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

1 .

ADB and HSBC India collaborate to launch partial guarantee program for microfinance in India. What is the total size of this program?

A)

USD 300 million

B)

USD 200 million

C)

USD 150 million

D)

USD 100 million

Correct Answer : USD 100 million

Asian Development Bank (ADB) and HSBC India have signed an agreement to establish a USD 100 million partial guarantee programme to support more than 4,00,000 micro-borrowers and mostly women-run micro-enterprises across India. HSBC will expand its lending to microfinance institutions (MFIs) and non-bank finance companies, with ADB partially guaranteeing the loans, Manila-based multilateral funding agency said in a statement on Thursday(31st Mar 2022).

This will expand HSBC's risk appetite and deployed capital, helping to enhance private sector financing and improve financial inclusion in India, it said.

It is ADB's first partnership with HSBC and under the agreement, to give impetus to this partnership, aggregated financing of an equivalent of USD 30 million is being initially disbursed to three MFIs in India by April 2022, it said.

MFIs have emerged as lifelines for underserved clients such as low-income households and small businesses as they struggled to access finance during the pandemic, it said..

Source : Economic Times

Published On : April 1, 2022

2 .

When the Odisha Day or Utkal Divas is celebrated on every year?

A)

April 1st

B)

April 2nd

C)

April 3rd

D)

April 4th

Correct Answer : April 1st

Utkal Divas or Utakala Dibasha is celebrated on April 1st every year to remember the formation of the Odisha state after a struggle to be recognised as an independent state. Under the British rule, Odisha was part of the Bengal presidency, which consisted of the present-day Bihar, West Bengal, and Odisha.

The state celebrates the day with a restricted holiday. The day is also known as Odisha Foundation day and Vishuva Milan.

Why is Odisha Day important for the people of Odisha :

The region became part of Kalinga after it was conquered by Magadha King Ashoka in 261 BC to expand his Mauryan rule. After Mauryan rule, King Kharavela’s rule began in Odisha. Kharavela managed to avenge the Mauryan invasion by defeating Magadh. Historians credit Kharavela for laying the foundation for Odisha’s fame as a land of art, architecture and sculpture. He also managed to establish a powerful political state.

Gajapati Mukunda Deva was the last Hindu king of Odisha. He was defeated by the Mughals in 1576. A few hundred years later, the British took over and divided the state into different parts. The northern and western districts of the state became part of what was then called Bengal presidency..

Source : Business Standard

Published On : April 1, 2022

3 .

Who has launched 'Tap to Pay for UPI', new functionality to bring the seamless convenience of Tap to Pay to Unified Payments Interface (UPI)?

A)

Paytm

B)

Phonepe

C)

Google Pay

D)

Amazon Pay

Correct Answer : Google Pay

Payments platform Google Pay has launched ‘Tap to Pay’ feature in collaboration with Pine Labs for Unified Payments Interface (UPI)-based transactions.

This is the first time the ‘Tap to Pay’ functionality is available on a payments platform as it was earlier only available for debit or credit cards.

To complete payment using this feature, a user needs to tap his phone on the POS terminal and authenticate the payment from his smartphone, using his UPI PIN, making the process virtually instantaneous and fast, compared to scanning a QR code or entering the UPI-linked mobile number.

The ‘Tap to Pay’ feature will be available for any UPI user who wants to use his Near Field Communication (NFC)-enabled Android smartphone to make transactions using any Pine Labs Android POS terminal across the country. This feature was piloted with Reliance Retail and will now be available at large merchants such as Future Retail and Starbucks.

“Fintech growth in India is writing the playbook for the world, first with enabling real-time payments with UPI, and further, by innovating with flows that make the transaction time virtually zero,” said Sajith Sivanandan, business head, Google Pay and Next Billion User initiatives, Google APAC.

‘Tap to Pay’ for UPI has profound implications for high traffic retail outlets, with queue management hassles poised to be greatly reduced, and taking digital payments at POS well beyond cards, Sivanandan added..

Source : Inc42

Published On : April 1, 2022

4 .

Startup Founders Hub is a new platform launched by which organization to support startup founders in India at every step of their startup journey?

A)

Google

B)

Microsoft

C)

Meta

D)

Amazon

Correct Answer : Microsoft

Microsoft launched a new digital and inclusive platform for startup founders in India. The platform called as ‘Microsoft for Startups Founders Hub’ in India, will support startup founders in India at every stage of their startup journey. This platform will offer over USD 300,000 worth of benefits and credits to startups, including free access to the technology, tools, and resources from the tech giant and partners. The initiative will help the Startups to gain mentorship and skilling opportunities with industry experts and Microsoft Learn.

Published On : April 1, 2022

5 .

On which day is the International Drug Checking Day celebrated every year?

A)

March 28th

B)

March 29th

C)

March 30th

D)

March 31st

Correct Answer : March 31st

The International Day of Drug Checking takes place on March 31st every year since 2017 to ensure people are educated on drugs and aware of their effects. The day aims to promote harm reduction initiatives of drugs and reduce drug-related risks. Along with it, it also marks promoting harm reduction actions of drugs and reduces drug-related risks.

Published On : March 31, 2022

6 .

When did Former CM Of Sikkim B.B. Gurung Passes Away?

