Current Affairs Quiz 14th December 2023 Quiz

Exp. Adani Green Energy ranked 2nd-largest solar PV developer: Mercom

Adani Green Energy Ltd. with its total solar capacity of 18.1 GW ranked second after France-based Total Energies, which holds a total capacity of 41.3 GW.

Mercom Capital Group is a clean energy communications and research firm. It made the report based on data compiled from July 2022 to June 2023.

This achievement aligns with their ambitious target of achieving 45 GW of renewable energy capacity by the year 2030.

This recognition underscores our continued and unwavering commitment as one of the fastest growing renewable energy players in the world and on target to achieving our ambitious goal of 45 GW renewable energy capacity by 2030

The rankings by Mercom Capital, a premier clean energy communication and consulting firm, highlight Adani Group’s significant contributions to the solar energy landscape.

Exp. The Art of Living signed an MoU with the Govt of Maharashtra for a powerful resolution to the devastating water crises

The Art of Living Social Projects takes immense pride in unveiling a strategic partnership to usher in transformative measures ensuring water positivity for the state of Maharashtra.

An MoU was signed in Mumbai between The Art of Living Social Projects and the Department of Soil and Water Conservation, Government of Maharashtra.

The Art of Living has already taken up the initiative to make India water-positive and made immense progress in rejuvenating 70+ rivers, their tributaries, and streams.

90,000+ groundwater recharge structures have been built across 8 states including Karnataka, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, and Andhra Pradesh

The Jalyukt Shivar Abhiyaan 2.0 is a collaborative initiative to pioneer groundbreaking practices across 85 tehsils in 30 districts. At its core, the mission seeks to revolutionize Maharashtra into a water-positive state by implementing comprehensive measures such as desilting streams and building various water conservation structures to increase groundwater levels.

Recent MoUs signed by State Governments

• Rays Power Infra to build 500 MW solar park in Uttarakhand
• UK & Tamil Nadu partners on smart tech sustainable resource management
• Ashok Leyland signs MoU with UP Govt to set up integrated e-bus plant
• Odisha Govt signs MoU with six public sector banks to provide banking
• Maharashtra signs MoU with Germany’s professional association football

Exp. RITES signed pact with CFM Mozambique for 10 diesel locomotive supply

State-owned RITES Ltd has signed a pact with CFM Mozambique for the supply of diesel locomotives and incidental services at a total cost of USD 37,680,080 (Rs 314.1 crore).

The pact has been signed for the supply of ten diesel locomotives.

Caminhos de Ferro de Mozambique is a state-owned company of Mozambique.

The pact is aimed to foster the India-Mozambique bilateral relationship.

Recent MoU

• THDC India inks pact to develop renewable energy projects in Karnatakas
• IBM inks 3 pacts with IT Ministry on semiconductor, Al, Q-computing
• SUN Mobility partners with Bluwheelz to deploy over 16,000 EVs
• India Global Forum signs with World Governments Summit to develop an Emerging Economies Programme
• DMRC sign with BEL to develop Communication Based Train Control system

Exp. Punjab govt launched “Bhagwant Mann Sarkar Tuhade Dwar”

AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal and Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann launched the “Bhagwant Mann Sarkar Tuhade Dwar” scheme.

The scheme is aimed to deliver citizen-centric services at people’s doorstep.

Under the scheme, people will get 43 services, including the issuance of certificates of birth, marriage, death, income, residence, caste, rural area, border area, backward area, pension, payment of electricity bills, and land demarcation.

To avail of these services, people will have to dial helpline number 1076.

About Punjab

• Capital – Chandigarh
• Chief Minister – Bhagwant Mann
• Governor – Banwarilal Purohit

Exp. China launched the deepest lab on Earth

The world’s deepest and largest underground laboratory became operational in China.

The 2,400-metre-deep physics laboratory is located in southwest China’s Sichuan Province.

The Deep Underground and Ultra-low Radiation Background Facility for Frontier Physics Experiments (DURF) is located beneath Jinping Mountain in Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture.

