General Knowledge(GK) (or) General Awareness

Correct Answer :   Dubai

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Dubai (UAE) will host the inaugural edition of the Global Chess League (GCL) from June 21 to July 2, 2023.

* The chess league will be held in association with Dubai Sports Council, the hosting partner of the league.

* It will feature six teams with six players each, including a minimum of two female players and one icon player per team.

* The six teams will compete in a round-robin format where each team will play 10 matches.

* GCL is a joint venture of FIDE and Tech Mahindra..

Source : Indian Express

Correct Answer :   Bihar

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Lieutenant Shivangi Singh is the first woman Rafale pilot to take part in Orion Exercise 2023. She hails from Fatehabad, Bihar and is considered a major fighter serving in the Indian Navy.

* The fourth and final phase of the Orion Military Exercise is being held between April 19 to May 05, 2023. This is a multilateral international exercise of the Indian Air Force.

About Shivangi Singh :

* Shivangi Singh, the Indian Air Force’s first woman pilot to fly the Rafale fighter aircraft is part of the IAF team which will take part in the multinational Exercise Orion in France. She is the Rafale squadron's first woman fighter pilot, and is set to make history by flying the multi-role air dominance aircraft.

* Shivangi Singh joined the Indian Air Force in 2017 and was commissioned into the IAF's second batch of women fighter pilots. Before flying Rafale, Shivangi also flew MiG-21 Bison aircraft.

* She hails from Varanasi and is currently undergoing conversion training and will shortly become a part of the IAF's Golden Arrows squadron based out of Ambala in Haryana.

* Shivangi Singh became the first woman fighter pilot to fly a Rafale after she was selected as a Rafale pilot following a stringent selection process in 2020.

Correct Answer :   HDFC Bank

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HDFC Bank on Thursday (4th May 2023) launched its retail banking programme ‘Vishesh’ for customers in semi-urban and rural geographies wherein it plans to onboard around 1 lakh new customers.

* As a part of this, the bank plans to add more branches and launch customised, tailor-made products and financial solutions for this market segment.

* HDFC Bank will look to add 675 branches in semi urban and rural geographies in FY24 to take the total number to nearly 5,000. As of March 31, 52 per cent of the bank’s 7,821 branches are in rural and semi urban locations.

* “This is not a product platform. What we are looking at is 4-5 important segments — farmers, merchants, micro enterprises, government salaried people. We have to understand their different needs,” said Arvind Vohra, Group Head-Retail Branch Banking.

* Given the limited reach of HDFC in tier-II and tier-III towns, Vohra also expects the merger of parent HDFC to unlock more opportunities in this market segment owing to the wide branch network that the bank now has which makes it easier to cater to customers.

* HDFC Bank already has a ‘Classic’ programme for HNI or top layer of customers where it has customer base of 9 lakh, of which 3 lakh are in semi urban and rural locations. These customers are now being hived off under the ‘Vishesh’ programme to increase focus on and grow this market segment, the bank said..

Source : The Hindu Businessline

Correct Answer :   Cristiano Ronaldo

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According to Forbes, Soccer player Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal) has become the highest-paid athlete in the world for 2023, after moving to Saudi Arabia's Al-Nassr.

* He has signed a £175 million-a-year contract with Al-Nassr, which will expire in 2025.

* He has earned $136m (£108.7m) over the past 12 months.

* Lionel Messi (Argentina) ranked second with an earning of $130 million, followed by Kylian Mbappé, LeBron James, and Canelo Álvarez..

Source : Forbes

Correct Answer :   Michael Douglas

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Michael Douglas will receive the Honorary Palme d’Or at 2023 Cannes Film Festival to celebrate his career.

* The festival will pay tribute to the actor and hand him the award during the Opening Ceremony on 16 May 2023. As part of the tribute, the festival will screen a previously unreleased documentary by Amine Mesta on Douglas titled Michael Douglas, The Prodigal Son.

