• SEBI chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch on April 5  appeared before the parliamentary standing committee on finance over regulatory issues concerning the capital market.
•  Buch is also expected to be questioned about the recent National Stock Exchange (NSE) scam.
• The panel chaired by former minister of state for finance Jayant Sinha has called Buch to deliberate upon regulatory issues related to initial public offerings, international financial services centres and alternate investment fund, according to a notice issued by the Lok Sabha Secretariat.
• Memebers in the committee said they would like to know about the investigation being done by the SEBI in the NSE scam in which several of its top officials including former chief executive officers Chitra Ramakrishna and Ravi Narain are being investigated.
• Sinha had said that Buch has been called by the parliamentary panel to deliberate upon the orderly functioning of the market in the recent volatility and turbulent flow of cash.
• This is the second meeting of SEBI officials with the parliamentary panel in the last week, after March 30.
• Meanwhile, the income tax department, ED and CBI are investigating the case related to irregularities in co-location facility provided by NSE, Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary said.

•  Rajya Sabha on April 5 passed the Chartered Accountants, the Cost and Works Accountants and the Company Secretaries (Amendment) Bill, 2022 with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman asserting that it will not impact the autonomy of these bodies.
• Lok Sabha on March 30 had cleared this bill. The bill was passed in the backdrop of rising number of disciplinary cases against the members of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI), the Institute of Cost Accountants of India and the Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI).
• As per the provisions of the new bill, the Government will appoint non-members as the presiding officer of the disciplinary committees of the respective institutes. However, it is to be noted that these appointments would be made on the basis of the recommendations given by the Council of these three bodies.

• More than Rs 30,160 crore loans have been sanctioned to over 1,33,995 accounts in the last six years under the Stand-up India scheme that seeks to provide financial support to Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs) and women entrepreneurs in setting up enterprises, the Union Finance Ministry said.
• Recognizing the challenges faced by aspiring SC, ST and women entrepreneurs, Stand-up India scheme was launched on 5th April 2016 to promote entrepreneurship at the grassroots level focusing on economic empowerment and job creation. In 2019-20, the Stand-Up India scheme was extended for the entire period coinciding with the 15th Finance Commission period of 2020-25.
• The objective of Stand-Up India is to promote entrepreneurship amongst women, Scheduled Castes (SC) & Scheduled Tribes (ST) categories, to help them in starting a greenfield enterprise in manufacturing, services or the trading sector and activities allied to agriculture.
• In order to provide collateral-free loans to eligible beneficiaries, the Government of India has set up the Credit Guarantee Fund for Stand Up India (CGFSI). Apart from providing credit facilities, the Stand-up India scheme also envisages extending handholding support to potential borrowers. It also provides for convergence with Central/State Government schemes.

• Ever since Qatar won the bidding rights to host the FIFA World Cup 2022 twelve years ago, the country is leaving no stone unturned to make it a grand success. It is the first time an Arab country will be hosting the quadrennial event after fighting off stiff competition from countries like the USA, Australia among others to clinch the bid.
• The country, which will host the quadrennial competition from November 21 across eight venues, is gearing up for the event. One can expect a carnival-like atmosphere at the fan festivals, which will also comprise music concerts and DJ nights among others. More than 280 music artists are expected to provide an enthralling atmosphere during the four-week-long competition. 
• With the Football World Cup being one of the most popular events in the world, there has been a good demand for tickets from all over the world. Interestingly, there has been a huge interest from India as well. One of the reasons could be the closer proximity between the two countries as well. The distance between India and Qatar is 2885km, but the last three WCs have been quite far - Russia (almost 5000km), Brazil (14088km) and South Africa (8250km).
• Around 1.5 million tourists are expected to cross borders to land in Qatar for the event, and there are various plans to ensure fans get the best taste of the Qatari culture as well. In fact, the tourist numbers are expected to increase further, depending on which teams go deep into the competition.

Q1. Name the diplomat  who has taken  the  charge as India's new envoy to Ukraine ?

1. Partha Satpathy
2. Harsh Kumar Jain
3. Vinay Mohan Kwatra
4. Shyam Sharan
5. None of These

Q2. The Chakmas and the Hajongs staged a protest in New Delhi against their alleged racial profiling by the government of

1. Mizoram
2. Tripura
3. Manipur
4. Assam
5. None of These

Q3. Name the US Secretary of State  who has announced April 5 another $100 million in American military aid would be sent to Ukraine following reports of atrocities committed there by invading Russian forces ?

