Current Affairs Quiz 2nd January 2024 Quiz

Exp. Guinness world record of performing mass Surya Namaskar created in Gujarat on New Year Day

Gujarat has set a Guinness record for performing mass Surya Namaskar simultaneously at 108 places in the state on the first day of the new year.

Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel, and Minister for Home Affairs Harsh Sanghavi attended the State level event that took place at the iconic Sun Temple in Modhera in Mahesana district.

More than 2500 people performed Surya Namaskar at the state-level function held at the iconic Modhera Sun Temple.

The function also witnessed the felicitation of the winners of the state-level Mega Surya Namaskar Competition. This month-long competition was organized for the first time in the state by the Gujarat State Yog Board and the state government to popularise Surya Namaskar practice among people.

About Gujarat

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

Exp. Assam CM flags off 200 green buses for pollution-free Guwahati

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has flagged off 200 electric buses from Guwahati.

The initiative as the government’s one of the biggest push towards a pollution-free environment.

By 2025, we want to establish Guwahati as the country’s first city to be powered by a 100 per cent green public transportation system. This new fleet builds upon the 100 CNG buses dedicated to the New Year.

About Assam

• Capital – Dispur
• Chief Minister –Himanta Biswa Sarma
• Governor – Gulab Chand Kataria

Exp. Reliance Power to sell Kalai II hydropower project to THDC India

Reliance Power has inked an agreement to sell its 1,200 MW Kalai II hydroelectric project in Arunachal Pradesh for Rs 128.39 crore to THDC India.

The purpose of entering into the agreement was to monetise the hydroelectric power project.

Under the pact, there will transfer of the development rights and associated physical assets, studies, clearances, designs and intellectual properties of the proposed 1,200 MW Kalai-II hydroelectric project located at the Lohit River basin of Arunachal Pradesh to THDC for an aggregate consideration of Rs 128.39 crore, subject to certain indemnities, representations and covenants.

About THDC India Limited

• Founded – 12 July 1988
• Headquarters – Rishikesh, Uttarakhand
• Chairman & MD – R K Vishnoi

Exp. PM to attend DGP conference at Jaipur

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend the three-day annual conference of Director Generals and Inspector Generals of Police, beginning from January 5 at Jaipur.

Objective – To deliberate on challenges posed by artificial intelligence (AI), cyber security, counter terrorism, left wing extremism and narcotics smuggling.

The 58th all-India annual conference of DGPs and IGPs will be held at Rajasthan International Centre located at Jhalana in Jaipur, which is after a new BJP government has come to power in the State, pointed out sources.

With Prime Minister Modi’s directive to have conferences and meetings outside Delhi, the last one was held in Agartala in November, to draw attention over the need to have better coordination between the State police of north-east and central agencies.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Union Ministers of State for Home, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, Union Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla, DGPs and IGPs of States and the UTs and heads of the CAPFs will sit through most of sessions at the conference. Action taken on the issues flagged last year will also be taken up for discussion.

Exp. Argentina Rejects BRICS Membership Under President Javier Milei

Argentine President Javier Milei has officially declined the invitation to join the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) grouping of major emerging economies.

The bloc — made up of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa — in August announced it was admitting six new members in a bid to counter the Western-led global order.

The membership of Argentina, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and the United Arab Emirates was due to take effect from January 1, 2024.

The rejection was conveyed through letters sent to BRICS leaders, solidifying Argentina’s decision to abstain from the bloc. President Milei’s rejection was grounded in the assertion that Argentina’s membership was “not considered appropriate at this time.

The president highlighted that his geopolitical alignment prioritizes ties with the United States and Israel, eschewing alliances with communist nations.

About Argentina

• Capital- Buenos Aires
• Currency- Argentine Peso
• President – Javier Milei
• National sport- Pato

Exp. GST collection rises 10.3% in December to Rs 1.64 lakh cr

The gross Goods and Services Tax (GST) collections in December 2023 were recorded at Rs 164,882 crore, 10.3 percent higher than Rs Rs 149,507 crore in December 2022, according to data released by the Ministry of Finance.

In November 2023, GST collections were recorded at Rs 167,929 crore.

