” Dr. duvvuri subbarao, former governor of the reserve bank of india (rbi) (2008- 2013), launched his memoir titled ‘just a mercenary? : notes from my life and career’.• the book was published by penguin random house india and narrates about dr subbarao’s career, which would help inspire young professionals to navigate their career paths.option revision:1. in january 2024, general manoj mukund naravane (mm naravane), former chief of army staff(coas) penned his autobiography titled “four stars of destiny: an autobiography”. published in jan’ 2024 by penguin veer, an imprint of penguin random house india.2. in march 2024, lakshmi murdeshwar puri, former assistant secretary general, united nations (un) and wife of union minister hardeep singh puri, penned her debut novel ‘swallowing the sun: a novel’. she is also a former deputy executive director of un women.3. in april 2024, a book titled “maker of goa: the untold story of pratap singh rane” is the biography of pratap singh rane, the former cm of the state of goa , authored by vijayadevi rane (pratap’s wife) and published by rupa publications.”

” Indian chess player vaishali ramesh babu has officially bestowed the title of grandmaster(gm) by the international chess federation(fide).• vaishali ramesh babu and her brother gm rameshbabu pragnanandhaa are the world’s 1st grandmaster(gm) brother-sister duo.• after this gm title, she became the 84th indian gm and 42nd woman from any country to hold the gm title.• she officially received the gm title only after the final decision was taken at the fide council meeting during the candidates tournament in toronto, canada in april 2024.option revision:3. in april 2023, india’s sreeja akula(hailing from telangana) won the women’s singles title at the world table tennis (wtt) feeder beirut ii 2024 by defeating sarah de nutte (luxembourg) in the finals.• sreeja overtakes manika, becomes india no. 1 in women’s singles4. in january 2024, russian chess player anastasia bodnaruk (neutral fide flag) won the 2023 fide world rapid chess women’s title by defeating indian chess grandmaster, koneru humpy in a tiebreaker match to secure first place.5. in april 2024, the chess grandmaster (gm) dommaraju gukesh from chennai (tamil nadu) has won (open category) the international chess federation (fide) candidates 2024 held in toronto, canada, by defeating hikaru nakamura of the united states to score 9 points.• he will now be competing with ding liren of china in the world chess championship 2024.”

” Npci international payments limited (nipl), the overseas arm of the national payments corporation of india (npci), has signed a pact with the bank of namibia (bon), the central bank of the republic of namibia, to develop a unified payments interface (upi)-like instant payment system for namibia.• to enhance digital financial services and facilitate real-time person-to-person (p2p) and person-to-merchant (p2m) payment transactions in namibia.option revision:2. on february 17 2024, the reserve bank of india (rbi), nepal rastra bank ink pact to integrate upi and national payments interface (npi) for cross-border remittances.3. india and denmark signed a mobility and migration partnership agreement to enhance people-to-people ties.• launched logo – commemorating 75 years of diplomatic ties.4. on 11 march 2024, rbi and the bank indonesia (bi) signed mou to set up a framework to promote the use of local currencies (indian rupee (inr) and the indonesian rupiah (idr)) for cross-border transactions.”

” On may 1, 2024, the defence research and development organisation (drdo) successfully flight-tested a long range supersonic missile-assisted release of torpedo (smart) system from dr apj abdul kalam island off the coast of chandipur in balasore, odisha using a ground mobile launcher.• developed by drdo, it is the next-generation missile-based light-weight torpedo delivery system.• it is designed to enhance the indian navy’s anti-submarine warfare (asw) capabilities, and to counter the increasing deployment of submarines by the naval forces of other countries in the indian ocean region.option revision:2. in november 2023, the indian army conducted the inaugural test firing of 70 mm rockets and 20 mm turret guns of its light combat helicopter (lch) prachand in both day and night conditions. it was carried out by the 1st lch squadron from the air force station in likabali in arunachal pradesh.• the prachand is india’s first indigenous multi-role class combat helicopter, developed by hindustan aeronautics limited (hal). it received operational clearance in 2017.3. in december 2023, during the exercise, iaf successfully test-fired the samar air defence missile system for the first time which engaged aerial threats with a speed range of 2 to 2.5 mach.• samar is developed using refurbished russian-origin vympel r-73e and r-27et1 air to air missiles infrared guided air-to-air missiles (aams). it is jointly developed by iaf’s 7 base repair depot (brd), delhi and 11 brd, nashik, maharashtra in association with indian private-sector companies simran flowtech industries and yamazuki denki.4. in january 2024, indian navy (in), in collaboration with brahmos aerospace private limited (bapl), test-fired an extended-range brahmos supersonic cruise missile (brahmos er) on 24th january 2024.• it is based on the russian p-800 onyx missile.”

