Current Affairs Quiz - April, 2023

Notes:
SEBI decided to set up a corporate debt market development fund in the form of an Alternative Investment Fund.
Corporate Debt Market Development Fund will be set up with an initial corpus of Rs 3,000 crore. It will function as a backstop facility for buying investment grade corporate debt securities during stressful times.

Notes:
Lynx-U2 System is an indigenously developed naval gun fire control system. The Union Defence Ministry recently signed a contract with BEL for the procurement of 13 of these systems for the Indian Navy.
The purchase under the Buy Indian – IDMM (Indigenously Designed, Developed, and Manufactured) category will be placed on new-gen offshore patrol vessels to be constructed indigenously at Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers and Goa Shipyard Limited.

Notes:
The EU members have recently decided to digitize the Schengen Visa to make visa application process more efficient in Schengen area.
The Schengen area is a region comprising of 27 EU countries that have officially abolished all passports and other types of border control at their mutual borders.

Notes:
Russia recently announced unveiled a new concept of foreign policy by describing India and China as ‘friendly sovereign global centres of power’.
These countries will be given particular focus by Moscow by comprehensively deepening ties and improving coordination with them.

Notes:
Salar de Atacama is Chile’s largest salt flat. Much of the country’s lithium deposits are found in this region.
Chile is planning to collaborate with India to tap into the lithium value chain. The copper-producing nation- Chile, holds the world’s largest known lithium reserves.

Notes:
Three new species of bush cricket was found recently. Two of these species (Hexacentrus tiddae and Hexacentrus ashoka) were found in Haryana. In the local dialect of Haryana, bush crickets are referred to as tiddaes.
The third species found in Meghalaya was named Hexacentrus khasiensis — after the Khasi hills where it was discovered.

Notes:
British Prime Minister rejected a call from the First Minister of Scotland to organize a second referendum for Scotland’s independence. This proposed referendum will provide people in Scotland the right to decide on an independent country.
The last referendum to decide the issue of Scottish independence was carried out in 2014.

Notes:
National Buildings Construction Corporation is a central public sector enterprise that comes under the aegis of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.
It recently bagged an order worth ₹488.02 crore from the Department of Border Management for the construction of a border and road with a length of 88.58 km.

Notes:
The “World Energy Transitions: Outlook 2023” Report was released recently by the International Renewable Energy Agency.
According to this report, while significant progress has been made towards increasing renewable energy generation, the global energy transition is still falling short of the 1.5°C pathway.

Notes:
Nathu La is a mountain pass in the Dongkya Range of the Himalayas between Tibet and the Indian states of Sikkim and West Bengal.
A massive avalanche had hit the East Sikkim’s Nathu La area recently. Seven tourists were killed and a dozen injured after the avalanche.