Current Affairs Quiz 27th April 2023 Quiz

Exp. Manamadurai pottery receives GI tag

Manamadurai pottery, a traditional form of pottery from Tamil Nadu, has received the Geographical Indication (GI) tag.

Manamadurai in Sivagangai district in Tamil Nadu is known for pottery making.

The pottery is known for its distinctive style, which features intricate designs and vibrant colors.

How are these pots made?

• The Vaigai River enriches the clay used for the Manamadurai pottery. Pot making requires expertise as the bottom has to be perfectly round. The circumference of the pot and the neck should be proportionate so that the pot sits flat on the ground.
• The right proportion of mud, clay and heating makes this product very strong. The main raw materials for making these pots are soil and water.
• The sand, collected from different places of the district, is used for making pottery and dried for two days. The particles of the mud get separated by sieving

Recent GI Tag

• Cumbum Angoor – Tamil Nadu
• Gond Painting – Madhya Pradesh
• Nagri Dubraj Rice – Chhattisgarh
• Morena and Rewa Mango – Madhya Pradesh
• Kangra Tea – Himachal Pradesh
• Tandoor Red Gram – Telangana

Exp. Bengaluru experiences Zero Shadow Day as shadows disappear

People in Bengaluru experienced a unique astronomical phenomenon as their shadows disappeared from the surface.

The city experienced Zero Shadow Day at 12:17 pm as the Sun was overhead on 25 April.

The Zero Shadow was the result of Earth’s unique tilt on its axis and occurs twice a year in some parts of the world. The unique phenomenon is observed in places between +23.5- and -23.5-degrees latitude on the planet.

According to the Astronomical Society of India, the Sun is almost never exactly overhead at noon, but usually transits a bit lower in altitude, a bit to the north or a bit to the south, and Earth’s rotation axis is inclined at 23.5 degrees to the plane of its revolution around the Sun.

The sun’s rays hit Earth at a 90-degree angle along the equator during the spring and fall equinoxes, resulting in no shadows, and as the Earth’s axial tilt changes, the sun’s position in the sky changes, resulting in different shadow lengths throughout the year.

Exp. IIT Guwahati Researchers Develop Time-Bomb Liquid Marbles

Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati have developed liquid marbles using nano clay that can be pre-programmed for drug delivery and cascade chemical reactions.

Liquid marbles are small droplets of liquid that are coated with hydrophobic particles.

Conventionally, for treating any disease we take medicines in the form of tablets, capsules, syrups, ointments, etc. A controlled drug delivery system is a more efficient technique to deliver the required dose at the specific site gradually over the desired period of time.

This method of drug delivery can be used in treatment of diseases such as cancer and diabetes.

Exp. Y-20 Pre-Summit Meeting under G20 held in Ladakh

The Y20 Pre-Summit under India’s G20 Presidency begins in Leh, Ladakh.

The meeting will focus on five Y20 themes, including climate change, peace-building, and health.

The event will provide a platform for open discussions and interactive sessions to address the challenges faced by young people and formulate a roadmap for their development.

The Summit will also have parallel Deliberation and Negotiation sessions on each of the Y20 themes. It is the second Y 20 Pre-Summit after the first was held at Guwahati in February this year.

G20 in News

• G20 Tourism Expo – Jaipur, Rajasthan (23 -25 April 2023)
• First G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting – Bengaluru, Karnataka (24 -25 April 2023)
• G-20 Research and Innovation Initiative Gathering Conference – Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh (19-20 April 2023)
• G20 Space Economy Leaders Meet – Shillong, Meghalaya (17-18 April 2023)
• 2nd G20 Health Working Group Meeting – Goa (17 – 19 April 2023)

Exp. Xypex Announces Launch of First Production Plant in India

Canadian concrete waterproofing solutions provider, Xypex has announced the launch of its first production plant in India.

The plant will be opened at Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh.

The 40,000 sq-ft facility will house chemical manufacturing, and distribution capabilities to serve upstream, midstream, downstream, and adjacent industries in the region. The production facility has 30,000 sq-ft additional space for storage.

The new production facility will further strengthen Xypex’s presence in the Indian market.

The Xypex Noida plant is forecast to have more than 100 full-time employees by 2024. This hiring process will continue until the factory reaches full production capacity. The manufacturing plant will also create 500 indirect jobs.

The plant will be manufacture Xypex’s range of waterproofing and protection products for the Indian market and neighboring countries.

