This is the current affairs of 28th March 2023. Here are 10 questions and answers of daily current affairs for better preparation of competitive exams for government jobs.
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1. Which state government has decided to end the 4% OBC reservation for Muslims?
a. Bihar
b. Uttar Pradesh
c. Karnataka
d. Madhya Pradesh
Answer: c. Karnataka
– The Karnataka government made major decisions regarding jobs and reservation in education in March 2023.
– As per the first decision, the government abolished the 4% OBC quota for Muslims.
– The second decision was to distribute this 4% quota among the Vokkaliga and Lingayat communities.
– Muslims belonging to the OBC category will now receive reservations under the EWS quota.
– The state government has also increased the reservation percentage for SC and ST categories, bringing the total reservation percentage in the state to 56%. However, if EWS is added, then the total reservation percentage becomes 66%.
– The Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai announced this before the state assembly elections, a month before they were scheduled to take place.
– The state government has sent these new recommendations to the central government, and they will be implemented once they receive approval from the central government.
Increased Reservation for Vokkaligas and Lingayats
– The state government has increased the reservation percentage for Vokkaligas from 4% to 6%.
– The reservation percentage for Panchamasalis, Veerashaivas, and other Lingayat categories has been increased from 5% to 7%.
Reservation for Muslims under EWS category
– Muslims who were previously receiving reservations under the OBC quota in Karnataka are now classified under the Economically Weaker Section (EWS) category.
– Muslims in this category will be given reservations alongside Brahmins, Vaishyas, Mudaliars, Jains, and others.
When did Muslims get OBC reservation?
– Muslims were given OBC reservation in 1994. At that time, the Chief Minister of Karnataka, HD DeveGowda, implemented 4% reservation for Muslims under the 2B category of OBC.
– Muslims were included in the OBC list based on the recommendations of the LG Havanur Committee (1975) and the Chinappa Reddy Commission (1990).
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2. The Karnataka government has increased the reservation of SC and ST categories in the state to how much respectively?
a. 17% and 7%
b. 16% and 6%
c. 15% and 5%
d. 14% and 4%
Answer: a. 17% and 7%
– Reservation for Scheduled Castes (SC) was increased from 15% to 17%, and reservation for Scheduled Tribes (ST) was increased from 3% to 7%.
The reservation for SC was divided into four categories:
– Schedule Caste (Left) – 6%
– Schedule Caste (Right) – 5.5%
– Schedule Caste (Touchable) – 4.5%
– Schedule Caste (Other) – 1%
This decision was made based on the report of which commission?
– In Karnataka, there are 101 castes under the Schedule Caste category, which have been divided into these four categories.
– The state government made this decision based on the report of the Justice Sadashiva Commission.
– The government has recommended this change to the central government to include it in the 9th Schedule of the Constitution.
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3. In how many states did the central government start the 1400 km ‘Aravalli Green Wall’ project?
a. 3
b. 4
c. 5
d. 9
Answer: b. 4 (Gujarat, Rajasthan, Haryana, and Delhi)
– The Aravalli mountain range covers some parts of Gujarat, Rajasthan, Haryana, and Delhi. A small part of it is also in Mathura, Uttar Pradesh.
– The central government started this project for four states (Gujarat, Rajasthan, Haryana, and Delhi).
– Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change inaugurated this project on March 25, 2023 (Forest Day) in Tikli village of Haryana.
– The main objective of the ‘Aravalli Green Wall Project’ is to prevent the expansion of the Thar Desert.
– It is based on Africa’s ‘Great Green Wall’ project.
The goal is to complete this project by 2030.
Africa’s ‘Great Green Wall’ project
– To understand the ‘Aravalli Green Wall Project’, we need to know about Africa’s ‘Great Green Wall’ project.
In fact, the central government has started the ‘Aravalli Green Wall Project’ on the lines of that project.
– The ‘Great Green Wall’ project aims to stop the expansion of the Sahara desert and increase the amount of arable land.
– Under ‘Great Green Wall’ project, 11 countries in the Sahara region – Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Sudan, Chad, Niger, Nigeria, Mali, Burkina Faso, Mauritania, and Senegal – are involved.
– Under the project, a green area 15 kilometers wide and 7,775 kilometers long is being created, meaning trees are being planted so that the Sahara Desert does not spread.
What is the ‘Aravalli Green Wall Project’?
– The goal of the Aravalli Green Wall Project is to make the buffer zone of about 5 kilometers of the Aravalli mountain range, which extends across five states and union territories, green.
– Its length will be approximately 14 hundred kilometers. However, the length of the Aravalli mountain range is between 670 to 700 kilometers.
– The aim is to stop the spread of Rajasthan’s desert. – The desert is expanding, but very slowly.
– The Aravalli mountain range stops the desert from spreading, but the project is an attempt to hold it back.
The ‘Aravalli Green Wall Project’ will increase the green area and biodiversity of the Aravalli through afforestation and restoration of water sources.
– This will also improve the fertility of the soil, water availability, and climate in the region.
– This green wall will also help prevent desertification and dust storms in the region.
– It will also help absorb carbon emissions in the country.
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4. When is World Theater Day celebrated?
a. March 25
b. March 26
c. March 27
d. March 28
Answer: c. March 27
Theme of 2022 –
‘Theatre and a Culture of Peace’
– World Theater Day is celebrated since 1962.
