Daily Current Affairs Today MCQ : 18 & 19 March 2023 Quiz

Honeywell International HON announced that company current president and chief operating officer, Vimal Kapur, will succeed Darius Adamczyk as the new chief executive officer (CEO).

He has also been named to the board of directors of HON as of March 13.

He has 34 years of experience working for Honeywell across multiple business models, sectors, geographic locations, and economic cycles.

Adamczyk, meanwhile, was appointed chairman in 2018 and CEO in 2017.

He will stay on as executive chairman of Honeywell.

The government of Uttarakhand has approved a 10% horizontal reservation for statehood campaigners in state government positions.

Under the direction of Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, the decision was made during a cabinet meeting.

The decision on the reservation to Statehood activists assumes significance since the governor had returned the bill granting 10 per cent reservation to the statehood activists in the past.

It also approved the setting up of an Authority on Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement in each district headed by a District Judge or an Additional District Judge.

The Indian Navy has deployed a P8I aircraft to Guam, USA to participate in the third edition of "Exercise Sea Dragon 23".

Exercise Sea Dragon 23 is a coordinated multi-lateral Anti-Submarine Warfare exercise for Long Range MR ASW aircraft organized by the US Navy.

The exercise, scheduled from March 15 to March 30, 2023, will focus on coordinated ASW tactics among the participating countries and will involve advanced ASW drills.

Key Points -

Exercise Sea Dragon is a biennial, multi-national naval exercise focused on Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) training, tactics, and procedures.

The exercise has been held since 2015 and is organized by the US Navy.

The exercise involves the participation of naval forces from multiple countries in the Indo-Pacific region, including India, Japan, Canada, and the Republic of Korea.

The aim of the exercise is to enhance the collective ASW capabilities of the participating navies, while also promoting mutual trust and cooperation between friendly nations.

The scope and complexity of the exercise have increased over the years, reflecting the growing importance of ASW in the Indo-Pacific region.

Gianni Infantino was re-elected as FIFA president until 2027 by acclamation, after highlighting his strong financial performance as a reason for keeping a CEO in their position for life.

The decision was made by the congress of 211 member federations, who have seen their annual funding from FIFA increase from $250,000 to 2 million dollar since Infantino’s first win in 2016.

Following the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, FIFA now has 4 billion dollar in reserves and it conservatively predicts a record revenue of at least 11 billion dollar from the 2026 men’s World Cup, which will be hosted in North America.

In 2016, Gianni Infantino was elected as FIFA president.

About FIFA -

FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association) is an international governing body of association football, futsal, and beach soccer.

It was founded on May 21 1904 in Paris, France.

There was seven founding members - Belgium, Denmark, France, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland.

FIFA is headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland.

FIFA continues to be one of the most influential sports organizations in the world, with 211 member associations and a mission to promote and develop the game of football globally.

The US Senate Committee has announced the appointment of Eric Garcetti as the new US Ambassador to India.

Despite being nominated by President Joe Biden almost two years ago, Garcetti’s appointment had been pending until now.

Eric Garcetti served as the President of the City Council of Los Angeles for four consecutive terms and is known to be a close acquaintance of President Biden.

He has also emerged as a leader within the Democratic Party.

However, Garcetti’s tenure as mayor of Los Angeles lasted for nine years.

Indian ambassdor to USA -

Taranjit Singh Sandhu is an Indian diplomat and current Indian Ambassador to the United States.

He previously served as High Commissioner of India to Sri Lanka.

In India, National Vaccination Day is held on March 16 each year, also known as "Polio Ravivar", to raise awareness and promote vaccination against polio.

National Vaccination Day is an annual event observed in various countries to promote vaccination and increase public knowledge about its significance.

The day is celebrated on different dates in different countries, but the primary goal is to encourage individuals to receive vaccinations as a means of safeguarding themselves against communicable diseases.

The significance of Indian National Vaccination Day, also known as "Polio Ravivar", lies in its role in promoting vaccination and eradicating polio in India.

History -

In India, National Vaccination Day was first observed on March 16, 1995, as a way to promote vaccination against polio.

The day is also referred to as "Polio Ravivar" in Hindi.

At the time, India had one of the highest rates of polio cases in the world, and the government launched a massive immunization campaign to eradicate the disease.

Recently, at the United Nations Least Developed Countries (LDC) Summit that concluded in Doha, Qatar, the landlocked Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan will no longer be on the list of LDCs and will become only the seventh country to graduate from the list.

Key Points -

Bhutan was included in the first group of LDCs in 1971.

However, over the last few decades, it has made remarkable progress on a variety of socio-economic metrics.

Bhutan first fulfilled the requirements for graduation in 2015, and then again in 2018. Bhutan was therefore scheduled to graduate in 2021.

However, the UN viewed Bhutan’s request to match the effective graduation date with the conclusion of the nation’s 12th national development plan in 2023 as a legitimate request and thus postponed the delisting.

Bhutan has taken a number of measures to reach this point and the results have been significant.

Bhutan’s economy increased more than eight times in the last 20 years, from just under USD 300 million in 2000 to USD 2.53 billion in 2017, with an average annual growth rate of more than 7 per cent.

UN’s Least Developed Countries(LDCs) List -

The UN in the 1960s began to recognise some of the most vulnerable and disadvantaged countries in the international community, considering factors such as development capacity, socio-economic parameters, lack of domestic financing, and geographical location.

In 1971, the UN officially established the category of LDCs to attract particular support for them.

Every year on March 14, the International Day of Action for Rivers (IDAR) is observed to promote awareness of the importance of the river systems on the planet earth.

This year, the 25th anniversary of the day was observed.

The day was earlier known as International Day against Dams, for Rivers, Water and Life.

Theme: Rights of Rivers.

It calls for the designation of rivers as a national treasure.

History -

The participants of the First International Meeting of People Affected by Dams held in March 1997 in Curitiba Brazil adopted the International Day of Action Against Dams and For Rivers, Water, and Life.

20 countries’ representatives had decided that the International Day of Action would take place on 14 March Brazil’s Day of Action Against Large Dams.

Related Indian Initiatives -

Namami Gange Programme

Ganga Action Plan

National River Conservation Plan

National River Rejuvenation Mechanism

The United Nations Senators voted for the Indian-American Ravi Chaudhary for the post of Assistant Secretary of the US Air Force.

He won the bid by 65-29 votes.

His position has thus been confirmed in the Defence sector of the US Air Force.

Ravi Chaudhary has previously been a flight test engineer and now he will be administering one of the top-notch civilian positions as a leader in the Pentagon.

Earlier, in his job posts, he was responsible for implementing advanced development as well as research programmes in support of the FAA’s commercial space transportation mission.

In the US Air Force between 1993 to 2015, Ravi Chaudhary accomplished multiple senior staff assignments including operational, engineering, and other designations.

The Reserve Bank of India and the Central Bank of UAE jointly sign an official agreement for encouraging Innovation in financial products and services.

Central Banks will altogether survey the Central Bank Digital Currencies and will also draw comparability between the CBDCs of CBUAE and RBI.

Pilot tests will be held to provide cross-border transactions. Through this initiative, the economic ties will deepen between India and UAE.