Tnpsc Current Affairs in English – 12th April 2023
1. Which institution launched the ‘cVigil App’?
[A] Supreme Court of India
[B] Election Commission of India
[C] Indian Medical Association
[D] Reserve Bank of India
Answer: [B] Election Commission of India
Cvigil App was launched by the Election Commission of India to fast track complaints regarding the Model Code of Conduct violations. It is currently playing a critical role in enforcing the Model Code of Conduct and preventing irregularities in the polling process.
2. Rabbit Haemorrhagic Disease is prevalently spreading in which country?
[A] USA
[B] UK
[C] New Zealand
[D] Russia
Answer: [C] New Zealand
Rabbit Haemorrhagic Disease Virus is a contagious and deadly viral hepatitis that affects adult domesticated and wild rabbits. The rabbits are threatening the bio-diversity and agriculture of the southern region of Central Otago. New Zealand is currently considering the use of the virus that causes this disease to cull the rabbits, which are turning into a plague.
3. ‘Tropospheric Emissions Monitoring of Pollution Instrument’ is a device of which space agency?
[A] ISRO
[B] NASA
[C] ESA
[D] JAXA
Answer: [B] NASA
Troposheric Emissions Monitoring of Pollution Instrument is a new NASA device that will track pollution over North America. It will enable scientists to monitor air pollutants and their sources from space. The spectrometer designed to measure air pollution across greater North America at a high resolution and on an hourly basis.
4. How many villages ate covered under the ‘My Village My Heritage Programme’?
[A] 1 thousand
[B] 10 thousand
[C] 1 lakh
[D] 10 lakh
Answer: [C] 1 lakh
My village My Heritage Programme is implemented under the aegis of the National Mission for Cultural Mapping (NMCM). NMCM seeks to develop a comprehensive database of art forms, artists and other resources across India. Over 1 lakh villages have been covered under this programme.
5. INS Tarmugli is being transferred to which country in line with India’s SAGAR Mission?
[A] Sri Lanka
[B] Maldives
[C] Nepal
[D] Bangladesh
Answer: [B] Maldives
INS Tarmugil is being transferred to Maldives in line with India’s SAGAR Mission The vessel was commissioned on May 23, 2016 and was based at Visakhapatnam under the Eastern Naval Command. It is an indigenously built highly manoeuvrable water jet fast attack craft. Built by Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers Ltd of Kolkata, INS Tarmugli is the first follow-on water jet fast attack craft (WJFAC).
6. Which country hosted the ‘High-Level Conference on Accelerating Rail Digital Transformation in Asia and Pacific Region’?
[A] India
[B] Nepal
[C] Bangladesh
[D] Thailand
Answer: [A] India
A High-Level Conference on Accelerating Rail Digital Transformation in Asia and Pacific Region was held recently in New Delhi. It was jointly organized by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) and the Union Ministry of Railways.
7. Which state bagged the highest number of awards in the ‘National Panchayat Awards 2023’?
[A] Tamil Nadu
[B] Telangana
[C] Odisha
[D] Rajasthan
Answer: [B] Telangana
National Panchayat Awards 2023 were conferred recently by Panchayati Raj Ministry to recognize best performing Panchayats in the areas that align with the 17 SHGs. Telangana won 8 out of 27 various categories of the Deen Dayal Upadhyay Panchayat Satat Vikas Puraskar (DDUPSVP) for the years 2021 – 2022. It was followed by Kerala with 4, Jammu and Kashmir with 3, and Maharashtra with 3.
8. Genome India project aims to sequence how many Indian human genomes?
[A] 1000
[B] 10000
[C] 1 lakh
[D] 1 crore
Answer: [B] 10000
Genome Indian Project is an initiative of the Central Government that involves sequencing of 10000 Indian human genomes and creating a database. The Department of Biotechnology has sequenced close to 7000 genomes and 3000 of these are already available for public access.
9. ‘Support for Poor Prisoners Scheme’ is associated with which Union Ministry?
[A] Ministry of Home Affairs
[B] Ministry of Defence
[C] Ministry of External Affairs
[D] Ministry of Finance
Answer: [A] Ministry of Home Affairs
The ‘Support for Poor Prisoners Scheme’ is set to be launched by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs. Under this scheme, state government will receive financial support from the Home Ministry to help underprivileged prisoners who are unable to get bail or secure release from prisons due to financial constraints.
10. ‘Rayyanah Barnawi’ is set to become the first woman astronaut from which country?
[A] UAE
[B] Saudi Arabia
[C] Israel
[D] Pakistan
Answer: [B] Saudi Arabia
Rayyanah Barnawi is set to become the first woman astronaut from Saudi Arabia. Barnawi and Ali AI-Quarni will take off from Florida on a private mission to the International Space Station. There are two other astronauts who will join Barnawi and Ali AI-Qarni in their voyage. They are Peggy Whitson, a former NASA astronaut and John Shoffner, a businessman from Tennessee who will serve as pilot.
