Daily Quiz 05-06-23

• Source: IRDAI eyes insurance push in rural areas with ‘Bima Vahak’ The Hindu 2nd JUNE
• IRDAI’s plan to improve insurance awareness and penetration in the hinterland is all set to gain momentum with the insurance regulator issuing draft guidelines for Bima Vahak, a dedicated distribution channel to reach out to every Gram Panchayat.
• A core component of its ‘Insurance for all by 2047’ goal, Bima Vahak will be the crucial last-mile connect for insurers in the form of a field force comprising corporate as well individual Bima Vahaks, primarily comprising women, who can gain the trust of locals for the distribution and servicing of insurance products…….

Reset time: On GST revenue growth……The Hindu JUNE 3rd
While GST revenues have been over the ₹1.4 lakh mark for 15 successive months, May’s revenues mark only the sixth time that GST revenues have crossed the ₹1.5 lakh crore mark. Four of those occasions have been in 2023. … GST Council must not dither on what is doable in the short run, such as setting up tribunals, clarifying gaming and casino levies, and drawing up the blueprint for fixing an unwieldy rate structure.

Explanation: Centre announces new guidelines for granting deemed university status……The Hindu June 3rd
Higher education institutions which are less than 20 years old will now be eligible to apply for deemed university status and private universities will have to create executive councils like central universities, according to the University Grants Commission's revised guidelines……..
The new rules are built on the principle of a "light but tight" regulatory framework envisioned in the National Education Policy 2020.
"The new simplified guidelines will encourage universities to focus on quality and excellence, strengthen the research ecosystem and have a long-term impact in transforming our higher education landscape. The norms will facilitate creation of many more quality-focused deemed to be universities in an objective and transparent manner," Mr. Pradhan said.
The University Grants Commission (UGC) Act provides for the central government to declare any institution other than a university the status of institution deemed to be university. The first set of regulations in this regard was notified in 2010 and these were subsequently revised in 2016 and 2019.Explanation: Centre announces new guidelines for granting deemed university status……The Hindu June 3rd
Higher education institutions which are less than 20 years old will now be eligible to apply for deemed university status and private universities will have to create executive councils like central universities, according to the University Grants Commission's revised guidelines……..
The new rules are built on the principle of a "light but tight" regulatory framework envisioned in the National Education Policy 2020.
"The new simplified guidelines will encourage universities to focus on quality and excellence, strengthen the research ecosystem and have a long-term impact in transforming our higher education landscape. The norms will facilitate creation of many more quality-focused deemed to be universities in an objective and transparent manner," Mr. Pradhan said.
The University Grants Commission (UGC) Act provides for the central government to declare any institution other than a university the status of institution deemed to be university. The first set of regulations in this regard was notified in 2010 and these were subsequently revised in 2016 and 2019.

• Explanation: U.S. reopens Embassy in Seychelles after 27 year absence The Hindu 3rd June
• The United States has reopened its Embassy in Seychelles after a 27-year absence during which China and other U.S. rivals made significant inroads in the Indian Ocean islands.
• The U.S. State Department announced the move late June 1, after having unveiled plans to open a diplomatic mission in northern Norway, which will be its only such facility above the Arctic Circle.
• The Seychelles Embassy is part of a push to counter China’s growing influence in the Indo-Pacific. The U.S. is already constructing an Embassy in the Maldives and has opened or announced plans to open embassies in the Pacific, including in the Solomon Islands, Tonga and Kiribati.

• Explanation: What is the Iran-Taliban water conflict all about? Indian Express June 3rd
  Iran and Afghanistan are locked in a long-standing dispute over the sharing of water from the Helmand River
• The Helmand is Afghanistan’s longest river. It originates near Kabul in the western Hindu Kush mountain range and flows in a southwesterly direction through desert areas for a total of about 1,150 kilometres (715 miles) before emptying into Lake Hamun, which straddles the Afghanistan-Iran border
• Lake Hamun is the largest freshwater lake in Iran.
• It used to be one of the world’s largest wetlands, straddling 4,000 square kilometres (1,600 square miles) between Iran and Afghanistan, fed by the Helmand.
  But it has since dried up, a trend experts blame on drought and the impact of dams and water controls.