Current Affairs Quiz - April, 2023

Notes:
Higher Education Financing Agency (HEFA) is a joint venture of Education Ministry, Government of India and Canara Bank for financing creation of capital assets in premier institutions.
A Parliamentary panel has recently directed the Education Ministry to fast track the process of disbursing sanctioned loans by the HEFA.

Notes:
The Centre plans to raise ₹ 8.88 lakh crore through market borrowing in the April-September period of 2023-24 to fund the revenue gap to push economic growth.
The Finance Ministry announced this after consultation with the Reserve Bank of India.

Notes:
To ensure more transparency and timely disclosure of material events by listed entities, SEBI decided to amend norms whereby a quantitative threshold will be introduced for determining the materiality of events.
The regulator has decided to do away with the practice of individuals having permanent seats on boards of listed companies.

Notes:
Sarbat Khalsa is a deliberative assembly of all factions of Sikhs that dates back to the 18th century. It is held twice a year on the occasion of Baisakhi and Diwali.
The last “Sarbat khalsa” was held on February 16, 1986. It was recently announced that the convening of a Sarbat khalsa congregation is the sole prerogative of the Akal Takht chief.

Notes:
The First-Ever Anti-Spyware Declaration was issued recently by the United States and 10 other countries. It includes Australia, Canada, Costa Rica, Denmark, France, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.
This is in recognition of the misuse of the commercial spyware and the need for a stringent domestic and international controls on the proliferation and the use of spyware technology.

Notes:
Utkala Dibasa (Odisha Day) is observed on April 1. It commemorates the formation of the Indian State of Odisha after its separation from Bihar and the Orissa Province.
The addition of the Koraput District and Ganjam District from the Madras Presidency on 1 April 1936.

Notes:
Former US President Donald Trump becomes first ex-President to be charged with crime. He will be charged over hush money payments made to a porn star just before the 2016 presidential election.
The former President is also being investigated in several other cases. They include probes into his role in the US Capitol riot of January 2021, his efforts to overturn his loss in the state of Georgia in the 2020 election, and his handling of classified documents after leaving office.

Notes:
SLINEX-2023 is the 10th edition of the annual Indian – Sri Lanka Bilateral Maritime exercise. It is scheduled to be held in Colombo, Sri Lanka.
The Indian Navy is represented by INS Kiltan, an indigenous Kamorta class ASW corvette and INS Savitri, an Offshore Patrol Vessel, while the Sri Lanka Navy is being represented by SLNS Gajabahu and SLNS Sagara.

Notes:
Salim Aziz Durani was an Afghan-born Indian cricketer who took part in 29 Test matches from the years 1960 to 1973. He passed away recently at the age of 88.
Durani was a part of India’s successful victory against England in 1961-62 where he picked up eight wickets against English team.

Notes:
‘Chondrostereum purpureum’ is a plant fungus that causes silver leaf disease in plants. A plant mycologist from India has become the first person in the world to contract a plant fungal disease.
It attacks most species of the rose family Rosaceae, particularly the genus Prunus. Among the millions of fungi present, only a few hundreds of fungi infect humans and animals.