Current Affairs Quiz 1st January 2024 Quiz

Exp. UAE initiates process of investing $2 billion in food parks in India

The UAE has initiated the process of channelising its long-promised $2-billion investments into food parks in India, starting with Gujarat, after the two countries sorted out concerns on curbs imposed by the Essential Commodities Act.

The investments are being made as part of the four-nation I2U2 (India-Israel-UAE-USA) initiative to develop a series of integrated food parks across India to enhance food security in the Middle East and South Asia.

The first food park is likely to be set up on land near Kandla where the investors would get into contract farming arrangements with locals.

The UAE had first promised in 2018 to invest in food parks in India which later got dovetailed into the I2U2 initiative announced at the Leaders’ Summit in July 2022.

It was virtually attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, US President Joe Biden, Israeli Prime Minister (former) Yair Lapid, and UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

These food parks would incorporate state-of-the-art climate-smart technologies to reduce food waste and spoilage, conserve fresh water, and employ renewable energy sources, per the joint statement signed by the leaders at the Summit.

About United Arab Emirates (UAE)

• Capital – Abu Dhabi
• Currency – Dirham
• President – Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan
• Prime Minister – Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum
• Official language -Arabic

Exp. Gujarat To Unveil India’s First Submarine Tourism In Dwarka

The Gujarat government is set to introduce a submarine service for tourists in the state, to help them explore the marine life in Dwarka, an ancient city believed to be lost under the sea.

The state government has signed a memorandum with Mazgaon Dock shipbuilders for the project in the city, which holds cultural significance as the ‘city of the Hindu God Lord Krishna’.

This will be the first underwater tourism facility in India through a submarine. As per the current plan, the government aims to operationalise the project before Diwali in October 2024.

As per the project, tourists will be taken 100 meters below the sea in a submarine to see underwater marine life. Each submarine will carry 24 tourists, and the vessel will be led by two experienced pilots and a professional crew. The vessel will be designed to provide a window view for all passengers.

About Gujarat

• Capital- Gandhinagar
• Chief Minister- Bhupendra Rajnikant Patel
• Governor- Acharya Devvrat

Exp. Defence Secretary Opens HAL’s Aero Engine R&D Facility In Bengaluru

Defence Secretary Giridhar Aramane has inaugurated a new design and test facility at Aero Engine Research and Development Centre (AERDC) of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) in Bengaluru, Karnataka.

The newly inaugurated facility, spanning over 10,000 sq. meters, is poised to be a hub of innovation in the field of aerospace engineering.

Equipped with special machines, advanced setups, and computational tools, it signifies HAL’s commitment to staying at the forefront of technological advancements.

Additionally, the newly developed facility has set-ups for testing air producers of Jaguar, Gas Turbine Starter Unit (GTSU) – 110 M2 and 127E of Light Combat Aircraft, Auxiliary Power Units of IMRH and Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft, Gas Turbine Electrical Generator (GTEG)-60 for An-32 aircraft.

Exp. Hardeep Puri inaugurates India’s first ‘Zero Waste Street Food Festival’ in Delhi

Hardeep Singh Puri, Minister of Housing & Urban Affairs and Petroleum & Natural Gas, has inaugurated the National Street Food Festival 2023 in New Delhi.

This street food festival was organized by the National Association of Street Vendors of India (NASVI) at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium.

This festival is the first ‘Zero Waste Street Food Festival’ in India.

The Minister appreciated NASVI for providing training to 1,50,000 street vendors in food safety and hygiene. He also noted the establishment of two Regional Street Food Vendors Training Institutes (SVTI) which will be launched by NASVI in 2024 in Delhi and Patna.

Exp. Sukanya Samriddhi Schemes’ interest rates hiked up to 20 bps for Q4FY24

The Centre hiked the interest rates of some of the small savings schemes, such as Sukanya Samriddhi Scheme, and 3-year Time Deposit, for the January-March 2024 quarter.

