because investors could buy bonds at
higher interest rates, Silicon Valley Bank’s bonds declined in value.
Note: Cover the topic comprehensively through this video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7vtxFL5Tmk

89. Central Government has released the 14th instalment of tax devolution of over Rs 1.40 lakh
crore to states to increase the capital expenditure.
• It is against the normal monthly devolution of Rs 70,159 crore.
• Currently, 41% of taxes collected by the Centre is devolved in 14 instalments among
states in a financial year on the recommendations of the 15th Finance Commission.
• As per data by Controller General of Accounts, the Centre has devolved Rs 6.68 lakh
crore to states during April 2022-January 2023, up 22.4% from FY22.
• The Budget for 2022-23 had projected tax devolution to states of Rs 8.17 lakh crore, which
was then increased to Rs 9.16 lakh crore in the revised estimates, up from Rs 8.98 lakh
crore devolved last year.

90. According to the data released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme
Implementation (MoSPI), retail inflation in India was 6.44% over the RBI's 6% upper
tolerance band for the second straight month in February 2023.
• Inflation based on the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) moderated to a two-year low of 3.85%
in February from 4.73% in January.

91. The finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced that the digital or e-rupee worth over
Rs 130 crore is in circulation on a pilot basis as of February 28.
• The RBI had launched pilots in digital rupee in the wholesale segment on November 1,
2022, and in the retail segment on December 1, 2022.

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• Nine banks -State Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, Union Bank of India, HDFC Bank, ICICI
Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Yes Bank, IDFC First Bank and HSBC -have been
participating in the digital rupee wholesale pilot.

92. RBI has permitted banks from 18 countries to open Special Vostro Rupee Accounts
(SVRAs) to settle payments in rupees.
• These 18 nations include Botswana, Fiji, Germany, Guyana, Israel, Kenya, Malaysia,
Mauritius, Myanmar, New Zealand, Oman, Russia, Seychelles, Singapore, Sri Lanka,
Tanzania, Uganda and the United Kingdom.
• A vostro account is an account that domestic banks hold for foreign banks in the former's
domestic currency, in this case, the rupee.

93. OmniCard has launched UPI services without the need to link a Bank Account for its users,
in collaboration with NPCI.
• OmniCard ensures highest safety features for its users by offering a bank-independent UPI
facility with its own UPI handle @OMNI.
• Users can now pay to any UPI QR code or any UPI ID using their OmniCard wallet balance
without exposing their bank accounts.
• OmniCard is an RBI-licensed PPI offering India's 1st Omnichannel spending platform with
UPI services for individuals as well as businesses.

94. Bank of Baroda has partnered with the Tamil Nadu government to offer co-branded RuPay
Platinum Debit Card for the beneficiaries of the state government's 'Pudhumai Penn'
scheme.
• The card offers personal accident insurance coverage up to Rs 2 lakh per annum and the
joining and annual fees for the first year has been waived.
• The 'Pudhumai Penn' scheme of the government aims to enhance the enrolment ratio of
girls from government schools to higher educational institutions.
• The scheme provides the financial assistance of Rs 1,000 per month to ever girl till the
completion of their degree course.

95. UBS Group AG (multinational investment bank and financial services) is planning to acquire
Credit Suisse (based in Switzerland).

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96. HSBC has announced a deal to buy the U.K. subsidiary of collapsed U.S. tech startup lender
Silicon Valley Bank.

97. AIS App is a free mobile application, provided by the Income Tax Department.
• The app is meant to provide a comprehensive view of the Annual Information Statement
(AIS), which is a collection of various information pertaining to a taxpayer.

98. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has given the approval for India and Tanzania to use their
national currencies for bilateral trade settlement through Special Rupee Vostro Accounts.
• The use of national currencies in bilateral trade settlements is expected to reduce the cost
of transactions and enhance the efficiency of cross-border trade.
• Under this mechanism, authorised banks in India will open Special Rupee Vostro
Accounts (SRVAs) of correspondent banks of Tanzania.
• Mechanism - Tanzanian banks will have to open Special Rupee Vostro Accounts in India
by approaching authorised Indian banks, who will in turn approach RBI for their approval
with details of the arrangement.
• Bank of Baroda has received RBI's approval for opening SRVAs for its foreign branches
and subsidiaries situated in various countries including Tanzania.
• This arrangement is now applicable to 18 countries which are, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda,
Botswana, Fiji, Germany, Guyana, Israel, Malaysia, Mauritius, Myanmar, New Zealand,
Oman, Russia, Seychelles, Singapore, Sri Lanka and the United Kingdom.

99. Jindal Steel and Power Ltd (JSPL) will manufacture India's first fire-resistant steel
structures at its unit in Raigarh, Chhattisgarh.
• The BIS 15103 grade steel structural steels are designed to withstand temperatures up to
600 degrees Celsius for 3 hours.
• JSPL is a part of OP Jindal Group.

100. Hindustan Zinc’s Mines has bagged the 1st GreenCo Silver rating by CII for its
sustainable mining operations.
• Hindustan Zinc is a Vedanta Group company and India’s largest & only integrated
producer of Zinc, Lead & Silver.
• The GreenCo Rating is a holistic framework that evaluates businesses on the
environmental friendliness of their activities using a life cycle approach.
pg. 105
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Knowledge Nuggets -
• Hindustan Zinc is ranked 1st in Asia-Pacific for the fourth consecutive year and globally
3rd in S&P Global Corporate Responsibility Assessment in 2022 amongst Mining & Metal
companies.
• Hindustan Zinc is the only Indian company to be recognised at the S&P Global Platts
Metal Award 2022 and has won the two prestigious awards for ‘Industry Leadership
Award – Base, Precious and Specialty Metals’ Award and ‘Corporate Social
Responsibility’ Award.
• Hindustan Zinc is also certified as ‘Great Place to Work 2022’, ‘Company with Great
Managers 2022’ by People Business and the People-first HR Excellence Award.
• Hindustan Zinc governs about ~80% of the growing Zinc market in India.

101. Employees Provident Fund Organization (EPFO) has added 14.86 lakh net members in
the month of January 2023.
• Out of 14.86 lakh members added during the month, around 7.77 lakh new members have
come under ambit of EPFO for the first time.
• The age-groups of 18-25 years constitutes 55.52% of total of new members during the
month.
• In terms of net member addition, top five states are Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu,
Gujarat, Delhi. These states together added 58.85% of net member addition during the
month.

102. NTPC Green Energy (NGEL), a wholly owned subsidiary of NTPC, signed a Joint Venture
Agreement with Indian Oil Corporation (IOCL) for setting up of renewable energy projects
to meet Round the Clock power requirement of IOCL Refineries.
• NTPC, through its wholly owned subsidiary, NGEL, has set an ambitious target of building a
renewable generation portfolio of 60 GW over the next decade.

103. Ministry of Finance has released the “Monthly Economic Review- February 2023”.
• India’s Real GDP growth in 2022-23 is projected at 7% by NSO, MoSPI in its 2nd Advance
Estimates (AE), the same as in the 1st AE.
• The overall foodgrain production in 2022-23 is estimated to be 2.5% higher.

pg. 106
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104. Axis Bank has signed a co-lending agreement with Autotrac Finance through
YubiCo.Lend platform to offer new tractor loans for agricultural and allied activities in rural
segments of the country.

105. Competition Commission of India has approved LIC Mutual Fund's acquisition of IDBI
Mutual Fund.
• Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) is the sponsor of LIC Mutual Fund (LIC MF) and
the parent entity of LIC AMC and LIC TC.

106. World Bank’s global development institution IFC has announced to invest Rs 600 crore in a
new last mile mobility (LMM) company set up by Mahindra & Mahindra.

pg. 107
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• The new company will have the last mile mobility division, including three-wheelers (Alfa,
Treo, Zor) and four-wheeler SCVs (Jeeto).
• IFC’s financing will scale up electric mobility in last mile connectivity of passenger and
cargo segments and will enable the development and manufacturing of new generation
products in this space.

107. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das laid the foundation stone for
establishment of a ‘Greenfield Data Centre’ and ‘Enterprise Computing & Cybersecurity
Training Institute’ in Bhubaneswar, Odisha.

108. Brokerage firm Geojit Financial Services has entered into an agreement with ESAF
Small Finance Bank to offer a special 3-in-1 bundled account to the ESAF SFB
customers.
• Under this one of its kind 3-in-1 bundled account service, ESAF SFB savings account
holders can open Geojit demat account and trading account for free.

109. Power Finance Corporation has signed an agreement with Japan Bank for International
Cooperation (JBIC) for a loan of about Rs 165 crore (JPY 2.65 billion).
• Under this facility, JBIC has proposed to finance some of PFC's projects which ensure
effective reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and conservation of the global
environment.
• This pact was executed under a general agreement signed between PFC and JBIC for JPY
(Japanese Yen) 30 billion.

110. Asian Development Bank (ADB) and SAEL Industries Limited have signed an
agreement of up to ₹7.54 billion to promote the generation of biomass energy using
agricultural residue to diversify India’s energy mix and reduce carbon intensity.
• SAEL Industries Limited has developed a business model to use crop residues as fuel in
waste-to-energy projects.
• The company aims to grow its portfolio to 3.5 GW over the next four years by adding 100
MW of new biomass and 600 MW of new solar capacity annually.

111. Amazon Pay has collaborated with Bharat BillPay, the biller platform of the National
Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), to strengthen its loan repayment facility.
pg. 108
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• Loan repayment is one of the top categories in terms of bill payment, amongst other options
such as electricity and municipal tax payments.
• The category facilitates loan repayment option for customers who avail of their loans
through banks, microfinance institutions, and NBFCs, and need a convenient payment
option to pay their EMIs on time.

112. International Financial Services Centre Authority (IFSCA) has formed a committee,
chaired by G. Padmanabhan (former Executive Director of RBI), to provide measures required
to encourage the Indian fintech and startups domiciled abroad to relocate to GIFT IFSC.
• The committee would identify issues that are critical to the development of GIFT IFSC as a
global Fintech Hub.
• In the 2023-24, the government proposed an extension of tax benefits to funds relocating to
IFSC, GIFT City till March 31, 2025.

113. Canara Bank has sold its stake in Russian joint venture Commercial Indo Bank LLC
(CIBL) to the other venture partner State Bank of India (SBI) for about Rs 121.29 crore.
• CIBL, incorporated in 2003, is a joint venture in Russia between SBI (60%) and Canara
Bank (40%).

114. Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) has acquired 10% stake in Indian eyewear
startup Lenskart Solutions Pvt for $500 million.
• Lenskart got a valuation of $4.2 billion.

115. Karur Vysya Bank has signed a bancassurance agreement with SBI Life Insurance to
sell the insurance via bank’s branches.

116. Union Cabinet has increased the rate of Dearness Allowance/ Dearness Relief for
Central Governments employees and pensioners respectively by 4% over and above the
existing rate of 38% of the Basic Pay/Pension.
• The rate is effective from 01.01.2023.
• The govt has already released the additional instalment of DA/DR with an increased rate of
42%.
• The combine impact on the exchequer on account of both Dearness Allowance and
Dearness Relief would be Rs.12,815.60 crore per annum.
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117. Finance Bill 2023 has been passed by Lok Sabha. Changes in the Finance Bill -
A) LTCG Tax on Debt Mutual Funds
• Ministry of Finance has scrapped the long-term capital gains treatment (with
indexation benefits) for income from debt mutual funds and other schemes that invest
up to 35% in equity shares of domestic companies.
• The returns from such funds will now be treated as short term capital gains.
• Currently, capital gains arising from transfer of mutual fund units (except for equity funds)
held for more than 3 years, are considered as long-term investments and taxed at 20%
with indexation benefits.
• These rules will impact investments made on or after 1 April 2023.
Knowledge Nuggets -
• Indexation means adjusting the returns on investment against the inflation rate to reduce
overall tax liability.
B) Securities Transaction Tax (STT) on F&O
• Ministry of Finance has also raised the Securities Transaction Tax (STT) on futures
and options contracts in the stock market by 25% from April 1, 2023.
• Options contracts will now attract 0.0625% STT, from 0.05% earlier, and futures contracts
will attract a levy of 0.0125%, up from 0.01%.
C) GST on Tobacco
• The maximum GST compensation cess rate for pan masala will be 51% of the retail sale
price per unit compared with 135% ad valorem at present.
• The cess rate for tobacco has been fixed at Rs 4,170 per thousand sticks plus 290% ad
valorem or 100% of the retail sale price per unit.
• The cess is levied over and above the highest GST rate of 28%.

118. The interest rate on employees' provident fund deposits has been increased to 8.15%
for FY23 from a four-decade low of 8.1% in the previous year.

119. ICICI Lombard General Insurance has launched ‘Anywhere Cashless’ feature for
health insurance policyholders to avail cashless facilities at any hospital, even if not part of
ICICI Lombard’s current network of hospitals.
• It is the first time in the insurance industry to launch this feature.

pg. 110
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120. Jammu and Kashmir Bank has signed a corporate agency agreement with Bajaj
Allianz Life Insurance Company to sell life insurance products to its customers, with effect
from April 1.

121. CRIF Connect Private, a subsidiary of CRIF S.p.A, has received the Reserve Bank of
India’s approval to commence operations as an NBFC Account Aggregator (AA).
• CRIF Connect Private is an end-to-end encrypted platform that securely fetches and
transfers a consumer’s financial data, based on RBI-approved guidelines.

122. South Indian Bank has partnered with the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) for
direct tax collections from retail and corporate taxpayers.

123. IDFC First Bank has partnered with Swedish company Crunchfish to pilot a project to
demonstrate offline retail payments.
• The project will give access to digital payments even when there is no network.
• The unique digital payment solution was designed by Crunchfish for merchants and
customers under the RBI's Regulatory Sandbox Program.

124. National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has notified that an interchange fee of
up to 1.1% will be applicable on merchant UPI (Unified Payments Interface) transactions
done using prepaid payment instruments (PPIs)–wallets or cards–with effect from April 1,
2023.
• The charge will be levied on UPI payments of over ₹2,000 made to online merchants,
large merchants and small offline merchants.
• Interchange will not be applicable on peer-to-peer and P2M transactions between bank
accounts and PPI wallets.

125. Central Govt has increased the upper age limit by 5 years of ombudsman of the
Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) to 70 years from 65 years
earlier.
• The new rules will be called as Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority
(Redressal of Subscriber Grievance) (Amendment) Regulations, 2023.

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126. India’s National Thermal Power Corporation has formed a joint venture with Sri
Lanka’s state-run Ceylon Electricity Board to build a 135 MW solar power plant in Sampur,
Trincomalee.

127. The Department of Financial Services (DFS) had given Rs 8,800 crore to the State
Bank of India as part of recapitalisation exercise in FY18.
• The information was given in the Compliance Audit Report No. 1 of 2023 of the Comptroller
and Auditor General of India on Union Government (Economic and Service Ministries -
Civil) for the year ended March 2021.
• DFS infused Rs 831 crore into Bank of Maharashtra in 2019-20 against the bank's
demand of Rs 798 crore to avoid surrender of funds amounting to Rs 33 crore.

