Current Affairs Quiz - September, 2024

Notes:
International Whale Shark Day is celebrated annually on August 30. The whale shark is the largest fish in the world and a filter-feeding shark species. They are found in temperate and tropical oceans globally, except the Mediterranean Sea.
Whale sharks have a dark gray top with light spots and stripes, providing camouflage, and a mouth at the front of the head. They are filter feeders, processing over 6,000 liters of water per hour through their gills. Their diet includes plankton, small fish, and mollusks like sardines, anchovies, and squid. The IUCN classifies whale sharks as endangered.

Notes:
Himanshi Tokas won a silver medal at the Asian Cadet and Junior Judo Championships. The event took place in Mungyeong, South Korea. Himanshi competed in the women’s 63-kilogram weight category. She is 19 years old and part of the Khelo Bharat program. 12 members from India participated in the competition. The event is concluded at the Mungyeong Gymnasium.

Notes:
Poachers killed two chitals in Pilibhit Tiger Reserve (PTR) and stole a rifle from a forest guard. It is located in Uttar Pradesh’s Pilibhit, Lakhimpur Kheri, and Bahraich districts. It lies near the India-Nepal border, in the foothills of the Himalayas and the Terai plains. The Gomti River originates from Pilibhit Tiger Reserve, with other rivers like Sharda also flowing through it. The reserve has a North Indian moist deciduous type of vegetation. It experiences a hot and dry climate with dry teak forests. Chitals, common in Indian forests, inhabit subtropical grasslands and forests across South Asia.

Notes:
The Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry recommended an anti-dumping duty on aluminium foil imported from China. Anti-dumping duty is a tariff imposed on foreign imports priced below fair market value. Dumping occurs when a product is exported at a price lower than in its domestic market. The duty matches the price difference between the import price and market value in the exporting or other similar markets. It aims to protect local businesses from unfair competition by foreign imports. The World Trade Organization (WTO) allows anti-dumping measures to ensure fair competition. Legal action requires evidence of genuine harm to domestic industries.

Notes:
An elephant patrol team recently rescued a tusker stuck in a rail barricade in the Maddur range of Bandipur Tiger Reserve. Bandipur Tiger Reserve is located in Mysore and Chamarajanagar districts of Karnataka, at the tri-junction of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala. Geographically, it is an “ecological confluence” of the Western and Eastern Ghats.
The reserve was once a hunting ground for the Mysore kingdom rulers. It was established as Venugopala Wildlife Park in 1931 by the Maharaja of Mysore and expanded as Bandipur Tiger Reserve under Project Tiger in 1973. The reserve is bordered by the Kabini River to the north and the Moyar River to the south. Bandipur experiences a tropical climate with distinct wet and dry seasons.

Notes:
Researchers have discovered that an antidepressant drug has potential for cancer management through drug repurposing. Drug repurposing involves using existing drugs for new treatments or conditions not originally intended. This process, also known as drug repositioning or reprofiling, identifies new uses for drugs initially developed for different medical conditions. It is often an unexpected discovery with the goal of finding compounds with established safety profiles that could be effective for other diseases. Pharmaceutical companies use drug repurposing to address rare diseases, cancer, infections, autoimmune diseases, and more. This approach can significantly reduce the time and cost compared to developing new drugs from scratch.

Notes:
A rare meteorite fragment was found in the Eastern Cape province. The fragment is known as the Nqweba Meteorite and is a small, black, shiny object with a light grey inside. When the meteorite entered Earth’s atmosphere, it experienced strong friction, creating a fireball. This friction caused the meteorite to break apart while still in flight. A meteorite is a solid piece of space debris that manages to pass through Earth’s atmosphere and reach the ground safely.

Notes:
The Agni-4 missile, developed by DRDO, was successfully tested on 6 September 2024 from Odisha’s Integrated Test Range. This was the ninth test of the nuclear-capable intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM). The test was conducted by India’s Strategic Forces Command, which oversees all nuclear weapons. Agni-4 can carry nuclear weapons and will be controlled by the Strategic Forces Command. Development of Agni-4 began in 2007 to strengthen India’s nuclear deterrence against China and Pakistan. The first test in 2010 failed, but the first successful user trial occurred in 2014.

Notes:
The Union Health Ministry recently introduced the BPaLM regimen for treating Multidrug-Resistant Tuberculosis (MDR-TB) under the National TB Elimination Program. The BPaLM regimen combines four drugs: Bedaquiline, Pretomanid, Linezolid, and optionally Moxifloxacin. Pretomanid is a new anti-TB drug approved for use in India. The regimen is safer, more effective, and patient-friendly compared to traditional treatments. It is an all-oral treatment with fewer side effects and a shorter duration of just six months, compared to the previous 20-month treatments for drug-resistant TB.

Notes:
Recent analysis shows that about 50,000 trees were uprooted in a 200-hectare area along 2 to 3 km length in Eturnagaram Wildlife Sanctuary. The sanctuary, established in 1953, is located near the Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, and Telangana borders. The perennial Dayyam Vagu river flows through it, dividing the sanctuary into two parts. The sanctuary is known for the Sammakkka Sarakka Jathra, one of Asia’s largest tribal festivals, held every two years. The River Godavari also flows through the sanctuary.