– The purpose of the day is to increase the importance of the art form “theatre”.
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5. In which weight category did Lovlina Borgohain win the gold medal in the World Women’s Boxing Championship 2023?
a. 42 kg
b. 48 kg
c. 58 kg
d. 75 kg
Answer: d. 75 kg
– Lovlina Borgohain defeated Australian boxer Katalin Parker in the 75 kg category.
– She won her first gold medal in the World Women’s Boxing Championship 2023.
– She brought India its fourth gold medal in this championship.
– Prior to this, Nikhat Zareen, Sweety Boora, and Nitu Ghanghas have also won gold medals.
– Lovlina Borgohain had previously won a bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics.
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6. Sagar Manthan Dashboard is an initiative of which union ministry?
a. Ports, Shipping and Waterways
b. finance
c. Environment, Forest and Climate Change
d. home
Answer: a. Ports, Shipping and Waterways
– Central Minister of Ports, Shipping, and Waterways, Sarbananda Sonowal launched the Sagar Manthan Dashboard in March 2023.
– This will enable monitoring of transportation on the sea.
– It is capable of real-time monitoring.
– The Sagar Manthan Dashboard is a step towards digitization and transparency in the maritime transportation sector.
– It is capable of data visualization, better communication, and data-driven decision making.
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7. How many mobile veterinary units for sick cattle in Uttar Pradesh was launched by the CM in March 2023?
a. 120
b. 420
c. 520
d. 620
Answer: c. 520
– The Uttar Pradesh government has started on-call doctor and telemedicine services for sick cattle.
– On March 26, 2023, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath flagged off 520 mobile veterinary units.
Cost of the scheme:
– Under the Livestock Health and Disease Control Scheme launched with the support of the Indian government, the government has spent 201 crores on these veterinary units.
– 520 mobile veterinary vans will be available for livestock owners in all districts.
– This will provide treatment for sick and accident-prone cattle.
How will cattle receive treatment?
– Within an hour of calling the toll-free number, the mobile veterinary unit will be available at the livestock owner’s doorstep.
– The state has been divided into five zones for the plan: Lucknow, Varanasi, Gorakhpur, Agra, and Meerut.
– There are a total of 12 lakh cattle in the state, out of which the state government is responsible for the protection of 11 lakh cattle, for which the government is giving Rs. 900 per cattle.
Uttar Pradesh:
CM – Yogi Adityanath
Governor – Anandiben Patel
Capital – Lucknow
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8. Who got Kerala’s highest civilian award ‘Kerala Jyoti’ for the first time?
a. T. Madhav Menon
b. Omcheri NN Pillai
c. MT Vasudevan Nair
d. Das Biju
Answer: c. MT Vasudevan Nair
– The first edition of the ‘Kerala Puraskarangal’ civil honor of Kerala was awarded to the winners in March 2023.
– The establishment of this award was made by the Kerala government in 2021.
– ‘Kerala Puraskarangal’ includes various types of awards.
– The state’s highest civilian honor, ‘Kerala Jyoti,’ is among them.
Who received which award:
– Kerala Jyoti: MT Vasudevan Nair
– Kerala Prabha: Actor Mammootty, former civil servant T Madhava Menon, and author O V Vijayan Pillai
– Kerala Shree: Zoologist Satyabhama Das Biju, magician Gopinath Muthukad, industrialist Kochouseph Chittilappilly, and singer Vaikom Vijayalakshmi
About MT Vasudevan Nair:
– He is a renowned writer in the Malayalam language.
– He is a recipient of the Jnanpith Award.
In 1970, he was honored with the Sahitya Akademi Award for his novel ‘Kalam’ (Pencil).
Kerala:
– Governor – Arif Mohammed Khan
– Chief Minister – Pinarayi Vijayan
– Capital – Thiruvananthapuram
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9. PM Modi launched the ‘Call Before You Dig’ app, what is its purpose?
a. Keep the underground cable safe during digging
b. Keep the pipeline safe during digging
c. Prevent road accidents.
d. a and b (Keep the underground cable and pipeline safe during digging)
Answer: d. a and b (Keep the underground cable and pipeline safe during digging)
– “Call before you dig” (Phone before digging the road)
– Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched this app in March 2023.
– The aim of the app is to prevent damage to optical fiber, telephone cable, electricity cable, water, gas, and electricity pipelines.
– In fact, due to unorganized digging and excavation, damage to cables and pipelines results in a loss of approximately 3,000 crore rupees every year.
– The mobile application is the initiative of the Department of Telecommunications, the Government agency located in Gujarat, Bhaskaracharya National Institute for Space Applications and Geo-Informatics (BISAG-N) and Jio Informatics.
– Losses due to digging :
37 million kilometers of optical fiber have been laid in the country.
1 million cables are cut every year in the telecommunications sector.
The sector incurs an annual loss of Rs 3,000 crore.
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10. In which city did the Chief Minister of Uttarakhand announce the establishment of a sports university?
a. Haldwani
b. Pithoragarh
c. Dehradun
d. Gairsain
Answer: a. Haldwani
– Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has announced the establishment of a sports university in the city of Haldwani.
– The sports university will be built in an area of approximately 100 acres.
– In fact, the National Games are scheduled to be held in Uttarakhand in the year 2024.
Uttarakhand
– CM – Pushkar Singh Dhami
– Governor – Gurmeet Singh