128. SEBI has introduced a framework for 'scheme of arrangement' by unlisted stock
exchanges, clearing corporations and depositories.
• A scheme of arrangement is a court-approved agreement between a company and its
shareholders or creditors. It may affect mergers and amalgamations and may alter
shareholder or creditor rights.
• At present, there is no specific provision for unlisted Market Infrastructure Institutions
(MIIs) -- stock exchanges, clearing corporations and depositories -- to file the draft scheme
of arrangement with Sebi prior to filing the application before any court or tribunal.
• Separately, SEBI has also postponed the freezing of mutual funds with nominees till
September 30, 2023.

GDP FORECASTS
1. According to Assocham-Crisil Ratings data, the Assets Under Management (AUM) of
Asset Reconstruction Companies (ARCs) is expected to grow almost 10% this fiscal to
₹1,19,000 crore after a period of relative stagnation.

2. Moody’s Investors Services has released the Global Macro Outlook 2023-24.
• India’s GDP forecast -
o 2022 – 6.8%
o 2023 – 5.5%
o 2024 – 6.5%
pg. 112
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• Global GDP forecast -

o 2022 – 2.7%
o 2023 – 2%
o 2024 – 2.4%

3. Crisil Ratings forecasted a 6% growth rate for India for 2024.

• This growth rate is lower than the Reserve Bank of India’s forecast of 6.4% growth and
the Economic Survey’s projection of 6.5%.
• Over the next five fiscal years the economy is expected to grow at 6.8% annually, driven by
capital and productivity increases.
• Infrastructure spending will drive 12-16% growth in overall capex next fiscal.

4. Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has forecasted 5.9%
growth rate for India for FY24 and 7% in FY25.
• OECD expects India’s gross domestic product (GDP) to grow at 6.9% in FY23.

5. According to the finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Indian economy is expected to grow
at 7% in FY23.

pg. 113
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APPOINTMENTS
1. Union Government has appointed Rajesh Rai as the new Chairman and Managing Director
of ITI Limited (Indian Telephone Industries Limited) for a period of five years with effect from
February 21, 2023.

2. Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Assocham) has appointed Sanjay

Nayar as its new vice-president.
• President - Ajay Singh (CMD of SpiceJet)
Knowledge Nuggets –
• Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) is a non-
governmental trade association and advocacy group based in New Delhi, India.
• It aims to promote both domestic and international trade, and reduce trade barriers while
fostering conducive environment for the growth of trade and industry of India.
• ASSOCHAM was established in 1920.

3. Rajeev Raghuvanshi has been appointed as the Drug Controller General of India.
• The DCGI heads the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) which is
responsible for ensuring quality drugs supply across the country. It also has authority to
give approval to new drugs and regulating clinical trials.

4. Dr K Govindaraj has been unanimously nominated to take over as President of FIBA Asia.
• FIBA HQ – Switzerland
• FIBA Asia HQ – Beirut (capital of Lebanon)

5. Ranveer Singh has been appointed as the brand ambassador of PepsiCo.

• PepsiCo has launched a new campaign called “Rise Up Baby” to target young consumers.

6. Former bureaucrat Shailesh Pathak has been appointed as the new Secretary General of
Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI).
• FICCI President - Sanjiv Mehta (MD of Indian Metals & Ferro Alloys Ltd) for 2022-23
Knowledge Nuggets -
• Established in 1927, FICCI is the largest and oldest apex business organisation in India.

pg. 114
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• It is a non-government and not-for-profit organization for businesses of India.

7. Vo Van Thuong has been elected as the new President of Vietnam.

Knowledge Nuggets -
• Vietnam Capital - Hanoi; Currency - đồng; Language – Vietnamese
• Form of Government - Unitary Marxist–Leninist one-party socialist republic
• Vietnam’s Official Name – Socialist Republic of Vietnam
• Major exports of Vietnam - Electronics, textiles products, machinery, footwear products,
transportation products, wooden products, seafood products, steel, crude oil, pepper, rice
and coffee
• Vietnam’s service sector accounts for the largest share in the country’s GDP. The
second largest contribution is made by the secondary sector, followed by the primary
sector.
• India imports a lot of goods from Vietnam. Therefore, India’s balance of trade with
Vietnam remains negative usually. However, India exports goods to Vietnam as well.

8. Rajesh Malhotra has been appointed as the Principal Director General of the Press
Information Bureau.

9. Pramerica Life Insurance Limited has appointed Pankaj Gupta as the Managing Director
and Chief Executive Officer.

pg. 115
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10. Senior IPS officer Rashmi Shukla has been appointed as the Director General of the
Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB).
• She is currently the Additional DG of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF).

11. Bola Tinubu has won the Presidential elections of Nigeria.

12. Jishnu Barua has become the new chairperson of power regulator Central Electricity
Regulatory Commission (CERC).

13. Conrad K. Sangma has been elected as the 12th Chief Minister of Meghalaya. It is his
second term.

14. Neiphiu Rio has been elected as the Chief Minister of Nagaland for 5th term.

15. Hockey India has appointed South African Craig Fulton as new Chief Coach of Indian men’s
hockey team.

16. Dr Manik Saha has been sworn-in as the Chief Minister of Tripura.

17. Salhoutuonuo Kruse has become Nagaland’s first woman minister to be elected to the
Nagaland Legislative Assembly.

18. Indian-American Arun Subramaniam has been confirmed as first South Asian District
Judge for the Southern District of New York.

19. SS Dubey took charge as the 28th Controller General of Accounts (CGA), Ministry of
Finance.
Knowledge Nuggets -
• Controller General of Accounts (CGA), in the Department of Expenditure, Ministry of
Finance, is the Principal Accounting Adviser to Government of India and is responsible
for establishing and maintaining a technically sound Management Accounting System.
• The Office of CGA prepares monthly and annual analysis of expenditure, revenues,
borrowings and various fiscal indicators for the Union Government.

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20. Group Captain Shaliza Dhami has become the first woman officer in the Indian Air Force to
command a front-line combat unit.

21. Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani has been appointed as the Prime
Minister of Qatar.

22. Colonel Geeta Rana has taken charge of an independent field workshop in a forward and
remote location in eastern Ladakh.
• She is from the Corps of Electronics and Mechanical Engineers (EME).

23. Rohit Jawa will take over as the new Managing Director and CEO of Hindustan Unilever
Ltd. from 27th June 2023.
• Jawa will replace Sanjiv Mehta as Hindustan Unilever's MD & CEO.
• Jawa will join the HUL as CEO designate and whole-time director from 1st April 2023.
• Jawa will also take over as President of Unilever South Asia w.e.f., 1st April 2023.

24. B Gopkumar, the managing director and CEO of Axis Securities, has been named as the new
CEO of Axis Mutual Fund.

25. Xi Jinping has been elected as the President of China for a third term.

26. Senior Nepali Congress leader Ram Chandra Paudel has been elected as new President of
Nepal.

27. Mohit Joshi has been appointed as MD and CEO of Tech Mahindra.

28. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has approved the re-appointment of Sumant Kathpalia as
managing director and chief executive officer (MD & CEO) of the bank for two years, with
effect from 24 March 2023.

29. Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) has appointed Tablesh Pandey as its MD, with effect from
April 1, 2023.
• LIC presently has four managing directors.

pg. 117
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• Government has given Siddarth Mohanty the charge of LIC’s chairmanship for a period
of 3 months.
o Currently, Mohanty is MD and CEO of LIC Housing Finance.
Knowledge Nuggets -
• Parliament of India passed the Life Insurance Corporation Act, 1956, and the Life
Insurance Corporation of India was created on 1st September 1956.
• Life Insurance in its modern form came to India from England in the year 1818. Oriental
Life Insurance Company started by Europeans in Calcutta was the first life insurance
company on Indian Soil.

30. Surekha Yadav, Asia's first woman loco pilot, has now become the first female to operate
the newly introduced semi-high speed Vande Bharat Express train.
• She achieved the feat as she piloted the semi-high-speed train between Solapur station
and Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) in Mumbai.

31. MS Dhoni has been roped in as the brand ambassador of Viacom18.

• Mahendra Singh Dhoni's fans have given the cricketer a new nickname: 'Thala', which
means head or leader in Tamil. Dhoni has been given several nicknames: Captain cool,
Mahi, MSD, etc.

32. The government has appointed Deepak Mohanty as the chairman of Pension Fund
Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA).

33. Li Qiang has been appointed as new Premier of China.

34. India's Kavilmadam Ramaswami Parvathy has been appointed by UN Secretary-General

Antonio Guterres as the United Nations Resident Coordinator in Tajikistan.
• Parvathy has served in leading roles at the World Food Programme in Türkiye and
Afghanistan.

35. Indian American attorney Arun Subramanian became the first South Asia judge of the
Manhattan Federal District Court of New York.

pg. 118
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36. Nepali Congress senior leader Ram Chandra Paudel has been elected the new President of
Nepal.
• Ram Sahaya Prasad Yadav has been elected as Vice President of Nepal.

37. K Krithivasan has been appointed as the new CEO of Tata Consultancy Group.

38. Gianni Infantino (from Switzerland) has been appointed as the President of FIFA (HQ -
Zürich, Switzerland) for a third time.

39. Vivek Gambir has been appointed as Chairman by boAT. The parent company of boAT is
Imagine Marketing.
• Sameer Mehta has been appointed as MD and CEO.

40. ICICI Prudential Life Insurance has named Anup Bagchi as MD and CEO for 5 years,
effective June 19, 2023.

41. G. Krishnakumar has been appointed as Chairman and Managing Director of Bharat
Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL).

42. Former Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff has been elected as the head of New
Development Bank (NDB), a multilateral financial institution set up by the five BRICS (Brazil,
Russia, India, China, South Africa) countries.
• He replaced Marcus Troyjo, who is also from Brazil.

43. Salima Tete (Indian Women's Hockey Team midfielder) has been appointed as the AHF
Athletes Ambassador from India for a term of two years between 25th March 2023 to 25th
March 2025.
• The certificate and the position were accepted by Salima Tete during the AHF Congress
held in Mungyeong, Korea.
Knowledge Nuggets -
• Asian Hockey Federation is headquartered in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
• It was formed in 1958.
• It is affiliated under the International Hockey Federation.

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44. The Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has
reappointed Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi for a second four-year term in office
beginning in early December 2023.
Knowledge Nuggets -
• IAEA HQ - Vienna, Austria
• Established – 1957
• Members – 176 countries

45. Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, has named an eight-year-old US-born Mongolian
boy as the reincarnation of a spiritual leader. He has been named as the 10th Khalkha
Jetsun Dhampa Rinpoche, the third most important leader in Tibetan Buddhism.

46. Lalit Kumar Gupta has been appointed as the CMD of Cotton Corporation of India (a mini-
ratna company under Ministry of Textile).
• Cotton Corporation of India HQ - Mumbai

47. Scottish National Party elected Humza Yousaf as its new leader.
• She has become the first person of colour and the first Muslim to serve as Scotland’s first
minister since the post was established in 1999.

IMPORTANT DAYS
1. February 27 - National Protein Day (4th edition); Theme – Easy Protein for All

2. February 28 – Rare Disease Day; Theme - Share Your Colours

3. March 1 –
• Civil Accounts Day (47th edition)
• World Civil Defence Day; Theme - the role of information technology in risk assessment
• Zero Discrimination Day; Theme – Save Lives: Decriminalise
• World Seagrass Day (1st edition)

4. March 3 –
• World Wildlife Day; Theme - Partnerships for Wildlife Conservation
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• March 3 - World Hearing Day; Theme - Ear and hearing care for all! Let’s make it a reality
o WHO India puts Kerala’s girl Rizwana’s photo on its World Hearing Day’s poster.
Rizwana is a final year MBBS student.

5. March 4 –
• World Obesity Day; Theme - 'Changing Perspectives: Let's Talk About Obesity'
• World Day to Fight Against Sexual Exploitation
• National Safety Day (52nd edition); Theme – Out Aim-Zero Harm
o March 4-10 - National Safety Week (52nd edition); Theme – Out Aim-Zero Harm
• National Security Day (Rashtriya Suraksha Diwas)

6. March 5 - International Day for Disarmament and Non-Proliferation Awareness (1st edition)

7. March 6 - National Pharmacy Education Day (birth anniversary of Professor Mahadeva Lal
Schroff, who established pharmacy education in India)
Knowledge Nuggets -
• The Pharmacy Council of India was set up via the Pharmacy Act, 1948 to regulate the
pharmacy education in India.
• President - Montu M. Patel

8. March 8 – International Women’s Day; Theme - DigitALL: Innovation and technology for
gender equality
• Minister of Housing & Urban Affairs Shri Hardeep Singh Puri launched Swachhotsav,
3-week women-led swachhata campaign, under the Swachh Bharat Mission Urban 2.0.

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• The campaign aims to recognize and celebrate the transition from women in sanitation to
women-led sanitation.
• The first edition of Women Icons leading Sanitation & Waste Management (WINS)
Challenge-2023 was launched to recognize high-impact women entrepreneurs working
to achieve urban swachhata.
• The nominations for the WINS Awards-2023 will begin 8th March onwards.
• Swachhata Yatra will kick-off on 10th March and will conclude on 30th March, which has
been declared as International Day of Zero Waste by the United Nations General
Assembly.

9. March 9 (2nd Thursday of March) - World Kidney Day; Theme - Kidney Health for All –
Preparing for the unexpected, supporting the vulnerable

10. March 10 –
• Central Industrial Security Force Raising Day (54th edition)
• International Day of Women Judges
• 2023 Campaign - “Women in Justice, women for justice”

11. March 13 - World Rotaract Day; Theme - Create Hope in the World
• March 13-19 – World Rotaract Week

12. March 14 -
• International Day of Action for Rivers (26th edition)
• International Day of Mathematics; Theme – Mathematics for Everyone
Knowledge Nuggets -
• International Mathematical Union HQ - Berlin, Germany
• International Mathematical Union President - Hiraku Nakajima (Japan)
• IMU is a member of the International Science Council (ISC), which was created in 2018
as the result of a merger between the International Council for Science (ICSU) and the
International Social Science Council (ISSC).
• The International Science Council (ISC) is a non-governmental organization having 40
international scientific Unions and Associations and over 140 national and regional
scientific organizations as its members.

