Current Affairs Quiz - August, 2023

Notes:
Celine Dion, the renowned international pop star, was recently diagnosed with Stiff Person Syndrome (SPS).
Stiff person syndrome is an uncommon neurological condition distinguished by gradual muscle stiffness and recurrent episodes of painful muscle spasms.

Notes:
Bureau of Indian Standards, the National Standards Body of India signed Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) with 35 prestigious institutions across the country for fostering collaboration in standardization and conformity assessment.
The institutions included some prominent NITs, Government and Private Engineering colleges from different states across the country.

Notes:
Recently, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), the market regulator, issued a circular to streamline the existing dispute resolution mechanism in the securities market under the stock exchanges and depositories.
This will establish a common ODR portal, utilizing online conciliation and arbitration to resolve disputes arising in the securities market.

Notes:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the ‘Bhartiya Vastra evam Shilp Kosh’ – ‘A Repository of Textiles and Crafts’ e-portal during the National Handloom Day celebration in New Delhi.
Developed by National Institute of Fashion Technology -NIFT in partnership with the Ministry of Textiles, the portal aims to showcase India’s wide range of textiles and crafts in a unified catalog, reflecting the nation’s cultural richness.

Notes:
Scientists from IIT-Roorkee and GSI have unearthed the oldest fossilized remains of a plant-eating dicraeosaurid dinosaur in Jaisalmer, indicating India’s significant role in dinosaur evolution.
The new species is named ‘Tharosaurus indicus,’ and its fossils date back to 167 million years.

Notes:
Approximately 38 countries lack basic electricity access, with an average per capita electricity consumption of 118 kWh.
Out of these, 30 are from sub-Saharan Africa, where energy poverty is acute. An analysis by the Centre for Science and Environment indicates that over 60% of Africa’s population is grappling with severe energy poverty as of 2021.

Notes:
OpenAI has unveiled GPTBot, a cutting-edge web crawler developed to enhance AI models such as GPT-4 and upcoming versions, including the eagerly awaited GPT-5.
This initiative reflects OpenAI’s steadfast dedication to improving AI proficiency by tapping into a broad spectrum of internet-based information.

Notes:
Digital Public Infrastructure provider Protean EGov Technologies, has recently partnered with PayNearby to make credit services more accessible and affordable nationwide by leveraging the ONDC (Open Network for Digital Commerce) network. The partnership aims to create a marketplace for last-mile borrowers and MSMEs in India.
In this partnership, Protean will serve as an ONDC technology service provider that facilitates credit availability through PayNearby’s Distribution as a Service (DaaS) network.

Notes:
The Reserve Bank of India has planned to work with global consultancy firms in order to improve regulatory supervision over banks and NBFCs.
The central bank has selected McKinsey and Company India and Accenture Solutions India to develop systems that use artificial intelligence and machine learning for supervisory functions.

Notes:
With around 65 per cent of the total 6,798 panchayats in Odisha not have banking penetration, the state cabinet approved a scheme to open banking outlets in 4,373 panchayats with a budgetary support of Rs 500 crore.
The scheme, aimed to improve financial inclusion, will be implemented in coordination with six public sector banks in a phased manner.