During the month, the revenues from domestic transactions (including import of services) were 13 percent higher than the revenues from these sources during the same month last year.

This marks the seventh month so far this financial year, with collections exceeding Rs 1.60 trillion.

Out of the total of Rs 1.64 trillion, Central GST was Rs 30,443 crore; State GST was Rs 37,935 crore, Integrated GST was Rs 84,255 crore, and cess was Rs 12,249 crore.

The government has settled Rs 40,057 crore to CGST and Rs 33,652 crore to SGST from IGST. The total revenue of Centre and the States in the month of December 2023 after regular settlement is Rs 70,501 crore for CGST and Rs 71,587 crore for the SGST.

GST Collection of Previous Months

• July 2023 – 1,65,105 crore
• August 2023 – 1,59,069 crore
• September 2023 – 1,62,712 crore
• October 2023 – 1,72,003 crore
• November 2023 – 1,67,929 crore
• December 2023 – 1,64,882 crore

Exp. Ravindra Kumar Tyagi takes over as CMD of Power Grid Corporation

State-owned Power Grid Corporation has appointed Ravindra Kumar Tyagi as the new Chairman and Managing Director (CMD).

Tyagi will take over from Sreekant Kandikuppa, who retired after reaching the age of superannuation, who was heading the organisation since August 2019.

Prior to this, he was serving as Director (Operations) of the company.

Tyagi has over 33 years of rich experience in the power sector at various key positions in leading CPSUs. He has handled multi-disciplinary work in various business areas of Power Grid such as asset management, engineering, business development (domestic and overseas), telecom, load despatch & communication, NTAMC, DMS etc. and head of Power Grid’s North Eastern Region.

Power Grid is a Maharatna PSU under the administrative control of the Ministry of Power, Govt of India.

Recent Appointment

• Deputy Executive Director (Management) of UNFPA – Andrew Paul Saberton, UK (replace Ib Petersen, Denmark)
• 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)

Exp. Ashok Vaswani assumes charge as Kotak Mahindra Bank’s MD and CEO

Veteran banker Ashok Vaswani has taken over as the Managing Director (MD) and CEO of the Kotak Mahindra Bank.

He succeeded Dipak Gupta, who served as the interim MD and CEO after founder director Uday Kotak stepped down as the head of the bank, effective September 1, 2023.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in October 2023 approved the appointment of Vaswani as the bank’s MD and CEO for a period of three years.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in October 2023 approved the appointment of Vaswani as the bank’s MD and CEO for a period of three years

Prior to this, Vaswani served as the CEO of Citigroup Asia Pacific and was a member of both the Citigroup Global Operating Committee and management committees.

About Kotak Mahindra Bank

• Founded – 21 November 1985
• Founders – Uday Kotak
• Headquarters – Mumbai, Maharashtra
• Chairman – CS Rajan (replace Prakash Apte)
• MD & CEO – Ashok Vaswani (replace Dipak Gupta)

Recent Appointment in Banking & Insurance Sector

• Chairman of 16th Finance Commission – Arvind Panagariya (15th Finance Commission – N K Singh)
• Secretary of 16th Finance Commission – Ritvik Ranjanam Pandey
• 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

Exp. Tshisekedi re-elected president of Congo

The Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC) President Felix Tshisekedi won re-election with more than 70 percent of the vote.

Businessman Moise Katumbi finished behind Tshisekedi with 18 percent of the vote.

Martin Fayulu, a former oil company executive, received 5 percent, while Nobel Peace Prize winner Denis Mukwege, a physician renowned for treating women brutalised by sexual violence in eastern DR Congo, got less than 1 percent.

The election had over 40 percent turnout, with some 18 million people voting. The results will be sent to the constitutional court for confirmation, election chief Denis Kadima said.