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13. March 15 –
• World Consumer Rights Day; Theme - Empowering consumers through clean energy
transitions
• International Day to Combat Islamophobia (1st edition)

14. March 16 - National Vaccine Day/National Immunization Day (also called as “Polio Ravivar”)

15. March 17 – World Sleep Day (16th edition); Theme - Sleep is Essential for Health
• Slogan – Heard around the World

16. March 18 –
• Global Recycling Day (6th edition); Theme - Creative Innovation
• Ordnance Factory Day

17. March 20 –
• World Day of Theatre for Children and Young People
• World Oral Health Day; Theme - Be Proud of Your Mouth
• World Sparrow Day; Theme - I Love Sparrows
• International Day of Happiness; Theme - Be Mindful. Be Grateful. Be Kind
• Spring Equinox 2023
• Pakhala Dibasa (Odisha)
• UN French Language Day
Knowledge Nuggets –
• There are six official languages of the UN. These are Arabic, Chinese,
English, French, Russian and Spanish.
• Important days -
o Arabic Language Day (18 December)
o Chinese Language Day (20 April)
o English Language Day (23 April)
o French Language Day (20 March)
o Russian Language Day (6 June)
o Spanish Language Day (23 April)

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18. March 21 –
• International Day of Forests; Theme - "Forest and Health”
• International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
• World Down Syndrome Day
• World Poetry Day; Theme - Always a Poet, Even in Prose
• World Puppetry Day; Theme - The Call of the Forest
• International Nowruz Day (Parsi’s New Year)

19. March 22 – World Water Day; Theme - Accelerating Change

• UN 2023 Water Conference was held in New York, USA from March 22-24.
• 2018–2028 - International Decade for Action on Water for Sustainable Development
• United Nations World Water Development Report 2023 has been released.
o According to the latest figures from 2020, 26% of the world’s population (2 billion
people) did not have access to safely managed drinking water services (Target 6.1
of SDG 6), and an estimated 46% (3.6 billion) lacked access to safely managed
sanitation (Target 6.2 SDG 6).
o Approximately 60% of the world’s reported water bodies were categorized as
having ‘good’ ambient water quality (Target 6.3). However, the poorest 20
countries are under-represented.
o Globally, water use efficiency (Target 6.4) rose by 9% from 2015 to 2018 (from 17.3
to 18.9 US$/m³).
o Official development assistance (ODA) for ‘water’ was estimated at $8.7 billion
globally in 2020, up from US$2.7 billion in 2002.
• SDG 6 – Clean Water and Sanitation

20. March 23 –
• World Meteorological Day; Theme - The Future of Weather, Climate and Water across
Generations
• Martyrs' Day/Shaheed Diwas (in honour of the freedom fighters Bhagat Singh, Shivaram
Rajguru, and Sukhdev Thapar)

21. March 24 -
• International Day for the Right to the Truth Concerning Gross Human Rights Violations and
for the Dignity of Victims
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• Assam Rifles Raising Day (188th edition)

• World TB Day; Theme - Yes, We can end TB!
o WHO D-G Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus is implementing #EndTB initiative for
2023-27.
o Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the One World TB Summit 2023 in
Varanasi. India aims to eliminate this high-burden infectious disease by 2025, 5
years ahead of the global goal of 2030. This vision was first articulated by the PM at
the Delhi End TB Summit in March 2018.
o PM has also released the “Annual India TB Report 2023”, which is a compilation of
the country’s efforts towards making India TB-free by 2025.
o The PM also launched the TB-Mukt Panchayat initiative to spread awareness
about TB with the support of over 2.5 lakh gram panchayats. The initiative will also
eliminate the stigma attached to the disease and help monitor and improve the
uptake of services.
o PM Modi also laid the foundation stone of the National Centre for Disease
Control & High Containment Laboratory and inaugurated the site for the
Metropolitan Public Health Surveillance Unit in Varanasi.
o Awards for making progress in TB elimination -
▪ States/ UT for making progress in TB elimination - Karnataka and the
Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir
▪ Districts for making progress in TB elimination - Nilgiris (Tamil Nadu),
Pulwama (J&K) and Anantnag (J&K)

22. Earth Hour is an annual event that takes place on the last Saturday of March. This year, it
was celebrated on March 25 at 8.30 pm local time.

23. March 25 -
• International Day of Solidarity with Detained and Missing Staff Members
• International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave
Trade

24. March 27 – World Theatre Day; Theme – Theatre and A Culture of Peace

25. March 30 – International Day of Zero Waste

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AWARDS
1. 13th edition of Sansad Ratna Awards for 2023 have been announced.
• A total of 13 awardees were felicitated.
Category Winner
Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Lifetime Achievement TK Rangarajan (former Rajya Sabha MP from
Awards Tamil Nadu)

2. Sajjan Jindal (Chairman and Managing Director of JSW Group) was named the EY
Entrepreneur of the Year™ 2022 and will now represent India at the EY World
Entrepreneur of the Year Award (WEOY).

3. S&P Global has released The Commodity Insights Top 250 Global Energy Company
Rankings.
• Rank 1 – Saudi Arabian Oil Co.
• Rank 2 – Petrobras (Brazil)
• India’s companies – ONGC (at 14th rank), Reliance Industries (22nd rank), Indian Oil
Corporation (25th rank)

4. At the Hollywood Critics Association Film Awards 2023, ‘RRR’ movie won 5 awards.
• Awards are Best Action film, Best International Film, Best Original Song, Best Stunts, and
cast/crew of RRR won honorary HCA Spotlight Award.

5. 2023 Pen America Literary Awards have been announced in New York.
Category Winner
Pen/Nabokov Award for Achievement in Vinod Kumar Shukla (Hindi writer from India)
International Literature
Pen/Mike Nichols Writing for Performance Tina Fey (USA)
Award

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Pen/Laura Pels International Foundation for Erika Dickerson-Despenza (Chicago, US)

Theatre Award

6. Groupe Speciale Mobile Association (GSMA) has conferred Government Leadership

Award 2023 to India for implementing best practices in telecom policy and regulation.
• The award was given at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain.

7. 2023 Sportstar Aces Awards have been announced.

Category Winner
Sportsman of the Year (Cricket) Hardik Pandya
Sportswoman of the Year (Cricket) Harmanpreet Kaur
Sportsman of the Year (Team Sports) PR Sreejesh and Sunil Chhetri
Sportswoman of the Year (Team Sports) Savita Punia
Club of the Year Gujarat Titans
Lifetime Achievement Award Shyam Thapa

8. Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry has received the Porter Prize 2023 for managing
COVID-19, also the approach, and involvement of various stakeholders especially involvement
of ASHA workers in the industry to create PPE Kits.
• The prize was announced during The India Dialog at Stanford University.
Knowledge Nuggets -
• Porter Prize is named after award-winning economist Michael E. Porter (Professor at
Harvard Business School).
• He has brought economic theory and strategy concepts to bear on many of the most
challenging problems faced by corporations, economies and societies, including market
competition and company strategy, economic development, the environment and
healthcare.
• The Porter Prize was established to recognize outstanding Japanese companies and to
enhance the competitiveness of Japanese industries.

9. Sashidhar Jagdishan (MD and CEO of HDFC Bank) has won the Business Standard
Banker of the Year 2022.

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10. NTPC Limited, has been honoured with the CBIP Award 2022 for ‘Outstanding
Contribution in Power Generation’, attributed to its Vindhyachal Super Thermal Power
Station, the largest power station in the country for its efficiency and high level of generation.

11. ACI World’s annual ASQ Awards have been announced for the year 2022.
• Cleanest Airports (Asia-Pacific) -
o Indira Gandhi International Airport, Delhi
o Kuala Lumpur International Airport, Malaysia
o Shanghai Pudong International Airport, China
• Best Airports by Size and Region from India -
Category Winner
Under 2 million passengers per year Tiruchirappalli International Airport
(Tiruchirapalli, India)
5 to 15 million passengers per year Cochin International Airport (Cochin, India)
15 to 25 million passengers per year Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (Hyderabad,
India)
Over 40 million passengers per year Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International
Airport (Mumbai, India)
Indira Gandhi International Airport (Delhi,
India)

12. Sir David Alan Chipperfield CH (from England) has won the Pritzker Architecture Prize
2023.
Knowledge Nuggets -
• The Pritzker Prize is considered as the Nobel Prize of Architecture, with a prize money
of $100,000, a formal citation certificate.
• The international award was established by the Pritzker family of Chicago through their
Hyatt Foundation in USA.

13. Union Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Dr L. Murugan presented the
8th National Photography Awards in New Delhi.
• A total of 13 awards were presented.
Category Winner

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Lifetime Achievement Award (prize money - Rs Ms Sipra Das

3 lakh)
Professional Photographer of the Year Award Shri Sasi Kumar Ramachandran
(prize money - Rs 1 lakh)
Special Mention Awards in the Professional Shri Dipjyoti Banik
category (prize money – Rs 50,000) Shri Manish Kumar Chauhan
Shri R S Gopakumar
Shri Sudipto Das
Shri Umesh Harishchandra Nikam
Amateur Photographer of the Year Award Shri Arun Saha
(prize money – Rs 75,000)
Mention Awards in the Amateur category (prize Shri C S Sreeranj
money – Rs 30,000) Dr Mohit Wadhawan
Shri Ravishankar S L
Shri Subhadip Bose
Shri Tharun Adurugatla

14. India Philanthropy Report 2023 was released by non-profit Dasra and consulting firm Bain &
Company.
• India’s social sector spending as a percentage of GDP grew from 8.6% in FY 2021 to
9.6% in FY 2022 due to 35% growth in public spending.

15. Ministry of Tourism has bagged the Golden & Silver Star at The International ‘Golden City
Gate Tourism Awards 2023’ in ‘TV/Cinema Commercials International and Country
International’ Category at ITB, Berlin 2023.
• The annual award ceremony takes place at ITB Berlin, the world’s leading tourism trade
show.

16. 95th Oscar 2023 – India made history as “The Elephant Whisperers” movie got Best
Documentary –Short Film Award and “Naatu Naatu” song from RRR has won the Best
Original Song award.
• From India, “All That Breathes” movie was nominated in the “Documentary-Feature Film”
category. The movie has been produced by Shaunak Sen, Aman Mann and Teddy Leifer.

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Facts about “The Elephant Whisperers”

• The movie was shot in the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve in Tamil Nadu.
• Released Date – 2022
• Director - Kartiki Gonsalves
• 1st Indian documentary to win Oscar
Facts about “Naatu Naatu”
• Shot in – Ukraine, in front of President Volodymyr Zelensky’s house

History of Oscar in India -

• Bhanu Athaiya (Costume Designer) - 1st Oscar Winner from ‘Gandhi’ Movie
• Satyajit Ray (film director) – Honorary Oscar 1992 for Lifetime Achievement Award
• Resul Pookutty (sound engineer) - Best Sound Mixing Award for ‘Slumdog Millionaire’
• AR Rahman – 1st Indian to get nominations in 3 categories for the British-Indian movie
‘Slumdog Millionaire’. Of them, he won two awards – original song and another for the
track of ‘Jai Ho’

• Other awardees -

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o Best Picture – Everything Everywhere All at Once (directed by Daniel Kwan and
Daniel Scheinert)
o Best Actor in Leading Role – Branden Fraser for “The Whale” movie
o Best Actress in Leading Role – Michelle Yeoh for “Everything Everywhere All at
Once” role

17. Noted Hindi writer Dr Gyan Chaturvedi’s 2018 satirical novel, Pagalkhana, has won the 32nd
Vyas Samman, 2022.
Knowledge Nuggets -
• Literature Awards in India -
o Jnanpith given by Bharatiya Jnanpith org in New Delhi
o Sahitya Akademi Award - Sahitya Akademi
o Sahitya Akademi Fellowship - Sahitya Akademi
o Saraswati Samman - KK Birla Foundation
o Vyas Samman- KK Birla Foundation
o Bhasha Samman - Sahitya Akademi

18. RBI Governor Shaktikant Das won the 'Governor of the Year' 2023 award by the
international publication Central Banking.
• He was conferred the 'Central Banker of the Year, Asia-Pacific 2020' award by the
London based magazine-The Banker.
Knowledge Nuggets -
• Das was appointed the Governor of the Reserve Bank of India by the Appointments
Committee of the Cabinet in 2018 for a period of three years. In 2021, his tenure was
again increased for three years.
• According to the RBI Act of 1934, the Governor and a Deputy Governor shall hold office
for such term not exceeding five years as the Central Government may fix when
appointing them and shall be eligible for re-appointment.

19. World Economic Forum has announced the induction of the newest members of its Young
Global Leaders Class of 2023.
• Indians in the 2023 YGL Class -
Category Winner

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Academia/Think-tank Tanvi Ratna, Founder and Chief Executive

Officer, Policy 4.0. Research Foundation, India
Arts, Culture & Sports No Indian
Business Aakrit Vaish, Co-Founder and Chief Executive
Officer, Jio Haptik Technologies Limited, India
Vibin B Joseph, Executive Director and Chief
Executive Officer, BiOZEEN, India
Civil Society No Indian
Media No Indian
Public Figures Aaditya Thackeray, Leader, Shivsena, India
Madhukeshwar Desai, National Vice President,
BJYM (BJP Youth Wing), India

20. WHO has given “Partnership for Healthy Cities 2023” Award to five cities.
• Recipients - Montevideo, Uruguay for food policy; Mexico City, Mexico for road safety;
Vancouver, Canada for surveillance; Athens, Greece for overdose prevention, and
Bengaluru, India for tobacco control.

21. World’s Top 100 Airports 2023 has been released by Skytrax Research.
• Top 5 airports

• India’s topmost –
o 36th – Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport
o 65th – Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, Hyderabad
o 69th - Kempegowda International Airport, Bengaluru

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22. Tamil writer Perumal Murugan's novel 'Pookkuzhi', translated as 'Pyre' in English by
Anirudh Vasudevan, has become the first Tamil novel to be nominated for the International
Booker Prize 2023.

23. 13th edition of Aegis Graham Bell Awards has been announced.
• These awards are an initiative of Aegis School of Data Science, supported by the
Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology; NITI Aayog and Skill India to
develop a culture of innovations in the country.
• The event was tech powered by leading ed-tech firm mUni Campus, Swissnex as the
country partner and various other incubation centers from IIT Madras to Villgro and investor
ecosystem partners like Indian Angel Network to IVCA and others.
Category Winners
Innovation in Digital Transformation Bharat Petroleum
Innovation in Charging Network & Infra L & T Technologies
Innovation in Agriculture Farmology
Innovation in Consumer Tech Ujjivan Small Finance Bank for its Hello Ujjivan
app

Note: Only the important ones are mentioned here, as per my opinion. You can read the entire list of
awardees here - https://bellaward.com/13th-winners-and-finalists/

24. Times Magazine has released the list of “The World's Greatest Places of 2023”.
• From India, Ladakh and Mayurbhanj (Odisha) are mentioned in the list.

25. Music Academy Awards 2023 -

Category Winner
Sangita Kalanidhi Awards 2023 Bombay Jayashri (Vocalist)
Nritya Kalanidhi Awards 2023 Vasanthalakshmi Narsimhachari
Sangita Kala Acharya 2023 Palkulangara Ambika Devi (Vocalist)
KS Kalidas
TTK Awards 2023 Thirunageswaram TR Subramaniam
Sargunanatha Odhuvar
Musicologist Award 2023 Arimalam S. Padmanabhan

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26. Argentinian American Luis Caffarelli (professor at the University of Texas) has won the Abel
Prize for Mathematics for his "seminal contributions to regularity theory for nonlinear partial
differential equations".
• Named after the Norwegian mathematician Niels Henrik Abel (1802-1829), the award
offers a prize of 7.5-million-kroner ($710,000) prize.

27. Hurun India has released the “2023 M3M Hurun Global Rich List- Global and India-
Specific".
• World’s Richest Person – Bernard Arnault (France) owner of LVMH, followed by Elon
Musk, owner of Tesla
o From India, Mukesh Ambani features on the list on 9th rank.
o Cyrus Poonawalla, founder of Serum Institute of India, ranks at 46 th rank. He is the
richest billionaire in the healthcare sector. He is the 3rd richest billionaire in India.
• India’s Richest Person – Mukesh Ambani

28. RINL Visakhapatnam received the national-level safety "Ispat Suraksha Puraskar", given by
the Joint Committee on Safety, Health & Environment in the Steel Industry.
• RINL Visakhapatnam also bagged Prestigious Award for "Zero Fatal Accident involving
Contract Labour" for the year 2022.
Knowledge Nuggets -
• The 'Joint Committee on Safety, Health & Environment in the Steel Industry'
(JCSSI), formerly known as 'Standing Committee on Safety for the Steel Industry'
(SCSSI) came into existence on 27th April 1973.
• The committee aims at safeguarding valuable human resource against possible hazards
in steel industry.
• JCSSI is a unique National level bipartite forum of management and trade union
representatives from both the public and private sector steel companies.

