Current Affairs Quiz - August, 2023

Notes:
Under ‘Mukhyamantri Ladli Behna Yojana’, underprivileged women between 23 and 60 years were eligible for ₹1,000 every month.
However, after distributing two instalments the government decided that those completing 21 years from January this year would also be included. They should be married and fulfil the other existing eligibility criteria.

Notes:
Union government said that India had seen no deaths due to manual scavenging in the last five years, as per the data submitted by the Social Justice Ministry.
It also added that 330 people had died while being engaged in cleaning sewers and septic tanks. Social Justice Ministry says manual scavenging no longer practised in India; Tamil Nadu, Chhattisgarh, Bihar among States with all districts reporting free status.

Notes:
Recently, INDIAai and Meta India entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to create a structure for collaboration and mutual cooperation in the realm of artificial intelligence (AI) and emerging technologies.
The objective of this partnership is to make Meta’s open-source AI models accessible and usable through joint efforts.

Notes:
Recently, International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), a London-based think tank, in collaboration with India’s Bharat Shakti defense platform, organized the UK-India Defence and Military Technology Cooperation workshop in London.
The workshop aimed to explore joint initiatives in defense research and industrial production, focusing on various themes such as the changing strategic context of UK-India defense relations, perspectives on India’s Atmanirbhar program, and the UK’s defense technology partnerships.

Notes:
OpenAI, Microsoft, Google, and Anthropic have teamed up to create the Frontier Model Forum, aiming to regulate the development of large machine learning models, particularly “frontier AI models” that surpass current advanced capabilities.
These foundation models pose potential risks to public safety, and the forum will focus on ensuring their safe and responsible development, collaborating with policymakers, academics, and companies to advance AI safety research and establish best practices for deploying such models.

Notes:
China successfully launched its first communications satellite, Lingxi-03, featuring an ultra-thin flexible solar wing to test technologies for a massive 13,000-satellite broadband mega constellation in low-Earth orbit.
It aims to compete with SpaceX’s Starlink. The satellite was launched atop a Long March 2D rocket from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Centre in central China.

Notes:
Amid escalating tensions in the South China Sea, China views the US presence as a violation of its territorial claims and has employed the “cabbage strategy,”.
It involves the construction of artificial islands and encircling disputed areas with numerous ships to assert control gradually. The situation has led to measures, including detaining trespassers and the possibility of implementing an air identification zone over the South China Sea by various nations involved.

Notes:
The DGCA fined IndiGo Rs 30 lakhs and issued a show cause notice due to deficiencies in their documentation and procedures related to frequent tail strike incidents on their A321 aircraft.
Tail strikes occur when the tail of an aircraft hits the ground or any stationary object, with a majority happening during landings.

Notes:
The Free Movement Regime (FMR) along the India-Myanmar border has complicated the volatile situation in Manipur due to migration of tribal Kuki-Chin people from Myanmar.
The border between India and Myanmar runs for 1,643 km in the four states of Mizoram, Manipur, Nagaland, and Arunachal Pradesh. The FMR allows tribes living along the border to travel up to 16 km inside the other country without a visa.

Notes:
Recently, the Indian government and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) have entered into an agreement, securing a USD 200 million loan as extra funding for the existing Rajasthan Secondary Towns Development Sector Project.
The loan aims to extend water supply and sanitation systems, boost urban resilience, and preserve the heritage in chosen towns.