Current Affairs Quiz - October, 2023

Notes:
Veteran Bollywood actress Waheeda Rehman has been conferred with the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, which is given for “outstanding contribution to the growth and development of Indian cinema”, for the year 2021.
It was conferred by the Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting’s Directorate of Film Festivals. The award is presented at the National Film Awards ceremony. The 2021 awards were presented this year as they were delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Notes:
Seventeen-year-old Indian sailor Neha Thakur secured a silver medal in the ILCA-4 dinghy event for girls in Asian Games.
The girl’s dinghy ILCA-4 category consists of 11 races and Neha finished with 32 total points. Her net score of 27 helped her earn the second spot behind gold medallist Noppassorn Khunboonjan of Thailand.

Notes:
The four riders and their horses Sudipti Hajela (Chinski), Divyakriti Singh (Adrenalin Firfod), Hriday Cheda (Chemxpro Emerald) and Anush Agarwalla (Etro) recently clinched India’s first-ever gold medal for India in Equestrian Dressage.
Equestrian first made its appearance at the Asian Games in 1982 and the host India dominated the competition with three gold medals. After 41 days, Indian team clinched a medal recently.

Notes:
North Korea has adopted a constitutional amendment to solidify its nuclear force policy.
During a recent State People’s Assembly meeting held over two days, Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un announced that North Korea’s policy of building its nuclear forces has become a permanent and inviolable law of the state, which no one is permitted to challenge.

Notes:
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards successfully launched a third military satellite into orbit.
The Noor 3 imaging satellite orbits at an altitude of 450 kilometres above the earth’s surface and was launched by the three-stage Qased, or messenger carrier, which launched its predecessor Noor 2 in 2022.

Notes:
The UK is undertaking a groundbreaking project to create the world’s most powerful laser, called “Vulcan 20-20,” with an £85 million investment from the UK Science and Technology Facilities Council.
This laser, anticipated to be a million billion times brighter than the sun, is expected to have profound implications for various scientific fields, including clean energy and cancer treatment.

Notes:
Researchers at the European Center for Nuclear Research (CERN) conducted an experiment with antimatter, demonstrating that it responds to gravity by falling, consistent with the behavior of ordinary matter, aligning with Albert Einstein’s theory of general relativity.
Despite the expected equal production of matter and antimatter during the Big Bang, very little antimatter exists, and the two are incompatible, leading to annihilation upon contact.

Notes:
M.S. Swaminathan, legendary agricultural scientist passed away. He was a recipient of Padma Shri in 1967, the Ramon Magsaysay Award for community leadership in 1971, the Padma Bhushan in 1972 and the Padma Vibushan in 1989.
He played a crucial role in ‘Green Revolution,’ a programme that paved the way for jump in production of wheat and rice through adaptation of chemical-biological technology.

Notes:
The Sycamore Gap Tree is a famous sycamore tree situated in a dip between two hills in Northumberland, England. It was among the UK’s most-photographed trees.
This 300-year-old tree has been cut down by a teenager in an attempt of vandalism. Hadrian’s Wall, which is almost 2,000 years old and stands next to the sycamore, sustained some damage.

Notes:
The Law Commission of India’s Report No. 283 on ‘Age of Consent under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012’ was submitted recently to the Union Law Minister.
It has advised against changing the existing age of consent, which is 18 years under the POCSO Act, to exempt sexual acts among adolescents from criminal law. Instead, it recommends introducing “guided judicial discretion in sentencing” for cases involving those aged 16 to 18 to ensure a balanced approach that safeguards the child’s best interests.