2024 Latest Current Affairs, Daily Current Affairs in 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020

1 .

In which state is the Korwa Ordnance factory situated where the production of Kalashnikov AK-203 assault rifles began?

A)

Maharashtra

B)

Gujarat

C)

Karnakata

D)

Uttar Pradesh

Correct Answer : Uttar Pradesh

The manufacturing Kalashnikov AK-203 assault rifles in Uttar Pradesh's Amethi has started by the Indo-Russian joint venture.

The move is likely to provide greater firepower to the Indian armed forces. The joint venture, registered and located in India, whose founders on the Russian side are Rosoboronexport and Kalashnikov Concern (both subsidiaries of the Rostec State Corporation), has started producing Kalashnikov assault rifles.

Kalashnikov A-200-series assault rifles are in line with all current trends in small arms technology. They are fitted with integral Picatinny rails for convenient and easy mounting of sights and tactical accessories, enabling the effective use of weapons in various conditions.

Indo-Russian Rifles Private Limited plans to ensure 100 per cent localisation of the production of AK-203 rifles in India.

In future, the company may also increase output and upgrade its production facilities to produce advanced rifles based on the Kalashnikov assault rifle platform.

"Korwa Ordnance Factory in Amethi, Uttar Pradesh, has produced the first batch of 7.62 mm Kalashnikov AK-203 assault rifles. The beginning of deliveries to the Indian Army is expected soon," said Alexander Mikheev, Director General of Rosoboronexport...

Source : Mint

Published On : January 18, 2023

2 .

In which city did the first G20 Health Working Group under India's G20 presidency begin on 18th Jan 2023?

A)

Ahmedabad

B)

Guwahati

C)

Mumbai

D)

Thiruvananthapuram

Correct Answer : Thiruvananthapuram

The first meeting of the G20 Health Working Group under India's G20 presidency began in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala.

Dr. Bharati Pravin Pawar, Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare, launched the three-day event.

She stated on the occasion that pandemic policy must be a defining part of our health policy because any health crisis today leads to an economic crisis due to the interconnected nature of the world..

Source : AIR

Published On : January 18, 2023

3 .

Entire Country to be Covered by Doppler Weather Radar Network by ______.

A)

2025

B)

2027

C)

2029

D)

2030

Correct Answer : 2025

Union minister Jitendra Singh on Sunday (15th Jan 2023) said the Met department's severe weather prediction accuracy improved by around 40 per cent in the last eight to nine years.

Addressing the 148th foundation day of the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the minister said disaster-related mortality has dropped to single digit with improvement in forecast.

He said the number of doppler radars in the county has increased from 15 in 2013 to 37 in 2023. India will add 25 more radars in the next two to three years, taking the number to 62, he added.

"The entire country will be covered by doppler radars by 2025," he said.

The IMD on Sunday (15th Jan 2023) commissioned four doppler weather radars (DWRs) in Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and Jammu and Kashmir which will bolster its weather monitoring capabilities in the western Himalayan region.

The four DWRs have been installed at Banihal Top in Jammu and Kashmir, Jot and Murari Devi in Himachal Pradesh and Surkanada Devi in Uttarakhand...

Source : Business Standard

Published On : January 18, 2023

4 .

Which company has an agreement with Ashok Leyland to Deploy Hydrogen-Powered Trucks for Mining?

A)

Reliance Industries

B)

Adani Enterprises

C)

Tata Motors

D)

Larsen and Toubro

Correct Answer : Adani Enterprises

Adani Enterprises has an agreement with Ashok Leyland, India, and Ballard Power, Canada to launch a pilot project to develop a hydrogen fuel cell electric truck (FCET) for mining logistics and transportation.

* The collaboration between Adani Enterprises and Ashok Leyland, India, and Ballard Power, Canada marks Asia’s first planned hydrogen-powered mining truck.

* The demonstration project will be led by AEL, which is a company focused on both mining operations and developing green hydrogen projects for sourcing, transporting, and building out hydrogen refueling infrastructure.

* The hydrogen-powered mining truck will weigh 55 tons, have three hydrogen tanks, a 200-km working range, and be powered by Ballard’s 120 kW PEM fuel cell technology.

* The Adani Group has announced its plan to invest more than $50 billion over the next ten years in green hydrogen and associated ecosystems corresponding to a capacity of up to 3 million tons of green hydrogen annually.

