Correct Answer :   67th

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The World Economic Forum on June 28, 2023 ranked India at the 67th place globally on its Energy Transition Index and said it is the only major economy with energy transition momentum accelerating across all dimensions.

Sweden topped the list and was followed by Denmark, Norway, Finland and Switzerland in the top five on the list of 120 countries.

Releasing the report published in collaboration with Accenture, the WEF said the global energy transition has plateaued amid the global energy crisis and geopolitical volatilities, but India is among the countries that have made significant improvements.

"For example, despite continued economic growth, India has successfully reduced the energy intensity of its economy and the carbon intensity of its energy mix, while achieving universal energy access and effectively managing affordability of electricity," the WEF added.

Achieving universal access to electricity, replacing solid fuels with clean cooking options and increasing renewable energy deployment have been primary contributors to the improvement of India's performance.

India also emerged relatively less affected from the recent energy crisis, largely due to the low share of natural gas in power generation and increased use of existing generation capacities.

Besides India, Singapore is the only other major economy showing "true momentum by advancing sustainability, energy security and equity in a balanced way," the WEF said.

France (7) was the only G20 country in the top 10, followed closely by Germany (11), the U.S. (12), and the U.K. (13).

The WEF said that out of 120 countries, 113 have made progress over the last decade but only 55, including India, have improved their scores by more than 10 percentage points..

Source : The Hindu

Correct Answer :   Anurag Verma

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The Punjab government Monday (26th June 2023) appointed 1993-batch IAS officer Anurag Verma as Chief Secretary. Verma, who has been serving as the state’s home secretary, succeeds the 1989 batch IAS officer V K Janjua, who retires on June 30.

He is the 42nd Chief Secretary of Punjab. The state government had sought without success an extension in the service of Janjua by writing a letter to the Centre two months ago. But the government did not get any reply till date. Verma has superseded 10 IAS officers, of whom four are on central deputation, and two have already been chief secretaries.

Among the seniors who are on central deputation are Vini Mahajan (1987 batch), who retires on October 31, 2024; Anjali Bhawra (1988 batch), who is set to be superannuated on June 30, 2024; V K Singh (1990 batch); and Seema Jain (1991 batch).

Anurag Verma is next Chief Secretary of Punjab ⁦@iepunjab⁩ ⁦@IndianExpress⁩ pic.twitter.com/YJZvRjQHFg

— Kanchan Vasdev (@kanchan99) June 26, 2023

Others in the seniority list posted in Punjab are Anirudh Tewari (1990 batch, retiring on April 30, 2027), Anurag Agarwal (1990 batch), A Venu Prasad (1991 batch, retiring on July 31), Sarvjit Singh (1992 batch), Raji P Shrivastava (1992 batch) and K A P Sinha (1992 batch).

Tewari had already been a chief secretary, and Janjua had replaced him. The five including Tewari, Agarwal, Venu Prasad, Sarvjit Singh, Srivastava, Sinha and Seema Jain have now been posted as special chief secretaries.

Verma would join as CS on July 1, 2023, after Janjua retires on June 30, 2023. The government, sources said, had decided on appointment of Verma as next CS quite a few days ago. He was among the only two bureaucrats who were present at Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann’s lunch to celebrate victory of Jalandhar Lok Sabha byelection..

Source : Indian Express

Correct Answer :   Uttar Pradesh

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The Uttar Pradesh Police Department on Monday (26th June 2023) launched 'Operation Conviction' to combat criminals and mafias in the state.

Authorities claim that the initiative will expedite the prosecution of cases registered under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, as well as those involving cow slaughter, religious conversion, rape, and murder.

According to a senior police official, 'Operation Conviction' will ensure the immediate arrest of criminals, the collection of strong evidence against them, quality investigation, and effective representation of cases in courts so that they are punished in the shortest amount of time.

The Uttar Pradesh Police said in an official statement that each commissionerate/district will be required to identify 20 cases in each category under 'Operation Conviction' in addition to cases registered under the POCSO Act.

