Current Affairs Quiz - July, 2024

Notes:
The Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Scheme 2024, launched in Maharashtra, offers free education for girls and support for the unemployed. Eligible women aged 21-60 will receive Rs. 1500 monthly. Aimed at promoting financial independence and self-reliance, the scheme includes a budget of 46 thousand crores, providing various benefits to women, enhancing their development and overall well-being.

Notes:
National Statistics Day, celebrated annually on June 29 in India, honors Professor Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis for his contributions to statistics and economic planning. Initiated in 2007, its goal is to raise awareness, particularly among youth, about the pivotal role of statistics in shaping socio-economic policies. The theme for 2024, “Use of data for decision-making,” underscores the importance of informed decision-making through statistical insights in fostering national development.

Notes:
Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan Chief Ministers signed an MoU for the Rs 72,000 crore Parbati-Kalisindh-Chambal river linking project in Bhopal. This initiative aims to transfer surplus water from Southern Rajasthan’s rivers to water-scarce districts in southeastern Rajasthan and parts of Madhya Pradesh. It will irrigate 2.8 lakh hectares and benefit 13 districts in Rajasthan, along with Malwa and Chambal regions in Madhya Pradesh, fostering interstate cooperation and developmental corridors between religious sites.

Notes:
US-based Space Exploration and Research Agency (SERA) and Blue Origin have partnered with India for their human spaceflight program. They will offer six seats on a future New Shepard mission to citizens from countries with limited space presence. New Shepard, a reusable suborbital rocket, will take the selected astronauts on an 11-minute journey past the Kármán line, the internationally recognized space boundary at 100 km.

Notes:
Bhupinder Singh Rawat, a former Indian footballer known for his speed as a winger in the 1960s and 1970s, passed away at 85. He represented India in the 1969 Merdeka tournament in Malaysia and played domestically for Delhi Garrison, Gorkha Brigade, and Mafatlal. Rawat also featured for Services and Maharashtra in the National Football Championship for the Santosh Trophy.

Notes:
Researchers from the Zoological Survey of India discovered a forest-dwelling frog, Xenophrys apatani, in Talle Wildlife Sanctuary, named after the Apatani community for their conservation efforts. This species is found in the Eastern Himalayan and Indo-Burma biodiversity hotspots. The Apatani, residing in Arunachal Pradesh’s Ziro valley, speak Tani, worship the sun and moon, and celebrate festivals like Dree and Myoko. They practice integrated rice-fish farming, using rice varieties Emeo, Pyape, and Mypia.

Notes:
UNESCO introduced the New World Soil Health Index at an international conference in Morocco to standardize soil quality assessment globally. It aims to monitor soil degradation trends and improvements across different ecosystems. UNESCO will pilot sustainable soil management in ten Biosphere Reserves to develop best practices. Globally, soil degradation affects 75% of land, impacting 3.2 billion people, and is projected to reach 90% by 2050. In India, 32% of land is degraded, with 25% undergoing desertification due to various factors including deforestation and industrial pollution.

Notes:
The Odisha government plans to plant nearly 19 lakh palm trees in 2024-25 to mitigate lightning risks. Each forest block boundary will receive four palm trees, costing Rs 7 crore. Palm trees like Coconut and Palmyrah are part of tropical ecosystems, with Palmyrah designated as Tamil Nadu’s State Tree. They act as natural conductors during lightning strikes, potentially saving lives. Male palm trees bear flowers, while females produce fruits.

Notes:
Air India is establishing South Asia’s largest flight training school in Maharashtra’s Amravati district with an investment of over ₹200 crore. Opening in the next financial year’s first quarter, it will address the airline’s need for 500-700 pilots annually, following a large aircraft order. In partnership with Maharashtra Airport Development Company (MADC), the 10-acre facility will train 180 commercial pilots yearly using 31 single-engine Piper aircraft and three twin-engine Diamond aircraft.

Notes:
Meta has introduced the Meta 3D Gen AI System, an AI tool that generates or retextures 3D objects in under a minute. It uses two sub-systems, Meta 3D AssetGen and Meta 3D TextureGen, to create high-quality 3D assets with high-resolution textures and material maps from user text prompts. Users can also input existing 3D meshes for retexturing. The system employs Physically-Based Rendering (PBR) techniques, producing results in about 30 seconds.