Current Affairs Quiz - October, 2023

Notes:
South-South Knowledge Sharing Series is a virtual conference organized by the World Bank. Its theme is ‘Digital Public Infrastructure: The India Story’.
Union Minister of State for Electronics & IT, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, participated in the virtual conference. He highlighted some key elements of India’s DPI ecosystem, such as Aadhaar, which facilitates access to government welfare programs, and UPI, a fintech layer that enhances financial inclusion.

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:
‘Toto Shabda Sangraha’ Dictionary is set to be released to save Toto, a Sino-Tibetan language spoken by the tribal Toto people, from extinction.
A language spoken by barely 1,600 people living in parts of West Bengal bordering Bhutan, is written in the Bengali script. Though Dhaniram Toto developed a script as recently as in 2015, most people either write it in Bengali script or write in Bengali language.

Notes:
The Indian Air Force (IAF) is set to procure 156 additional ‘Prachand’ Light Combat choppers with the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited.
They will be deployed at both the China and Pakistan front by the IAF and the Indian Army.  Indian Air Force chief Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari announced about the intent to buy around 100 more Light Combat Aircraft Mark 1A to push indigenisation.

Notes:
India’s Goods and Services Tax (GST) collections improved 2.3% over August revenues to touch ₹1,62,712 crore.
However, the growth in gross GST revenues slowed to a 27-month low of 10.2% in September, from around 10.8% in the previous two months. This is the fourth time that the gross GST kitty has crossed the ₹1.60 lakh crore mark in 2023-24, the Finance Ministry said.

Notes:
The latest census of Gangetic dolphins in the Hastinapur Wildlife Sanctuary in Uttar Pradesh revealed that there are now 50 dolphins in the river Ganga, up from 41 in the last census in 2020
There are approximately 2,500-3,000 Ganges river dolphins left living in the wild. The Gahirmatha Marine Sanctuary and Bhitarkanika saw dolphin count rise to 540 from 342 last year. The Parman River had 35 Gangetic dolphins in 2013 and the number went up to 50 in 2021. The Chilika Lake had 188 Irrawaddy dolphins in 2021, up from 163 in 2020.

Notes:
According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), global sugar prices hit their highest level in almost 13 years in September.
The FAO’s Sugar Price Index jumped by 9.8% compared to August, the highest point since November 2010.  The FAO attributes the increase in sugar prices to the El Niño weather phenomenon, a climate pattern that occurs on average every two to seven years.

Notes:
The Indian Air Force’s (IAF) MiG-29 fighter jets participated in the Exercise Bright Star in Egypt.
It was a biennial multilateral tri-services exercise held at the Cairo Air Base in Egypt.  The exercise involved nine countries, including India, in combat training and demonstrations.

Notes:
The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has issued its first-ever fine to Dish Network, ordering the company to pay USD 150,000 for failing to properly de-orbit its satellite.
EchoStar-7 satellite has been in space for more than two decades. Instead of deorbiting the satellite, Dish sent it into a disposal orbit at an altitude low enough to pose an orbital debris risk.

Notes:
Star Indian athlete Neeraj Chopra defended his Asian Games title with a season’s best throw of 88.88 metres.
Another Indian athlete Kishore Kumar Jena took silver with a new personal best of 87.54 metres, past the automatic qualification mark of 85.50m for next year’s Paris Olympics.