* The Cannes Film Festival takes place from 16 May 2023 to 27 May 2023.

The doc’s synopsis reads : “This special documentary shows us how Michael, an actor, and producer like his father Kirk, had to embrace their resemblance throughout his remarkable career in order to assert his difference. The time to learn how to become Michael when your name is Douglas.”

* The Fatal Attraction actor’s last appearance in Cannes was in 2013 for the debut of Steven Soderbergh’s Behind the Candelabra, which also starred Matt Damon.

* Last year’s (2022) recipient of the honorary Palme d’Or was Tom Cruise, who was on the Croisette with the much-publicised premiere of Top Gun: Maverick. Past winners also include Forest Whitaker, Jodie Foster, Alain Delon, Agnès Varda, Jean-Paul Belmondo, and Jane Fonda. The gong was first awarded to Ingmar Bergman in 1997.

* “It is always a breath of fresh air to be at Cannes, which has long provided a wonderful platform for bold creators, artistic audacities, and excellence in storytelling,” Douglas said.

* “From my first time here in 1979 for The China Syndrome to my most recent premiere for Behind the Candelabra in 2013, the Festival has always reminded me that the magic of cinema is not just in what we see onscreen but in its ability to impact people all around the world. After more than 50 years in the business, it’s an honour to return to the Croisette to open the Festival and embrace our shared global language of film.”.

Source : Euro News

Correct Answer :   HDFC Bank Smart Saathi

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HDFC Bank has introduced (1st May 2023) digital distribution platform HDFC Bank Smart Saathi to connect business correspondents (BCs) and business facilitators (BFs) to the bank.

* This launch marks a significant milestone in HDFC Bank’s mission to provide innovative solutions that cater to the evolving needs of its customers.

* This network of business correspondents and business facilitators will boost financial inclusion by taking banking products and services to the last mile.

* HDFC Bank Smart Saathi was launched in Delhi by Vivek Joshi, secretary, Department of Financial Services, and Smita Bhagat, group head, government and institutional business, alternate banking channels and partnerships, inclusive banking group and start-ups, HDFC Bank. Mukesh Bansal, joint secretary, Department of Financial Services, and senior executives Dinesh Luthra and Ajay Sharma from HDFC Bank were also present, the lender said.

* “HDFC Bank Smart Saathi will contribute by making banking products and services available, especially credit for rural customers, which will help in the development of our country. However, there are still behavioural changes that are required across some customer segments like farmers transacting at mandis, to make cashless India a bigger success," said Joshi.

* Bhagat said that over the next 12-18 months the bank plans to reach two lakh villages through a combination of branches and agent network..

Source : Mint

Correct Answer :   Inflection AI Inc

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Inflection AI, the artificial intelligence start-up founded by LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman and Google DeepMind co-founder Mustafa Suleyman, has released its first AI chatbot product, the company said on Tuesday (2nd May 2023).

* Similar to OpenAI’s viral chatbot ChatGPT, Inflection’s chatbot, named "Pi", uses generative AI technology to interact with users through dialogues, in which people can ask questions and share feedback.

* Mr Suleyman, Inflection AI’s chief executive, said the start-up developed the technology in-house and its Pi chatbot was built on prioritising human-like conversations with a high level of emotional intelligence, including being kind and supportive.

* The chatbot is suitable for personal day-to-day tasks but not for generating codes or essays, he added.

* Mr Suleyman said the company had also spent time on boundary training to make sure the AI did not violate its behaviour policies, including engaging in romantic conversations.

* The goal is to make sure that the AI always knows it’s an AI and never tries to imitate a human. So it reminds the human user that it is an AI frequently.

* Users can interact with Pi across platforms including its website, app and social media platforms such as Instagram. The service is free, and the start-up may launch premium subscriptions in the future, Mr Suleyman added.

* Pi draws on user data, including conversational content, to train its AI systems, according to its terms of service. The chatbot is not currently connected to the Internet.

