Correct Answer :   23rd March 2023

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Veteran journslist, former editor-in-chief of popular Hindi daily Naidunia and Padma Shri awardee Abhay Chhajlani passed away on Thursday (23rd March 2023) morning. He was 88 years old and ill for a long time.

* Vinay Chhajlani, Abhay’s son, gave the information about his passing.

* His funeral procession will begin from his home located at Kesar Bagh Road and cremationwill be held at Regional Park Muktidhaam today at 5 pm.

* Abhay Chhajlaniji was born on August 4, 1934 in Indore and entered the field of journalism in 1955. In 1965, he graduated from the Thomson Foundation, Cardiff (UK), one of the world's premier institutions of journalism.

* Served three terms as the president of Indian Languages Newspapers Association.

* His demise is an irreparable loss of gracious, gentle and cheerful nature. His departure is the collapse of a pillar of journalism. He was rich in many genres including journalism, criticism, and writing.

* He served as the president of Indian Languages Newspapers Association (ILNA), the apex organization of Indian language newspapers in 1988, 1989, 1994. He was also the vice president of the Indian Newspaper Society (INS) in the years 2000 and 2002..

Source : Free press Journal

Correct Answer :   Ashneer Grover

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BharatPe co-founder Ashneer Grover's Third Unicorn on Thursday (23rd March 2023) launched a cricket-focused fantasy sports app called "CrickPe".

* The launch comes ahead of the marquee Indian Premier League (IPL) tournament that is set to begin next week.

* CrickPe is India’s most unique and powerful fantasy cricket gaming app, where ‘Cricket Wins’ every day! It is the only fantasy cricket app in the world where with every match, the actual playing cricketers, cricketing bodies, and real team owners win cash rewards, along with the fantasy game-winner.

* Notably, the cricket app has been launched to take on rivals like Dream11, Mobile Premier League (MPL), and Games24x7's My11Circle.

* Ashneer Grover has raised about $4 million in seed funding for his venture Third Unicorn Pvt Ltd. The funding round saw a participation from over two dozen angel investors, including Anmol Singh Jaggi, Anirudh Kedia, Vishal Kedia, among others...

Source : Mint

Correct Answer :   Rs 3,700 crore

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The Defence Ministry on Thursday (23rd March 2023) signed two separate contracts with Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) at a total cost of over Rs 3,700 crore.

* Reason : To enhance the operational capabilities of the Indian Air Force (IAF)

* First contract : Worth over Rs 2,800 crore, pertains to the supply of Medium Power Radars (MPR) ‘Arudhra’ for the IAF.

* Second contract : Worth over Rs 950 crore, relates to 129 DR-118 Radar Warning Receivers (RWR).

* Both projects are under Buy Indian- IDMM (Indigenously Designed Developed and Manufactured) category. These essentially embody the spirit of ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ and will help facilitate the realisation of the country’s journey to achieve self-reliance in defence manufacturing.

* MPR (Arudhra), radar has been indigenously designed and developed by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and will be manufactured by BEL.

* Its successful trials have already been conducted by the Indian Air Force. It is a 4D multi-function phased array radar with electronic steering in both azimuth and elevation for surveillance, detection and tracking of aerial targets.

* The system will have target identification based on interrogations from co-located Identification Friend or Foe system.

* The project will act as a catalyst for the development of manufacturing capability in the industrial ecosystem.

* Besides this, the DR-118 Radar Warning Receiver will considerably enhance the Electronic Warfare (EW) capabilities of Su-30 MKI aircraft..

Source :  The Print

Correct Answer :   Siddhartha Mohanty

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The Financial Services Institutions Bureau (FSIB), the headhunter for directors of state-owned banks and financial institutions, on Thursday (21st March 2023) selected Siddhartha Mohanty to head insurance behemoth LIC.

* As per the guidelines, the chairman is selected from the four managing directors of the company.

* Mohanty at present is a MD with the country’s largest insurer and was earlier given interim charge as chairman for a period of three months, effective from March 14, 2023.

* The final decision will be taken by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet..

Source : New Indian Express

Correct Answer :   Piyush Goyal

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IndiaCast, the multi-platform content asset monetisation entity, has appointed Piyush Goyal as chief operating officer.

* A professional with experience in the Indian TV distribution industry, Goyal has held senior leadership positions spanning distribution, new business initiatives and other strategic projects.

* In a career spanning over 20 years, he has worked with companies like Star TV, Network18, NDTV and DEN Networks. In his last stint, Goyal was executive vice-president and head - key accounts at Star India, where he handled major MSO (multi-system operators) and DTH (direct-to-home) players.

* Jointly owned by TV18 and Viacom18, IndiaCast works across categories like domestic distribution, placement services, international channel distribution and advertising sales, new media (digital) distribution and content syndication for all the group company (TV18, Viacom18, A+E Networks|TV18) channels and content.

