Correct Answer :   Raja Anirudh Sriram

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Raja Anirudh Sriram, a fourth-standard student of Tirupati, has bagged a silver medal at the Singapore International Math Olympiad Challenge (SIMOC).

The eight-year-old was the lone participant from Andhra Pradesh among the 23 Indians who attended the event. More than 2000 students from 32 countries participated in the prestigious event, where Raja Anirudh came up with flying colours.

The little boy’s inclination towards mathematics is quite evident from the way he won national and international awards, including the International Maths Olympiad (IMO) and ABACUS mental mathematics.

At the age of four, he got a place in the India Book of Records for identifying 100 cars in 160 seconds. At six, he became the youngest Indian to get the ‘Microsoft Office Specialist Certificate’. At the age of seven and eight years, he won bronze medals for consecutive years in the first level of the Singapore and Asian Schools Math Olympiad (SASMO).

On Monday (21st August 2023), Tirupati district Collector K. Venkataramana Reddy appreciated the boy for his accomplishment and also congratulated his parents, Saket Ram and Anjana Sravani, for nurturing the young talent..

Source : The Hindu

Correct Answer :   India and Samoa

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The 1st Foreign Office Consultations FOC between India and Samoa was held in Apia 21st August 2023. Secretary (East) in the Ministry of External Affairs Saurabh Kumar and Chief Executive Officer of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Samoa Ms. Peseta Noumea Simi co-chaired the meeting.

Both sides discussed their wide-ranging bilateral relations including their development partnership covering areas such as health, Information and Communications Technology ICT, Education, Small and Medium Sized Enterprises SME, and capacity building.

They also discussed follow-up on Forum for India-Pacific Islands Cooperation FIPIC III Summit, as well as regional and global issues, and cooperation in the framework of the Pacific Islands Forum PIF, Commonwealth, and United Nations. Samoa will host the next Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting CHOGM on 21st of October 2024.

Secretary (East) called on Prime Minister of Samoa Fiame Naomi Mata'afa. He also visited Indian developemental project sites in areas of health and ICT, and interacted with a group of ITEC alumni. Both sides also agreed to hold FOC on a regular basis..

Source : AIR

Correct Answer :   Jitendra Singh

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The Union Minister of State Science & Technology Jitendra Singh launched (21st August 2023) the CSIR Prima ET11, the first indigenous e-Tractor developed by the Central Mechanical Engineering Research Institute (CMERI), Durgapur.

The role of Agri StartUps in India’s economy and called for the adoption of new and AI driven technologies in Agriculture.

The Minister said, an increasing number of new Startups are venturing into the Agriculture sector, focussing on niche technologies including e-Tractor, recycling garbage, drip irrigation, Genome sequenced farming such as Mango and Lotus, he said.

“This is one sector in which India has rather not taken up the pace that was required,” said Dr Jitendra Singh, adding, “This is a huge unexplored resource, which is only exclusive to India. Those countries which had been promoting IT, have been promoting from their point of view because they have their assets; they don’t have the agri asset that we have. So we don’t have to ape them. If I have plenty of agriculture resource, why not I make use of it… Therefore, this route would be a very important component in India’s future economy in the next 25 years.”

Dr Jitendra Singh gave the mantra of 5 S’s, - Showcasing, Stakeholders, Startups, Synergizing and Strategizing Industry linkage, for the success of R&D conducted at Government run scientific laboratories.

“Unless we are able to engage all these five components, we will not be able to achieve the optimum results,” he said.

Calling for an integrated approach, Dr Jitendra Singh advocated close interaction with all stakeholders including the concerned Ministries and wider linkages between the CSIR labs and the Industry. The S&T Minister proposed the creation of a separate cell for encouraging investment.

“In order to sustain yourself, you have to have the involvement of Industry right from Day One,” he said. “We have an Industry which is ready to invest, but they don’t know where and how to invest,” he added.

Dr Jitendra Singh said, the Government led by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has created in the last nine years new means of livelihood by opening Ease of Doing Business in the Agriculture sector..

Source : PIB

Correct Answer :   Arunachal Pradesh

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State-owned hydro power giant NHPC has inked an initial pact with Rail India Technical and Economic Service (RITES) to construct railway siding for a 2,880 MW Dibang multipurpose project in Arunachal Pradesh.

