Correct Answer :   March 16

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Every year on March 16, National Vaccination Day or National Immunisation Day is observed to raise awareness regarding the importance of vaccinations for human health. It focuses on the relevance of vaccinations in the battle against deadly diseases.

* It appreciates the hard work of physicians and frontline healthcare professionals to ensure that every individual gets vaccinated.

* Vaccines are designed to prevent the body from being exposed to the same infection again and again in the future. Many of these vaccines have been successful in preventing the spread of various terrible diseases, including measles, chicken pox, tetanus, rubella, polio, and, most recently, Covid-19.

National Vaccination Day 2023 History & Significance : The day was first observed in 1995 when the Indian government began the Pulse Polio Immunisation programme in an attempt to eliminate polio from the country. The first dose of oral polio vaccination was provided in India on March 16, 1995, as part of the World Health Organization's (WHO) Global Polio Eradication Program, which occurred in 1988. A countrywide campaign named 'Do Boond Zindagi Ki' helped to popularise the immunisation programme.

* Children aged 0 to 5 years are given two drops of the vaccine orally. The World Health Organization (WHO) proclaimed India Polio-free on March 27, 2014.

* National Vaccination Day is held to raise public awareness about the advantages of immunisation for both children and adults. Vaccination is the most efficient means of preventing and controlling highly infectious diseases.

* Even when other varieties took over, India recently experienced how one vaccination enabled practically every person in the country to become immune to Covid-19.

National Vaccination Day Theme 2023 : Every year, the day is commemorated with a different theme. 'Vaccines Work For Everyone,' was the theme in 2022. The theme for this year (2023) has not yet been announced...

Source : India Today

Correct Answer :   United Arab Emirates (UAE)

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The Technology Innovation Institute, Abudhabi, UAE has launched Falcon LLM, a large language model (LLM) with 40 billion parameters, trained on one trillion tokens, and built by the AI and Digital Science Research Center's AI Cross-Centre Unit.

* The model outperforms GPT-3 and requires only 75% of its training compute, as well as lower percentages of other large language models' training compute.

* LLMs have a wide range of applications, including chatbots, virtual assistants, language translation, content generation, and sentiment analysis.

* The implementation of LLMs in businesses or departments can help to streamline customer service operations, improve efficiencies, cut down labor costs, identify new revenue streams, and safeguard data privacy.

* The UAE is aligned with the UAE's National AI Strategy, which aims to make the country a leader in the knowledge economy, driving progress and prosperity.

* Dr. Ebtesam Al Mazroui, Director, AI Cross-Centre Unit at AIDRC, and project lead of LLMs, stated, “This achievement serves as a testament to the UAE's forward-thinking approach and the importance it places on innovation and technology. The development of this model is part of our journey towards realising the country's economic vision and strategic plan ‘We the UAE 2031’."

* The Technology Innovation Institute (TII), a leading global scientific research centre and the applied research pillar of Abu Dhabi’s Advanced Technology Research Council (ATRC)...

Source : AIR

Correct Answer :   Anup Bagchi

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ICICI Bank's executive director Anup Bagchi will take over as the CEO of ICICI Prudential Life Insurance on June 19, 2023, subject to regulatory and statutory approvals.

* He will replace the present CEO, NS Kannan, who will superannuate on June 18, 2023.

* He has been working with the ICICI group since 1992 and was appointed as an executive director of ICICI Bank on February 1, 2017.

* He worked as the Non-Executive Director of ICICI Prudential Life since October 2018...

Source : India Times

Correct Answer :   K Krithivasan

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Tata Consultancy Services Ltd on Thursday (16th March 2023) appointed company veteran K Krithivasan as CEO designate after Rajesh Gopinathan resigned.

* Gopinathan, who completed six years as CEO of the Indian IT behemoth in January, was reappointed as CEO till 2027 last year. Gopinathan will continue with the company till September 15, 2023 to provide transition and support to his successor, said the IT firm.