11. Which country has organized the ‘United Sharp Sword’ exercise?
[A] India
[B] China
[C] Russia
[D] Australia
Answer: [B] China
United Sharp Sword is being conducted by People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theatre Command in Taiwan Strait. It would involve police patrol drills to the north and south of Taiwan and in the sea and airspace of the eastern part of Taiwan.
12. ‘AIUla Declaration’, which was seen in the news, is related to which country?
[A] Russia
[B] Qatar
[C] Israel
[D] Iran
Answer: [B] Qatar
A fourth joint meeting between the delegates of the UAE and Qatar was held in Abu Dhabi to follow up on the implementation of the AIUIa Declaration. The AIUIa Declaration, which was signed in 2021, resolved the dispute with Qatar and called for unity and the strengthening of relations among GCC countries.
13. Ranthambore National Park is located in which state/UT?
[A] Rajasthan
[B] Gujarat
[C] Assam
[D] West Bengal
Answer: [A] Rajasthan
Ranthambore National Park is situated in Rajasthan’s Sawai Madhopur district. The state government is set to create 85 new posts in the ‘Special Tiger Protection Force’ (STPF), which is being run under the Ranthambore National Park. Under this proposal, there will be one post of Assistant Forest Conservator, three posts of Regional Forest Officer and 81 posts of Forest Guard.
14. Which country hosts the multinational wargame named ‘Exercise Orion’?
[A] India
[B] USA
[C] France
[D] Australia
Answer: [C] France
Exercise Orion is the largest multinational exercise conducted by the French defence forces. The multinational wargame codenamed Orion will involve India, the USA and other allies of France. For the first time, Indian Rafale combat aircraft is expected to take in this wargame. India will send its Refale fighter jets to take part in the exercise Orion in France.
15. Namda, is the centuries-old traditional craft, is associated with which state/UT?
[A] Arunachal Pradesh
[B] Assam
[C] Jammu and Kashmir
[D] Uttarakhand
Answer: [C] Jammu and Kashmir
Namda is a type of rug made using felted wool. This centuries-old traditional craft from the Jammu and Kashmir is at the brink of extinction. Namda is made in several stages and requires skilled craftsmanship that has been passed down through generations.
16. ‘Prasthan Exercise’ the bi-annual coordinated exercise, held near which city in 2023?
[A] Chennai
[B] Panjim
[C] Mumbai
[D] Kolkata
Answer: [C] Mumbai
Prasthan Exercise is a bi-annual coordinated exercise held among Indian defence, state and civilian agencies twice a year. It was conducted recently in the offshore development area off Mumbai. It validates the measures to address contingencies that may occur in oil production platforms.
17. Which Union Ministry appointed the ‘Committee on Digital Competition Law’?
[A] Ministry of Finance
[B] Ministry of Corporate Affairs
[C] Ministry of External Affairs
[D] Ministry of Corporate Affairs
Answer: [B] Ministry of Corporate Affairs
The Ministry of Corporate Affairs had appointed 10-Member Committee in Digital Competition Law, consisting of lawyers representing the Big Tech. it is set to meet shortly to discuss provisions of the draft Digital Competition Law. The committee is responsible for examining the need for an ex-ante regulatory mechanism for digital markets via a separate legislation.
18. Which NBFC firm has raised USD 750 million through insurance of green bonds?
[A] REC
[B] PFC
[C] Bajaj Finance
[D] Aditya Birla Finance
Answer: [A] REC
State-owned non-banking finance firm REC recently raised USD 750 million through issuance of green bonds The net proceeds from the issue of the bonds will be applied to finance, in whole or in part, the eligible green projects in accordance with the approvals granted by the Reserve Bank of India from time to time and in accordance with the ECB guidelines.
19. Which country chairs the 2nd G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meeting?
[A] India
[B] China
[C] USA
[D] Sri Lanka
Answer: [A] India
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman arrived in Washington DC to attend the 2023 Spring Meetings of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), along with G20 meetings, Investor/Bilateral meetings, and other associated meetings. Finance Minister Sitharaman and RBI Shaktikanta Das will jointly chair the 2nd G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meeting.
20. CSIR scientists has recently found rare-earth elements (REEs) in which state/UT?
[A] Chhattisgarh
[B] Assam
[C] Sikkim
[D] Andhra Pradesh
Answer: [D] Andhra Pradesh
Scientists at the National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI), a Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) facility, reported the presence of rare-earth elements (REEs) in Anantapur district in Andhra Pradesh. These elements are key components in many electronic devices and whose industrial applications span sectors like imaging, aerospace and defence.