As per the latest revised list, the interest rate of Sukanya Samriddhi Scheme will be 8.2%, while for 3-year TD it would be 7.1% for the last quarter of the current fiscal.

Earlier, the interest rates for the Sukanya Samriddhi Scheme and 3-year TD were 8.0%, and 7.1%, respectively.

The PPF rates were kept unchanged for more than 3 years. It was last tweaked in April-June 2020, when it was slashed to 7.1 percent from 7.9 percent.

Before the revision, the interest rates on small savings schemes ranged between 4 percent (post office savings deposits) and 8.2 percent (Senior Citizens Savings Scheme).

Interest rates for Jan-March 2024

• Savings Deposit- 4 per cent
• 1-Year Post Office Time Deposits- 6.9 percent
• 2-Year Post Office Time Deposits- 7.0 percent
• 3-Year Post Office Time Deposits- 7.1 percent
• 5-Year Post Office Time Deposits- 7.5 percent
• 5-Year Recurring Deposits- 6.7 percent (6.5 percent earlier)
• National Saving Certificates (NSC)- 7.7 percent
• Kisan Vikas Patra- 7.5 percent (will mature in 115 months)
• Public Provident Fund- 7.1 per cent
• Sukanya Samriddhi Account- 8.2 per cent
• Senior Citizens Savings Scheme- 8.2 per cent
• Monthly Income Account- 7.4 per cent

Exp. Arvind Panagariya appointed as 16th Finance Commission Chairman

The government has appointed former NITI Aayog vice chairman Arvind Panagariya as the Chairman of the 16th Finance Commission.

Joint Secretary in the finance ministry Ritvik Ranjanam Pandey will be the secretary to the commission.

The commission will submit its report for the five-year period (2026-27 to 2030-31) to the President by October 31, 2025.

The Finance Commission is a constitutional body that gives suggestions on center-state financial relations.

The erstwhile 15th Finance Commission under NK Singh had recommended that states be given 41 percent of the divisible tax pool of the Centre during the five-year period 2021 22 to 2025 26, which is at the same level as was recommended by the 14th Finance Commission.

Recent Appointment in Banking & Insurance Sector

• Chief Risk Officer of LIC – S Sunder Krishnan (replace Pratap Chandra Paikray)
• Part-time Chairman of Kotak Mahindra Bank – CS Rajan (replace Prakash Apte)
• Interim MD & CEO of North East SFB – Satish Kumar Kalra
• Chairman of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) – Pramod Agrawal (replace SS Mundra).
• Executive Director (ED) of ICICI Bank – Sandeep Batra

Exp. Andrew Saberton appointed as the Deputy Executive Director of UNFPA

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has appointed Andrew Paul Saberton of the United Kingdom as Assistant Secretary-General to serve as Deputy Executive Director (Management) of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

Saberton succeeds Ib Petersen of Denmark, to whom the Secretary-General and the Executive Director of UNFPA are grateful for his dedicated service.

Saberton has served as the Assistant Secretary-General and Deputy Executive Director (Management) ad interim since November 2023 and as UNFPA Comptroller and Director for the Division of Management Services since September 2016.

Previously, he was the Chief of the Finance Branch (2011-2016) and Chief of the Accounts Section (2009-2011) at UNFPA, and a Senior Finance Officer at the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (2001-2009).

Recent Appointment

• CMD of Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd – Uday A Kaole
• Director (Works) of National High-Speed Rail Corporation Limited (NHSRCL) – Pramod Sharma
• DG of Prisons and Correctional Services – Maheshwar Dayal
• CEO and MD of Stellantis India – Aditya Jairaj (replace Roland Bouchara)
• President of FICCI – Anish Shah (replace Subhrakant Panda)

Exp. India, UAE to conduct joint military exercise ‘Desert Cyclone’ in Rajasthan

The Inaugural edition of Joint Military Exercise Desert Cyclone, between India & UAE, will be conducted from 02 Jan to 15 Jan 2024 in Rajasthan.

