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

1 .

Who has been appointed as the new Prime Minister of Nepal for the third time?

A)

Baburam Bhattarai

B)

Bidhya Devi Bhandari

C)

Hisila Yami

D)

Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda

Correct Answer : Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda

CPN-Maoist Centre chairman, Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda' has been appointed as the new Prime Minister of Nepal for the third time.

* He will head the new government until 2025 as part of a deal reached with another party.

* He has replaced Sher Bahadur Deuba of the Nepali Congress party.

* Prachanda’s Maoist Centre party has won 32 seats in the 275-member House of Representatives.

* The UML (Party) has won 78 seats, and the rest won by smaller groups.

Source : AIR

Published On : December 26, 2022

2 .

Veer Bal Diwas is celebrated on which day?

A)

December 23

B)

December 24

C)

December 25

D)

December 26

Correct Answer : December 26

VEER BAL DIWAS 2022 : In 1704, the place where the family of Guru Gobind Singh stayed, Anandpur, was under siege. Attacked by the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb, the Sikh Guru accepted to give up the fort for the safety of his people when the supplies started running low. However, his youngest two sons, Zorawar and Fateh were taken captive. Eventually, they were buried alive in a wall at the tender age of 8 and 5 respectively.

On Veer Baal Diwas, we recall the courage of the Sahibzades and Mata Gujri Ji. We also remember the courage of Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji.At 12:30 PM today, will be joining a programme to mark this inspiring day.

Veer Bal Diwas History : Guru Gobind Singh, the leader of the Sikhs in Punjab during the Mughal reign, had four sons. They were referred to as the four Sahibzade Khalsa.

In 1699, Gobind Singh has established the Khalsa. This elite warrior band had devout Sikhs with the aim to protect the innocent from religious persecution. His four sons from three wives: Ajit, Jujhar, Zorawar, and Fateh, were all a part of Khalsa. All four of them were executed by Mughal forces before the age of 19.

Veer Bal Diwas Significance :

* Veer Bal Diwas is commemorated to honour the sacrifices of the four Sahibzades of the Khalsa. The young children of the last Sikh Guru, Gobind Singh, laid down their lives while defending their faith.

* It is also a day to remember their stories and how the conflict led to the demise of these young children. Especially Zorawar and Fateh. During a battle on the Sarsa River’s bank, the two sahibzades were captured by the Mughal forces. Upon denying to convert to Islamism, they were allegedly buried alive at the age of 8 and 5 respectively..

Source : News18

Published On : December 26, 2022

3 .

Ladakh celebrated Losar Festival to mark the Ladakhi New Year 2022. Losar Festival is celebrated in Ladakh on ____________.

A)

23rd December 2022

B)

24th December 2022

C)

25th December 2022

D)

26th December 2022

Correct Answer : 24th December 2022

Ladakh celebrated Losar Festival to mark the Ladakhi New Year. Losar Festival is celebrated in Ladakh on 24th December 2022. The Losar Festival or the Ladakhi New year is a major socio-religious festival of Ladakh celebrated during winter.

The Losar Festival will continue for nine days from the new year. People will celebrate by offering prayers in the name of God and goddess. They will also dance and sing in honor of Ibex and the pilgrimage of Mount Kailash.

Losar Festival Celebrated to Mark Ladakhi New Year in Ladakh- Key Points

* The Losar Festival celebrated in Ladakh marks the beginning of the New year.

* Losar has been celebrated in Ladakh for centuries and has strengthened the existing community bond.

* The festival brings joy to the lives of inhabitants of the landlocked Himalayan territory of Ladakh.

* The celebrations begin with offering prayers to God and goddesses common to a group of families known as Faspun.

* In the evening, family ancestors are remembered by offering goods and lighting traditional lamps in the graveyards.

* During the Losar Festival, Lardaak is responsible for offering prayers to the village God and goddess.

* The Lardaak carries out all the rituals to purify the individuals.

* They perform the traditional role of the three Lama Jogis and Grandparents.

* Lardaak is the head of Karoks, the dancers of the grand celebration.

* Karoks have to complete the dance 360 times before the deadline set by the astrologer of the village.

* Lama Jogis visits each house in the village wishing them prosperity..

Source : AIR

Published On : December 26, 2022

4 .

