Current Affairs Quiz - August, 2023

Notes:
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) has said that 79 per cent of people in Afghanistan lack sufficient access to water for essential needs like drinking, cooking, bathing, and washing.
The water crisis in Afghanistan is further enhanced by various challenges, particularly the most severe drought in 30 years, a deepening economic turmoil, and the enduring effects of forty years of warfare.

Notes:
R K Singh, Union Minister of Power, New and Renewable Energy, dedicated the 660 MW Unit of Barh Super Thermal Power Project at Barh in Patna, Bihar.
NTPC fulfils over 90% of power requirement of Bihar. The Minister also laid the foundation stone for extension of POWERGRID’s Lakhisarai Sub-station.

Notes:
India and Trinidad and Tobago have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on sharing of INDIA STACK.
It is a collection of open APIs and digital public goods that aim to facilitate identity, data, and payment services on a large scale.

Notes:
Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw inaugurated India’s first 3D-printed post office in Bengaluru’s Cambridge Layout.
Its construction was completed in just 43 days, two days ahead of the deadline. Multinational company Larsen & Toubro Limited built the post office with technological support from IIT Madras-Building Technology and Construction Management Division, Department of Civil Engineering.

Notes:
The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) of the Government of India have signed an Implementation Arrangement on research cooperation.
Under the agreement, the first Joint Call for proposals has been made by the MeitY, in the areas of semiconductor research, next generation communication technologies/networks/systems, cyber-security, sustainability and green technologies and Intelligent Transportation Systems.

Notes:
The G20 Pandemic Fund has approved a $25 million proposal submitted by India’s Department of Animal Husbandry & Dairying, Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying (DAHD), Government of India on “Animal Health Security Strengthening in India for Pandemic Preparedness and Response”.
The G20 Pandemic Fund was established under Indonesia’s G20 Presidency, which finances critical investments to strengthen pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response capacities at national, regional, and global levels of low- and middle-income countries.

Notes:
The Director General, National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) recently chaired an online session in from India, during the World Water Week. The session was titled ‘Peer Networking for Integrated River Basin Planning and Management’ having a discussion on the adoption of the river basin management approach.
The World Water Week 2023 (from 20-24 August 2023) is an annual event held online and at Stockholm (Sweden) with the theme ‘Seeds of Change: Innovative Solutions for a Water-Wise World’.

Notes:
The country’s first indigenous e-Tractor Prima ET11 has been developed by the CSIR’s Central Mechanical Engineering Research Institute (CMERI), Durgapur.
The machine was launched by the Union Minister of State for Science and Technology Dr Jitendra Singh. Dr. Jitendra Singh unveiled a book by the CSIR-Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (CIMAP) and a compendium showcasing 75 technologies developed by CSIR.

Notes:
Chief Minister M.K. Stalin laid the foundation stone for a new desalination plant to come up at Perur on East Coast Road at a cost of ₹4,276.44 crore.
It has a capacity to treat 400 million litres of seawater per day. Once set up, the plant will be the biggest of its kind in Southeast Asia. The project has funding support from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), will be completed by December 2026.

Notes:
The India’s largest lender State Bank of India has made a AI based model using Artificial Neural Network (ANN) with 30 high frequency indicators, using which the Bank has forecasted India’s GDP growth for the April -June quarter at 8.3 per cent.
This is higher than the projection made by the Monetary Policy Committee’s projection of 8 per cent. The projection report has listed good growth in manufacturing and picking up of services as reasons for higher growth.