* TCS Board has nominated K Krithivasan as the CEO designate with effect from March 16, 2023. "Krithivasan will go through a transition with Rajesh Gopinathan and will be appointed as the Managing Director & CEO in the next financial year,"

* K. Krithivasan is presently President and Global Head of the Banking, Financial Services, and Insurance (BFSI) Business Group at TCS.

* "During his long tenure at TCS, Krithivasan has held various leadership roles in delivery, customer relationship management, large program management and sales. Krithivasan has been part of the global technology sector for over 34 years, having joined Tata Consultancy Services in 1989," said the IT firm.

* After a stellar career of over 22 years with TCS and a successful stint as Managing Director & CEO during the last 6 years, Rajesh Gopinathan has decided to step down from the company to pursue his other interests, said TCS in a stock exchange filing. Gopinathan has been with TCS since 2001 and has held multiple leadership positions, including that of chief financial officer. Under his leadership, TCS shares have nearly tripled, revenue has almost doubled and profit has risen about 60%, as of last quarter.

* Gopinathan took the reins of TCS from Chandrasekaran who was elevated to the post of Tata Sons Chairman in February 2017...

Source : Business Today

Correct Answer :   Vimal Kapoor

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Honeywell (NASDAQ: HON) 14th March 2023 announced that Vimal Kapur, President and Chief Operating Officer, will succeed Darius Adamczyk as Chief Executive Officer on June 1, 2023.

* Adamczyk, who became Chief Operating Officer in 2016, Chief Executive Officer in 2017 and Chairman in 2018, will continue to serve as Executive Chairman of Honeywell. Kapur was also appointed to the company's board of directors effective March 13, 2023. These moves ensure a seamless leadership transition and position Honeywell for continued outperformance versus peers.

* Vimal is absolutely the right person to lead our company to the next level of growth and stellar performance," Adamczyk said. "Vimal brings 34 years of deep knowledge about our businesses, end markets and customer needs. His ability to drive our key sustainability and digitalization strategic initiatives, along with his advancement of our world class operating system – Honeywell Accelerator – throughout the organization, gives him an outstanding platform to drive continued outperformance for our shareowners.

* Honeywell's next operational evolution, under Vimal's leadership, will be the incorporation of Accelerator and standardization of global business models to enable maximal performance in each business segment.

* "Vimal is also uniquely capable to drive Honeywell's sustainable innovation and solidify our position to lead in the energy transition. Now more than ever, our customers need our solutions to help their businesses be more efficient and more sustainable, and under Vimal's leadership, Honeywell's sustainability technologies will help our customers achieve their goals, today and into the future."

* In his role as COO, Vimal has driven continued operational execution on our proven value creation framework, all of which is underpinned by Accelerator. We have also made significant strides in advancing our digital solutions – both to enhance our own internal operations and decision-making and in support of our customers to benefit their digitization transformations. The rigor of our digital solutions is a real differentiator for Honeywell and will enable us to achieve consistent and sustained outperformance...

Source : Honeywell

Correct Answer :   Four States

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India and the World Bank have signed a loan agreement for the construction of the Green National Highway Corridors Project in four States.

* These States are Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh.

* The agreement has been signed for the construction of 781 kilometers in these States, with loan assistance of 500 million dollars.
 
* In a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha today, Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari said, the total project cost is over seven thousand 662 crore rupees.

* The objective of the Green National Highway Corridors Project is to demonstrate safe and green highways keeping in view climate resilience and use of green technologies.

Source : AIR

Correct Answer :   Deepak Mohanty

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* The government has appointed Deepak Mohanty as chairman of Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA).

* He replaced Supratim Bandyopadhyay, whose term ended in January 2023.

* Prior to this, Mohanty, a former executive director of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), served as a member of PFRDA.

* The central government hereby appoints Deepak Mohanty, former whole-time member, Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA), to the post of chairperson, PFRDA, a government notification dated March 14, 2023.

* He will get a consolidated salary of Rs 4.50 lakh per month without the facility of house and car with effect from the date of assumption of charge of the post till attaining the age of 65 years or until further orders.

