Daily Current Affairs Quiz: March 2, 2023

Solution: option b.)
Essar Group on Monday announced the formation of Essar Energy Transition (EET) which will invest $3.6 billion in developing a range of low-carbon energy transition projects over the next five years in India and the UK.
“EET plans to invest a total of $3.6 billion in developing a range of low carbon energy transition projects over the next five years, of which $2.4 billion will be invested across its site at Stanlow, between Liverpool and Manchester and $1.2 billion in India,” the company said in a statement.

Solution: option a.)
Noted Carnatic vocalist and teacher Neela Ram Gopal, 86, passed away in Bengaluru on Wednesday (March 1). She was suffering from age-related ailments but had remained high-spirited till the end.
Neela Ram Gopal hailed from Kumbhakonam, Tamil Nadu, and had shifted to Bengaluru after her marriage over six decades ago. She learnt music from N.M. Narayanan and T.K. Rangachary in Tamil Nadu. After shifting to Bengaluru, she learnt Kannada and made it a point to sing and teach Kannada kritis to all her students. She widely sang Dasara Padas too. She has also released several albums, including Rama Upasana, Narayana Enniro and Tamizh Inbam.

Solution: option b.)
The government of Ras Al Khaimah (RAK), one of the seven emirates of the United Arab Emirates, has announced plans to establish RAK Digital Assets Oasis, the world’s first free zone dedicated to digital and virtual asset companies. The announcement was made at the Blockchain Life 2023 conference.

“We are proud to further the UAE’s position as a primary destination for innovation with the launch of RAK Digital Assets Oasis,” said Sheikh Mohammed bin Humaid bin Abdullah Al Qasimi, Chairman of RAK ICC and Chairman of RAK Digital Assets Oasis.

RAK Digital Assets Oasis will be a purpose-built, true innovation-enabling free zone for non-regulated activities in the virtual assets sector. It is intended to be the only free zone in the world solely dedicated to digital and virtual assets service providers innovating in new and emerging sectors of the future including metaverse, blockchain, utility tokens, virtual asset wallets, NFTs, DAOs, DApp, and other Web3-related businesses. RAK Digital Assets Oasis will open for applications in the second quarter of 2023.

Solution: option c.)
Amid the Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman discussed global debt vulnerabilities and cryptocurrency assets on the sidelines of the G20 finance chiefs meeting, a new report on countries willing to adopt and legalise the currency to increase its accessibility has arrived.
According to HedgewithCrypto research, Australia is the biggest country when it comes to the adoption of cryptocurrency in 2023 with a score of 7.37 out of 10. The sale of cryptocurrency and other digital assets is legal and regulated in Australia. India emerged as 7th biggest nation ready to adopt crypto in 2023. Following this, the USA ranks as the second biggest country in crypto adoption with a score of 7.07 out of 10. Currently, there are 33,630 crypto ATMs throughout the country.
Ranking-wise, Brazil comes third with a score of 6.81/10 and has seen a huge increase in average monthly searches for crypto of 355%. A new bill signed in December 2022 legalizes cryptocurrency throughout Brazil.

Solution: option d.)
Chocolate company Ferrero has onboarded Ranveer Singh as the brand ambassador of its hazelnut cocoa spread brand Nutella. Singh will promote the Nutella brand across digital and offline media as well as feature in the brand’s campaigns, Ferrero said in a statement on Saturday.
The Ferrero Group sells brands such as Kinder, Nutella, Ferrero Rocher and Tic Tac in India. Ferrero Group is one of the world’s largest sweet-packaged food companies, with over 35 brands sold in more than 170 countries.

Solution: option b.)
In a bid to promote traditional medicines at the Global Level, the Assam government will host the first B2B Global Conference & Expo on Traditional Medicine under Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) tomorrow in Guwahati, informed Union Minister of Ports, Shipping & Waterways and Ayush, Sarbananda Sonowal today. Addressing the media, the Union Minister said, more than 150 delegates from 13 member countries will attend the four-day-long Conference and others will participate virtually.

Mr Sonowal stated that India is presiding over the SCO this year and under the mandate, India is organizing SCO’s first international conference and expo on traditional medicine to discuss the possibilities of traditional medicine for enriching the quality of human lives.

Solution: option c.)
Following his side’s Carabao Cup title win, which ended the club’s trophy drought that lasted more than five years, Manchester United boss Erik Ten Hag said the silverware shows that the club is on the right path and the win should be a motivation to keep going and improve, to stay happy but not satisfied.
Manchester United finally got their hands on the silverware after cruising through the Carabao Cup final with a 2-0 victory against Newcastle United. First-half goals from Casemiro and an own goal from Sven Botman were enough to secure their first trophy after their successful Europa League campaign under Jose Mourinho in 2017.

