2023-September Part-4

1. In which state Indira Rasoi scheme has recently (in Sept ‘23) extended to provide
nutritious food for economically weaker and vulnerable sections at Rs 8 per meal?
1) West Bengal 2) Rajasthan 3) Haryana 4) Odisha 5) Telangana
2. Name the personality who has recently (in Sept ‘23) appointed as the brand ambassador
of Women’s fashion brand W?
3. Which of the following points is/are “correct” with respect to MoUs signed by PM of
India Narendra Modi and PM of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina in September 2023?
A) The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) and Bangladesh Bank signed a
MoU on Cooperation in Digital Payment mechanisms.
B) MoU on renewal of the Cultural Exchange Program (CEP) between India and
Bangladesh for 2023-2025.
C) Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and Bangladesh Agriculture
Research Council (BARC) signed a MoU to boost cooperation in agricultural research
and education.
1) Only A 2) Only A & B 3) Only B & C 4) Only A & C 5) All A, B & C
4. The Geographical Indications Registry has recently (in Sep ‘23) granted Geographical
Indication (GI) tags to Koraput Kalajeera Rice. The Koraput Kalajeera rice belongs to
___________ (state).
1) West Bengal 2) Andhra Pradesh 3) Kerala 4) Odisha 5) Tamil Nadu
 Chennai(Tamil Nadu) based Geographical Indications Registry has granted
Geographical Indication(GI) tags to Odisha’s ‘Koraput Kalajeera Rice’, which is
also known as the ‘Prince of Rice’
 Geographical Indication Registry functions under the the Department of
Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Ministry of Commerce
and Industry(MoCI).
 Kalajeera rice is believed to enhance memory, control diabetes, increase
haemoglobin levels, and boost metabolism.
 Darjeeling Tea has become the first GI tagged product in India in 2004-2005.
5. Name the company that has recently (in Sept ‘23) signed an MoU with the Indian
Railways’ Gati Shakti Vishwavidyalaya (GSV) Vadodara to enhance India’s aviation
sector?
1) Lockheed Martin 2) Boeing 3) Airbus 4) BAE Systems 5) Dassault Aviation
 Indian Railways’ Gati Shakti Vishwavidyalaya (GSV) Vadodara (Gujarat) and
Airbus, and European multinational aerospace corporation, signed a
Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for collaboration to enhance India’s
aviation sector.
 Gati Shakti Vishwavidyalaya is a Central University under Ministry of Railways
in Vadodara, Gujarat. This is India’s first University in the Transportation
and Logistics sectors.
 Chancellor– Ashwini Vaishnaw (Union Minister of Railways)
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 The MoU entails a partnership between two entities to establish a C295 aircraft
facility in Vadodara.
 It will support the creation of sector-specific training programs for students and
professionals, collaborative research, industry exposure for faculty, student
internships, placements, and scholarships
6. The United Nations (UN) released a report “Progress on the Sustainable Development
Goals: The gender snapshot 2023” with key highlighting that prevailing trends, gaps,
and recent setbacks on the journey towards achieving gender equality by ___________
(year).
1) 2027 2) 2025 3) 2026 4) 2030 5) 2028
 United Nations (UN)’s report titled “Progress on the Sustainable Development Goals:
The gender snapshot 2023” states that the world is failing in its efforts towards
achieving Sustainable Development Goals(SDG) 5: gender equality, due to the
biases against women around the world in health, education, employment and the
halls of power.
 This is the latest edition of the annual series jointly produced by the UN Women (UN
Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women) and UN
Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA).
 If current trends continue, by 2030, more than 340 million women and girls will
remain in extreme poverty, and nearly one in four will experience severe food
insecurity.
 About 1 out of every 10 women(10.3%), lives in extreme poverty with less than USD
2.15 a day.
 By 2030, about 8% of all the world’s women will still be living in extreme poverty (a
lot of them will be in Sub-Saharan Africa).
 Globally, 1 in 5 young women (19%) is married before age 18.
 In 2019, for each dollar earned by men in labor income, women earned only 51 cents.
 According to the report, an annual investment of USD 6.4 trillion is needed by 2030
in 48 developing countries (70% of population) to realise gender equality across
various crucial domains.
 With the current slow pace of change, women’s share of workplace management
positions will reach only 30% by 2050.
 None of the indicators are at “target met or almost met”
 2 indicators are “close to target”; 8 indicators are at a “moderate distance to target”; 4
indicators are “far or very far from target” and 4 indicators lack sufficient data to
assess at global level.
 Around 2.3 billion people across the globe are still using polluting fuels and
technologies for cooking and around 675 million people did not have access to
electricity in 2021.
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7. Global Fintech Fest (GFF) is the largest fintech 3-day conference held at Jio World
Convention Centre, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India .It was jointly organized by the National
Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), the Payments Council of India (PCI), and the
Fintech Convergence Council (FCC).
 Theme: Global collaboration for a responsible financial ecosystem -Inclusive |
Resilient | Sustainable.
 5th edition of GFF will take place on October 8-10, 2024.
 Dematerialized (Demat) Accounts: The number of demat accounts in India has grown
significantly, from 4.1 crore in 2019-20 to 10 crore in 2022-23, marking a 2.5-fold
growth.
8. Mutual Funds and Systematic Investment Plans (SIPs): There’s a record number of
mutual funds and SIPs, contributing to wealth generation with cities beyond the top 30 in
India have seen their share in total mutual fund assets grow from 15% to 26% in the last
four years
 Maharashtra remains the leader in terms of ITR (Income Tax Return) filings
9. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das recently announced five new
innovative payment solutions developed by the National Payments Corporation of
India (NPCI) at the Global Fintech Fest 2023.
 These solutions aim to expedite credit lines and advance the offline payments
ecosystem, contributing to a more inclusive, resilient, and sustainable digital
payments environment in India.
 Credit Line on UPI: This offering enables pre-sanctioned credit lines from banks
through Unified Payments Interface (UPI).
 Facilitates faster access to credit, promoting a streamlined and digital banking
system.
 UPI LITE X: Allows users to send and receive money offline using near-field
communication (NFC) technology.
 Expands offline payment capabilities to areas with poor connectivity. •
Transactions are limited to Rs 5,000 within the NFC payment limit.
 UPI Tap & Pay: Enhances quick response (QR) code and NFC technology adoption
for payments. Users can tap NFC-enabled QR codes at merchant locations for
payments.
 Hello! UPI — Conversational Payments on UPI: Enables voice-enabled UPI
payments in Hindi and English, with regional language support coming soon.
 Users can make payments via UPI apps, telecom calls, and IoT devices using
voice commands.
 Improves accessibility for users who prefer native languages and those less
experienced with digital payments.
 Users can simply give voice commands to transfer funds and input a UPI
Personal Identification Number (PIN) to complete the transaction.
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 BillPay Connect — Conversational Bill Payments: Introduces a nationalized

