Correct Answer :   35%

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The Madhya Pradesh government issued a notification for providing 35% reservation for women in recruitment, barring the forest department.
 
The government has introduced an amendment to the Madhya Pradesh Civil Services (Special Provision for Appointment of Women) Rules, 1997 to provide 35% reservation for women in the state.
 
“Notwithstanding anything contained in any service rules, there shall be reserved 35% of all posts in the service under the state (except Forest Department) in favour of women at the stage of direct recruitment and the said reservation shall be horizontal and compartment-wise,” the notification reads.
 

Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan recently announced that 35% of vacancies in police and other government jobs will be filled by women.
 
Madhya Pradesh was the first state to introduce 50 per cent reservation for women in elections to panchayats and urban bodies. It also has a 30% reservation for women in the police. The state also offers concessional tariffs for registry of property in case it is in a woman’s name.
 
In Madhya Pradesh, out of a total of 5.6 crore electors, 2.72 crore are female voters..

Source : AIR

Correct Answer :   5th October

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World Teachers’ Day is celebrated every year on October 5 across the globe to recognise and celebrate educators including teachers, researchers and professors’ work. The International Teachers Day or World Teachers’ Day is observed by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) with United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), International Labour Organisation (ILO) and Education International (EI).

The theme for International Teachers’ Day 2023 is “The teachers we need for the education we want: The global imperative to reverse the teacher shortage”.

The theme for World Teachers’ Day 2023 aims at the importance of stopping the decline in the number of teachers and then starting to increase that number at the top of the global agenda, a statement on the UNESCO website read.

The celebrations around the World Teachers’ Day 2023 theme seek to advocate for a dignified and valued teaching profession, analyse their challenges and showcase inspiring practices to attract, retain and motivate teachers and educators, it added.

The celebrations also seek to examine the ways in which education systems, societies, communities, and families recognise, appreciate and actively support teachers.


World Teachers’ Day: Why It Is Celebrated On October 5

World Teachers’ Day on October 5 marks the anniversary of the adoption of the 1966 ILO and UNESCO recommendation concerning the status of teachers. The recommendations set benchmarks with respect to the rights and responsibilities of teachers and standards for their initial preparation and further education, recruitment, employment and teaching and learning conditions.

The recommendation, according to the UNESCO website, concerning the status of higher-education teaching personnel was adopted in 1997 to complement the 1966 recommendation by covering teaching personnel in higher education. World Teachers’ Day has been celebrated since 1994..

Source : Indian Express

Correct Answer :   Dinesh Khara

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The Government of India on Thursday (5th October 2023), extended State Bank of India chairman Dinesh Khara's tenure till August 2024. Currently, the retirement age for the SBI chairman is capped at 63. Khara will turn 63 in August 2024. His current term was set to end in October.

The SBI chairman was expected to have his tenure extended by another 10 months. Khara was appointed as the chairman of India's largest lender on October 7, 2020.

Khara joined SBI as a probationary officer in 1984. Before assuming the role of SBI chairman, he had served as the managing director of the bank, overseeing global banking and SBI subsidiaries, among other responsibilities.

The state-owned lender's Managing Director (MD) Ashwini Kumar Tewari, whose current term ends on January 27, 2024, has also been granted a two-year extension.

The State Bank of India reported a 178 percent rise in net profit at Rs 16,884 crore for the April-June quarter of the financial year 2024, up from Rs 6,068 crore in the previous year (2022)..

Source : CNBC

Correct Answer :   1 Year

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The government of India has extended the tenure of UIDAI CEO Amit Agrawal by one year till November 2, 2024. A 1993 batch IAS officer from the Chhattigarh cadre, Agrawal assumed the top position of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) on June 19, following the retirement of Saurabh Garg.

UIDAI is the statutory body which was established in 2016 under the Aadhaar Act. It was functioning as an attached office under the erstwhile Planning Commission since 2009. It is mandated to provide the 12-digit unique identification number to citizens, processing and managing those numbers as well as interlinking with partner databases.

Who is Amit Agrawal?

* Well-known as an expert in the field of IT and e-governance, Agrawal graduated from IIT, Kanpur.

* He held several crucial positions both the Centre, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh.

* He was the additional secretary in the Union ministry of electronics and information technology before joining UIDAI.

* He was earlier the additional secretary and joint secretary in the Union ministry of finance.

* In Chhattisgarh, he served as the finance secretary and the secretary in charge of the departments of commercial tax and technical tducation in the state government among other roles.

* In his first address after joining, Agrawal said he is committed to making Aadhaar more accessible and secure and working with the government, private sector to ensure the benefit of Aadhaar for all..

