General Knowledge(GK) (or) General Awareness

Correct Answer :   Narendra Modi

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At the end of the ‘Saurashtra Tamil Sangam’ event, the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, revealed a book called ‘Saurashtra Tamil Sangam Prashasti,’ written by Somnath Sanskrit University.

The Sangam celebrates the cultural and historical ties between Gujarat and Tamil Nadu, as many people migrated from the Saurashtra region to Tamil Nadu centuries ago.

According to a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office, the Saurashtra Tamil Sangamam event allows Saurashtrian Tamils ​​to reconnect with their ancestral roots.

The Saurashtra Tamil Sangamam which started on April 17 is scheduled to end on April 26 (Wednesday) at Somnath. The 10-day gathering witnessed more than 3000 Saurashtrain Tamils ​​attend the event in Gujarat. The event was mainly held to celebrate the links between Gujarat and Tamil Nadu.

The book is a compilation of compositions by noted poets on the feelings and sentiments of the Saurashtra Tamil Sangam, a government initiative emphasizing cultural link.

The best verses from these compositions have been compiled in the Saurashtra-Tamil Sangamprashastih. The book will offer a unique experience for the readers to experience the emotions and feelings of artists and scholar poets and keep alive the memories of the very important Saurashtra Tamil Sangam.

Correct Answer :   NASA

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Scientists at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston have successfully extracted oxygen from simulated lunar soil - the fine-grained material that blankets the Moon's surface.

The extraction, which took place in a vacuum environment, marks the first time this has been achieved and opens the door for astronauts to eventually harvest and make use of resources in a lunar environment through in-situ resource utilization.

In order to recreate the conditions found on the Moon, NASA's Carbothermal Reduction Demonstration (CaRD) team utilized a special spherical chamber known as the Dirty Thermal Vacuum Chamber. This chamber is considered "dirty" because it allows unclean samples to be tested.

To conduct the test, the team employed a high-powered laser to simulate heat from a solar energy concentrator and then melted a lunar soil simulant in a carbothermal reactor developed for NASA by Sierra Space Corp. located in Broomfield, Colorado. The process of heating and extracting the oxygen takes place inside this reactor.

On Earth, carbothermal reduction has been utilized for decades to produce items like steel and solar panels by creating carbon monoxide or dioxide at high temperatures.

Once the soil was heated, the team detected carbon monoxide using the Mass Spectrometer Observing Lunar Operations (MSolo).

"This technology has the potential to produce several times its own weight in oxygen per year on the lunar surface, which will enable a sustained human presence and lunar economy," said Aaron Paz, NASA senior engineer and CaRD project manager at Johnson.

"Our team proved the CaRD reactor would survive the lunar surface and successfully extract oxygen. This is a big step for developing the architecture to build sustainable human bases on other planets," said Anastasia Ford, NASA engineer and CaRD test director at Johnson...

Source : Devdiscourse

Correct Answer :   Alia Bhatt

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The 68th Hyundai Filmfare Awards 2023 was held on 27th April 2023 evening at the Jio World Conventional Centre in Mumbai.

A major star of the night turns out to be Alia Bhatt, the actor who ruled the red carpet not just in terms of style but also bagged the Best Actor in a Leading Role (Female) award at the Filmfare Awards.

She won the award for her performance in the Sanjay Leela Bhansali film, Gangubai Kathiawadi.  The movie also won Best Film along with Best Director for Sanjay Leela Bhansali.

Filmfare Awards 2023: Here is the full list of winners :

