General Knowledge(GK) (or) General Awareness

Correct Answer :   DALL-E

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Microsoft’s search engine Bing has a new artificial intelligence-powered image creator tool. It is called the "Bing Image Creator" which is powered by the advanced version of OpenAI’s text-to-image model DALL.E.

* Bing Image Creator allows users to create an image using text prompt. This means that from within the same chat, users can generate both text and image content.

* By typing in a description of an image, providing additional context like location or activity, and choosing an art style, Image Creator will generate an image from your own imagination. It’s like your creative copilot.

* The feature is out to Bing users in preview and can be accessed through the search engine’s Creative Mode. Microsoft plans on rolling out the feature to Balanced and Precise modes in Bing in future. The feature will also be available in Edge sidebar.

* Microsoft is also making Stories and Knowledge Cards 2.0 available for all Bing users to meet the demand for more visual search options.

* Stories are AI-generated images and short videos (like Instagram Stories) and Knowledge Cards offers facts and key information in the form of AI-powered infographics.

* The new version of Knowledge Cards includes interactive and dynamic content like charts, graphs, visual stories, and timelimes.

* Microsoft has also added guardrails to the feature to ensure responsible use of Image Creator. As per Microsoft, system can automatically detect potentially harmful image that could be generated by a prompt.

* In such cases, the prompt is blocked and a warning message is displayed to the user. All images created by Image Creator will include modified Bing icon to indicate that it is an AI-generated image..

Source : Tech Circle

Correct Answer :   Sergio Perez

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Sergio Perez dominated the field around the Jeddah Street Circuit to take the fifth victory of his Formula One career at the 2023 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

The Mexican driver - who also topped qualifying on Saturday (18th Mar 2023) - lost first place off of the line to Fernando Alonso but fought back brilliantly to retake P1 soon after.

His teammate Verstappen stormed through the field to finish in P2 despite starting the race in P15 due to issues in qualifying, whilst Aston Martin's Alonso rounded out the podium places in P3.

The Aston Martin driver was originally demoted down to P4 after the race after gaining an additional 10-second penalty as his team failed to serve an earlier five-second penalty correctly in the pit lane, though that decision was later reversed by the FIA giving the Spaniard a landmark 100th career podium.

Mercedes duo George Russell and Lewis Hamilton came home in P4 and P5 but it was yet another disappointing day for Ferrari as Sainz and Leclerc could only finish in P6 and P7 respectively. Esteban Ocon, Pierre Gasly and Kevin Magnussen also took valuable points.

Source : Sporting News

Correct Answer :   Adobe

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Software major Adobe has announced new generative AI innovations across its Experience Cloud that aims to redefine how businesses deliver customer experiences.

* In Adobe Experience Cloud, customers will be able to move seamlessly between "Sensei GenAI" services and existing features, right within their workflows, the company said during the 'Adobe Summit'.

* "Adobe has a long history of unlocking AI as a co-pilot for marketers, and we have a vision for generative AI that covers the full lifecycle of customer experience management, with the enterprise-grade security and data governance that our customers expect," said Amit Ahuja, senior vice president, Digital Experience Business at Adobe.

* With Sensei GenAI, marketers and other customer experience teams will have a co-pilot to help increase their productivity without having to increase their workload.

* The company will bring Adobe Firefly, a new family of creative generative AI models, directly into its Experience Cloud.

* Adobe's first model, trained on Adobe Stock images, openly licensed content and public domain content where copyright has expired, will focus on images and text effects and is designed to generate content safe for commercial use.

* In the future, marketers will be able to also train Adobe Firefly on the brand's own collateral, generating content that reflects the brand's style and design language.

* Sensei GenAI will enable brands to instantly generate and modify text-based experiences across any customer touchpoint and leverage different large language models (LLMs), including ChatGPT through the Microsoft Azure OpenAI Service and FLAN-T5.

* The selection will align with the unique needs of each business, stemming from brand guidelines, product vocabulary and customer insights...

Source : Daily Pioneer

Correct Answer :   Sarabjot Singh

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India's Sarabjot Singh clinched the gold medal while Varun Tomar finished with bronze in the men's 10m Air Pistol event at the ISSF Rifle/Pistol World Cup 2023 in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh on Wednesday (22nd March 2023).

* It is regarded as the first-ever gold in the World Cup Shooting Championships. Sarabjot Singh won the gold with a perfect score of 10.9.

