Correct Answer :   New Delhi

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Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar 3rd August 2023 jointly launched Study in India (SII) Portal in New Delhi.


About Study in India (SII) Portal :

* The portal is a one-stop platform that will simplify international students’ academic journey in India.

* The Portal is a dedicated website that will provide comprehensive information about Indian Higher Education Institutions.

* The portal will present information about the academic facilities, research support, and related information. The new portal will also provide an integrated one-stop solution for the student registration and visa application process.
 

Speaking on the occasion, Mr Pradhan said that SII Portal is a one-stop platform that will simplify international students’ academic journey in India. He said, guided by the National Education Policy, the SII Portal reflects, the Government’s commitment to make India a preferred education destination for shaping a prosperous future.

Mr Pradhan said, Study In India Portal is going to be a pivotal step in making India a preferred destination for higher education among students worldwide.
 
On the occasion, Dr. S. Jaishankar said, the portal signifies the government’s commitment to making India a global hub of education by welcoming students of diverse backgrounds.

He said, the presence of international students will also benefit the domestic students by connecting them more closely to the globalizing world..

Source : AIR

Correct Answer :   7.95%

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According to a report published by Bloomberg citing Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy(CMIE) data for the month of July 2023, the total joblessness rate fell to 7.95% in July 2023, from 8.45% in June 2023.

The seasonal monsoon rains have covered the entire country and it is critical as the monsoon rains water nearly half of the country's agricultural land have raised the expectations of higher production in farm products and also helping in economic growth. The seasonal monsoon rains have been 4% above normal so far this season.

While the agriculture sector saw activity with improved rains, demand for labor from the rural non-agriculture sector dropped in July 2023, said Mahesh Vyas, managing director of CMIE said to Bloomberg. “This led to a fall in rural labor seeking employment, which in turn led to a fall in the rural employment rate."

The labor force in rural India fell by 5 million, the data showed. The labour force participation rate in urban areas also fell, indicating a broader weakness in the economy.

Creating enough jobs for Indians is crucial for Prime Minister Narendra Modi as he seeks a rare third term in office in the national polls next year.

His administration is distributing appointment letters as part of a promise to provide one million government jobs by the end of this year (2023) amid wide discontent over rising unemployment..

Source : Mint

Correct Answer :   Nirmala Sitharaman

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The Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance "Nirmala Sitharaman", has launched the scheme, “Vivad se Vishwas II – (Contractual Disputes), to effectively settle the pending contractual disputes of government and government undertakings.

The scheme was announced in the Union Budget 2023-24 by the Union Finance Minister.

In Para 67 of the Union Budget speech, Union Finance Minister and Corporate Affairs Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman had announced :-

“To settle contractual disputes of government and government undertakings, wherein arbitral award is under challenge in a court, a voluntary settlement scheme with standardized terms will be introduced. This will be done offering graded settlement terms depending on pendency level of the disputes”

The Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance, had issued an order on 29.05.2023 indicating detailed guidelines of the scheme. The last date for submission of claims is 31.10.2023.

Cases satisfying the following criteria will be eligible for settlement under this scheme :

Status of dispute	The award shall have been issued upto the following date
Arbitral Award passed	31.01.2023
Court Award passed	30.04.2023

The scheme will apply to all domestic contractual disputes where one of the parties is either the Government of India or an organisation working under its control.

Under the scheme, for Court Awards passed on or before 30.04.2023 the settlement amount offered to the Contractor will be up to 85% of the net amount awarded/ upheld by the court.

For Arbitral Awards passed on or before 31.01.2023, the settlement amount offered is up to 65% of the net amount awarded.

Government e-Marketplace (GeM) has developed a dedicated web-page for implementation of this scheme. Eligible claims shall be processed only through GeM. For non-GeM contracts of Ministry of Railways, contractors may register their claims on IREPS (www.ireps.gov.in).

The details of the scheme are available on the website of Ministry of Finance, Department of Expenditure..

Source : PIB

Correct Answer :   ₹6,366 Crores

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The Union Ministry of Rural Development informed Parliament on Tuesday (1st August 2023) that it owes ₹6,366 crore under the wage component of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) to States.

There are a total of 14.42 crore active MGNREGS workers, most of whom are women, dependent on the wages to supplement their family’s income. Of the total sum, ₹2,770 crore is owed to West Bengal alone.

Invoking Section 27 of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), the Centre has blocked payment of over ₹7,500 crore to West Bengal for “non-compliance of directives of the Central government” since December 2021.

These statistics were revealed in a question posed by the Congress’ Lok Sabha member Ramya Haridas, who also asked the Centre to reveal how many beneficiaries were owed wages for more than 5 months now.

The government replied that, barring West Bengal, there is no pendency for more than 5 months in wage disbursal for any MGNREGS worker.

MGNREGS aims : To enhance livelihood security in rural areas by providing at least 100 days of wage employment in a financial year to unskilled manual work

Source : The Hindu

Correct Answer :   SMSES

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For the first time ever, Subroto Mukherjee Sports Education Society (SMSES) signed 2nd August 2023 MoU with the All India Football Federation (AIFF) to promote football at the grassroots level.

SMSES, which has been conducting the Subroto Cup International Football Tournament since 1960, will form a Subroto XI (eleven) team under Junior Boys (Under-17) from this edition onwards.

