Current Affairs 27 March 2023

ANS : C 

• The species has been named after Tamil Nadu as Gymnothorax tamilnaduensis with common name as Tamil Nadu brown moray.
• The discovery has been published in the latest issue of the international peer-reviewed journal “Zoosystematics and Evolution”.
• This is the first ever record of this genus, Gymnothorax, collected through an exploration survey conducted along the coastal waters of Cuddalore district, particularly, Parangipettai and Mudasalodai fish landing centres.
• Four specimens (ranging from 272-487 mm in total length) were collected at a depth of about 25-30 metres from the fishing landing centre at Mudasalodai.
• The new species is notably different from its known Indian water congeners (organisms of the same genus) by having series of lines of small dark spots present on the head and a single line of black spots on the mid-line of the body.
• About 28 species of Gymnothorax have been documented in Indian waters so far.
• The species discovered off the Cuddalore coast represents India and increases the total amount of species of Gymnothorax to 29.

ANS : C 

• Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) has named Srikanth Venkatachari as the new Chief Financial Officer.

• The current chief financial officer, Alok Agarwal, has been given a new role of Senior Advisor to the Chairman and Managing Director of the Company.
• He was appointed as the Chief Financial Officer of the Company in 2005.

ANS : A 

• IDFC FIRST Bank has teamed with Crunchfish to participate in the RBI’s pilot programme to facilitate offline payments.
• This initiative will provide access to digital payments even when there is no network.
• The Swedish company Crunchfish introduced this one-of-a-kind digital payment system for merchants and customers as part of the RBI’s Regulatory Sandbox Program.
• This project will allow offline retail payments in India’s payment ecosystem using a Digital Cash platform.
• IDFC FIRST Bank will be one of the first few banks to participate in HDFC Bank’s pilot initiative.
• The RBI authorised the proposal to demonstrate offline payments between two banks.
• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) launched the Regulatory Sandbox in 2020 to endorse sustainable innovation in financial services, boost efficiency, and benefit end users.

ANS : D 

• Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has announced the government will set up a sports university in the Kumaun region’s Haldwani town.
• The international stadium of Haldwani will be upgraded into a sports university.
• He also informed that Uttarakhand will hold several national level sports event in the coming year.

ANS : A 

• Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin released the updated Tamil Nadu State Disaster Management Policy and Disaster Management Plan 2023, in March 2023.

ANS : A 

• Egypt has joined the BRICS New Development Bank (NDB).
• The African-Arab nation became an NDB member on February 20, though a formal notification was issued on March 22.
• The New Development Bank was set up by BRICS nations on the basis of the intergovernmental agreement signed at the sixth BRICS summit in Fortaleza in July 2014.

ANS : D 

• Mumbai Indians defeated the Delhi Capitals by 7 wickets and with that they become the first-ever Women’s Premier League champions on 26 March 2023.
• Nat Sciver-Brunt was awarded the player of the match.
• Harmanpreet Kaur won the award for catch of the season.
• Hayley Matthews was awarded the purple cap and Meg Lanning won the orange cap.
• Hayley Matthews was the most valuable player.

ANS : D 

• Indian weightlifters Dhanush Loganathan and Jyoshna Sabar won bronze medals in their respective categories at the IWF World Youth Championships in Durres, Albania on 26 March 2023.
• Jyoshna Sabar was competing in the women’s 40kg event and had a combined lift of 115kg, as she came in third.
  • Jyoshna won silver in the snatch section but was sixth in the clean and jerk category in the seven-lifter field.
• Dhanush lifted 200kg weight to finish third in the men’s 49kg event.
  • He also won a silver medal in the snatch category.

ANS : D 

• Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav on 26 Mar 2023, launched the Aravalli Green Wall Project in Gurugram, Haryana.
• On the occasion, the Union Minister also unveiled the National Action Plan to combat desertification through forestry interventions.
  • It will also improve the soil fertility and climate resilience of the region.
• The Aravalli Green Wall Project is part of the Union Environment Ministry’s vision to create green corridors across the country to combat land degradation and desertification.
  • It is a major initiative to green a 5 km buffer area around the Aravalli Hill Range in four states.
  • The project covers states of Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Delhi – where the Aravalli hills landscape span over 6 million hectares of land.
  • The project will involve planting native species of trees and shrubs on scrubland, wasteland and degraded forest land, along with rejuvenating and restoring surface water bodies such as ponds, lakes and streams.
  • The project will also focus on agroforestry and pasture development to enhance the livelihoods of local communities.

ANS : D 

• Olympian shooter Manu Bhaker, on 26 March 2023 clinched the 25m pistol bronze medal in the ISSF Pistol/Rifle World Cup in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh.
• China tops the medal tally with 10 medals at the Bhopal World Cup including six golds, 2 silver and 2 bronze medals.
• India lies second with the 1 gold won by Sarabjot Singh in the men’s 10m air pistol as well as one silver and four bronze medals.
• The ISSF World Cup was introduced by the International Shooting Sport Federation in 1986 to provide a homogeneous system for qualification to the Olympic shooting competitions.
  • The International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF), founded in 1907, is the governing body of the Olympic shooting events in rifle, pistol and shotgun (clay target) disciplines, and of several non-Olympic shooting sport events.