The US is monitoring some recent "concerning developments" on human rights violations in India by some government, police, and prison officials, Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said.

Blinken made these remarks at a joint news conference with Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin and their Indian counterparts -- External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh -- after the conclusion of the 2+2 Ministerial on April 11.

India has previously rejected criticism by foreign governments and human rights groups on allegations that civil liberties have eroded in the country.

The Indian government has asserted that India has well-established democratic practices and robust institutions to safeguard the rights of all.

The government has emphasised that the Indian Constitution provides for adequate safeguards under various statutes for ensuring the protection of human rights.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has said that strategic partnerships like the one between India and the US are built through shared interests, common values and constant nurturing, underlining that in a changing world Indo-US ties have not only kept pace but actually emerged as a major contributor to global peace.

Jaishankar said this on April 11  during a joint press conference along with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and their American counterparts Secretary of State Tony Blinken and Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin.

Challenges in the Indo-Pacific have also been a particular focus of the discussions during the meeting.

Blinken told reporters that the two countries are increasing people-to-people ties, which are really at the heart of the entire relationship.

STEM stands for Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

Trading in markets regulated by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will start from 9 am onwards from April 18, with the restoration of pre-pandemic trading timings. Currently, the markets open at 10 am.

The trading hours for various markets regulated by RBI were changed on April 7, 2020 in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic that had resulted in operational dislocations and elevated levels of health risks.

Later, with the easing of operational constraints, the trading hours were partially restored with effect from November 9, 2020.

From April 18, the trading hours of these markets will be from 9 am to 3.30 pm, the central bank said in a release.

Call/notice/term money; market repo in government securities; tri-party repo in government securities; commercial paper and certificates of deposit; repo in corporate bonds; government securities (central government securities, state development loans and treasury bills); Foreign Currency (FCY)/Indian Rupee (INR) trades, including forex derivatives; and rupee interest rate derivatives.

These markets are regulated by the central bank.

Giving in to the demands of Telecom Service Providers, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) has recommended cutting the base price of 5G airwaves in 5G spectrum auction.

The regulatory body has recommended to cut the base price of the coveted 700 MHz band by 40% and 3300-3670 MHz band by 36%.

It said all available spectrums in existing bands viz. 700 MHz, 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2100 MHz, 2300 MHz, 2500 MHz and new spectrum bands viz. 600 MHz, 3300-3670 MHz and 24.25-28.5 GHz, be put to auction. For the frequency range 3300-3670 MHz, it said both band plans i.e., n77 and n78 should be permitted and flexibility be given to the telecom operators to adopt any band plan based on their considerations. To provide flexibility to the telecom operators,  block size of 10 MHz for 3300-3670 MHz band and 50 MHz for 24.25-28.5 GHz band has been recommended.

The prime 5G frequency of 3300-3670 MHz band, all-India reserve price adds up to Rs 317 crore per MHz and the base price for coveted 700 Mhz band is Rs 3,927 crore per Mhz, which is 40% lower than that proposed last time.  Trai said the reserve price of spectrum allocation in the case of 30 years should be equal to 1.5 times the reserve price of spectrum allocation for 20 years for the respective band.

To surrender the spectrum, the regulatory body recommended a surrender fee of Rs 1 lakh per spectrum band per LSA (Licensed Service Area).  To facilitate the new entrants, in respect of roll out obligations for 700 MHz, 800 MHz, 900 MHz and 1800 MHz bands, the time period of 1 year for meeting the MRO ( Minimum Roll-out Obligations) for Metros LSAs (coverage of 90% of the LSA within one year from the effective date of license or the date of assignment of spectrum won in this auction process, whichever is later), should be enhanced to 2 years (40% coverage by the end of 1st year and 90% coverage by the end of 2nd year).

MG Motor is planning to invest approximately Rs 4,000 crore for its second manufacturing facility as it plans to increase its manufacturing capacity to 3 lakh units per annum. The British brand owned by China’s SAIC is in talks with several state governments for the same, including Gujarat where its first plant is located.

The company, which is expanding the annual production capacity of its current plant at Halol in Gujarat to 1.25 lakh units by 2023, is looking to add another 1.75 lakh units capacity from the second plant in the next two years.

Pakistan's all-format skipper Babar Azam, and Australia's run-machine Rachael Haynes have been named the ICC Men's and Women's Players of the Month for March by the International Cricket Council (ICC).

Azam  also became the first player to win the ICC Men's 'Player of the Month' award on two occasions, after being crowned back in April 2021.

The International Cricket Council Board has announced the qualification route to both the Men's and Women's T20 World Cup in 2024, with 12 teams confirmed to get automatic qualification in the men's tournament, to be co-hosted by the West Indies and the United States.

The ICC also confirmed South Africa as the host of the inaugural ICC U-19 Women's T20 World Cup 2023.

The top eight teams from the 2022 T20 World Cup in Australia along with hosts West Indies and the US, and the next highest-ranked teams on the ICC Men's T20 rankings table as on November 14, 2022 will get automatic qualification for the 2024 men's tournament.

If the West Indies finish among the top eight in Australia later this year, three teams will progress based on rankings. If the Caribbean side finishes outside the top eight, only two teams will qualify from the rankings table.

Since the tournament will feature 20 teams, the remaining eight spots will be decided through a regional qualification process. Africa, Asia and Europe each will have two spots open, while the Americas and East Asia Pacific (EAP) will have one each.

For the Women's T20 World Cup 2024, eight countries will book berths to the showpiece event automatically, including the top three teams from each group of the 2023 event besides the host (if not in the six) and the next highest-ranked team(s) on the ICC Women's T20 rankings table at a pre-determined date.

The remaining two teams will be determined through the Women's T20 World Cup global qualifier.

The eight-team ICC Women's Cricket World Cup in 2025 will see the five highest-placed teams at the end of the 2022-25 ICC Women's Championship (IWC) qualify automatically alongside the host which is yet to be confirmed.

The remaining two teams will be identified through a global qualifying event between the four bottom-placed teams in the IWC, besides an additional two teams from the ODI rankings.

The inaugural ICC U-19 Women's T20 World Cup 2023 will be staged in January next year as a 16-team event. The 41-match event will be hosted by South Africa, who were also the inaugural hosts of the Men's T20 World Cup in 2007.

Q1. Who among the following have been named the ICC Men's and Women's Players of the Month for March by the International Cricket Council (ICC) ?

Babar Azam and Rachael Haynes

Pat Cummins and Laura Wolvaardt

Kraigg Brathwaite and  Sophie Ecclestone

Mohammad Rizwan and Smriti Mandhana

None of These

Q2. Who among the following  has been confirmed by the ICC as the host of the inaugural ICC U-19 Women's T20 World Cup 2023?

Sri Lanka

Bangladesh

Pakistan

South Africa

None of These

Q3. Which  of  the following market is NOT regulated by the RBI ?

Call/notice/term money

Market repo in government securities

Mutual Fund

Commercial paper and Certificates of Deposit

None of These

Q4. The Indian Air Force  has set a  record with 1910 km helicopter sortie from Chandigarh to

Jorhat

Dibrugarh

Dimapur

Itanagar

None of These

Q5. Name the country which is providing free ration to nearly 80 crore of its people for over two years following the emergence of COVID-19 ?

Bangladesh

China

Indonesia

India

None of These

Answers

1-----------------------Babar Azam and Rachael Haynes

2-------------------------South Africa

3-------------------------Mutual Fund

4-------------------------Jorhat

5------------------------- India