Current Affairs One-Liner:19th October 2023

• National:

• The Union Minister for Power and New & Renewable Energy, Shri R. K. Singh, launched a new EV-Ready India Dashboard (evreadyindia.org) in New Delhi. This dashboard is a free digital platform that focuses on near real-time Electric Vehicle adoption and forecasts, associated battery demand, charging density, and market growth trends.

• The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has signed a contract with Cochin Shipyard Limited for the mid-life upgrade and re-powering of INS Beas.The contract, signed on October 16, 2023, is valued at an overall cost of Rs. 313.42 crore.
• The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations recently released a report titled ‘The Impact of Disasters on Agriculture and Food Security 2023-Avoiding and reducing losses through investment in resilience’.
• The 3/5 Gorkha Rifles (Frontier Force) team of the Indian Army has indeed won a gold medal at the Cambrian Patrol Competition 2023 International Military Exercise in Wales, UK.
• The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a USD 181 million loan to enhance the quality of urban infrastructure and services in the peri-urban areas of Ahmedabad city in Gujarat. This project is known as the Ahmedabad Peri-urban Livability Improvement Project.
• Bharti Group has entered into a binding agreement with its joint venture partner AXA to acquire its 49% stake in Bharti AXA Life Insurance. This acquisition will make Bharti AXA Life Insurance a wholly-owned subsidiary of Bharti Enterprises.
• The Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) has announced that it will invest Rs 1,660.15 crore in a joint venture with NTPC Ltd to set up renewable power plants. The joint venture, named IndianOil NTPC Green Energy Pvt Ltd, aims to meet the energy requirements of IOC refineries by generating a minimum capacity of 650 MW of round-the-clock renewable power.
• The occurrence of tilapia parvovirus (TiPV) affecting farm-bred tilapia, a freshwater fish species, and causing a huge mortality rate has been reported for the first time in India at ponds in Walajah in Ranipet district of Tamil Nadu.
• The Andhra Pradesh government is set to start a caste census for Backward Classes communities from November 15. The census aims to better serve the 139 communities falling under this category.
• The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by the Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, has approved the increase in the Minimum Support Prices (MSP) for all mandated Rabi Crops for Marketing Season 2024-25.
• The Central Government has approved the establishment of the Khelo India State Excellence Centre (KISCE) at the newly constructed open stadium located at Spithuk in the Leh district of Ladakh.
• The Uttar Pradesh government will organize the three-day ‘Sri Anna Mahotsav’ and a state-level millet workshop in Lucknow from October 27 to 29. The event is aimed at creating awareness among people and farmers with regard to the cultivation and consumption of millets in the state.
• The President of India, Smt Droupadi Murmu, launched the fourth Krishi Road Map (2023-2028) of Bihar at Patna on October 18, 2023. The roadmap focuses on increasing agricultural production in the state and raising farmers’ incomes over the next five years.
• The Union Cabinet approved a 4% increase in the Dearness Allowance (DA) for central government employees on October 18, 2023. This increase is applicable from July 1, 2023.
• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has imposed a penalty on ICICI Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank for violation of certain banking regulatory norms.The penalty on ICICI Bank, amounting to Rs.12.19 crore, has been imposed for contravention of norms related to ‘Loans and Advances-Statutory and Other restrictions’ and 'Frauds classification and reporting’.
• Obituaries:
• Louise Glück, the American poet and essayist who won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2020, has passed away at the age of 80. Her death was confirmed by her editor at Farrar, Straus & Giroux. She died of cancer at her home in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
• Appointments:
• Raghubar Das, the former Chief Minister of Jharkhand, has been appointed as the new governor of Odisha by President Droupadi Murmu. He will replace Ganeshi Lal, who has been serving as the governor since May 2018.
• Siddharth Mridul has been appointed as the Chief Justice of the Manipur High Court. He took oath as the new Chief Justice of Manipur High Court, administered by Manipur Governor Anusuiya Uikey at the Raj Bhawan in Imphal.

Questions:

Q.1 Who has been appointed as the new governor of Odisha?
a. Ganeshi Lal
b. Raghubar Das
c. Droupadi Murmu
d. None of the above

Q.2 Who was appointed as the Chief Justice of the Manipur High Court on October 16, 2023?

a. Justice Dipak Misra
b. Justice Ranjan Gogoi
c. Justice Siddharth Mridul
d. Justice Sharad Arvind Bobde