Current Affairs Quiz - July, 2024

Notes:
The first phase of Adani Group’s Vizhinjam Port, India’s first exclusive trans-shipment port near Kovalam beach, Kerala, is complete. It will receive its first mothership on July 12, marking a major milestone. The port, managed by Divya S. Iyer, is expected to commence full commercial operations by year-end. It will also be India’s first semi-automated container terminal and a global bunkering hub for green fuels like hydrogen and ammonia. With an 18-meter natural draft, it can accommodate large container ships and is strategically located 10 nautical miles from the international shipping route connecting Europe, the Persian Gulf, and the Far East. The project is developed in a public-private partnership by Adani Vizhinjam Ports Private Ltd.

Notes:
A 15-year-old bridge over the Gandaki River in Bihar’s Saran district collapsed on July 4, the third bridge collapse in the district within 24 hours. The bridge connected villages in Saran to Siwan district. Over the past 17 days, 12 bridges have collapsed across Bihar. The Gandaki River, also known as Narayani and Gandak, originates in Nepal and flows into the Ganges near Patna, Bihar. Spanning 475 miles, it has a catchment area of 46,300 sq.km, with 7,620 sq.km in India. The river is bordered by the Himalayas, Ganga, Burhi Gandak Basin, and Ghagra Basin, with 1,710 glaciers and over 300 lakes in its upper catchment.

Notes:
The RBI has mandated that all credit card bill payments via third-party apps must be routed through the Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS). Managed by NPCI, BBPS offers a centralized platform for bill payments. This affects users of major banks and apps like CRED, PhonePe, Amazon Pay, and Paytm. The move aims to regulate peer-to-peer transactions and ensure centralized monitoring.

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Uttar Pradesh government has launched ‘Mitra Van’ under Vriksharopan Jan Abhiyan-2024, aiming to plant 35 crore saplings along the Uttar Pradesh-Nepal border. Coordinated by the Forest Department, the campaign will involve 35 forest divisions and neighboring state dignitaries. Key districts include Saharanpur, Lakhimpur Kheri, and Maharajganj. Additional initiatives like ‘Shakti Van’ and ‘Yuva Van’ will also be established. The campaign starts on July 20.

Notes:
The U.S. military is developing the LGM-35A Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) with Northrop Grumman and Air Force Global Strike Command. This new ICBM will replace the 400 LGM-30 Minuteman III missiles, in service since the 1970s. The Sentinel features digital engineering, modular architecture, and a W87-1 thermonuclear warhead. With a range exceeding 5,500km, it can hit any target globally within 30 minutes.

Notes:
CA Institute and the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) are collaborating to develop an AI Audit Tool to track corporate performance and detect frauds, announced President Ranjeet Kumar Agarwal. This tool will help companies remain ‘going concerns’. Agarwal highlighted the focus on ‘AI in ICAI’ during his presidency. ICAI has allocated ₹25 crore for AI tools, with plans to increase the budget to ₹100 crore.

Notes:
Gautam Gambhir, a former Indian cricketer, has been appointed as the head coach of the Indian men’s cricket team, replacing Rahul Dravid. Announced by BCCI Secretary Jay Shah on July 9, 2024, Gambhir’s term will last three years. He will oversee the team in key tournaments like the 2026 T20 World Cup, 2027 ODI World Cup, and 2025 ICC Champions Trophy. Gambhir starts his role in July with a tour to Sri Lanka.

Notes:
The Borehole Geophysics Research Laboratory (BGRL) in Karad, Maharashtra, under the Ministry of Earth Sciences, leads India’s deep-drilling programme. It aims to reach 6 km into the earth’s crust to study reservoir-triggered earthquakes in Maharashtra’s Koyna-Warna region, prone to seismic activity since the 1962 impoundment of the Koyna Dam. BGRL’s pilot borehole in Koyna is at 3 km depth, with plans to deepen it. Using a hybrid drilling approach, BGRL conducts unique in situ experiments, monitors fault lines, and studies crustal composition. This effort advances seismology and technological innovation, vital for understanding geohazards and developing geo-resources.

Notes:
NewSpace Research and Technologies successfully tested a 100-kg Max Take Off Weight (MTOW) UAV at Unming La Pass. Located at 19,024 ft. in Eastern Ladakh along the Ladakh Range, Unming La Pass is the highest motorable road in the world, constructed by the Border Road Organization under Project Himank. The road enhances connectivity to the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and improves local connectivity in the Chisumle-Demchok sector to Leh, boosting tourism. Other significant passes in Ladakh include Khardung La, Chang La, and Tanglang La.

Notes:
The DRDO has tasked a Bengaluru firm with developing a receiver chip for the Indian navigation system NavIC, created by ISRO. NavIC, the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System, consists of seven satellites providing precise positioning and timing information across India and 1,500 km beyond. It offers services for civilian and defense use, with accuracy better than 10 meters in India. NavIC signals are compatible with other global navigation systems like GPS, Glonass, Galileo, and BeiDou.