2024 Latest Current Affairs, Daily Current Affairs in 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020

1 .

Who has signed a MoU with Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand Growth Triangle Joint Business Council (IMT-GT JBC), Malaysia?

A)

NTPC

B)

PGCI

C)

ONGC

D)

EESL

Correct Answer : EESL

Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand Growth Triangle Joint Business Council (IMT-GT JBC), Malaysia.

Reason : To promote the adoption of energy efficiency and sustainable practices in the region.

Under this partnership, EESL will implement Rooftop Solar, Electric Mobility, UJALA, and Building Energy Efficiency Programme in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand..

Source : AIR

Published On : February 8, 2023

2 .

Who announced (6th Feb 2023) the formation of three working groups under the 'Trade and Technology Council'?

A)

India and the United States

B)

India and African Union

C)

India and the European Union

D)

India and United Arab Emirates

Correct Answer : India and the European Union

India and the European Union (EU) on Monday (6th Feb 2023) announced the formation of three working groups under the ‘Trade and Technology Council (TTC)’ that was set up to deepen strategic ties with the trade bloc.

* The working group will cover critical issues, such as :

* Strategic technologies, digital governance, and connectivity

* Green and clean energy technologies

* Trade, investment, and resilient value chains

* The TTC was jointly launched by PM Modi and EC Chief, Ursula von der Leyen in April 2022 in New Delhi..

Source : Business Standard

Published On : February 8, 2023

3 .

Who inaugurated a Sculpture Park at Bikaner House in New Delhi on 5th Feb 2023?

A)

Usha Sharma

B)

Irai Anbu

C)

Naresh Kumar

D)

Vandita Sharma

Correct Answer : Usha Sharma

Rajasthan Chief Secretary Usha Sharma inaugurated a Sculpture Park at Bikaner House in New Delhi on Sunday (5th Feb 2023).

The sculpture park has a glimpse of modern and contemporary art and culture and the sculptures will be on display till the end of March 2023.

From 9 February 2023, the venue will also be hosting 'Bikaner House Dialogues' on issues related to art, literature, culture, and heritage.

The Sculpture Park at Bikaner House is the first of its kind in the capital and will serve as a milestone in promoting modern and contemporary art.

It showcases works from renowned and emerging artists from India and the world, connecting Rajasthani art, culture, and heritage with national and international recognition.

Chief Secretary Sharma highlighted that the launch of the sculpture park and the “Bikaner House Dialogues on Art, Literature, and Culture” is a unique initiative that provides a platform for young artists to showcase their contemporary works.

It will also allow senior artists to connect with their roots through the recognition of architecture in sculpture parks...

Source : The Print

Published On : February 8, 2023

4 .

Which companies are launched (7th Feb 2023) a digital skills programme initiative to train rural women in India?

A)

BSNL and GSMA

B)

Reliance Jio and GSMA

C)

Bharti Airtel and GSMA

D)

Vodafone Group and GSMA

Correct Answer : Reliance Jio and GSMA

Reliance Jio and global mobile network operators' organisation GSMA on Tuesday (7th Feb 2023) announced the roll-out of their digital skills programme to train rural women in India.

* The programme aims to provide need-based training to rural women and individuals from marginalised/low-income groups to help them make meaningful use of digital access.

* The national roll-out phase is now underway, with the programme being rolled out across 10 states.

* "We are proud to partner with GSMA in this programme to take digital skills training to the women across India and be the wind beneath their wings," said Isha Ambani, Director, Reliance Jio.

* As per the GSMA's 'Mobile Gender Gap Report 2022', women in India are 41 per cent less likely than men to use mobile internet.

* A total of 330 million women in India still do not use mobile internet, compared to 248 million men. Lack of literacy and digital skills is one of the top reported barriers to mobile internet use.

* As a part of the programme, the GSMA and Jio teams worked together to assess prevalent digital skill gaps and develop need-based digital skills training toolkits that are India-specific.

* Over 1,000 rural women and men from Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu participated and provided inputs for the refinement of the digital training toolkits during the trial phase..

Source : Business Standard

Published On : February 8, 2023

5 .

Which company has launched a service that will allow the fintech firm's Indian users traveling abroad to pay foreign merchants using Unified Payments Interface (UPI)?

A)

Google Pay

B)

PhonePe

C)

Paytm

D)

Amazon Pay

Correct Answer : PhonePe

PhonePe said on Tuesday (7th February 2023) it has launched a service that will allow the fintech firm’s Indian users traveling abroad to pay foreign merchants using Unified Payments Interface (UPI).

* 'UPI international' supports merchant outlets in UAE, Singapore, Nepal and Bhutan that have a local QR (quick response) code.

* Users will be able to make direct payments in a foreign currency from their Indian bank, like they do with international debit cards. Walmart-backed PhonePe said it is the first Indian fintech app to launch the service.

* PhonePe, with a recent $350 million investment from General Atlantic and a $12 billion pre-money valuation, became the most valuable fintech company in India.

* According to a report by Bain and Company, the money will enable PhonePe to expand its business and compete with Google Pay, Paytm, and Amazon Pay in the $350 billion Indian fintech market by 2026.

* Users of PhonePe can use the PhonePe App to authorise their UPI-linked bank account for the service at the merchant location or in advance of their foreign travel.

* To activate the service, the customer would need to enter their UPI pin.

* Since its launch in December 2015, PhonePe has grown to become India’s top payments app. With 435 million registered users, PhonePe is currently used by one in four Indians...

Source : Business Standard

Published On : February 8, 2023

6 .

Who has launched the 'Yuva Sangam' registration portal in New Delhi on 6th Feb 2023?