A)

28th Mar 2022

B)

29th Mar 2022

C)

30th Mar 2022

D)

31st Mar 2022

Correct Answer : 28th Mar 2022

The 3rd Chief Minister of Sikkim, Bhim Bahadur Gurung has passed away monday(28th Mar 2022) at his residence in Lumsui in Gangtok, Sikkim. B. Gurung served as a teacher and a staff reporter in a Calcutta (Kolkata)-based newspaper the Amrita Bazar Patrika and he also edited the first news-based Nepali Journal of Sikkim, called Kanchenjunga.

Gurung started his political career with Sikkim Rajya Congress Party in 1947 and was later appointed as the General Secretary in 1958. He served as the 3rd CM of Sikkim from 11 May to 24 May 1984, the shortest term in the history of Sikkim. Between 2014 and 2015 he served as the political advisor to the CM of Sikkim.

Published On : March 31, 2022

7 .

When is World Backup Day celebrated every year?

A)

March 29th

B)

March 30th

C)

March 31st

D)

April 1st

Correct Answer : March 31st

World Backup Day is marked every year on March 31st. The day reminds us to protect our precious digital documents as we’ve become more reliant on technology. It is a day for people to learn about the increasing role of data in our lives and the importance of regular backups. Originally, World Backup Day began as World Backup Month, by a hard drive company named Maxtor which was later acquired by Seagate Technology.

* The aim of the day is simple, to raise awareness of how to safely backup data to introduce people to the 3-2-1 strategy. This strategy leads the backup campaign and is a solid tried and tested approach that’s easy for anyone to adapt.

* 3-2-1 backup is all about having three copies of your data, one on your computer, one on an external storage device and another offsite on a cloud storage solution.

* The great thing about the 3-2-1 backup strategy is that you can adapt it to suit your budget. So if you’re just starting out then your hard drive a cheap external drive and a standard cloud solution can be found relatively inexpensively.

Published On : March 31, 2022

8 .

Which state Governor unveiled PARAM Shakti, a petascale supercomputer at IIT Kharagpur?

A)

West Bengal

B)

Maharashtra

C)

Karnataka

D)

Uttar Pradesh

Correct Answer : West Bengal

The Governor of West Bengal, "Jagdeep Dhankhar", dedicated to the nation a Petascale Supercomputer PARAM Shakti under the National Supercomputing Mission (NSM) - a joint initiative of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) and Department of Science and Technology (DST) on March 27, 2022, at IIT Kharagpur.

PARAM Shakt, a Petascale Supercomputer at IIT Kharagpur dedicated to the nation under the National Supercomputing Mission (NSM) - a joint initiative of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) and Department of Science and Technology (DST) was inaugurated on March 27, 2022, by Jagdeep Dhankhar, Governor, West Benga

PARAM Shakti supercomputing facility is accelerating the research and development activities in the multidisciplinary domains of computational and data sciences as it provides large-scale computing power to the user community of IIT Kharagpur and neighbouring academic and R&D institutes..

Source : India Today

Published On : March 31, 2022

9 .

Which states have signed an agreement to resolve a border issue in six disputed districts?

A)

Gujarat and Uttarakhand

B)

Assam and Meghalaya

C)

Uttar Pradesh and Punjab

D)

Nagaland and Himachal Pradesh

Correct Answer : Assam and Meghalaya

Assam and Meghalaya on Tuesday(29th Mar 2022) decided to end their five-decade-old border dispute in six of the 12 contested locations that often raised tensions between the two states, with Union Home Minister Amit Shah calling it a “historic day” for the Northeast.

The agreement was signed in the presence of Shah by Chief Ministers of Assam and Meghalaya Himanta Biswa Sarma and Conrad Sangma respectively.

The pact will resolve the protracted dispute in six of the 12 places along the 884.9 km border between the two states.

“It is a historic day for the Northeast,” Shah said at the function held at the Ministry of Home Affairs here.

The home minister said, with the signing of the agreement, 70 per cent of the border dispute between the two states has been resolved and hoped that a solution will be found for the remaining six locations soon.

“This inter-state boundary settlement will usher in a new era of peace, harmony and progress in Assam and Meghalaya. I want to assure our sisters and brothers of Northeast that Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led central government will leave no stone unturned in fulfilling their aspirations,” he said.

Shah said it was another milestone towards fulfilling the prime minister’s resolve of a peaceful and dispute-free Northeast.

He also said the agreement amplifies cooperative federalism and provides a road map for resolution of other boundary disputes between states.

Assam shares a 2743 km boundary with Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and West Bengal. It is locked in border disputes with Nagaland, Mizoram, Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh..

Source : The Print

Published On : March 31, 2022

10 .

Government of India has announced a new Central Sector Scheme â€˜Raising and Accelerating MSME Performanceâ€™ (RAMP). What is the total outlay of the scheme?

A)

USD 1000 million

B)

USD 937 million

C)

USD 886 million

D)

USD 808 million

Correct Answer : USD 808 million

The scheme called ‘Raising and Accelerating MSME Performance’ (RAMP) is a World Bank assisted Central Sector Scheme to improve the performance of micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSME). It would commence in FY 2022-23. The total outlay for the scheme is Rs.6,062.45 crore (USD 808 Million).

Published On : March 31, 2022