* Mohanty was appointed PFRDA member (Economic) in August 2020 for a period of three years or till attaining the age of 62 years.

* Besides, the government has also appointed Mamta Shankar, IES (1993), Senior Economic Adviser, Department of Food and Public Distribution, to the post of whole-time member (Economics).

* She has been appointed for a period of three years or till she attains the age of 62 years, or until further orders, whichever is the earliest.

* The total assets under management under National Pension System and Atal Pension Yojana stood at Rs 8.81 lakh crore as on March 4, 2023..

Source : Money Control

Correct Answer :   US

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* The US formally recognized the McMahon Line as the international boundary between India’s Arunachal Pradesh and China, and rejected Beijing’s claim that the northeastern state falls under Chinese territory.

* A bipartisan resolution, which was first introduced in the US Senate last month, on Tuesday (14th March 2023) acknowledged Arunachal Pradesh as an integral part of India and also supported India’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
 
* Apart from recognising the McMahon Line, the resolution also condemned Chinese provocations in the region, including China’s use of military force to change the status quo along the Line of Actual Control, construction of villages in contested areas, publication of maps with Mandarin-language names for cities featuring Arunachal Pradesh, and expansion of Beijing’s territorial claims over Bhutan.
 
* Former US ambassador to Japan and Senator Bill Hagerty said that this bipartisan resolution expresses the Senate’s support for unequivocally recognising the state of Arunachal Pradesh as an integral part of India.

* The resolution, titled ‘Reaffirming the state of Arunachal Pradesh as Indian territory and condemning the People’s Republic of China’s provocations in South Asia’, came after one of the biggest clashes that took place in December last year between Indian and Chinese forces in Tawang, Arunachal Pradesh...

Source : AIR

Correct Answer :   Rs. 9023 Crore

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Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology; Minister of State (Independent Charge) Earth Sciences; MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh 15th March 2023 informed that the budget of Rs. 9023 Crore is allocated towards achieving the objectives of Gaganyaan mission.

* In a written reply to a question to the Lok Sabha, Dr Jitendra Singh said, the scope of Gaganyaan programme is to demonstrate human spaceflight capability to Low Earth Orbit and safe return. 

* ISRO is developing indigenous technologies for Human rated launch vehicle, Habitable Crew Module, Life Support System, Crew Escape System, Ground Station Network, Crew Training and Recovery.

* These technologies are crucial to meet the objectives of Gaganyaan mission and to take up any further interplanetary missions, the Minister added.

* Government has created the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Centre (IN-SPACe), as the single window agency to promote, enable, authorize and supervise the non-Government entities in Space Sector in India.

* IN-SPACe has started to facilitate the private companies / start-ups, in installation of facilities within ISRO campuses, launch of satellites and Launch Vehicles, and Mentorship support. Till date, IN-SPACe has received applications from more than 160 NGEs in the Space Sector.

* Dr Jitendra Singh said, Government has taken a number of steps to strengthen the space sector in the country. The sector has already been opened up for enhanced participation of private enterprises in the space sector by allowing them to conduct end-to-end activities across all verticals of space domain. In this regard, IN-SPACe has been created for the promotion and handholding of Non-Government Entities.

* The role of New Space India Limited [NSIL] has also been widened to bring forth a commerce-oriented approach towards the conduct of space activities. Besides, several private industries are also contributing significantly to the Indian space programme led by ISRO, delivering subsystems and components.

* The Department of Space is also in the process of formulating a comprehensive, overarching space policy that shall provide a further boost to the entire space ecosystem..

Source : PIB

Correct Answer :   Narendra Singh Tomar

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* Union Minister of Agriculture Narendra Singh Tomar has inaugurated a 5-day cultural program“AgriUnifest” in Bengaluru on 15th Mar 2023.

* This program was organized by Bangalore Agricultural University in collaboration with the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR).

* It was participated by students from 60 State Agricultural Universities/Deemed Universities/Central Universities participated.

Aim : To integrate Indian agriculture by connecting various Indian cultures.

Source : PIB