Daily Current Affairs for Competitive Examinations: April 12, 2023
The current affairs section needs to be given extra attention if you are preparing for competitive examinations. A candidate should constantly study fresh information about events in the globe, country, state, and all other sectors. To maintain a level of general knowledge, all you need to know are the essentials. Reading about current events is not difficult; it is really interesting. In order to help all the candidates score well in this section, we have analysed the most recent news from The Hindu, Indian Express, the Economic Times, and so on.
Current Affairs: Awards and Recognitions
Indian-American mathematician CR Rao awarded the International Prize in Statistics at the age of 102
Calyampudi Radhakrishna Rao, a prominent Indian-American mathematician and statistician, will receive the 2023 International Prize in Statistics, the equivalent to the Nobel Prize in the field, for his monumental work 75 years ago that revolutionised statistical thinking.
The International Prize in Statistics was established in 2016 by a group of five major statistical organisations, the American Statistical Association, the Institute of Mathematical Statistics, the International Biometric Society, the International Statistical Institute, and the Royal Statistical Society. It is awarded once every two years to an individual or a team.
Prize is given for major achievements using statistics to advance science, technology and human welfare.
Q1.) Who won the 2023 International Prize in Statistics?
(A) Bradley Efron
(B) David Cox
(C) CR Rao
(D) Nan Laird
Answer: C
Check out the Highlights of the Economic Survey 2022-23 by clicking on the link given below: Economic Survey 2022-23
Current Affairs: National Interest
Jammu gets the first tulip garden at Sanasar
Jammu and Kashmir’s Lt Governor Manoj Sinha recently inaugurated a tulip garden at Sanasar in Ramban district.
It is the Union Territory’s second and Jammu division’s first tulip garden.
It is spread over 40 lakh kanals (5 acres) of land in the picturesque Sanasar, which is famous for its green Alpine meadows.
The new park is part of the administration’s efforts over the past 2-3 years to boost tourism in the region.
Twenty-five varieties have been planted in the garden.
Asia’s largest tulip garden is in the heart of Srinagar city at the foothills of the Zabarwan Mountain Range.
Govt of Jammu and Kashmir organises the Kashmir Tulip festival every year to celebrate the onset of the Kashmir tourism season in April as part of the Bahaar-e-Kashmir event in Srinagar.
Q2.) Jammu and Kashmir’s Lt Governor Manoj Sinha inaugurated its first tulip garden at
(A) Sanasar
(B) Srinagar
(C) Gulmarg
(D) Jammu
Answer: A
Current Affairs: Technology
India’s first 3D-printed post office to come up in Bengaluru
India’s first 3D-printed post office would be located in Cambridge Layout in Ulsoor, Bangalore.
The project is being implemented by Larsen and Toubro, which has experience in constructing 3D-printed buildings.
It is a 1,100 sq ft building which is expected to cost 30-40 per cent less than conventional buildings because of technological intervention.
3D printing is a process of making three-dimensional solid objects from a digital file.
It is achieved using additive processes.
In an additive process, an object is created by laying down successive layers of material until the object is created.
Each of these layers can be seen as a thinly sliced cross-section of the object.
3D printing enables you to produce complex shapes using less material than traditional manufacturing methods.
Q3.) India’s first 3D-printed post office would be located in
(A) Pondicherry
(B) Panji
(C) Coimbatore
(D) Bengaluru
Answer: D
Current Affairs: Defence
INS Vikrant gets back its traditional bell from retired Navy Officer
The latest INS Vikrant received the bell from Vice Admiral SN Ghormade, Navy Staff Officer.
This bell was placed on India’s first INS Vikrant aircraft carrier in 1961. This is to highlight the rich history of the country’s Navy Command.
The bell has served to be a useful tool in the India-Pakistan war as it acted as a barricade to the Karachi harbour.
Q4.) Which aircraft carrier recently got its traditional bell from a retired Navy Officer?
(A) INS Viraat
(B) INS Vikrant
(C) INS Vikramaditya
(D) INS Viraat
Answer: B
Current Affairs: National Interest
India releases the first edition of the Dogri version of the Indian Constitution
Union Minister of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, Kiren Rijiju, released the first edition of the Dogri version of the Constitution of India at the University of Jammu.
Dogri is one of the official languages of the Indian Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir. On 22 December 2003, in a major milestone for the official status of the language, Dogri was recognised as a national language of India in the Indian constitution.
The earliest written reference to Dogri (using the paleonym Duggar) is found in the Nuh sipihr (“The Nine Heavens”), written by the poet Amir Khosrow in 1317 CE.
