Current Affairs Quiz - November, 2023

Notes:
Rashtriya Gokul Mission, India’s flagship program aimed at enhancing indigenous cattle breeds, was launched in 2014.
Instead of enhancing the quality of all indigenous breeds as originally intended, the scheme has predominantly promoted one specific indigenous variety, the Gir cow, nationwide. This trend, if left unaddressed, could pose a risk to the genetic purity of indigenous cattle breeds throughout the country.

Notes:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone for Amrit Vatika and Amrit Mahotsav Memorial and launched the Mera Yuva Bharat (MY Bharat) platform, designed for the country’s youth.
It was launched at an event marking the culmination of the “Meri Maati Mera Desh” campaign’s Amrit Kalash Yatra at Kartavya Path in New Delhi.

Notes:
Two ancient temple caves were discovered near Rajapur, Ratnagiri, in the state of Maharashtra. The caves are believed to have been created in the 5th or 6th century CE.
They are older than the Elephanta caves. Ratnagiri is also home to the Ratnagiri Caves, a Buddhist center. The Buddhist monuments were constructed from the 5th century CE onwards, with the last work in the 13th century.

Notes:
Larsen & Toubro (L&T)’s hydrocarbon business- L&T Energy Hydrocarbon – LTEH) secured an offshore project for a gas compression plant in the Middle East. The project is worth over Rs 15,000 crore.
Larsen & Toubro classifies projects worth over Rs 15,000 crore as “ultra-mega” projects.

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:
Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project (KMTTP) aims to connect the seaport of Kolkata with Sittwe seaport in Rakhine State, Myanmar by sea. It also includes Inland Water Transport between Sittwe to River Kaladan.
Union Minister Nitin Gadkari announced that a cross-border road, part of the ambitious Kaladan Project, which connects South Mizoram’s Lawngtlai district with Myanmar’s Sittwe port, is on track to be completed by November of this year.

Notes:
The Indian government has received numerous expressions of interest for the strategic sale of Indian Medicines Pharmaceutical Corporation Limited (IMPCL).
IMPCL is currently under the administrative control of the Ministry of Ayush, and the government holds a 98.11% stake in the company. This move is part of the government’s efforts to divest its holdings in certain public sector enterprises.

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 Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has published its Annual Report on “Road Accidents in India-2022.”
A total of 4,61,312 road accidents occurred in 2022, which claimed 1,68,491 lives, while 4,43,366 people were injured. Tamil Nadu recorded the highest number of road accidents on National Highways in 2022, followed by Madhya Pradesh. Uttar Pradesh recorded the highest number of persons killed in road accidents.

Notes:
Recently, the DGCA has permitted scheduled commuter airlines to operate Single Engine Turbine (SET) planes at night.
The operations with Single Engine Turbine (SET) planes were introduced for Scheduled Commuter Airlines (SCAs) in 2018. Till now, such operations were restricted to day operations and Visual Flight Rules (VFR). This move will contribute to improving air connectivity to remote areas during nighttime.