* Best Film: Gangubai Kathiawadi
* Best Film (Critics'): Badhaai Do
* Best Actor in a Leading Role (Male): Rajkummar Rao for Badhaai Do
* Best Actor in a Leading Role (Female): Alia Bhatt for Gangubai Kathiawadi
* Best Actor (Critics'): Sanjay Mishra for Vadh
* Best Actress (Critics'): Bhumi Pednekar for Badhaai Do and Tabu for Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2
* Best Director: Sanjay Leela Bhansali for Gangubai Kathiawadi
* Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Male): Anil Kapoor for Jug Jugg Jeeyo
* Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Female): Sheeba Chaddha for Badhaai Do
* Best Music Album: Pritam for Brahmastra: Part One - Shiva
* Best Dialogue: Prakash Kapadia and Utkarshini Vashishtha for Gangubai Kathiawadi
* Best Screenplay: Akshat Ghildial, Suman Adhikary and Harshavardhan Kulkarni for Badhaai Do
* Best Story: Akshat Ghildial and Suman Adhikary for Badhaai Do
* Best Debut (Male): Ankush Gedam for Jhund
* Best Debut (Female): Andrea Kevichusa for Anek
* Best Debut Director: Jaspal Singh Sandhu and Rajeev Barnwal for Vadh
* Lifetime Achievement Award: Prem Chopra
* Best Music Album: Pritam for Brahmastra: Part One - Shiva
* Best Lyrics: Amitabh Bhattacharya for Kesariya from Brahmastra: Part One - Shiva
* Best Playback Singer (Male): Arijit Singh for Kesariya from Brahmastra: Part One - Shiva
* Best Playback Singer (Female): Kavita Seth for Rangisari from Jug Jugg Jeeyo
* RD Burman Award for Upcoming Music Talent: Jahnvi Shrimankar for Dholida from Gangubai Kathiawadi
* Best VFX: DNEG and Redefine for Brahmastra: Part One - Shiva
* Best Editing: Ninad Khanolkar for An Action Hero
* Best Costume Design: Sheetal Sharma for Gangubai Kathiawadi
* Best Production Design: Subrata Chakraborty and Amit Ray for Gangubai Kathiawadi
* Best Sound Design: Bishwadeep Dipak Chatterjee for Brahmastra: Part One - Shiva
* Best Background Score: Sanchit Balhara and Ankit Balhara for Gangubai Kathiawadi
* Best Choreography: Kruti Mahesh for Dholida from Gangubai Kathiawadi
* Best Cinematography: Sudeep Chatterjee for Gangubai Kathiawadi..

Source : Zeebiz

Correct Answer :   Amitav Ghosh

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* A new book 'Smoke and Ashes: A Writer’s Journey Through Opium’s Hidden Histories' is all set to be released in India in July 2023.

* It was authored by Amitav Ghosh.

* This book explores the opium trade's effect on world history and how it continues to hugely impact our lives today.

* The book will be published by HarperCollins India's Fourth Estate imprint.

* Other Notable works : The Shadow Lines, The Glass Palace, The Hungry Tide, Gun Island, and The Great Derangement.

Source : Harper Collins

Correct Answer :   Maria Stepanova

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A Russian poet, Maria Stepanova has been awarded the prestigious Leipzig Book Prize for European Understanding in 2023.

The Leipzig Book Award for European Understanding is one of the most prestigious literature prizes in Germany. It has been awarded annually since 1994 and comes with prize money of 20,000 euros.

The prize committee includes the Free State of Saxony, the City of Leipzig, the Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels e.V. (The German Publishers and Booksellers Association) and Leipziger Messe. Cooperation partner is the Federal Agency for Civid Education.

The prize will be awarded to Maria Stepanova at the opening ceremony of the Leipzig Book Fair on the evening of 26 April 2023 at the Gewandhaus Leipzig. The event starts at 7pm and will be streamed live on our homepage.

Maria Stepanova, a Jewish author from Russia who was born in Moscow in 1972 and is currently living in exile in Germany, will be awarded the Leipzig Book Award for European Understanding 2023 for her volume of poetry entitled "Mädchen ohne Kleider" (Girls Without Clothes).

These cycles of poems with their melodious narratives constitute an impressive example of how an attentive awareness of history can be captured in modern poetry. The poems were published by Suhrkamp in May 2022.

The highly acclaimed translation from Russian is by Olga Radetzkaja. The final statement from the jury also refers to the poetry collection "Der Körper kehrt wieder" (The Body Returns) and the novel "Nach dem Gedächtnis" (In Memory of Memory), which were both published in 2020...

Source : Leipziger

Correct Answer :   7th

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The seventh edition of 'Ajeya Warrior 2023', a joint military exercise between India and the United Kingdom, began on Thursday (27th April 2023) at the UK's Salisbury Plains. The biennial training event will be held till May 11, 2023.

* The exercises are conducted alternatively in the UK and India and the last edition was held at Chaubatia, Uttarakhand in October 2021.

* The soldiers of the 2 Royal Gorkha Rifles from the UK and Indian Army troops from the Bihar Regiment are participating in the military exercise. The Indian Army contingent arrived at Brize Norton on April 26 in an Indian Air Force C-17 aircraft with indigenous weapons and equipment.

* The aim of the military exercise is to "build positive military relations, imbibe each other's best practices and promote the ability to operate together while undertaking company-level sub-conventional operations in urban and semi-urban environments under UN mandate", said the ministry of defence.

* "The scope of this exercise involves a Command Post Exercise (CPX) at the battalion level and company level field training exercise (FTX)".

* During the exercise, the participants from the two armies will engage in a variety of missions testing their operational acumen in various simulated situations and refining tactical drills which would help in developing interoperability between the two armies.