* Meanwhile, ace Indian shooter Manu Bhaker and Yashaswini Singh Deswal failed to progress beyond the qualification round in the 10m Air Pistol event.   

* Sarabjot Singh, a 2021 junior world gold medallist in the team and mixed team categories, defeated Azerbaijan's Ruslan Lunev 16-0 in the gold-medal match in the first final of the Bhopal ISSF World Cup.

* Earlier, Sarabjot Singh, 21, finished second in the qualification round with 585 points. He scored 98, 97, 99, 97, 97, 97 in the six qualification series.

* In the ranking round, Sarabjot Singh (253.2 points) and Ruslan Lunev (251.9) were first and second respectively, as they made the cut for the gold-medal round. Varun Tomar, with 250.3, had to settle for bronze.

* India’s Shiva Narwal topped qualifying, also with 585 points, but was competing for ranking points only (RPO). Compatriot Arjun Singh Cheema, with 579 points, finished ninth.

* Sumit Rawan (13th) failed to progress beyond the qualifiers.

* Meanwhile, in the women’s 10m Air Pistol event, Manu Bhaker, a Youth Olympic Games champion, finished a disappointing 16th with 568 points in qualifying.

* Divya Thadigol, who was third in the qualification round with 579 points, got eliminated in the ranking round after she finished fifth with 197.1 points...

Source : Olympics

Correct Answer :   INS Androth

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Indian Navy launched (INS Androth) another Anti-Submarine Warfare Shallow Water Craft (ASWSWC) — the second in a series of eight indigenous ships built by Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE) — on Tuesday (21st March 2023) at a Kidderpore yard.

* On Tuesday(21st March 2023), the ship made its first contact with the water and headed to the fitting-out jetty where it will be fitted with weapons, machinery and sensors before it can be commissioned next year.

* Vice admiral Dinesh K Tripathi, the flag officer, commanding-in-chief, Western Naval Command was the chief guest at the occasion as the ship named INS Androth was christened and launched by his wife Shashi Tripathi.

* Former Indian cricketer Arun Lal was the guest of honour at the ceremony which saw the presence of other dignitaries like GRSE chairman and MD, CMDE PR Hari; Navy’s vice admiral Kiran Deshmukh and others.

* GRSE is building eight ASWSWCs for the Indian Navy, and these ‘Silent Hunters’ when delivered, shall be a potent force multiplier enhancing the Indian Navy's capability to detect enemy submarines in coastal waters.

* These 77.6-metre-long and 10.5-metre-wide vessels propelled by three diesel-driven water jets will pack a punch as they will be capable of full-scale sub-surface surveillance of coastal waters as well as Search and Attack.

* The ship is capable of a maximum 25 knots speed and will carry lightweight torpedoes, ASW rockets and mines, a close-in weapon system (30mm gun) and 16.7 stabilized remote-controlled guns..

Source : Times of India

Correct Answer :   7%

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* According to the Finance Ministry report, the Indian economy is expected to grow at 7% in FY23 despite global headwinds.

* Retail inflation would moderate in line with wholesale inflation which fell to a 25-month low in January 2023.

* It will be supported by the gains from high services exports, the moderation in oil prices, and the recent fall in import-intensive consumption demand.

* The current account deficit (CAD) of India is estimated to fall in FY23 and FY24..

Source : Mint

Correct Answer :   Axis Bank

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Axis Bank has entered into a co-lending pact with Autotrac Finance (AFL) through YubiCo.Lend platform, to offer new tractor loans for agricultural and allied activities in rural segments of the country.

The partnership will leverage the wide customer experience of Autotrac Finance and deep financial expertise of Axis Bank to enable easy credit availability for farmers at an optimal interest rates, the lenders said in a joint release, while adding that they would be able to reach out to potential customers who are unable to access the formal lending structure.

With this collaboration, we will increase our presence in the New Tractor business and improve access to formal credit to the farming community.

Our digital co-lending platform allows the partnership to scale-up fast at a lower operating cost, offering a superior customer experience, Munish Sharda, Group Executive and Head - Bharat Banking, Axis Bank said.

Autotrac Finance has an advantage of ready access to a robust customer base and dealers across rural and semi-urban regions in 18 States and it will further continue to maximize its network to ensure that farmers embrace advanced farming technologies backed by tech platform Yubi..

