Current Affairs Quiz - May, 2024

Notes:
Project Udbhav, a collaboration between the Indian Army and USI, aims to blend ancient Indian military strategies from texts like the Mahabharata with modern warfare tactics. Named ‘Udbhav’ meaning ‘origin’, the initiative seeks to bridge the gap between ancient wisdom and modern military education. It aims to tap into India’s 5000-year-old intellectual legacy to tackle contemporary security challenges effectively.

Notes:
A recent mass fish kill devastated the Periyar River in Kerala, causing widespread destruction and outrage. The Periyar River, Kerala’s longest, originates in the Western Ghats of Tamil Nadu and flows northward, passing through the Periyar National Park into the man-made Periyar Lake. It eventually joins the Vembanad Lake before reaching the Arabian Sea. The river, spanning 244 km, sustains a vast area and is vital for Kerala’s economy, notably with the Idukki Dam, the state’s largest hydroelectric project.

Notes:
A portion of Hampi’s Virupaksha Temple in Karnataka, specifically the ‘saalu mantap’ pavilion, collapsed due to torrential rains. Dedicated to Lord Virupaksha, a form of Shiva, the temple is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site at Hampi, the former capital of the Vijayanagara kingdom. It showcases Dravida temple architecture with grand gopuras, Vimana, intricate carvings, and pillared halls.

Notes:
ISRO has invited private firms to build India’s heaviest rocket, LVM3, a launch vehicle, marking a significant step towards greater private sector involvement in the space program. This initiative aims to strengthen India’s position in the global satellite launch market. LVM3, formerly GSLV-MkIII, can carry up to 4-tonne satellites to geostationary orbit and 8-tonne to lower orbits. ISRO plans a 14-year collaboration, with technology transfer in the first two years.

Notes:
The Telangana government has banned the manufacture, storage, distribution, and sale of gutka and pan masala containing tobacco and nicotine for one year starting May 24, 2024. This decision, driven by public health concerns, is enforced under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006. The ban aims to mitigate serious health risks like oral cancer and oral submucous fibrosis linked to these products.

Notes:
The International Day of the UN Peacekeepers is observed on May 29 to honor the service and sacrifice of over 4,000 fallen peacekeepers and to promote global peace efforts. Established by a UN General Assembly resolution in 2002, it marks the anniversary of the first UN peacekeeping mission in 1948. The first observance was in 2003. The 2024 theme is “Fit for the Future, Building Better Together.”

Notes:
Scientists analyzing archived data from NASA’s Magellan mission discovered new lava flows on Venus, indicating volcanic activity between 1990 and 1992. Launched on May 4, 1989, aboard the space shuttle Atlantis, Magellan aimed to map Venus’s surface using radar imaging. Named after Ferdinand Magellan, it was the first interplanetary mission launched from a space shuttle. In 1994, Magellan intentionally plunged into Venus, gathering atmospheric data before ceasing operations.

Notes:
Recent research confirms the SASS6 gene’s significance in microcephaly and neuron development. Microcephaly results in a significantly smaller head size in babies, often associated with poor motor skills, speech difficulties, and abnormal facial features. It stems from abnormal cell division during embryonic brain development and can be diagnosed prenatally. Consanguineous marriages increase the risk due to heightened chances of inheriting two mutated copies of the SASS6 gene, vital for cell division and centriole formation.

Notes:
The Indian Embassy in Muscat and the National Archives of India (NAI) completed a groundbreaking project archiving historical documents of the Indian diaspora in Oman. Titled “The Oman Collection – Archival Heritage of the Indian Community in Oman,” the project digitized over 7,000 documents from 32 prominent Indian families in Gujarat. Spanning from 1838 to the early 20th century, the collection includes diaries, letters, and photographs, now accessible on NAI’s “Abhilekh Patal” portal.

Notes:
Researchers identified 40 novel Nidoviruses in vertebrates using AI. Nidoviruses are enveloped, positive-strand RNA viruses infecting both vertebrates and invertebrates. When hosts are co-infected with different viruses, gene recombination can occur, potentially creating new, more hazardous viruses.