The joint manoeuvres during ‘Desert Cyclone 2024’ aim to boost interoperability through the exchange of knowledge and best practices in urban operations.

The exercise aims to enhance interoperability by learning & sharing best practices in Urban Operations.

Recent Exercise

• 4th edition of Military Exercise VINBAX-2023 between India & Vietnam – Hanoi, Vietnam
• 14th edition of Exercise Vajra Prahar2023 between India & USA – Umroi, Meghalaya
• 9th edition of Mitra Shakti 2023 between India and Sri Lanka – Aundh, Pune
• 7th edition of ‘Exercise KAZIND-2023’ between India and Kazakhstan – Otar, Kazakhstan
• Coastal Security Exercise Sagar Kavach – Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry

Exp. ISRO launched XPoSat aboard PSLV-C58

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has launched the PSLV-C58 X-ray Polarimeter Satellite (XPoSat).

The PSLV, in its 60th mission, lifted off at 9.10 a.m. on 1 Jan, from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, and 22 minutes later launched the XPoSat into an eastward low inclination orbit.

The PSLV-C58 has placed the primary satellite at the XPoSat in the desired orbit of 650 km with six-degree inclination.

XPoSat is the first dedicated scientific satellite from the ISRO to carry out research in space-based polarisation measurements of X-ray emission from celestial sources. It carries two payloads, namely POLIX (Polarimeter Instrument in X-rays) and XSPECT (X-ray Spectroscopy and Timing).

POLIX has been developed by Raman Research Institute (RRI) Bengaluru and XSPECT by Space Astronomy Group of URSC, Bengaluru.

The successful launch of the XPoSAT put India in an elite category, as it has become the second nation to send an observatory to study astronomical sources, such as black holes, neutron stars, among others.

About Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO)

• Founded – 15 August 1969
• Headquarters – Bangalore, Karnataka
• Founder / 1st Chairman – Vikram Sarabhai
• 10th Chairman – S Somanath
• Aryabhata India’s first satellites Launched on 19 April 1975

Exp. Australian batter David Warner announces his retirement from ODI

Australian batter David Warner has announced his retirement from One Day Internationals (ODIs).

The 2 time ODI World Cup Winner had previously announced that he would be ending his Test career after Australia’s upcoming Test against Pakistan in Sydney.

However, the opener has said that he will keep himself available for selection in the Champions Trophy in 2025.

Warner is Australia’s sixth-highest run scorer in the ODI format and is only second to former captain Ricky Ponting’s tally for most Centuries for Australia in ODIs.

Recently Retired Players

• Dean Elgar – International cricket – South Africa
• Asad Shafiq – All forms of cricket – Pakistan
• Gurkeerat Singh Mann – International Cricket – India
• Meg Lanning – International Cricket – Australia
• Sunil Narine – International cricket – West Indies
• David Willey – International Cricket – England

Exp. 1 January – Global Family Day

Global Family Day is celebrated every year on January 1.

The day aims at commencing the new year with peace, unity and brotherhood among people and across nations and cultures.

The idea to mark the day was first initiated in November 1997 after people were inspired by a book named, One Day In Peace – January 1, 2000.

The book was released by the United Nations. Around the same time, the United Nations General Assembly launched the International Decade for the Culture of Peace and Non-Violence for the Children of the World.

Later, in 1999, UN members received a formal invitation to officially mark January 1 as – Global Family Day.

Exp. Maharashtra govt to observe 15 January as state sports day

The Maharashtra government will observe January 15 every year as

the state sports day to celebrate the birth anniversary of wrestler Khashaba Jadhav, the first Indian to win an independent medal in the Olympics in 1952.

Chief Minister Eknath Shinde had announced in Pune about having a day devoted to sports on the birthday of Jadhav, who was born in Maharashtra.

Jadhav had won a bronze medal at the 1952 Summer Olympics held at Helsinki in Finland. A government resolution was issued directing schools and colleges to organize sporting events on this day.

Students can interact with sports personalities on online platforms. International and national sportspersons will be felicitated by the government on the state sports day.