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Current Affairs Quiz: 2 March 2023

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AffairsCloud brings you the complete and important daily Current Affairs Quiz 2 March 2023 to achieve more marks in Banking, Insurance, UPSC, SSC, CLAT, Railways and all other competitive Exams. We have prepared the current affairs quiz question from our daily current affairs 2023 updates.

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    1. Which of the following points is/are ‘correct’ with respect to the GST (Goods and Services Tax) Council’s revised GST rates on pencil sharpeners, liquid jaggery & examination institutions in February 2023?
      A) The Council agreed to reduce the Goods and Service Tax (GST) rate on pencil sharpeners from 18% to 12%, with effect from March 1, 2023.
      B) GST rates on liquid jaggery is reduced from 18% to nil (if sold loose) or to 5% (if sold pre-packaged and labeled).
      C) The GST council has extended the exemption given to educational institutions & Central/state educational boards to any authority, board or bodies set up by the Central/state governments, for conducting entrance examinations.

      1) Only A & B
      2) Only B & C
      3) Only A & C
      4) Only A
      5) All A, B & C
      Answer-5) All A, B & C
      Explanation:
      GST (Goods and Service Tax) Council, chaired by Nirmala Sitaraman, Union Minister of Finance, has agreed to reduce the GST rate on pencil sharpeners, liquid jaggery and examination institutions during its 49th meeting on February 18, 2023.
      i. GST rate on pencil sharpeners has been reduced to 12% from 18% earlier, with effect from March 1, 2023.
      ii. GST rates on liquid jaggery is reduced from 18% to nil (if sold loose) or to 5%(if sold pre-packaged and labeled).
      iii. The GST council has extended the exemption given to educational institutions and Central/state educational boards to any authority, board or bodies set up by the Central/state governments, for conducting entrance examinations.
      • The National Testing Agency (NTA), which administers entrance exams for central and other universities, as well as engineering and medical institutes, was exempt from the scope of the levy.
      • Prior to this, the students has to pay 18% GST on the fees for writing the tests conducted by NTA and state testing agencies

    2. In which state/UT, the National Board of Wildlife (NBWL) has recently (in March ‘23) approved the installation of the Indian Air Force’s Mountain Radar?
      1) Uttarakhand
      2) Jammu & Kashmir
      3) Himachal Pradesh
      4) Ladakh
      5) Arunachal Pradesh
      Answer-4) Ladakh
      Explanation:
      The National Board of Wildlife (NBWL) has approved the installation of the Indian Air Force’s (IAF) Mountain Radar in Ladakh, close to the proposed new IAF base. A number of new operational tracks have also been approved to ensure better strategic connectivity to the critical boundary trijunction (India, China, and Bhutan) off Dokalam.
      i. The Mountain Radar is expected to be located close to the proposed new IAF base which will come up across 500 hectares in the Changsheng sanctuary. The IAF base was approved in 2022.
      ii. The mountain radar induction is a component of a larger defence strategy to keep an eye on the LAC (Line of Actual Control), which is already subject to intense radar monitoring from the side of China.

    3. As of March 2023, which state government is set to establish ‘India’s first government mother milk bank’?
      1) Madhya Pradesh
      2) Uttarakhand
      3) Kerala
      4) Tamil Nadu
      5) Gujarat
      Answer-2) Uttarakhand
      Explanation:
      The Government of Uttarakhand is set to establish India’s first government mother milk bank, a facility that can ensure the nutritional elements of mothers’ milk to newborns.
      i. Mother Milk Bank:
      • Through this milk bank, milk will be made available to those newborn babies whose mother dies during delivery.
      • Uttarakhand Health Minister Dr Dhan Singh Rawat stated that under this scheme, the lactating women will be able to donate milk in this bank.
      Note: The infant mortality rate for India in 2022 was 27.695 deaths per 1000 live births, a 3.74% decline from 2021.

    4. Name the Small Finance Bank (SFB) that has recently (in March ‘23) signed an MoU with V-Guard Industries Ltd to finance solar rooftop power systems.
      1) Capital SFB
      2) Ujjivan SFB
      3) Fincare SFB
      4) ESAF SFB
      5) Unity SFB
      Answer-4) ESAF SFB
      Explanation:
      ESAF Small Finance Bank signed an MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) with Electric equipment manufacturer V-Guard Industries Ltd to provide financing options including loans and installment payment plans to customers who opt for installing V-Guard’s solar rooftop Power System.
      i. Under the MoU, the consumers who intend to install V-Guard’s solar rooftop Power System could get finance up to 80% of the total cost of the rooftop solar power system, including the cost of installation for residential or commercial applications.
      ii. The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy has provided up to 40% subsidy for the V-Guard’s Rooftop Solar Systems.

    5. Which of the following banks has recently (in Feb ‘23) collaborated with Sa-Dhan and NextGen to encourage feature phone users to use “UPI123Pay”?
      1) Federal Bank
      2) IDFC First Bank
      3) Kotak Mahindra Bank
      4) Both 1 & 2
      5) Both 2 & 3
      Answer-4) Both 1 & 2
      Explanation:
      To encourage feature phone users to use “UPI123Pay” to make digital payments, private sector lenders IDFC FIRST Bank Ltd. and The Federal Bank Ltd will collaborate with the association of microfinance institutions (MFIs) Sa-Dhan and Delhi-based fintech solutions vendor NextGen.
      i. UPI123Pay is a payment option for feature phone users via the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) was introduced in December 2022 by the RBI in partnership with the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI).
      Note: The RBI has also introduced ‘DigiSaathi,’ a 24×7 helpline for all digital payment users.

