Current Affairs Quiz - February, 2024

Notes:
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and Nepal Rastra Bank have partnered to integrate India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI) and Nepal’s National Payments Interface (NPI). The collaboration aims to establish infrastructure for seamless cross-border transactions, facilitating efficient remittances. The formalized agreement signifies a concerted effort to interlink UPI and NPI, enhancing the speed and ease of cross-border payments between the two countries.

Notes:
Sikkim’s Chief Minister, Prem Singh Tamang, introduced Sikkim INSPIRES, a groundbreaking collaboration between the state government and the World Bank. With a $100 million allocation, the program spans five years, engaging nine government departments to foster economic growth and inclusion. The initiative prioritizes collaboration and capacity-building across sectors, aiming to strengthen the state system for inclusive growth, employment for women and youth, and enhanced delivery of enabling services. The launch event featured a slogan competition winner announcement and the unveiling of a mental health awareness mobile app.

Notes:
A dispute in Lakshadweep has arisen over the administration’s assertion of government ownership of Pandaram lands, leading to tension with locals. The conflict escalated as the administrator claimed Pandaram properties belonged to the government, contradicting traditional ownership. Locals allege the administration is violating a High Court stay on numbering coconut trees on Pandaram lands, suggesting potential felling. Despite officials refusing to comment on record, a senior official dismissed concerns as presumptions.

Notes:
A statue of U Tirot Sing, a Khasi Hills freedom fighter who resisted British colonialism 200 years ago, was recently unveiled at the Indira Gandhi Cultural Centre in Dhaka. Known as the ‘Hero of the Khasi Hills,’ Tirot Sing’s heroic struggle against British forces in 1829, during the Anglo-Khasi War, has inspired many. Captured and dying in Dhaka on July 17, 1835, Tirot Sing’s legacy is celebrated, with Deputy Chief Minister Sniawbhalang Dhar and High Commissioner Pranay Verma attending the unveiling.

Notes:
As of February 2024, Germany is the world’s third largest economy, surpassing Japan. Japan’s economy was contracted by 0.4% in the fourth quarter of 2023, pushing the country into recession. This is due to weak domestic consumption, a weak yen, and a shrinking population. The IMF’s latest projections estimate Germany’s nominal GDP at 4.4 trillion this year, compared with 4.2 trillion for Japan.

Notes:
The Rajasthan Mines Department has discovered over 840 million tonnes of iron ore in Khoda, Dadaroli, Todupura, and Liloti near Hindon, Karauli. A composite license for iron ore blocks spanning 1,888 hectares is set for auction. Preliminary exploration revealed magnetite and hematite deposits across 462.3 hectares in Khoda, 754.38 hectares in Dadaroli, 260.71 hectares in Todupura, and 410.94 hectares in Liloti. The findings are expected to boost industrial investment, particularly benefiting steel, cement, coal, and related industries in the state, fostering economic growth and job opportunities.

Notes:
Researchers have uncovered a unique electric polarization mechanism in the mineral MnBi2S4, aka graţianite, a ternary manganese chalcogenide. It exhibits distinctive magnetic structures, such as spin density wave, cycloidal, and helical spin structures. Notably, the latter two induce ferroelectricity. MnBi2S4 is centrosymmetric and undergoes magnetic ordering at low temperatures (27, 23, and 21.5 Kelvins). This discovery could contribute to energy-efficient data storage.

Notes:
The Nagi Bird Festival is associated with the state of Bihar. The Bihar government’s Forest and Environment department hosts the three-day festival in Jamui, the district’s Nagi bird sanctuary. The festival’s primary objective is to educate people on migratory birds and their habitats, and to promote bird conservation.

Notes:
‘Anuvadini’ is an AI-driven multilingual translation app designed in-house, enabling rapid conversion of English content into various languages via machine learning, supplemented by expert reviews. In the last two years, it has translated numerous textbooks for Ekumbh, an online platform. The initiative also offers 12 regional language choices for national entrance exams, showcasing substantial progress in the realm of AI-based language translation.

Notes:
Astronomers announced the discovery of J0529-4351, the brightest and fastest-growing quasar to date. This quasar harbors a supermassive black hole 17 billion times the Sun’s mass. Quasars are active galactic nuclei (AGNs), fueled by supermassive black holes at a galaxy’s center. Not all AGNs are quasars, which form in regions of high matter density. Quasars are exceptionally luminous and powerful cosmic phenomena, arising from active galaxies with intense matter consumption, leading to the formation of spiraling accretion disks.