General Knowledge(GK) (or) General Awareness

Correct Answer :   India and Singapore

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India and Singapore on Wednesday (1st Nov 2023) decided to further boost interaction between their armed forces as well as cooperation in military technologies and industries. The two countries have also inked an implementing agreement on submarine rescue support between their navies.

The pact will involve India helping Singapore if one of its submarines gets disabled underwater.

"India is fortunate to have a defence partner like Singapore. The interaction will benefit both countries on many bilateral issues that are being pursued to further strengthen our special relationship," said Rajnath Singh, after holding the fifth defence ministerial dialogue with his counterpart Ng Eng Hen through video-conferencing.

The submarine rescue cooperation pact will involve India helping Singapore if one of its submarines gets disabled underwater. Apart from other capabilities, the Indian Navy in 2018 had inducted two deep submergence rescue vessels (DSRVs), which are capable of rescuing trapped sailors from a disabled submarine up to a depth of 650 meters.

The two ministers, while expressing satisfaction at the progress of ongoing bilateral defence cooperation despite limitations imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic, discussed new areas of potential cooperation and articulated their vision in this direction, said officials.

Under bilateral pacts inked over a decade ago, Singapore already uses Indian military facilities for training of its mechanized forces at Babina, artillery at the Deolali ranges and F-16 fighter jets at the Kalaikunda airbase on a regular basis. Singapore may also use the integrated test range for firing of missiles at Chandipur in Odisha in the future.

Apart from regular naval exercises, India has also inked a naval pact with Singapore to access each other’s bases and reciprocal logistics support for warships, as part of the overall policy to steadily build military ties with Asean countries with an eye firmly on China.

India has often joined the other countries in the region to reiterate the need for all to respect freedom of navigation and trade in international waters in the backdrop of China’s aggressive and expansionist behavior in the Asia Pacific region.

A joint statement issued on Wednesday said, "Both ministers were committed to further enhance bilateral defence ties between India and Singapore, and supported multilateral initiatives to promote lasting peace and stability in the region."

Rajnath Singh, on his part, reaffirmed "Asean centrality" in the regional security architecture and pledged India’s support to all endeavours of the Asean defence ministers’ meeting ADMM-Plus..

Source : Times of India

Correct Answer :   Rohit Sharma

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In the 29th match of the ODI World Cup 2023, Indian captain Rohit Sharma achieved a big achievement, he became the fifth Indian batsman to complete 18,000 runs in international cricket.

Rohit is the 20th batsman in the world and 5th from India to achieve this feat. Rohit has also become the first captain to complete 1,000 ODI runs this year (2023).

Correct Answer :   Manu Bhakar

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Indian female shooter Manu Bhakar secured the 11th Paris Olympic quota for India in the Asian Shooting Championship.

She finished fifth in the women's 25 meter sports pistol event at the Asian Championships in Changwon, Korea.

Arjun Babuta in the men's 10 meter air rifle event and Sarabjot Singh in the men's 10 meter air pistol event have also secured Paris 2024 quota.

Correct Answer :   111

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Indian para-athletes performed brilliantly and won a total of 111 medals in the fourth Asian Para Games held in Hangzhou, China.

India ended the campaign with 29 gold, 31 silver and 51 bronze. This is India's best performance so far in the Asian Para Games.  

Correct Answer :   Sidhartha Babu

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Siddharth Babu won gold medal in 50 meter rifles SH-1 event in Asian Para Games.

Indian Para athletes created history by winning the most medals in the Asian Para Games on 26 October 2023, taking the country's medal tally to 82, including 18 gold.

India had earlier won 72 medals in the 2018 Asian Para Games.

Correct Answer :   Amol Muzumdar

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Mumbai batting stalwart Amol Muzumdar has been appointed as the new head coach of the Indian women's cricket team, said the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).

Muzumdar will now step into the role which was vacated by his predecessor and fellow Mumbaikar Ramesh Powar nearly ten months ago, as part of a restructuring module and was transferred to the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru. Since then, Hrishikesh Kanitkar and Nooshin Al Khadeer had served in the head coach role in interim capacities.