29. The Foundation of SAARC Writers and Literature (FOSWAL) has won a special literary
award on Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
• The award has been conferred for his trilogy- The Unfinished Memoirs, The Prison Diaries
and the New China 1952.

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30. Forbes India has organised the 12th edition of its ‘Forbes India Leadership Awards 2023’.
Category Winner
GenNext Entrepreneur Isha Ambani (chair of Reliance Retail)
Lifetime Achievement Anil Manibhai Naik (chair of L&T)
Entrepreneur of the Year Abhay Soi (CMD of Max Healthcare Institute)
CEO of the Year CK Venkatraman (MD of Titan Company)
Emerging Innovator Skyroot Aerospace

31. Sipaapuni, a site located in Arizona, United States and sacred to the Hopi Native American
Nation has been awarded a ‘Water and Heritage Shield’ by the International Committee on
Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) International Science Committee.
• The Shield was awarded to the Black Mesa Trust (BMT), a Hopi grassroots organisation.
Knowledge Nuggets -
• International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) was founded in 1965 in
Warsaw because of the Venice Charter of 1964.
• It offers advice to UNESCO on World Heritage Sites.
• The International Science Committee is a part of the ICOMOS.

32. Ministry of Panchayati Raj, along with National Informatics Centre (NIC), has been
recognized for its AuditOnline software programme at the WSIS Forum 2023 at the ITU
headquarters in Geneva.
• The prestigious “ITU–World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) Prize 2023” is
given under the Category 7 — Action Line (AL) C7 — ICT Applications: e-Government —
for conducting online audit of all Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs).
• The World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) Forum 2023 is being organized
on the theme of ‘WSIS Action Lines for Building Back Better and Accelerating the
Achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)’.
Knowledge Nuggets -
• World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) is an annual award event
coordinated by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), affiliated with the
United Nations (UN), in collaboration with UNESCO, UNDP and UNCTAD to promote
ICTs for achieving UN Sustainable Development Goals.

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33. Maha Metro Nagpur was honoured with the prestigious Asia Book of Records certification
for three different categories.
• The categories are ‘Longest Length of Metro Rail Corridor Construction in Shortest Time’,
‘First Solar PV System in a Metro Rail Project for Integrated Consumption’ and ‘Heaviest
Single Span Double Decker Steel Bridge Truss over Railway tracks in Urban Area’, in Asia.

34. Dhanya Rajendran, co-founder and Editor-in-Chief of The News Minute, has won the
Chameli Devi Jain Award for Outstanding Woman Media Person for 2022.
• The prestigious annual award, administered by the Media Foundation, consistently
recognises the presence of a vibrant, independent media.

35. Mumbai (India's commercial capital) has been included in the World Tree City 2022 list, for
the second consecutive year.
Knowledge Nuggets -
• The Arbor Day Foundation and the United Nations Food & Agriculture Organisation
(FAO) have been conducting the TWF for 50 years.
• ADF has planted more than 35 crore trees worldwide, with a target of 50 crore more
trees by 2027.
• To be recognised as a Tree City, a community must meet five core standards of caring
about the nature.

SPORTS
1. The inaugural edition of the Women's Premier League (WPL) is being conducted at the DY
Patil Sports Stadium in Navi Mumbai.

2. Karnataka has defeated Meghalaya to win the Santosh Trophy National Football
Championship.

3. Daniil Medvedev (Russia) defeated his Russian compatriot Andrey Rublev to win the Dubai
Tennis Championships (ATP Tennis Tournament).

pg. 136
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4. Hockey India launched a new and ambitious grassroots development programme to tap
the talent and improve the strength of the national senior and junior teams for men and
women.
• Under the initiative, HI will hold zonal championships at the sub-junior (U-16) and junior (U-
19) levels to unearth talent from the four zones – north, south, east and west.

5. Bahrain Grand Prix 2023 has been won by Max Verstappen (Dutch motorsports racing
driver).

6. Ace weightlifter Mirabai Chanu has won BBC Indian Sportswoman of the Year (ISWOTY)
award 2022 for the second consecutive year.

7. Strandja Memorial Boxing Tournament 2023 (74th edition) has concluded in Sofia, Bulgaria.
Category Winners
Silver medal Govind Kumar Sahani (Men’s 48 kg)
Anamika (Women’s 50 kg)
Anupama (Women’s 81 kg)
Bronze medal Biswamitra Chongtham (Men’s 51 Kg)
Sachin (Men’s 54 kg)
S Kalaivani (Women’s 48 kg)
Shruti Yadav (Women’s 70 kg)
Monika (Women’s +81 kg)

8. India won the Border-Gavaskar Trophy (test match cricket) for the fourth successive time
by defeating Australia in 2-1 series.
• India have also qualified for the World Test Championship final where they will face
Australia at The Oval Stadium in London, England.
• Star all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin has surpassed World Cup-winning skipper Kapil
Dev to become the third-highest wicket-taker for India in international cricket.
• India's Rohit Sharma brought up 17,000 international runs during the fourth and final Test
against Australia in Ahmedabad.
• Australia has won ODI series played between India and Australia.

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9. Scientists have discovered a new comet named C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS)” or “A3″ for
short, which is 680 million miles away from Sun.
• The comet will reach closest to sun in 2024, causing the comet’s brightness to increase
dramatically. Its lustre would outsmart the “Green Comet’s” shining.

10. Max Verstappen has won the Bahrain Grand Prix 2023.

11. BWF German Open 2023 (badminton) at Mulheim – Men's Singles: Kunlavut Vitidsarn
(Thailand); Women’s Singles: HE Bing Jiao (China)

12. Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports Anurag Singh Thakur inaugurated the Khelo India
Dus Ka Dum Tournament in New Delhi from the 10th to the 31st of this month.
• Purpose - to provide a platform to the women athletes who were unable to participate in
national or state-level competitions
• Nearly 15,000 women athletes will participate in the contest in more than 50 cities of the
country. The game features 10 sports.

13. 2024 World Para Athletics Championships will be held in the Kobe Universiade Memorial
Stadium in Kobe, Japan, from 17 to 25 May 2024.
• India’s seasoned para-athlete Ekta Bhyan qualified for the World Para Athletics
Championships with a record throw in women’s club F51 event at the Dubai World Para
Athletics Grand Prix.
• The Indian contingent clinched four silver and two bronze medals including Bhyan’s
Asian record.
• At the Dubai tournament, China gained 1st position with 102 medals (including 42 gold
medals), followed by Ukraine (11 golds) and Uzbekistan (9 gold). India finished at 28th
place.

14. FIH Men’s Hockey Pro League 2022-23 has been won by India by defeating Germany.

15. RoundGlass Punjab FC has won the first edition of the Hero I-League.
• Sreenidi Deccan finished second and Gokulam Kerala finished third.

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16. 4th Asian Kho Kho Championship for Men and Women is being held in Baksa district of
Assam. The event will conclude on the 23rd of March.

17. Yonex All England Open Badminton Championships 2023 - Men's singles: Li Shifeng
(China); Women’s Singles: An Se-young (South Korea)

18. Bangladesh defeated England by 16 runs in the third T20 international cricket match at the
Sher-e-Bangla stadium at Mirpur, Dhaka.

19. Team ‘Rest of India’ has defeated Madhya Pradesh to win the Irani Cup 2022/23.
• The Irani Cup, named after the late Z. R. Irani, is being played since 1959-60 by the Ranji
Trophy winners and a Rest of India team. It is a traditional five-day domestic cricket
tournament.

20. Former Australia Cricket Captain Tim Paine has announced retirement.

21. Red Bull’s Sergio Perez (Mexican racing driver) has won Saudi Grand Prix 2023.

22. 2023 BNP Paribas Open (aka Indian Wells Masters tennis tournament) - Men’s Singles:
Carlos Alcaraz (Spain); Women’s Singles: Elena Rybakina (Kazakhstan)

23. International Shooting Sports Federation (ISSF) World Cup Shooting Championship was
inaugurated in Bhopal, the capital of Madhya Pradesh.
• ISSF President Luciano Rossi was the guest of honour at the event.

24. 2023 Swiss Open badminton tournament has begun in Basel, Switzerland till 26th of March.

25. Indian team's star hockey player Rani Rampal has become the first woman in the sport to
have a stadium named after her, called 'Rani's Girls Hockey Turf' in Rae Bareli, Uttar
Pradesh.

26. Asia Cup Archery 2023 was held in Taoyuan, Taiwan.

• India won a total of 10 awards (five gold medals, four silver and one bronze medal).
Gold Medal Recurve men - Rahul
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Compound men - Pawan Gat

Compound women - Pragati

Recurve men’s team - Rahul, Rampal

Choudhary and Parth Salunkhe

Compound women’s team - Pragati, Praneet

Kaur and Aishwarya Sharma
Silver medals Recurve men - Rampal Choudhary

Compound men - Priyansh

Compound women - Parneet Kaur

Compound men’s team - Venkatadri Kunderu,

Pawan Gat and Priyansh
Bronze medals Compound mixed team - Priyansh and Pragati

27. ATK Mohun Bagan has won the Hero Indian Super League 2022-23 by defeating
Bengaluru FC.

28. ISSF Rifle/Pistol World Cup 2023 was held in Bhopal.

Gold Sarabjot Singh 10m Air Pistol event
Bronze Varun Tomar 10m Air Pistol event

29. IBA Women's World Boxing Championship 2023 is being held at Indira Gandhi Sports
Complex in Delhi.

30. Mesut Özil (German former professional footballer) has announced retirement.

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31. India's Rudranksh Balasaheb Patil won a bronze medal in the 10m Air Rifle event in the
8th ISSF World Cup Shooting Championship held at the Madhya Pradesh State Shooting
Academy of Excellence in Bhopal.
• India finished second with a total of five medals (one gold, one silver and three bronze).
• China is at the top with a total of eight medals.

32. Mumbai Indians (captain - Harmanpreet Kaur) has won the first edition of the Women’s
Premier League (WPL) held at Brabourne Stadium and DY Patil Stadium in Mumbai.
• Mumbai Indians defeated Delhi Capitals.

33. India has won 4 gold medals at the Women's World Boxing Championships at the Indira
Gandhi Sports Complex in New Delhi.
• Medallists - Lovlina Borgohain (75 kg), Nikhat Zareen (50 kg), Nitu Ghanghas (48 kg) and
Saweety Boora (81 kg)
• Nikhat Zareen created history by becoming World Champion for the second successive
time. She has become only the second Indian woman boxer after Mary Kom to bag more
than one world titles.

34. Swiss Open (badminton) tournament 2023 – Men's Singles: Koki Watanabe (Japan);
Women’s Singles: Pornpawee Chochuwong (Thailand)
• Men’s Doubles: Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty

MISCELLANEOUS
1. BJP national president J.P. Nadda has launched “Modi: Shaping a Global Order in Flux”
book.

2. “The Book of Bihari Literature” - collection of short stories - has been edited by Abhya K.

3. Chandrashekhar Dasgupta (former Indian diplomat and Padma Shri awardee) has passed
away.

4. Just Fontaine, the French soccer star who scored a record 13 goals at the 1958 World Cup,
has passed away.

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5. Kol community is mostly concentrated in central India, especially in the northern districts of
Madhya Pradesh. Members of this community are also settled in Uttar Pradesh, Odisha and
Maharashtra.

6. Tourette Syndrome is a nervous disorder, which develops during childhood or adolescence.

It is characterised by multiple repetitive movements, coughing, blinking, sniffing, throat
clearing, and facial movements.
• Recently, Lewis Capaldi (a Scottish singer) has been diagnosed with this disorder.

7. Thomas Sankara’s (aka “Africa’s Che Guevara”) remains were buried again in Burkina Faso.
• Thomas Sankara was an anti-colonial revolutionary who briefly headed the country.
• President Thomas Sankara named the country as Burkina Faso or “Land of Upright Men”.

8. Former Chief Justice of India Aziz MushaAziz Mushabber Ahmadiber Ahmadi passed away
• Ahmadi served as the Chief Justice of India from 25 October 1994 – 24 March 1997.
• Justice Ahmadi became the third Muslim ever to serve as CJI. He was the 26 th CJI.

9. Former union minister and the West Bengal BJP's ex-president Satyabrata Mookherjee has
passed away.

10. Prof B Dharmalingam has authored “Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya: Dispersions of

Thoughts” and “Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya: Integral Humanism” books.
• The books have been launched by Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi.

11. Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare, Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya released the
‘India’s Vaccine Growth Story - From Cowpox to Vaccine Maitri’ book authored by Shri
Sajjan Singh Yadav, Additional Secretary, at the World Book fair 2023, at Pragati Maidan.

12. “As Good as My Word A Memoir” book has been written by Indian bureaucrat K.M.
Chandrasekhar.

13. Bakhmut is a city in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine. It is located on the Bakhmutka
River.

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14. Olive Ridley turtles are classified as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation
of Nature (IUCN) due to the increasing threat to their habitats.
• Its synchronized nesting behaviour is known as Arribadas.
• This endangered species is primarily found in the warm and tropical waters of the Indian
and Pacific Oceans.

15. Dr Kanak Rele, a world-renowned dancer and Mohiniyattam exponent, has passed away.
• Dr Rele established the Nalanda Dance Research Centre and the Nalanda Nritya Kala
Mahavidyalaya, which pioneered dance research.

16. Pat McCormick, Olympic diver from America, has passed away.

17. Supreme Court Judge Justice V. Ramasubramanian released India’s Struggle for
Independence – Gandhian Era 1915-1948 book.

18. Renowned Bengali novelist and short story writer Sasthipada Chattopadhyay has passed
away.

19. Kenzaburō Ōe, a Japanese writer, has passed away.

20. Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar released the “Mundaka Upanishad: The Gateway to
Eternity” book by Dr Karan Singh, a former member of parliament.
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[Type here]

21. Minister of State (Independent Charge) for the Ministry of Statistics and Programme
Implementation (MoSPI), Rao Inderjit Singh released the 24th issue of publication titled
“Women and Men in India 2022”.

22. Two researchers from Tamil Nadu have spotted a rare moth species for the first time in
India in the buffer zone of Kalakkad–Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve (KMTR).
• The specie was last sighted 127 years ago at Trincomalee in Sri Lanka in 1893.
• Researchers - Thalavaipandi Subbaiah of Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the
Environment (ATREE) and Prashanth Prakhalathan of Tamil Nadu Wetland Mission
• Specie’s name - Mimeusemia ceylonica

23. “Bipin: The Man behind the Uniform” book has been authored by Rachna Bisht Rawat (a
journalist and writer).
• The book presents an account of the former CDS’s personal life.

24. American high jumper Richard Douglas Fosbury (aka Dick Fosbury) has passed away. He
was an Olympic gold medalist.

25. English journalist named Patrick French has passed away.

26. Shrimant Kokate (Marathi author and historian) has launched his 1st book in English titled
“Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj” (illustrated).

