Current Affairs Quiz 25th April 2024 Quiz

Exp. DRDO develops lightest Bullet Proof Jacket of country for protection against highest threat Level

A unit of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has successfully developed the lightest bulletproof jacket in the country for protection against the highest threat level 6.

This jacket is based on a new design approach where novel material along with new processes has been used.

DRDO’s Defence Materials and Stores Research and Development Establishment (DMSRDE), Kanpur has successfully developed the lightest bulletproof jacket in the country for protection against 7.62 x 54 R API (level 6 of BIS 17051) ammunition.

Recently, this bulletproof jacket was successfully tested at TBRL, Chandigarh as per BIS 17051-2018.

The front hard armour panel (HAP) of this jacket “defeats multiple hits (six shots) of 7.62×54 R API (sniper rounds) in both ICW (in-conjunction with) and standalone design.

About Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO)

• Founded – 1 January 1958
• Headquarters – New Delhi
• Motto – “Strength’s Origin is in Knowledge”
• Chairman – Samir V Kamat

Exp. C-DOT and IIT Jodhpur sign agreement for “Automated Service Management in Network of 5G

C-DOT, the premier Telecom R&D Centre of the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) and the Indian Institute of Technology, Jodhpur have signed an agreement for “Automated Service Management in 5G and Beyond Networks Using AI”.

The agreement is signed under the Telecom Technology Development Fund (TTDF) of the DoT, which is designed for providing funding support to domestic companies and institutions involved in technology design, development, commercialization of telecommunication products and solutions to enable affordable broadband and mobile services in rural and remote areas.

The primary objective is to develop AI frameworks for automated network management, fault detection, and diagnostic techniques by utilizing continuous information generated within the network like 5G

IITs in News

• BEL signs MoU with IIT-Mandi for co-operation in research
• AFMS partnered with IIT Kanpur to Address Healthcare Challenges for Soldiers
• Lightstorm signed with IIT Madras to launch employment skilling initiative
• SJVN partners with IIT-Patna to improve tunneling project performance
• IIM Mumbai and Starburst collaborate to boost aerospace, defence startups
• IIT Madras hosts the 6th Shaastra Rapid FIDE Rated Chess Tournament

Exp. International Conference on Disaster Resilient Infrastructure begin in New Delhi

The International Conference on Disaster Resilient Infrastructure’s 6th edition has begun in New Delhi.

The conference’s theme is “Investing today for a more resilient tomorrow”.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed the importance of investing in infrastructure that can withstand disasters for a better tomorrow.

The need to incorporate resilience into both new infrastructure projects and post-disaster reconstruction efforts. Furthermore, in a world where disasters know no borders, he urged the necessity for collective resilience among nations.

Exp. NGEL and ITL sign MoU for Renewable Energy Ventures

NTPC Green Energy Limited (NGEL) and Indus Towers Limited (ITL) have signed an MoU to support green energy goals and India’s carbon-neutral aspirations.

The collaboration aims to jointly develop grid-connected renewable energy projects, including solar, wind, and energy storage solutions.

NGEL operates as a wholly-owned subsidiary of NTPC Limited, formerly known as the National Thermal Power Corporation.

Recent MoU

• CleanMax teams up with Apple to drive renewable energy adoption in India
• KABIL and CSIR-IMMT sign MoU for Technical and Knowledge cooperation for Critical Minerals
• The Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL) signed the Master Shipyard Repair Agreement (MSRA) with the United States Navy.
• BEML, BEL join hands to develop indigenous train control management system
• Mahindra Aerostructures inks $100-million supply contract with Airbus group

Exp. India fourth largest arms spender in world in 2023: SIPRI

According to a Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) report, India was the fourth largest military spender in the world in 2023 after the United States, China and Russia.

The Indian expenditure on military 2023 was $83.6 billion. In 2022 also India was the fourth largest military spender in the world.

The Indian government has increased its military spend in recent years.  In the interim Union Budget of 2024-25 the government of India allocated Rs 6.21 lakh crore for defence spending. The allocation was marginally lower (0.37%) than last year’s revised estimates.

The 2024-25 allocation for defence accounts for 1.89% of India’s GDP.

According to SIPRI, the total global military expenditure increased by 6.8% to $2443 billion in 2023. This was the highest annual percentage growth in global military expenditure since 2009.

The increase in military expenditure was particularly high in Europe, Asia and Oceania and the Middle East(West Asia).

About Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI)

• SIPRI is a research institute which was set up in 1966 at Stockholm, Sweden. Its main area of research is global or regional conflicts, armaments, arms control and disarmament.
• Headquarters: Stockholm, Sweden

Exp. Razorpay launches UPI Switch with Airtel Payments Bank

Digital payments platform Razorpay has launched its own Unified Payments Interface (UPI) infrastructure, or UPI switch, in partnership with Airtel Payments Bank.