Who has informed that the Union Cabinet approved the revision of the pension for family pensioners of armed forces under One Rank One Pension (OROP) from July 1, 2019.

A)

J. P. Nadda

B)

Jai Ram Thakur

C)

Anurag Thakur

D)

Nirmala Sitharaman

Correct Answer : Anurag Thakur

Union Minister of information and Broadcasting, Anurag Thakur has informed that the Union Cabinet approved the revision of the pension for family pensioners of armed forces under One Rank One Pension (OROP) from July 1, 2019.

* The revision will entail an estimated annual expenditure of Rs 8450 crore.

* The arrears will be with effect from July 1, 2019 to June 30, 2022.

* The decision to implement OROP was taken by the Narendra Modi government on November 7, 2015..

Source : Economic Times

Published On : December 25, 2022

5 .

Who have developed organic solar cells under the DST-RCUK APEX project?

A)

IIT Bombay

B)

IIT Delhi

C)

IIT Kanpur

D)

IIT Hyderabad

Correct Answer : IIT Kanpur

An organic solar cells consisting of a combination of an organic polymer and PCBM (an organic semiconductor) developed on steel substrates can potentially convert a steel roof into an energy-producing device with greater efficiency than those currently available in the market.

* The potential of third-generation solar cell technologies lies in their integration with flexible and conformal surfaces. However, this integration requires developing new top transparent conducting electrodes as alternatives to indium tin oxide, an optoelectronic material currently in use and poses limitations because of its brittleness and as its optoelectronic efficiency varies with temperature.

* Researchers at IIT Kanpur have developed organic solar cell devices consisting of a blend of organic polymer PTB7 as a donor and PCBM as an acceptor.

* The devices were fabricated on opaque steel substrates with a MoO3/Au/MoO3 top electrode.

* The research carried out at the laboratory of Prof. Ashish Garg at IIT Kanpur demonstrated the integration of multi-layered electrodes of configuration MoO3/Au/MoO3 with the organic solar cells. It was published in the journal ‘Energy Technology’.

* These electrodes offer higher optical transmission as compared to only metallic electrodes. The devices with multilayer electrodes showed a clear improvement in the photovoltaic performance by 1.5 times, as compared with those obtained with single-layer top metal electrodes of gold.

* The materials and device fabrication of perovskite and organic solar cells took place in the Class 10000 clean room facility at IIT Kanpur, which was supported by funding from DST under the DST-RCUK APEX project.

* The facility can carry out the complete fabrication of organic and perovskite solar cells. It consists of two interconnected 4-port glove boxes maintained under a nitrogen gas environment, has the capacity for handling chemicals that are sensitive to atmospheric components, mainly moisture and oxygen, and has a vacuum annealing chamber. The glove box is integrated with a spin coater, a solar simulator, a thermal annealing setup, and a high-vacuum multi-channel thermal evaporator..

Source : PIB

Published On : December 25, 2022

6 .

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has predicted the India's GDP growth rate of _______ per cent for the current fiscal year (2022-23).

A)

6.8 per cent

B)

7.36 per cent

C)

7.92 per cent

D)

8.1 per cent

Correct Answer : 6.8 per cent

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has predicted the India's GDP growth rate of 6.8 per cent for the current fiscal year (2022-23).

* IMF has also estimated the India's growth rate of 6.1 per cent in the next fiscal years (2023-24).

* In its report, IMF has stated that the growth of India is expected to moderate as it is navigating a "very difficult" external environment.

* IMF has also highlighted that Indian economy has rebounded from the deep pandemic-related downturn..

Source : Economic Times

Published On : December 25, 2022

7 .

Who has been elected as new Prime Minister of Fiji's 12th prime minister?

A)

Frank Bainimarama

B)

Laisenia Qarase

C)

Jone Usamate

D)

Sitiveni Rabuka

Correct Answer : Sitiveni Rabuka

Sitiveni Rabuka became Fiji’s 12th prime minister on Friday (23rd Dec 2022), ending a political impasse that had gripped the small Pacific island nation in the 10 days since an undecisive election.

* The parliament convened on Christmas Eve to vote in Rabuka, who was handed the job for a second time.

* Here are five facts on Rabuka’s life and career:

* Born on September 13, 1948, Sitiveni Rabuka resides in Suva but originally came from the village of Drekeniwai, on Vanua Levu, the second-largest island of Fiji.

