Current Affairs Quiz - November, 2023

Notes:
A recent study suggests that Venus, frequently described as Earth’s sister planet, may have undergone tectonic activity approximately 4.5 billion to 3.5 billion years ago.
It is proposed that plate tectonics could have played a crucial role in the formation of Venus’s carbon dioxide- and nitrogen-rich atmosphere.

Notes:
The Chief Minister of Jharkhand, Hemant Soren, inaugurated the longest bridge in the state over the Mayurakshi river in Dumka.
The bridge, which cost Rs 198 crore to build, is 2.34 km long and 16 meters wide. It will reduce the distance between various districts and improve connectivity. The river has its source on Trikut Hills in Jharkhand. It flows through Jharkhand and flows into the Hooghly River through two districts of West Bengal.

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:
NASA’s Juno mission has achieved a notable milestone by detecting mineral salts and organic compounds on the surface of Ganymede, which is Jupiter’s largest moon.
This important data was collected using the Jovian InfraRed Auroral Mapper (JIRAM) spectrometer during a close flyby of Ganymede. These findings are of great significance because they will provide valuable insights into Ganymede’s origins and the composition of its deep ocean.

Notes:
Government e Marketplace (GeM) is a 100 percent Government owned & National Public Procurement Portal. Procurement of services from the Government e-Market (GeM) portal is expected to touch Rs 1.5 lakh crore this fiscal year. This is an increase from Rs 65,957 crore in 2022-23.
The CEO of GeM, P K Singh, said that service procurement was just Rs 3,069 crore in the fiscal year 2019-20. It reached Rs 65,957 crore in 2022-23. GeM has over 63,000 government buyer organizations and over 62 lakh sellers and service providers offering a wide range of products and services.

Notes:
The Swiss National Bank, Switzerland’s central bank, has announced its plans to commence a pilot project next month, involving the use of central bank digital currency (CBDC) for financial institutions.
UBS and Zuercher Kantonal Bank are among the participants who have signed up for this initiative, which will utilize a real Swiss franc wholesale CBDC. Additionally, four other commercial Swiss banks will also be part of this pilot project.

Notes:
Russian President Vladimir Putin signs a Bill, revoking Russia’s ratification of global nuclear test ban. Putin said that rescinding the ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, also known as the CTBT, would mirror the stand taken by the U.S., which has signed but not ratified the nuclear test ban.
The CTBT, adopted in 1996, bans all nuclear explosions anywhere in the world, but the treaty was never fully implemented. It is yet to be ratified by China, India, Pakistan, North Korea, Israel, Iran and Egypt.

Notes:
In the year 2022 at the 41st Session of UNESCO’s general Conference, it was decided that November 3 would be celebrated worldwide as the International Day for Biosphere Reserves.
Biosphere Reserves are protected areas, meant for the conservation of plants and animals. Human beings also depend on these protected areas for their livelihood activities. There are 738 biosphere reserves in 134 countries and there are 18 notified biosphere reserves in India.

Notes:
Norway will help fund India’s ‘Hunger Project’ and help strengthen women leaders to protect the environment and promote food security in Uttarakhand.
The duration of the project would be three years, until September 2026 with a budget of ₹44.7 million. The project organizes capacity-building training for elected women representatives and federations, focusing on strengthening van panchayats (forest councils).