Q.1) Name the Indian Grandmaster who lost the Chess World Cup final to Magnus Carlsen in a tiebreaker match in Baku.

1. R Praggnanandhaa
2. Vidit Gujrathi
3. Koneru Humpy
4. Gukesh D                                       
5. None of These

Q.2) Which among the following has been named the best feature film at the 69th National Awards announced recently?

1. The Kashmir Files
2. Rocketry: The Nambi Effect   
3. Gangubai Kathiawadi,
4. Mimi
5. None of These

Q.3) To enhance the operational capabilities of the armed forces , the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has approved multiple defence proposals worth

1. Rs 4,200 crore
2. Rs 5,800 crore
3. Rs 7,800 crore
4. Rs 9,300 crore
5. None of These

Q.4) Name the country that launched the International Big Cat Alliance (IBCA) on April 9th in Mysuru to conserve seven big cats, including the tiger, lion, leopard, snow leopard, cheetah, jaguar and puma.

1. South Africa
2. Namibia
3. India
4. China
5. None of These

Q.5) The Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has cited the holy month of 'Sawan' underway and raised the financial aid given to women in the Ladli Behna scheme from Rs 1,000 per month to

1. Rs 2,000
2. Rs 1,750
3. Rs 1,500
4. Rs 1,250
5. None of These

Answers

1-----------------------------------1  R Praggnanandhaa

2----------------------------------2  Rocketry: The Nambi Effect

3----------------------------------3  Rs 7,800 crore

4------------------------------------3 India                          

5-----------------------------------4  Rs 1,250 

A healthy growth in India's services segments has helped the country's total exports and imports of goods and services to cross the USD 800 billion mark during the first half of 2023, despite a slowdown in global demand, think tank GTRI said in a report

According to the analysis of the Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI), exports of goods and services rose by 1.5 per cent to USD 385.4 billion during January-June this year, as against USD 379.5 billion in January-June 2022.

Imports, however, dipped by 5.9 per cent to USD 415.5 billion during the six months of this year, as against USD 441.7 billion in January-June 2022.

Standalone, goods exports dipped by 8.1 per cent to USD 218.7 billion, while imports contracted by 8.3 per cent to USD 325.7 billion.

On the other hand, services exports during the six months period grew by 17.7 per cent to USD 166.7 billion, while imports rose by 3.7 per cent to USD 89.8 billion.

Smartphone exports jumped to USD 7.5 billion during January-June this year from USD 2.5 billion in January-June 2022.

Further, the report said that India exports goods to 240 countries and out of that, the country's outbound shipments declined in 134 destinations.

Major countries where exports declined include the USA, UAE, China, Bangladesh, and Germany.

Countries where exports grew positively include Netherland, UK, Saudi Arabia.

In a significant initiative aimed at assisting bank customers, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has introduced a web portal designed to aid individuals in locating and retrieving unclaimed deposits with various banks.

It’s common for individuals to overlook modest amounts left in their old accounts while moving forward by opening new bank accounts. Yet, over time, these forgotten funds have substantially accumulated, resulting in banks now holding over R35,000 crore in unclaimed deposits.

A centralised portal for unclaimed deposits

Aiming to return these unclaimed deposits to the rightful owners, the central bank  has launched a centralised web portal UDGAM (Unclaimed Deposits - Gateway to Access information).

The portal, launched by RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das, has been developed by the central bank to help the public to facilitate and make it easier for them to search their unclaimed deposits across multiple banks in one place.

Presently unclaimed deposits from seven banks - State Bank of India, Punjab National Bank, Central Bank of India, Dhanlaxmi Bank, South Indian Bank, DBS Bank India and Citibank - are available on the portal. The search facility for remaining banks on the portal would be made available in a phased manner by October 15.

Balances in savings or current accounts which are not operated for 10 years, or term deposits not claimed within 10 years from date of maturity are classified as Unclaimed Deposits. These amounts are transferred by banks to the Depositor Education and Awareness (DEA) Fund maintained by the RBI.

State Bank of India (SBI) tops the chart of unclaimed deposits worth R8,086 crore, followed by Punjab National Bank R5,340 crore, Canara Bank R 4,558 crore and Bank of Baroda R3,904 crore.

How to find your forgotten money?

To use UDGAM, individuals are required to register using their mobile number, name, and password on the portal (https://udgam.rbi.org.in/unclaimed-deposits/#/register). After completing registration, the individual can log in using their registered mobile number and password. An OTP will be sent to the registered mobile number for verification.

After successful login, users are prompted to provide the account holders and bank’s names. They then can select from five identification inputs: PAN number, Voter ID number, driving license number, or date of birth. Following this, users can input the relevant information and designate the desired bank for their search.

If the search criteria match unclaimed deposits, the portal will display the account details. If no unclaimed deposits are found, the result will indicate ‘none’.

Steps to find unclaimed deposits

Register at UDGAM portal (https://udgam.rbi.org.in/unclaimed-deposits/#/register)

Provide necessary details, including name, mobile number, password

Verify your registration through an OTP sent to your mobile number

Use your UDGAM account after logging in by using OTP

Once you enter details, you must again enter OTP to proceed further

You can now search for unclaimed deposits by entering the account holder’s name

You will be asked to provide one of the five identification inputs: PAN number, Voter ID number, Passport number, driving license number, or date of birth

Sara Wakita of Japan took the women’s title in the International Surf Open Tamil Nadu, WSL QS 3000

Sara registered a score of 13.50 to edge Shino Matsuda (13.10), also of Japan.