* He is a graduate of the Indian Defence Services Staff College and was awarded a master’s degree in science from the University of Madras in 1979.

* He has commanded two infantry battalions on peacekeeping duties in Lebanon and in the Sinai Dessert, Egypt. He was awarded the French Legion D’Honneur for bravery in saving a French officer during an attack on the UN Headquarters in Lebanon in 1980.

* Rabuka also represented the country in rugby union and, in the Commonwealth Games, athletics.

Source : Indian Express

Published On : December 25, 2022

8 .

When is Good Governance Day celebrates on every year?

A)

26 December

B)

25 December

C)

24 December

D)

23 December

Correct Answer : 25 December

Good Governance Day : Every year, in honour of former Indian Prime Minister Atal Vihari Vajpayee’s birthday, India observes “Good Governance Day“.

The day is devoted to former prime minister Atal Vihari Vajpayee. Prime Minister Narendra Modi 2014 announced that “Good Governance Day” will be observed annually on December 25 in memory of the former PM.

Good Governance Day History :

* The Indian government decided that every year December 25 would be a full day of work.

* The government has been commemorating Good Governance Day every year since 2014.

* The day is celebrated to t make sure that the country’s residents are treated fairly by the government and they receive the advantages of various government services.

* The purpose of Good Governance Day is to increase public access to various government programmes and services via good governance. It was established with the slogan “Good Governance through e-Governance.”

About Atal Vihari Vajpayee :

* Atal Vihari Vajpayee, the former prime minister was born on December 25, 1924, in Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh.

* He was elected three times as the nation’s prime minister. In 1996, he was elected as the nation’s Prime Minister for the first time.

* In 1998–1999, he was elected prime minister for a second term. On October 13, 1999, he was elected as the nation’s prime minister for the third time.

* Significantly, former prime minister Atal Vihari Vajpayee was the first head of state to address the UN in Hindi.

The “Bharat Ratna” award was given to him on March 27, 2015

Published On : December 25, 2022

9 .

Who has been reappointed as the managing director and chief executive officer of Equitas Small Finance Bank?

A)

Sanjiv Chadha

B)

P.N. Vasudevan

C)

Shri Shanti Lal Jain

D)

R Ramesh Babu

Correct Answer : P.N. Vasudevan

P.N. Vasudevan has been reappointed as the managing director and chief executive officer of Equitas Small Finance Bank.

* His current term as MD, CEO will expire on July 22, 2023.

* The board of Bank has decided to renew his term for a further period of 3 years with effect from July 23, 2023, subject to approval from RBI.

* He is the founder of Equitas and has been associated with its journey as a microfinance institution since 2007.

* It was converted into a bank in 2016..

Source : Business Standard

Published On : December 25, 2022

10 .

'KAVACH' System recently seen in the news is related to _________

A)

Missile defence

B)

Asteroid Redirection

C)

Train collision avoidance

D)

Early cancer detection

Correct Answer : Train collision avoidance

Safety is accorded the highest priority by Indian Railways and all possible steps, including development of indigenous equipments, are being undertaken on a continuous basis to prevent train accidents.

Indian Railways has indigenously developed an automatic train protection system rechristened as ‘Kavach’ (Train Collision Avoidance System), to prevent accidents due to human error resulting in Signal Passing at danger and over-speeding.

Keeping in view the complexities involved in implementation, which require all Rolling Stock, way side stations and track to be equipped with ‘Kavach’, it has been decided to implement ‘Kavach’ in a phased manner.

So far, ‘Kavach’ has been deployed for 1,455 Route Kms on South Central Railway with 77 nos. of locomotives. Currently, ‘Kavach’ work is in progress on Delhi-Mumbai & Delhi –Howrah corridors (3000 route Kms).

Other benefits of ‘Kavach’ include controlling speed of trains by automatic application of brakes on approach of turnouts, repeating of signal aspects in cab, which is useful for higher speeds & foggy weathers, and auto whistling at level crossing gates.

At present ‘Kavach’ is being implemented on Indian Railways in a phased manner. Further, ‘Kavach’ does have export potential in future.

This information was given by the Minister of Railways, Communications and Electronic & Information Technology, Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw in a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha today(23rd Dec 2022)..

Source : PIB

Published On : December 24, 2022