Current Affairs Quiz - November, 2023

Notes:
Professor Saleemul Huq, a prominent advocate for climate justice and the director of the International Centre for Climate Change and Development (ICCCAD) in Dhaka, passed away at the age of 71.
He was an esteemed expert in the fields of climate change, environment, and development. Professor Huq dedicated his work to establishing connections between climate change mitigation, adaptation, and sustainable development, with a focus on developing countries, especially the least developed nations (LDCs).

Notes:
The Jharkhand Cabinet, last week, approved the ‘Abua Awas Yojna’ (AAY), a housing scheme for the poor, which will provide eight lakhs pucca houses to the homeless in the state, and has a total budget of Rs 16,320 crore.
The scheme will be implemented in three phases, with a target of 2 lakh houses in the current financial year; 3.5 lakh houses in FY 2024-25 and 2.5 lakh houses in FY 2025-26.

Notes:
The 25T Bollard Pull (BP) Tug, ‘Mahabali’ was launched recently at Shoft Shipyard Pvt Ltd, Bharuch, Gujarat, under the “Make in India” initiative of Ministry of Defence.
This aligns with the “Aatmanirbhar Bharat” initiative of the Government of India, promoting self-reliance and indigenous production.

Notes:
A research endeavor led by Japanese scientists and a team from the Japan Aerospace Space Agency (JAXA), has achieved the successful cultivation of mouse embryos aboard the International Space Station (ISS).
This significant experiment represents a pivotal stride in exploring the potential for human reproduction in the space environment.

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:
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:
China, the world’s largest supplier of rare earths, has been promoting the development of the rare earths industry for over 60 years.
China has raised its rare-earth metal production quota for 2023 by 14% over last year to 240,000 tonnes. It aims to support its booming electric vehicle (EV) industry. China has the world’s largest reserves of rare earths.

Notes:
IndiaFirst Life Insurance Company Ltd (IndiaFirst Life), one of the private life insurers of the country, became the first Indian life insurance company to get the Gujarat International Finance Tec (GIFT) City’s International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) Registration.
It obtained registration from the International Financial Services Centre Authority (IFSCA) in September 2023 following approval from the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) in August of the same year.

Notes:
Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) launches “Women for Water, Water for Women Campaign” under its flagship scheme Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT).
It was launched in partnership with the Ministry’s National Urban Livelihood Mission (NULM). Odisha Urban Academy is the knowledge partner.

Notes:
The first Australia India Education and Skill Council (AIESC) meeting was recently held at IIT Gandhinagar.
The AIESC, earlier the Australian India Education Council (AIEC), is a bi-national body established in 2011 to guide the strategic direction of the education, training and research partnerships between the two countries. 5 MoUs were exchanged between Australian and Indian Higher Education institutions to facilitate greater academic, research and skill collaborations.