To ensure that victims receive prompt justice, charges will be framed within three days of the chargesheet being filed, and the trial will be completed within 30 days.

#WATCH | Uttar Pradesh DGP Vijay Kumar, says "Strict actions are being taken against criminals in the state since 2017. 'Operation Conviction' has been initiated, under this, in addition to all the charges under the POCSO Act, crimes of rape, murder, robbery, dacoity, religious… pic.twitter.com/p7b1ZzepdD

— ANI (@ANI) June 26, 2023

“Since 2017, the state government has been carrying out a crackdown on mafias under its zero-tolerance policy. Continuing with its policy, the government has launched ‘Operation Conviction’ to identify 20 cases in each district,” DGP Vijaya Kumar was quoted as saying by Hindustan Times.

District police chiefs will also coordinate with district judges in their respective districts and request that such cases be tried on a daily basis.

Correct Answer :   8th

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The stage is all set for the 8th edition of world’s largest urban swachhata survey, Swachh Survekshan 2023 – Mera Shehar, Meri Pehchan.

Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) launched the Field Assessment for Swachh Survekshan (SS) 2023. Under SS 2023, around 3,000 assessors will take the field for assessment from 1 July, 2023.

The assessors will study performances of 4500+ cities across 46 indicators and it is expected to be completed within a month. Rolled out on 24 May, 2022, Swachh Survekshan 2023 champions Waste to Wealth and is curated towards processing and scientific management of waste.

Originally designed as a competitive monitoring tool, Swachh Survekshan was introduced under the aegis of MoHUA in 2016, with an objective to sanitation, helping cities to achieve the goal of sustainable sanitation and waste management in a fast-track competitive manner.

Swachh Survekshan has enthused cities with a healthy spirit of competitiveness to improve urban sanitation and ensure best service delivery to their citizens. It is expected to engage with a whopping 10 Cr citizens during this year’s assessment making it indisputably the world’s largest annual urban cleanliness survey. Conducted over four quarters, the first three quarters of assessment have already been completed successfully.

A new third quarter for Swachh Survekshan 2023 was introduced this year and the States/ cities geared up for the survey enhancing their activities and level of preparedness. Avoiding the acute heat wave conditions across the nation in the last two months, the fourth quarter is now being launched from 1 July, 2023.  

Launching the fourth and final quarter of assessment of Swachh Survekshan 2023 which is also the most rigorous as well as awaited, Secretary, MoHUA, Mr. Manoj Joshi said in a virtual event, “Last 7 years of Swachh Survekshan has been the highlight of Swachh Bharat Mission and we have to continue that this year as well.

We continue to make efforts to make it easier and useful for smaller and medium size cities so that Swachh Survekshan continues to be a management tool for improvement in sanitation. Emphasizing on transformation of manhole to machine hole, Secretary, MoHUA highlighted the importance of SafaiMitra Suraksha. Speaking on waste processing, he focused on the need to segregate at source. He added that he was optimistic that Survekshan would keep motivating cities to become better in sanitation.


Swachh Survekshan 2023 Focus :

Swachh Survekshan 2023 indicators focus on parameters pertaining to segregated door-to-door waste collection, zero waste events, Divyang-friendly toilets, improved plastic waste management and cleaning backlanes, wherein the marks have been increased this year. Laying emphasis on transforming ‘manholes’ to ‘machine holes’, priority has been given to Safaimitra Suraksha..

Source : PIB

Correct Answer :   1.3 billion

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According to the data released by the Reserve Bank, the current account deficit (CAD) of India has been narrowed to 1.3 billion dollars or 0.2% of GDP in the January-March quarter of the last fiscal (2022-23).

The decline was mainly due to moderation in the trade deficit and a robust increase in services exports.

RBI data has shown that net services receipts increased, both sequentially and on a year-on-year basis, on the back of a rise in net earnings from computer services..

Source : AIR

Correct Answer :   Parshottam Rupala

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Union Minister for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Shri Parshottam Rupala launched the Report Fish Disease(RFD) App here 28th June 2023 at Krishi Bhawan in the presence of Dr. L. Murugan, Minister of State, Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying and senior Officers from DARE, ICAR and NSPADD.