number for bill payments across India.
 Customers can pay bills by sending a simple message “Hi” or giving a missed
call.
 Voice-assisted bill payments are available through smart home devices and
physical collection centers.
10. Global Fintech Awards 2023: Adeeb Ahamed Wins Leading Fintech Personality of
the Year Award at GFF Mumbai.
 Fintech Awards recognize outstanding emerging start-ups, unique business models
and innovative founders and entrepreneurs across the globe.
 Adeeb Ahamed, Managing Director of LuLu Financial Holdings based in Abu
Dhabi. Ahamed has been instrumental in revolutionizing cross-border payments
between the GCC and India. His company operates a network of 300+ customer
engagement centers and digital payment solutions in 10 countries.
 Fintech Company of the Year- Open Network for Digital Commerce(ONDC)
(Ecommerce company)
 Fintech Leader of the Year- Bhavesh Gupta, President & COO, One97
Communications (Paytm)
 Champions of ESG -L&T Finance Special Fintech Achievements.
 Best Lending Startup- Kinara Capital
11. The State Bank of India (SBI), the largest lender in the country, has unveiled the ‘Nation
First Transit Card,’ also known as the RuPay National Common Mobility Card
(NCMC) Prepaid Card, at the Global Fintech Fest 2023.
 Dinesh Kumar Khara, Chairman of State Bank of India, highlighted how the ‘Nation
First Transit Card,’ powered by RuPay and National Common Mobility Card
(NCMC) technology, aligns with the national vision of “One Nation One Card” and
contributes to the country’s growth
 The card is designed to simplify the commuting experience by enabling digital fare
payments for metro, buses, water ferries, and parking, all through a single card.
 It also serves as a convenient means for retail and e-commerce transactions.
12. In September 2023, ____________ became the first foreign bank in India to offer an
Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC)-enabled proposition.
1) Standard Chartered Bank India 2) DBS Bank India 3) HSBC India 4) CSB Bank India
5) Citibank India
 As a part of this, the banking services are offered by HSBC India and the ONDC
Modules are offered by Protean and Adya.
 The end-to-end banking requirements for ONDC across Payments and Settlement are
serviced and managed by HSBC India.
 Benefits: This will offer a secure Application Programming Interface(API) for collections
and settlement and a wide suite of services offered for ONDC enablement.
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13. Name the bank that has recently (in Sept ‘23) became the first Public Sector Bank (PSB)
to offer Metal Debit Card, serving High-Net-Worth Individuals (HNI) and women
customers.
1) Union Bank of India 2) Bank of Baroda 3) Bank of India 4) Punjab National Bank 5)
Indian Bank

 Union Bank of India (UBI) has introduced two new Debit Card variants, the HNI
Emperio RuPay Metal Debit Card and the RuPay Empower Her Debit Card, in
association with the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI).
 With this, UBI became the first Public Sector Bank (PSB) to offer Metal Debit
Card cards, serving High-Net-Worth Individuals (HNI) and women customers.
14. Which Small Finance Bank (SFB) has recently (in Sept ‘23) introduced the Zenith+
Metal Credit Card, to expand its range of banking solutions?
1) Suryoday SFB 2) Equitas SFB 3) Jana SFB 4) AU SFB 5) Ujjivan SFB
15. Name the cloud computing services company that has recently (in Sept ‘23) partnered
with the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) to train government
officials in cybersecurity skills.
1) Amazon Web Services India 2) Google Cloud Platform 3) Oracle Cloud Infrastructure
4) IBM Cloud 5) Microsoft Azure India
16. Which bank has recently (in Sept ‘23) partnered with Cleartrip to introduce an
innovative proposition to provide travel benefits to both existing and new cardholders?
1) ICICI Bank 2) YES Bank 3) Axis Bank 4) HDFC Bank 5) IndusInd Bank
17. As per the 8th edition of the U.S. News & World Report’s Best Countries Rankings
2023 released in September 2023, India secured __________ rank, while _________
(country) topped as the world’s best country for the 2nd consecutive time.
1) 29th; Sweden 2) 30th; Switzerland 3) 29th; Canada 4) 30th; Sweden 5) 40th;
Switzerland
 According to the 8th edition of U.S. News & World Report’s Best Countries
Rankings 2023, India improved its ranking by one spot to claim 30th rank in 2023
with an overall score of 40.8. India was ranked 31 out of 85 in 2022.
 The list is topped by Switzerland, among 87 countries, for the second consecutive
time and sixth time overall.
 The rankings are developed in collaboration with global marketing communications
company WPP and its proprietary BAV brand analytics tool, and by the Wharton
School of the University of Pennsylvania, United States (US).
 India’s best performance came in the ‘Movers’ category by grabbing the 5th spot, in
which countries are ranked based on their future growth potential, including how
prepared it is to weather challenges posed by the global economy
 Cyprus, Honduras, and Zimbabwe have made their debut in the Best Country
Rankings, while El Salvador has rejoined the list after being absent in 2022.
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 The bottom 10 countries on the list include Cameroon(78), Algeria(79),

Myanmar(80), Honduras(81), Serbia(82), Uzbekistan(83), Kazakhstan(84),
Lebanon(85), Belarus(86), and Iran(87)
Rank Country
30 India
1 Switzerland
2 Canada
3 Sweden
4 Australia
5 United States of America (USA)
 According to the 17th edition of the Global Peace Index 2023 released by
international think-tank, the Institute for Economics & Peace (IEP), India has
ranked at 126th position by climbing nine positions from 2022. The list is topped
by Iceland.
18. .Which of the following points is/are “correct” with respect to the ‘Swachh Vayu
Survekshan-2023′ Award presented by the Union Minister Bhupender Yadav, Ministry of
Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) in August 2023?
A) Indore (Madhya Pradesh) secured the first rank followed by Agra (Uttar Pradesh)
and Thane (Maharashtra) in the second and third place respectively in category 1. (Those
cities with a population above 10 lakh fall under category 1.)
B) Amravati of Maharashtra bagged the top rank followed by Moradabad (Uttar
Pradesh) and Guntur (Andhra Pradesh) in the second and third place respectively in
Category-2(Those cities with a population between 3-10lacs)
C) Parwanoo of Himachal Pradesh bagged the top rank followed by Kala
Amb(Himachal Pradesh) and Angul(Odisha) in the second and third place respectively in
Category-3(Those cities with Population below 3 lacs)
D) The cities were assessed on eight major points, including control of biomass and
municipal solid waste burning, road dust, dust from construction and demolition waste,
vehicular emissions, industrial emissions, public awareness, and improvement in
Particulate Matter(PM)10(particles of 10 micrometers or less in diameter) concentration
E) International Day of Clear Air for Blue Sky on 7th September 2023
1) Only A 2) Only A & B 3) Only B & C 4) Only A & C 5) All A, B, C, D & E
19. Name the ministry that has recently (in Sept ‘23) set up a new permanent Central Empowered
Committee (CEC), replacing a Supreme Court (SC)’s ad hoc expert panel.
1) Ministry of Law and Justice 2) Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs 3) Ministry of Environment,
Forest and Climate Change 4) Ministry of Home Affairs 5) Ministry of Social Justice and
Empowerment
 The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) has set up a new
permanent Central Empowered Committee (CEC), replacing an ad hoc expert panel with
the same name which assisted the Supreme Court (SC) in matters of forest and
 2023-September Part-4

environment issues. CEC is instituted as a permanent statutory body on environmental

issues, and Government of India (GoI) has full control over the constitution of the CEC.
 This development followed the Forest Conservation (Amendment) Bill, 2023.
 In this regard, the Union government will nominate and appoint members to the new
CEC. It will comprise a chairperson, a member secretary and three expert members. The
chairperson, with a minimum of 25 years of experience in environmental, forestry, or
wildlife fields or substantial administrative expertise in government, will serve a
maximum term of 3 years.
20. When was International Literacy Day (ILD) 2023 observed across the globe by the United
Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO)?
 The 2023 theme of ILD is, ‘Promoting literacy for a world in transition: Building the
foundation for sustainable and peaceful societies’.
 The first-ever International Literacy Day was observed on 8th September 1967.
21. Name the rare green comet that recently (in Sept ‘23) made its debut in celestial vicinity after
more than four centuries.
1) Neanderthals 2) Nishimura 3) Ballal Sena 4) Altostratus 5) Cirrus

 A rare green comet, named the Nishimura, is making its debut in our celestial vicinity after
more than four centuries. Given that it won't be in our area again for 400 years, Northern
Hemisphere astronomy fans only have till early next week to witness this celestial visitor.
 On September 12, this comet, which is about a kilometer in size (about half a mile), will glide
by Earth gracefully at a distance of 78 million miles (125 million kilometers).