Current Affairs Quiz - November, 2023

Notes:
The National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) has awarded two toll, operate, and transfer (TOT) bundles, namely 11 and 12, covering a total length of 400 km, for a total of Rs 6,584 crore.
The TOT model is designed to promote private sector involvement in the highway sector, with NHAI periodically awarding contracts for toll collection, operation, and maintenance of different National Highway segments under this arrangement.

Notes:
The Uttarakhand Cabinet gives nod to set up Rajaji Tiger Reserve Conservation Foundation. The primary aim of this foundation is to expedite and facilitate ecological, economic, social, and cultural development within the regions encompassing the Rajaji Tiger Reserve.
t also aims to provide alternative livelihood opportunities to the local communities to reduce their dependence on forests.

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 most recent assessment on agricultural policy and support worldwide by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has highlighted that in 2022, Indian farmers incurred an implicit tax of $169 billion.
This tax was a result of export bans, duties, or permits imposed on various commodities, including wheat and rice, in an effort to stabilize prices for consumers. As a consequence of these measures, the overall market price support (MPS) for farmers in 2022 turned negative.

Notes:
India, along with 27 other countries and the European Union have signed world’s first agreement on artificial intelligence (AI) safety at a meeting in the United Kingdom.
The agreement pledges to work together to assess the risks associated with artificial intelligence. It was signed during two-day ‘AI Safety Summit 2023’ at United Kingdom’s World War II code-breaking centre in Bletchley Park. In a statement, the UK government said, the agreement will be known as the Bletchley Declaration.

Notes:
The Quality Council of India (QCI), an autonomous organization under the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, held the International Convention on Sustainable Trade and Standards (ICSTS) in New Delhi.
This event was organized by the India National Platform on Private Sustainability Standards and hosted by QCI in partnership with the United Nations Forum on Sustainability Standards (UNFSS).

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:
A new species of gecko has been discovered in the Western Ghats near Rajapalayam in Viridhunagar district of Tamil Nadu.
Senior scientist Amit Sayyed of Wildlife Protection and Research Society, Maharashtra, who led a team of researchers from different parts of the country, has named the previously undocumented species as Cnemaspis rashidi after his father, Prof. Rashid Sayyed.