Current Affairs Quiz 24th November 2022, Daily GK Update

Exp. India & EU signed an agreement for climate, quantum tech

India and the European Union (EU) have signed an agreement on cooperation in areas such as climate modeling and quantum technologies, building on the Trade and Technology Council.

The agreement builds on commitments by both sides for deepening technological cooperation on quantum and high-performance computing during the India-EU leaders meeting on May.

Objective – To facilitate collaboration on high-performance computing applications using Indian and European supercomputers in areas such as bio-molecular medicines, covid-19 therapeutics, mitigating climate change, predicting natural disasters and quantum computing.

Recent MoUs

• India signed an agreement with Netherlands to formalize bilateral Fast-Track Mechanism
• India signed an MoU with Japan to advance scientific cooperation for Indian Ayurveda
• India signed 4 MoUs with Cambodia in the areas of culture, wildlife, health
• India signed an agreement with Armenia to export missiles, rockets & ammunition
• India signed an MoU with Iran for smooth movement of seafarers

Exp. India’s Jindal won Botswana coal-fired power plant project

India’s leading steel, mining, and infrastructure player, Jindal Steel and Power (JSPL) has won the tender to build a 300-megawatt (MW) coal-fired power plant in Botswana.

Jindal was among the companies to bid for the only fossil fuel-based power plant that the Southern African’s landlocked country is planning to procure in the next two decades.

Initially, four companies were competing for the 300 megawatts (MW) coal-fired power plant contract, however, one of them backed out – leaving Jindal, African Energy Resources, and Minergy in the race.

Under the project, Jindal will finance the plant and recouping its investments from selling electricity to the Botswana Power Corporation (BPC).

About Botswana

Capital- Gaborone

Currency- Botswana pula

President- Mokgweetsi Masis

Exp.  27th Conference of DGSP/IGSP and Heads of CPOs of North Eastern held in Agartala

The 27th Conference of DGPs and Heads of CPOs of the North East has been organized at Agartala.

The Conference has inaugurated by the Chief Minister of Tripura, Dr.(Prof.) Manik Saha set the tone of the Conference by laying stress on greater coordination between the North East States in dealing with existing security challenges.

Objective – To resolve all prevailing challenges in a discrete-time frame, the participants deliberated on issues ranging from insurgency, capacity building of Police units to meet security challenges.

Exp. Ashwini Vaishnaw launched Entrepreneurship Cell at C-DOT Campus, Delhi

Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has inaugurated the Entrepreneurship Cell and Centre of Innovation (COI) at the Delhi campus of the Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DOT).

Vaishnaw also reviewed C-DOT’s ongoing technology programmes including 5G, Quantum Key Distribution, and advanced security projects.

It will accelerate the design, development, and deployment of cost-effective and globally-competitive Telecom solutions in the country

Exp. Sangai Festival 2022 Commenced in the Manipur

The Sangai Festival of Manipur begins, it is the largest tourism festival in Manipur.

Union tourism minister G Kishan Reddy inaugurated the 11th edition of the Manipur Sangai Festival.

The 10-day carnival will conclude on the 30th of November, 2022.

The festival is named after the State Animal which is found only in Manipur have been organized grandly this time after the COVID-19 pandemic hit the festival in the last two years.

The festival will also witness Handloom and Handicrafts, Tug-of-War, Arambai Show, Mukuna competition, Yubi Lakpi, Sagol Lamjen, Tunnel Light, Half Marathon show, Rack Garden and more at Ibudhon Marjing, Heinhang, and Mao, Senapat.

About Manipur

Capital – Imphal

Chief Minister – N. Biren Singh

Governor – La Ganesan

Festivals of Manipur

Amur Falcon Festival

Lai Haraoba Festival

Manipur Sangai Festival

Lui Ngai Ni Festival

Ningol Chakouba Festival

Kachai Lemon Festival

Shirui Lily Festival

Exp. Airtel Payment Bank launched face authentication-based savings account

Airtel Payments Bank has launched a face authentication-based savings bank account opening for customers.

