Current Affairs Quiz - April, 2023

Notes:
The Stand up India Scheme was launched in 2016 to promote entrepreneurship focusing on economic empowerment and job creation. The scheme has been extended till 2025.
Over Rs 40,700 crore was sanctioned under the Stand Up India Scheme over the seven years of its implementation. Around 80 percent of the loans under this scheme were provided to women.

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:
Gaia Mission, the ESA’s project, seeks to understand the formation of the Milky Way and its present nature.
With this mission’s data, the space agency has discovered a new family of black holes. These two black holes are believed to be the closest to the Earth.

Notes:
The ‘Indian Space Policy 2023’ was approved recently by the Union Cabinet. It seeks to streamline the process of private participation in the Indian Space Sector.
The policy will see Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) focusing on research and development of advanced space technologies. It delineates responsibility to ISRO, New Space India Limited (NSIL, a space sector PSU), and Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Center (IN-SPACe).

Notes:
As per the report released by US-based Global Energy Monitor, the operating coal fleet grew by 19.5 gigawatt in 2022 globally.
As per the report, the war between Russia and Ukraine resulted in a slowdown of coal retirements. China accounted for 59 per cent of the new coal capacity while Bangladesh ranked the 9th among the rest of the countries after India, Pakistan, Vietnam and Indonesia, among others.

Notes:
Muthuvans are tribal cultivators in the hills of Tamil Nadu’s Coimbatore and Kerala’s Adimali and Devikulam forest regions.
According to an expert committee appointed by the Kerala High Court regarding human-animal conflict and the wild tusker Arikompan, the Muthuvan tribal community have coexisted with the wild animals in Chinnakkanal, However, the subsequent unscientific resettlements in the region triggered an increase in human-animal conflict.

Notes:
France and China have signed several economic agreements involving major companies in sectors such as transport, energy, agriculture, culture and science during President Emmanuel Macron’s trip to China.
One of the deals will create a new assembly line in French aircraft manufacturer Airbus’ Tianjin factory so the company can double its production capacity of A320 models.

Notes:
After ten years of inactivity from the depositor, the unclaimed deposits are transferred to RBI’s Depositors Education and Awareness Fund.
The RBI has planned to open a web portal to allow depositors search for their unclaimed deposits across banks, and issued norms to make credit information companies (CICs) more accountable, measures aimed at helping consumers.

Notes:
Rayyanah Barnawi is set to become the first woman astronaut from Saudi Arabia. Barnawi and Ali Al-Qarni will take off from Florida on a private mission to the International Space Station.
There are two other astronauts who will join Barnawi and Ali Al-Qarni in their voyage. They are Peggy Whitson, a former NASA astronaut and John Shoffner, a businessman from Tennessee who will serve as pilot.

Notes:
Spike Anti-Tank Missiles is a fire-and-forget anti-tank guided missile and anti-personnel missile developed by Israel.
Israel signed a defense deal with Greece to provide it with over USD 400 million worth of Spike anti-tank missiles. According to Rafael, the missiles can be launched from around 45 different platforms, on land, in the air, and at sea.