ALL EXAM QUIZ 18.04.2024

Explanation:

• Dr. Gagandeep Kang has been selected for the prestigious John Dirks Prize in Global Health.
• She is the Director of Global Health at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. It is the most recognized global health award.
• The Gairdner Foundation in Canada awards the John Dirks Award in global health.
• She is the first Indian woman to receive this award.
• The focus of Dr. Kang's work has been on a wide range of studies, including work on childhood diarrheal disease and vaccines.
• She also became the first Indian woman to be elected a Fellow of the Royal Society.
• Established in 1958, the Toronto-based Gairdner Foundation was with a donation from philanthropist James A Gairdner.
• The award has become Canada's most prestigious award for globally significant research in the biomedical sciences.

Explanation:

• April 13 is remembered every year as Jallianwala Bagh Massacre Day.
• The Jallianwala Bagh massacre, one of the darkest moments of India's colonial past, remains etched in the nation's collective memory even after 105 years.
• On this day in 1919, the unarmed Indian public was killed in Jallianwala Bagh, located in Amritsar.
• On 9 April 1919, Indians raged over the arrest of two nationalist leaders, Saifuddin Kichlu and Dr. Satyapal, who protested on 10 April 1919 to show solidarity with their leaders.
• The protests soon turned violent, killing some protesters. The government enforced martial law to prevent any such protests in the future.
• On the day of Baisakhi on 13 April 1919, a large crowd of people unaware of martial law gathered in Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar.
• Brigadier General Dyer, arriving at the scene with his men, surrounded the assembly blocked the only gate to go out, and opened fire on the unarmed mob. More than 1000 unarmed men, women, and children were killed.
• Later, the Hunter Commission was set up by the government to investigate the massacre.

Explanation:

• Russia successfully launched first Angara-A5 space rocket.
• Russia successfully test-launched its Angara-A5 space rocket from the Vostochny Cosmodrome in the Far East.
• This launch comes after a series of technical setbacks that led to the cancellation of two previous attempts.
• Angara-A5 space rocket is designed to carry heavy payloads into low Earth orbit. It has been designed to carry payloads exceeding 20 tonnes into orbit.
• In recent years, Russia's space programme has been hit by a number of high-profile setbacks.
• The Angara family of rockets has been developed to replace the Soviet-designed Proton rockets.

Explanation:

• Sanjay Shukla will be the new Managing Director (MD) of the National Housing Bank (NHB).
• Centrum Housing Finance's Sanjay Shukla is appointed as the Managing Director (MD) of the National Housing Bank (NHB).
• Financial Services Institutions Bureau scrutinised 16 candidates for the post.
• This appointment assumes significance against the backdrop of NHB's plans to raise capital by issuing bonds.
• NHB is planning to raise ₹3,000 crore through bonds with a unique maturity period of three years.
• Financial Services Institutions Bureau (FSIB) has also recommended the name of IFCI Managing Director Manoj Mittal as SIDBI Chairman.

Explanation:

• India now has record-high foreign exchange reserves of USD 648.562 billion.
• Based on the most recent data released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), this is the eighth week in a row that there has been an increase in foreign exchange reserve.
• Foreign Currency Assets (FCA) increased by USD 549 million to USD 571.166 billion, causing the growth in foreign exchange reserves.
• Moreover, reserves of gold increased by USD 2.398 billion to USD 54.558 billion.
• Following a cumulative fall of USD 71 billion in 2022, the RBI increased the foreign exchange reserves by roughly USD 58 billion in 2023.
• The reserves have increased by almost USD 28 billion so far in 2024.
• Foreign exchange reserves reached last time a peak in October 2021.
• The majority of foreign exchange reserves are kept in reserve currencies like the US dollar, Euro, Japanese Yen, and Pound Sterling.

Explanation:

• The World Quantum Day is observed annually on April 14.
• It aims at encouraging understanding among the public of Quantum Science and Quantum Technology around the World.
• It is a testament to how quickly advances have been made by applying quantum ideas to real-world problems.
• World Quantum Day has its origins in the year 2022.
• On April 14, 2021, the World Quantum Day was inaugurated. The first celebration took place on April 14, 2022.
• The National Quantum Mission aims to stimulate industry and scientific R&D with an expenditure of Rs 6003.65 Crore spread over eight years, building a strong ecosystem for quantum technology (QT) in India.
• The Department of Science and Technology (DST) is leading the NQM.
• National Quantum Mission was approved by the Union Cabinet on 19th April 2023.
• A vital part of improving security measures for vital industries like infrastructure and banking is quantum cryptography.

Explanation:

• According to the Plastic Overshoot Day report, India is among the twelve countries that are responsible for 60 percent of the earth's mismanaged plastic waste.
• The global plastic waste production has increased by 7.11 per cent since 2021.
• This year, 220 million tons of plastic waste will be generated globally, 70 million tons of which will pollute the environment.
• Twelve countries- China, India, Russia, Brazil, Mexico, Vietnam, Iran, Indonesia, Egypt, Pakistan, the United States and Turkey are responsible for 60 per cent of the world's mismanaged plastic waste.
• The report declared India as a "low-waste-producing" polluter due to its low per capita plastic waste production (8 kg per capita per year).
• In India, the mismanaged waste in 2024 will be 7.4 million tons, which is very high.
• India's mismanaged plastic waste will be less than one-fifth of China and one-third of the US.
• As per the report, India is estimated to release an average of 3,91,879 tons of microplastics into the environment.
• Oman tops the list of countries in terms of mismanaged plastic waste.
• People living in Belgium are the top generators of plastic waste, with a yearly waste production of 147.7 kg per person.

Explanation:

• After the resignation of Katrín Jakobsdottir, Bjarni Benediktsson is appointed as Prime Minister of Iceland.
• Benediktsson previously served as foreign minister. Katrín Jakobsdottir stood down following more than six years in office.
• Benediktsson previously served as finance minister under Jakobsdottír and was prime minister for 10 months in 2017.
• Iceland’s next parliamentary elections are due to be held next year.
• The prime minister leads the government in Iceland. The prime minister is appointed formally by the president.

Explanation:

• Under the Cluster Development Programme (CDP), the Government launched a platform CDP-SURAKSHA to disburse subsidies to horticulture farmers.
• It will push the growth of India’s horticulture sector, which contributes nearly one-third to the agriculture gross value addition (GVA).
• In recent years, the total production of horticulture crops has also increased. The production of horticulture crops has increased from 240.53 million tonnes in 2010-11 to 334.60 million tonnes in 2020-21.
• The CDP-SURAKSHA is essentially a digital platform. SURAKSHA stands for “System for Unified Resource Allocation, Knowledge, and Secure Horticulture Assistance”.
• It will allow an instant disbursal of subsidies to farmers in their bank accounts by utilising the e-RUPI voucher from the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI).
• The CDP-SURAKSHA has features such as database integration with PM-KISAN.
• This platform will allow access to farmers, vendors, implementing agencies (IA), cluster development agencies (CDAs), and officials of the National Horticulture Board (NHB).

Explanation:

A-3, B-2, C-1, D-4