Correct Answer :   Ratnakar Patnaik

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Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), the country's largest insurer, on Tuesday (11th April 2023) announced the appointment of Ratnakar Patnaik as its new Chief Investment Officer (CIO), effective from April 10, 2023.

* Patnaik, a seasoned insurance professional, has been with LIC since September 1990 when he joined as a Direct Recruit Officer. He holds a major in Physics and is a fellow of the Insurance Institute of India.

* During his 32-year-long career at LIC, Patnaik has worked across four zones, mostly in marketing assignments. He has headed the Indore and Jamshedpur divisions as Senior Divisional Manager and served as Regional Manager (CLIA) in the Eastern Zone for three years.

* He was promoted as Chief (Investment – Front Office) and joined the Central Office in May 2021.

* The outgoing CIO, P R Mishra, has been transferred and posted to another assignment.

* His appointment as CIO of LIC is expected to strengthen the insurer's investment strategy and add value to the corporation's financial operations.
Patnaik strongly believes in team work and has empathetic people sense. Has interest in sports, movies and books..

Source : CNBC

Correct Answer :   Aam Aadmi Party

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* The Election Commission of India (ECI) has granted the national party status to Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).

* AAP was recognized as a state party in the NCT of Delhi.

* While ECI has withdrawn the national party status of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and Communist Party of India (CPI).

* Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) has received recognition as a state party in Nagaland.

* Tipra Motha Party got recognition as a state party in Tripura..

Source : Times Now News

Correct Answer :   South Korea

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South Korea's anti trust regulator has fined Alphabet Inc.’s Google 42.1 billion won ($32 million) for blocking its rival from releasing video games.

* Korea’s Fair Trade Commission said that the company is using its clout in the mobile app market to squeeze out a rival.

* Google, reportedly tried to block Korean platform rival One Store Co.’s business development. It allegedly asked Korea’s major game companies including NCSoft Corp. and Netmarble Corp., as well as smaller firms and Chinese companies, to exclusively release their new games in Google’s Play Store, in return for Google promoting their games and providing further support abroad.

* Game makers affected by Google's action include Netmarble , Nexon and NCSOFT, as well as other smaller companies, the antitrust regulator added.

* Such actions by Google began in June 2016, when One Store started in Korea and continued through April 2018, when the watchdog launched the probe, the regulator said.

* Those activities hindered One Store’s ability to attract new games and resulted in a drop in sales during the period, it said. Google earned around 1.8 trillion won in sales through this activity, the FTC estimated.

* Google’s “actions differ from normal marketing activities," Yu Seong Wook, director general for the commission’s Anti-Monopoly Bureau, said at a briefing as reported by Bloomberg.  “Google’s intention was to exclude One Store from the market, which it saw as a strong competitor."

* The Korean regulator has ordered Google LLC, Google Korea, Google Asia Pacific to cease offering support to mobile game companies in exchange for promises of exclusivity..

Source : Mint

Correct Answer :   10th April 2023

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Former chief electoral officer (CEO) Naresh Gupta on Monday (10th April 2023) passed away at the age of 72 after prolonged illness. He was treated at a private hospital for chest ailment.

* An IAS officer of 1973 batch Naresh Gupta is a native of Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. He was the CEO during the DMK regime between 1998 and 2000.

* Subsequently, late chief minister J Jayalalithaa appointed him as home secretary. He was again posted as the CEO between 2005 and 2010 and held the post during the 2006 assembly election and 2009 general elections.

* Governor R N Ravi, in his condolence message, recalled Naresh Gupta as an outstanding administrator...

Source : Times of India

Correct Answer :   Kiren Rijiju

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Union Minister of Law, Kiren Rijiju has released the first edition of the Dogri version of the Constitution of India at the University of Jammu on Saturday (8th April 2023)

* He also highlighted that after the completion of the third phase of the e-Courts project, the time would not be far when all courts in the country will become totally paperless

* It pains me to see about five crore cases still pending for their final disposal. We can use technology as a solution to reduce pendency of cases in our courts, the minister said at the release of the first edition of the Dogri version of the Constitution of India at the University of Jammu.

* Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court Chief Justice Kotishwar Singh, senior judges of the high court, Jammu University Vice Chancellor Umesh Rai, Law Secretary Achal Sethi and Jammu Deputy Commissioner Avny Lavasa were among those who attended the function.

* Regarding developments in making the process of justice delivery easy and affordable, Rijiju said the government is digitising about 65,000 words of the legal glossary to frame a core vocabulary for the understanding of all citizens.

* The law minister said that "Rs 9,000 crore for upgradation of infrastructure at the lower judiciary and Rs 7,000 crore for the e-Courts project is aimed at making the process of delivery of justice easily accessible and freely available"...

Source : Economic Times

Correct Answer :   S Jaishankar

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External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Monday (10th April 2023) launched the 'Tulsi Ghat Restoration Project' of Varanasi, during his visit to Uganda's Kampala.

* Taking to Twitter, Jaishankar, who is on a three-day visit to Uganda, appreciated the initiatives of Overseas Friends of BJP-Uganda's initiative to contribute to further beautifying the oldest living city in the world.

* "Living in a land of the Nile, their commitment to a ghat on the Ganga reflects the confluence of our two cultures. The conservation of Varanasi's heritage underlines the cultural revival of India. This has profound global implications," he said.

