Current Affairs Quiz - November, 2023

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:
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.

Notes:
Forty nations within a US-led alliance intend to commit to never paying ransoms to cybercriminals and to collaborate in eradicating the financial support for hackers, as part of the International Counter Ransomware Initiative.
Ransomware attacks involve hackers encrypting an organization’s systems and demanding ransom payments in return for decrypting them.

Notes:
According to official data, 70% of rural households in India have been provided tap water connections under the Jal Jeevan Mission.
This means that 13,47,50,894 households out of the 19,24,26,914 rural households in the country have been provided tap water connections. The Jal Jeevan Mission is an initiative of the Government of India under the Ministry of Jal Shakti. The main objective of the project is to provide functional tap connections to each household.

Notes:
According to a report from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) titled ‘The Impact of Disaster on Agriculture and Food Security,’ there has been a significant increase in the frequency of extreme disaster events over the past five decades.
In the 1970s, the world experienced approximately 100 disaster events per year. However, in the last two decades, that number has risen to around 400 disasters annually on a global scale. This trend highlights the growing challenges and risks that disasters pose to agriculture and food security worldwide.

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:
Archaeologists have revealed that a massive underground pyramid in Indonesia, known as Gunung Padang, predates Egypt’s Giza Pyramids and England’s Stonehenge, making it one of the oldest megalithic structures ever constructed by humans.
Gunung Padang stands as the world’s oldest pyramidal structure, constructed on the site of an extinct volcano long before the emergence of civilizations and the advent of agriculture.

Notes:
India is going to host the World Telecommunication Standardisation Assembly (WTSA) next year, said Union Communication & IT Minister, Ashwini Vaishnaw .
Held every four years, the World Telecommunication Standardisation Assembly (WTSA) is the governing conference of the ITU Standardisation Sector (ITU-T), one of the three world conferences of the International Telecommunication Union and as such, the United Nations system.

Notes:
Information Commissioner Heeralal Samariya was sworn in as the Chief Information Commissioner.
President Droupadi Murmu administered the oath of office to him at Rashtrapati Bhavan. Mr. Samariya was currently serving as the Information Commissioner in the Central Information Commission.

Notes:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced an extension of the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) free ration scheme for another five years.
The PMGKAY was introduced in 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic to provide 5 kg free foodgrains to eligible ration card holders under the National Food Security Act, 2013 (NFSA).