Current Affairs Quiz 24th May 2024 Quiz

Exp. Kaamya Karthikeyan becomes youngest Indian to summit Mt Everest at 16

Sixteen-year-old Kaamya Karthikeyan successfully summited Mt. Everest, becoming the youngest Indian mountaineer to scale the world’s highest peak from the Nepal side.

The daughter of a naval officer, Kaamya is a class 12 student at Navy Children School, Mumbai.

Kaamya and her father Cdr S Karthikeyan successfully summited Mt. Everest (8,849 m).

Exp. L&T Technology Services launches simulation centre for Airbus in Bengaluru

L&T Technology Services has inaugurated a simulation centre of excellence (CoE) for Airbus at its Bengaluru campus.

The CoE is designed to provide engineering support for Airbus aircraft structural simulation activities across its business units in France, Germany, the UK, and Spain.

The CoE is equipped with simulation software, hardware, and computational machinery. It aims to standardise processes across all Airbus European business units and aircraft programmes, streamline efficiency, and enhance productivity.  

Exp. HSBC acquires 6.125% stake in CCIL IFSC

HSBC, a leading global bank and financial services major, has through its branch in Gift City executed transaction documents to acquire 6.125 per cent equity stake in CCIL IFSC Limited (CCIL IFSC).

The investment value for this transaction stood at ₹6.125 crore.

Clearing Corporation of India Ltd (CCIL) is promoter of CCIL IFSC Limited and will hold 57.125 per cent stake in this subsidiary.

CCIL IFSC is being incorporated with an authorised and paid-up capital of ₹200 crore and ₹100 crore, respectively.

CCIL IFSC will be responsible to build and operate the Foreign Currency Settlement System (FCSS) at Gujarat International Finance Tec (Gift) City, which is country’s sole international financial services centre (IFSC).  

Exp. Karnataka mandates 33% reservation for women in govt contract jobs

Aligning with the quota policy applied in permanent government positions, the State government has now made it mandatory to provide 33% reservation for women in services and posts that are being outsourced by various government departments and organisations.

This reservation is within the stipulated quota for SC/ST and other backward communities, ensuring women’s representation in outsourced jobs across various government departments and organizations.

There are currently over 75,000 employees holding outsourced jobs in government departments.

The government usually hires third party agencies to provide staff for Group C and Group D posts, such as drivers, data entry operators, and housekeeping staff.

About Karnataka

• Capital – Bengaluru
• Chief Minister –Siddaramaiah
• Deputy Chief Minister – DK Shivakumar
• Governor – Thawar Chand Gehlot

Exp. Norway, Spain, and Ireland to Recognise Palestinian state

The governments of Norway, Spain, and Ireland have announced that they would recognise the Palestinian state.

In a swift reaction, the Israeli government condemned the move, while the Palestinians welcomed it.

The official recognition by the three nations of an independent Palestinian state will take effect on 28 May 2024.

Currently, seven member of the 27-nation European Union officially recognize a Palestinian state.

Five of them are former east bloc countries who announced recognition in 1988, as did Cyprus, before joining the bloc.

Sweden announced recognition in 2014.

Exp. Indian Oil exports premium fuel to Sri Lanka

Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. (IOCL) exported its first-ever consignment of 100 octane premium fuel, XP100 to Sri Lanka.

The product is tailored for premium high-end vehicles.

About XP100

• The XP100 is domestically developed, leveraging IndianOil’s indigenous Octamax Technology.
• Designed with anti-knock properties, it is engineered to enhance engine performance, faster acceleration, smoother drivability and improved fuel economy.
• The formulation is said to reduce engine deposits and emissions in high compression ratio engines, optimising vehicle performance and longevity while minimizing maintenance.
• It is also eco-friendly fuel with significantly reduced tailpipe emissions.

Exp. SEBI imposes ₹11.90 crore fine on 19 entities for Superior Finlease ‘pump and dump’

SEBI has slapped penalties totalling ₹11.90 crore on 19 entities and also barred them from the securities market for up to five years for indulging in a pump-and-dump scheme of shares in the matter of Superior Finlease Ltd.

The regulator-imposed fines in the range of ₹10 lakh to ₹5 crore on 19 entities, including Rajneesh Kumar, Ashish P Shah and Kirtidan K Gadhavi.

Further, Sebi also barred 17 entities, including Kumar, Shah, and Gadhavi from the securities markets for five years.

In addition, the markets watchdog barred Jalaj Agrawal and Arvind Shukla from the securities markets for three years.

About Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI)

• Founded – 12 April 1988
• Act – 1992
• Headquarters – Mumbai
• Chairman – Madhabi Puri Buch
• Executive Director – G Ram Mohan Rao
• SEBI Set up – Uday Kotak committee

Exp. Srinivas Kulkarni honoured with 2024 Shaw Prize in astronomy

Srinivas R. Kulkarni, an Indian-origin U.S. scientist and brother of Sudha Murty, has been awarded the prestigious Shaw Prize in Astronomy for 2024.

Kulkarni, who serves as the George Ellery Hale Professor of Astronomy and Planetary Science at Caltech.

Kulkarni has been awarded for his ground-breaking discoveries on millisecond pulsars, gamma-ray bursts, supernovae, and other transient astronomical phenomena.

The Shaw Prize consists of three annual prizes: Astronomy, Life Science and Medicine, and Mathematical Sciences, each bearing a monetary award of USD 1.2 million.

Hong Kong-based film and television personality and philanthropist Run Run Shaw (1907-2014) founded the Shaw Foundation Hong Kong and The Sir Run Run Shaw Charitable Trust.

Recent Award

• PSU Samarpan Award – Hemant Khatri (CMD of Hindustan Shipyard Limited)
• Global Pride of Sindhi Award 2024 – Pawan Sindhi (Social worker)
• Best Employer’ 2023 by Kincentric – DBS Bank India
• Oxford Bookstore Book Cover Prize 2024 – Bhavi Mehta (for The Book Beautiful)
• UNESCO’s Guillermo Cano World Press Prize 2024 – All Palestinian journalists

Exp. Jenny Erpenbeck’s ‘Kairos’ wins the International Booker Prize 2024

German author Jenny Erpenbeck and translator Michael Hofmann won the International Booker Prize for fiction “Kairos,” the story of a tangled love affair during the final years of East Germany’s existence.

The book would help readers learn there was more to life in the now-vanished Communist country than depicted in ‘The Lives of Others’, the Academy Award-winning 2006 film about pervasive state surveillance in the 1980s.

The International Booker Prize recognizes fiction from around the world that has been translated into English and published in the UK or Ireland.

The £50,000 ($64,000) prize money is divided equally between the author and the translator, celebrating their collaborative efforts in bringing literary masterpieces to a wider audience.

Exp. Thiruvananthapuram Airport achieved Zero Waste to Landfill status

Thiruvananthapuram International Airport was awarded the zero waste to landfill (ZWL) accolade by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII-ITC) Centre of Excellence.

It is the first airport in India to receive this recognition, achieving 99.50% waste diversion from landfills.

The award confirms the airport’s implementation of leading waste management practices.

Exp. Preetismita Bhoi smashes clean and jerk record for gold at World Youth C’ship

Indian weightlifter Preetismita Bhoi smashed the youth clean and jerk world record in the women’s 40kg category to win a gold medal at the IWF World Youth Championships here.

The 15-year-old bettered the existing record of 75kg by 1kg.

She lifted 57kg in snatch for a total effort of 133kg, finishing within 2kg of the youth world standard on total on the opening day of the competition.

Exp. IOC launches ‘Let’s Move India’ Campaign to Inspire People to celebrate Athletes at Paris Olympics

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has launched the ‘Let’s Move India’, an initiative to inspire people to celebrate the athletes participating in the upcoming Olympic Games in Paris.

The move invites people from across the country to join the movement through a digital challenge on social media.

Young people can take part in a series of regional school initiatives to coincide with Olympic Day on June 23. People are encouraged to recreate their favourite athlete celebrations or create their own, aiming to inspire and celebrate the Olympians heading to Paris 2024, who will be representing their 1.4 billion compatriots from July 26.

The IOC has joined forces with Abhinav Bindra, India’s first individual Olympic gold medallist, and an IOC Athletes’ Commission member, and together, they will extend invitations to schools across the nation to join the movement, as part of the Olympic Values Education Programme.

Exp. 24 May – National Brother’s Day

National Brother’s Day is celebrated every year on 24 May to respect the special bond shared between brothers.

National Brother’s Day traces its origins back to 2005, when C Daniel Rhodes from Alabama first organised the holiday.

Initially named ‘National Brother’s Day,’ it was created to honour and recognise the contributions brothers make to their families.

Exp. May 24 – International Day of the Markhor

The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) has proclaimed May 24 as the International Day of the Markhor.

Objective – To raise awareness and promote the conservation of this iconic and ecologically significant species found across the mountainous regions of Central and South Asia.

The markhor (Capra falconeri) is an iconic and ecologically significant species found across the mountainous regions of Central and South Asia, including Afghanistan, India, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

The markhor was categorized as “near threatened” in 2014 and is on the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List of Threatened Species, and has been included in Appendix I to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora since 1992.