* Founded in 2022, Inflection was incubated by venture capital firm Greylock, which led a US$225 million (S$300 million) investment in the start-up.

* Co-founder Hoffman, a partner at Greylock who is also a Microsoft board member, resigned from OpenAI’s board in March, citing potential conflicts due to his work with AI start-ups.

Source : Straits Times

Correct Answer :   Meera Syal

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UK-based Indian-origin actor-writer Meera Syal has been conferred a BAFTA Fellowship, the highest accolade bestowed by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) upon an individual in recognition of an outstanding and exceptional contribution to film and/or television.

The 61-year-old, who was born to Punjabi parents and grew up in the West Midlands region of England, was honoured with an MBE and then a CBE by the late Queen Elizabeth II for her contribution to drama and literature.

Best known for television shows such as ‘Goodness Gracious Me’ and ‘The Kumars at No. 42’, Syal has made her mark as an award-winning actor, screenwriter and novelist over the years.

The fellowship will be presented to her during the BAFTA Television Awards ceremony as part of a special commemoration of her work to-date at the Royal Festival Hall in London on May 14.

She said she is “honoured and thrilled” with the award, particularly as this year’s award is twinned with opportunities to mentor and support participants in BAFTA’s learning programme..

Source : The Print

Correct Answer :   Airtel Payments Bank

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Airtel Payments Bank collaborated with the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) to roll out Face Authentication for AePS (Aadhaar-enabled Payment System) at its 500,000 banking points.

* Airtel Payments Bank is amongst the first four banks to offer Face Authentication for AePS in the country.

* NPCI’s AePS allows customers to carry out financial and non-financial transactions at any banking point using their Aadhaar number or virtual ID to access their Aadhaar-linked bank account.

* Until now, transactions were being authenticated using the customer’s Aadhaar number and fingerprint or Iris match in the UIDAI records. The new facility will enable customers to validate the transaction by undertaking face authentication along with the Aadhaar number. The authentication is processed using the Face Authentication RD Application by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI).


Face Authentication for Aadhaar-enabled Payment System :

* In the first phase, the facility is made available for non-financial transactions – Balance enquiry and mini-statements - for the Bank’s customers.

* Soon the Bank will make it available for financial transactions. As per the guidance from NPCI, Airtel Payments Bank will enable the functionality for other bank customers and the Bank’s customers at other banking outlets.


Here is how Airtel Payments Bank customers can avail Aadhaar-enabled Payment System :

* Banking Correspondent (BC) enters the customer details i.e. Aadhaar number in the business App.

* BC will ask the customer to confirm the type of Authentication - Fingerprint or Face authentication.

* Post receiving consent from the customer, BC will choose the Face Authentication option and click on Proceed.

* The Face Authentication RD App will open to capture the live Image of the customer.

* Once the face of the customer is captured successfully, BC will be asked to enter his mPIN and complete the transaction...

Source : Mint

Correct Answer :   India

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* Rohit Sharma-led India surpass Australia to become the number one Test team in the latest rankings released by the International Cricket Council (ICC) 2nd May 2023.
 
* Australia’s reign at the top of the men’s Test rankings comes to an end after 15 months with India going past the Aussies ahead of next month’s ICC World Test Championship (WTC) final.
 
* India currently sits at the top of the ladder with 121 points, with Australia in the second spot with 116 points. Earlier this year, India posted a 2-1 series win against Australia to retain the Border-Gavaskar trophy for the fourth consecutive time.
 
* England (116 points), South Africa (104) and reigning champion New Zealand (100) occupy third, fourth and fifth spots respectively.
 
* India will face Australia in the WTC final on June 7 at the Oval in London.
 
* Secretary, BCCI, Jay Shah Congratulated to Team India for becoming the No. 1 Test team in the world. The top spot reflects India’s commitment to Test cricket and the consistent performances both home and away..

Source : AIR