Exp. Odisha CM launches third phase of 5T School Transformation

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has launched the third phase of the 5T School Transformation Programme.

The initiative aims to improve the quality of education and infrastructure in government schools across the state.

A total of 2,151 government high schools will be transformed in the third phase.

Under the programme, 5Ts – transformation, teamwork, technology, transparency, and time – will be implemented in schools to ensure holistic development.

About Odisha

• Capital – Bhubaneswar
• Chief Minister – Naveen Patnaik
• Governor – Ganeshi Lal

Exp. India Ranks 4th in World’s Largest Military Spending in 2022: Report

India was the world’s fourth largest military spender in 2022, with its defence spending increasing by around six percent as compared to 2021, a report by Swedish think tank Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

The military expenditure report said around 23 percent of the total spending by India was towards funding equipment and infrastructure, including that along the China border where tension continues. However, a major part of the spending was on expenditures like salaries and pensions.

With military expenditure of USD 81.4 billion (one billion=100 crore), India’s spending was up by six percent from 2021 and by 47 percent as compared 2013.

The United States, accounting for 39 percent of the world military spending in 2022, was the top spender, followed by China (13 percent), Russia (3.9 percent), India (3.6 percent) and Saudi Arabia (3.3 percent).

Together, these five countries accounted for 63 percent of total global military spending in 2022.

The 15 largest spenders in 2022 together accounted for 82 percent of the world military expenditure of USD 1,842 billion.

Total global military expenditure increased by 3.7 percent in real terms in 2022, to reach a new high of USD 2,240 billion. Military expenditure in Europe saw its steepest year-on-year increase in at least 30 years.

The largest spenders in 2022 — the United States, China and Russia — accounted for 56 percent of the world total.

Exp. RBI Governor Addresses Global Conference on Financial Resilience

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor, Shaktikanta Das, addressed the Global Conference on Financial Resilience in Mumbai.

The conference with the theme — Financial Stability: Framework, Monitoring and Implementation — is being organized by the College of Supervisors in collaboration with the Centre for Central Banking Studies (CCBS), Bank of England, London.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) also set up an academic advisory council called the ‘College of Supervisors (CoS)’ to further strengthen supervision over regulated entities.

The CoS is headed by former deputy governor N S Viswanathan, and it has five other members.

The council’s objective is to identify areas where skill building or upskilling is required, plan and develop curricula of all programmes, benchmark the programmes with international standards or best practices, and develop appropriate teaching methods.

Exp. Shreekant Bhandiwad appointed as Chairman of KVGB

Shrikant M Bhandiwad has taken charge as the new chairman of Karnataka Vikas Grameena Bank (KVGB).

Prior to joining KVGB as Chairman, Bhandiwad was heading the Patna circle of Canara Bank.

He has worked as Agricultural Extension Officer in Rural Branches of Canara Bank and also as Consultant in Agricultural Consultancy Services of Canara Bank at the Head Office.

Recent Appointment in Banking Sector

• Deputy MD of HDFC Bank – Kaizad Bharucha
• Executive Director of HDFC Bank – Bhavesh Zaveri
• Interim MD and CEO of Karnataka Bank – Sekhar Rao
• Chief Investment Officer of LIC – Ratnakar Patnaik
• Chief Risk Officer of LIC – PC Paikray

Exp. Shahabuddin Chuppu takes oath as president of Bangladesh

Veteran politician Mohammed and former judge Shahabuddin Chuppu was sworn in as the 22nd President of Bangladesh.

Shahabuddin Chuppu succeeds Abdul Hamid, whose tenure ended on April 23, 2023.

He was elected unopposed in February this year as the candidate of the ruling party, and after the ceremony, he signed the documents for the office of the president.

Shahabuddin was born in 1949, hails from the northwestern Pabna District, and served as one of the commissioners of the independent Anti-Corruption Commission.

About Bangladesh

• Capital– Dhaka
• Currency – Taka
• President – Mohammed Shahabuddin Chuppu

Newly Appointed Prime Minister & President

• Deputy prime minister of UK – Oliver Dowden
• President of Cuba – Miguel Diaz-Canel (2nd term)
• Vice-President of UAE – Sheikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan
• 3rd Vice President of Nepal – Ram Sahaya Prasad Yadav
• President of Nepal – Ram Chandra Paudel

• Prime Minister of Nepal – Pushpa Kamal Dahal

Exp. Shakira to Receive Billboard’s First Latin Woman of the Year Award

Colombian singer Shakira will be honoured with Billboard’s ‘Latin women of the year’ award at the first-ever Mujeres Latinas en la Musica, or Latin Women in Music, gala.

