Correct Answer :   Om Birla

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The 19th annual Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA), India Zone-3 conference, will be inaugurated by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, on 23rd February 2023 at Gangtok, Sikkim.

* Governor of Sikkim, Lakshman Prasad Acharya, Chief Minister of Sikkim, Prem Singh Tamang, Deputy Chairman, Rajya Sabha, Harivansh, Presiding Officers of Legislative Bodies in India, Members of Parliament, Members of Sikkim Legislature and other dignitaries are scheduled to participate in the event.

* The two-day Conference will deliberate on many issues ranging from making parliament and assembly more accessible to the public. Drug abuse and the way forward and Cyber Bullying are the core issues, which will be discussed in this conference.

About Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) and CPA Zone-III :

It is pertinent to note that till now, 18 Zonal Conferences have been held in the North Eastern States that include the Events of North East Region of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (NERCPA) and CPA Zone-III.

* The CPA Zone-III comprises of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura.

* As CPA Zone-III, two Conferences have been held, i.e. Guwahati, Assam on 8 October 2018 and Itanagar, Arunachal Pradesh on 12 and 13 May 2022.

* The CPA India Region comprises a total of 31 Legislatures, from Assam in the East to Gujarat in the West.

* After the Africa Region, India has the largest number of member branches of the CPA.

Om Birla: CPA India Regional Chairperson :

* The executive committee of the CPA India Region consists of the CPA India Regional Chairperson and six members. Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla is its current Regional Chairperson.

Administratively, the CPA India Region is divided into 4 zones :


Zone -1 : Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Jharkhand, Orissa, Uttar Pradesh Uttaranchal, West Bengal (8 Branches),

Zone -2 : Andhra Pradesh, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Puducherry (UT), Tamil Nadu, Telangana (8 Branches),

Zone- 3 : Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, Tripura (8 Branches) and

Zone- 4 : Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Rajasthan (7 Branches)...

Source : The Print

Correct Answer :   Karnataka

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The Karnataka Government will build the country's first Marina or a boat basin offering dockage, at Byndoor in Udupi district to promote coastal tourism in Karnataka, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai has said.

* The government will also seek permission from the Centre for the relaxation of Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) to take up beach tourism in coastal areas and pilgrim tourism, he said, speaking at a function to unveil the Seven Wonders of Karnataka, organised by the Karnataka Tourism Department, on Saturday (25th Feb 2023).

* The government will collect the history of the greatest dynasties such as Ganga, Kadamba, Rashtrakoota, Chalukya, and Hoysala from the Department of Archaeology and develop the history of tourism in the state. This will not only help the development of tourism but also help people understand the rich history of the state.

* The government, Bommai said, has proposed to build a corridor of the ancient temples including Madhukeshwara in Banavasi and Dattatreya in Ganagapura and promote `Yatra tourism'.

* The government will develop the Benakal area while Anjanadri Hill is under development. There is also a scheme to pay a monthly honorarium of Rs 5000 to the recognized tourist guides.

* Karnataka is blessed with nature's bounty. It has a 350-km coastal area, 10 different weather zones, 400-km of the Western Ghats, a rich biodiversity with sunshine for 300 days, and several rivers..

Source : India Times

Correct Answer :   Rs 16,800 Crores

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi will release the 13th instalment of financial benefits worth Rs 16,800 crore to over eight crore eligible farmers under the flagship PM-KISAN scheme on Monday(27th Feb 2023) ahead of Holi and rabi harvesting.

* Under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN), eligible farmers are provided with a financial benefit of Rs 6,000 per year in three equal instalments of Rs 2,000 each every four months.

* The fund is directly transferred to the bank accounts of the beneficiaries.

* The scheme was launched in February 2019 but is being implemented with effect from December 2018.

* The Prime Minister will release the 13th instalment at an event to be held at Belagavi, Karnataka, an official statement said on Sunday (26th Feb 2023).

* More than one lakh attendees, comprising PM-KISAN and Jal Jeevan Mission beneficiaries are expected to take part in the event.

* The Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar and Agriculture Secretary Manoj Ahuja will also be present.

* The 11th and 12th instalments under the PM-KISAN scheme were released in May and October 2022. The PM-KISAN scheme has already provided significant benefits to farmers across the country, and this latest instalment will further boost their incomes and contribute to the growth of the agriculture sector.

Source : Outlook India

Correct Answer :   Chhattisgarh

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The 85th plenary session of the Indian National Congress concluded at Raipur, the state capital of Chhattisgarh on Sunday (26th Feb 2023).

* The three-day Congress summit, attended by nearly 15,000 delegates from various states, discussed socio-political, political economic and international affairs and adopted six resolutions making the party’s stand clear on issues and laying down party roadmap for them.

* In his concluding address, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said the Congress is committed to continuing its fight to preserve and protect the Constitution and called upon the youth to come forward to spread the message of peace, unity and brotherhood.
 
* Congress leader Rahul Gandhi reiterated his party's resolve to continue the struggle against corruption and the policies through which wealth is getting concentrated in the hands of a few.

* The plenary also enacted certain amendments to the Congress constitution including providing 50 per cent reservation for scheduled castes, scheduled tribes, other weaker sections and women in the party’s organisational setups..

Source : AIR

Correct Answer :   October 2024

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The Appointments Committee of the Union Cabinet, on Wednesday (22nd Feb 2023), approved the extension of Secretary of Department of Defence - Aramane Giridhar. This extension is beyond his age of superannuation.

* Aramane Giridhar was due to retire in June this year (2023) after completing 60 years of superannuation.

* As per the notification, Giridhar will remain in his post until October 31, 2024 or till furtrher order whichever is earlier.

* Giridhar is a 1988-batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of the Andhra Pradesh cadre. He took over as the defence secretary on November 1 2022..