27. “A Matter of the Heart: Education in India” book has been authored by Anurag Behar
(CEO of Azim Premji Foundation and founding Vice-Chancellor of Azim Premji University).

28. Wing Commander Jag Mohan Nath MVC was an Indian Air Force officer. He was the first of
the six officers to have been decorated with the Maha Vir Chakra, India's second highest war
time military decoration, twice.

29. Abhay Chhajlani (Indian Journalist and Padma Shri Awardee) has passed away.

30. Pradeep Sarkar (an Indian writer and director who worked in Bollywood) has passed away.

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31. Intel co-founder and creator of Moore's Law, Gordon Moore (American) passed away.

32. Tropical Cyclone Freddy hit Malawi.

Knowledge Nuggets -
• Malawi Capital - Lilongwe
• Malawi Currency - Malawian kwacha
• Malawi Government - Unitary presidential republic

33. Claude Lorius, a pioneering glaciologist from France, has passed away.

34. Innocent Vareed Thekkethala, known mononymously as Innocent, was an Indian actor, film
producer, writer and politician. He has passed away.

35. “War & Women” book has been authored by Dr MA Hasan.

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36. Basava, also known as Basavanna, was a 12th-century CE Indian statesman, philosopher,
poet, Lingayat social reformer, and Hindu Shaivite social reformer.
• He was born in a small village called Basavana Bagewadi in modern-day Karnataka.

QUESTIONS
Q.1) Where is the world’s first inclusive disabled [a] 1995
park established? [b] 1985
[a] Cardiff [c] 1989
[b] Cornwall [d] 1990
[c] Dublin [e] 1991
[d] Glasgow
[e] Nagpur Q.5) Which e-commerce platform has signed an
MOU with Ministry of Rural Development to
Q.2) What is the limit of minimum amount per onboard rural women entrepreneurs in various
project under the Members of Parliament Local states to launch and grow their businesses
Area Development Scheme (MPLADS)-2023? online?
[a] Rs One Lakh [a] Amazon
[b] Rs One Lakh and Fifty thousand [b] Meesho
[c] Rs Five Lakh and Fifty Thousand [c] Flipkart
[d] Rs Two Lakh and Fifty Thousand [d] IndiaMART
[e] Rs Five Crore [e] Nykaa

Q.3) Recently, the Union Cabinet approved the Q.6) India Pulses and Grains Association (IPGA)
extension of the term of the 22nd Law and IBRAFE have signed an MoU at the recently
Commission of India up to _____? held sixth edition of the Pulses Conclave in
[a] 30th September 2023 Mumbai. Which country does IBRAFE belong to?
[b] 31st August 2024 [a] Mexico
[c] 31st October 2023 [b] Brazil
[d] 31st March 2024 [c] Argentine
[e] 31st August 2023 [d] Poland
[e] Guatemala
Q.4) Recently, INS Nireekshak awarded on-the-
spot chief of the naval staff unit citation for deep Q.7) Tokamak Energy has developed “Demo4”
sea diving & undertaking rescue operations under super magnet to test the nuclear fusion power
the most challenging circumstances. When was plants. It is the world’s first set of “super” magnets
the ship commissioned into the Indian Navy? that can be used for testing nuclear fusion power
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[Type here]

plants. Which country does Tokamak Energy [c] V.M. Kwatra

belong to? [d] Ashok Rawat
[a] UK [e] Ram Rashik Mandal
[b] France
[c] Denmark Q.11) How many pairs are matched correctly with
[d] USA respect to disease elimination targets of India?
[e] Germany 1) Leprosy Eliminated - 2019
2) Kala-azar - 2029
Q.8) Where is India’s Ola Electric Mobility Pvt. 3) Tuberculosis – 2025
planning to build world’s largest electric vehicle 4) Lymphatic Filariasis – 2027
hub? 5) Malaria – 2030
[a] Kerala [a] Only 1
[b] Karnataka [b] Only 2
[c] Tamil Nadu [c] Only 3
[d] Gujarat [d] Only 4
[e] Maharashtra [e] Only 5

Q.9) In February 2023, the NSE Indices Ltd, the Q.12) Where was the “International Bio-resource
subsidiary of India’s National Stock Exchange Conclave” organized?
(NSE), launched the country’s first ever Municipal [a] Shillong
Bond Index in the backdrop of rising appetite for [b] Guwahati
such instruments among investors. The index will [c] Imphal
track the performance of municipal bonds issued [d] Gangtok
by Indian civic bodies across maturities with an [e] Dibrugarh
investment-grade credit rating. It currently has
____ municipal bonds issued by 10 issuers rated Q.13) Where was the ‘Barisu Kannada Dim
AA. Dimava cultural festival’ organized to celebrate
[a] 43 Karnataka’s culture, traditions, and history in line
[b] 35 with the Prime Minister’s vision of ‘Ek Bharat
[c] 87 Shreshtha Bharat’?
[d] 28 [a] Maharashtra
[e] 60 [b] Assam
[c] Delhi
Q.10) Who has been appointed as the Drug [d] Kerala
Controller General of India? [e] Odisha
[a] Rajeev Raghuvanshi
[b] Rajkumar Ranjan Singh

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[Type here]

Q.14) ____ and _____ will become the first Q.16) What is the corpus of Genetic Improvement
foreign universities to set up their campuses in Program of Penaeus indicus (Indian white
India in Gujarat’s GIFT City? shrimp)-Phase-I scheme?
[a] University of Wollongong and Deakin [a] Rs 50 crores
University [b] Rs 25 crores
[b] University of Colorado and University of Illinois [c] Rs 20 crores
[c] Humboldt University and Ludwig Maximilian [d] Rs 40 crores
University [e] Rs 75 crores
[d] University of Oslo and University of Bergen
[e] Aarhus University and Aalborg University Q.17) Which state has launched the Yadgir multi-
village drinking water supply scheme under the
Q.15) Union Minister of Fisheries and Animal Jal Jeevan Mission?
Husbandry Parshottam Rupala launched the [a] Meghalaya
Phase II of the National Surveillance Programme [b] Kerala
for Aquatic Animal Diseases (NSPAAD). The [c] Gujarat
Phase II of NSPAAD has been launched under [d] Karnataka
the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana. [e] Assam
The government has launched the National
Surveillance Programme for Aquatic Animal Q.18) Which state has established India's first
Diseases (NSPAAD) in _____ for strengthening government mother milk bank for Orphan
the farmer-based disease surveillance system. children?
The objective is to ensure that disease cases are [a] Himachal Pradesh
reported immediately, investigated, and farmers [b] Uttarakhand
receive scientific assistance. The results of the [c] Punjab
first phase proved the reduction in revenue losses [d] Delhi
due to diseases, increased farmers’ income and [e] Haryana
exports. The phase-II will be implemented at pan-
India, and all the State Fisheries Departments Q.19) How much is India’s real GDP estimate for
along with ______? 2022-23, as per the latest 2nd advance estimate
[a] 2019, NHB of National Income for 2022-23?
[b] 2005, CONCOR [a] Rs 159.71 trillion
[c] 2017, MSAMB [b] Rs 671.89 trillion
[d] 2013, MPEDA [c] Rs 870.32 trillion
[e] 2008, MPSAMB [d] Rs 450.670 trillion
[e] Rs 181.98 trillion

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[Type here]

Q.20) What is the GST rate on pre-packaged (FCRA) licence of the _______ (a prominent
Rab? public think tank)?
[a] 5% [a] Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR)
[b] 12% [b] Centre for Development Studies (CDS)
[c] 18% [c] Centre for Policy Research (CPR)
[d] 8% [d] Centre for Asian Strategic Studies-India
[e] 28% (CASS-India)
[e] Centre for Civil Society (CCS)
Q.21) According to the Department of
Pharmaceuticals’ data, the Pradhan Mantri Q.24) What is the theme of the 8th Raisina
Bharatiya Janaushadi Pariyojana has achieved Dialogue?
sales of more than ____ in the current financial [a] Asia: Regional and Global Connectivity
year which has further led to savings of [b] Navigating the Alpha Centurys
approximately ______ to the citizens. Under the [c] New Geometrics | Fluid Partnerships |
scheme, generic medicines available are priced Uncertain Outcomes
50-90% lower than branded offerings. Product [d] The New Normal: Multilateralism with
basket has also been increased to 1,759 drugs Multipolarity
(generic) and 280 surgical instruments. [e] Provocation, Uncertainty, Turbulence:
[a] Rs 1700 Cr. and Rs 4300 Cr. Lighthouse in the Tempest
[b] Rs 500 Cr. and Rs 2300 Cr.
[c] Rs 1200 Cr. and Rs 7000 Cr. Q.25) Which state has signed an MOU with the
[d] Rs 2300 Cr. and Rs 5300 Cr. United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
[e] Rs. 1100 Cr. and Rs. 6600 Cr. for implementing Urban Cooling Programme in
the state?
Q.22) Who is the chair of the Supreme Court’s [a] Uttar Pradesh
expert committee to investigate the causes of [b] Tamil Nadu
regulatory failure which led to investors losing [c] Bihar
crores following Hindenburg Research’s report? [d] Maharashtra
[a] Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul [e] Rajasthan
[b] Justice Abhay Manohar Sapre
[c] Justice Mukesh Shah Q.26) Where is the 'Borthekera' medicinal plant
[d] Justice Bhushan Ramkrishna Gavai found in India?
[e] Justice Surya Kant [a] Mizoram
[b] Andaman and Nicobar
Q.23) Recently, the Ministry of Home Affairs has [c] Meghalaya
cancelled the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act [d] Assam
[e] West Bengal

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[Type here]

[d] 7%
Q.27) Recently, IIT-Guwahati has signed an MoU [e] 6.92%
with Samagra Shiksha, Assam, (SSA) under the
Rashtriya Avishkar Abhiyan to develop scientific Q.30) How much penalty has been imposed on
temper and strengthen students’ ability to handle the Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) by SEBI
challenging environments. The Rashtriya for violating regulations pertaining to data entries
Aavishkar Abhiyan (RAA) was launched in ____ of Sikkim-based clients?
by Late Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, Former President [a] Rs 10 lakh
of India. Rashtriya Avishkar Abhiyan will target [b] Rs 5 lakh
students in the age group of ______ and in turn [c] Rs 2 lakh
the execution of RAA will span across MHRD’s [d] Rs 6 lakh
schematic interventions of Sarva Shiksha [e] Rs 4 lakh
Abhiyan.
[a] 2012; 5-12 years Q.31) Where was the 3rd Regional Workshop on
[b] 2017; 8-17 years Development of Sustainable and Responsible
[c] 2013; 10-18 years Tourist Destinations organized?
[d] 2015; 6-18 years [a] Hyderabad
[e] 2005; 5-18 years [b] Indore
[c] Jaipur
Q.28) Which country has launched the Senior [d] Shimla
Mission Leaders’ (SML) course to prepare senior [e] Gulmarg
personnel for future roles and responsibilities as
mission leaders in United Nations (UN) Q.32) Who is the Mission Director of Mission
peacekeeping operations, enabling them to plan, LiFE?
manage, and lead such missions? [a] Sandeep Mahatme
[a] Japan [b] Sivakumar K.B.
[b] Belgium [c] Avneesh Gupta
[c] UK [d] Yugal Joshi
[d] Italy [e] Prasad Nair
[e] Germany
Q.33) Where was the India-Denmark silver
Q.29) What is the unemployment rate of February exhibition organized?
2023 as per the Centre for Monitoring Indian [a] Hyderabad
Economy (CMIE)? [b] Bangalore
[a] 7.65% [c] Chennai
[b] 7.45% [d] Lucknow
[c] 7.23% [e] Delhi

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billion reasons: The urgent need to build universal

Q.34) Where has Minister of Youth Affairs and social protection for children” report?
Sports and Information and Broadcasting Anurag [a] Mission Poshan
Singh Thakur launched Yuva Utsava - [b] PM Cares for Children
India@2047? [c] Mission Vatsalya
[a] Ropar [d] Mission Shakti
[b] Kharagpur [e] Unnati Scheme
[c] Lucknow
[d] Guwahati Q.39) What is India’s rank in the Liberal
[e] Kolkata Democracy Index as per V-Dem's Democracy
Report 2023?
Q.35) Who is the MD of IFFCO? [a] 103
[a] U S Awasthi [b] 45
[b] Alkesh Kumar Sharma [c] 78
[c] Amit Agrawal [d] 97
[d] Bhuvnesh Kumar [e] 113
[e] Simmi Chaudhary
Q.40) Recently, RBI launched two key surveys -
Q.36) Which countries are organizing the Inflation Expectations Survey of Households
Freedom Shield exercise, a computer-simulated (IESH) and Consumer Confidence Survey (CCS)
command post training? - for the month of March 2023. The results of
[a] Japan and Philippines these surveys provide "useful inputs" for the
[b] US and UAE central bank's bi-monthly monetary policy. The
[c] UAE and Oman IESH aims at capturing subjective assessments
[d] South Korea and US on price movements and inflation, based on their
[e] Egypt and Israel individual consumption baskets, across _____
cities.
Q.37) Which country does Nobel Peace Prize [a] 23
winner Ales Bialiatski belong to? [b] 19
[a] Belarus [c] 50
[b] Estonia [d] 67
[c] Germany [e] 20
[d] Moldova
[e] Serbia Q.41) Where is the world’s first bamboo-made
crash barrier (200 metre) installed?
Q.38) Which of the following schemes has been [a] Norway
highlighted in the ILO-UNICEF's “More than a [b] Singapore

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[Type here]

[c] India Finance Corporation, and international

[d] Thailand organization. Identify the organization.
[e] Denmark [a] JICA
[b] USAID
Q.42) Where was the second meeting of Global [c] KfW
Partnership for Financial Inclusion (GPFI) held [d] EIB
under G20 India Presidency? [e] UKAN
[a] Hyderabad
[b] Chennai Q.46) Food and Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal
[c] Mumbai said that all the states should implement the
[d] Indore SMART-PDS, which is a technological driven
[e] Guwahati initiative. SMART-PDS is a system where smart
ration cards are issued to beneficiaries of public
Q.43) Where was the first-of-its-kind 'SCO B2B distribution system, and ration is given through
Conference and Expo on Traditional Medicine' fair price shops on production of the smart ration
held? card by any member of the beneficiary family.
[a] Guwahati What does “M” stand for in the full form of
[b] Surat SMART?
[c] Vadodara [a] Medium
[d] Machilipatnam [b] Modernization
[e] Prayagraj [c] Masked
[d] Manual
Q.44) How many women won the “Swachh Sujal [e] Migrant
Shakti Samman 2023”?
[a] 43 Q.47) AIRS Fellowship has been launched by
[b] 36 India, in collaboration with ______?
[c] 78 [a] Austria
[d] 56 [b] Albania
[e] 25 [c] Andorra
[d] Australia
Q.45) Minister of Power and New and Renewable [e] Argentine
Energy, RK Singh, has launched the South Asia
Distribution Utility Network (SADUN) to modernise Q.48) Where are the pyramid-like structures
distribution of utilities in South Asia via knowledge known as Moidams located in India?
sharing among the region's discoms. SADUN is a [a] Assam
joint initiative of the Ministry of Power, Power [b] Meghalaya
[c] Odisha

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[d] West Bengal [a] C-17

[e] Arunachal Pradesh [b] F-16
[c] F-35
Q.49) Where is Mina Salman seaport located? [d] F-22
[a] Bahrain [e] OA-1K
[b] Oman
[c] Saudi Arabia Q.53) Recently, the Central Government has
[d] India launched the PUShP initiative to ensure greater
[e] Bangladesh availability of power during the peak demand
season. What does “S” stand for in the full form of
Q.50) Which edition of the Middle East Energy PUShP?
2023 was organized at Dubai World Trade [a] Sustain
Centre? [b] Summarise
[a] 48th [c] Solve
[b] 53rd [d] Surplus
[c] 27th [e] Stall
[d] 33rd
[e] 40th Q.54) Which state has launched ‘Aarogya Mahila’
scheme, women’s health programme, to provide
Q.51) Recently, Council of Scientific and medical services to women at the health centres
Industrial Research (CSIR) has decided to start for free of cost?
exclusive Research Grants for Women Scientists [a] Telangana
under CSIR-ASPIRE and an exclusive portal in [b] Maharashtra
this regard will be available from April 1, 2023. [c] Madhya Pradesh
The total budget of a research proposal including [d] Gujarat
research fellow’s stipend should generally not [e] Odisha
exceed the limit of ______.
[a] Rs 10-15 lacs Q.55) Which state/UT has begun the commercial
[b] Rs 20-25 lacs cultivation of mulethi (liquorice in English) for the
[c] Rs 25-30 lacs first time?
[d] Rs 30-35 lacs [a] Himachal Pradesh
[e] Rs 50 lacs [b] Kerala
[c] Sikkim
Q.52) US has handed over NASA-ISRO Synthetic [d] Tripura
Aperture Radar (NISAR) to ISRO. Which aircraft [e] J&K
of the US was used to transport the spacecraft to
India?