Source : Hindustan Times

Correct Answer :   Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad

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Cricket World Cup 2023 has started from 5th Oct 2023 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, India.

The opening match of the World Cup 2023 is being played between defending champions England and 2019 runner-up New Zealand.

A total of 10 teams are participating in this World Cup. Rohit Sharma is leading the Indian team in this World Cup.

Correct Answer :   Muneesh Kapur

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The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Wednesday (4th Oct 2023) said it has appointed Muneesh Kapur as Executive Director (ED) with effect from October 3, 2023. As executive director,  he will look after the Department of Economic and Policy Research.

Before being promoted to the post of ED, Kapur was Adviser-in-Charge of Monetary Policy Department and secretary to the Monetary Policy Committee, the Reserve Bank said in a statement.

"Over a span of nearly three decades in the Reserve Bank, Kapur has worked in the areas of macroeconomic policy and research and monetary policy in Department of Economic Policy and Research and Monetary Policy Department in RBI", the Reserve Bank statement read.

Kapur has also served as Adviser to Executive Director, International Monetary Fund (IMF) during 2012-15. He holds a Master’s degree in Economics and is a Certified Associate of the Indian Institute of Bankers (CAIIB), the RBI said..

Source : Mint

Correct Answer :   $600 Million

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India's National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) and Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) jointly launched a $600 million fund on Wednesday (4th Oct 2023) for climate and environment projects.

The Indian government will contribute 49% to the target corpus for the India-Japan fund, which is also NIIF’s first bilateral fund, while the remaining 51% will be contributed by JBIC, the finance ministry said.

"India-Japan Fund will focus on investing in environmental sustainability and low carbon emission strategies and aims to play the role of being a partner of choice to further enhance Japanese investments into India," the ministry said.

The Indian government will contribute 49% of the target corpus for the India-Japan fund, which is also NIIF’s first bilateral fund, while the remaining 51% of the funds will be contributed by JBIC.

The India-Japan fund will be managed by NIIF Limited. JBIC IG, a subsidiary of JBIC, will support NIIFL in promoting Japanese investments in India, the statement added.

NIIF is a sovereign wealth fund, which was founded in 2015 to provide an investment platform for international and Indian investors.

While the government holds a 49% stake in the fund, 51% is held by domestic institutional investors, sovereign wealth funds, international pension funds and others like the US International Development Finance Corporation (USIDFC), multilateral development banks including Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), Asian Development Bank (ADB) and New Development Bank (NDB)..

Source : Mint

Correct Answer :   New Delhi

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Ministry of Tourism organised inaugural ceremony for the PATA Travel Mart  2023 in New Delhi on 4th Oct 2023.

The 46th edition of the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) Travel Mart 2023 is being organised at the magnificent International Exhibition-cum-Convention Centre (IECC), Pragati Maidan, in New Delhi. 

The Mart is being organised from October 4th to 6th 2023, bringing together tourism professionals and business stakeholders from across the world. The physical version of the Travel Mart is being held after a hiatus of three years due to the pandemic.

On the occasion Chairman PATA Peter Semone thanked Ministry of Tourism to host the event. He said that PATA travel mart is an opportunity to highlight unique destinations and members to develop networks , learn and socialise for delegates from all, over the world and for business to expand. He said that Travel for Life is a fantastic  initiative  and is worth replicating across the world.

On the occasion Secretary, Tourism Ms V. Vidyavati said that PATA travel mart has proved to be a catalyst for tourism in Asia Pacific region.She said that  tourism is one of greatest unifiers and PATA  recognises that  and it is an opportunity to learn from each other.She further added that  Travel for life is inspired by LiFE  Mission  and focuses on greener cleaner and harmonious development of all tourist destinations.

This year the event features different activities, including the prestigious PATA Gold Award, the PATA Youth Symposium, PATA Forum on Sustainability besides the B2B Mart.

India is also participating in the PATA Travel Mart in a substantial manner. A designated pavilion for India at the Mart will create an immersive experience of the gamut of destinations in India both known and lesser known. Other State Governments such as Rajasthan, Gujarat, Delhi, Karnataka, Telangana, Uttarakhand and Madhya Pradesh and other in line Ministries such as Handlooms Development Commissioner are also putting up stands and stalls for displaying their products.

Although the Mart is an exclusively B2B Mart, it will help bring forth the diverse gamut of thematic products such as wellness, adventure, heritage, culinary and art and craft of the different States to a global audience.

The Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) founded in 1951, with its Head Quarters in Bangkok, is a renowned not-for-profit association recognized internationally for its role as a catalyst in the responsible development of travel and tourism in the Asia Pacific region.

