Daily Current Affairs MCQs : 16 March 2024 - Humanities/Arts MCQ

World Consumer Rights Day is celebrated every year on 15 March to create more awareness about consumer rights. On this day, people discuss measures to create awareness about consumer rights. This is different from National Consumer Rights Day.

Mumbai won the Ranji Trophy 2024 by defeating Vidarbha by 169 runs at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. Mumbai has won the Ranji title after 8 years. With this, Mumbai also won its 42nd title in the first class tournament. Rahane has also become the 26th captain of Mumbai to win the Ranji Trophy.

B Sairam has been appointed as the new Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of Northern Coalfields Limited (NCL), the Singrauli-based major subsidiary of Coal India Limited. Sairam has 33 years of service experience in the coal sector.   

Government of India and ADB have signed a $23 million loan agreement to strengthen the fintech ecosystem in India. Under this, an International Fintech Institute (IFI) will be established to strengthen fintech education, boost start-up success rate and promote fintech research and innovation.

The Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India has signed an MoU with Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL), South Asia. J-PAL will act as a knowledge partner on inclusive development to bring rural poor women on the path to self-reliance. J-PAL is a global research center that works on poverty issues.   

In the 'Democracy Report 2024' report released by V-Dem Institute, India has been downgraded on several metrics related to democratic freedom. The Dame Institute tracks democratic freedoms around the world. The V-Dem Institute (Varieties of Democracy) was founded in 2014 by Staffan Lindberg. Staffan Lindberg is a Swedish political expert.

According to the latest report of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) on human development, India is ranked 134th in the global Human Development Index (HDI). Whereas India, its neighbor China and Sri Lanka are ranked 75th and 78th respectively in the high human development category. India is classified under 'medium human development'. Bhutan is at 125th and Bangladesh at 129th.  

The Ministry of Information & Broadcasting introduced Prasar Bharti – Shared Audio Visuals for Broadcast and Dissemination (PB-SHABD) along with revamped websites for DD News and Akashvani News, alongside an updated News on Air mobile app. PB-SHABD, a news sharing service by Prasar Bharati, offers daily news feeds in video, audio, text, photo, and more formats across fifty categories. The service, free for the first year, aims to provide news stories in major Indian languages, enhancing access to diverse media content.

The naval forces of China, Iran, and Russia recently launched a joint exercise called the “Maritime Security Belt-2024” near the Gulf of Oman. The exercise, which began on March 11 and lasted until 15, is the fifth common military exercise between the three countries in recent years. The exercise aims to safeguard regional maritime security and strengthen maritime cooperation. The exercise is organized in three phases: harbor, sea, and summarize. The exercise focuses on anti-piracy and search and rescue training courses, and includes the participation of Russian warships and aviation.

The 12th edition of the India-Italy Military Cooperation Group (MCG) meeting took place in New Delhi on March 12–13, 2024. The two-day meeting focused on new initiatives to enhance defense cooperation and military-to-military exchange between the two countries. Both sides expressed satisfaction with the proposed new initiatives.