Current Affairs Quiz - January, 2023

Notes:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi virtually flagged off the Vande Bharat express connecting Howrah and New Jalpaiguri. It is a railway station in Siliguri, West Bengal and is considered as the gateway to the northeast.
The Vande Bharat Express covers a distance of 564 km in 7.45 hours, will save three hours of travel time. The Vande Bharat express will be preferred by tea industry executives and tourists travelling to the Himalayas in North Bengal and Sikkim.

Notes:
The Reserve Bank released its web publication titled ‘Statistical Tables relating to Banks in India: 2021-22’
The publication covers the activities of the Indian banking sector. It presents entity-wise information of liabilities and assets; income and expenses; financial ratios, number of employees and details of priority sector advances for scheduled commercial banks among other information.

Notes:
A recent study by scientists of the National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS) have discovered that butterflies warn, fool, and escape their predators using traits such as wing colour patterns and even flight behaviour.
The study investigated the butterfly mimetic communities of the Western Ghats over five years. The female Common Mormon mimics the toxic Common Rose. In mimicry, a palatable organism resembles an unpalatable organism to deceive predators.

Notes:
Fiscal Deficit is the difference between the total revenue and total expenditures of a country in a year.
The Fiscal Deficit at the end of November touched 59 per cent of the full year budget estimate. According to data released by the Controller General of Accounts (CGA), the fiscal deficit was ₹978,154 crore in the April-November period 2022-23.

Notes:
The Assam Cabinet decided to merge four districts with existing ones and redraw boundaries in 14 places.
The decision was taken a day ahead of the Election Commission’s (EC) deadline on starting the delimitation exercise for assembly and parliamentary seats. EC earlier announced fresh delimitation of 126 assembly and 14 parliamentary seats and banned creation of new administrative units.

Notes:
The Reserve Bank of India’s Medium-term Strategy Framework for the period 2023-2025 named ‘Utkarsh 2.0’ was launched by RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das.
The first strategy framework (Utkarsh 2022) covering the period 2019-2022 was launched in July 2019. Utkarsh 2.0 retains the six Vision statements as well as Core Purpose, Values, and Mission statement of the 2022 version.

Notes:
Amazon Future Engineer is a program aimed at increasing access to computer science education for children and young adults. It was launched in India in the year 2021.
National Education Society for Tribal Students (NESTS), Ministry of Tribal Affairs has partnered with Amazon to empower teachers and students in the field of digital education.

Notes:
India signed a ‘Comprehensive Migration and Mobility Partnership Agreement’ (MMPA) with Austria for migration and mobility of Indian students and professionals.
External Affairs Minister S Jai Shankar is the first visit of an Indian foreign minister to Austria in 27 years. India had earlier signed mobility agreements with the UK, France, Germany and Finland.

Notes:
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva took office for a third term as Brazil’s President, after the divisive election in October.
The outgoing leader of the Latin America’s biggest economy is Jair Bolsonaro. The 77-year-old ex-metalworker Lula da Silva previously led Brazil from 2003 to 2010.

Notes:
The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) has floated draft control orders (QCOs) for 16 products including air coolers, bicycles and bottled water dispensers.
The items under these orders cannot be produced, sold, imported and stocked unless they have the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) mark. These orders are issued in consonance with the WTO (World Trade Organisation) Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT).