Tnpsc Current Affairs in English – 5th September 2023
1. Which Indian has won the 2023 Ramon Magsaysay award?
[A] Ravi Kannan
[B] Gautam Adani
[C] Ghazal Alagh
[D] Kailash Vidyarthi
Answer: [A] Ravi Kannan
Assam-based Oncologist Ravi Kannan has been named one of the four winners of the 2023 Ramon Magsaysay Award, Asia’s equivalent of the Nobel prize. He is a recipient of India’s fourth-highest civilian award Padma Shri and the director of Assam’s Cachar Cancer Hospital and Research Centre (CCHRC).
2. Who is the first woman to head the Railway Board of India?
[A] Jaya Verma Sinha
[B] Soma Mondal
[C] Madhabi Puri Buch
[D] Rekha Sharma
Answer: [A] Jaya Verma Sinha
The Union government appointed Jaya Verma Sinha Chairperson of the Railway Board, becomes the first woman to head the Board. Jaya Verma Sinha succeeded Anil Kumar Lahoti as chairman and chief executive officer of the Railway Board. Sinha is a seasoned member of the Indian Railway Management Services (IRMS).
3. What is India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) percent in the April-June quarter of the current fiscal (2023-2024)?
[A] 5.8 per cent
[B] 6.8 per cent
[C] 7.8 per cent
[D] 8.8 per cent
Answer: [C] 7.8 per cent
India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) registered a growth of 7.8 percent in the April-June quarter of the current fiscal (2023-2024), compared to a growth of 6.1 percent in the previous January-March quarter of fiscal 2022-23. According to official data shared by the National Statistical Office, India’s nominal GDP or GDP at Current Prices in the first quarter showed a growth rate of 8 percent as compared to 27.7 percent in the previous year’s first quarter.
4. What was India’s goods and services tax collection in August 2023?
[A] Rs 1.34 lakh crore
[B] Rs 1.59 lakh crore
[C] Rs 1.65 lakh crore
[D] Rs 1.72 lakh crore
Answer: [B] Rs 1.59 lakh crore
The Goods and Services Tax (GST) revenues for August 2023 have shown a growth of 11 per cent year-on-year as it stands at Rs 1.59 lakh crore. The increase is due to increased compliance and reduced evasion. In August 2022, the collection from GST was Rs 1,43,612 crore. Out of the Rs 1.59 lakh crore GST collected, CGST accounted for Rs 28,328 crore, SGST for Rs 35,794 crore, IGST for Rs 83,251 crore, and cess for Rs 11,695 crore.
5. In the August, the number of UPI transactions performed which milestone?
[A] 5 billion
[B] 10 billion
[C] 15 billion
[D] 20 billion
Answer: [B] 10 billion
10 billion UPI transactions were performed for the first time in August in India, according to data from the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), which runs the real-time payments platform. The real-time mobile payment platform is likely to end August with around 10.5 billion transactions with the cumulative value crossing the Rs 15-lakh-crore figure for the second consecutive month.
6. ‘Bhaderwah Rajmash and Sulai honey’, which got Geographical Indication (GI) tag, is from which State/UT?
[A] Assam
[B] Jammu and Kashmir
[C] Rajasthan
[D] West Bengal
Answer: [B] Jammu and Kashmir
Bhaderwah Rajmash and Sulai honey of Doda and Ramban districts of Jammu and Kashmir, have been granted Geographical Indication (GI) tags. In 2015, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had gifted organic Sulai honey to Queen Elizabeth during his visit to Britain.
7. What is the name of the World’s Most Advanced Arabic Large Language Model, which was released recently?
[A] Gyaan
[B] Ruez
[C] Jais
[D] Rooh
Answer: [C] Jais
Inception, a unit of Abu Dhabi AI company G42, has released ‘Jais’, the world’s most advanced Arabic large language model. Jais is a bilingual Arabic-English model that has been trained on a massive dataset of text and code. It can be used for a variety of tasks, such as machine translation, text summarization, and question answering. It was trained on the Condor Galaxy, the world’s largest AI supercomputer, using 116 billion Arabic tokens and 279 billion English tokens.
8. Which Union Ministry launched the ‘Mera Bill-Mera Adhikar Scheme’?
[A] Ministry of Finance
[B] Ministry of Corporate Affairs
[C] Ministry of MSME
[D] Ministry of Home Affairs
Answer: [A] Ministry of Finance
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman launched the Mera Bill-Mera Adhikar Scheme from Gurugram on September 1. The scheme will be launched in the states of Assam, Gujarat, and Haryana; and the UTS of Puducherry, Daman & Diu, and Dadra & Nagar Haveli. Two bumper prizes of 1 crore each will be given away every quarter to the winners of Mera Bill Meral Adhikaar’.
9. Nilachal Flyover, which was seen in the news, is located in which state?
[A] Assam
[B] Sikkim
[C] Arunachal Pradesh
[D] West Bengal
Answer: [A] Assam
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma inaugurated the State’s longest flyover, named Nilachal Flyover after the Nilachal Hills near which it stands. It measures a total of 2.63 kilometres and starting from Maligaon Chariali to Kamakhya Gate in Guwahati. The flyover was built at a cost of ₹420.75 crore.
10. What is the name of the blockchain-based project launched by the National Payments
Corporation of India (NPCI)?
[A] Falcon
[B] Grape
[C] Pay See
[D] Orange
Answer: Falcon
The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), announced the launch of Falcon blockchain-based project named ‘Falcon’. It is an open-source project that aims to simplify the management and use of blockchains based on ‘Hyperledger Fabric’ and supported on Kubernetes clusters. Essentially, Falcon is expected to help developers innovate on blockchain-based payment solutions.
11. Renewable Energy Technology Action Platform (RETAP) is associated with India and which country?
[A] Sri Lanka
[B] USA
[C] Russia
[D] France
Answer: [B] USA
The new U.S. – India Renewable Energy Technology Action Platform (RETAP) under the Strategic Clean Energy Partnership has been launched. RETAP was announced meeting in Washington D. C., between His Excellency Joseph R. Biden, President of the United States of America and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, when the two leaders announced the expansion of collaboration on new and emerging technologies to accelerate the clean energy transition.
12. Which Indian chess player replaced Viswanathan Anand as the country’s top- ranked player?
[A] R Praggnananda
[B] D Gukesh
[C] Nihal Sarin
[D] Arjun Erigaisi
Answer: [B] D Gukesh
17-year-old D Gukesh took over as the country’s top-ranked player from Viswanathan Anand in FIDE’s monthly rankings list. It has been 37 years since anyone other than Anand holding the top position. The five-time World champion is currently ranked ninth, a spot below Gukesh on the world list, is semi-retired from active chess.
13. United Nations Biodiversity has urged people to use which word, instead of ‘flora and fauna’?
[A] Funga
[B] Alga
[C] Wild
[D] Species
Answer: [A] Funga
United Nations Biodiversity has urged people globally to use the word ‘funga’ whenever they say ‘flora and fauna’, in order to highlight the importance of fungi. Fungi, along with Animalia (animals), Plantae (plants), Protista, Archaea/Archaebacteria, and Bacteria or Eubacteria form the six ‘kingdoms’ of biology.
14. Which was the wettest town in the country, during August 2023?
[A] Rishikesh
[B] Cherrapunji
[C] Haridwar
[D] Mawsynram
Answer: [A] Rishikesh
For most of August 2023, Rishikesh in Uttarakhand held the record as the wettest town in the country. Between August 1 and August 25 the town received 1,901 millimetres of rainfall, according to Typhoon Research Centre of Jeju National University in South Korea. During the same period, the two wettest places in India and the world, Cherrapunji and Mawsynram, received 1,876.3 mm and 1,464 mm rainfall respectively.
15. Which country is set to produce its own high-bandwidth memory (HBM) for AI processors?
[A] China
[B] Israel
[C] India
[D] USA
Answer: [A] China
China is exploring ways to produce its own high- bandwidth memory (HBM), the next-generation of memory chips tailored for artificial intelligence (AI) processors, amid US sanctions. China’s top dynamic random access memory (DRAM) maker, ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT), is the country’s best hope for HBMs.
16. Utkela Airport has been inaugurated in which state/UT?
[A] Odisha
[B] West Bengal
[C] Assam
[D] Arunachal Pradesh
Answer: [A] Odisha
Union Minister of Civil Aviation Jyotiraditya M Scindia inaugurated Utkela Airport and a direct flight between Utkela and Bhubaneshwar. Utkela airport is owned by the Government of Odisha. It has been developed as a regional airport under the UDAN scheme of the Ministry of Civil Aviation, Government of India at a cost of Rs. 31.07 Crores.
17. ‘Rashtriya Poshan Maah’ is observed in which month in India?
[A] August
[B] September
[C] October
[D] November
Answer: [B] September
Ministry of Women and Child Development is celebrating the 6th Rashtriya Poshan Maah throughout September 2023. Several activities are organised across the country with themes like ‘Improving Nutrition through Mission LIFE & “Exclusive Breastfeeding & Complimentary Feeding’.
18. Which institution launched the ‘Adopt a Heritage 2.0’ programme?
[A] NITI Aayog
[B] Archaeological Survey of India
[C] Union Culture Ministry
[D] Union External Affairs Ministry
Answer: [B] Archaeological Survey of India
The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) launched the “Adopt a Heritage 2.0” programme under which corporates are invited to fund amenities at monuments from their corporate social responsibility (CSR) funds. The aim of “Adopt a Heritage 2.0” programme is to enhance the visitor experience at centrally protected monuments, improve amenities, and bolster the culture and heritage value of the country.
19. Tharman Shanmugaratnam has been elected as the Prime Minister of which country?
[A] Singapore
[B] Malaysia
[C] Maldives
[D] Mauritius
Answer: [A] Singapore
An Indian-origin politician and former member of Singapore’s ruling party, Tharman Shanmugaratnam secured 70.4 percent of the votes and was elected as the ninth President of Singapore. In 2011, after the general election, he became Deputy Prime Minister while overseeing the finance portfolio in the country.
20. Which space agency helps India in tracking the Solar mission Aditya-L1?
[A] NASA
[B] ESA
[C] JAXA
[D] ROCOSMOS
Answer: [B] ESA
The European Space Agency (ESA) is helping India in tracking the Solar mission Aditya-L1. It is offering deep space communication services and assisting with the validation of new flight dynamics software developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).