About Congo

• Capital- Kinshasa
• Currency- Congolese Franc
• President- Felix Tshisekedi
• Prime minister- Sama Lukonde
• Official language- French

Newly Appointed Prime Minister & President

• President of Egypt – Abdel Fattah El-Sisi (3^rd term)

• Prime Minister of Poland – Donald Tusk

• Prime Minister of Luxembourgish – Luc Frieden

• Prime Minister of Spain – Pedro Sanchez (re-elected)

• Prime Minister of Slovakia – Robert Fico (4th time)
• President of Ecuador – Daniel Noboa  

Exp. Anahat wins U-19 girls” title at Scottish Junior Open squash

Delhi’s Talented Indian teenager Anahat Singh produced a dominant performance, bagging the girls’ under-19 title at the 2023 Scottish Junior Open squash held in Edinburgh.

Anahat claimed a 11-6, 11-1, 11-5 victory over home favourite Robyn McAlpine in the final.

Anahat recorded the under-19 and senior National championship double and won the mixed doubles bronze along with Abhay Singh both at the Asian Games and in the inaugural Asian Mixed Doubles Championships.

Meanwhile, India’s Subhash Choudhary rallied to beat compatriot Shiven Agarwal 5-11, 11-4, 6-11, 11-8, 11-5 in the boys’ under-15 final, while Shresht Iyer beat Shreyansh Jah 11-8, 11-8, 3-11, 11-8 in an all-Indian boys’ under-13 final.

Divyanshi Jain finished runner-up in the girls’ under-11 category.

Exp. DRDO celebrates 66th Foundation Day

DRDO’s Foundation Day is observed on January 1 every year to commemorate the excellent work of the organisation in making the nation strong and self-reliant in terms of science and technology and especially military technologies.

What is DRDO?

• DRDO is the R&D wing of the Ministry of Defence, Govt of India, with a vision to empower India with cutting-edge defence technologies and a mission to achieve self-reliance in critical defence technologies and systems, while equipping our armed forces with state-of-the-art weapon systems and equipment in accordance with requirements laid down by the three Services.
• DRDO’s pursuit of self-reliance and successful indigenous development and production of strategic systems and platforms such as Agni and Prithvi series of missiles; light combat aircraft, Tejas; multi-barrel rocket launcher, Pinaka; air defence system, Akash; a wide range of radars and electronic warfare systems; etc., have given quantum jump to India’s military might, generating effective deterrence and providing crucial leverage.

History of DRDO

• DRDO’S Formation-DRDO was formed in 1958 from the amalgamation of the then already functioning Technical Development Establishment (TDEs) of the Indian Army and the Directorate of Technical Development & Production (DTDP) with the Defence Science Organisation (DSO).
• DRDO was then a small organisation with 10 establishments or laboratories. Over the years, it has grown multi-directionally in terms of the variety of subject disciplines, number of laboratories, achievements and stature.
• The beginning of the Defence Research & Development Establishment goes back to 1947. The then Maharaja of Gwalior, Jiwaji Rao Scindia, the ruler of the Gwalior state, created a laboratory named Jiwaji Industrial Research Laboratory (JIRL).
• The JIRL was inaugurated by the then Governor-General of India Lord Earl Mountbatten on December 28, 1947. The JIRL was taken over by the Ministry of Defence, Government of India in November 1963.
• Till 1972, it was under the administrative control of the Defence Research Laboratory (Materials), Kanpur. After that in 1973, it was made a full-fledged independent unit as the Defence Research & Development Establishment (DRDE).

Exp. 1 January – Copyright Law Day

Copyright Law Day is celebrated every year on 1 January to emphasize on the need to give credit where it is due.

The first copyright statute was made by British Statute of Anne 1710 and applied only to books.

In 1787, the United States Constitution protected copyrights to promote the progress of science and useful arts.

Even back then, the primary intention of copyrights was to promote the creation of new works and allow authors the profit of copyrights. However, illegal downloading and usage of copyrighted products still continue to haunt us, and make the industries suffer.

Exp. 1 January – World Day of Peace

World Day of Peace is celebrated on January 1 every year, is primarily a Catholic feast day dedicated to universal peace on the Solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God.

On this occasion, Popes generally make authoritative declarations on the Catholic Social Teachings (C.S.T.).

The Pope and the Vatican Church stress the need to care and share tolerance for each other and to create a society that focuses on good moral values and does not yield to the temptation to disregard others.

World Day of Peace began in 1967 when Pope Paul VI announced that the world needs to be sensitized and oriented for peace and understanding.