Daily Current Affairs Today MCQ : 24 March 2023 Quiz

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 and Pistol World Cup in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh.

China’s Li Xue won the gold while Germany’s Doreen Vennekamp settled for silver in the women’s 10m Air Pistol event.

China’s Qian Wei completed the podium with a bronze medal finish.

Meanwhile, ace Indian shooters Manu Bhaker and Yashaswini Singh Deswal failed to progress beyond the qualification round.

Manu Bhaker, a Youth Olympic Games champion finished a disappointing 16th with 568 points.

Among the other Indian shooters Esha Singh placed sixth, Yashaswini Singh Deswal ninth and Rhythm Sangwan finished 13th position.

Divya Thadigol, who was third in the qualification round with 579 points, got eliminated in the ranking round.

Income Tax Department has launched a free of cost Mobile app namely AIS for taxpayers.

It will facilitate the taxpayers to view their information as available in the Annual Information Statement (AIS) and Taxpayer Information Summary (TIS).

In the app, they can view various information related to TDS, interest, share transactions, tax payments, Income Tax refunds and GST Data among others.

The taxpayers will also have the option and the facility to provide feedback on the information displayed in the app.

How it works?

To access this mobile app, the taxpayer needs to register on the app by providing PAN number, authenticate with the OTP sent on the mobile number and e-mail registered on the e-filing portal. Subsequent to the authentication, the taxpayer can simply set a 4-digit PIN to access the mobile app.

New Income Tax Regime

Income range Income tax rate

Up to Rs. 3,00,000 Nil

Rs. 300,000 to Rs. 6,00,000 5% on income which exceeds Rs 3,00,000

Rs. 6,00,000 to Rs. 900,000 Rs 15,000 + 10% on income more than Rs 6,00,000

Rs. 9,00,000 to Rs. 12,00,000 Rs 45,000 + 15% on income more than Rs 9,00,000

Rs. 12,00,000 to Rs. 1500,000 Rs 90,000 + 20% on income more than Rs 12,00,000

Above Rs. 15,00,000 Rs 150,000 + 30% on income more than Rs 15,00,000

The US central bank has raised interest rates again, despite fears that the move could add to financial turmoil after a string of recent bank failures.

The Federal Reserve increased its key rate by 0.25 percentage points and said more action could be appropriate as consumer prices continue to climb.

The Fed has been raising borrowing costs to try to slow the economy and ease pressures pushing up prices.

But sharp rate rises have led to strains in the banking system.

Two US banks - Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank collapsed this month, buckling in part due to problems caused by higher interest rates.

But authorities around the world have said they do not think the failures threaten widespread financial stability and need not distract from efforts to bring inflation under control.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled India’s 6G mission, which visualises a focused initiative for the next-generation tech in India, and the official 6G testbed project to allow research on new network technologies.

The government has launched the Bharat 6G project, and appointed an apex council to oversee it.

The government constituted a 22-member innovation group chaired by telecom secretary K Rajaraman to create a plan for the 6G mission.

The testbed is being co-developed by the many Indian Institute of Technology (IITs), including those in Guwahati and Madras.

India is the second-largest telecom market globally with 1.2 billion digital subscribers.

PM Modi also launched the ’Call Before You Dig (CBuD)’ app to facilitate coordination between excavation agencies and underground utility owners to prevent damage to utilities due to digging.

The prime minister also inaugurated the first Area Office & Innovation Centre of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) in India.

ITU is the United Nations’ specialised agency for information and communication technologies (ICT).

The ITU’s next World Telecommunication Standardisation Assembly will also be held in India next year.

India’s top oil company IOC will invest Rs 61,077 crore in building a petrochemical complex at Paradip in Odisha - its largest ever investment at a single location - as it doubles down on its transition plan.

This is a part of its transition plan including boosting petrochemical intensity to help protect against volatility.

What is Petrochemical intensity?

It refers to the percentage of crude oil that is converted directly into chemicals that are used to make plastic and other material.

Crude oil, pumped out of the ground and from below the seabed, is processed in refineries to make petrol, diesel and other fuel.

It can be processed to make petrochemicals, bypassing the fuels.

IOC’s petrochemical intensity - the percentage of crude oil converted into chemicals- is low at 5-6 per cent currently.

The company intends to take it up to 10-12 per cent.

Grammarly announced that Indian-origin Global Head of Product Rahul Roy Chowdhury will become the new CEO from May 1, 2023.

Chowdhury will succeed current CEO Brad Hoover.

The company further announced the appointment of Noam Lovinsky as Grammarly’s new Chief Product Officer, who will report to Chowdhury, while Joe Xavier has been announced as Grammarly’s new Chief Technology Officer.

Before joining Grammarly, Rahul Roy Chowdhury worked with Google for 14 years.

The competition regulator Competition Commission of India (CCI) approved the proposed combination involving LIC Mutual Fund’s acquisition of the management rights over the schemes of IDBI MF from IDBI Asset Management Limited.

The proposed combination includes LIC AMC’s acquisition of the rights to manage and administer the schemes of IDBI Mutual Fund from IDBI Asset Management Limited (IDBI AMC).

It also entails LIC Mutual Fund Trustee Private Limited’s (LIC TC) acquisition of the rights of trusteeship of the schemes of IDBI MF from IDBI MF Trustee Company Limited (IDBI TC).

Under this process, the schemes of IDBI MF will form part of LIC Mutual Fund (LIC MF) with LIC AMC acting as the asset management company for the schemes of IDBI MF and LIC TC acting as the trustee company of the schemes of IDBI MF.

Apart from lump sum consideration, IDBI AMC will also acquire certain non-controlling shareholding in LIC AMC.

US President Joe Biden has presented the prestigious 2021 National Humanities Medals to Indian-American actress and producer Mindy Kaling, with several others, in recognition of her giving voice to a new generation of storytellers.

The National Medal of Arts is the highest award, given to artists, arts patrons, and groups by the US government.

It honours exemplary individuals and organisations that have advanced the arts in America and inspired others through their distinguished achievement, support, or patronage.

The National Medal of Arts was first awarded in 1985.

Tata Consumer Products is planning to make substantial investments in its own mineral water brands, such as Tata Copper+ and Himalayan.

The development comes at a time when its plans to acquire leading bottled water brand Bisleri could not come to fruition.

Currently the company plans to support its own brands, including Tata Copper+, Tata Gluco+, and Himalayan mineral water.

The Tata Group company announced on March 17 that negotiations regarding the potential acquisition of Ramesh Chauhan’s Bisleri International had ceased.

Notably, the parties discussed the particulars of the deal for almost two years, and it was expected to be closed soon.

However, some disagreements could not be resolved, and the deal was called off.

Citi Bank names Indian origin Anand Selva as COO to lead risk management overhaul.

Anand Selva, an Indian-origin senior executive at Citigroup, has been given the additional role of chief operating officer (COO) of the US bank.

Selva, who is now chief executive--personal banking and wealth management--at Citigroup, in his new role will oversee the bank’s work as it changes its risk management and internal control systems.