* The pioneering and ambitious green hydrogen project holds a strong promise for India’s future energy self-reliance and is consistent with the vision of Gautam Adani.

About Ballard Power : Ballard Power Systems Inc. is a developer and manufacturer of proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell products for markets such as heavy-duty motive (consisting of bus and tram applications), portable power, material handling as well as engineering services. Ballard has designed and shipped over 400 MW of fuel cell products to date.

About Ashok Leyland :

* Ashok Leyland is an Indian multinational automotive manufacturer, headquartered in Chennai.

* It is owned by the Hinduja Group. It was founded in 1948 as Ashok Motors and became Ashok Leyland in 1955.

* Ashok Leyland is the second-most successful manufacturer of commercial vehicles in India, the third-most successful manufacturer of buses in the world, and the tenth-most successful manufacturer of trucks...

Source : The Hindu Businessline

Published On : January 18, 2023

5 .

Who has Launched India's First National Assessment Regulator "PARAKH"?

A)

NIEPA

B)

NIOS

C)

NCERT

D)

AICTE

Correct Answer : NCERT

Recently, the National Council for Education Research and Training (NCERT) has notified India’s first national assessment regulator, PARAKH (Performance Assessment, Review, and Analysis of Knowledge for Holistic Development), which aims to set up assessment guidelines for all boards.

What is PARAKH?

About :

* Hindustan TimesPARAKH has been launched as part of the implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP)-2020 that envisaged a standard-setting body to advise school boards regarding new assessment patterns and latest research, and promote collaborations between them.

* It will act as a constituent unit of the NCERT.

* It will also be tasked with holding periodic learning outcome tests like the National Achievement Survey (NAS) and State Achievement Surveys.

* It will work on three major assessment areas: large-scale assessments, school-based assessment, and examination reforms.

Objective:

Uniform Norms & Guidelines : Setting norms, standards and guidelines for student assessment and evaluation for all recognized school boards of India.

Enhance Assessment Pattern : It will encourage and help school boards to shift their assessment patterns towards meeting the skill requirements of the 21st century.

Reduce Disparity in Evaluation : It will bring uniformity across the state and central boards which currently follow different standards of evaluation, leading to wide disparities in scores.

Benchmark Assessment : The benchmark assessment framework will seek to put an end to the emphasis on rote learning, as envisaged by the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.

Significance :

Removes Disparity in College Admission :

* It will help tackle the problem of students of some state boards being at a disadvantage during college admissions as compared to their peers in CBSE schools.

Innovative Evaluation :

* It will develop and implement the technical standards for the design, conduct, analysis and reporting of tests at all levels of school education.

Holistic Approach :

* PARAKH further aims to facilitate an inclusive, participatory and holistic approach to education, which takes into consideration field experiences, empirical research, stakeholder feedback, as well as lessons learned from best practices.

Progressive Shift :

* It is a progressive shift towards a more scientific approach to education.

* The prescribed structure will help to cater to the ability of the child – stages of cognitive development as well as social and physical awareness.

Source : Hindustan Times

Published On : January 18, 2023

6 .

Leading Scientist A.D. Damodaran when did passes away?

A)

13th January 2023

B)

14th January 2023

C)

15th January 2023

D)

16th January 2023

Correct Answer : 13th January 2023

AD Damodaran, leading scientist and former director of the CSIR-National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology (NIIST), passed away on Friday (13th Jan 2023) in Thiruvananthapuram at the age of 87.

He also served as the Chairman of the Kerala State Council for Science, Technology and Environment.

A renowned material scientist, he had a stint with the Nuclear Fuels Complex, Hyderabad, and was visiting scientist at both the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Thiruvananthapuram, and the Indian Institute of Metals. Damodaran joined CSIR-NIIST as director in May 1985 and served in that capacity for 12 years.

He was also the chairman of the public sector Kerala State Electronics Development Corporation (Keltron) and an expert in Intellectual Property Rights, food nutrition, nutraceuticals and advanced materials.

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan expressed condolences on the demise of Damodaran, who also happens to be the son-in-law of EMS Namboothiripad, Marxist theoretician and the first chief minister of the state...

Source : The Hindu Businessline

Published On : January 18, 2023

7 .

Gogoro, Belrise to Bet $2.5 bn on Battery-swapping Infra in which state?