1. Richard V. Spencer
2. Christopher C. Miller
3. David Norquist
4. Antony Blinken
5. None of These

Q4. Kyats  is  the  currency of

1. Thailand
2. Malaysia
3. Indonesia
4. Myanmar
5. None of These

Q5. Name the Kuwaiti Prime Minister who has submitted the cabinet's resignation to the crown prince , ahead of a no-confidence vote in Parliament later this week that sought to remove him from office?

1. Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled Al Hamad Al Sabah
2. Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan
3. Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan
4. Mohammed bin Salman
5. None of These

Ans

1-----------2    Harsh Kumar Jain

2-----------5    None of These  Ans   Arunachal Pradesh

3-----------4    Antony Blinken

4-----------4   Myanmar

5------------1    Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled Al Hamad Al Sabah

• The Supreme Court on March 31  struck down the 10.5 per cent reservation provided to Vanniyars, a Most Backward Community (MBC) in Tamil Nadu, in government jobs and admission to educational institutions.
• A bench comprising Justices L Nageswara Rao and B R Gavai upheld the Madras High Court order which had quashed the reservation.
• "We are of the opinion that there is no substantial basis for classifying Vanniakula Kshatriyas into one group to be treated differently from the remaining 115 communities within the MBC groups and, therefore, the 2021 Act is in violation of Articles 14, 15 and 16 of the Constitution. Therefore, we uphold the decision of the high court," the bench said.
• The Tamil Nadu Assembly had in February last year passed the then ruling AIADMK-piloted bill providing internal reservation of 10.5 per cent for Vanniyars, with the incumbent DMK government issuing an order in July 2021 for its implementation.
• It had split the aggregate 20 per cent reservation for MBCs and denotified communities into three separate categories by regrouping castes and provided a 10 per cent plus sub-quota for Vanniyars, formerly known as Vanniakula Kshatriyas.

• Faced with criticism, the Bihar government on March 30  tabled the Prohibition and Excise (Amendment) Bill 2022 in the state legislative assembly, making provisions of certain amendments in the existing law to give relaxations to the first-time offenders. The Bill introduced by state prohibition and excise minister Sunil Kumar was passed by voice vote.
•  As per the provisions in the amended law, the first-time offenders will not be sent to judicial custody. Their cases will be heard by the executive magistrates. The amount of fine to be realised from first-time offenders will be decided by the government later.
• If the accused failed to pay the penalty imposed by the executive magistrate, he/she will have to serve one month in prison. Moreover, vehicles impounded on the charges of violating the prohibition law may be released after payment of penalty. But this will be applicable to cases of mild nature.
• The amendments, however, mentioned harsher punishment for habitual offenders and those involved in illicit trade of alcohol in ‘dry’ state. Sub-section has been added in Section 2 of Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act 2016, treating sale of alcohol as ‘organised crime’. There have been three major changes in the existing Act.
• First, people found in inebriated condition will not be directly sent to judicial custody but released on payment of fine imposed by the executive magistrates appointed by the government. Secondly, the prohibition cases will be heard by executive magistrates, deputy collectors and officers above those ranks. Section 55 of the Act has been abrogated making the offences under Prohibition Act as ‘compoundable offence’.
• Similarly, major changes have been brought in section 57 of the existing Act. Now, alcohol or raw material used for making liquor may be destroyed on the order of district magistrates. 

• In a significant move towards inducting indigenously manufactured combat platforms in the armed forces, the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) on March 30  approved procurement of 15 Light Combat Helicopters (LCH) manufactured by the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) for the army and the air force.
• The Ministry of Defence in a statement said, “The CCS has approved procurement of 15 LCH Limited Series Production at the cost of Rs 3,887 cr along with Infrastructure sanctions worth Rs 377 cr.”  Ten LCHs will be for the IAF and five for the army.
• This helicopter is equipped with requisite agility, maneuverability, extended range, high- altitude performance and around-the-clock, all-weather combat capability and can perform roles of combat search and rescue (CSAR), destruction of enemy air defence (DEAD), against slow moving aircraft and remotely piloted aircraft (RPAs), high-altitude bunker-busting operations, counter insurgency operations in jungle and urban environments and support to ground forces, the MoD said.
• State-of-the-art technologies and systems compatible with stealth features such as reduced visual, aural, radar and IR signatures and crashworthiness features for better survivability have been integrated in the LCH.