Current Affairs Quiz - July, 2024

Notes:
For the first time, ISRO will launch its latest large satellite, GSAT 20, on SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket. GSAT 20, a hi-tech communication satellite, weighs 4,700 kg and has a throughput capacity of 48 GBPS. It features 32 spot beams covering all of India, especially the Northeast. Owned by ISRO’s commercial arm NSIL, it uses SpaceX due to the limitations of India’s Launch Vehicle Mark 3.

Notes:
In June, approximately 300 families were relocated from Gardi Sugdub island in Panama’s Guna Yala province due to rising sea levels. It is a tiny island in the caribbean sea and part of the San Blas archipelago, inhabited by 1,200 indigenous Guna people facing displacement to the mainland due to climate change. Panama plans further evacuations by 2050, marking the first complete island community relocation in Latin America. Sea levels in the Caribbean, where Panama is situated, rise by an average of 3 to 4 millimeters annually.

Notes:
Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan Chief Ministers signed an MoU for the Rs 72,000 crore Parbati-Kalisindh-Chambal river linking project in Bhopal. This initiative aims to transfer surplus water from Southern Rajasthan’s rivers to water-scarce districts in southeastern Rajasthan and parts of Madhya Pradesh. It will irrigate 2.8 lakh hectares and benefit 13 districts in Rajasthan, along with Malwa and Chambal regions in Madhya Pradesh, fostering interstate cooperation and developmental corridors between religious sites.

Notes:
Archaeologists discovered the world’s oldest known ostrich nest, dating back 41,000 years in Andhra Pradesh. This find could offer insights into the extinction of megafauna in the Indian subcontinent. Megafauna, animals over 50 kg, include megaherbivores, megacarnivores, and megaomnivores. Anthropogenic pressures since the Late Pleistocene led to significant losses among megafauna like woolly mammoths and sabre-toothed tigers.

Notes:
NITI Aayog’s report on R&D in Indian state universities highlights a doubling of Gross Expenditure on R&D (GERD) to Rs. 127,381 crore in 2020-21 from Rs. 60,197 crore in 2010-11. Government sectors, including central and state governments, and higher education institutions drive GERD. R&D fosters innovation, aligns education with industry needs, and addresses societal challenges. However, challenges include low GDP spending on R&D compared to global peers, emphasis on teaching over research, and limited enrollment in advanced programs like Ph.D.

Notes:
Using AI, researchers discovered potential cancer drivers in ‘junk’ DNA regions, which are noncoding sections of DNA. While DNA codes for proteins, not all sequences serve this function. Some noncoding DNA produces RNA components, but others have unknown functions and are termed junk DNA. In humans, 98% of DNA is noncoding, compared to 2% in bacteria. Evidence suggests junk DNA might have functional roles through exaptation, gaining functions beyond natural selection.

Notes:
India is set to trial US-made Stryker Infantry Combat Vehicles (ICVs) in Ladakh and desert regions. Built by General Dynamics Land Systems, the Stryker is an eight-wheel-drive armored vehicle with a V-hull design, cannon, and mobile gun. These trials are part of a broader defense-industrial cooperation roadmap between India and the US, which includes considering joint production of the latest generation of Stryker vehicles.

Notes:
The Ministry of Science and Technology launched the Indo-French Liver and Metabolic Disease Network (InFLiMeN) with the French government. InFLiMeN, based at the Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences in New Delhi, is a joint research program promoting scientific exchanges and collaborative projects to combat liver and metabolic disorders. Notably, every third Indian has fatty liver, which precedes Type 2 Diabetes, highlighting InFLiMeN’s significance in addressing this issue.

Notes:
Bajaj Auto launched the world’s first CNG-powered two-wheeler, the Freedom 125, in Pune. Priced at around Rs 95,000, this entry-level vehicle aims to revolutionize the motorcycle market. CEO Rajiv Bajaj highlighted its freedom from petrol reliance. Key features include telescopic front forks, mono-link suspension, front disc and rear drum brakes, and a 125cc engine.

Notes:
The vaquita, the world’s most endangered marine mammal, faces imminent extinction with fewer than 20 individuals left in the wild. Found exclusively in the northern Gulf of California, vaquitas are small porpoises, measuring 4 to 5 feet long and weighing 65 to 120 pounds. Their decline is exacerbated by illegal gillnet fishing for totoaba, a fish of similar size. Vaquitas, known for their elusive nature and echolocation, are critically endangered due to habitat loss and bycatch.