Current Affairs Quiz - June, 2024

Notes:
A 32-year-old woman was killed by a tiger in the buffer zone of Maharashtra’s Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve (TATR). TATR, the largest and oldest tiger reserve in Maharashtra, covers 625.4 sq. km and includes Tadoba National Park and Andhari Wildlife Sanctuary. It features Southern Tropical Dry Deciduous vegetation and notable wildlife like tigers, leopards, and sloth bears. The reserve has corridor linkages with other tiger reserves and houses diverse flora and fauna.

Notes:
According to the National Statistical Organisation (NSO), India’s GDP grew by 8.2% in FY 2023-24, surpassing the Reserve Bank of India’s estimate of 7.6%. This marks the ninth time since 1960-61 that GDP growth exceeded 8%. The high growth rate was driven by a strong performance in Q4 (January-March 2024), with a 7.8% increase compared to the same period in 2023.

Notes:
The Armed Forces Medical Services (AFMS) and IIT Hyderabad have signed an MoU to collaborate on research and training. This partnership aims to innovate medical devices and address health issues for soldiers in diverse terrains. The agreement was signed by Lt Gen Daljit Singh and Prof. BS Murty, with IIT Hyderabad providing technical expertise through its Biotechnology, Biomedical Engineering, and Bioinformatics departments.

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The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) lost contact with Akatsuki, launched in 2010 as Japan’s first successful mission to another planet. Akatsuki, in an equatorial orbit around Venus, aimed to study its toxic atmosphere and volcanic surface, weather patterns, lightning, and super-rotation caused by strong winds. It complemented ESA’s Venus Express, operational until 2014, using ultraviolet and infrared cameras to globally map clouds and atmospheric structures.

Notes:
Marine microbiologists from the Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research discovered the marine fungus Parengyodontium album, which can break down plastic polyethylene (PE) in the ocean. This fungus converts PE-derived carbon into fungal biomass, aided by UV sunlight’s initial photodegradation of PE. This discovery highlights its potential in reducing oceanic plastic litter. Annually, humans produce over 400 billion kilograms of plastic, much of which pollutes the ocean.

Notes:
The UNCTAD report “A World of Debt: A Growing Burden to Global Prosperity” highlights a record global public debt of $97 trillion in 2023. Key findings include the rise of African countries with debt-to-GDP ratios above 60% from 6 to 27 between 2013 and 2023, developing nations’ net interest payments reaching $847 billion, and 3.3 billion people living where interest exceeds education and health spending. Developing countries’ public debt rose to $29 trillion, driven by “cascading crises” and uneven economic performance.

Notes:
The “Air of the Anthropocene” project visualizes air pollution in India, Ethiopia, and the UK using light painting, highlighting severe health risks and sparking global discussions on air quality. This initiative combines art and science to produce photographic evidence of air pollution. Particulate matter (PM), a key pollutant, is linked to severe health issues and causes approximately 7 million premature deaths annually, with 99% of the global population affected.

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Researchers have identified a protein, Neo, in Klebsiella pneumoniae that counters bacteriophage infections by halting replication. Neo is produced via a process involving Reverse Transcriptase (RTs) and non-coding RNA. RTs are enzymes that synthesize DNA from RNA templates, crucial for retroviruses like HIV. This discovery showcases RT’s diverse role in bacterial defense and hints at its potential in biotechnology and medicine, particularly in combating antimicrobial resistance.

Notes:
The Trishakti Corps of the Indian Army marked World Environment Day with “Go Green Initiatives” in North Bengal and Sikkim, including the launch of a plastic waste management plant in East Sikkim. Part of the Sadbhavana initiative, the project aims to promote sustainability and local economic development by recycling plastic waste into road materials and bricks. This effort creates jobs for villagers and aligns with the Army’s commitment to environmental sustainability, aiming to eliminate landfills by 2027.

Notes:
The European Commission excluded Tanzania from its 18 million Euro conservation grant under the NaturAfrica initiative. NaturAfrica, an EU program, focuses on biodiversity conservation in Africa by creating jobs, improving security, and promoting sustainable livelihoods. It targets key landscapes with short-term actions and addresses biodiversity loss through medium-term strategies. The European Commission, the EU’s executive body, comprises 27 Commissioners and is led by a President elected by the European Parliament.