Nooshin was at the top job during Indian women's team during tour of Bangladesh in July, while Kanitkar led the team during the Women's T20 World Cup in South Africa earlier this year and their gold-medal winning campaign at the Asian Games in Hangzhou, China.

🚨 NEWS 🚨

Mr Amol Muzumdar Appointed as Head Coach - Team India (Senior Women).

Details 🔽https://t.co/6y0TiQ2prF

— BCCI Women (@BCCIWomen) October 25, 2023

Source : The Quint

Correct Answer :   China

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India has broken the record of most medals in the Asian Para Games. India has so far won a total of 79 medals which include 18 gold, 22 silver and 39 bronze.

The Asian Para Games are being organized in Hangzhou, China from 22 to 28 October 2023.

India had won 72 medals in these games held in Indonesia in 2018.   

Correct Answer :   Glenn Maxwell

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Glenn Maxwell smashed the fastest century in ODI World Cup history at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi on Wednesday (25 Oct 2023) against the Netherlands, obliterating South Africa's Aiden Markram's record set earlier in the tournament. Maxwell reached the century in 40 balls after Netherlands all-rounder Bas de Leede served a beamer on the leg stump which was promptly deposited by the dasher over the long leg boundary.

Having come in to bat in the 40th over, not many would have predicted that Maxwell would reach his century but not only did he reach the milestone, he broke the record by a margin of nine balls. Maxwell was at his menacing best, pummeling and carting the bowlers to all parts of the park.

He brought his half-century in 26 balls before reaching the three-figure mark in another 14 deliveries. En route, the Australian smashed nine boundaries and eight maximums..

Source : WIO News

Correct Answer :   Kotak Bank

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Kotak Mahindra Bank has announced a new partnership with National E-Governance Services Limited (NeSL) to issue its inaugural electronic Bank Guarantee (e-BG) through its platform. This collaboration is poised to usher in the era of digital trade, effectively eliminating the traditional paper-based issuance of Bank Guarantees.

The digital transformation encompasses the issuance, modifications, closures, digital stamping, and signing processes, resulting in a significant reduction in the guaranteed turnaround time (TAT). This new approach enables guarantees to be processed in just a few hours, a stark improvement compared to the two to three working days required by the conventional paper-based method. Additionally, the e-BG enhances security by mitigating authentication risks.

Paritosh Kashyap, President & Head - Wholesale Banking, Kotak Mahindra Bank, said, “Kotak Mahindra Bank has been at the forefront of providing our customers convenience and ease of banking.

The partnership with NeSL in providing e-BG for our trade customers eliminates many issues both the lender and issuer face with endless paperwork, including several verification stages. Our focus on customer-centricity and innovation has led us to an early adoption of digital transformation in our banking services. We are committed to enhancing our customers’ experience across all products and services we offer in the banking industry, with e-BG being one of them."

Debajyoti Ray Chaudhuri, MD & CEO, NeSL, stated, “e-BG brings a paradigm shift in the way we do trade finance and is a milestone in the digitisation of banking services. e-BG substantially reduces the time taken in the issuance and the other life cycle events of a bank guarantee, like an invocation. In an era of instant messaging, it’s appropriate that the e-BG is instantly available on issuance in a secure and digital form to the beneficiaries."

Using NeSL’s Digital Documents Execution (DDE) technology, the recipient gains real-time access to digitally issued bank guarantees through the NeSL portal. The issuance of e-BGs in digital format eliminates the necessity for a distinct authentication process from the bank guarantee’s originating bank, thereby saving the applicant and beneficiary valuable time and effort. Moreover, NeSL’s centralised repository simplifies the retrieval of issued bank guarantees as needed and diminishes the potential for misuse..

Source : Mint

Correct Answer :   Neeraj Yadav

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India's Neeraj Yadav won the gold medal in the men's discus throw of the Asian Para Games 2023.

PM Modi has congratulated him on his victory. It is noteworthy that the Asian Para Games 2023 are being organized in China.

India's Rakesh Bhaira won the bronze medal in the men's 1500 meters- T46 event.