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Q.56) Which of the following states is

implementing the Bhavantar Bhugtan Yojana Q.60) Which bank has launched the 'Unpause
(price difference payment scheme) for horticulture Initiative', a programme designed to assist women
farmers? who have taken a career break for any reason
[a] Punjab and are now ready to return to the workforce?
[b] Madhya Pradesh [a] Union Bank of India
[c] West Bengal [b] Central Bank of India
[d] Both A and B [c] Bank of Baroda
[e] Both B and C [d] Ujjivan Small Finance Bank
[e] Equitas Small Finance Bank
Q.57) Which of the following has become the first
metro in India to accept digital currency for Q.61) Which of the following statement(s) is/are
parking facilities? incorrect with regards to the MSME Competitive
[a] Delhi Metro (LEAN) scheme?
[b] Bengaluru Metro 1) Under the MSME Competitive (LEAN) scheme,
[c] Kochi Metro the Centre’s contribution will be 90% of the
[d] Mumbai Metro implementation cost
[e] Pune Metro 2) The scheme aims to provide handholding and
consultancy support for the lean manufacturing
Q.58) Which state has launched the Livelihoods 3) The scheme has been divided into three parts
Cluster Development initiative under the ‘Mukhya – basic, intermediate, and advance
Mantri Janajati Jeebika Mission’ to invest Rs 500 [a] Only 1 statement is correct
crore for empowering tribal communities in the [b] Only 1 and 2 are correct
state? [c] Only 2 statements are correct
[a] Odisha [d] All are incorrect
[b] Tripura [e] None are incorrect
[c] Meghalaya
[d] West Bengal Q.62) The Ministry of Ports, shipping, and
[e] Maharashtra waterways has provided in-principle approval to
four floating jetty projects in Karnataka and four
Q.59) How many districts are there in Madhya floating jetty projects in Tamil Nadu, under its
Pradesh? Sagarmala Programme. With these four additional
[a] 53 projects in Karnataka, there is a total of ____
[b] 67 floating jetty projects in the state.
[c] 45 [a] 8
[d] 38 [b] 10
[e] 29 [c] 4

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[d] 11 3) Vegetable – Goa

[e] 7 [a] Only 1
[b] Only 2
Q.63) As announced by the Central Govt, the [c] Only 3
sale of only gold jewelry with HUID shall be [d] Only 1 and 2
permitted from 1st April 2023. HUID stands for [e] Only 2 and 3
Hallmark Unique Identification. It is a ____ digit
alphanumeric code consisting of alphabets and Q.66) Lockheed Martin, the US-based defence
numbers. HUID is stamped at the BIS-certified and aerospace giant, and Tata Group have
Assaying and Hallmarking Centre. signed an agreement to commence production of
[a] Fourteen fighter wing shipsets at their joint venture, Tata
[b] Six Lockheed Martin Aerostructures Limited (TLMAL),
[c] Five located in _____. Under the MOU, both entities
[d] Seven will produce 29 fighter wing shipsets by 2025.
[e] Five [a] Meerut
[b] Gwalior
Q.64) In March 2023, the Hon’ble Union Minister [c] Hyderabad
of Power and New & Renewable Energy Shri R K [d] Amethi
Singh launched the Star-rated appliances [e] Surat
program and the iDEEKSHA Portal at the 21st
Foundation Day of Bureau of Energy Efficiency in Q.67) How much is India’s share in the global
New Delhi on March 1. What does ‘D’ stand for in arms imports during 2018-22, as per SIPRI’s
the full form of iDEEKSHA? “Trends in International Arms Transfers, 2022”
[a] Deceleration report?
[b] Demarcation [a] 11%
[c] DE marketisation [b] 23%
[d] Deindustrialization [c] 15%
[e] Decarbonization [d] 8%
[e] 12%
Q.65) Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare
has approved three Centre of Excellence for Q.68) Which of the following is the top-most
Horticulture Crops under the Mission for landslide prone area, as per the Landslide Atlas
Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH). of India?
Considering the above statement, identify the [a] Palakkad
correctly matched pair. [b] Rajauri
1) Kamalam – Gujarat [c] Thrissur
2) Mango – Odisha [d] Tehri Garhwal

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[e] Rudraprayag [e] Germany

Q.69) Which company has recently received the Q.73) Who is the secretary-general of Australia
‘payment aggregators’ licence from RBI in March India Trade Association (AITA)?
2023? [a] Vineet Rai
[a] PhonePe [b] Keshav Mishra
[b] Mobikwik [c] Ramesh Kumar
[c] Paytm [d] Chandra Sekhar
[d] Google Pay [e] Neerja Sekhar
[e] ZestMoney
Q.74) Which company has received the contract
Q.70) Where was "The Elephant Whisperers” from the Ministry of Defence for undertaking
documentary shot? refitting of Sindhukirti submarine?
[a] Anamala Tiger Reserve [a] Bombay Dockyard
[b] Kalakkad Tiger Reserve [b] ABG Shipyard Limited
[c] Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve [c] Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers
[d] Srivilliputtur Megamalai Tiger Reserve [d] Hindustan Shipyard Limited
[e] Mudumalai Tiger Reserve [e] Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited

Q.71) Where did Minister for Road Transport & Q.75) Which edition of the La Perouse multilateral
Highways Nitin Gadkari flag off India’s 1st 100% exercise will be held in the Indian Ocean Area in
methanol-powered prototype truck? 2023?
[a] Bengaluru [a] 3rd
[b] Hyderabad [b] 7th
[c] Gwalior [c] 10th
[d] Chennai [d] 2nd
[e] Chandigarh [e] 5th

Q.72) With which country has India signed an Q.76) How much liquidity has RBI infused into the
audio-visual co-production agreement under banking system via the 14-day Variable Rate
which private, quasi-government or governmental Repo (VRR) auction in March 2023?
agencies of the two countries enter contracts to [a] ₹82,650 crore
produce films together? [b] ₹56,890 crore
[a] Bangladesh [c] ₹34,347 crore
[b] Maldives [d] ₹67,980 crore
[c] Australia [e] ₹42,500 crore
[d] Japan

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Q.77) Which bank has launched the ‘Blossom [e] Neerja Sekhar
Women’s Savings Account’ with 7% per annum
interest rate with monthly interest credit? Q.80) Who is Asia's first woman loco pilot?
[a] Ujjivan Small Finance Bank [a] Surekha Yadav
[b] Suryoday Small Finance Bank [b] Priya Sharma
[c] Janalakshmi Small Finance Bank [c] Kamlesh Bhattacharya
[d] A U Small Finance Bank [d] Shiva Devnagar
[e] Fincare Small Finance Bank [e] Ritika Chauhan

Q.78) RBI has granted an ‘Infrastructure Finance Q.81) University Grants Commission has
Company’ (IFC) status to Indian Renewable developed the UTSAH portal to track the
Energy Development Agency (IREDA). It was qualitative reforms by the higher education
earlier classified as ‘Investment and Credit institutions (HEIs) in the country. The portal was
Company’ (ICC). Considering the above launched to monitor the implementation of NEP
statement, identify the correct statement(s). 2020 in the HEIs. What does “U” stand for in the
1) Indian Renewable Energy Development full form of UTSAH?
Agency Limited (IREDA) is a Mini Ratna [a] Undergraduate
(Category – I) Enterprise under the administrative [b] Underlying
control of Ministry of New and Renewable Energy [c] Undertaking
(MNRE) [d] Undermine
2) IREDA will keep contributing towards Govt. of [e] Underpriviledged
India’s target of 500 GW installed capacity of non-
fossil fuels by 2035 Q.82) Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has
3) It was established as an NBFC in 1987 under announced that the Central Government will
the Societies Registration Act, 1860 continue the ___ year interest-free loans to state
[a] Only 1 governments for one more year. The enhanced
[b] Only 1 and 2 capex of Rs ____lakh crore for infrastructure
[c] Only 3 development is equivalent to 3.3% of the GDP.
[d] Only 2 [a] 30, Rs 25 lakh crore
[e] Only 2 and 3 [b] 25, Rs 30 lakh crore
[c] 75, Rs 45 lakh crore
Q.79) Who has been appointed as the MD of [d] 50, Rs 10 lakh crore
LIC? [e] 80, Rs 45 lakh crore
[a] Sukant Vatsa
[b] Tablesh Pandey Q.83) Atal Innovation Mission (AIM)-NITI Aayog
[c] Ritika Singh Verma launched ATL Sarthi, a comprehensive self-
[d] Chandra Sekhar monitoring framework to strengthen the Atal

pg. 11
[Type here]

Tinkering Labs (ATL). It provides a Monitoring [a] Himachal Pradesh

and Evaluation framework to enhance the [b] Uttarakhand
performance of ATLs. It has four pillars which will [c] Gujarat
ensure the performance enhancement of ATLs [d] Assam
through regular process improvements. Where [e] Arunachal Pradesh
will the project be launched on a pilot basis?
[a] Karnataka Q.87) Which state celebrates Yaoshang festival?
[b] Gujarat [a] Manipur
[c] Andhra Pradesh [b] Nagaland
[d] Only A and C [c] Tripura
[e] Only A, B, and C [d] Assam
[e] Arunachal Pradesh
Q.84) Government of India and the World Bank
have signed an agreement for the construction of Q.88) Where is the Madhav National Park
Green National Highway Corridors Project located?
(GNHCP) in an aggregate length of 781 km. The [a] Shivpuri district
World Bank’s support is USD 500 million against [b] Narmadapuram district
total project cost of USD 1288.24 million. Which [c] Kalimpong district
states will be the beneficiaries of the project? [d] Jalpaiguri district
[a] Himachal Pradesh [e] Alipurduar district
[b] Andhra Pradesh
[c] Rajasthan Q.89) Identify the correct statement(s) with
[d] Uttar Pradesh regards to the ‘Basic Animal Husbandry Statistics
[e] All of the Above 2022’.
1) It analyses only Two Major Livestock Products
Q.85) Where was the Vote Fest 2023 organized (MLPs) for the year 2021-22, namely meat and
to create awareness on the election process? dairy products
[a] Hyderabad 2) As per the statistics, annual growth rate of
[b] Bengaluru meat production in India is 5.62%
[c] Gwalior 3) The total production of egg stands at 199.06
[d] Indore billion nos
[e] Surat 4) Rajasthan (45.91%), Jammu and Kashmir
(23.19%), Gujarat (6.12%), Maharashtra (4.78%)
Q.86) Which state has become the first state in and Himachal Pradesh (4.33%) are the top 5
the country to start 'Resham Keet Bima' scheme producers of milk
for protecting its sericulturists (a producer of raw
silk)?

pg. 12
[Type here]

5) The per-capita availability of milk is 444 which are leading in Environment, Social and
gram/day during 2021-22 increased by 17 Governance (ESG)?
gram/day over previous year. [a] PNB MetLife
[a] Only 1, 2, and 3 [b] Bajaj Finserv
[b] Only 3 and 4 [c] DSP Investment Managers
[c] Only 1, 2, and 5 [d] IDFC AMC
[d] Only 2 and 5 [e] Edelweiss Asset Management
[e] Only 2, 3, and 5
Q.94) According to the National Statistics Office
Q.90) Which country hosted the 19th BIMSTEC (NSO) data, the per capita income in terms of net
Ministerial Meeting? national income, in current prices, stood at
[a] Vietnam ______in 2022-23 with a growth rate of 15.8%
[b] Thailand over the previous year
[c] Philippines [a] ₹2,89,000
[d] Cambodia [b] ₹1,72,000
[e] Japan [c] ₹89,000
[d] ₹1,59,000
Q.91) Which country hosted the 146th Inter- [e] ₹1,98,000
Parliamentary Union Assembly?
[a] Qatar Q.95) Ministry of Finance has amended the
[b] Bahrain Prevention of Money Laundering (Maintenance of
[c] Saudi Arabia Records) Rules for widening the scope of Know
[d] UAE your Customer (KYC) norms to include Politically
[e] Oman Exposed Persons (PEPs), non-profit
organisations (NPOs) and those dealing in virtual
Q.92) Recently, the state-owned Life Insurance digital assets (VDA) as reporting entities. The
Corporation (LIC) has sold 2% of its equity stake Ministry has also lowered the ownership
in NMDC. How much stake does LIC hold in percentage from ____ to ___ in a reporting entity
NMDC at present? for the purpose of PMLA rules.
[a] 11.69% [a] 27% to 10%
[b] 12.34% [b] 30% to 12%
[c] 17.89% [c] 50% to 25%
[d] 19.23% [d] 25% to 10%
[e] 20.98% [e] 60% to 15%

Q.93) Which company has introduced a Q.96) Who has been appointed as the United
Sustainable Equity Fund to invest in companies Nations Resident Coordinator in Tajikistan?

pg. 13
[Type here]

[a] Vinay Kaushal [c] Ireland

[b] Chandra Sekhar [d] Japan
[c] Rabindra Kumar Jena [e] Germany
[d] KR Parvathy
[e] Sanjiv Shankar Q.101) Where was the First Senior Officials
Meeting of the SAI20 Engagement Group under
Q.97) When is the International Day of Women India's G20 Presidency organized?
Judges observed? [a] Delhi
[a] March 31 [b] Imphal
[b] March 8 [c] Bhopal
[c] March 12 [d] Indore
[d] March 10 [e] Guwahati
[e] March 17
Q. 102) Which country’s space commission
Q.98) WHO has given “Partnership for Healthy delegation, led by CEO Dr Mohammed Saud Al-
Cities 2023” Award to five cities. Which of the Tamimi, visited India to hold discussions on space
following cities was given the award? cooperation?
[a] Montevideo [a] South Africa
[b] Buenos Aires [b] Kazakhstan
[c] Santiago [c] Saudi Arabia
[d] Bogotá [d] UAE
[e] Quito [e] Iran