The company will now provide its UPI Switch service to Airtel Payments Bank, enabling it to manage UPI transactions on the payments bank’s platform. The solution can handle up to 10,000 transactions per second (TPS).

Razorpay received a final approval from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in December last year to operate as a payment aggregator, enabling it to onboard new merchants after a nearly one-year-old regulatory ban.

This UPI switch will serve as a platform driving UPI innovations while supporting existing solutions like Turbo UPI and third-party payment solutions, it said.

In May 2023, Razorpay introduced ‘Turbo UPI,’ enabling customers of online merchants to make UPI payments directly without redirection to a third-party UPI app during checkout.

In September, it launched ‘UPI Autopay on QR’ in collaboration with National Payments Corporation of India, simplifying challenges associated with maintaining and expanding subscription-based businesses.

Exp. SBI Card introduces inaugural travel-centric core credit card ‘MILES’

SBI Card introduced its inaugural travel-centric core credit card, ‘SBI Card MILES’.

The card promises comprehensive travel benefits, including the conversion of Travel Credits to Air Miles and Hotel Points, enhanced rewards on all travel bookings, and access to airport lounges.

The bank has partnered with more than 20 leading airline and hotel brands such as Air Vistara, Air India, SpiceJet, and IHG Hotels & Resorts.

There are three variants, SBI Card MILES ELITE, SBI Card MILES PRIME, and SBI Card MILES, which have been designed to elevate these experiences through curated travel benefits.

Recent Facilities Launched in Banking & Insurance Sector

• BharatPe launches all-in-one payment device BharatPe One
• Airtel Payments Bank launches NCMC-enabled Debit and Prepaid Cards
• SBI Life Insurance launched the 1st edition of ‘IdeationX’ to revolutionize the future of the insurance industry.
• BharatPe to launch a new app called ‘ZeroPe’ , an app designed for medical loans.
• Bandhan Mutual Fund launched Bandhan Innovation Fund

Exp. RBI Deputy Governor T Rabi Sankar gets One Year tenure extension

The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has approved the re-appointment of RBI Deputy Governor T Rabi Sankar for one year from May 3 this year.

Sankar, who has a Master of Philosophy in Economics from the Jawaharlal Nehru University at Delhi, was appointed as RBI Deputy Governor in May 2021 for three years.

He was an Executive Director of RBI before being elevated to the post of Deputy Governor in May 2021.

Besides the RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das, the central bank has four Deputy Governors— M.D.Patra; M Rajeshwar Rao;  J Swaminathan and T Rabi Sankar

In January this year, the Centre had extended the tenure of RBI Deputy Governor Michael Patra by another year (with effect from January 15). Patra is in charge of the all-important monetary policy department and is a member of the rate setting panel.

About Reserve Bank of India (RBI)

• Founded – 1 April 1935
• RBI Nationalized – 1 January 1949
• Headquarters – Mumbai, Maharashtra
• RBI set up – Hilton Young Commission
• 1st Governor – Sir Osborne Smith (Australia)
• 1st Indian Governor – CD Deshmukh
• 25th Governor – Shaktikanta Das
• RBI Deputy Governor (4) – 1. Tavarna Rabi Sankar

2.   J Swaminathan
3. Michael D Patra
4. M Rajeshwar Rao

• Five Subsidiaries of RBI
  1. Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation of India (DICGC)
  2. Bharatiya Reserve Bank Note Mudran Private Limited (BRBNMPL)
  3. Reserve Bank Information Technology Private Limited (ReBIT)
  4. Indian Financial Technology and Allied Services (IFTAS)
  5. Reserve Bank Innovation Hub
• Four currencies note printing presses

1. Nashik in Maharashtra owned by govt of India
2. Dewas in Madhya Pradesh owned by govt of India
3. Mysuru in Karnataka owned by RBI
4. Salboni in West Bengal owned by RBI

• Four mints owned by the Government of India

Mumbai, Hyderabad, Calcutta and Noida

Exp. Indonesia declares Prabowo Subianto president-elect

Indonesia’s electoral commission formally declared Prabowo Subianto president-elect after the country’s highest court rejected challenges to his landslide victory lodged by two losing presidential candidates.

Subianto, who is currently defense minister, won the election with 58.6% of the votes, or more than 96 million ballots, more than twice the amount received by either of the other two candidates.

Subianto will take office in October, succeeding the popular Joko Widodo, the country’s first president from outside the Jakarta elite.

Newly Appointed Prime Minister & President

• PM of Kuwait – Sheikh Ahmad Abdullah al-Ahmad al-Sabah
• PM of Ireland – Simon Harris (youngest PM of nation, 37)
• President of Slovakia – Peter Pellegrini
• President of Egypt – Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi (3rd term)
• PM of Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) – Judith Suminwa Tuluka (nation’s first female PM)

About Indonesia

• Capital – Jakarta
• Currency – Rupiah
• Official language – Indonesian
• President – Prabowo Subiant

Exp. Microsoft launches lightweight artificial intelligence model Phi-3-mini

Microsoft has launched Phi-3 Mini, a freely available, lightweight small language AI model.