The app has been developed by ICAR-NBFGR under National Surveillance Programme for Aquatic Animal Diseases (NSPAAD), funded under Pradhan Mantri MatsyaSampadaYojana by the Department of Fisheries, Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Government of India.

Benefits :

* The RFD app will help the farmers in reporting incidence of diseases in finfish, shrimps, and molluscs on their farms with the field level-officers and fish health experts.

* This shall help farmers in getting the scientific advice for efficient management of disease.The data regarding the diseases will be stored on temporal & spatial scale and can be used for mapping the disease cases.

* The App would support farmers in improving farmer-based reporting, getting scientific advice, and reducing losses due to diseases, thereby increasing farmers’ income. Also, Fish Disease Reporting App shall have a massive impact on fish disease management, promoting early detection, rapid response, collaboration, and knowledge sharing.

* It will contribute to the sustainability and resilience of aquaculture systems by minimizing the negative impacts of fish diseases on fish population, industry, and ecosystems.


Background :

* Aquaculture sector is witnessing an impressive growth over the years and at present, total exports earnings from the sector are approximately Rs.57586.48 crores (2021-22). However, the diseases are the major constraint to the growth of the aquaculture.

* Surveillance for aquatic animal diseases is essential for early detection of diseases, thereby minimizing their impacts.Early detection of diseases is important for eradication and containment.

* Many cases of diseases in aquaculture go unreported due to unavailability of the field-level disease reporting mechanism.Therefore, there is a necessity of a mechanism that can connect farmers, field-level officers, and fish health experts..

Source : PIB

Correct Answer :   IIT Bombay

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The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay has made it to the top 150 in the QS World University Rankings 2023, which was released in the Wednesday (28th June 2023).

IIT Bombay made a remarkable leap to climb 23 positions to secure the 149th rank globally in the 20th edition of the rankings.

Earlier, only the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) achieved the feat in 2016 with a rank of 147.

This year’s rankings have witnessed major fluctuations due to the introduction of three new parameters and change in weightage of the existing parameters.

The three new parameters introduced by the agency were sustainability, employment outcomes, and international research network. These qualifying conditions carried a weightage of 5 percent.

To accommodate the three new indicators, the importance of other parameters was reduced, causing drastic changes in the rankings.

The IISc fell 70 positions from 155th rank to 225th to become the third-highest ranked Indian institution.

IIT Delhi also came down from 174th Rank to 197th Rank and IIT Kanpur fell from 264th to 278th while IIT Madras slipped from 250th to 285th.

Additionally, two new Indian universities made their debut in the top 500. The University of Delhi and Anna University in Tamil Nadu secured 407th and 427th ranks, respectively..

Source : CNBC

Correct Answer :   5

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday (27th June 2023) visited Madhya Pradesh capital Bhopal and flagged off five Vande Bharat trains connecting important cities in different parts of the country.

* Modi reached Rani Kamalapati railway station in Bhopal from where he flagged off the five trains – two physically and three in virtual mode.

* Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, Madhya Pradesh Governor Mangubhai Patel, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Union ministers Narendra Singh Tomar and Jyotiraditya Scindia, among others, were present on the occasion.

* “These trains will improve connectivity in Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Goa, Bihar and Jharkhand,” Modi said in a tweet on Monday.

* This is for the first time so many Vande Bharat trains have been launched in one day.

* Two of them are for Madhya Pradesh, where the Assembly polls are due by the year-end.

* These semi high-speed trains are: Rani Kamalapati (Bhopal)-Jabalpur Vande Bharat Express, Khajuraho-Bhopal-Indore Vande Bharat Express, Madgaon (Goa)-Mumbai Vande Bharat Express, Dharwad-Bengaluru Vande Bharat Express, and Hatia-Patna Vande Bharat Express, as per an official statement..