Q.99) Which Indian airport is mentioned in the Q. 103) Recently, the Central Govt has approved
World’s Top 100 Airports 2023? the additional central assistance of over Rs 1,816
[a] Chennai International Airport crore under the National Disaster Response Fund
[b] Kempegowda International Airport (NDRF) to five states which were affected by the
[c] Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International floods, landslides, and cloud bursts in 2022.
Airport Which of the following states is not a beneficiary
[d] Indira Gandhi International Airport of this amount?
[e] Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International [a] Assam
Airport [b] Arunachal Pradesh
[c] Himachal Pradesh
Q.100) What is the venue of 2024 World Para [d] Karnataka
Athletics Championships? [e] Meghalaya
[a] Netherlands
[b] France

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[Type here]

Q. 104) Which country hosted the two-day [e] 126 million litres per day
international conference of Shanghai Cooperation
Organization (SCO) on “Shared Buddhist Q. 108) Which Indian ship participated in the
Heritage”? Maritime Partnership Exercise (MPX) with French
[a] Uzbekistan Navy in the Arabian Sea?
[b] Kazakhstan [a] INS Makar
[c] India [b] INS Beas
[d] China [c] INS Pralaya
[e] Tajikistan [d] INS Sahyadri
[e] INS Kirpan
Q. 105) Which state organized the 3rd Divya Kala
Mela? Q. 109) Signature Bank belongs to which
[a] Gujarat country?
[b] Madhya Pradesh [a] Singapore
[c] Maharashtra [b] UK
[d] Uttar Pradesh [c] France
[e] Punjab [d] Switzerland
[e] USA
Q. 106) Which state has recently given approval
to the 10% horizontal reservation to the statehood Q.110) What is the value of e-rupee in circulation
activists in the state government job? as of February 28, as per the finance minister
[a] Himachal Pradesh Nirmala Sitharaman?
[b] Assam [a] Rs 110 crore
[c] Arunachal Pradesh [b] Rs 50 crore
[d] Uttarakhand [c] Rs 80 crore
[e] Gujarat [d] Rs 130 crore
[e] Rs 120 crore
Q. 107) Recently, Union Minister of Home Affairs
and Cooperation has said that India will be Q.111) Where will the meeting of the SCO Heads
contributing 33% of the world’s total milk of Tourism Administrations 2024 be held?
production by 2033-34. India’s milk production will [a] Kazakhstan
reach 330 million metric tonnes per annum. How [b] Uzbekistan
much is the current milk production of India? [c] Russia
[a] 150 million litres per day [d] China
[b] 147 million litres per day [e] India
[c] 239 million litres per day
[d] 109 million litres per day

pg. 15
[Type here]

Q. 112) Recently, the Ministry of Textiles has

approved the setting up of 7 Mega Integrated Q. 115) How much is the budgetary outlay of PLI
Textile Region and Apparel (PM MITRA) Parks Scheme for Speciality Steel?
with a total outlay of Rs. 4,445 crores. Identify the [a] Rs. 6,322 crores
correct pair of states which are eligible for grant [b] Rs 7,800 crores
under this scheme? [c] Rs 9,200 crores
[a] Assam-Kerala [d] Rs 2,345 crores
[b] Karnataka-West Bengal [e] Rs 6,450 crores
[c] Himachal Pradesh-Jammu and Kashmir
[d] Punjab-Uttarakhand Q. 116) Recently, VA Tech Wabag, a water
[e] Telangana-Gujarat technology firm, has won a Rs 800 crore project
funded by the World Bank and Asian
Q. 113) Recently, the Prime Minister Shri Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). Where will
Narendra Modi inaugurated the ‘Global Millets the project be launched?
(Shree Anna) Conference’ in New Delhi. [a] Maldives
Alongside the meeting, the Union Agriculture [b] Sri Lanka
Minister Narendra Singh Tomar held bilateral [c] Nepal
meetings with his counterparts from various [d] Bhutan
countries like Guyana, Suriname, Zambia, [e] Bangladesh
Mauritius, and Sri Lanka. APEDA was the nodal
agency for organizing the conference. During the Q. 117) Identify the correct statement(s) with
conference, APEDA has formulated a robust regards to the recently released ‘The What, Why
strategy to increase India’s millets exports to and How of the World Water Crisis: Global
achieve ________ by 2025. Commission on the Economics of Water Phase 1
[a] USD 450 million Review and Findings’ report.
[b] USD 200 million 1) The report placed Brazil at the top, where food
[c] USD 500 million supply would be reduced by 22.4%, followed by
[d] USD 100 million Argentine by 19.4%
[e] USD 80 million 2) As per the report, India will face a reduction of
over 30% in food supply due to water and heat
Q. 114) How much is the export of millet in India stress in 2030
in 2021-22? 3) The report has been released by the Global
[a] $74 million Commission on the Economics of Water (GCEW).
[b] $80 million 4) The Global Commission on the Economics of
[c] $52 million Water (GCEW) is convened by the Government
[d] $64 million of the Denmark and facilitated by the
[e] $44 million

pg. 16
[Type here]

Organization for Economic Co-operation and [a] Indore

Development (OECD). [b] Udaipur
[a] Only 1 and 2 [c] Jaipur
[b] Only 1, 2, and 3 [d] Gwalior
[c] Only 3 [e] Bangalore
[d] Only 3 and 4
[e] Only 1, 2, 3, and 4 Q. 122) Where is the Nepal-India Literature
Festival organized?
Q. 118) Which country has received approval [a] Chennai
from RBI to Special Rupee Vostro Accounts for [b] Mumbai
bilateral trade settlement? [c] Pune
[a] Tanzania [d] Meerut
[b] Saudi Arabia [e] Bangalore
[c] South Africa
[d] Namibia Q. 123) Which state has announced to provide
[e] UAE ₹1000 monthly assistance to eligible women
heads of families w.e.f. September 2023?
Q. 119) Which company has bagged the 1st [a] Tamil Nadu
GreenCo Silver rating by CII for its sustainable [b] Gujarat
mining operations? [c] Telangana
[a] NMDC [d] Andhra Pradesh
[b] Hindustan Zinc [e] Maharashtra
[c] Hindalco Industries
[d] Bharat Aluminum Company Q. 124) Recently, Tamil Nadu Millet Mission has
[e] Gujarat Mineral Development Corporation been launched for a period of 5 years. The
mission will provide subsidies for bringing millet
Q.120) What is the theme of International Day of cultivation to fallow lands and crop diversification
Forests 2023? to millets in 50,000 acres. What is the budget of
[a] Forests and sustainable production and the mission?
consumption [a] Rs 40 crores
[b] Forests and Biodiversity: Too precious to lose [b] Rs 65 crores
[c] Healthy Forest for healthy people [c] Rs 25 crores
[d] Forests and Education [d] Rs 50 crores
[e] Forests and Health [e] Rs 82 crores

Q. 121) Where is the second Sustainable Finance Q. 125) Ugadi is a Hindu festival, which is
Working Group meeting held? celebrated on March 22, 2023. Ugadi is also

pg. 17
[Type here]

known as Yugadi. Which states celebrate Ugadi [a] Tamil Nadu

as their New Year Day? [b] Madhya Pradesh
[a] Andhra Pradesh [c] Maharashtra
[b] Karnataka [d] Uttar Pradesh
[c] Telangana [e] Gujarat
[d] Only A and B
[e] Only A, B, and C Q.130) How many members were added by
Employees Provident Fund Organization (EPFO)
Q. 126) Which country organized Elevate- a in the month of January 2023?
pitching series in Dubai for providing a platform [a] 14.86 lakh
for startups to connect with investors and global [b] 23.45 lakh
counterparts? [c] 10.56 lakh
[a] UAE [d] 18.79 lakh
[b] India [e] 13.24 lakh
[c] Singapore
[d] Vietnam Q. 131) In March 2023, the ‘City Finance
[e] UK Rankings 2022’ portal
(www.cityfinance.in/rankings) has been launched
Q. 127) How much extended fund facility has by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs
been approved for Sri Lanka by the Executive (MoHUA). Which of the following statement(s)
Board of the International Monetary Fund? is/are correct with regards to the City Finance
[a] $10 billions Rankings?
[b] $5 billions 1) The ‘City Finance Rankings 2022’ was
[c] $2 billions launched by Shri Hardeep Singh Puri, Hon’ble
[d] $3 billions Minister Housing and Urban Development in 2021
[e] $1.5 billions 2) The ULBs are assessed on 15 indicators
across three key municipal finance assessment
Q. 128) When is the International Day for the parameters
Elimination of Racial Discrimination observed? 3) Resource Mobilization, Expenditure
[a] March 21 Performance, Fiscal Governance, Infrastructure
[b] September 15 development, Public Health Management
[c] April 15 Systems are the key parameters of this
[d] May 12 assessment
[e] February 27 4) The cities will be ranked based on their scores
under any one of the following four population
Q. 129) Where is the Rani's Girls Hockey Turf categories: (i) Above 4 million (ii) Between 1-4
located?

pg. 18
[Type here]

million (iii) 100K to 1 million (iv) Less than [c] Ahmedabad

100,000. [d] Pune
[a] Only 1, 2, and 3 [e] Surat
[b] Only 3 and 4
[c] Only 2 and 4 Q. 135) Which state has launched ‘Mukhyamantri
[d] Only 1 and 2 Vriksh Sampada Yojana’, a mega scheme aimed
[e] Only 2, 3, and 4 at encouraging commercial plantation?
[a] Chhattisgarh
Q. 132) IndiaFirst Life Insurance Company [b] Himachal Pradesh
(IndiaFirst) has received final approval from SEBI [c] Punjab
to launch its initial public offering (IPO). Which of [d] Haryana
the following banks is the promoter of this life [e] Delhi
insurance company?
[a] IDFC First Q. 136) Which company has developed the ‘INS
[b] Indian Bank Androth’?
[c] Bank of India [a] L&T
[d] Bank of Baroda [b] GRSE
[e] RBL Bank [c] BEL
[d] BEML
Q. 133) Recently, Union Home Minister Amit [e] GSL
Shah will inaugurate the Vedic Heritage portal for
helping researchers in deeper understanding of Q. 137) How many countries participated in the
the Vedic knowledge tradition and help the AFINDEX- 2023 exercise?
common people to have a general understanding [a] 16
of the ancient scriptures. Which of the following [b] 24
institutions hosts the platform? [c] 20
[a] Delhi College of Arts and Commerce [d] 19
[b] Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts [e] 12
[c] Ashoka University
[d] PSG College of Arts and Science Q. 138) Recently, INS Sujata, a ship based at
[e] Indira Gandhi National Open University Southern Naval Command, Kochi, visited Port
Maputo as part of Overseas Deployment from
Q. 134) Where did the inauguration ceremony of March 19-21. Where is the port located?
Asia’s largest 4-metre International Liquid Mirror [a] Mozambique
Telescope take place? [b] Oman
[a] Rourkela [c] UAE
[b] Devasthal [d] Sri Lanka

pg. 19
[Type here]

[e] Japan
Q. 142) Where was the C-PACE centre set up?
Q. 139) National Agricultural Cooperative [a] Indian Institute of Material Management
Marketing Federation of India Ltd. (NAFED) has [b] Indian Institute of Management
signed an MoU with the Ministry of Agriculture & Visakhapatnam
Farmers Welfare to extend its support to Millets’ [c] India School of Business
initiatives. Under the collaboration, NAFED has [d] Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs
started extending marketing linkage to Millets- [e] Faculty of Management Studies
centric Startups, setting up a Millet Corner in
NAFED Bazaar Retail Stores, installation of Millet Q. 143) Indian Higher Education Meet 2023 will
Vending Machines across Delhi-NCR. National be held at Dhaka, Bangladesh. It is being
Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of conducted under the aegis of the Study in India
India Ltd. (NAFED) was established on the programme in Dhaka. The ‘Study in India’
auspicious day of Gandhi Jayanti on 2nd October programme is a flagship project launched by the
1958. Who is the chair of NAFED? Ministry of Education, Government of India in
[a] Bijender Singh ____. The programme is designed to encourage
[b] Kedar Burande and invite the global student community to pursue
[c] Chandra Sekhar their higher education in India.
[d] Ritika Singh Verma [a] 2019
[e] Vikram Sahay [b] 2011
[c] 2018
Q.140) What is the theme of World Water Day [d] 2022
2023? [e] 2021
[a] Groundwater: Making the Invisible Visible
[b] Valuing Water Q. 144) Where is India’s first National Centre of
[c] Water and Climate Change Excellence in Green Port & Shipping (NCoEGPS)
[d] Accelerating Change set up?
[e] Leaving No One Behind [a] Ghaziabad
[b] Noida
Q. 141) Where was the two-day G20 Research [c] Gwalior
and Innovation Initiative Gathering (RIIG) [d] Faridabad
Conference organized? [e] Gurugram
[a] Kolkata
[b] Dibrugarh Q. 145) Recently, the Union Minister of Ports,
[c] Guwahati Shipping & Waterways, Sarbananda Sonowal
[d] Madras launched the ‘Green Tug Transition Programme’.
[e] Pune

pg. 20
[Type here]

Which of the following statement(s) is/are correct included senior officials from NHAI, MeitY and
with regards to the program? _____?
1) The ‘Green Tug Transition Programme’ aims to [a] IIT Delhi
have green tugs in all major ports by 2030. [b] IIT Bangalore
2) Under the ‘Green Tug Transition Programme’, [c] IIT Calcutta
50% of all the Tugs are likely to be converted into [d] IIT Madras
Green Tugs by 2035 [e] IIT Guwahati
3) India aims to reduce Carbon emissions per ton
of cargo handled by ports in India by 50% by Q. 148) Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs
2035 (CCEA) has extended the subsidy of Rs ____ per
[a] Only 1 and 2 LPG cylinder for a period of one year under the
[b] Only 2 and 3 Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana. The subsidy of
[c] Only 2 Rs 200 per LPG cylinder will be provided to the
[d] None are correct beneficiaries for up to ____ refills per year.
[e] All are correct Government had launched Pradhan Mantri
Ujjwala Yojana in ____ to provide deposit-free
Q. 146) Central Government has launched a LPG connections to adult women of poor
digitised claim settlement module — DigiClaim — households.
under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana [a] 200; 12; 2016
(PMFBY) to help farmers receive the disbursed [b] 500; 11; 2019
amount electronically like in the case of PM- [c] 400; 10; 2018
Kisan. In how many states is the module [d] 500; 12; 2015
launched, in its initial phase? [e] 300; 12; 2017
[a] Six
[b] Eight Q. 149) Union Minister for Environment, Forest
[c] Nine and Climate Change, Shri Bhupender Yadav
[d] Five launched the Aravalli Green Wall Project, a major
[e] Four initiative to make the 5 km buffer area around the
Aravalli Hill Range green in four states. In which
Q. 147) Indian Highways Management Company state is the project launched in the initial phase?
Limited (IHMCL) has collaborated with ‘MeitY [a] Only Haryana
Start-up Hub’ to organize a Hackathon for Indian [b] Only Gujarat
tech start-ups to find solutions to address the [c] Only Rajasthan
challenges of tolling and traffic management on [d] Both Haryana and Gujarat
the National Highways in India. The jury, which [e] Both Rajasthan and Haryana
shortlisted top 5 applicants in the hackathon,

pg. 21
[Type here]

