ANSWER: B

ANSWER: A

ANSWER: D

ANSWER: B

• Reserve Bank Governor said it has been decided to include PM Vishwakarma under the Payments Infrastructure Development Fund (PIDF) Scheme.
• Also the tenure of the PIDF scheme has been extended by another two years till 2025.

ABOUT PIDF SCHEME

• Operationalised in January 2021, the PIDF Scheme aims at incentivising the deployment of payment acceptance infrastructure such as physical Point of Sale (PoS), Quick Response (QR) codes in tier-3 to tier-6 centres, north-eastern states and Union Territories of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh.
• As per the original plan, the tenure of PIDF scheme was fixed for three years till December 2023.
• As at end-August 2023, over 66 crore new touch points have been deployed under the scheme.
• Also, it is proposed to include beneficiaries of PM Vishwakarma Scheme in all centres under the PIDF Scheme.
• This decision to expand the targeted beneficiaries under the PIDF scheme will provide a fillip to the Reserve Bank’s efforts towards promoting digital transactions at the grassroots level.

ABOUT PM VISHWAKARMA SCHEME

• PM Vishwakarma scheme proposes to offer up to 8% subsidy for loans given to artisans.
• The scheme provides collateral-free loans up to ₹Rs 3 lakh to artisans at a very affordable interest rate of 5%.
• The scheme covers artisans related to 18 fields, including carpenter, goldsmith, blacksmith, mason, stone sculpture, barber and boatmakers.
• Initially, ₹1 lakh loan will be given and the beneficiary would be eligible for an additional ₹2 lakh after repayment schedule of 18 months.
• The components of the scheme will include not only financial support but also access to advanced skill training, knowledge of modern digital techniques and efficient green technologies, brand promotion, linkage with local and global markets, digital payments, and social security.

ANSWER: A

• India has been elected president of the Asia-Pacific Institute for Broadcasting Development (AIBD) General Conference (GC) for the third successive term.
• It is a first in the history of AIBD.
• The move shows the confidence broadcasting organisations across the Asia Pacific and the world reposed in India.

ABOUT ASIA-PACIFIC INSTITUTE FOR BROADCASTING DEVELOPMENT (AIBD)

• Established in 1977 under the auspices of UNESCO, the AIBD currently has 92 member organisations from across 44 countries, including 26 government members (countries) represented by 48 broadcasting authorities and broadcasters, and 44 affiliates (organisations) represented by 28 countries and regions in Asia, Pacific, Europe, Africa, Arab States and North America.
• India is one of the founding members of AIBD, and Prasar Bharati, India’s public service broadcaster, is the representative body of the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, Government of India, at
• The International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and the United Nations Educational, Scientific Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) and The Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU) are founding organizations of the Institute and they are non-voting members of the General Conference.
• Its secretariat is situated in Kuala Lumpur and is hosted by the Government of Malaysia.

ANSWER: C

• The Centre’s air quality panel directed authorities in the National Capital Region to enforce a ban on coal usage in hotels and restaurants, and to take punitive measures against polluting industries and thermal power plants as the air quality in Delhi plunged into the ‘poor’ category.
• The action comes as a part of the central government’s pollution control plan known as the ‘Graded Response Action Plan’ (GRAP) which is implemented in Delhi-NCR to combat air pollution during the winter season.
• The Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM), a statutory body responsible for proactively implementing GRAP, reported a “sudden decline” in air quality parameters in the region over the last 24 hours, with Delhi’s AQI reaching 212 (in the ‘poor’ category).
• Stage II measures involve increasing parking fees to discourage private transport and enhancing CNG/electric bus and metro services by introducing additional fleets and increasing service frequency.
• Under Stage III, BS III petrol and BS IV diesel four-wheelers are prohibited from operating in Delhi, Gurugram, Faridabad, Ghaziabad, and Gautam Buddh Nagar.
  • Stage III also involves a complete halt on construction and demolition work except for essential government projects, mining, and stone crushing.
  • It also includes a ban on the entry of light commercial vehicles registered outside Delhi and diesel-guzzling trucks, medium and heavy goods vehicles (except those involved in essential services).
• Stage IV includes banning all types of construction and demolition work.
  • State governments are authorized to decide on online classes for school students and work from home arrangements for government and private offices during such situations.

ANSWER: A

• United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) recently released the Children Displaced in a Changing Climate

MAJOR FINDINGS

• Over the last six years, weather-related disasters have forcefully displaced at least 134.1 million people, of which 32 per cent or 43.1 million were children from 44 countries.
• Thus at least three of every 10 persons displaced across the world due to weather-related disasters was a child.
• Storms (21.2 million) and floods (19.7 million) have been the most damaging and accounted for 95 per cent of forced child displacements in this period.
• The region with the largest number of weather-related child displacements was East Asia and the Pacific, followed by South Asia, UNICEF estimates showed.
• A little over 53 per cent (23 million) of the children displaced were in three countries – Philippines, India and China.
  • These three countries were highly prone to weather-related disasters and so, the risks may increase further due to climate-driven extreme weather events.
• The greatest proportion of child population displaced was in Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and countries in the Horn of Africa

ANSWER: C

• American Professor Claudia Goldin has won the 2023 Nobel Economics Prize for her comprehensive research on women’s contribution to the labor market.
• This was announced by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.
• The Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences 2023 is officially known as The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences
• Goldin, a professor at Harvard University, is the 55th recipient of the prestigious award and only she third woman to get the prize that was first presented in 1969.
• The prizes are handed out at awards ceremonies in December in Oslo and Stockholm.
• They carry a cash award of 11 million Swedish kronor (about $1 million).
• Winners also receive an 18-carat gold medal and diploma.

ANSWER: B

• Punjab government has decided to ban sowing of water-guzzling PUSA-44 variety of paddy crop from the next Kharif season.
• It takes 152 days for ripening as against the PR-126 variety which takes just 92 days.
• It was developed in 1993 by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR).
• By the end of 2010s, it had gained widespread popularity among farmers across the Punjab, covering approximately 70 to 80% of the area under paddy cultivation.

ANSWER: B

• Amid the ongoing counter-offensive by Israeli forces following the multi-pronged terror attacks by Hamas, tourists from Israel in the Kangra’s Dharamkot village shared their willingess to head back and serve their homeland in whatever way they can.
• Dharamkot is also known as ‘Mini Israel’ as it is the only village in Himachal to have a Jewish centre.