A)

Amit Shah

B)

Hardeep Singh Puri

C)

Smriti Irani

D)

Dharmendra Pradhan

Correct Answer : Dharmendra Pradhan

Union Minister of Education, Skill Development, and Entrepreneurship "Dharmendra Pradhan" has launched the Yuva Sangam registration portal in New Delhi on 6th February 2023.

The Yuva Sangam is an initiative of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to build close ties between the youth of the North East Region (NER) and rest of India under the spirit of Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat.

Under the initiative over 20 thousand youth will travel across the country and gain a unique opportunity of cross-cultural learning.

On this occasion, Minister of DoNER, Culture and Tourism G. Kishan Reddy said that the Yuva Sangam program will work to connect the youth of my Northeast with the whole country.

He added that the program is an opportunity for the youth of the North East to explore the country.

Mr. Reddy stressed that this Wide Cultural Exchange Program will also give an opportunity to the country's youth to celebrate the ancient culture and natural diversity of India. He said that out of one thousand, 300 students will be from the North East region.

Addressing the event, Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Singh Thakur. expressed confidence that through 'Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat, Yuva Sangam', the youth of 18 years to 30 years will get an opportunity to see different states of the country, to understand their art, culture and languages.

Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, Law Minister Kiren Rijiju and other dignitaries also graced the event...

Source : AIR

Published On : February 7, 2023

7 .

Which company launched its conversational artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot named 'Bard' on 6th Feb 2023?

A)

Microsoft

B)

Apple

C)

Google

D)

Twitter

Correct Answer : Google

Google CEO Sundar Pichai has announced that the tech giant will soon launch an Artificial Intelligence (AI) powered chatbot called "Bard".

"Bard" aimed at countering the popularity of the ChatGPT tool backed by Microsoft.

According to a blog post by Pichai, the conversational AI service will be assessed by a group of trusted testers" before being rolled out to the public in the coming weeks.

Bard can be an outlet for creativity, and a launchpad for curiosity," Pichai, the Indian-origin CEO of Google and parent company Alphabet, said on Monday (6th February 2023), adding that Google's chatbot will be able to explain complex subjects like new discoveries from NASA's James Webb Space Telescope to a nine-year-old.

Google's announcement follows wide speculation that Microsoft is about to bring the AI chatbot ChatGPT to its search engine Bing, following a multi-billion dollar investment in the firm behind it, OpenAI.

ChatGPT (Chat Generative Pre-trained Transformer), which was launched in November 2022, is capable of generating speeches, songs, marketing copy, news articles and student essays or human-like text based on the input it is given.

Bard, built on Google's existing large language model LaMDA, "seeks to combine the breadth of the world's knowledge with the power, intelligence, and creativity of our large language models", Pichai, 50, said in the blog..

Source : Business Standard, Google Blog

Published On : February 7, 2023

8 .

Veteran Indian painter, BKS Varma When did passed away?

A)

4th February 2023

B)

5th February 2023

C)

6th February 2023

D)

7th February 2023

Correct Answer : 6th February 2023

* Veteran Indian painter, BKS Varma passed away in the early hours of Monday (6th February 2023) at the age of 74 in Bangalore, Karnataka.

* The subject of his paintings was mainly environmental and social issues presented in a surreal form.

* He was trained in art by the legendary art teacher A.N. Subbarao at the art and culture institution.

* He was honoured with the Karnataka Rajya Puruskar (2001), Rajyothsava award (2001), and Honorary Doctorate by Bangalore University (2011)..

Born: 5 September 1949, Bengaluru

Died: 6 February 2023, Bengaluru

Source : India Times

Published On : February 7, 2023

9 .

Former US secretary of state, Hillary Clinton announced a Global Climate Resilience Fund of ________millions for women to fight climate change.

A)

$50 million

B)

$70 million

C)

$85 million

D)

$100 million

Correct Answer : $50 million

Former US secretary of state Hillary Clinton on Monday (6th Feb 2023) announced a Global Climate Resilience Fund of "50 million dollars" for women to fight climate change.

* The fund will empower women and communities to fight climate change and help provide new livelihood resources and education, she said addressing salt pan workers near Kuda village in Gujarat's Surendranagar district.

* "Clinton Global Initiative with the American Indian foundation, SEWA (Self Empoyed Women's Association) founded by late activist Ela Bhatt and other organisations, I announce 50 million dollar Global Climate Resilience Fund for women"..

Source : India Today

Published On : February 7, 2023

10 .

Which companies are unveiled (6th Feb 2023) India's first Hydrogen Internal Combustion Engine (H2-ICE) technology solution for heavy duty trucks?

A)

Larsen & Toubro and Eicher Motors

B)

Bharat Petroleum and Ashok Leyland

C)

Adani Group and Mahindra & Mahindra

D)

Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) and Ashok Leyland

Correct Answer : Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) and Ashok Leyland

Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) and its vehicle partner Ashok Leyland on Monday (6th Feb 2023) unveiled India’s first Hydrogen Internal Combustion Engine (H2-ICE) technology solution for heavy-duty trucks.

The two companies, along with their other technical partners, have been engaged in developing this technology since 2022, with the first engines running in early 2022.

The hydrogen tech solution will emit near zero emissions, deliver performance on par with conventional diesel trucks and reduce noise and with projected reductions in operating costs thus redefining the future of green mobility, Reliance said in a statement.

Reliance will first extensively test and validate the H2ICE technology for heavy-duty trucks before its first commercial deployment at scale initially across its captive fleet.

Green hydrogen is hydrogen generated by renewable energy or from low-carbon power.

India’s Niti Aayog said that green hydrogen is critical to India’s economic development and net-zero ambitions, adding that the technology can help abate 3.6 gigatons of cumulative CO2 emissions by 2050..

Source : Arabianbusiness

Published On : February 7, 2023