Q.150) The Central government has raised the [a] BEML Ltd
daily wage rates under the Mahatma Gandhi [b] Bharat Electronics Limited
National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme [c] Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited
(MGNREGS) by up to 10.4% for FY24 from a [d] Goa Shipyard Limited
year before. In absolute terms, the daily wages [e] Munitions India Limited
have been raised in the ₹7-26 range. Which state
received the highest increase in the wage rate for Q.154) Which of the following places will have
FY24? India’s first PM Mega Integrated Textile Regions
[a] Telangana and Apparel (PM MITRA) Park?
[b] Gujarat [a] Kohima
[c] West Bengal [b] Dimapur
[d] Andhra Pradesh [c] Kutch
[e] Rajasthan [d] Virudhunagar
[e] Thane
Q.151) Where was the second Environment and
Climate Sustainability Working Group meeting? Q.155) UNDP and Green Climate Fund have
[a] India Habitat Centre signed a new Accreditation Master Agreement
[b] Mahatma Mandir Convention and Exhibition (AMA) to deliver vital climate finance to countries
Centre in critical decade for action. The AMA would
[c] Hyderabad International Convention Centre extend the partnership between UNDP and GCF
[d] Indian Cultural Heritage Centre up to ____?
[e] Swami Vivekananda Cultural Centre [a] 2027
[b] 2030
Q.152) Which state has launched a unique [c] 2025
human-driven initiative, named "Gajamitra [d] 2029
(Friends of Elephants)" to check the rising [e] 2035
incidents of human-elephant conflict?
[a] West Bengal Q.156) What is IIT-Bombay’s rank in the
[b] Kerala Engineering and Technology category of QS
[c] Karnataka World University Rankings by Subject 2023?
[d] Maharashtra [a] 52nd
[e] Gujarat [b] 47th
[c] 88th
Q.153) From which company is Ministry of [d] 27th
Defence procuring two Integrated Electronic [e] 33rd
Warfare Systems under the Project Himshakti at
an overall cost of approximately Rs 3,000 crore?

pg. 22
[Type here]

Q.157) Which of the following statement(s) is/are [c] Bhopal

correct with regards to the Synthesis Report on [d] Delhi
IPCC’s Sixth Assessment Report 2023? [e] Bhubaneswar
1) The Synthesis Report (SYR) integrates the
main findings of the Sixth Assessment Report Q.160) Who chairs IFSCA’s committee formed to
(AR6), which was released in 2021-22 encourage the Indian fintech and startups
2) The AR6 Synthesis Report: Climate Change domiciled abroad to relocate to GIFT IFSC?
2023 summarizes five years of reports on global [a] M. S. Sahoo
temperature rises, fossil fuel emissions and [b] G. Padmanabhan
climate impacts [c] Ashish Kumar Chauhan
3) As per the report, GHG emissions will lead to [d] Sundararaman Ramamurthy
increasing global warming in the near term, and [e] Anuj Kumar
it's likely this will reach 1.5°C between 2030 and
2035 Q. 161) What is the limit on deposit in Mahila
4) At present, the global temperature is around Samman Savings Certificate Scheme?
1.1°C and current climate policies are projected to [a] Rs 5 lakh
increase global warming by 3.2°C by 2100 [b] Rs 2 lakh
[a] Only 1, 2, and 3 [c] Rs 3 lakh
[b] Only 2, 3, and 4 [d] Rs 10 lakh
[c] Only 1, 3, and 4 [e] Rs 7 lakh
[d] Only 1, 2, 3, and 4
[e] Only 1, 2 and 4 Q. 162) Which national park hosted the Gaj Utsav
2023?
Q.158) Which multilateral agency has announced [a] Ranthambore National Park
to invest Rs 600 crore in a new last mile mobility [b] Kanha Tiger Reserve
(LMM) company set up by Mahindra & Mahindra? [c] Bandipur National Park
[a] JBIC [d] Kaziranga National Park
[b] IFC [e] Sariska Tiger Reserve
[c] KfW
[d] EIB Q. 163) Who heads the Finance Ministry’s panel
[e] AIIB to suggest reforms in the National Pension
Scheme?
Q.159) Where are RBI’s ‘Greenfield Data Centre’ [a] B.N. Bhaskar
and ‘Enterprise Computing & Cybersecurity [b] TV Somanathan
Training Institute’ being developed? [c] Ram Rashik Mandal
[a] Mumbai [d] Pankaj Choudhary
[b] Lucknow [e] Kumar Ravikant Singh

pg. 23
[Type here]

1) UN Sustainable Development Solutions

Q. 164) In which state has Quality Council of Network has been releasing this report annually
India launched its first of its kind Gunvatta since 1978
Sankalp? 2) The parameters of the report include social
[a] Maharashtra support, income, health, freedom, generosity, and
[b] Uttar Pradesh absence of corruption
[c] Madhya Pradesh 3) This year, the report has reduced the number
[d] Telangana of countries assessed from 146 in 2022 to 136 in
[e] Gujarat 2023
4) Lithuania is the new entrant in the top 20 of this
Q. 165) Which has become the first state to pass report.
the Right to Health Bill? [a] Only 1, 2, and 3
[a] Madhya Pradesh [b] Only 2, 3 and 4
[b] Gujarat [c] Only 1 and 2
[c] Andhra Pradesh [d] Only 1, 3, and 4
[d] Rajasthan [e] Only 2 and 3
[e] Tamil Nadu
Q. 169) Recently, Dilma Rousseff has been
Q. 166) What is the new Minimum Support Price elected as the head of New Development Bank
(MSP) for Raw Jute for 2023-24 season? (NDB). Which country does he belong to?
[a] Rs 2330 [a] UAE
[b] Rs 4560 [b] Uruguay
[c] Rs 3289 [c] Egypt
[d] Rs 4890 [d] Brazil
[e] Rs 5050 [e] South Africa

Q. 167) Which organization has released the “The Q.170) Who has won the “GenNext Entrepreneur”
Triple Threat” report? award at the 12th edition of its ‘Forbes India
[a] WHO Leadership Awards 2023’?
[b] UNESCO [a] Anil Manibhai Naik
[c] UNICEF [b] Abhay Soi
[d] WEF [c] Isha Ambani
[e] UN-DESA [d] CK Venkatraman
[e] Skyroot Aerospace
Q. 168) Which of the following statement(s) is/are
correct in relation to the World Happiness Report Q. 171) Recently, G20 Expert Group on
2023? Strengthening Multilateral Development Banks

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has been constituted under G20 India’s [a] Odisha

Presidency. The panel would ascertain the scale [b] Chhattisgarh
of funding required by and from MDBs for [c] Madhya Pradesh
addressing their and member countries' increased [d] Jharkhand
financing needs for SDG and transboundary [e] Tripura
challenges. Who among the following is the
convenor of this expert group from India? Q. 175) Who chairs the Department of Consumer
[a] TV Somanathan Affairs’ newly constituted committee to monitor
[b] Anantha Nageswaran the stock of Tur held by importers, millers,
[c] Rajeeva Laxman Karandikar traders, and other such entities?
[d] N K Singh [a] Nidhi Khare
[e] Sanjeev Sanyal [b] S.S Nakul
[c] Sernya Bhutia
Q. 172) Ministry of Electronics and Information [d] Neeraj Mishra
Technology has constituted a task force to make [e] Sanjay Malhotra
India a ‘product developer and manufacturing
nation’. The task force will be chaired by Q. 176) What is the score of India in the Global
additional secretary (MeitY), Bhuvnesh Kumar Terrorism Index 2023?
with joint secretary (electronics), Amitesh Kumar [a] 7.175
Sinha as the member convenor. What is the [b] 6.819
strength of this panel? [c] 5.678
[a] 16 [d] 4.123
[b] 9 [e] 6.897
[c] 12
[d] 7 Q. 177) Which company has launched industry’s
[e] 13 first ‘Anywhere Cashless’ feature for health
insurance policyholders?
Q. 173) Which state has received $108 million [a] ICICI Lombard General Insurance
loan from World Bank to improve disaster [b] Acko General Insurance
preparedness and enhance flood forecasting? [c] Future Generali India Insurance
[a] Assam [d] Go Digit General Insurance
[b] West Bengal [e] HDFC ERGO General Insurance
[c] Odisha
[d] Tamil Nadu Q. 178) Which company has received the
[e] Telangana Reserve Bank of India’s approval to commence
operations as an NBFC Account Aggregator (AA)
Q. 174) Where is the Gandhamardan hill located? in March 2023?

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[a] CRIF Connect Private [c] Maharashtra

[b] TCI Finance Limited [d] Madhya Pradesh
[c] Sri Chakra Infoways Ltd [e] Gujarat
[d] Midland Industries Ltd
[e] Kaveri Projects Ltd Q. 183) Choose the incorrect pairs.
1) Inderkilla National Park – Himachal Pradesh
Q. 179) Who has been appointed as the CMD of 2) Madhav National Park – Madhya Pradesh
Cotton Corporation of India? 3) Kudremukh National Park - Karnataka
[a] Inderjeet Arora 4) Silent Valley National Park - Kerala
[b] Lalit Kumar Gupta 5) Pench National Park – Uttar Pradesh
[c] Sukant Vatsa [a] Only 2 and 4
[d] Prithul Kumar [b] Only 1 and 3
[e] Dhanpreet Kaur [c] Only 1, 2, and 3
[d] Only 5
Q.180) Which metro was honored with the [e] Only 3, 4, and 5
prestigious Asia Book of Records certification for
three different categories? Q. 184) Where is the Port Antsiranana located?
[a] Nagpur Metro [a] Madagascar
[b] Delhi Metro [b] Bahrain
[c] Hyderabad Metro [c] Argentine
[d] Bengaluru Metro [d] Spain
[e] Pune Metro [e] Philippines

Q.181) Where was the First Meeting of G20-Chief Q. 185) In March 2023, the World Health
Science Advisers Roundtable held? Organization (WHO) has certified Azerbaijan and
[a] Shimla Tajikistan as Malaria-free countries for achieving
[b] Ramnagar elimination of malaria in their territories. In light of
[c] Pasighat the above statement, which of the following
[d] Silchar statement(s) is/are correct?
[e] Lachung 1) Now, a total of 41 countries and 1 territory
have been certified as malaria-free by WHO,
Q. 182) Which state has received a $363 million including 21 countries in the European Region.
loan to provide clean drinking water supply to 2 2) 11 countries are classified as high-burden-
million rural households in the state through a high-initiative for malaria.
piped water connection in their homes? 3) India aims to eliminate malaria by 2030.
[a] Karnataka 4) Burkina Faso, Cameroon, the Democratic
[b] West Bengal Republic of the Congo, Ghana, India, Mali,

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Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Uganda and the Q. 188) World Food Program of FAO has
United Republic of Tanzania are the 11 high- released “The State of School Feeding Worldwide
burden-high-initiative for malaria. 2022”. The State of School Feeding worldwide
[a] Only 1, 2, and 3 publication is issued every two years and uses
[b] Only 3 the best available data sources to provide an
[c] Only 2 and 3 overview of coverage, implementation practices
[d] All are incorrect and costs of school-based health and nutrition
[e] None is incorrect programmes worldwide. The report lauds the
work done by the School Meals Coalition. When
Q. 186) Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI) was the initiative launched?
has released a report titled “Blueprint for realising [a] 2018
India’s E-Commerce Exports Potential”. India’s [b] 2015
merchandise imports for the fiscal year ending [c] 2019
March 2023 are estimated to touch US $710 [d] 2021
billion, up from $613 billion in FY2022, an [e] 2016
increase of over 15.8% over last year. As per the
report, India’s major importing partner is China. Q. 189) The Department of Financial Services
From China, India has imported $102.6 billion (DFS) had given __________ to the State Bank
worth of goods in various sectors like textiles, of India as part of recapitalisation exercise in
plastics, chemicals etc. Which sector accounts for FY18. The information was given in the
the major proportion of Chinese imported Compliance Audit Report No. 1 of 2023 of the
products in India? Comptroller and Auditor General of India on
[a] Textile Union Government (Economic and Service
[b] Agriculture Ministries - Civil) for the year ended March 2021.
[c] Electronics [a] Rs 8,800 crore
[d] Chemicals [b] Rs 4,500 crore
[e] Metals [c] Rs 6,700 crore
[d] Rs 3,200 crore
Q. 187) What is the rank of India in “The Passport [e] Rs 5,600 crore
Index 2023” of Arton Capital?
[a] 71 Q.190) Mumbai (India's commercial capital) has
[b] 68 been included in the World Tree City 2022 list, for
[c] 103 the second consecutive year. The Arbor Day
[d] 45 Foundation and the United Nations Food &
[e] 87 Agriculture Organisation (FAO) have been
conducting the TWF for 50 years. What is the

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target of Arbor Day Foundation for tree [c] Planting 75 crore more trees by 2035
plantation? [d] Planting 50 crore more trees by 2027
[a] Planting 10 crore more trees by 2022 [e] Planting 100 crore more trees by 2050
[b] Planting 35 crore more trees by 2030

1 E 51 C 101 E 151 B
2 D 52 A 102 C 152 A
3 B 53 D 103 B 153 B
4 A 54 A 104 C 154 D
5 B 55 A 105 B 155 A
6 B 56 D 106 D 156 B
7 A 57 C 107 E 157 D
8 C 58 A 108 D 158 B
9 D 59 A 109 E 159 E
10 A 60 D 110 D 160 B
11 C 61 E 111 A 161 B
12 C 62 D 112 E 162 D
13 C 63 B 113 D 163 B
14 A 64 E 114 D 164 B
15 D 65 E 115 A 165 D
16 B 66 C 116 E 166 E
17 D 67 A 117 C 167 C
18 B 68 E 118 A 168 B
19 A 69 A 119 B 169 D
20 A 70 E 120 E 170 C
21 E 71 A 121 B 171 D
22 B 72 C 122 D 172 B
23 C 73 A 123 A 173 A
24 E 74 D 124 E 174 A
25 B 75 A 125 E 175 A
26 D 76 A 126 B 176 A
27 D 77 B 127 D 177 A
28 A 78 A 128 A 178 A
29 B 79 B 129 D 179 B
30 D 80 A 130 A 180 A

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31 A 81 C 131 C 181 B
32 D 82 D 132 D 182 A
33 E 83 E 133 B 183 D
34 A 84 E 134 B 184 A
35 A 85 B 135 A 185 E
36 D 86 B 136 B 186 C
37 A 87 A 137 B 187 A
38 B 88 A 138 A 188 D
39 D 89 D 139 A 189 A
40 B 90 B 140 D 190 D
41 C 91 B 141 B
42 A 92 A 142 D
43 A 93 A 143 C
44 B 94 B 144 E
45 B 95 D 145 D
46 B 96 D 146 A
47 D 97 D 147 D
48 A 98 A 148 A
49 A 99 D 149 A
50 A 100 D 150 E

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