ALL EXAM QUIZ 15.06.2024

Explanation:

• India growth forecast raised by World Bank for FY25 to 6.6%.
• India will remain the fastest-growing economy among the world's largest economies.
• However, the World Bank said in its June Global Economic Outlook report that the pace of its expansion is expected to slow to a steady average annual growth of 6.7% between fiscal year 2025 and fiscal year 2027.
• It raised India's growth forecast by 0.2 percentage points to 6.6% for FY25 and 6.7% for FY26 compared to its projection in January this year.
• However, it is much lower than the 7.2% projected by the Reserve Bank of India last week.
• The bank's report said global growth is forecast to remain stable at 2.6% this year for the first time in three years, despite geopolitical tensions and high interest rates.
• In 2024, the growth in the South Asia region is projected to slow to 6.2% and remain at a similar rate in 2025-26, mainly reflecting stable growth in India.

Explanation

• Sarod player Pandit Rajeev Taranath passed away at the age of 92 in Mysuru.
• Pandit Rajeev Taranath received music education from Ustad Ali Akbar Khan and dedicated his life to music.
• He was also the music director of several Kannada films, including Samskara, Pallavi, Anuroopa, Paper Boats and Agunthaka, besides Malayalam movies like Kadavu and Kanchanaseetha.
• Pandit Taranath, an eminent artist of the Senia Maihar Gharana, was honoured with the Padma Shri by the Government of India in 2019 and the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 2000.
• In Karnataka, he was awarded the Rajyotsava Award in 1996, Chowdaiah Memorial Award in 1998, Sangeet Vidwan Award in 2018 and the Nadoja Award in 2019.

Explanation:

• India slipped to 129th place on the World Economic Forum's (WEF) Global Gender Gap index.
• India secured 129th place by slipping two places in the World Economic Forum's (WEF) Global Gender Gap Index.
• Iceland retained its top position in the rankings, followed by Finland, Norway, New Zealand, and Sweden.
• India is one of the countries with the lowest levels of economic parity. India showed the best gender parity in terms of enrolment in secondary education.
• India ranked 65th in terms of political empowerment of women.India has closed 64.1% of its gender gap in 2024.
• India’s position has declined from 127th to 129th due to declines in 'Educational Attainment' and 'Political Empowerment,' parameters.
• ‘Economic Participation and 'Opportunity' parameter scores have improved.
• In this ranking, the U.K. was ranked 14th, while the USA was in 43rd place.
• In South Asia, India was ranked fifth after Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Bhutan, while Pakistan was ranked last.
• Sudan is in the last position on the Global Gender Gap Index of 146 countries.

Explanation:

• Cellular Operators' Association of India (COAI) has appointed Abhijit Kishore, Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Vodafone Idea, as new chairperson.
• He has been appointed for the 2024-25 term, effective from June 2024.
• Rahul Vatts, Chief Regulatory Officer (CRO) of Bharti Airtel, will be the Vice Chairman of COAI.

Explanation:

• India will host men’s Junior Hockey World Cup in 2025.
• The tournament will be organised in December. Its last edition was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in 2023.
• For the first time, a Hockey Junior World Cup will include 24 teams.
• In 2023, Germany became winner with a 2-1 win over France.
• In 2023, Spain and India were at the third and fourth places respectively.
• In the past, India hosted the tournament three times in 2013 (New Delhi), 2016 (Lucknow) and 2021 (Bhubaneswar). India won the 2016 edition.

Explanation:

• Researchers have developed portable atomic clock to offer accurate timekeeping at sea.
• A new study published in Journal Nature introduced a different kind of portable optical atomic clock that can be used onboard ships.
• This is the most performant optical clock based at sea and represents a significant advancement in optical timekeeping.
• Atomic clocks are a critical component of a Global Positioning System (GPS).
• The researchers conducted initial tests of atomic clocks at sea at the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in April 2022.
• Optical atomic clocks are more accurate. It uses coherent light to achieve higher accuracy in two main ways.
• Strontium (Sr) is the most common atom used in optical atomic clocks.
• Atomic clocks use atoms to measure time. The most popular design of atomic clock uses atoms of an isotope of caesium, Cs-133.
• Researchers at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Pune, are working on developing a strontium optical atomic clock.

Explanation:

• Jyoti Vij has assumed the charge of director-general of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci) with immediate effect.
• Vij is currently the additional director general at Ficci. She has worked across various sectors.
• Shailesh Pathak has resigned from the post of secretary general, Ficci due to personal reasons.

Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry

• It was founded in 1927 on the advice of G.D. Birla and Purshottamdas Thakurdas.
• Its primary goal is to promote and protect the interests of Indian businesses domestically and internationally.
• It is headquartered in New Delhi.
• It is the largest, oldest and apex business non-governmental trade association in India.

Explanation:

• Pema Khandu becomes Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh for the third time in a row.
• Chowna Mein also took the oath as the Deputy Chief Minister.
• The swearing-in ceremony was held at the Dorjee Khandu Convention Hall.
• Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Union Ministers J.P. Nadda and Kiren Rijiju, and Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma attended the oath ceremony.
• BJP has won 46 seats in the 60-member Assembly. Pema Khandu is one of the 10 candidates who won unopposed.
• The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) won three seats, the the People's Party of Arunachal (PPA) won two seats and the Congress won one.
• Pema Khandu became CM for the first time in 2016. He became chief minister of Arunachal Pradesh for the fifth time.

Explanation:

• The International Astronomical Union (IAU) has named three new craters located within the Tharsis volcanic region on Mars after the science community of India and Indian places.
• The largest crater has been named "Lal Crater" in honor of Professor Devendra Lal.
• The Mursan Crater is named after the city of Mursan in Uttar Pradesh, India, while the Hilsa Crater is named after the city of Hilsa in Bihar, India.

Explanation:

• The World Bank has recently released the Container Port Performance Index (CPPI) in collaboration with S&P Global Market Intelligence.
• CPPI is based on a comprehensive dataset of 405 ports around the world, which is the largest dataset till date. Let us tell you that Visakhapatnam Port Authority has secured 18th position in this ranking.