The DURF has a total room capacity of 330,000 cubic metres.

The lab provides a major boost to the global search for dark matter, which is a hypothetical form of matter that appears not to interact with light or the electromagnetic field.

It is expected that the lab will open up new frontiers in deep-earth experiments as the extreme depth will help the scientists by blocking most cosmic rays that mess with the observation.

The underground laboratory has been launched after three years of extensive upgrades and expansion as it is the second phase of China Jinping Underground Laboratory.

The facility started construction in December 2020 and was jointly built by Tsinghua University and Yalong River Hydropower Development Company, Ltd.

About China

• Capital – Beijing
• Currency – Yuan
• President – Xi Jinping

Exp. Myanmar surpassed Afghanistan as world’s largest source of opium: UN report

Myanmar has surpassed Afghanistan to become the world’s largest source of opium in 2023 after a third consecutive year of expanding cultivation fueled by the country’s civil war, the United Nations report.

This has happened due to various factors such as domestic instability and a significant decline in opium cultivation in Afghanistan.

After the Taliban imposed a ban on drugs in 2022, opium cultivation in Afghanistan decreased by 95%, leading to a global shift in the opium supply to Myanmar.

The UNODC’s report highlighted that political, social, and economic instability resulting from the 2021 coup in Myanmar prompted many individuals to turn to poppy farming.

This shift has resulted in a substantial increase in earnings for Myanmar farmers, with opium poppy farming now yielding about 75% higher profits. The average price of opium poppies has risen to approximately $355 per kilogram, and the cultivation area has expanded by 18% year-on-year, reaching 47,000 hectares, marking the highest potential yield since 2001.  

Exp. Hyderabad ranked as “most livable city in India” by Mercer

Hyderabad ranked 153rd in Mercer’s Quality of Living City Index 2023, while Pune scored the 154th position and Bengaluru attained the 156th spot

Pune has the second best ‘quality of life’ in India after Hyderabad. Chennai at 161st, Mumbai at 164th, Kolkata at 170th, New Delhi at 172nd position.

Vienna (Austria), Zurich (Switzerland), and Vancouver (Canada) are the top three cities in that order, according to the 2023 index.

Khartoum (Sudan) at the bottom-most position (241st spot).

This index evaluates the quality of life for employees working abroad, especially with families, and relies on data from over 500 cities all over the world.

The ranking is based on factors like climate, schools and education, disease and sanitation standards, violence and crime, physical remoteness and ease of communications, and socio-political environment.

Recent index

• Climate Change Performance Index 2023 – India ranked 7th
• World Digital Competitiveness Ranking 2023 – India ranked 49th; topped by US*
• Global Unicorn Rankings – Rank 1. USA, Rank 2. China, Rank 3. India
• Inclusiveness index by US varsity – India ranked 117th; topped by – New Zealand
• Global Pension Index 2023 – India ranked 45; Topped by Netherland
• Global Hunger Index 2023 – India ranked 111^th

Exp. Retail inflation surged to 5.5% in November amid rising food prices

India’s retail inflation surged sharply to 5.55 percent in November after falling to a four-month low of 4.8 percent in October, according to data released by the Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation.

The uptick in retail inflation has been attributed to a sharp rise in food prices. Notably, the food inflation for November registered at 8.70 percent.

Despite the surge, the inflation figure remains within the Reserve Bank of India’s acceptable range of 2-6 percent. In sequential terms, the inflation rate recorded a 0.54 percent increase, as per the released data. It may be noted that this marks the third consecutive month when retail inflation has stayed below 6 percent.

While inflation remains within the RBI’s comfort zone, the surge in inflation could make the central bank’s job difficult going forward.

In its most recent policy review, the RBI’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) decided to keep the key rates unchanged, but warned that it would remain “highly alert” to undertake appropriate policy actions if the need arises.

Against this backdrop, the MPC decided to keep the policy repo rate unchanged at 6.50 percent, but remain highly alert and prepared to undertake appropriate policy actions, as warranted.

