Correct Answer : Option (A) - 6.3%

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World Bank has predicted India's economy to slow in the current fiscal (2023-24) to 6.3% on the back of shrinkage in consumption due to slower income growth.

* The report estimates India's inflation to moderate from 6.6% to 5.5% in the current fiscal.

* The Current Account Deficit (CAD) is expected to be 5.2% in FY24.

* The Economic Survey had projected a growth of 6.5% for the current fiscal while RBI's latest projection pegs growth for FY24 at 6.4%..

Source : Money Control

Correct Answer : Option (C) - 4

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The American Space Agency, NASA has selected the first woman astronaut, "Christina Koch" for its Artemis II mission.

Other crew members : Victor Glover (First Black Astronaut) and Reid Wiseman of NASA, and Jeremy Hansen of the Canadian Space Agency (CSA).

* It will involve a fly-by of the moon and a 10-day journey back to Earth.

* It is part of NASA's Artemis program, which aims to land the first woman and the next man on the moon by 2024..

Source : NASA

Correct Answer : Option (B) - MS Dhoni

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Chennai Super Kings skipper MS Dhoni completed 5000 runs in the Indian Premier League (IPL) during a game against Lucknow Super Giants at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Monday (3rd April 2023).

* Dhoni became the seventh cricketer to breach the 5000-run mark in the IPL in his 208th innings. Virat Kohli, Shikhar Dhawan, David Warner, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina and AB de Villiers are also part of the 5000-run club.

* Dhoni, playing at the Chepauk after a gap of four years began his innings in style by smoking Mark Wood for a maximum in ver first ball.

* Walking in after the fall of Ravindra Jadeja, Dhoni slapped Wood over the wide of the third-man region for a maximum and then drilled the short ball well over the deep square leg boundary for his second six. In the process, the CSK skipper breached the 5000-run mark in the IPL.

* The CSK skipper tried for another maximum but was caught by Ravi Bishnoi at deep cover as CSK posted a challenging 217 for the loss of seven wickets...

Source : The Hindu

Correct Answer : Option (C) - Indian Air Force and the US Air Force

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The Indian Air Force and the US Air Force started the joint exercise 'Cope India' at Kalaikunda airbase in West Bengal from April 10 to 21, 2023.

This exercise will enhance operational capability and interoperability between the two air forces.

While Japan will also join as an “observer” in the exercise and witness “air combat and mobility elements” operating from multiple air bases like Kalaikunda, Panagarh, Agra, and Hindon...

Source : Times of India

Correct Answer : Option (D) - Gregoria Mariska Tunjung

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Gregoria Mariska Tunjung from Indonesia has clinched the Women's title in the 2023 Spain Masters, held in Madrid, Spain from 28 March-2 April 2023.

* She defeated Indian Badminton player, P V Sindhu.

* While Japanese badminton player, Kenta Nishimoto won the men's title.

Other winners :

* Men's doubles : He Jiting and Zhou Haodong (China)

* Women's doubles : Liu Shengshu and Tan Ning (China)

* Mixed doubles : Mathias Christiansen and Alexandra Bøje (Denmark)..

Source : H T

Correct Answer : Option (A) - Axis Bank

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* Axis Bank and VISA jointly launched a mobile application, 'Digital Dukaan' to empower merchants to accept payments through various digital modes.

* It is designed to address business requirements such as accepting digital payments, inventory management, and billing.

* This Android Smart POS application has an in-built camera with an LED flashlight to enable scanning of product barcodes and allow a tap-and-pay option for transactions up to Rs 5,000 and also support other value-added services such as EMI, acceptance of Sodexo card, Buy Now Pay Later, etc..

Source : Economic Times

Correct Answer : Option (B) - ISRO

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Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and its partners successfully demonstrated a precise landing experiment for a Reusable Launch Vehicle at the Aeronautical Test Range (ATR), Chitradurga, Karnataka.

The Reusable Launch Vehicle Autonomous Landing Mission (RLV LEX) test was the second of five tests that are a part of ISRO’s efforts to develop RLVs, or space planes/shuttles, which can travel to low earth orbits to deliver payloads and return to earth for use again.

“RLV performed approach and landing maneuvers using the Integrated Navigation, Guidance, and control system and completed an autonomous landing on the ATR airstrip at 7:40 AM IST. With that, ISRO successfully achieved the autonomous landing of a space vehicle,” ISRO announced on Sunday (2nd April 2023) morning.

The experiment was carried out nearly seven years after the technology demonstration of an RLV and the first experiment was conducted successfully by ISRO on May 23, 2016, on the RLV-TD (HEX) mission.

What is ISRO’s RLV TD project?