Source : The Hindu Businessline

Correct Answer :   Pankaj Advani

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India’s Pankaj Advani retained his Asian Billiards title in the 100-up format, defeating fellow countryman Brijesh Damani 5-1 in the final played at Qatar Billiards and Snooker Federation (QBSF) Academy on Sunday (19th March 2023).

* Advani, who is a 25-time International Billiards and Snooker Federation (IBSF) world champion, defeated Damani with a scoreline of 100(51)-18, 100(88)-9, 86(54)-101(75), 100-26, 100(66)-2, 101(64)-59 in the final.

* In the women’s section, China’s Bai Yulu won the title beating Panchaya Channoi of Thailand 3-0 in the final.

* This is the eighth Asian Billiards title in all for Advani, the Indian cue sports ace who has been bestowed the Arjuna Award in 2004, Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna in 2006, Padma Shri in 2009 and Padma Bhushan in 2018. Advani had won the same title last year at Doha.

* Advani, who had lost to Damani in the group stage earlier in the championship, was in great form on Sunday and won the first two games with ease.

* Advani, who reached the final by beating Pauk Sa of Myanmar 5-1 in the semifinals, scored half-century breaks in each of the six frames including a century break in the fourth.

* However, Damani, who got the better of compatriot Shrikrishna Suryanarayanan 5-4 in the last-four stage, also scored a break of 75 in the third frame but eventually had to settle for silver losing 1-5.

* The 37-year-old Advani from Bengaluru has won the billiards world titles 17 times, the IBSF World Billiards Championship on 16 occasions and the World Team Billiards Championship once.

* Advani has won gold medals in English Billiards singles in the 2006 and 2010 Asian Games...

Source : News18

Correct Answer :   Jitendra Singh

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Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology; Minister of State (Independent Charge) Earth Sciences; MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr. Jitendra Singh 21st March 2023 inaugurated Asia’s largest 4-metre International Liquid Mirror Telescope at Devasthal in Uttarakhand in the presence of the Governor of Uttarakhand Lt. Gen (Retd.) Gurmeet Singh.

Speaking after the launch, Dr Jitendra Singh said, it is primarily the patronage, promotion and prioritization from Prime Narendra Narendra Modi that has enabled and emboldened the scientific fraternity to successfully try new initiatives, one after the other, in the field of science, technology and innovation, which are being rated as world class.

Not only PM Modi has given us the motivation to move ahead but also given the freedom to explore hitherto lesser explored areas like Space which has been opened up for private players or India's oceans whose vast resources are waiting to be unfolded.

Today's landmark event, said the Minister, places India at a different and a much higher level of capabilities to study the mysteries of the skies and astronomy, and to share the same with the rest of the world.

Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences (ARIES) announced that the world-class 4-metre International Liquid Mirror Telescope (ILMT) is now ready to explore the deep celestial sky.

It achieved its first light in the 2nd week of May 2022. The telescope is located at an altitude of 2450 metre at the Devasthal Observatory campus of ARIES, an autonomous institute under the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Govt. of India in Nainital district, Uttarakhand.

Dr Jitendra Singh informed that the ILMT collaboration includes researchers from ARIES in India, the University of Liège and the Royal Observatory of Belgium in Belgium, Poznan Observatory in Poland, the Ulugh Beg Astronomical Institute of the Uzbek Academy of Sciences and National University of Uzbekistan in Uzbekistan, the University of British Columbia, Laval University, the University of Montreal, the University of Toronto, York University and the University of Victoria in Canada. The telescope was designed and built by the Advanced Mechanical and Optical Systems (AMOS) Corporation and the Centre Spatial de Liège in Belgium...

Source : PIB

Correct Answer :   Rani Rampal

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The Indian Railways’ Modern Coach Factory Stadium in Raebareli was renamed as Rani's Girls Hockey Turf after former Indian women’s hockey team captain "Rani Rampal".

She became the first female hockey player from India to have a stadium named after her.

Rani Rampal, a Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna and Padma Shri awardee, shared pictures from the inauguration ceremony on social media, where she is seen interacting with the players and other staff members.

"Words seem too less to express my happiness and gratitude as I share that the MCF ( Modern Coach Factory) Raebareli has renamed the hockey stadium to Rani's Girls Hockey Turf to honour my contribution to hockey," tweeted Rani Rampal, who has two Asian Games medals to her name - a silver at 2018 Jakarta and a bronze at 2014 Incheon..

Source : Olympics