A)

Tamil Nadu

B)

Karnataka

C)

Uttar Pradesh

D)

Maharashtra

Correct Answer : Maharashtra

Gogoro, a Taiwanese firm that is in the business of sustainable mobility technology and battery-swapping infrastructure, on Tuesday (17th Jan 2023) announced a 50-50 joint venture with Belrise Industries (earlier known as Badve Engineering) to invest $2.5 billion (Rs 20,500 crore) over eight years to build battery-swapping and energy infrastructure in Maharashtra.

A non-binding memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed in Davos on Tuesday (17th Jan 2023) with the state government.

In an interview from Davos, Gogoro founder Horace Luke said : “We will put up smart battery stations to begin with in top 10 densely populated cities in Maharashtra, including Pune and Mumbai. India is the holy grail where we need to put our solutions.”

Luke said the company had a proven technology with over 1.2 billion batteries and it was doing around half a billion battery swaps in South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Indonesia, among others.

The partner was chosen because of its expertise, he said. It accounted for 35 per cent of body chassis and suspension parts for two-wheelers in the country.

Luke, however, said the investment would not only come from the two (only initially) but they expected to rope in climate and infrastructure funds and even vehicle makers.

The joint venture comes at a time when the government is finalising the draft swapping policy, which is aimed at greater interoperability.

It also seeks to reduce the upfront cost of buying an electric vehicle by obviating the need to pay the entire battery cost (the battery accounts for 40-50 per cent of the cost of the vehicle) and instead going in for swapping...

Source : Business Standard

Published On : January 18, 2023

8 .

Who was appointed as the Deputy National Security Adviser (NSA) in National Security Council Secretariat for two years?

A)

Pankaj Kumar Singh

B)

Brajesh Mishra

C)

Shivshankar Menon

D)

M. K. Narayanan

Correct Answer : Pankaj Kumar Singh

Pankaj Kumar Singh, the former director general of the Border Security Force (BSF), was on Tuesday (17th Jan 2023) appointed as the deputy national security advisor (Dy NSA) of India, according to an order issued by the Centre.

who headed the BSF till December 31 last year (2022) before he retired, has been appointed as Dy NSA on a re-employment contract of two years, the order said.

As the BSF chief, Singh oversaw the force coming up with low-cost anti-drone technology to tackle intruding drones at the Indo-Pakistan border.

In the new role as Dy NSA, he will assist NSA Ajit Doval in creating and implementing the country’s national security strategies, including assessing threats posed by terrorism, data security, cyber threats, readiness of concerned agencies and cooperation between different organisations dealing with security issues.

When Singh took charge of the BSF on August 31, 2021, he had created history by being the only son-father due to have held the top post of a paramilitary force during their services..

Source : Hindustan Times

Published On : January 18, 2023

9 .

Which Renewable Energy Ltd (NTPC REL) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Government of Tripura in New Delhi?

A)

SAIL

B)

NTPC

C)

NHPC

D)

NALCO

Correct Answer : NTPC

NTPC Renewable Energy Ltd (NTPC REL) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Government of Tripura in New Delhi.

Reason : For the development of Floating and Ground Mounted based Renewable Energy Projects in Tripura.

This MoU was signed by Rajiv Gupta (Chief GM, NTPC REL) and Mahananda Debbarma (DG and CEO, Tripura Renewable Energy Development Agency).

It also embarks upon the journey towards the development of large-sized Renewable Energy Projects in Tripura...

Source : PIB

Published On : January 18, 2023

10 .

Which University in Canada and the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) have detected a radio signal, originating from atomic hydrogen in a distant galaxy?

A)

University of Toronto

B)

Dalhousie University

C)

McGill University

D)

Laval University

Correct Answer : McGill University

Astronomers from McGill University in Canada and the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) have used data from the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT), in Pune, to detect a radio signal originating from atomic hydrogen in an extremely distant galaxy.

The IISc said on Monday that the astronomical distance over which the signal has been picked up is “the largest so far by a large margin”.

The findings have been published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.

While detection of radio waves with 21 cm wavelength, emitted by atomic hydrogen, is possible through low-frequency radio telescopes like GMRT, the “extremely weak” nature of the radio signal makes it nearly impossible to detect emissions from a distant galaxy.

The most distant galaxy detected through the 21-cm emission, so far, was at redshift z=0.376..

Source : Deccan Herald

Published On : January 18, 2023