Current Affairs Quiz - November, 2023

Notes:
State Bank of India (SBI) has onboarded Mahendra Singh Dhoni, former Indian cricket team captain, as its brand ambassador.
The country’s largest lender aims to strengthen its connection, especially with the younger population, with the association of the cricket star.

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:
National Unity Day is celebrated in India on October 31, to commemorate the birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, the first home minister of independent India.
Vallabhbhai Patel was born on October 31, 1875. He is credited with merging over 560 princely states into the Union of India after independence.

Notes:
Three Chinese astronauts, who were in orbit for five months, returned to the Earth. The astronauts were part of the Shenzhou-16 crewed flight mission. They spent their time conducting scientific experiments and carrying out a nearly eight-hour spacewalk.
The mission was the last of 11 missions required to assemble the station. The station is expected to operate for around a decade and run experiments in near-zero gravity. The astronauts have successfully grown lettuce, cherry tomatoes, and green onions in the Tiangong space station.

Notes:
The Indian Army’s Light Combat Helicopter (LCH), known as ‘Prachand,’ has achieved a significant milestone by successfully conducting live firing exercises with 70mm rockets.
These exercises were conducted in both day and night conditions at a firing range located near Likabali in Assam, showcasing the LCH’s capabilities and versatility.

Notes:
The COP-28 Presidency launched ‘Net-Zero Transition Charter: Accountability Mobilisation for the Private Sector’, it recognises the important role the private sector must play in combating climate change.
COP28 Presidency has called for a collaborative approach to reduce emissions by 43 percent in the next seven years. COP28 will be held in Dubai between November 30 and December 12.

Notes:
A new study has found that the body plan of starfish is much more complex and distributed than previously thought, challenging the understanding of their evolution.
Using genetic and molecular tools, the research created a 3D atlas of gene expression in starfish, revealing that the “head” of a starfish is scattered across its body, raising questions about the evolution of these creatures.

Notes:
The Competition Commission of India (CCI), chief national competition regulator in India, is initiating a pan-India comprehensive nationwide Market Study on the Cement sector.
It aims to study the market trends including inter alia trends in cement price, cost, production, capacity, capacity utilisation and profitability among others.

Notes:
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) held a conference called the Legal Identity and Rights-Based Return Management Conference at the UN City in Copenhagen, Denmark.
The conference aimed to facilitate discussions between countries of origin and destination regarding individuals who lack legal identities. Globally, approximately one billion people do not possess a legal identity, as reported by the United Nations’ IOM, which is headquartered at Geneva, Switzerland.

Notes:
The report, titled ‘Hunger Hotspots’ for the period between November 2023 and April 2024, was published recently.
The new report by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Food Programme (WFP) indicates that acute food insecurity is expected to deteriorate in 18 hunger hotspots until April 2024. These hotspots encompass 22 countries or territories, including two regional clusters.