Current Affairs Quiz - August, 2023

Notes:
A no-confidence motion is a step typically taken by an Opposition party to compel the current government to demonstrate its majority in the House.
Recently, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla accepted a motion of no-confidence against the government, which was initiated by Congress Deputy Leader in Lok Sabha, Gaurav Gogoi, after fulfilling the requisite headcount of 50 MPs as mandated by the rules.

Notes:
West Bengal, which is home to about 40% of mangrove forests in India, announced the setting up of a ‘Mangrove Cell’ in the State, on the occasion of the International Day for the Conservation of the Mangrove Ecosystem.
This platform will bring continuity to the efforts of State government in mangrove management. The Cell has an annual action plan for the plantation of mangroves and it will look at maintenance and coordinate with NGOs.

Notes:
The Asia Pacific Telecommunity was founded on the joint initiatives of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, and the International Telecommunication Union.
An important gathering of the Asia Pacific Telecommunity (APT) is set to take place in Brisbane, with the primary objective of determining the future allocation of the 6 GHz spectrum band for 5G services in India.

Notes:
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the government has decided to enable listed and unlisted domestic companies to directly list their equity shares on the International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) at Ahmedabad.
The decision will facilitate access to global capital and result in a better valuation of the Indian companies. The Finance Minister also launched Corporate Debt Market Development Fund (CDMDF) and AMC Repo Clearing Ltd (ARCL).

Notes:
Delisting means removing the securities of a listed company from a stock exchange. Once delisted, the securities of that company can no longer be traded on the stock exchange.
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) is currently reassessing the delisting regulations applied to listed companies, aiming to curb share manipulation in companies that choose to delist from the stock exchanges.

Notes:
China successfully launched its first communications satellite, Lingxi-03, featuring an ultra-thin flexible solar wing to test technologies for a massive 13,000-satellite broadband mega constellation in low-Earth orbit.
It aims to compete with SpaceX’s Starlink. The satellite was launched atop a Long March 2D rocket from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Centre in central China.

Notes:
The capital markets regulator – SEBI (Securities and Exchange Board of India) has released the guidelines for the Corporate Debt Market Development Fund (CDMDF).
The fund’s purpose is to serve as a backstop facility, facilitating the purchase of investment-grade corporate debt securities during times of market stress, thereby boosting confidence among participants in the corporate debt market.

Notes:
The Kerala state government is set to roll out a unique scheme to provide financial support to first-time overseas emigrants from Kerala.
Titled ‘Shubhayatra’, the project envisages creating a positive and productive migration ecosystem by providing a financial assistance of up to ₹2 lakh with a tax holiday for six months and interest subvention to meet the incidental expense of eligible candidates.

Notes:
The Hyderabad-based International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) and Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI) released BARI Chinabadam-12 (ICGV 07219), an improved groundnut variety in Bangladesh.
The variety is available for cultivation for the upcoming season post rains. It has resistance to foliar fungal diseases and matures four days earlier than its counterpart.

Notes:
The 2023 World Police and Fire Games is a community-wide sports event that is held from July 28 – August 6, 2023 at Winnipeg, Canada.
India is represented by the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), and the athletes of CRPF bagged five gold and one silver medal for India on the first day of the event.