Current Affairs Quiz - November, 2023

Notes:
Scientists from the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) have made a significant discovery by detecting the presence of avian flu in the Antarctic region for the first time. This development has raised concerns about the health of remote populations of penguins and seals in the area.
The discovery came after reports of potentially symptomatic birds and unexplained deaths, and subsequent tests confirmed the presence of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI).

Notes:
The Goa bench of the Bombay High Court issued a directive instructing the Goa government to formally declare a tiger reserve in the Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary (WLS) and adjoining regions of the state within a three-month period.
Additionally, the court mandated the state to resolve the rights and claims of Scheduled Tribes and other forest inhabitants within a one-year timeframe.

Notes:
The Global Solar Facility under the International Solar Alliance is poised to secure a capital infusion of $35 million, with the Government of India contemplating an investment of $25 million as its capital contribution.
The primary goal of the Global Solar Facility (GSF) is to stimulate solar investments in underprivileged areas and regions throughout Africa, thereby facilitating the release of commercial capital for these initiatives.

Notes:
The Central Railway has successfully implemented the Block Proving by Axle Counter (BPAC) system in the Vasind-Asangaon section of Mumbai Division.
This BPAC system plays a crucial role in ensuring the highest level of safety for train operations.

Notes:
The next AI Safety Summit is expected to be hosted by South Korea in mid-2024, followed by France around late-2024.
The UK, which hosts this year’s summit announced the news at the opening of the inaugural summit at Bletchley Park in central England.

Notes:
According to official data, 70% of rural households in India have been provided tap water connections under the Jal Jeevan Mission.
This means that 13,47,50,894 households out of the 19,24,26,914 rural households in the country have been provided tap water connections. The Jal Jeevan Mission is an initiative of the Government of India under the Ministry of Jal Shakti. The main objective of the project is to provide functional tap connections to each household.

Notes:
Lucy is a NASA space probe on a twelve-year journey to eight different asteroids. Lucy Spacecraft came within 430 kilometers of the small asteroid named Dinkinesh. Dinkinesh is less than 1 kilometer wide, making it so small that it is nearly imperceptible from Earth.
The first images returned by Lucy reveal that the small main belt asteroid Dinkinesh is actually a binary pair. The team estimates that the larger body is approximately 790 metres at its widest, while the smaller is about 220 metres in size.

Notes:
Bipolar disorder, formerly called manic depression, is a mental health condition that causes extreme mood swings.
Researchers at the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom have achieved significant advancements in enhancing the diagnosis of bipolar disorder. They have created a straightforward blood test that, when used in conjunction with an online psychiatric assessment, provides a more precise means of diagnosing this mental health condition.

Notes:
In Abu Dhabi, India’s Union Education and Skill Development & Entrepreneurship Minister, Dharmendra Pradhan, and his UAE counterpart signed a comprehensive Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).
The main objective of this MoU is to strengthen the existing educational cooperation between the two countries. It aims to facilitate the mobility of students and faculty, thereby promoting collaboration in the field of education.

Notes:
In 2021, climate adaptation funding from public multilateral entities (such as the World Bank) and bilateral sources (from developed to developing nations) experienced a 15% decrease, as revealed in the 2023 Adaptation Gap Report by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
This decline occurred despite the commitments made at the 26th Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. These commitments aimed to double the support for adaptation finance from 2019 levels, targeting an annual sum of approximately $40 billion by 2025.