According to ISRO, the series of experiments with the winged RLV-TD are part of efforts at “developing essential technologies for a fully reusable launch vehicle to enable low-cost access to space”. The RLV-TD will be used to develop technologies like hypersonic flight (HEX), autonomous landing (LEX), return flight experiment (REX), powered cruise flight, and Scramjet Propulsion Experiment (SPEX).

“In the future, this vehicle will be scaled up to become the first stage of India’s reusable two-stage orbital (TSTO) launch vehicle,” according to ISRO.

ISRO’s RLV-TD looks like an aircraft. It consists of a fuselage, a nose cap, double delta wings, and twin vertical tails.

The 2016 experiment involved sending a winged spacecraft on a rocket powered by a conventional solid booster (HS9) engine used by ISRO into space. The spacecraft traveled at a speed of Mach 5 (five times the speed of sound) when re-entering the earth’s orbit and traveled a distance of 450 km before splashdown in the Bay of Bengal...

Source : Indian Express

Correct Answer : Option (B) - Union Bank of India

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To facilitate transactions between India and Malaysia in the Indian rupee, Union Bank of India (UBI) announced on Saturday (1st April 2023) the opening of its ‘Special Rupee Vostro’ account in Malaysia.

UBI’s announcement came on a day the ministry of external affairs said the two countries can now settle trade in the rupee as well, in addition to the current modes of settlement in other currencies, including the Malaysian Ringgit.

UBI has become the first Indian bank to operationalise a Vostro account in the fellow Asian nation. The account has been operationalised through the India International Bank of Malaysia (IIBM), UBI’s corresponding bank in that country.

Here is all you need to know about a ‘Special Rupee Vostro’ bank account :

(1) In July 2022, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) decided to allow the settlement of India’s international trade in rupee. Accordingly, authorised Indian banks must open and maintain Special Rupee Vostro accounts of the partner trading country’s banks.

(2) These accounts keep the foreign bank’s holdings in the Indian counterpart, in rupees. When an Indian trader wants to make a payment to a foreign trader in rupees, the amount will be credited to this Vostro account.

(3). Similarly, in the reverse scenario, the amount to be paid to an Indian trader is deducted from the Vostro account, and credited to the person’s regular account.

(4. According to PTI, as on March 15, Indian banks, including HDFC Bank and UCO Bank, had opened as many as 30 such accounts in 18 countries. The partner international banks include Sberbank and VTB, the largest and second-largest, respectively, in Russia.

(5) The total trade between India and Malaysia reached $19.4 billion in FY 2021-22, as per Union Bank. Also, at present, 1 Malaysian Ringgit is equivalent to approx. ₹19 in India..

Source : Hindustan Times

Correct Answer : Option (D) - Israel

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Israel successfully launched the “Ofek-13” spy satellite into space early Wednesday (29th March 2023) morning, the Defense Ministry said.

The satellite, the latest in a line of Israeli observation assets in space, will provide the military with better-quality images than its predecessors.

The ‘Ofek-13’ satellite is a [synthetic-aperture radar] observation satellite with advanced capabilities, the Defense Ministry said in a statement after the launch.

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant hailed the launch of the Ofek-13 as "yet another important example of the Israeli defense establishment’s groundbreaking innovation."..

Source : Times of Israel

Correct Answer : Option (C) - Daniil Medvedev

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Russian superstar "Daniil Medvedev" won his 4th title of 2023 after defeating Jannik Sinner in a hard-fought final in Miami on Sunday 2nd April 2023.

* It was Medvedev's maiden title triumph at the prestigious Miami Open as the former World No.1 extended his record to 24-1 in his last five events on what has been a terrific run on hard courts.

* Daniil Medvedev overcame Jannik Sinner, who is also in red-hot form in the new season, 7-5, 6-3 to win his fifth Masters 1000 title and 19th overall.

* Incidentally, each of Medvedev's 19 different title wins on the tour have come in different events. It was also Medvedev's first Masters 1000 level victory since Toronto in 2021.

* Medvedev, who showcased his rock solid baseline game, defeated Jannik Sinner in the final on the tour for the second time after his triumph over the Italian in Rotterdam in February. The Russian now leads Sinner 7-0 in head-to-head meetings.

* It was a disappointing finish for Sinner as he battled past World No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz in the semi-final in a stunning encounter only to falter in the final hurdle.

* Medvedev, who reached the final of Indian Wells Masters last month and lost to Carlos Alcaraz, will move to No. 4 from No. 5 in the ATP men's singles rankings, which will be updated on Monday.

* The former US Open champion was going through patch form in 2022. After his shocking 3-round exit at Australian Open, Medvedev has looked in top form, extending his season's record to 24-3...

Source : I T