* The military exercise held in cooperation between the Indian Army and the British Army will further foster the bilateral relations between the two nations...

Source : India Today

Correct Answer :   Rail Vikas Nigam Limited

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The Ministry of Finance elevated Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL) to the status of a Navratna Central Public Sector Enterprise (CPSE) on Wednesday (26th April 2023).

RVNL, a public-sector railway company, has already been on investors’ radar recently because of a strong rally in the stock led by robust orders.

Let us take a look at what it means to be a Navratna CPSE. The term ‘Navratna’ refers to a select group of top-performing CPSEs that have been granted greater autonomy and financial powers by the Indian government in recognition of their superior performance.

The term ‘Navratna’, meaning nine gems, is used metaphorically to suggest that these companies are like the nine precious gems that shine brightly in the crown of Indian PSEs.

With RVNL added to the list, there are 13 Navratna companies :
The Navratna status was first granted to nine public sector enterprises in 1997 by the Indian government. Since then, a few more enterprises were added to this exclusive group based on their performance and on meeting the eligibility criteria. Currently there are 13 Navratnas, including RVNL.

These are :
* Shipping Corporation of India (SCI)
* Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL)
* Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL)
* Engineers India Limited (EIL)
* NMDC Limited
* Bharat Electronics Limited (BHEL)
* National Buildings Construction Corporation (NBCC)
* Oil India Limited (OIL)
* Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL)
* Container Corporation of India (CONCOR)
* National Aluminium Company (NALCO)
* NLC India Limited (NLCIL).

Source : Business Insider

Correct Answer :   Dalai Lama

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The 1959 Ramon Magsaysay Award was presented to Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama at his residence here by members of the award foundation personally after 64 years on Wednesday (26th April 2023).

* It was the first international award given to "His Holiness for Community Leadership in recognition of his leadership of the Tibetan community's gallant struggle in defense of the sacred religion that is the inspiration of their life and culture" by the Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation in in the Philippines in August 1959, the Dalai Lama's office said.

* Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation president Susanna B Afan and Foundation Trustee Emily A Abrera met with the Dalai Lama, the Nobel Peace laureate, to personally present the 1959 Ramon Magsaysay Award after 64 years.

* According to the Tibetan spiritual leader's office, his elder brother Gyalo Thonden had received the Magsaysay Award on his behalf in Manila, the Philippines in August 1959.

* The Dalai Lama fled Tibet in 1959 and has lived in India in exile since then...

Source : India Times

Correct Answer :   Mumbai

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The State Bank of India (SBI), the country's largest lender, has opened an exclusive branch for startups at the Bandra Kurla Complex in Mumbai.

This is the fourth startup-focused branch and the first in Mumbai after Bengaluru, Chennai and Gurugram.

In Mumbai, the bank has entered into multiple memoranda of understanding with the Society for Innovation & Entrepreneurship (SINE) at IIT-Bombay, Centre for Incubation and Business Acceleration (CIBA), and S.P Jain Institute of Management & Research (SPJIMR).

The MoUs are aimed at providing a boost to the startup ecosystem in the region. "The primary aim of this branch is to provide end-to-end support to startups at every stage of their journey, starting from the formation of the entity to their IPOs and FPOs," said SBI chairman Dinesh Khara...

Source : Times of India

Correct Answer :   Adoor Co-operative Urban Bank

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The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has said that it has cancelled the banking licence of Kerala-based Adoor Co-operative Urban Bank and has allowed it to function as a non-banking institution.

* The cancellation of licence is with effect from the close of business on April 24, 2023, according to a notification issued by the RBI.

* The central bank said that it has cancelled the banking licence dated January 3, 1987, granted to The Adoor Co-operative Urban Bank Ltd, Adoor, Kerala to carry on banking business in India under Section 22 read with Section 56 of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949, with effect from the close of business on April 24, 2023.

* “This makes it obligatory on the part of The Adoor Co-operative Urban Bank Ltd, Adoor, to stop conducting the business of ‘banking’ within the meaning of section 5(b) of the Act ibid, including acceptance of deposits from non-members with immediate effect,” the RBI added.

* According to RBI, the difference between a bank and NBFC is that a bank is a government-authorised entity that provides banking services to the people, whereas NBFC is a company providing banking services to the people without holding a bank licence.

* On Monday (24th April 2023), RBI said it has imposed penalties on four cooperative banks — Bombay Mercantile Co-operative Bank, Tamil Nadu State Apex Co-operative Bank,  Janata Sahakari Bank and Baran Nagrik Sahkari Bank — for contravention of various norms..

Source : Business Today