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The correct answer is Stockholm.

Important Points

Nobel Prize:

• It is given to only living scientists and can be shared by a maximum of three persons in each category: Chemistry, Physics, Physiology or Medicine, Literature, Economics, and for the work towards World Peace.
• It aims at motivating the younger generation to seek careers in science and technology.
• All efforts are made to project the lifetime achievements of a Nobel laureate who has dedicated to revealing the verifiable truth as the hero of a narrow field of specialization (Upadhye, 2004).
• The Nobel Prize is the best known and prestigious scientific prize in the world.
• Its founder is Alfred Nobel.
• the Nobel Prizes in Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine and Literature are awarded in Stockholm, Sweden. So, option 4 is correct.
• The Nobel Peace Prize is awarded in Oslo, Norway.

The correct answer is Axis Bank.

In News

• This bank launches India’s first numberless credit card with no CVV, expiry date, or annual fee.

Key Points

• Fibe, India’s leading Fintech and Axis Bank, one of the largest private sector banks in India, partnered to launch India’s first-ever numberless credit card for tech-savvy Gen Zs.
• It aims to foster inclusivity and enhance accessibility for the diverse and growing consumer segment.
• With a numberless credit card, customers get an added level of security as there is no card number, expiry date, or CVV printed on the card plastic.
• This reduces the risk of identity theft or unauthorised access to customers' card details ensuring absolute security and privacy.
• The card is powered by RuPay, which allows the customer to link this credit card to UPI.
• The card is accepted across all offline stores in addition to all digital platforms.
• It also offers the tap-and-pay feature for added convenience.
• Axis Bank
• Establishment year - 1993
• HQ - Mumbai
• MD & CEO - Amitabh Chaudhry

Additional Information

• HDFC Bank
• Establishment year - 1994
• HQ - Mumbai
• MD & CEO - Sashidhar Jagdishan
• ICICI Bank
• Establishment year - 1994
• HQ - Mumbai
• MD & CEO - Sandeep Bakshi
• IndusInd Bank
• Founded in - 1994
• HQ - Pune
• MD & CEO - Sumant Kathpalia
• YES Bank 
• Founded in - 2004
• HQ - Mumbai
• CEO - Prashant Kumar

The correct answer is ​All of the above.

In News

• The Indian Express: PM formally launches Global Biofuels Alliance; 19 countries, 12 global bodies agree to join.

Key Points

The Global Biofuels Alliance (GBA):

• It was formally launched recently by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the presence of leaders of a number of partner countries on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in New Delhi. Hence statement 3 is correct.
• The GBA has been in the works for some time now and is a key initiative and priority under India’s G20 presidency.
• The alliance is aimed at facilitating international cooperation and intensifying the use of sustainable biofuels, along with facilitating global biofuels trade and technical support for national biofuel programmes. Hence statement 1 is correct.
• The GBA, the effort for which was spearheaded by India, the United States, and Brazil, has been launched with nine initiating members–India, the US, Brazil, Argentina, Bangladesh, Italy, Mauritius, South Africa, and the United Arab Emirates–while Canada and Singapore are observer countries.
• In all, 19 countries and 12 international organizations have already agreed to join the GBA.
• Seven of the 19 countries are from the G20, four are among the G20 invitee countries, while eight are neither G20 members nor invitees.
• The World Bank, Asian Development Bank, World Economic Forum, International Energy Agency, International Energy Forum, International Renewable Energy Agency, and International Civil Aviation Organization are among the organizations that have agreed to join the alliance.
• Modi launched the GBA in the presence of leaders from the US, Brazil, the UAE, Singapore, Italy, Argentina, Bangladesh, and Mauritius.
• “GBA will support worldwide development and deployment of sustainable biofuels by offering capacity-building exercises across the value chain, technical support for national programs and promoting policy lessons-sharing.
• It will place emphasis on strengthening markets, facilitating global biofuels trade, developing concrete policy lesson-sharing, and providing technical support for national biofuels programs worldwide. Hence statement 2 is correct.
• It will facilitate mobilizing a virtual marketplace to assist industries, countries, ecosystem players and key stakeholders in mapping demand and supply, as well as connecting technology providers to end users.
• It will also facilitate development, adoption and implementation of internationally recognized standards, codes, sustainability principles and regulations to incentivize biofuels adoption and trade,” the government said in a release on Saturday.
• After initial hiccups, India has tasted success in its ethanol-petrol blending programme in the past few years.
• India achieved the target of 10 per cent ethanol blending in petrol in June last year, months ahead of the targetted timeline of November 2022.
• The success in the ethanol blending programme prompted the government to advance the deadline for pan-India E20–petrol with 20 per cent ethanol–rollout to 2025-26 from 2030.
• According to the government, the country is well on track to meet the revised E20 petrol timeline. India is also looking at blending diesel with suitable biofuels and natural gas with biogas.