The facility will further ease the account opening process making it seamless & convenient for customers.

Airtel Payments Bank is the first Payments Bank in the country to offer this facility.

The new facility will help Business Correspondents (BCs) of the bank to open an account just by undertaking face authentication e-KYC

The authentication is processed by using a newly developed mobile application by UIDAI

Exp. Crisil slashed India’s GDP growth forecast to 7%

Rating agency Crisil has reduced the India growth forecast for the current fiscal (FY23) from 7.3% to 7% citing the slowdown in global growth and its impact on India’s exports and industrial activity.

The growth of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) will slow considerably to 6% in FY24 as against 6.5% forecast earlier with the risk titled downwards, as the global growth decelerates faster.

The revised forecast for the current fiscal includes Q2 GDP growth expectation of 6.5% against 13.5% in Q1, and just 4.5% GDP expansion in the second half.

Updated GDP List

• World Bank – 6.5% (FY23), 7.1% (FY24)
• MOODY’S. – 7% (FY23)
• S&P – 7.3% (FY23), 6.5% (FY24)
• IMF – 6.8% (FY23), 6.1% (FY24)
• ADB – 7% (FY23), 7.2% (FY24)
• RBI – 7% (FY23)
• India Ratings – 6.9% (FY23)
• FITCH RATING – 7% (FY23), 6.7% (FY24)
• FICCI – 7% (FY23), 6.4% (FY24)
• OECD – 6.6% (FY23), 5.7% (FY24)
• CRISIL – 7% (FY23), 6% (FY24)
• NSO – 8.7%, Q4 – 4.1% (FY23)
• SBI – 6.8% (FY23)
• Morgan Stanley – 7.2% (FY23), 6.4%(FY24)
• Nomura – 7.2% (FY23)
• UNTCAD – 5.7% (FY23)
• Goldman Sachs – 5.9% (FY23)
• UNTCAD – 5.7% (FY23)

Exp. T G Sitharam appointed as new Chairman of AICTE

IIT Guwahati Director T G Sitharam has been appointed as the Chairman of the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) for three years.

He will replace UGC chairman Jagadesh Kumar, who was holding the interim charge of the AICTE chairman after the retirement of Anil Sahasrabuddhe on September 1, 2021.

Professor TG Sitharam was the Chairman of the Board of Governors at IIT Guwahati during 2019-2020. He is also a member of the Science and Engineering Research Board, SERB at the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India.

Currently, he has been serving as the director of IIT Guwahati since 2019. He is also a Senior Professor in the Department of Civil Engineering at IISc Bangalore and served there for more than 27 years.

Sitharam tenure as a IIT director will expire in July 2024.

Recent Appointment 

• CEO of Khadi & Village Industries Commission (KVIC) – Vinit Kumar
• Member of International Committee for Weight and Measures (CIPM) – Venu Gopal Achanta
• Election Commissioner of India – Arun Goel
• Chairman of National Pension System Trust – Suraj Bhan
• Chairman of ONGC – Arun Kumar Singh

Exp. Rajendra Pawar awarded Lifetime Achievement Award by FICCI

The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) has honoured Rajendra Singh Pawar (Chairman and Founder, NIIT) with Lifetime Achievement Award 2022.

The award ceremony was held at the 8th FICCI Higher Education Excellence Awards in New Delhi.

Under Pawar’s leadership, NIIT has played a key role in shaping the growth of the Indian IT sector, by creating skilled manpower to drive its momentum.

Pawar has also been honoured with several other prestigious awards such as ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’ at Dataquest ICT Awards 2019, the ‘Distinguished Alumnus Award’ from IIT in 1995, the Ernst & Young’s ‘Master Entrepreneur of the Year Award’ in 1999, and The Global India Splendor Award in 2013. He has also been honoured as the ‘IT man of the Year’ by IT industry journal, Dataquest in 1998.

About Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI)

Formation – 1927

Founder – Ghanshyam Das Birla and Purshottamdas Thakurdas

Headquarters – New Delhi

Secretary General – Dilip Chenoy

Director General – Monideepa Mukerjee

President – Subhrakant Panda

Recent Awards

• Prestigious Salesforce Partner Innovation Award 2022 – Prodapt IT service management company
• Economic Times Inspiring Leaders Award 2022 – AP Shreethar
• Partner of the Year 2022 by Procter & Gamble – Matrix Business Services India Pvt. Ltd
• India Film Personality of the Year 2022 at IFFI – Chiranjeevi
• Gandhi Mandela Award 2022 – Dalai Lama
• Sumitra Charat Ram Award – Uma Sharm

Exp. India-Indonesia joint exercise ‘Garuda Shakti’ kicks off in Karawang

Indian army is participating in a bilateral joint training Exercise GARUDA SHAKTI with Indonesian Special Forces at Karawang, Indonesia.

Exercise GARUDA SHAKTI is the eighth edition of the series of bilateral exercises.

The joint training would also focus on a high degree of physical fitness, tactical drills, techniques and procedures for which a comprehensive 13-day training programme has been worked out.

The exercise aims to enhance understanding, cooperation, and interoperability between the Special Forces of both armies.

Recent Exercise

• The 3rd edition of the ‘Pan-India’ Coastal Defence Exercise ‘Sea Vigil-22’ has concluded.
• 18^thedition of India-US joint military exercise ‘Yudh Abhyas’ started in Uttrakhand
• India has participated in 26th International Malabar Naval Exercise, organized in Yokosuka of Japan.
• The first edition of the India-Mozambique-Tanzania Trilateral Exercise (IMT TRILAT) concluded at Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania.
• Indian Air Force (IAF) and French Air and Space Force (FASF) are participating in a bilateral exercise named ‘Garuda’ from 26th Oct to 12th Nov 2022 at Air Force Station Jodhpur.

Exp. KVG Bank received award for Atal Pension Yojana enrolment

Karnataka Vikas Grameena Bank (KVGB) has bagged the national award from Pension Fund regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) for significant enrolment under Atal Pension Yojana (APY).

So far, the bank has enrolled 3,34,687 (cumulative) accounts under APY. During 2022-23, the bank enrolled 69,132 accounts against the target of 50,320.

PFRDA has given a target of an average 80 accounts per branch, the bank has achieved an average of 110 accounts against the target.

This achievement is highest among all other banks in South India. At present, the bank has 629 branches in the nine districts from Vijayapura to Mangaluru.

KVGB is playing a pivotal role in implementing all three social security schemes (PMJJBY, PMSBY, and APY) launched by the central Government.

Exp. 24 November – Guru Tegh Bahadur’s Martyrdom Day

Guru Tegh Bahadur’s Martyrdom Day is observed on 24 November every year.

It was on this day 24 November 1675, that Guru Tegh Bahadur was publicly executed in Delhi by the then Mughal Emperor, Aurangzeb because he opposed the policy of religious persecution at that time.

He was the ninth of the ten gurus of Sikhism and was followed by the tenth guru, Guru Gobind Singh (1666-1708).

He is famous for protecting Sikhs and Hindus from a 17th-century law that forced them to convert to Islam.

He also wrote 15 ragas, 782 compositions, and 116 shabads. The tenets of Guru Nanak were preached by him in places such as Kashmir and Assam in the country.

He was born in Amritsar in 1621. He was also the youngest son of Guru Hargobind.

Exp. 24 November 2022 – Thanksgiving Day

Thanksgiving Day or just simply Thanksgiving is a national holiday that is celebrated across parts of North America and the Caribbean.

The holiday is celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November in the United States and the second Monday of October in Canada. This year, it falls on November 24.

Objective – To give thanks for the harvest of the year.

The festival finds its origins in similar harvest festivals across Europe