PATA Travel Mart is one of the important international trade exhibitions catering to the tourism sector and it serves as a platform for trade interactions between global buyers and sellers mostly from the Pacific Asia region. The Mart w brings together exhibitors and attendees from diverse sectors, offering a unique platform for networking, learning and collaboration, from across the globe and specifically from the Asia Pacific region..

Source : PIB

Correct Answer :   Second

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The World Health Organization (WHO) has endorsed a second malaria vaccine to protect children against the deadly disease, which killed 619,000 people in 2021.

Researchers say that the vaccine, known as R21, is easier to make than the first-approved malaria vaccine, called RTS,S, and will be cheaper per dose.

“There’s going to be enough of it to actually give out to children,” says Jackie Cook, a malaria epidemiologist at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

R21 met the WHO’s target of 75% efficacy at preventing the disease in a trial with 4,800 children who each received three doses before a seasonal malaria peak.

A booster dose after 12 months maintained protection. Data from the phase III trial, conducted in Burkina Faso, Kenya, Mali and Tanzania, were presented in a preprint1 posted on 26 September 2023.

“By adding the vaccine to the current tools that are in place, tens of thousands of children’s lives will be saved every year,” said epidemiologist Mary Hamel — who leads the WHO’s malaria vaccine implementation programme — at a press conference in Geneva, Switzerland, on 2 October, announcing the endorsement. The WHO recommendation followed discussions by the agency’s Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization and its Malaria Policy Advisory Group last week.

Already approved in Burkina Faso, Ghana and Nigeria, the vaccine will be available in mid-2024 at US$2–4 per dose. RTS,S, which the WHO recommended for use in children in 2021, costs around $9.80 per dose..

Source : Nature

Correct Answer :   Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu

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Himachal Pradesh chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on Tuesday (3rd Oct 2023) launched the “Mukhyamantri Sukh Ashraya Yojana” from the Ridge Shimla, aiming to provide comprehensive support to orphans, specially-abled children, destitute women, and elderly people in the state.

Speaking on the occasion, the chief minister said that a thought always came to his mind as how to serve the most vulnerable section of the society and those who really needed to be taken care of and looked after by the government.

“In a first-of-its-kind initiative in the country, the state government took a decision to adopt the orphans, the specially-abled children as the ‘children of the state’ and work for their upliftment and well being, giving them all parental care, besides taking care of the destitute women and elderly who have no one to look after,” he said.

Sukhu said that despite facing financial challenges and the recent disaster that struck Himachal Pradesh, the state government started this scheme.

The chief minister also distributed financial benefits worth ₹4.68 crore to eligible children which includes ₹15.52 lakh for fees and other hostel expenses, along with ₹11.52 lakh as monthly expense, benefiting 48 orphaned children for pursuing higher education.

Apart from this, ₹7.02 lakh for fees and ₹4.08 lakh for monthly expenses were also distributed to 17 orphaned children enrolled in few professional courses.

He also transferred financial benefits to 1,106 beneficiaries through foster care and sponsorship, amounting to ₹2.65 crore.

Besides this, 30 meritorious Class 12 students from child care institutes, who had excelled in Class 10, were provided laptops. In the second phase of the initiative, 268 students from classes 10 and 12 classes will be given laptops.

He also allocated ₹6 lakh to three beneficiaries for the establishment of small and micro-industries.

The chief minister said that under the Sukh Ashraya Yojana, approximately 2,700 identified orphans living with relatives will also get monthly financial assistance of ₹4,000 until the age of 27 years.

“The Government is committed to protect the interests of such vulnerable children, and has made a provision for a nurse for each child requiring motherly care and also a matron for every three children to care and nurture them,” said Sukhu.

Besides, the scheme also incorporates a 15-day educational tour annually for the orphan children, and their stay in three-star hotels. The air travel and all other expenses will be borne by the government. He said that these rights, as granted to orphan children, were not merely for the sake of mercy, but now it was a law to protect their rights.

Under the scheme, the beneficiaries will also receive ₹10,000 as apparel allowances, ₹500 as festival grant and a marriage grant of ₹2 lakh. For higher education, children are eligible for financial assistance of up to ₹1 lakh and a monthly pocket money of ₹4,000.

Grants of ₹2 lakh will be provided to support orphan children in establishing small or micro-industries for self-employment, he added.

For construction of a house, the landless orphaned children will be provided financial assistance of ₹3 lakh and additionally three biswa of land in rural areas and two biswa in urban areas.

Source : Hindustan Times