The correct answer is Small Industries Development Bank of India.

In News

• Tata Power Solar and SIDBI collaborate to support MSME solar initiatives.

Key Points

• Tata Power Solar Systems Ltd has signed an MoU with the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI).
• The partnership aims to provide easier financing options to Micro, Small, and medium Enterprises who are keen on adopting solar energy solutions.
• Tata Power Solar offers solar energy solutions from installation to operational maintenance and has so far provided 11.5 GWp ground-mounted solar capacity, over 1.7 GWp rooftop-mounted solar capacity systems, and more than 1 lakh solar water pumps.
• The initiative has set up an online application process for MSMEs to avail the scheme benefits of the scheme.
• It facilitate the ‘ease of opting’ renewable energy in the MSME sector and powers its quest to become more efficient and globally competitive.”
• Small Industries Development Bank of India
• ​SIDBI is the Financial Institution engaged in the promotion, financing & development of MSMEs.
• Established on April 2, 1990.
• Chairman - Sivasubramanian Ramann

Additional Information

• HDFC Bank
• Establishment year - 1994
• HQ - Mumbai
• MD & CEO - Sashidhar Jagdishan
• Axis Bank
• Establishment year - 1993
• HQ - Mumbai
• MD & CEO - Amitabh Chaudhry
• ICICI Bank
• Establishment year - 1994
• HQ - Mumbai
• MD & CEO - Sandeep Bakshi
• SBI 
• Establishment year - 1955
• HQ - Mumbai
• Chairman - Dinesh Kumar Khara

The correct answer is option 2, i.e. **Offer for sale.**​

• The term capital market refers to facilities and institutional arrangements through which long-term funds, both debt and equity are raised and invested.
• The capital market consists of development banks, commercial banks, and stock exchanges.
• The Capital Market can be divided into two parts:
• Primary Market
• Secondary Market
• The primary market is also known as the new issues market.
• It deals with new securities being issued for the first time.
• The essential function of a primary market is to facilitate the transfer of investible funds from savers to entrepreneurs seeking to establish new

enterprises or to expand existing ones through the issue of securities for the first time.

• There are various methods of floating new issues in the primary market :
• | Private Placement | - Private placement is the allotment of securities by a company to institutional investors and some selected individuals. - It helps to raise capital more quickly than a public issue. - Access to the primary market can be expensive on account of various mandatory and nonmandatory expenses. - Some companies, therefore, cannot afford a public issue and choose to use private placement. | | --- | --- | | Offer through prospectus | - Offer through prospectus is the most popular method of raising funds by public companies in the primary market. - This involves inviting subscriptions from the public through the issue of prospectus. - A prospectus makes a direct appeal to investors to raise capital, through an advertisement in newspapers and magazines. - The issues may be underwritten and also are required to be listed on at least one stock exchange | | Offer for Sale | - Under this method, securities are not issued directly to the public but are offered for sale through intermediaries like issuing houses or stockbrokers. - In this case, a company sells securities enbloc at an agreed price to brokers who, in turn, resell them to the investing public. | | Rights Issue | - This is a privilege given to existing shareholders to subscribe to a new issue of shares according to the terms and conditions of the company. - The shareholders are offered the ‘right’ to buy new shares in proportion to the number of shares they already possess | | e-IPOs | - A company proposing to issue capital to the public through the on-line system of the stock exchange has to enter into an agreement with the stock exchange. This is called an Initial Public Offer (IPO). - SEBI registered brokers have to be appointed for the purpose of accepting applications and placing orders with the company. - The issuer company should also appoint a registrar to the issue having electronic connectivity with the exchange. |

The correct answer is Air India.

In News

• Air India acquired the first aircraft through IFSC.

Key Points

• Air India has achieved a significant milestone by acquiring India’s first Airbus A350-900 aircraft through its leasing unit based in Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT)-IFSC in Gandhinagar.
• The transaction was made possible through a finance lease provided by HSBC announced by Air India.
• It is the airline's first financing transaction from its record-setting orders for 470 aircraft.
• Air India is the country's first scheduled carrier to have acquired an aircraft from an entity registered in Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City).
• Air India’s first A350-900 is also the first widebody aircraft to have been leased through India’s first International Financial Services Centre (IFSC).
• Air India
• ​Air India is the flag carrier of India.
• Headquartered in New Delhi.
• fully-ownedIt is a fully owned subsidiary of Tata Sons.

