Daily Current Affairs Today MCQ : 30 March 2023 Quiz

NDTV announced to the stock exchanges that Upendra Kumar Sinha, the former chairman of Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI), has been appointed as the non-executive chairperson and independent director of the NDTV board of directors.

Mr UK Sinha, who was the Chairman of SEBI from 2011 to 2017, previously served as the Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Finance, where he was responsible for overseeing the Banking and Capital Markets Divisions.

Additionally, Dipali Goenka, the CEO of Welspun India, has also been appointed as an independent director on the NDTV board.

She previously served as the chairperson of the ASSOCHAM Women’s council and currently serves on the board of Consumption platform at the World Economic Forum.

The inaugural joint conference between the Indian and African army chiefs is scheduled to take place in Pune, with Defense Minister Rajnath Singh as the guest of honor and Indian Army Chief General Manoj Pandey in attendance.

This marks the first-ever conference of its kind between these nations, with 10 army chiefs and 31 representatives from African countries in attendance.

Additionally, an exhibition under the Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative will be held to showcase defense products and target the African market.

African continent -

The Plateau: Ethiopian Plateau, Tibesti Plateau, and the Abyssinia Plateau

The Fold Mountains: The Atlas mountains, The Drakensberg and the Great Karoo

Volcanic mountain: Mount Kilimanjaro

The Rift Valley: Great rift valley

Lakes: Lake Victoria Tanganyika, Nyasa or Malawi, and Kivu.

Deserts: Sahara desert and Kalahari

Rivers: the Nile, the Congo, the Niger, the Zambezi, Zaire and the Orange

Waterfall: The Victoria Falls and Stanley Falls

Islands: Madagascar, Mauritius and Seychelles (Indian Ocean) the Sao Tome and Malabo islands (the Atlantic Ocean)

The Indian government has formed a committee led by finance secretary TV Somanathan to explore ways to address concerns raised by government employees over the National Pension System (NPS).

The committee aims to find a middle ground between the fiscally imprudent old pension system (OPS) and the reform-oriented NPS.

The committee will develop a strategy that meets the requirements of government employees while also ensuring financial responsibility to safeguard the interests of the general public.

The new approach will apply to both the central and state governments.

Sources suggest that the committee may consider offering guaranteed pensions to government employees at around 50% of their last pay drawn under the NPS.

The Ministry of Education has selected about 9 thousand schools across the country for its flagship program Pradhan Mantri School for Rising India (PM SHRI).

According to the ministry, the institutes were selected from over two lakh fifty thousand government schools including Kendriya Vidyalayas and Navodaya Vidyalayas.

Under this, a total of six broad parameters including curriculum, infrastructure, human resources and gender equality were assessed for the selection process.

About Pradhan Mantri Schools for Rising India (PM-SHRI) -

It is a centrally sponsored scheme for upgradation and development of more than 14500 Schools across the country.

It aims at strengthening the selected existing schools from amongst schools managed by Central Government/ State/ UT Government/ local bodies.

It will showcase all components of the National Education Policy 2020 and act as exemplar schools and also offer mentorship to other schools in their vicinity.

India’s Dhanush Loganathan and Jyoshna Sabar have won bronze medals in their respective categories at the World Youth Weightlifting Championships.

Competing in the women’s 40 kg event, 14-year-old Jyoshna lifted a combined total of 115 kg.

On the other hand, 16-year-old Dhanush won bronze in the men’s 49 kg event by lifting a total of 200 kg.

The World Youth Weightlifting Championship is being held in Durres, Albania.

The International Weightlifting Federation (IWF), the international governing body for the sport of weightlifting is headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland.

International Weightlifting Federation -

The international governing organisation for Olympic weightlifting is the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF), which has its headquarters in Lausanne.

The 192 Member Federations of the IWF date back to its founding in 1905.

Iraqi Mohammed Hasan Jalood serves as the IWF’s president.

Between the 1972 and 1976 Summer Olympics, the Fédération Haltérophile International (FHI), now known as the IWF, underwent a name change.

Employees’ Provident Fund Organization has increased the interest rates on EPF giving gifts to the employees.

The rate has been increased to 8.15% for the financial year 2022-23.

This decision has been taken in the meeting of the Central Board of Trustees (CBT).

About 6 crores employees will get benefit from this decision of EPFO.

In March 2022, EPFO ​​reduced the interest on EPF for 2021-22 to 8.1 per cent, the lowest level in four decades.

The interest rate for the financial year 2021-22 was the lowest since the 8% interest rate of 1977-78.

Tamil Nadu’s Archana Suseendran defeated Hima Das in the 100m final and made the most of the Assam sprinter’s disqualification in the 200m and claim a double gold in the AFI Indian Grand Prix 2.

Archana won the 100m in 11.52 seconds, 0.22 seconds ahead of Hima, and the 200m in 23.21 seconds.

Despite winning the National Games crown in 46.29 seconds, he was only fifth best Indian in 2022 and will be looking to establish himself as the leading quarter miler in the Asian Games this year.

With a best of 19.76m, the left-handed Tajinderpal Singh Toor dominated the men’s shot put.

Each of his four valid efforts were better than the 19.17m that his Punjab team-mate Karanveer Singh managed to edge out Sahib Singh (Delhi) and claim the second place.

A site located in Arizona, United States and sacred to the Hopi Native American Nation has been awarded a "Water and Heritage Shield" by the International Committee on Monuments and Sites International Science Committee (ICOMOS ISC).

The Shield was awarded to the Black Mesa Trust (BMT), a Hopi grassroots organisation.

The purpose of the Shield is to help the public become aware of the significance of water and indigenous sacred sites all over the world and the right to cultural and historical memory.

The Hopi have been known for their unique reverence to the environment.

The Hopi consider the Sípaapu to be the place from where their ancestors emerged from another world into this one.

The Sípaapu is a rocky dome made of limestone as well as a spring located on the Little Colorado river, a tributary of Colorado.

Little Colorado joins the main stem of the river within the Grand Canyon, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

ICOMOS ISC is a non-governmental international organisation dedicated to the conservation of the world’s monuments and sites.

It helps the United Nations to recognise heritage globally.

The Union Territory has awarded wildlife conservationist Aliya Mir for her exceptional efforts in conservation.

Aliya is the first woman from Jammu and Kashmir to work for Wildlife SOS and is the first woman in the region to receive this honour.

She received the award from Lt Manoj Sinha at the World Forestry Day celebrations hosted by the Jammu and Kashmir Collective Forests.

Aliya was recognized for her remarkable contributions to wildlife conservation, including rescuing and releasing wild animals, caring for injured animals, and saving bears in Kashmir.

Wildlife SOS -

Wildlife SOS is a non-profit organization based in India that focuses on rescuing and rehabilitating wildlife in distress, particularly those that have been subjected to cruelty and exploitation.

The National Security Advisers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) will convene in New Delhi, with China and Pakistan expected to attend virtually.

Ajit Doval, the Indian National Security Adviser, will give the opening remarks, followed by discussions between SCO national security advisers and top officials.

As the current president of the eight-nation SCO, India is hosting a range of events, including a chief justices’ conference and a meeting of energy ministers.

About Shanghai Cooperation Organization -

Established in 2001, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization is an intergovernmental group consisting of China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Pakistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.

This crucial regional organization, which covers more than 60% of the Eurasian landmass, 40% of the world’s population, and 30% of global GDP, aims to promote economic, political, and military cooperation among its members.