Addressing media in New Delhi,  Air Vice Marshal and SMSES member Alok Sharma announced that the team will also participate in AIFF Youth Competition from the 2023-24 season.

He said that an education workshop will also be undertaken by AIFF for coaches of final-round teams to update and educate them.

Clubs from the Indian Super League, Indian Women's League, and I-League will also pick up players from the Subroto Cup.

Source : AIR

Correct Answer :   5th

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India is the fifth amongst spacefaring countries in the world having end-to-end capabilities in Space Research and Development (R&D).

Minister of State for Atomic Energy and Space Dr Jitendra Singh said this in a written reply in Lok Sabha on 2nd August 2023.

He said that India has the capability to launch from its own land and operate programmes of earth observation, satellite communication, meteorology, space science and navigation, and ground infrastructure.

He further added that now after space sector reforms, the NewSpace industries are also emerging at a fast pace..

Source : AIR

Correct Answer :   Bhopal

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President Draupadi Murmu inaugurated the national festival of India's folk and tribal expressions "Utkarsh" and the international literature festival "Unmesh" in Bhopal (3rd August 2023).

Culture Department of Madhya Pradesh along with Sangeet Natak Akademi and Sahitya Akademi of the Union Ministry of Culture is organizing this event from 3rd to 5th August 2023.

Governor Mangubhai Patel and Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan were present at the inaugural ceremony.

On this occasion, the President said that literature shows the mirror to humanity and takes it forward. It connects as well as connecting.

He said that it is to be seen from the Amrit Kaal Mein Unmesh program that what is being created in literature today, which is being read by a large number of people.

The President said that Utkarsh means progress and the progress of the tribal group will lead to the progress of the country. It is the responsibility of all of us to preserve the tribal tradition, language and culture..

Source : AIR

Correct Answer :   Bengaluru

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University of Agricultural Sciences (UAS) will be opening a first-of-its-kind museum on its campus in Bengaluru on 3 August 2023.

Minister of Agriculture N. Cheluvarayaswamy would inaugurate the museum.

Aim : To introduce the evolution of agricultural practices into the lives of students and the general public increasingly cut-off from the experience by the "urban buzz".

The museum will serve as a one-stop solution where they can get information about agriculture.

Source : The hindu

Correct Answer :   Shohini Sinha

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Indian-American Shohini Sinha has been appointed as the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) special agent in charge of the Salt Lake City Field Office.

Sinha has been appointed to the post by FBI Director Christopher Wray, according to a release issued by the FBI.

Sinha most recently served as executive special assistant to the Director at FBI Headquarters in Washington, DC. She joined the FBI as a special agent in 2001. She was first assigned to the Milwaukee Field Office, where she worked in counterterrorism investigations.

She also served in temporary assignments at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, the FBI Legal Attaché Office in London, and the Baghdad Operations Center.

Sinha was in 2009 promoted to supervisory special agent and transferred to the Counterterrorism Division in Washington, DC. She served as program manager of Canada-based extraterritorial investigations and facilitated liaison efforts with Washington, DC-based Canadian liaison officers, according to the FBI release.

In 2012, Sinha was promoted to assistant legal attaché in Ottawa, Canada, working counterterrorism matters in collaboration with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service. In 2015, she was promoted to field supervisor in the Detroit Field Office, where she led squads responsible for investigating international terrorism matters.

Sinha was in early 2020, transferred to the cyber intrusion squad, which worked both national security and criminal cyber intrusion matters. Later in 2020, she was promoted to assistant special agent in charge for national security matters, and later criminal matters, in the Portland Field Office.

In 2021, she was selected to serve as the executive special assistant to the FBI Director.

Before her employment with the FBI, Sinha worked as a therapist and later as an administrator for a private, not-for-profit clinic in Lafayette, Indiana. She earned a bachelor's degree in psychology and a master's degree in mental health counseling from Purdue University in Indiana.

Source : NDTV

Correct Answer :   Ministry of Minority Affairs

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Minority Affairs Minister "Smriti Irani" told in the Lok Sabha that about 1 lakh 20 thousand minority students have benefited under the Naya Savera Scheme. 'Naya Savera Yojana' is a scheme launched by the Ministry of Minority Affairs.

The Ministry implemented ‘Naya Savera’ scheme (‘Free Coaching and Allied’ scheme) to assist students/candidates belonging to the six notified minority communities namely Sikh, Jain, Muslim, Christian, Buddhist and Parsi by way of special coaching for qualifying examinations for admission in technical/professional courses and competitive examination for recruitment to Group Á, ‘B’, & ‘C’ services and other equivalent posts under the Central and State Governments including public sector undertakings, banks and railways. The scheme was implemented across the country through empaneled Project Implementing Agencies (PIAs).

Since inception, 1,19,223 minority students/candidates have been benefited under Naya Savera Scheme, out of which 12,155 beneficiaries were from state of Andhra Pradesh.

The details of physical achievement during last three years are given below:

Year	Number of students allocated
2019-2020	9,580
2020-2021	5,300
2021-2022	5,090

State-wise details of minority students benefited under the scheme is available on the website of Ministry www.minorityaffairs.gov.in .

The duration of the coaching period under the scheme were from 3 months to 2 years depending upon the coaching programme allocated to the PIAs. The scheme has been discontinued w.e.f. 2022-23.

This information was given by the Minister of Minority Affairs "Smt. Smriti Zubin Irani", in a written reply in Lok Sabha 3rd August 2023..

Source : PIB