The company plans to further release two other models in the same scale.

The model is meant to be simpler and cheaper compared to other heavyweight large language models like OpenAI’s GPT-4 Turbo.

This is the smallest model that Microsoft has released yet and can be run locally, which means it can run for free on a smartphone without requiring an internet connection.

The model can also run on the chips that power regular computer instead of the expensive and hard to find AI processors that Nvidia makes.

About Microsoft

• Founded – 1975
• Founders – Bill Gates and Paul Allen
• Headquarters – Washington DC
• Chairman – Satya Nadella
• CEO – Satya Nadella
• President – Brad Smith

Exp. Usain Bolt named ICC T20 World Cup 2024 Brand Ambassador

Legendary Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt has been named by the International Cricket Council (ICC) as the ambassador for the 9th ICC Men’s T-20 World Cup, which will be hosted by the West Indies and the United States of America jointly from 1 to 29 June 2024.

As a brand ambassador, Usain Bolt will promote the World Cup event, attend T20 World Cup matches in the West Indies, and participate in fan engagement events to promote the cricket sport within the United States.

16 of the 40 matches in the group stage will be played in the USA across 3 venues in Dallas, New York and Florida. The much-anticipated India vs Pakistan contest will be played in New York on June 9.

About 9th ICC Men’s T- 20 World Cup 2024

• The 9th ICC Men’s T-20 World Cup will be the biggest men’s T-20 World Cup in terms of participation.
• For the first time, 20 teams will participate in the T-20 World Cup. The West Indies and the United States of America will co-host the World Cup from 1 to 29 June 2024.
• Of the 20 teams participating in the World Cup, the West Indies and the United States qualified as the host countries.
• Australia, England, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, the Netherlands, New Zealand, and South Africa qualified based on their top-eight finishes in the previous T-20 World Cup.
• Canada, Uganda and the United States team are playing for the first time in the ICC Men’s T-20 World Cup

Recent Brand Ambassador

• MS Dhoni – French carmaker Citroen
• Sanjana Sanghi – SPACE India
• Neeraj Chopra – Eveready Batteries
• Nayanthar – Slice (the popular mango-flavored drink)
• Neeraj Chopra – BPCL’s Speed Petrol Variant
• Katrina Kaif – Chennai Super Kings Team

Exp. Narsingh Yadav elected chairman of WFI’s seven-member athletes’ panel

Former Commonwealth Games gold-medallist Narsingh Pancham Yadav was elected chairman of the Wrestling Federation of India’s Athletes’ Commission.

A total of eight candidates were in fray for the seven positions and after polling, conducted on ballot paper, seven members got elected. They then chose Narsingh as chairman of the commission.

Ahead of the 2016 Olympics, the Games-bound Narsingh had grabbed headlines when two-time Olympic medallist Sushil Kumar, who missed the qualification event due to an injury, requested for a trial bout against him.

Narsingh, an Arjuna awardee and Asian Championships gold medallist in 2010, competed at the 2012 London Olympic Games and lost the opening bout in the 74kg category.

Exp. A book titled ‘Heavenly Islands of Goa’ released by Goa Governor

Shankaracharya of Dakshinamnaya Sri Sharada Peetham, Sringeri, Jagadguru Sri Sri Vidhushekhara Bharati Swami released “Heavenly Islands of Goa”, a book authored by Governor of Goa P.S. Sreedharan Pillai in Goa.

The book, which is Mr. Pillai’s 221st, was released at a programme held at New Durbar Hall in the Raj Bhavan in Dona Paula.

Jnanpith award winner Damodar Mauzo received the first copy of the book.

Recent Books

• A Game of Fire – Navdeep Suri & Nanak Singh
• Just a Mercenary?, Notes from My Life and Career – Former RBI head Duvvuri Subbarao
• Knife – Salman Rushdie
• The Law and Spirituality: Reconnecting the Bond – Raman Mittal and Dr. Seema Singh
• I Can Coach – Siddharth Rajsekar
• The Idea of Democracy – Sam Pitroda

From A Car Shed To The Corner Room & Beyond – S Raman

Exp. 25 April – World Penguin Day

World Penguin Day is observed every year on 25th April.

This day is significant because it coincides with the start of the northern migration of Adelie penguins. Adelie penguins are one of the 17-20 species of penguins recognized worldwide.

The southern hemisphere is home to most of the penguins, with a total of about 20 species known to humans.

Exp. 25 April – World Malaria Day

World Malaria Day is observed every year on 25 April.

Objective – To raise awareness about the global effort to control and ultimately eradicate Malaria.

Theme 2024 – Accelerate the Fight Against Malaria for a More Equitable World

It was first held in 2008, and the day was established by the World Health Organization (WHO) Member States during the World Health Assembly of 2007.