* "Confident that many more members of the Indian community in Uganda will keep visiting Varanasi and continue their efforts for its redevelopment," he added.

* Earlier, on Monday, he met Uganda's President Yoweri K Museveni at his farm in Rwakitura and congratulated the country on assuming the chairship of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM)..

Source : Business Standard

Correct Answer :   IIT Bombay

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Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has joined hands with Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay (IIT-Bombay) to develop a robust touchless biometric capture system for easier usage by people anytime, anywhere.

* As part of the memorandum of understanding, UIDAI and IIT Bombay will carry out joint research to build a mobile capture system for fingerprints along with liveness model integrated with the capture system.

* The touchless biometric capture system, once developed and operational, will allow fingerprint authentication from home alike face authentication.

* The new system is expected to capture multiple fingerprints at one go and aid authentication success rate further. The new system once in place will be an addition to the existing facilities available in the Aadhaar ecosystem.

* Such a system will use an intelligent combination of signal/image processing and machine learning/deep learning with a common mobile phone available to most citizens with a good user experience. This will be a step forward in making Universal authenticator a reality.

* The collaboration between UIDAI and IIT Bombay through its National Centre of Excellence in Technology for Internal Security (NCETIS) will lead to joint engagement in Research and Development (R&D) for development of a system for UIDAI.

* The NCETIS is a joint initiative by IIT Bombay and the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), under its flagship Digital India Programme.

* The NCETIS is aimed at developing indigenous technology solutions for Internal Security forces in broad areas of Electronic System Design and Manufacturing...

Source : PIB

Correct Answer :   Rajasthan

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* The Rajasthan government has declared April 11, the birth anniversary of social reformer Jyotiba Phule, a public holiday.

* With this, the state has 30 public holidays and 20 optional holidays. Till now, Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Jayanti was an optional holiday in the state.

* According to an official statement, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has approved a proposal in this regard. The decision has been taken keeping in mind the common man's feelings and the demand of people's representatives..

Source : Outlook India

Correct Answer :   10th April

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World Homeopathy Day is celebrated on April 10th every year to commemorate the birth anniversary of German physician Dr. Samuel Hahnemann, the founder of homeopathy. This day is marked to celebrate and honour homeopathy and its contributions in treating the patients across the globe.

World Homeopathy Day History :

* Dr Samuel Hahnemann, the founder of homeopathy was born in Paris on April 10, 1755. While practising, he found that in order to treat a patient's sickness, the ingredients that cause the disease's symptoms must be administered.

* He developed the principle of 'similia similibus curentur', meaning 'let like cure like', in the late 18th century. Thus, homeopathy works on the principle of "like cures like".

* This year will be the 268th birth anniversary of Dr Hahnemann.

World Homeopathy Day significance :

* Homeopathy is a holistic approach to healing that involves substances to stimulate the body's natural healing processes.

* The day aims to create awareness about the effectiveness of homoeopathy in treating various health conditions. It has been used for centuries to treat diseases like allergies, asthma, depression or anxiety. Homoeopathy medicines are made from natural ingredients like minerals, plants, and animals.

* The day seeks to raise awareness of homeopathy as a medical system and work towards increasing it practice.


World Homeopathy Day theme 2023 :

* Every year a particular theme is chosen to celebrate the World Homeopathy Day. This year (2023), the theme is "One Health, One Family." It aims to promote the homoeopathic treatment among the people through the neighbourhood family physicians.

* The Central Council for Research in Homeopathy under AYUSH ministry will conduct an event on Monday to celebrate the occasion. Last year, the theme for World Homeopathy Day was 'Homeopathy: People's Choice for Wellness'.

* Several programs and events based on the themes are conducted across the world to raise awareness about homoeopathy and its medicines..

Source : Hindustan Times

Correct Answer :   Women's Safety

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The safety of women has always been a pressing issue in India, and on 7th April 2023, President Droupadi Murmu took a step towards making women feel safer by launching the 'Bhoroxa' mobile app at the Gauhati High Court.

* The app, which includes various helpline numbers across the state and women-related schemes, will help women in distress seek immediate help.

* The week-long platinum jubilee celebrations of the Gauhati High Court began on April 1 with a bicycle rally, followed by a friendly cricket match between the teams of Chief Justice XI and Chief Minister's XI.

* The event was graced by the honourable Chief Justice of Gauhati High Court, Dr Sandeep Mehta, who welcomed the attendees with a speech emphasising the importance of maintaining peace and harmony for the safety of women and other marginalised sections of society.

* One of the main features of the app is the 181 helpline number for women seeking help. This helpline will ensure that women in distress can immediately reach out to the authorities and seek help. The app also includes details about various schemes aimed at women's empowerment and their safety.

* The 'Bhoroxa' mobile app's launch was a part of the platinum jubilee celebrations of the Gauhati High Court, where a commemorative stamp was released on April 5 by Union Minister Kiren Rijiju, and Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma released the Assamese version of the book "Gauhati High Court: History and Heritage."

* On the same occasion, Chief Justice of India also released two apps on the online e-sewa Kendra for Assam and integrated CIS and e-Prisons applications.

* The 'Bhoroxa' mobile app's launch is a step forward in making women feel safer in India and can be seen as a major initiative towards women's safety and empowerment...

Source : India Todayne