The men’s category also witnessed a thrilling finish. It was another Japanese surfer who stole the show. Tenshi Iwami made the last wave count and won with a score of 16.30. Kian Martin of Sweden finished just behind him with a score of 14.70.

Indian men's and women’s compound teams bagged the gold medal to finish stage 4 of the Archery World Cup on a positive note in Paris. Jyothi Surekha Vennam added a bronze medal taking India’s medal tally to five. Earlier in the tournament, India’s recurve teams, men and women, won bronze medals.

The No 1 seeded Indian women’s team consisting of Jyothi Vennam, Parneet Kaur, and Aditi Swami, defeated the inspired Mexican team in the gold medal match. Days after beating the same team in the World Archery Championship in Berlin a few weeks ago, India came on top yet again in Paris with a 234-233 win in the final. After trailing in the third end, the trio finished with 59 points in the final end, while Mexico could only manage 57 points.

Immediately after the women’s gold medal match, the fourth-seeded Indian men’s team took on the USA in the final. Ojas Deotale, Prathamesh Jawkar, and Abhishek Verma remained calm even after a great start from the Americans —  Kris Schaff, James Lutz, and Sawyer Sullivan. After grabbing the perfect 60 points in the fourth and last end India finished with 236 points. The USA could only add 56 points in the last end, taking their total to 232 as India won the gold. 

Q1. Name the social democrat  who has swept to victory in Guatemala's presidential election on Aug 20, with his anti-corruption message firing up weary voters ?

1. Jorge Mendoza
2. Sandra Torres
3. Alejandro Giammattei
4. Bernardo Arevalo
5. None of These

Q2. Name the Japanese  surfers who  took the women’s title in the International Surf Open Tamil Nadu, WSL QS 3000 ?

1. Sara Wakita
2. Kian Martin
3. Tenshi Iwami
4. Shino Matsuda
5. None of These

Q3. Indian men's and women’s compound teams bagged the gold medal to finish stage 4 of the Archery World Cup in

1. London
2. Berlin
3. Paris
4. Tokyo
5. None of These

Q4. Name the centralised web portal which has been launched  by the RBI with aim  to return the unclaimed deposits  in the banks to the rightful owners ?

1. SUGAM
2. SARAL                      
3. UDGAM
4. SUVIDHA
5. None of These

Q5. According to the analysis of the Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI), India's foreign trade in first six months of 2023 crossed to

1. USD 200 billion
2. USD 400 billion
3. USD 600 billion
4. USD 800 billion
5. None of These

Answers

1----------------------4   Bernardo Arevalo

2--------------------1   Sara Wakita

3-------------------3   Paris

4-------------------3 UDGAM

5--------------------4   USD 800 billion

On Aug 21 , nine MPs, including External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, took oath as new members of the Rajya Sabha.

The oath was administered by Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar in Parliament House.

Jaishankar, who was elected for the second term as a Rajya Sabha MP took it to X (previously known as Twitter) to express his gratitude.

He was first elected in 2019.

Besides Jaishankar, the other BJP members who took oath are Babubhai Jesangbhai Desai (Gujarat), Kesridevsinh Digvijaysinh Jhala (Gujarat), and Nagendra Rai (West Bengal).

Five Trinamool Congress MPs -- Derek O'Brien, Dola Sen, Sukhendu Sekhar Ray, Prakash Chik Baraik and Samirul Islam -- also took oath.

O'Brien, Sen and Ray took the oath in Bengali.

Ahead of important assembly polls that will set the tone for the Lok Sabha election early next year, the Union government is adopting multi-pronged measures to keep the onion prices under check.

The onion prices have seen around a 20 percent spike in the last two weeks.

After imposing a heavy 40 percent duty on exports, the government has now increased its onion buffer target to 5 Lakh Metric Tonnes (LMT), out of which it has already accumulated around 3 LMT.

In this regard, the Department of Consumer Affairs has directed agencies like the National Cooperative Consumers’ Federation of India Limited (NCCF) and National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd (NAFED) to procure an additional 1 LMT each.

These agencies were also directed to calibrate the disposal of the procured stocks in major consumption centers. The NCCF will use mobile vans from Monday to ensure the availability of onions at a subsidized rate of Rs 25 per kg. Retail sales of Onion will be suitably enhanced by involving other agencies and e-commerce platforms. With these, the Centre expects an improvement in the domestic availability of onions.

On Aug 19 , it imposed a 40 percent export duty on onions with immediate effect up to December 31, 2023. Disposal of onions from the buffer has already begun. The NCCF and NAFED have been targeting major markets in states and Union Territories where retail prices are above the all-India average or are significantly higher than the previous month.

According to the Ministry of Consumers Affairs, around 1,400 MT of onions from the buffer has been dispatched to the targeted markets till date. Traders say the retail prices of onion would cross `50 by early next month as the new onion harvest is scheduled for October.