* In his new role, Goyal will closely work with the operating heads of TV news, entertainment and sports businesses of the Network18 Group. He will report to Network18’s managing director Rahul Joshi...

Source : Mint

Correct Answer :   Rajasthan

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The Second G20 Sustainable Finance Working Group (SFWG) meeting under India’s G20 Presidency is set to take place in Udaipur, Rajasthan from 21st March to 23rd March, 2023.

During the three-day long meeting in Udaipur, over 90 delegates from various countries who are members of the G20 as well as those who have been invited by the Indian Presidency along with International Organisations will engage in detailed deliberations on the agreed upon workplan and priority areas for 2023.

The First G20 Sustainable Finance Working Group (SFWG) was held in Guwahati, Assam on 2nd-3rd February, 2023 where members showed wide-ranging support and cooperation for the SFWG workplan in 2023.

The Second G20 Sustainable Finance Working Group meeting is expected to take forward the discussions and revisit the key takeaways from previous meetings with respect to the three identified priority areas viz.,

* Mechanisms for mobilisation of timely and adequate resources for climate finance;

* Enabling finance for the Sustainable Development Goals;

* Capacity building of the ecosystem for financing toward sustainable development.

On the side-lines of the meeting, two workshops have been planned viz

* G20 Workshop on Non-Pricing Policy Levers to support Sustainable Investment and

* G20 Workshop on Enabling finance for the Sustainable Development Goals...

Source : G20

Correct Answer :   Rajasthan

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Rajasthan, on Tuesday (21st Mar 2023), became the first-ever state to pass the Right to Health Bill in Assembly which now gives every resident of the state a right to avail free Out Patient Department (OPD) services and In Patient Department (IPD) services at all the public healthcare facilities. Additionally, similar healthcare services in this would be provided free of cost at select private facilities.

* The bill was passed despite protests by BJP and a section of doctors – while the former stated that wanted to introduce change to the provisions, the latter demanded withdrawal of the legislation.

* As per the Bill, free healthcare services including diagnostics, drugs, emergency transport, emergency care and procedure will be provided at the public institutions and select private facilities subject to conditions which will be formulated now.

* All citizens of the state will be entitled to emergency and accidental emergency care free of cost.

* In case of medico-legal nature, no private or public hospital can delay treatment on grounds of police clearance.

* The legislation also stated that after emergency care, transfer of patient and stabilisation, the healthcare provider would be entitled to a requisite free and charges or proper reimbursement from the government if the patient does not pay requisite charges.

* The law now adds to the 20 rights given the residents of Rajasthan.

* As per the state government, the Bill intends to, “provide protection and fulfilment of rights and equity in health and well-being under Article 47 (Duty of the state to raise the level of nutrition and the standard of living and to improve public health) of Constitution of India and to secure the Right to Health as per the expanded definition of Article 21 (Protection of life and personal liberty)”...

Source : Times Now News

Correct Answer :   March 23

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World Meteorological Day is observed on March 23 every year to commemorate the formation of the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) in 1950.

* On this day, various events and activities are organised by the WMO, its member countries, and other organisations across the world to raise awareness about the importance of meteorology and weather forecasting in our day-to-day lives.

* These events may include seminars, workshops, public lectures, and media campaigns.

World Meteorological Day 2023 Theme : The theme for this day changes every year, and the World Meteorological Day 2023 theme is "The future of weather, climate, and water across generations." The theme aims to highlight the changes in weather and climatic conditions and their effects on Earth.

World Meteorological Day History : On this day, the World Meteorological Organisation was founded in the year 1950. It was designed to raise awareness about various weather-related issues and to encourage people to take action to address them.

World Meteorological Day Significance : The goal of World Meteorological Day is to promote the role of meteorology in protecting lives, property, and the environment and to encourage cooperation among nations in the development of weather forecasting, climate services, and other related areas..

Source : Times of India

Correct Answer :   R.K. Singh

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Central Energy R.K. Singh informed that eight solar parks with a total capacity of 4995 MW have been approved in the Bundelkhand region.

* The government is promoting such projects to increase the production of solar energy.

* This information was given by Union New Renewable Energy Minister R.K. Singh in the Lok Sabha.

* This includes names like Lalitpur Solar Park, Jalaun Solar Park, Chitrakoot Solar Park and Kalpi Solar Park.

Correct Answer :   Amazon Pay

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Amazon Pay has collaborated with Bharat BillPay, the biller platform of the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), to strengthen its loan repayment facility.

* Loan repayment is one of the top categories in terms of bill payment, amongst other options such as electricity and municipal tax payments.

* The companies said in a joint release, adding that the category facilitates loan repayment option for customers who avail of their loans through banks, microfinance institutions, and NBFCs, and need a convenient payment option to pay their EMIs on time..

Source : The Hindu Businessline