Meanwhile, India’s Index of Industrial Production (IIP) in October 2023 reached a 16-month peak, surging by 11.7 percent compared to a contraction of 4.1 percent in the corresponding period the previous year, as per government data.

Recent CPI-based Retail inflation for India

• June 2023 –81%
• July 2023 –44%
• August 2023 –83%
• September 2023 – 02%
• October 2023 –87%
• November 2023 – 5%

Exp. Poonawalla Housing Finance rebrands as Grihum Housing Finance

Poonawalla Housing Finance has been rebranded as Grihum Housing Finance with global private equity firm TPG now holding 99.02 percent stake in the housing finance company.

Before being promoted by Poonawalla Fincorp, the housing financier was a part of the Magma Group.

US-based alternative asset management firm TPG has committed total capital of ₹1,000 crore of which it infused ₹538 crore in Q2 FY24 under the first tranche.

The HFC has recorded a CAGR of around 28 percent in the last six years and has a network of 195 branches at present. Nearly 85 percent customers are women borrowers, including applicants and co-applicants. The net worth of the lender is over ₹1,800 crore.

Exp. Tripura appoints Ganguly as its tourism brand ambassador

BJP-led government in Tripura has inducted former cricketer Sourav Ganguly as a brand ambassador for the promotion of tourism in the state.

The former Indian cricket skipper Ganguly and Tripura tourism minister Susanta Choudhury signed an agreement at the historic Ujjayanta Palace of the erstwhile Manikya Dynasty, at Agartala.

As part of the agreement, Ganguly would shoot videos at the Ujjayanta Palace and at Chabimura in Gomati district, the two major tourist attractions.

The ancient Tripura Sundari temple, the Ujjayanta Palace, Neermahal Water Palace and Unakoti archaeological site are some of the major tourist spots in Tripura. The state is also trying to promote the colourful tribal culture in parts of the state for tourism.

This comes days after Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee appointed Ganguly as the state’s brand ambassador. Tripura and Bengal share cultural and linguistic similarities as Bengali is a dominant language in both states.

Recent Brand Ambassador

• R Madhavan – The insurtech company Acko
• Pankaj Tripathi – UPI Safety Ambassador
• MS Dhoni – State bank of India
• Katrina Kaif – Swiss Watchmaker ‘Rado’
• Chetan Bhagat – Henry Harvin Education
• Mahendra Singh Dhoni – Lay’s

Exp. International Gender Equality Prize 2023 went to an Afghanistan NGO

Finland awarded the International Gender Equality Prize for 2023 to an NGO in Afghanistan that works to promote and protect the rights of women in Afghanistan.

The organization Afghan Women’s Skills Development Center does important humanitarian work to promote the safety of Afghan women.

Ever since the Taliban came into power, Afghanistan is an example of a country where women’s human rights are systematically suppressed and girls have been denied access to secondary education and women to higher education.

Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo attended the cremony and presented the EUR 300,000 Prize to the organization’s representative, Mahbouba Seraj, in Tampere.

In 2021, the Prize was awarded to the We Will Stop Femicide Platform, an organization that does groundbreaking work combating violence against women in Turkey and whose work has global relevance.

Finland has strongly supported gender equality and women’s rights in Afghanistan for 20 years. Even today, we continue to provide this important support as widely as possible in the current situation. Finland will not forget Afghan women.

The task of the Afghan Women Skills Development Center is to provide Afghan women with training and to support their skills development and economic empowerment. The organisation operates in eight provinces around the country

Finland was one of the first countries in the world to extend the right to vote and stand for elections to all women and men in 1906. Finland was also the first country to elect women to Parliament; 19 women were elected to the 200-seat Parliament in 1907.

Exp. Former Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon honoured with Diwali ‘Power of One’ Awards 2023

The former UN chief Ban Ki-moo was honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2023 Diwali Stamp — The Power of One Award ceremony organized by the Diwali Foundation USA.