Source : The Print

Correct Answer :   June 27

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World MSME Day is observed on June 27 every year to raise awareness about the importance of micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises in promoting inclusive and sustainable development worldwide.

According to the United Nations data, the MSMEs account for up to 90% of businesses, over 60% to 70% of jobs worldwide, and half of global GDP.


World MSME Day 2023 Date :

The United Nations General Assembly on 6 April 2017 designated 27 June as “Micro-, Small, and Medium-sized Enterprises Day" (A/RES/71/279) to raise awareness of the tremendous contributions of MSMEs to the achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).


World MSME Day 2023 Theme :

The theme MSME Day 2023 in India is “Future-ready MSMEs for India@100." The Global Council for the Promotion of International Trade is also celebrating the day with “Building a Stronger Future Together" theme of this year. The global body is also launching #Brand10000MSMEs Network, a dynamic platform where MSMEs from around the world can connect, learn, and grow together.


World MSME Day 2023 Significance :

MSMEs hold the potential to transform economies, foster job creation, and promote equitable economic growth if given adequate support.

The MSMEs are providing financial independence to the most vulnerable section of our society. Based on available data, the rate of women’s employment in registered MSMEs stands at about 24%, while in unregistered enterprises, it is reported at 13.02%. Financial inclusion can play a significant role in promoting gender equality, with evidence indicating that 80% of women-owned businesses facing credit needs are underserved or completely unserved, resulting in a financing gap of approximately $1.7 trillion.

The MSMEs day also focus on supporting resilient supply chains to ensure workers and the environment benefit. Supply chains are a critical component of global trade and commerce, and conflicts, disasters, and pandemics can quickly impact their functioning, increasing costs and making transactions more difficult.

The MSME Day event aims to highlight their pivotal role and explore opportunities for their further advancement. The events also provide a platform for small business owners to tell their stories of entrepreneurship and its challenges, while governments, international organizations and business support organizations show their commitment to support..

Source : Mint

Correct Answer :   Ministry of Agriculture

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Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare signed a MOU with Pixxel Space India Pvt. Limited monday (26th June 2023) in the presence of the Shri Manoj Ahuja, Secretary, DA&FW, Pramod Kumar Meherda, Additional Secretary, DA&FW and other senior officers of the Ministry at New Delhi.

Shri C. S. Murthy, Director, MNCFC signed the MOU on behalf of Government of India, where as Shri Abhishek Krishnan, Chief of Staff represented M/s Pixxel Space India Pvt. Limited.

Aim : It aims to develop various geospatial solutions on pro bono basis for the Indian Agriculture Ecosystem using Pixxel’s hyperspectral dataset.

The project focuses on leveraging sample hyperspectral data from Pixxel’s path finder satellites to develop analytics models focused on crop mapping, crop stage discrimination, crop health monitoring, and soil organic carbon assessments. This will enable the Government to develop use cases with hyperspectral data provided by PIXXEL. MNCFC on behalf of the DA&FW will associate with Pixel team for developing and implementing the suitable methodologies.

Hyperspectral remote sensing technology includes spectral measurements in narrow wavelength bands by satellites and such measurements offer certain unique indices to monitor and assess health of crops and soils. This is an emerging technology with unique capabilities for monitoring agriculture.Crop health monitoring by detecting the changes in chlorophyll content and canopy moisture status, using hyperspectral data would be beneficial to find crop risk management solutions to farmers.

Soil nutrient mapping including soil organic carbon assessments is one of the important applications of hyperspectral technology. The soil reflectance observations measured by the sensors offer more direct, cost-effective datasets to estimate soil organic carbon.This will also help to develop the early detection of crop stress, accurate diagnostics of crop stress due to pest/disease or water using hyper spectral data offer numerous opportunities to strengthen the current advisory system of the Government benefiting to millions of farmers.

Secretary, DA&FW expressed that such types of collaboration with young startup company will go a long way for developing innovative geospatial solutions using advanced   satellite imaging technology. The new technology will reduce dependence on manual surveys and measurements which are time consuming and prone to errors..

Source : PIB