Correct Answer :   ESA

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* The European Space Agency (ESA) has sent a spacecraft to explore Jupiter and three of its largest and most intriguing moons.

* The Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer mission, or Juice, launched Friday (14th April 2023) at 8:14 a.m. ET aboard an Ariane 5 rocket from Europe’s spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana.

* The spacecraft separated from the Ariane 5 rocket 28 minutes after launch, and ESA received a signal from Juice about an hour after liftoff, confirming that Earth-based mission control is able to “talk” to the vehicle.

* Over the course of the next 17 days, Juice will deploy its solar arrays, antennas and other instruments, followed by three months of testing and preparing the instruments.

* Juice will take eight years to reach Jupiter, the largest planet in our solar system. During its lengthy cruise, the spacecraft will utilize some gravitational slingshots as it flies by Earth, our moon and Venus to help with the journey.

* Once Juice arrives at Jupiter in July 2031, the spacecraft will spend about three and a half years orbiting the gas giant and conducting flybys of three of its moons: Ganymede, Callisto and Europa. Toward the end of the mission, Juice will focus solely on orbiting Ganymede, making it the first spacecraft ever to orbit a moon in the outer solar system.

* Ganymede, Callisto and Europa are ice-covered worlds that may contain subsurface oceans that are potentially habitable for life.

* Meanwhile, NASA’s Europa Clipper mission, launching in 2024, is expected to reach Jupiter in April 2030 and conduct nearly 50 flybys of Europa, eventually reaching just 16 miles (25 kilometers) above the moon’s surface.

* Together, the two missions could unlock some of the biggest mysteries about Jupiter and its moons...

Source : CNN

Correct Answer :   6.0%

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According to the United Nations, India's economic growth is projected to decelerate to 6% in 2023 from 6.6% in 2022.

* The UNCTAD in its latest Trade and Development Report Update released, expects global growth in 2023 to drop to 2.1%, compared to the 2.2% projected in September 2022.

* UNCTAD expects the South-Asian region to expand at a still fast pace of 5.1 percent in 2023.

* Recently, IMF lowered India's economic growth projection for the current fiscal to 5.9%..

Source : India Times

Correct Answer :   YES Bank

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Private sector lender YES Bank has become the first Indian company to have over 50 lakh shareholders, according to the shareholding pattern of the bank on 31st March 2023.

* Tata Power was a far second with 38.5 lakh shareholders, followed by Reliance Industries with 33.6 lakh shareholders, according to the December 2022 shareholding disclosures.

* The bank had 50.6 lakh shareholders as of March 31, 2023, all of whom were public shareholders. This was an increase from 48.1 lakh shareholders as of December 2022, most likely owing to the end of the three-year lock-in period for shareholders that held equity shares of the bank when it underwent the reconstruction scheme in March 2020.

* The end of the lock-in period on March 13 allowed for more shares of the bank to be available for public trade. As such, the number of shareholders of the bank has been steadily increasing since the 17.9 lakh shareholders at the time of implementation of the YES Bank reconstruction scheme.

* Since then, the total number of shares held has also more than doubled from 1,255 crore to 2,875 crore..

Source : H B

Correct Answer :   Aman Sehrawat

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Aman Sehrawat clinched India’s first gold medal at the Asian Wrestling Championships 2023 in Astana, Kazakhstan.

* Sehrawat topped the podium in men’s 57 kg freestyle category on the penultimate day of the competition.

* He defeated Kyrgyzstan's Almaz Smanbekov 9-4 to win the gold medal.

* Aman Sehrawat’s victory in Astana ensured the men’s freestyle 57kg gold medal stayed with India for the fourth year running.

* This was Aman Sehrawat’s second podium of the year. Last year, Sehrawat was the first Indian wrestler to win gold at the Under-23 world championships in Spain.

* With two freestyle medals India’s tally rose to 13 in the competition. The Greco-Roman wrestlers won four medals while the women’s wrestlers bagged seven..

Source : AIR

Correct Answer :   Shakib Al Hassan

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Bangladesh’s Shakib Al Hasan scooped the ICC Men’s Player of the Month (March 2023) while Rwanda’s Henriette Ishimwe bagged the ICC Women’s Player of the Month (March 2023) as the International Cricket Council (ICC) on Thursday (13th April 2023) announced the winners of the awards for March 2023.

* Both all-rounders edged out their fellow contenders following a vote conducted among a specialist panel — comprising ICC Hall of Famers, former international players, and media representatives — and global cricket fans registered at icc-cricket.com, who had been voting since the nominees were announced last week.

* In claiming the ICC Men’s Player of the Month for March, Shakib wins his second Player of the Month crown after first winning in July 2021.

* He triumphs following a string of fine displays with bat and ball, cementing his position at the summit of the ICC Men’s T20I Player Rankings for all-rounders. As well as an impressive series win over Ireland, Shakib was instrumental in securing a historic 3-0 T20I series victory over touring world champions England..

