Current Affairs Quiz - April, 2023

Notes:
Four new species of jumping spiders were recently discovered from the Meghalaya. One among them is ‘Habrocestum togansangmai’.
It is named after Garo freedom fighter Togan Sangma.

Notes:
The UN Statistical Commission is the highest decision-making body for international statistical activities.  Shigeru Kawasaki of Japan is the current chair of the Commission.
India has recently been elected to this body for a 4-year term starting from January 1, 2024.

Notes:
Project CAVForth was launched in 2019 to provide fully autonomous full-sized bus service across the Forth Road Bridge.
CAVForth is a joint project of various institutions and it is part funded by the UK Government’s Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles. It will be the first registered service in the UK to use full-sized autonomous buses. Bus services under this project will be launched in Scotland soon.

Notes:
Parambikulam Tiger Reserve is situated in Kerala in the Western Ghats. A Division Bench of the Kerala HC has ordered the wild elephant locally called ‘Arikompan’ to be captured, radio-collared and translocated to this protected area.
The Forest department approached the Assam government to procure a Satellite Radio Collar to be attached to the wild tusker in Idukki before it is translocated from Idukki to Parambikulam.

 

Notes:
The World Bank has forecast a 6.3% economic growth rate for India in the current fiscal year (FY) 2023-24, in its South Asia Economic Focus: Expanding Opportunities: Toward Inclusive Growth report.
This is a downgrade of 0.7 percentage points since its October forecast. The primary reasons for this are high borrowing costs and slower income growth causing weaker consumption, as well as the government tightening fiscal expenditure.

Notes:
Ladakh’s Wood Carving recently received GI (Geographical Indications) tag. In December last year, the government also granted GI Tag for Raktsey Karpo apricot of Ladakh.
Wood carving of Ladakh has been a vibrant art form in the Ladakh region, including the capital Leh and Kargil.

Notes:
Tropospheric Emissions Monitoring of Pollution Instrument is a new NASA device that will track pollution over North America.
It will enable scientists to monitor air pollutants and their sources from space. The spectrometer designed to measure air pollution across greater North America at a high resolution and on an hourly basis.

Notes:
A High-Level Conference on Accelerating Rail Digital Transformation in Asia and Pacific Region was held recently in New Delhi.
It was jointly organized by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) and the Union Ministry of Railways.

Notes:
Exercise Orion is the largest multinational exercise conducted by the French defence forces. The multinational wargame codenamed Orion will involve India, the USA and other allies of France.
For the first time, Indian Rafale combat aircraft is expected to take part in this wargame. India will send its Refale fighter jets to take part in the exercise Orion in France.

Notes:
Es Càrritx Cave, situated on the Spanish island of Menorca, was a funeral site for around six centuries until 800 BCE.
Researchers have found the presence of hallucinogenic drugs on this site, creating a possibility of people consuming them 3 millennia ago.