Current Affairs Quiz - August, 2023

Notes:
Union Home Minister is set to inaugurate a distinctive program called ‘Mera Gaon Meri Dharohar’ as a significant component of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav.
This initiative falls under the National Mission on Cultural Mapping and is spearheaded by the Ministry of Culture.  The main objective of the project is to culturally map India’s 6.5 lakh villages, spanning 29 states and 7 union territories, on a comprehensive virtual platform.

Notes:
Under ‘Mukhyamantri Ladli Behna Yojana’, underprivileged women between 23 and 60 years were eligible for ₹1,000 every month.
However, after distributing two instalments the government decided that those completing 21 years from January this year would also be included. They should be married and fulfil the other existing eligibility criteria.

Notes:
Maharashtra-based Aditya Samant became India’s 83rd Grandmaster after earning his third GM norm at the Master Tournament (MTO) in the Biel International Chess Festival.
He had earned his first norm to become a grandmaster at the Abu Dhabi Masters last year in August. His second norm was achieved in December last year at the 3rd El Llobregat Open.

Notes:
Amid escalating tensions in the South China Sea, China views the US presence as a violation of its territorial claims and has employed the “cabbage strategy,”.
It involves the construction of artificial islands and encircling disputed areas with numerous ships to assert control gradually. The situation has led to measures, including detaining trespassers and the possibility of implementing an air identification zone over the South China Sea by various nations involved.

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:
Department of Agriculture and Farmer’s Welfare, Government of Meghalaya and Meghalaya Basin Management Agency (MBMA) has recently facilitated market linkages of over 1.3 tonnes of Pineapples to the Middle East.
The pineapples from Meghalaya are being sold across malls in Dubai, Kuwait and Sharjah.

Notes:
Conjunctivitis, commonly known as pink eye, is the condition characterized by the inflammation and swelling of the conjunctiva, a thin, transparent tissue layer that covers the inner surface of the eyelid and the white part of the eye.
The continuous rainfall has led to an increase in instances of conjunctivitis, also known as ‘pink eye,’ in various regions of the country, such as New Delhi, Chandigarh, and Gujarat.

Notes:
The Company Law Committee (CLC) has been established in 2019 by the Union Ministry of Corporate Affairs.
It is expected to explore the implementation of regulatory measures specific to startups. This initiative comes in response to growing concerns about corporate governance matters within startup entities.

Notes:
Pension regulator PFRDA has barred Annuity Service Providers (ASPs) from deploying any agency of intermediaries for sourcing annuities business from NPS subscribers upon their retirement or exit from the NPS.
Annuities under National Pension System (NPS) can be issued by ASPs only under direct channels, as per the official sources.

Notes:
The country’s per capita income is likely to grow by close to 70 per cent to USD 4,000 by fiscal 2030 from USD 2,450 in fiscal 2023.
This will help the country to become a middle-income economy with USD 6-trillion GDP. Per capita income/GDP has risen from USD 460 in fiscal 2001 to USD 1,413 in fiscal 2011 and to USD 2,150 in fiscal 2021. The biggest growth driver will be external trade, followed by household consumption.