    6. As per the Moody’s Global Macro Outlook 2023–24 (February 2023 Update)”, India’s economic growth projection is increased to __________ for 2023, from 4.8% in November 2022.
      1) 5.5%
      2) 5.3%
      3) 5.0%
      4) 4.9%
      5) 5.2%
      Answer-1) 5.5%
      Explanation:
      Global credit rating agency Moody’s Investors Service (MIS) increased India’s economic growth projection for 2023 to 5.5% from 4.8% in November 2022 in its “Global Macro Outlook 2023-24 (February 2023 Update)”.
      • India’s economic growth is projected to be 6.5% in 2024.
      i. In India, the upward revisions include a significant increase in capex budget allocation to Rs. 10 trillion (3.3% of GDP) for fiscal year 2023-24 (FY24), up from Rs. 7.5 trillion for the fiscal year ending in March 2023 (FY23).
      ii. According to Moody’s, economic activity and employment will be adversely affected by cumulative monetary policy tightening in most major economies, which will slow down global growth in 2023.
      • It projects that the G20 (Group of Twenty) would have 2% global economic growth in 2023, down from 2.7% in 2022, before rising to 2.4% in 2024.

    7. Which company has recently (in March ‘23) entered into an agreement with Telecommunications Consultants India Limited (TCIL) to provide Captive Non-Public Network (CNPN) services to enterprise customers?
      1) Vodafone Idea Limited
      2) Bharti Airtel
      3) Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited
      4) Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited
      5) Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited
      Answer-5) Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited
      Explanation:
      Telecommunications Consultants India Limited (TCIL) has entered into an agreement with Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), for the provision of Captive Non-Public Network (CNPN) Services to enterprise customers.
      i. Both TCIL and BSNL, are Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) under the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), Ministry of Communications (MoC).
      ii. With an experience in field deployment of mobile technologies, TCIL will provide robust end-to-end private 5G network solutions to enterprise customers as the master system integrator.

    8. Name the personality from India who has recently (in March’ 23) won the 2023 PEN/Nabokov Award for Achievement in International Literature.
      1) Geet Chaturvedi
      2) Amrita Pritam
      3) Geetanjali Shree
      4) Vinod Kumar Shukla
      5) Anuja Chauhan
      Answer-4) Vinod Kumar Shukla
      Explanation:
      Indian Short story writer, novelist, poet, and essayist, Vinod Kumar Shukla, one of the greatest contemporary writers in the Hindi language won the 2023 PEN/Nabokov Award for Achievement in International Literature, the award is conferred annually to a living author with the cash prize of USD 50,000 by PEN America.
      • The award will be presented during the 59th Annual PEN Literary Awards on 2nd March 2023 at The Town Hall, New York, United States of America (USA).
      i. Other Awardees:
      • Erika Dickerson-Despenza, an acclaimed American playwright will receive the 2023 PEN/Laura Pels International Foundation for Theater Award.
      • Tina Fey, 8-time Emmy Award winner and one of the greatest comedy writers, will receive the 2023 PEN/Mike Nichols Writing for Performance Award.

    9. What is the theme of Zero Discrimination Day 2023 that was observed across the globe on 1st March 2023?
      1) End Inequalities
      2) Stand Out from Discrimination
      3) Save lives: Decriminalise
      4) Act to change laws that Discriminate
      5) Make Some Noise for Zero Discrimination
      Answer-3) Save lives: Decriminalise
      Explanation:
      Zero Discrimination Day is annually observed across the globe on March 1 to promote equality and fairness before the law and to fight systemic and cultural discrimination against people with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS).
      i. Zero Discrimination Day 2023 is observed on 1st March 2023 under the theme “Save lives: Decriminalise”.
      • The 1st ever Zero Discrimination Day was observed on 1st March 2014.
      ii. The observance of Zero Discrimination Day is led by the UNAIDS (joint United Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS.

    10. In February 2023, Vijay Kumar Choudhary, Finance Minister of Bihar, presented the state budget of ______________ for the Financial Year 2023-24.
      1) Rs 3.20 lakh crore
      2) Rs 2.61 lakh crore
      3) Rs 4.21 lakh crore
      4) Rs 1.50 lakh crore
      5) Rs 5.20 lakh crore
      Answer-2) Rs 2.61 lakh crore
      Explanation:
      On February 28, 2023, Finance Minister of Bihar Vijay Kumar Choudhary presented the state budget for financial year 2023-24 (FY24) with an outlay of Rs 2.61 lakh crore, (Rs 24,194.21 crore more than FY23 Budget) with focus on creating jobs, health and education.
      i. Fiscal Deficit: The Fiscal Deficit for FY24 has been projected at Rs 25,567.84 crore which is 2.98% of the GSDP (Gross State Domestic Product) estimate.
      ii. The state government has committed to provide 10 lakh jobs in FY24 in the government sector.