Shakira has sold over 70 million records worldwide and has won three Grammy Awards and 12 Latin Grammy Awards.

Shakira has earned the title of ‘Queen of Latin Music’ for her outstanding tracks over the course of three decades in her career.

She is known for some blockbuster hit tracks like ‘Hips don’t lie’, ‘Can’t remember to forget you’, ‘Loca’, ‘Whenever Wherever’, ‘Waka Waka’, ‘Beautiful Liar’, ‘She Wolf’, ‘La Tortura’ and many more.

Recent Awards

• Prime Minister’s Award for Excellence in Public Administration 2022 – Health Ministry
• GREEN4SEA Tanker Operator award – Synergy Goup
• Aster Guardians Global Nursing Award 2023 – Shanti Lakra
• 1st woman IAF officer to get Gallantry Award – Deepika Misra
• Germany’s highest Order of Merit – Angela Merkel

Exp. PIndigenous woman from Amazon wins Goldman Environment Prize

Alessandra Korap, a Munduruku Indigenous woman from the Brazilian Amazon, has been awarded a 2023 Goldman Environmental Prize.

The respected award honors six activists from six continents who work on grassroots efforts to help the environment.

The prize was established in 1989. The Goldman Prize defines grassroots leaders as those involved in local efforts, where positive change is created through community or citizen involvement.

Korap is a member of the Munduruku people of the Amazon rain forest. She saw roads, farms and cities coming closer to her village throughout the 1980s. The settlers, loggers and miners posed a threat to the 14,000 Munduruku people, who lived along the Tapajos River.

Munduruku leader Alessandra Korap has been awarded the prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize for her work fighting against illegal mining and large-scale projects aimed at facilitating soybean exports in the Tapajos River Basin.

Recent Awards

• Prestigious Santokbaa Humanitarian Award – Sonam Wangchuk
• Best Implementation of the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) – Karnataka
• Malcolm Adiseshiah Award 2023 – Utsa Patnaik
• Pravasi Bharatiya Samman – Raj Subramaniam
• Business Leader of the Decade – Kumar Mangalam Birla

Exp. Shaheen Afridi becomes the youngest bowler to take 200 T20 wickets

Pakistan’s Shaheen Afridi (23 years and 18 days) achieved a special milestone in T20 cricket as he completed 200 wickets in the format during the fifth T20I between Pakistan and New Zealand.

He is also the quickest pacer to reach the landmark, in 143 matches.

He surpassed the previous record held by Kagiso Rabada, who achieved this feat at the age of 25 years and 157 days.

He is the 8th Pakistani bowler and the 53rd overall to reach the 200-wicket milestone in T20 cricket.

Exp. Cabinet approved 6003 crore for Quantum Technology Mission

The Union Cabinet, chaired by PM Narendra Modi, approved the National Quantum Mission (NQM) at a total cost of Rs.6003.65 crore from 2023-24 to 2030-31.

This will accelerate QT-led economic growth, nurture the ecosystem in the country and make India one of the leading nations in the development of Quantum Technologies & Applications (QTA).

The new mission targets developing intermediate-scale quantum computers with 50-1000 physical qubits in 8 years in various platforms like superconducting and photonic technology.

The mission will also focus on developing magnetometers with high sensitivity in atomic systems and Atomic Clocks for precision timing, communications, and navigation.

It will support the design and synthesis of quantum materials, including superconductors, novel semiconductor structures, and topological materials, for the fabrication of quantum devices.  

Exp. 27 April – International Girls in ICT Day

International Girls in ICT Day is an annual event celebrated on the fourth Thursday of April every year.

Objective – To encourage and empower girls and young women to explore and pursue careers in the field of Information and Communication Technology (ICT).

This year, it is being observed on April 27 with the theme “Digital Skills for Life”.

Despite the significant role of ICT in our lives, a relatively small percentage of women globally opt for higher education in ICT-related fields, according to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).

International Girls in ICT Day was declared by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) on April 8, 2011, to encourage women to pursue careers in information and communication technologies.

The Day has been celebrated globally since its inception, with over 11,400 events held in 171 countries and more than 3,77,000 girls and young women participating.