Current Affairs Quiz - April, 2023

Notes:
The Digidog is a robot dog that was reintroduced by the NYPD recently after being discontinued nearly two years ago.
It was criticised due to its resemblance to the fictitious dystopian killer robot dog that was shown in a Black Mirror episode. The new devices also include a GPS tracker for stolen cars and a cone-shaped security robot.

Notes:
The Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) is a 6-meter diameter telescope situated in Chile’s Cerro Toco in the Atacama Desert.
It was used to create a detailed map of dark matter, which agrees with Einstein’s theory of gravity.

Notes:
The Union Ministry of road transport and highways is planning to extend its Incident Management Services (IMS) to all national highways.
The purpose of this step is to minimize road fatalities and improve safety for road users. Incident Management Services (IMS) on national roads will be provided, run, and maintained by businesses.

Notes:
Pohela Boishakh, also known as Bengali New Year, is a significant cultural festival in Bangladesh and the Bengali-speaking states of India including West Bengal.
The festival is celebrated on the first day of the Bengali calendar, which usually falls in the month of April. This year, it is celebrated on April 15.

Notes:
The ‘Banking on Climate Chaos Report’ was co-authored by several institutions including Rainforest Action Network, BankTrack, Indigenous Environmental Network among others.
According to this report, world’s 60 largest banks have spent 5.5 trillion USD for funding fossil fuel projects since 2016, when the Paris Agreement came into effect. J P Morgan Chase is the top bank financing fossil fuels globally from 2016–2022.

Notes:
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has confirmed financial support of USD 1 billion to Pakistan. This was announced by the Finance Minister of Pakistan.
Pakistan is tackling a major economic crisis as it awaits USD 1.1 billion tranche of funding from the Washington-based International Monetary Fund, part of a USD 6.5 billion bailout package the IMF approved in 2019.

Notes:
The Capital markets regulator SEBI has come out with a dispute resolution mechanism for Limited Purpose Clearing Corporation (LPCC), in order to settle disputes and claims arising out of transactions cleared by it. The framework is implemented with immediate effect.
The Limited Purpose Clearing Corporation is an entity that is set up for clearing and settling repo transactions.

Notes:
A “civil union” refers to the legal status that allows same-sex couples specific rights and responsibilities normally conferred upon married couples. These civil unions would be accompanied by rights such as inheritance rights, employment benefits to spouses, which are generally conferred upon married couples.
Recently, a five-judge bench of the Supreme Court, headed by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, began hearing a batch of petitions seeking legal recognition of same sex marriage.

Notes:
Gramdan is the expansion of Bhoodan movement that was started in 1951 by Vinoba Bhave. Under this initiative, the entire village will put its land under a common trust.
At present, seven states in India have 3,660 Gramdan villages, the highest being in Odisha (1309).

Notes:
The National Highways Logistics Management (NHLML), a fully-owned special purpose vehicle of the Indian Government, is set to develop a digital highway network by setting up integrated utility corridors along national highways.
As part of this initiative, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has designed 1,367 km of the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway and 512 km of the Hyderabad-Bangalore Corridor as pilot routes for digital highway development.