The other awardees for the year 2023 are former permanent representative of Bosnia and Herzegovina to the UN Ambassador Mirsada Colakovic, former permanent representative of South Korea to the UN Ambassador Kim Sook and 72nd UN General Assembly president and EU Special Representative for the Belgrade-Pristina Dialogue Miroslav Lajcak.

Ban commended the work and “forward-thinking vision” of the Diwali Foundation USA “for advancing vital light in a world of increasing darkness”.

Ban said the world of today “seems fractured like never before” as he cited the Covid-19 pandemic, climate crisis and regional conflicts, particularly “regional crisis as we see today in the Middle East and Ukraine”.

Ban was the eighth Secretary-General of the United Nations, serving two terms as the world’s top diplomat from January 2007 to December 2016.

Diwali Foundation USA was established in 2017 to promote a peaceful and consensus-based process to achieve societal “good, as befits the high hopes and ideals of humanity enshrined in the United Nations Charter.

The Foundation established ‘The Power of One’ awards to celebrate and highlight the important work done in a peaceful manner, especially at the United Nations.

Exp. Javed Akhtar to be honoured at Ajanta-Ellora Film Festival

Veteran lyricist-screenwriter Javed Akhtar will be felicitated with the Padmapani Lifetime Achievement Award at the Ajanta-Ellora Film Festival.

Akhtar is the co-writer of Hindi cinema classics such as “Zanjeer”, “Deewaar”, “Sholay”, “Don”, “Mr India”, etc.

The award ceremony will take place at Rukmini Auditorium in the MGM University campus of Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar on January 2024.

Recent Awards

• International Anti-Corruption champion by US Govt. – Nikhil Dey
• Italy’s highest honour “Order of Merit of the Italian Republic” – Kabir Bedi
• 33rd Vyas Samman 2023 -Pushpa Bharati (for Yaadein, Yaadein aur Yaadein)
• Sahitya Akademi’s Premchand Fellowship – Tshering Tashi (Bhutanese author)
• CEO of the Year 2023 by TIME magazine – Sam Altman (co-founded OpenAI developed ChatGPT)

Exp. Indian Coast Guard held 15th Capacity Building Senior Officers’ Meet

The Indian Coast Guard has organized the 15th edition of the ‘Capacity Building Senior Officers’ Meeting’ (CBSOM-2023) at GIFT City in Gandhinagar to understand the situation of maritime piracy and armed robbery against ships in Asia.

The meeting was held as per the Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in Asia.

It brought together 19 international delegates from 15 countries, including key national stakeholders from India.

Exp. China launched the world’s first Methane powered rocket “Zhuque 2”

A Chinese company LandSpace Technology became the first in the world to launch satellites with rockets fuelled by methane and liquid oxygen.

The Zhuque 2 Y-3 blasted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in northwest China.

The rocket was 49.5 metres in length, had a diameter of 3.35m, and had a lift-off mass of 220 tonnes, excluding the payloads.

Zhuque-2 Y-3 carried two 50kg test satellites developed by Chinese startup Spacety, one of which has adopted technologies from a company named Hongqing.

Exp. Exposed AIDS epidemic, Dr. Gao Yaojie passed away

Chinese doctor Gao Yaojie, known for having exposed the AIDS epidemic in the rural part of the country, died at the age of 95.

Yaojie was a gynecologist by training and was one of the first doctors who spearheaded the campaign against the AIDS epidemic in China.

Yaojie had exposed how businesses selling blood caused the spread of HIV in rural China.

According to a report by BBC, selling blood was a common practice in rural China, especially in the Henan province in the 1980s and 1990s. Poor farming communities engaged in selling blood to earn a living. However, the practice was not properly monitored and at times, blood was also collected from HIV+ patients.

At that time, awareness for AIDS was not very high. Chinese authorities believed that HIV could only be transferred through sex or from mother to child during pregnancy. Yaojie came across an AIDS patient who didn’t fall in either category but had received blood through transfusion.