Daily Current Affairs Quiz – 22nd & 23rd September 2024

Correct Answer:  (a) Direct Tax

Explanation:  The Direct Tax ‘Vivad se Vishwas’ Act, 2020 was enacted on March 17, 2020, with the objective to reduce pending income tax litigation, generate timely revenue for the government and to benefit taxpayers. The scheme aims to end litigation and legacy disputes under the direct taxes category as ₹9.32 lakh crore worth of revenue is blocked in approximately 4.8 lakh appeals pending at various income tax appellate forums. The entities who opt for the scheme have to pay a requisite tax following which all litigation against them are closed by the tax department and penal proceedings dropped.

The scheme has reportedly received an overwhelming response with a settlement amount of over Rs 97,000 crore as of February. So far, over 1,25,144 of the 5,10,491 long-pending cases have been settled under the scheme. These comprise 24.5 per cent of the total number of such cases which were pending before the scheme was introduced.

Correct Answer:  (d) 28th

Explanation:  The government of India has appointed the current Vice Chief of the Air Staff, Air Marshal Amar Preet Singh, as the next Chief of the Air Staff of the Indian Air Force. Air Marshal Amar Preet Singh will be the 28th Chief of the Indian Air Force. He will take over as the Chief of the Indian Air Force on 30 September 2024, when the current  Chief of the Indian Air Force,  Air Marshal Vivek Ram Chaudhari, retires on the same day.

• Air Marshal Amar Preet Singh graduated from the National Defence Academy and was commissioned into the Indian Air Force as a fighter pilot in December 1984. During his nearly four decades of service, he has served in various command, staff, instructional and foreign appointments. Before being appointed Vice Chief of the Air Staff, he was the Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Central Air Command, Prayagraj.
• Air Marshal Amar Preet Singh commanded a MiG-27 squadron and, as a test pilot, led the MiG-29 Upgrade Project Management Team in Moscow, Russia. He strongly supports self-reliance in the Indian Air Force and has backed the development of the indigenous fighter plane Tejas. He was the Project Director (Flight Test) at the National Flight Test Centre and was tasked with flight testing of the Light Combat Aircraft Tejas. To prove the robustness and reliability of Tejas, he, along with the Vice Chiefs of the Indian Army, Navy and Air Force, flew the aircraft. He flew the lead Tejas aircraft, and the Army Vice Chief Lt Gen NS Raja Subramani and Navy Vice Chief Vice Admiral Krishna Swaminathan flew in a twin-seater Tejas aircraft.

Correct Answer:  (b) Kiran Rao

Explanation:  The Hindi comedy film ‘Laapataa Ladies’, produced by Amir Khan and Kiran Rao and directed by Kiran Rao, has been chosen to be India’s official entry for the International Feature Film Category at the 97th Academy Awards 2025 (popularly known as the Oscars).  The international Feature film category is for the country-selected feature film. The 97th Academy Awards ceremony will be held on 2nd March 2025 in Los Angeles, United States of America. Last year, the superhit Malayalam film “ 2018: Everyone’s a Hero” was India’s official entry for the 96th Oscar Award 2024.

• The Hindi film Laapataa Ladies was chosen by a 13-member jury of the Film Federation of India, headed by renowned Assamese Director Jahnu Barua.  The committee reviewed 30 films nominated to represent India at the 97th Oscar Awards.  Some of the films that were considered were Hanuman, Kalki 2898 AD, Aattam, All We Imagine As Light, Vaazhai, Thangalaan, Chandu Champion, Sam Bahadur, Swatantrya Veer Savarkar, Maidaan, and Joram.
• The film is about two young brides who get switched to their husbands’ homes during a train journey. The film is a satire on India’s patriarchal system and focuses on promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment in rural India. The film stars Nitanshi Goel, Pratibha Ranta, Sparsh Shrivastava, Chhaya Kadam, and Ravi Kishan, among others, in key roles.

Correct Answer:  (c) 6th

Explanation:  India has become the 6th largest market in the Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) All Country World Investable Market Index (ACWI IMI), surpassing China and just marginally behind France. Also, for the 1st time, India has surpassed China to become the largest weighting in the MSCI Emerging Market Investable Market Index (EM IMI). The combined weight of India’s domestic stocks, as part of the MSCI EM IMI Index stood at 22.7% compared to 21.58% of China. As of 31st August 2024, India’s weight in the MSCI ACWI IMI stood at 2.35%, 11 basis points (bps) higher than China’s 2.24%. While, France MSCI AWI IMI is just 3 bps higher than India i.e. 2.38%.

Correct Answer:  (d) Jana Small Finance Bank Limited

Explanation: Jana Small Finance Bank Limited has recently launched its new “Liquid Plus” Fixed Deposit (FD), offering an interest rate of 6.75% per annum. This innovative product is designed to cater to customers seeking a reliable investment option that balances returns with liquidity, making it an appealing choice for both new and existing clients. The launch aligns with Jana Small Finance Bank’s commitment to providing innovative financial solutions that meet the evolving needs of its customers.

The Liquid Plus is designed to cater to the needs of individuals, High-Net-Worth Individuals (HNIs) and corporates seeking short term investments options with safety, liquidity and assured returns.

• Tenure:Its tenure ranges from 7 days to 180 days.
• Minimum Deposit:To open this FD, customers need to invest a minimum of Rs 10 Lakhs for retail deposits, with maximum up to Rs 3 crores. In case of bulk Fixed Deposit it is Rs 3 crore and maximum value is upto Rs 200 crore.
• It allows for same-day redemption (T+0), granting immediate access to your funds. It provide the option to withdraw a portion of FD whenever necessary.
• This term deposit comes with no exit load, offering flexibility and peace of mind in the event of early withdrawal.
• Additionally, an overdraft can be secured against FD, to address urgent cash needs without needing to liquidate deposit.
• This FD is available to a wide range of customers, including individuals, partnerships and various organizations, enhancing accessibility for diverse investors.

Correct Answer:  (a) Mizoram

Explanation:  Pu Lalduhoma, the Chief Minister (CM) of Mizoram has launched the ‘Mizoram Bana Kaih‘ (Handholding) Scheme, to offer financial support and assistance to small entrepreneurs and farmers across Mizoram. The support will be provided through a series of programs designed to promote economic growth and self-sufficiency. The government has allotted Rs 200 crore for the scheme’s implementation for 2024-25, in addition to the Rs 110 crore budget provided for agricultural assurance in the Financial Year (FY) 2023-24.

• Bana Kaih scheme comprises five crucial components, Handholding support to progress partners (individual or organisation selected to receive comprehensive assistance. Support to implementing Departments that provide support to progress partners. Sustainable Development through clusters approach (both agri & allied clusters and Industrial clusters). Market Support, through market information, price support and market linkages. Participative planning and Innovations for sustaninble developmnt , through integraion of development procress across Mizoram. The scheme, which came into force on 19th September 2024 will be implemented for an initial period of 5 years.
• A financial assistance package for selected progress partners (beneficiaries), offering loans up to Rs. 50 lakh through partner banks. The beneficiaries who repay their loans may also be benefit from interest subventions of up to 100%, providing assistance to those who satisfy their repayment obligations. It includes the Special Category policy, which offers grants-in-aid of up to Rs.1 lakh. Market support is another important component of this scheme. The government introduced a Minimum Support Price (MSP) for four vital crops: ginger, broom, turmeric, and Mizo birdeye chili as part of this initiative. It is decided to buy paddy (unhusked grains) for Rs 30 per kilogram (kg), mainly from Kolasib and Mamit districts.

Correct Answer:  (c) KVS Manian

Explanation:  KVS Manian has officially taken charge as the Managing Director and CEO of Federal Bank, effective September 23, 2024. He succeeds Shyam Srinivasan, who retired after successfully leading the bank since 2010. Manian joins Federal Bank following a distinguished career at Kotak Mahindra Bank, where he worked for over 25 years and played a key role in its transformation from a non-banking financial company to one of India’s leading private sector banks. An electrical engineer from IIT (BHU) Varanasi, he also holds a postgraduate degree in Financial Management from Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies and is a qualified Cost and Works Accountant.

• Before joining Federal Bank, Manian held senior leadership positions at Kotak Mahindra Bank, where he was instrumental in driving the growth of its corporate, institutional, and investment banking sectors, as well as wealth management.
• Manian steps into the role vacated byShyam Srinivasan’s retirement, continuing the legacy of leadership at the Kochi-based Federal Bank, a prominent private sector lender.
• Manian holds an electrical engineering degree from IIT Varanasi, a postgraduate degree in Financial Management from JBIMS, Mumbai, and is also a qualified Cost and Works Accountant.

Correct Answer:  (b) 2022

Explanation:  India signed and exchanged the first-of-its-kind agreements focused on Clean Economy, Fair Economy, and the IPEF Overarching arrangement under Indo -Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) for prosperity, on 21st September, 2024 at Delaware USA, in the presence of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi who is on 3-day visit to the US for the Quad Summit. IPEF Clean Economy Agreement (Pillar-III) The Agreement on Clean Economy intends to promote technical cooperation, workforce development, capacity building, and research collaborations; and collaborate to facilitate development, access, and deployment of clean energy and climate-friendly technologies.

This Agreement will facilitate investments, project financing including concessional financing, joint collaborative projects, workforce development and Technical Assistance and Capacity Building for industries, in particular for the MSMEs, and facilitate further integration of Indian companies in the global value chains, particularly in the Indo-Pacific region. IPEF Fair Economy Agreement (Pillar-IV) The Agreement aims to create a more transparent and predictable trade and investment environment across the Indo-Pacific. To achieve these goals, the IPEF partners will collaborate to enhance their efforts in preventing and combating corruption, including bribery, and supporting initiatives to improve tax transparency, etc.

It focuses on enhancing information sharing among partners, facilitating asset recovery, and strengthening cross-border investigations and prosecutions. This will also support India’s efforts in fighting corruption, money laundering, and terror financing. Overarching IPEF Agreement The Overarching Agreement is an administrative agreement establishing an oversight Ministerial-level mechanism. This Agreement seeks to establish a high-level political oversight framework at the Ministerial level over the various individual IPEF agreements while setting general guidance and goals, and guiding Leaders’ vision and mandate for IPEF. This agreement is expected to facilitate the effective implementation of subject agreements (Pillars II-IV), that have the potential to enhance India’s productive capacity, and integration into supply chains, and promote innovation, in line with the concept of Atmanirbhar Bharat. IPEF to boost investment Investor Forum: Under Clear Economy (Pillar-III) Agreement, IPEF partners aim to catalyze investment in green technology and reduce GHG emissions through various means including annual business matching events under the Investor Forum.

The First Investor Forum was held in Singapore on 5-6 June, 2024. One such effort was accelerated in the form of an MoU among companies from India, Singapore, and Japan following which, Singapore-based Sembcorp will be investing Rs. 36,238 crore for a state-of-the-art green ammonia plant in Thoothukudi. Initiatives under IPEF IPEF Upskilling Initiative: IPEF Upskilling Initiative was launched in September 2022 to support sustainable and inclusive economic growth and development by providing primarily for women and girls in IPEF emerging and middle-income partner countries with access to digital skills training. About IPEF IPEF was launched on 23 May 2022 in Tokyo, Japan, comprising 14 countries – Australia, Brunei, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, and USA. The IPEF seeks to strengthen economic engagement and cooperation among partner countries to advance growth and economic stability. The framework is structured around four pillars relating to Trade (Pillar I); Supply Chain Resilience (Pillar II); Clean Economy (Pillar III); and Fair Economy (Pillar IV). India has ratified Agreement on Supply Chain Resilience (Pillar II) in February 2024 and has maintained an observer status in Pillar-I.

Correct Answer:  (a) SimpliZCloud

Explanation:  IBM and NTT DATA have forged a partnership in India and introduced SimpliZCloud, a fully managed cloud service built on IBM LinuxONE designed for the Indian financial services sector. Targeting critical workloads such as core banking applications, lending, and risk management, the platform offers financial institutions a scalable and, secure infrastructure to enhance performance and optimise operational costs. SimpliZCloud leverages AI and hybrid cloud technologies, providing dedicated compute and storage resources with Software Defined Networking (SDN).The platform allows financial institutions to manage evolving applications efficiently, supporting increasing workloads without compromising performance.

Correct Answer:  (c) Time to act on dementia, Time to act on Alzheimer’s

Explanation:  World Alzheimer’s Day is celebrated annually on September 21. Alzheimer’s Disease International (ADI) introduced this day in 1994. The focus is on raising awareness and supporting research for better treatments. The theme for World Alzheimer’s Day 2024 is focused on action against dementia (Time to act on dementia, Time to act on Alzheimer’s.). This year’s initiative aims to combat stigma and improve public perceptions of Alzheimer’s. The campaign encourages constructive steps towards creating an Alzheimer-friendly society. September is recognized as World Alzheimer’s Month, extending awareness efforts beyond just one day.

Correct Answer:  (d) Anura Kumara Dissanayake

Explanation:  Anura Kumara Dissanayake was sworn in as the 9th President of Sri Lanka for a six-year term in a ceremony at the Presidential Secretariat building in Colombo on 23 September 2024. The Election Commission of Sri Lanka on 22 September declared Anura Kumara Dissanayake as the winner of the recently held Presidential election after the second round of counting in the Presidential election. Anura Kumara Dissanayake replaced  Ranil Wickremesinghe as the President of Sri Lanka, who came a distant third in the Presidential election with just 17% of the vote.

Anura Kumara Dissanayake is a left-leaning politician and leader of the Marxist political party Janatha Vimukti Peramuna (JVP). In the Presidential election, he was the candidate of the National People Power alliance, of which JVP is a member. The JVP is a hardline Marxist group which led an armed insurrection against the Sri Lankan government from 1987 to 1989 in which thousands of government officials and civilians were killed. The JVP and the National People’s Power alliance rose to prominence during the 2022 people’s revolt, also known in the Sinhala language as Aragalaya (The Struggle), against the Gotabaya Rajapaksa regime.  During his election campaign, Dissanayake promised tough anti-corruption measures, bigger welfare schemes, and a cut in taxes in the country.

Correct Answer:  (b) Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub

Explanation:  Russian cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub have set a new record for the longest single mission aboard the International Space Station (ISS).Russia’s state space corporation Roscosmos said that Kononenko and Chub broke the previous record for the longest continuous stay in space, which was set by cosmonauts Sergei Prokopyev, Dmitry Petelin, and, NASA astronaut Francisco Rubio. The three set the previous record last year by spending 370 days aboard the International Space Station. Kononenko and Chub are expected to return to Earth on the Soyuz MS-25 spacecraft on September 23, 2024, after spending a record 374 days in space.

Correct Answer:  (c) Tripura

Explanation:  Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha launched the ‘Mukhyamantri Nagar Unnayan Prakalp,’ a Rs 530 crore water supply project funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), aiming to upgrade drinking water infrastructure in 12 cities. The project, expected to be completed in three years, will address water needs for over 75,000 families across the state. The project will cover 12 cities: Udaipur, Amarpur, Belonia, Melaghar, Bishramganj, Khowai, Ranir Bazar, Mohanpur, Dharmanagar, Kailashhar, Kumarghat, and Ambassa. Seven of these are district headquarters. The scheme includes laying 305 km of water pipelines, constructing 25 deep tubewells, 18 Iron Removal Plants, four water treatment plants, and 19 water reservoirs. In the second phase, the scheme will be extended to other areas, including Agartala Municipal Corporation.

Chief Minister Saha emphasized the government’s priority on access to clean drinking water and expressed gratitude to Prime Minister Modi and Finance Minister Sitharaman for their support in securing ADB funding. Finance Minister Pranajit Singha Roy criticized previous governments for failing to develop necessary water infrastructure, while Tripura’s Urban Development Secretary Abhishek Singh highlighted the one-year effort to finalize the project.

Correct Answer:  (b) 23rd September

Explanation:  The UN General Assembly has proclaimed 23 September as the International Day of Sign Languages in order to raise awareness of the importance of sign language in the full realization of the human rights of people who are deaf. This celebration arises from the 2017 UN General Assembly Resolution A/RES/72/16, which recognizes 23rd September as the International Day of Sign Languages.  As per the UN, the resolution establishing the day acknowledges that early access to sign language and services in sign language, including quality education available in sign language, is vital to the growth and development of the deaf individual and critical to the achievement of the internationally agreed development goals.  It recognizes the importance of preserving sign languages as part of linguistic and cultural diversity.

Introduction to Sign Languages and Indian Sign Language

Numbers 

• According to the World Federation of the Deaf, there are more than 70 million deaf people worldwide.
• More than 80% of them live in developing countries.
• Collectively, they use more than 300 different sign languages.

Sign languages vis-a-vis natural language

• The UN defines Sign languages as fully fledged natural languages, structurally distinct from the spoken languages.
• Indian Sign Language (ISL) is a natural visual-manual language native to the Deaf community of India and used by both Deaf and Hearing community.

Correct Answer:  (c) Brazil

Explanation:  The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAPA) of Brazil in the area of food safety. The MoU was signed by Agriculture and Livestock Minister Carlos Henrique Baqueta Fávaro and CEO of FSSAI, G. Kamala Vardhana Rao, on the sidelines of the Global Food Regulators Summit in New Delhi. The MoU aimed at improving food safety through joint projects and technical collaboration. CEO of FSSAI added that the MoU demonstrates India’s dedication to food safety and signifies a major advancement in its ongoing efforts to enhance international collaboration in food safety. FSSAI also conducted a bilateral meeting with the Bhutan Food and Drug Authority (BFDA) on the sidelines of the Global Food Regulators Summit. The meeting focused on the implementation protocol of the agreement signed between India and BFDA in March this year during the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.