Solution: option a.)
Moody’s Investors Service on Wednesday raised India’s economic growth estimate for 2023 to 5.5 per cent from 4.8 per cent pegged earlier, on the back of a sharp increase in capital expenditure in the Budget and a resilient economic momentum.
It however revised downwards India’s growth estimate for 2022 to 6.8 per cent from 7 per cent pegged in November last year.
In its February update to Global Macro Outlook 2023-24, Moody’s raised the baseline 2023 real growth projections “meaningfully” for several G20 economies, including the US, Canada, the Euro area, India, Russia, Mexico, and Turkiye, accounting for a stronger end to 2022.

Solution: option a.)
The President of India Draupadi Murmu will formally inaugurate and address the 14th edition of Sanskriti Mahotsav being held in Bikaner, Rajasthan today. The President will reach Bikaner in the afternoon and will address the Sanskriti Mahotsav being organized at Dr Karni Singh Stadium.
AIR correspondent reports, The 9-day-long festival is being organized for the first time in Rajasthan. The festival, which started on Saturday, will continue till March 5.

Solution: option a.)
India celebrates National Science Day on February 28 every year to mark the contributions of scientists towards the development of the country. On this day, in 1928, Indian Physicists Sir CV Raman made an important discovery in the field of spectroscopy, which was later named after him – the Raman Effect.
For this discovery, he was also awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1930.
Raman Effect is the phenomenon in spectroscopy discovered by Sir Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman while working in the laboratory of the Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science, Kolkata.

Solution: option d.)
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan said that the cabinet approved the Mukhyamantri Ladli Behna Yojana which will empower women at every level. A virtual meeting of the Council of Ministers was organized under the chairmanship of CM Chauhan at CM’s residence office in the state capital Bhopal on Saturday.
The Yojana will be launched on March 5. The applications will be filled from March 15.
The applications are very simple and the sisters will not have to go anywhere for that. The team will visit to fill out the application in their village itself. Apart from the administrative officer, social workers will also be present for assistance in it, the chief minister said, adding that the task of filling out the application will be completed in March and April. After that, they will be scrutinized in May.
This Yojana is for families with an annual income of up to Rs 2.5 lakh. Family means husband and wife and their children. The money will be deposited in the bank account of women, Chauhan said, adding that those families who have less than five acres of agricultural land will also be eligible for this scheme.

Solution: option a.)
Axis Bank has completed the acquisition of Citibank’s consumer banking business, for a cash consideration of ₹11,603 crore, in a span of seven months since the final approval from CCI.
In a press meeting to announce the development, Axis Bank said it has acquired 18 lakh credit customers, deposits worth about ₹40,000 crores of which 77 per cent are CASA deposits, 1,600 Suvidha corporate salary accounts and wealth management business worth ₹94,700 crores.
It has also acquired aggregate end net receivables (ENR) of ₹27,300 crores across credit cards, mortgages, personal loans, asset-backed finance and small business loans. Axis Bank now has aggregate deposits of ₹8.9-lakh crore, with the share of CASA deposits rising by 150 bps to 46 per cent of total deposits.

Solution: option b.)
Nigeria’s ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate Bola Tinubu has been declared the winner of the presidential election, triggering mixed reactions across the West African country.
On Wednesday, the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Mahmood Yakubu, announced that Tinubu had won 37 per cent of the vote in Saturday’s election and, “having satisfied the requirements of the law, is hereby declared the winner and is returned elected”.
Capital: Abuja
Currency: Naira

Solution: option a.)
At Rs 1.49 lakh crore, India’s goods and services tax (GST) collection for the month of February jumped by 12%, year-on-year.
In an official release, the finance ministry said that the cess collected by the Centre last month was the highest since the implementation of GST, at Rs 11,931 crore.
Of the total collection of Rs 1,49,577 crore, central goods and services tax (CGST) is Rs 27,662 crore, state goods and services tax (SGST) are Rs 34,915 crore, integrated goods and services tax (IGST) is Rs 75,069 crore (including Rs 35,689 crore collected on import of goods) and Cess is Rs 11,931 crore (including Rs 792 crore collected on import of goods).

Solution: option d.)

Asia’s longest cycle race from Kashmir to Kanyakumari was flagged off from here on Wednesday.

Organised by the J&K sports council, the ultra-cycle race was flagged off from Bakshi Stadium in Srinagar by the divisional commissioner (Kashmir), Vijay Kumar in presence of officials and participants.

Officials said at the event that this cycle race is recognised by World Ultra Cycling Association, USA and declared as the Asian Ultra Cycling Championship & World Ultra Cycling Championship.

The participants shall peddle Solo, Team of 2, Team of 4 with a cut-off time of 12 days, 10 days and 8 days respectively.

The 3,651 km-long race with a total elevation gain of 1895p mts started from Srinagar and will end in the Southern tip of the Indian Peninsula, Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu.