ANSWER: C

ANSWER: B

ANSWER: B

ANSWER: A

ANSWER: B

• Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh Narayan Singh participated in the 148th meeting of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, IPU, in Geneva, Switzerland. He led the Indian parliamentary delegation.
• The delegation includes five Rajya Sabha members – S. Niranjan Reddy, Kartikeya Sharma, Ashok Mittal, Prashanta Nanda, and Sumitra Balmik – along with Rajya Sabha Secretary General PC Mody.
• The Indian delegation highlighted the issues such as parliamentary diplomacy and building bridges for peace and understanding.
• The delegation attended the meetings of the IPU Asia Pacific Geo Political Group, APG BRICS Parliamentary Coordination Forum and IPU Forum of Women Parliamentarians. It also held a bilateral meeting with the Parliamentary delegation of Thailand.

ABOUT INTER-PARLIAMENTARY UNION

• The Inter-Parliamentary Union is an international organization of national parliaments. Its primary purpose is to promote democratic governance, accountability, and cooperation among its members; other initiatives include advancing gender parity among legislatures, empowering youth participation in politics, and sustainable development.
• The organization was established in 1889 as the Inter-Parliamentary Congress.
• Headquarters– Geneva, Switzerland
• Membership – 180 Members

ANSWER: B

• World Theatre Day, observed annually on March 27, celebrates the significance of theatrical arts and their role in the entertainment industry.
• The theme for World Theatre Day 2024 is ‘Theatre and a Culture of Peace’.

ABOUT WORLD THEATRE DAY

• The World Theatre Day was established by the International Theatre Institute (ITI) in 1962, and the first ever World Theatre Day was celebrated in the same year on 27 March.
• This day is dedicated to the promotion of the art form of theatre across the world.
• Every year on March 27, the ITI asks a famous artist to write a message about theatre. This message shares the artist’s thoughts on the art of theatre and its future.
• This tradition began in 1962 with a message written by Jean Cocteau.

ANSWER: B

• The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters has decided to award the Abel Prize for 2024 to Michel Talagrand of the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS), Paris, France.
• Michel Talagrand receives the prize for his work in probability theory and stochastic processes.
• The common theme in Michel Talagrand’s groundbreaking discoveries is working with and understanding the random processes we see all around us. It has now become apparent that a thorough understanding of random phenomena is essential in today’s world.

ABOUT ABEL PRIZE:

• The Abel Prize is named after Niels Henrik Abel, Norway’s greatest mathematician throughout the times.
• The Abel Prize was established by the Norwegian Parliament (The Storting) in 2002, on the occasion the 200-year anniversary of his birth. The Prize is 7,5 million Norwegian Kroner.

ANSWER: C

• Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi was sworn in as judicial member, Lokpal. The oath was administered by Justice A. M. Khanwilkar, Chairperson, Lokpal of India.
• Shri Pankaj Kumar and Shri Ajay Tirkey took oath as member, Lokpal. The oath ceremony was organised today at Lokpal of India office in New Delhi.
• The new appointments took place as two existing Judicial Members namely Justice P. K. Mohanty and Justice Abhilasha Kumari and three Members namely Shri D. K. Jain, Smt. Archana Ramasundaram and Shri Mahender Singh have completed their tenure in Lokpal on 26th March 2024.
• Shri Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi, before joining as Judicial Member, Lokpal of India, was serving as the Chairperson of 22nd Law Commission of India. Before that, he was Chief Justice of Karnataka High Court.
• Shri Pankaj Kumar is a 1986 batch IAS officer from Gujarat cadre. Before joining as Member of Lokpal of India, he was serving as Chief Secretary of Gujarat.
• Shri Ajay Tirkey is a 1987 batch IAS officer from Madhya Pradesh cadre. Before joining as Member of Lokpal of India, he was serving as Secretary of Department of Land Resources, Government of India.

ABOUT LOKPAL IN INDIA:

• The idea of a constitutional ombudsman in India was first presented in Parliament in the early 1960s by Law Minister Ashok Kumar Sen.
• The terms Lokpal and Lokayukta were introduced by eminent jurist LM Singhvi.
• The Lokpal and Lokayukta Act, 2013 provided for the institution of Lokpal for the Union and Lokayukta for the States.
• These institutions are statutory bodies with no constitutional status.
• Till 2011, eight attempts were made to pass a bill related to this, but all attempts were unsuccessful.
• In the year 2011, the government constituted a group of ministers under the chairmanship of Pranab Mukherjee to give suggestions to curb corruption. This committee was formed to examine the proposal of Lokpal Bill.
• The ‘India Movement against Corruption’ under the leadership of Anna Hazare put pressure on the then UPA government at the Centre. As a result, the Lokpal and Lokayukta Bill, 2013 was passed in both the houses of the Parliament.
• On January 1, 2014, the President gave his assent to it, which came into force on January 16, 2014.
• The Lokpal and Lokayukta Act, 2013 has provided for the institution of Lokpal for the Center and Lokayukta for the states.

ANSWER: C

• The Election Commission is keeping a close eye on the election process through the cVIGIL app.
• It is a single app for recording, reporting, and resolving violations of the model code of conduct. Through this app, online complaints regarding violations of the model code of conduct can be made by capturing photos, videos etc.
• The cVIGIL app of Election Commission has become an effective tool in the hands of people to flag election code violations.
• The citizens can report Model Code of Conduct and expenditure violations through this app.
• Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv kumar said that the cVIGIL empowers citizens to report model code of conduct violations and assured action within 100 minutes.

ANSWER: B

• India made history by making a Guinness World record with participation of 128 players, on The World Kabaddi Day, 24 March.
• This new history in the field of Kabaddi game has been written at Tau Devi Lal Stadium in Panchkula
• An MOU recently signed between Holistic International Pravasi Sports Association (HIPSA) and the Government of Haryana, for the promotion of Kabaddi, globally, was one of the main reasons to choose India as a venue and Haryana in particular, for the event.
• While Guinness had set the record benchmark for 84 players to break the record, the organizers had challenged the record, with an attempt for 154 players.