Additional Information

• IndiGo
• ​It is an Indian low-cost airline.
• Headquartered in Gurgaon, Haryana, India.
• It is the largest airline in India by passengers carried and fleet size, with a 63.4% domestic market share as of July 2023.
• Go First
• ​It was an Indian ultra-low-cost airline based in Mumbai, Maharashtra.
• It was owned by the Indian business conglomerate, Wadia Group.
• It commenced operations on 4 November 2005 and operated a fleet of Airbus A 320 aircraft in an all-economy configuration.
• Vistara
• ​It is an Indian full-service airline, based in Gurugram.
• The airline serves 34 destinations with a fleet of Airbus A320neo, Airbus A 321neo, and Boeing 787-9 aircraft.

The correct answer is DSP Pension Fund Managers.

In News

• PFRDA picks the 11^th fund manager for NPS.

Key Points

• The Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) is in the process of appointing DSP Pension Fund Managers as the 11^th fund manager permitted to manage retirement savings under the National Pension System (NPS) and is looking to tap Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) to enhance its reach to citizens across the country.
• NPS is mandatory for central and state government employees who joined the service after 2004, who account for a bulk of the Rs 10.22 lakh crore assets under its watch.
• Currently, about 31 lakh people have joined the NPS on a voluntary basis, but that number is growing at about 25% a year.
• DSP Pension Fund Managers
• ​It was incorporated on 26 Nov 2012.
• It is classified as a Non-govt company and is registered at Registrar of Companies, Mumbai.

Additional Information

• Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA)
• Founded in - 2003
• HQ - New Delhi
• Chairperson - Deepak Mohanty

The Manipur-based indigenous "Longpi Hampai pottery" has started gaining prominence in the international markets owing to its intricate designs and technology used to produce them. The ancient art has originated from two Longpi villages in Manipur namely Longpi Khullen and Longpi Kajui near Ukhrul district. It is practised by Tangkhul community residing in the hill district of Manipur.

The Correct answer is  Retailer Centricity.

Key Points

Digital Payment Index (DPI):

• Reserve Bank of India has constructed a composite Digital Payments Index (DPI) to capture the extent of digitization of payments across the country.
• The RBI-DPI comprises 5 broad parameters that enable the measurement of the deepening and penetration of digital payments in the country over different time periods.
• Payment Enablers (weight 25%)
• Payment Infrastructure – Demand-side factors (10%)
• Payment Infrastructure – Supply-side factors (15%)
• Payment Performance (45%)
• Consumer Centricity (5%)

​

Additional Information

Reserve Bank of India (RBI)

• The Reserve Bank of India was established on April 1, 1935, in accordance with the provisions of the Reserve Bank of India Act 1934.
• Since its Nationalisation in 1949, the Reserve Bank is fully owned by the Government of India.
• AIM: To regulate the issue of Banknotes and keeping of reserves with a view to securing monetary stability in India and generally to operate the currency and credit system of the country to its advantage; to have a modern monetary policy framework to meet the challenge of an increasingly complex economy, to maintain price stability while keeping in mind the objective of growth.
• It is known as Banker's Bank.
• The concept of financial inclusion was first introduced in India in 2005 by the Reserve Bank of India.
• It has the power to provide and cancel the license to other commercials, and scheduled banks.
• Headquarters: Mumbai.
• Governor: Sanjay Malhotra

The correct answer is 'Ministry of Finance'

Key Points

• Finance and Corporate Affairs Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, on Wednesday, launched the fifth edition of Enhanced Access and Service Excellence-EASE 5.0, which spells out the common reforms agenda for public sector banks (PSBs) under the EASENext program.
• It will entail strategic initiatives beyond EASE 5.0. The initiatives will be across diverse themes business growth, profitability, risk, customer service, operations, and capability building. ​​
• The launch event was attended virtually by Managing Directors CEOs and other senior executives of PSBs.
• Under EASE 5.0, PSBs will continue to invest in new-age capabilities and deepen the ongoing reforms to respond to evolving customer needs, changing competition, and the technology environment. EASE 5.0 will focus on digital customer experience, and integrated and inclusive banking, with an emphasis on supporting small businesses and agriculture. Simultaneously,  all PSBs will also create a bank-specific three-year strategic roadmap.