Dogri is descended from Sanskrit, the language of the Vedas (1500–1200 BCE).
The Constitution of India is amongst the world’s longest-written constitutions and has guided India’s nation-building process for over seven decades.
Recently, on 28 March 2023, the Ministry of External Affairs organised a seminar on “Seven Decades of the Constitution of India” on the occasion of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav (75 years of Independence of India) in coordination with the Parliamentary Research and Training Institute for Democracies (PRIDE).
Q5.) Dogri is one of the official languages of which Indian Union Territory?
(A) Lakshadweep
(B) Chandigarh
(C) Jammu and Kashmir
(D) Port Blair
Answer: C
Current Affairs: National Interest
World’s first Asian King Vulture conservation and breeding centre to be inaugurated in Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh has set up a state-of-the-art Jatayu Conservation and Breeding Centre (JCBC) for the critically endangered Asian king vulture, the first of its kind in the world.
It is located in the Maharajganj district of Uttar Pradesh and is spread over 1.5 hectares.
The JCBC is designed to maintain a sustainable population of Asian king vultures by breeding them in captivity and releasing them into the wild.
The Asian king vulture is protected under the Wildlife Protection Act and is listed as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List.
The use of diclofenac in veterinary medicine in India has led to a population decline in recent years. The JCBC aims to have at least 40 vultures in captivity over 15 years to ensure the sustainable conservation of the species.
The Forest Department has partnered with the Bombay Natural History Society for technical guidance.
Check out the Highlights of Union Budget 2023 by clicking on the link given below: Union Budget 2023-24
Factbook: 11-April-2023
Armed Forces Panel to examine disability pension
The Indian Armed Forces have set up an inter-services panel chaired by the Army’s Adjutant General (AG) to examine different aspects of disability pension for their personnel.
The directive to set up the panel came after a Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report tabled in Parliament had questioned the grant of the disability element of pension to a “higher percentage” of officers, including medical officers.
It had asked the Defence Ministry to assess the reasons.
The total defence pension for 2023-24 is estimated at ₹1.38 lakh crore.
Higher disability pensions and the revision of the ‘One Rank, One Pension’ scheme and arrears to the tune of ₹28,138 crore have contributed to the rise in defence pensions.
The CAG report noted that officers retiring with disability range between 36 per cent and 40 per cent of the total officer retirees.
In the case of personnel below officer ranks (PBOR), it ranged between 15 per cent and 18 per cent between 2015-16 to 2019-20.
Further, the report said 22 per cent and 13 per cent of the disability pension cases granted to the officers and PBORs, respectively, were exclusively on the ground of lifestyle diseases, especially hypertension and diabetes mellitus.
RBI keeps the repo rate unchanged at 6.5 per cent
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has kept the repo rates unchanged at 6.5 per cent.
The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the central bank decided to take a pause after a rate hike seen in the previous six consecutive policies.
The Monetary Policy Committee meeting of the RBI took place on 3 April, 5 April, and 6 April to begin the central bank’s first bimonthly review of the new fiscal year.
A year is divided into six bimonthly reviews of the central bank’s monetary policy. Additionally, there are out-of-cycle reviews, where the central bank holds extra sessions in urgent situations.
At its most recent meeting in early February, the RBI’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) decided to increase the repo rate by 25 basis points to 6.5 per cent.
Since May 2022, the RBI has increased the repo rate—the interest rate at which it loans to banks—by 250 basis points.
RBI has projected GDP growth for 2023-24 at 6.5 per cent, with risks evenly balanced and inflation moderate to 5.2 per cent.
The repo rate is the rate at which RBI lends to banks generally against government securities, while the reverse repo is the rate at which RBI borrows money from the banks.
Exercise Cope India 2023
Exercise Cope India 2023, a bilateral air force exercise between the Indian Air Force (IAF) and the United States Air Force (USAF), is being held at Air Force Stations Arjan Singh (Panagarh), Kalaikunda (West Bengal) and Agra from 10 April.
The aim of the exercise is to enhance mutual understanding between the two air forces and to share their best practices.
The first phase of this exercise started on 10 April 2023. This phase of the exercise will focus on air mobility and will involve transporting aircraft and special forces assets from both the air forces.
Both countries will field C-130J and C-17 aircraft in the exercise, along with USAF MC-130J operations.
The exercise also features the presence of Japanese Air Self-Defense Force personnel, who will participate in the capacity of observers.
The first Cope India exercise was held in the year 2004 at Tekanpur, Air Force Station, Gwalior.
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