Current Affairs Quiz - March, 2023

Notes:
W20 (Women 20) is an official engagement group under the G20 which was  established during the Turkish presidency in 2015.
Aurangabad hosted the W20 Inception Meeting and this will be followed by two other W20 International meets at Jaipur, Rajasthan in April and at the W20 Summit in Mahabalipuram, Tamil Nadu in June.

Notes:
The U.S. President Joe Biden announced that the country is nominating Ajay Banga to lead the World Bank
The 63-year- old leader currently serves as Vice Chairman at General Atlantic. He was President and CEO of Mastercard was awarded the Padma Shri in 2016. He has worked as the Co-Chair of the Partnership for Central America, is a member of the Trilateral Commission, a founding trustee of the U.S.-India Strategic Partnership Forum among other prestigious positions.

Notes:
The Centre has approved the Quality Control Order (QCO) for mandatory certification of cotton bales.
The compulsory requirement of Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) certification for cotton bales sold in India is expected to check imports of substandard cotton and ensure domestic cotton meets certain minimum quality parameters, as per the Textiles Ministry.

Notes:
Seattle has become the first US city to ban discrimination based on caste after a vote by the city council.
The caste system in India dates back over 3,000 years and divides Hindu society into rigid hierarchical groups. Similar bans on caste bias that have been introduced on the campuses of US universities in recent years.

Notes:
The preliminary surveys conducted by the Atomic Minerals Directorate for Exploration and Research (AMD) found the presence of lithium reserves in Mandya district of Karnataka.
The Central Government has started taking steps to initiate commercial exploration after lithium reserves was discovered earlier in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir. The AMD is the oldest unit of India’s Department of Atomic Energy.

Notes:
Tunel Wielki, situated in Poland’s Ojców National Park, is an archaeological site located in the karst area.
It has 15 layers in 4.5-meter-deep sediments that provide evidences of early prehistorical cultures, the Middle Ages, and the 19th century. Recently, the oldest known flint tools were discovered in Tunel Wielki cave.

Notes:
The National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) has launched the Integrated Teacher Education Programme (ITEP) in 57 Teacher Education Institutions (TEIs) throughout India.
This flagship initiative is launched under NEP 2020. It offers a 4-year dual-major undergraduate degree program, preparing teachers for the 4 stages of the new school structure.

Notes:
The BrahMos missile is a type of supersonic cruise missile that can be launched from submarines, ships, airplanes, or land.
It is currently the fastest supersonic missile in the world and was developed by a partnership between India’s Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Russia’s NPO Mashinostroyeniya, forming BrahMos Aerospace. Recently, Indian Navy successfully test fired the ship-launched version of the BrahMos missile.

Notes:
Hola Mohalla is a Sikh festival celebrated for three days in March, usually a day after the Hindu festival of Holi.
A fair is organized in Anandpur Sahib on Hola Mohalla. The festival concludes with a long military-style procession near Takht Sri Keshgarh Sahib, one of the five seats of temporal authority of the Sikhs.

Notes:
The Keeladi museum was inaugurated by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin in Sivaganga district. This museum showcases the life of ancient Tamils during the Sangam Age.
It is built on a 2-acre land in Keeladi at a cost of ₹18.43 crore. The museum features a variety of antiques, virtual reality experiences of the excavations, and models of the ships of the Sangam Age. The museum houses over 15,000 unique artefacts, which reveal the existence of an urban civilization in Tamil Nadu during the Sangam Age, contemporary to the urban life recorded in Gangetic plains.