Source : News18

Correct Answer :   07

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Indian women wrestlers have bagged seven medals – two silver and five bronze – in Asian Wrestling Championship 2023 at Astana in Kazakhstan and finished 3rd in the Women’s Teams Ranking.

* In the last edition, India won 5 medals and settled at the 4th spot.

* Antim Panghal won silver in the 53-kg category. Nisha Dahiya also claimed silver in the 68-kg category.

* Anshu Malik, Sonam Malik, Manisha, and Reetika bagged bronze medals..

Source : News On Air

Correct Answer :   HDFC Bank

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HDFC Bank on Wednesday (12th April 2023) announced that it has signed a "Master Inter Bank Credit Agreement" with Export Import Bank of Korea for a USD 300 million line of credit.

* The pact was signed by the two entities at GIFT City in Gujarat's capital Gandhinagar on Wednesday (12th April 2023), said a release by the HDFC Bank.

* This agreement will help HDFC Bank raise foreign currency funds which it would extend to Korea-related businesses, said the release.

* This line of credit would be utilised by HDFC Bank towards funding requirements of companies having equity participation by Korean companies as well as companies having business relationship with Korean companies.

* It will also be utilised towards funding requirements of consumers for the purchase of cars manufactured by Korea related companies, said the release.

* The pact is likely to promote and increase the HDFC Bank's business with Korean entities and products. The first drawdown under the programme would happen by May, said the release.

* The signing ceremony was attended by the Export Import Bank of Korea's team led by Choun-Jae Lee, Director General, Head of Interbank Finance Department. HDFC Bank was represented by Arup Rakshit and Anand Iyer, Head, GIFT City IBU, among others.

* The Export-Import Bank of Korea (Korea Eximbank) is an official export credit agency of South Korea having a balance sheet size of close to USD 100 billion, which provides export-import and overseas investment credit to support Korean enterprises conducting business overseas...

Source : Economic Times

Correct Answer :   Karnataka Bank

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Private sector lender Karnataka Bank has been authorised to collect direct and indirect taxes on behalf of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) and the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC), the bank said in a regulatory filing on Wednesday (12th April 2023).

* This authorisation is provided by the Reserve Bank of India.

* The RBI gave this authorisation on the recommendation from the Controller General of Accounts (CGA), Ministry of Finance, the filing said.

* The statement further said that customers are already enjoying seamless online payments for custom duty by selecting Karnataka Bank in the Indian Customs Electronic Gateway 'ICEGATE' portal of CBIC.

* According to the filing, the (ICEGA TE) portal of CBIC provides e-filing services to the trade, cargo carriers and other trading partners electronically..

Source : Economic Times

Correct Answer :   Canara Bank

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Canara Bank and NPCI Bharat BillPay Ltd (NBBL) have announced Wednesday (12th April 2023) the launch of cross-border inward bill payment services for Indians based in Oman.

* NRIs can now leverage the robust platform offered by the Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS) to make bill payments on behalf of their families through the Musandam Exchange.

* This initiative signifies a milestone for Canara Bank as the first public sector bank in India to offer inbound cross-border bill payments through BBPS, it added. With the development, it said, Indians living in Oman will now be able to make quick, simple and secure payments of bills for services back home.

* Musandam Exchange, managed by Canara Bank, is also the first exchange house in Oman to go live on cross-border inbound bill payments, the statement said. The cross-border bill payment service is already live in Kuwait, facilitating inbound remittances across utilities like electricity, water, mobile phone, gas, credit card bills, and more.

Source : Outlook India

Correct Answer :   South Korea

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South Korea plans to conduct its first launch of a commercial-grade satellite aboard a domestically built rocket next month (May 2023) as part of its space development program, officials said Tuesday (11th April 2023).

* South Korea’s officials say its homegrown Nuri space launch vehicle has no military purposes. But some experts say the development of such rockets would eventually help the country acquire technologies needed to build bigger missiles and launch reconnaissance satellites amid animosities with rival North Korea.

* In June 2022, South Korea conducted its first satellite launch using the Nuri rocket.

* That launch involved what South Korean officials called a “performance verification” satellite mainly designed to examine the capacity of the rocket while next month’s event is meant to put a commercial-grade satellite into orbit for the first time.

* The Science Ministry said the rocket will blast off from the country’s space launch center on a southern island on May 24, 2023. A ministry statement said it had set a backup launch date from May 25-31, in case of possible schedule changes due to weather.

* The rocket will carry one main satellite called “Next Generation Small Satellite 2” and seven other smaller cube-shaped satellites. The main satellite is tasked with verifying imaging radar technology and observing cosmic radiation in near-Earth orbit, the statement said.

* Authorities have completed the assembly of the rocket’s first and second stages and are conducting final environmental tests of the eight satellites that are to be placed on the rocket’s third stage.

* 2022 launch was the Nuri rocket’s second liftoff. In its first launch in 2021, the rocket’s dummy payload reached the desired altitude but failed to enter orbit. After next month’s launch, South Korea plans three more Nuri rocket launches..

Source : CNBC