"NHPC signed an MoU with RITES for Construction of Railway Siding at Pasighat (Arunachal Pradesh) for NHPC's 2,880 MW Dibang Multi Purpose Project at NHPC Corporate Office on 21st August 2023," a company statement said.

According to the statement, the agreement was signed by General Manager (Civil) Dibang and Executive Director, RITES, in the presence of Biswajit Basu, Director (Projects) NHPC at corporate office of NHPC.

NHPC's total installed capacity is 7,097.2 MW of renewable power (including wind and solar) through its 25 power stations, including 1,520 MW through its subsidiary.

RITES Ltd is a leading player in the transport consultancy and engineering sector in India, having diversified services across sectors and geographical reach.

The strategic partnership between NHPC and RITES complements the expertise of both organisations..

Source : Business Standard

Correct Answer :   IREDA

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Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA), a Mini Ratna (Category – I) Government of India enterprise under the administrative control of Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, has signed a performance-based Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Government of India.

The MoU, in alignment with guidelines issued by Department of Public Enterprises, Ministry of Finance, outlines strategic targets that IREDA aims to achieve during the fiscal years 2023-24 and 2024-25.

As per the MoU, the Government of India has set a Revenue from Operations target for IREDA, of ₹ 4,350 crores for the financial year 2023-24 and ₹ 5,220 crores for 2024-25.

Notably, the company had achieved a Revenue from Operations figure of ₹ 3,482 crores in the preceding fiscal year, against a target of ₹ 3,361 crores.

The government has also specified other key performance parameters in the MoU, including Return on Net Worth, Return on Capital Employed, NPA to Total Loans Ratio, Asset Turnover Ratio, and Earnings per Share.

The MoU was signed by Secretary, MNRE, Shri Bhupinder Singh Bhalla and Chairperson & Managing Director (CMD), IREDA, Shri Pradip Kumar Das at Atal Akshay Urja Bhawan, New Delhi on August 21, 2023. Other senior officials of MNRE and IREDA were also present on the occasion.

CMD, IREDA emphasized the company’s outstanding track record of performance over the past three financial years, positioning the company well to achieve these ambitious targets. The CMD recalled that the company marked an impressive 272% jump in Loan Disbursements and a 30% growth in Profit After Tax (PAT) during the first quarter of FY 2023-24, compared to the corresponding period in FY 2022-23.

Demonstrating sensible financial management, IREDA also achieved a remarkable reduction in Net Non-Performing Assets (NPAs), lowering the figure to 1.61% in Q1, FY 2023-24 from 2.92% in Q1, FY 2022-23. These achievements underscore IREDA's dedication to maintaining financial stability while promoting the Renewable Energy sector, said the CMD.

The CMD informed that IREDA’s track record of consistent excellence is evident by its 'Excellent' rating and over 96 marks secured for the MoU in the preceding three financial years. The company, as on 21st August 2023, has financed 3,137 Renewable Energy projects with cumulative loan sanction of ₹ 1,55,694 crores and loan disbursement of ₹ 1,05,245 crores and has supported Renewable Energy capacity addition of 22,061 MW in the country..

Source : PIB

Correct Answer :   Nitin Gadkari

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Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways Shri Nitin Gadkari launched the Bharat New Car Assessment Programme (Bharat NCAP) 22nd August 2023 in New Delhi.

Aim : To enhance road safety by elevating vehicle safety standards for up to 3.5-tonne vehicles in India.

Live from the Launch of ‘Bharat New Car Assessment Program’ (Bharat NCAP), New Delhi. #BharatNCAP
https://t.co/NOhSXbUYP9

— Nitin Gadkari (@nitin_gadkari) August 22, 2023

Shri Gadkari said BHARAT NCAP will also greatly push the safety and quality of the vehicles in India, while simultaneously promoting a healthy competition among OEMs to manufacture safer vehicles. He said the new safety regime under BHARAT NCAP and AIS-197 is a mutual win-win for manufacturers and consumers and an instrumental step towards safeguarding lives of our citizens and making our Automobile Industry the number one auto manufacturing hub in the world.

The Program is applicable to type approved motor vehicles of M1 category less than 3.5T GVW. This is a voluntary program in which the base variants of  a given model shall be tested.

This program will commence from 1st Oct 2023 and  will be based on Automotive Industry Standard (AIS) 197.