” Nhpc limited, signed a memorandum of understanding (mou) with norway based ocean sun as to explore various facets of cooperation to demonstrate ocean sun’s floating solar energy technology based on photovoltaic panels which would be mounted on hydro-elastic membranes, at sites identified by nhpc.• this is in line with nhpc’s efforts towards sustainable development and addition of renewable energy capacity.option revision:3. in january 2024 rec limited signed an mou with national investment and infrastructure fund limited (niifl) to boost renewable energy and infrastructure in india.4. in february 2024, solar energy corporation of india limited (seci) commissioned india’s largest battery energy storage system – store energy using solar energy in chhattisgarh.5. in april 2024, ntpc green energy limited (ngel) and indus towers limited signed an mou to address the need of green energy objectives.”

” Groww pay services private limited(groww pay), the unified payments interface (upi) payments platform of the bengaluru (karnataka)-based broking firm groww, secured an online payment aggregator (pa) licence from the reserve bank of india (rbi).• this online pa license will allow the company to enable e-commerce transactions through its upi app, groww pay.• with the pa license, groww can onboard merchants and provide digital payment solutions.option revision:2. the reserve bank of india (rbi) cancelled certificate of registration (cor) of 4 non banking financial companies (nbfc) – kundles motor finance; nithya finance; bhatia hire purchase & jiwanjyoti deposits and advances.3. on january 10, 2024, rbi increased minimum capital requirement of small finance banks (sfb) from rs 100 crore to 1000 crore – permitted payment banks to upgrade as sfbs.4. on february 26 2024, rbi amends master director on prepaid payment instruments (ppi) to permit authorised banks and non bank ppi issuers to issue ppi for making payment across public transport systems.”

” Fi, the neobank platform of epifi technologies private limited, has received non-banking financial company(nbfc) licence from the reserve bank of india(rbi).• the nbfc licence will enable fi to offer loans from its own books and also eliminates the need of external dependencies such as: banks and other nbfcs which have authorization to provide loans.note: worldline epayments india private limited, a digital payment service provider, has received the approval from rbi to operate as online payment aggregator(pa) under the payment and settlement systems act, 2007.option revision:1. worldline epayments india gets rbi approval to operate as payment aggregator4 & 5. on february 9 2024, fintech startups juspay and decfin received rbi approval to act as pa.”

Jeremiah manele was sworn into office as the new prime minister of the solomon islands by winning the pm vote in the secret ballot after the results of the national election 2024 failed to deliver a majority to any political party the solomon islands conducted joint elections for the first time in 2024

” Designer bhavi mehta won the 9th edition of the oxford bookstore book cover prize (2024) for creating the book jacket of pradeep sebastian’s “the book beautiful.”• the book beautiful was published by hachette india.• the award comprises a trophy, a certificate, and a one lakh rupee cash prize.option revision:1. in may 2024, bulgarian writer georgi gospodinov and translator angela rodel won the international booker prize 2023 for the dark comic novel titled “time shelter”.2. in march 24, the 7th edition of the romain rolland book prize(2024) has been awarded to “staliner divan”, the bengali translation of jean-daniel baltassat’s french novel “le divan de staline” (stalin’s couch), by pankaj kumar chatterjee.5. in february 2024, navarre scott momaday, a pulitzer prize-winning storyteller, poet, educator and folklorist, passed away in new mexico, united states of america (usa).• his novel “house made of dawn,” published in 1968 by harpercollins, won the pulitzer prize in fiction for the year 1969.”

” International workers’ day (also known as international labour day) 2024 was observed across the globe on 1 may 2024 to promote worker’s rights and honour the contribution of workers in every industry and field to society.• in india, international workers’ day is also known as may day, antar rashtriya shramik divas, or kamgar din.• in india, the 1st may day was celebrated by the labour kisan party of hindustan on 1 may 1923 in madras (now chennai, tamil nadu).• the 8-hour day movement is a social movement that aims to regulate the length of a working day to prevent the abuse of working time. click here to read more.option revision:3. the united nations (un) annual observance – international day of human fraternity 2024 – 4th february 2024- 4th observance.4. zero discrimination day 2024 observed across the globe on march 1 2024.• the theme of zero discrimination day 2024 – to protect everyone’s health, protect everyone’s rights.• it marks the 10th anniversary of zero discrimination day.5. world consumer rights day 2024 observed across the globe on march 15 2024• the theme of world consumer rights day 2024 – fair and responsible artificial intelligence (ai) for consumers.”