Source : CNBC

Correct Answer :   Maharashtra

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People of Maharashtra are observing 26th Feb 2023 the 56th death anniversary of great revolutionary and freedom fighter Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, popularly known as Veer Savarkar.

* The Governor of state Ramesh Bais, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy Chief Minster Devendra Fadnavis extended their tributes to the great social reformer.

* CM Shinde in his message described Savarkar as a true patriot, a great revolutionary, a brilliant orator, a gifted writer, and a social reformer.

* Mr Fadnavis twitted describing Savarkar as an ardent patriot, a true worshiper of the goddess of freedom, a great revolutionary and a university of Hinduism.

* Uddhav Thackeray faction leader Sanjay Raut described Veer Savarkar as a legend of Maharashtra who is the brave son of the state. Mr Raut urged the Central Government to confer Savarkar with Bharat Ratna..

Source : AIR

Correct Answer :   Kerala

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* The Kerala government on Sunday(26th Feb 2023) entered into an agreement with the United Nations (UN) Women to boost women-friendly activities in the State's tourism sector.

* A memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed by Kerala Tourism and UN Women India agreed to work towards promoting gender-inclusive tourism sites in the State.

* The MoU was signed by Kerala Tourism Director P B Nooh and UN Women India representative Susan Ferguson and it would be implemented by the Responsible Tourism Mission.

* In addition to offering advice for baseline research, implementing women-friendly tourist destinations, and supporting interventions to change pervasive discriminatory social norms, this will be accomplished by creating modules and building the capacity of relevant stakeholders, according to the press release.

* The four-day summit was officially opened by Kerala’s Minister of Tourism, P A Mohamed Riyas, who stated that the MoU was a continuation of the State government’s increased efforts towards women-friendly tourism since October last year.

* There are 280 delegates and 70 speakers in the conclave..

Source : Business Standard

Correct Answer :   Australian

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* Australian National University's researchers are trying to reveal the fifth layer of the Earth.

* Seismic waves generated by earthquakes have revealed new insights about the deepest parts of Earth’s inner core.

* The team believes that presented evidence of a distinct layer inside Earth known as the innermost inner core.

* This layer is a solid ‘metallic ball’ that sits within the center of the inner core.

* So far, scientists believed that there are only four layers on the Earth.

Source : Times now News

Correct Answer :   Bibek Debroy

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The Foundational Literacy and Numeracy report was released by Dr Bibek Debroy, Chairman, Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM).

* The IndiaDialog organised by Institute for Competitiveness and US-Asia Technology Management Center, Stanford University, on February 23 & 24, 2023.

* The second edition of the State of Foundational Literacy and Numeracy highlights the focus on language as a critical foundational skill and its importance in acquiring early literacy.

* A special section in the report covers insights into states/UTs to assess children's learning outcomes on the National Achievement Survey (NAS) and Foundational Learning Study (FLS) 2022.

* State profiles and their performance on Distance from the Frontier are covered, enabling states/Union Territories to track progress on foundational learning.

* The second edition of the foundational literacy and numeracy (FLN) report captures the role of language in education and focuses on improving the learning outcomes using appropriate assessments and medium of instruction. It captures the fundamental concepts children require to become skilled readers and highlights distinct challenges faced in a multilingual environment.

* In this context, it is crucial to understand the need to integrate the medium of instruction and teaching in languages familiar to children. A section of the report explicitly focuses on the numerous initiatives currently implemented at the national and state level in collaboration with public-private organizations, demonstrating their efforts in achieving foundational learning goals as outlined in NIPUN.

* The report continues to be a benchmark for states and union territories to track their performance relative to their peers in achieving universal foundational learning by 2026-27.

* The report has been authored by Amit Kapoor, Chair, Institute for Competitiveness, Natalia Chakma, Researcher, Institute for Competitiveness, and Sheen Zutshi, Research Manager, Institute for Competitiveness.

* Punjab has emerged as the top-performing state on education and health-related indicators.

* Delhi, Goa, Maharashtra, J&K, Kerala, Rajasthan, Sikkim, TN, and Puducherry were ranked as high-performing states and UTs.

* Meghalaya, D&N Haveli, Nagaland, Telangana, UP, Jharkhand, Arunachal Pradesh, and Ladakh were among underperformed..

Source : PIB

Correct Answer :   Bangladesh

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The government of Bangladesh signed an agreement with the International Solar Alliance (ISA) to increase the use of solar energy in the country.

The agreement was signed on Thursday (23rd February 2023) between the ISA Director General Ajay Mathur and the Bangladesh Power Division Secretary Md. Habibur Rahman. The agreement is to be implemented by December 2026.

Signing the agreement, State Minister for Power "Nasrul Hamid" said that the government has set up a target of generating 40 percent of its total energy through renewable sources by 2041.

Aim :  Bangladesh aims to produce 4000 MW of solar power by the end of 2030 for which various projects have been taken up.

The Minister said that use of renewable energy sources like wind power, energy from trash, and hydropower is also being promoted in the country to achieve this goal. Net Metering guidelines for rooftop solar installations have also been implemented. In agriculture also, usage of solar power is being encouraged, said the Minister.

Several projects will be taken up under the agreement signed between the government of Bangladesh and ISA. These include 12 trolley mounted solar irrigation systems of 2 kw each for Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI), 12 portable solar paddy threshers of 2 kw each, 1.5 kw solar drinking water plant, installation of two rooftop solar of 22 KW capacity and any one railway installation of rooftop solar projects on platforms among others.

The ISA is a coalition of 123 countries formed to promote use of solar energy and deployment of solar technology to ensure energy security and move towards sustainable energy use among participating countries. It was conceived as a joint effort by India and France to mobilise efforts against climate change through deployment of solar energy solutions..

Source : AIR