Program Aim : To create ecosystem of competitive safety enhancements leading to increased awareness among consumers. Consumers can take an informed decision by making a comparative assessment on vehicle performance under crash test conditions.

NCAP brings the opportunity to the OEMs to manufacture vehicles of global safety standards. Program will be anchored by Central Institute of Road Transport (CIRT). This program has been evolved based on stakeholder consultations .

Driving Towards Safety: BHARAT NCAP Revolutionizes Vehicle Standards in India.#BharatNCAP pic.twitter.com/Y2zA9E3Hni

— Nitin Gadkari (@nitin_gadkari) August 22, 2023

Source : PIB

Correct Answer :   2

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With Four Gold and One Silver Medals, India has secured Second Rank at the 16th International Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics (IOAA) in Chorzów, Poland held from the 10 to the 20 of August 2023.

The United Kingdom clinched the lead with five Golds.

A total of 236 students from 50 nations participated at the Olympiad, collectively earning 27 gold, 41 silver, and 50 bronze medals across all categories.

Rajdeep Mishra from Kota, Rajasthan, Koduru Tejeswar from Kurnool, Andhra Pradesh, Md. Sahil Akhtar from Kolkata, West Bengal, Akarsh Raj Sahay from Nagpur, Maharashtra were awarded Gold medals while Sainavaneet Mukund from Bangalore, Karnataka was awarded a silver medal.

The team was led by Prof. Surhud More from IUCAA, Pune, and Pritesh Ranadive from HBCSE-TIFR, Mumbai..

Source : AIR

Correct Answer :   Tharman Shanmugaratnam

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Singapore, an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia will go to its first contested presidential elections in over a decade next month (September 2023).

Three people, including Indian-origin Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Ng Kok Songn and Tan Kin Lian, have met the criteria to contest the presidential polls. The official nominations, however, will take place on 22 August 2023.


Who is Tharman Shanmugaratnam?

Born in Singapore on February 25, 1957, Tharman graduated from the London School of Economics. He later went to Cambridge University for a Master of Philosophy in economics.  He also attended Harvard Kennedy School at Harvard University for a Master of Public Administration degree.

Tharman’s father Kanagaratnam Shanmugaratnam was also a well-known figure in the city-state and considered Singapore’s “father of pathology”.

The 66-year-old presidential hopeful started his career as a chief economist at the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). He then joined Singapore Administrative Service as a Senior Deputy Secretary for Policy in the Ministry of Education but returned to MAS as a managing editor.

He was associated with the People’s Action Party (PAP) for more than two decades and served as deputy premier and senior minister before resigning from his post to contest the presidential election. In his appeal to the voters, Tharman has said that if elected, he will be “impartial” and asked them to consider his track record and not his past affiliations.

Besides Tharman, chairman of Avanda Investment Management, Ng Kok Song is also contesting the September 1 polls to elect the head of the state. The 75-year-old former investment officer has been a long associate of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, but never joined his party PAP.

The third candidate Tan Kin Lian will once again run for the top job after finishing last of the four candidates in the 2011 Singapore presidential elections..

Source : Thestatesman

Correct Answer :   Ratan Tata

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The first-ever 'Udyog Ratna' award instituted by the Maharashtra government was conferred on veteran industrialist Ratan Tata (19th Aug 2023).

The award was presented to the 85-year-old chairman emeritus of Tata Sons by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy chief ministers Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar at the industrialist's home in Colaba, south Mumbai.

The honour comprised a shawl, a citation and a memento from the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC).
 

Talking to reporters afterwards, Mr Shinde said honouring Mr Tata as 'Udyog Ratna' has enhanced the prestige of the award.

"The contribution of the Tata group in all sectors is immense. Tata means trust," he said.

The steel-to-salt group operates in more than 100 countries across six continents. In 2021-22, the collective revenue of Tata companies stood at $128 billion..

Source : NDTV

Correct Answer :   19th August 2023

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Photoshop maker Adobe's co-founder John Warnock died on Saturday (19th August 2023) aged 82, the company said in a statement early on Sunday (20th August 2023).

The cause of his death was not disclosed.

"It is a sad day for the Adobe community and the industry for which he has been an inspiration for decades," Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen said in an email sent to employees.

Warnock co-founded Adobe in 1982 with Charles Geschke. He retired as CEO in 2000 and was chairman of the board, a position he shared with Geschke, until 2017.

Source : Reuters