Current Affairs Quiz - April, 2024

Notes:
Former Indian Hockey player and Dronacharya awardee Harendra Singh has been chosen by Hockey India to coach the senior national women’s team until the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. He replaces Janneke Schopman of Holland, who resigned after the team’s failure to qualify for the Paris Olympics. No formal announcement has been made due to the model code of conduct.

Notes:
The ISRO Chandrayaan-3 mission team received the 2024 John L ‘Jack’ Swigert Jr. award for space exploration from the US-based Space Foundation. This prestigious accolade, presented during the Space Symposium, recognizes outstanding contributions to space exploration. India’s Consul General in Houston accepted the award, highlighting the mission’s technical prowess. The Space Foundation lauded India’s leadership in space, emphasizing its recent milestone of landing a spacecraft on the Moon’s South Pole.

Notes:
The Port of Baltimore, a vital seaport on the Patapsco River in Maryland, serves as a commercial hub connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. Despite its closure due to a bridge collapse on March 26, efforts are underway to remove containers from the stranded ship Dali, a 984-foot vessel. Once completed, it will take weeks to tow the ship and reopen the port, which ranks ninth in the U.S. by trade volume.

Notes:
In 2023, investments from large foreign investors in Indian startups plummeted by 80% due to a funding winter in the country’s startup ecosystem. A funding winter signifies reduced capital inflows, influenced by various factors such as geopolitical unrest and financial irregularities. This phenomenon forces startups to prioritize profit maximization, conserve working capital, and suspend expansion plans and expenditures, ultimately challenging founders to navigate through a period of financial constraint and sustainability focus.

Notes:
The 2024 WHO Global Hepatitis Report highlights India’s high prevalence, with 2.9 crore cases of hepatitis B and 0.55 crore cases of hepatitis C. Released during the World Hepatitis Summit, WHO aims to eliminate hepatitis by 2030. The report underscores the importance of awareness, vaccination, and healthcare. In 2022, India saw 50,000 new hepatitis B cases, 1.4 lakh hepatitis C cases, and 1.23 lakh deaths. Diagnosis and treatment rates remain low, emphasizing the need for urgent action.

Notes:
India has achieved the elimination of visceral leishmaniasis, also known as kala-azar, meeting its target as per National Centre for Vector Borne Diseases Control data. Kala-azar is the second deadliest protozoan parasitic disease globally, endemic in 76 countries. It’s transmitted by infected sandflies and primarily affects the reticuloendothelial system. Post Kala-azar Dermal Leishmaniasis (PKDL) is a possible complication. Leishmaniasis is associated with poverty, malnutrition, weak immunity, and environmental changes like deforestation and urbanization.

Notes:
The Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) Clean Economy Investor Forum will be held in Singapore in June 2024 to attract investments for sustainable infrastructure, climate tech, and renewable energy projects. Tech companies and startups are invited to showcase Indian investment projects in EV and solar energy infrastructure. Launched in May 2022, IPEF is a US-led initiative involving 14 countries to bolster economic partnerships, equity, and competitiveness in the Indo-Pacific region.

Notes:
India will deploy defense attaches in Ethiopia, Mozambique, Ivory Coast, Philippines, Armenia, and Poland to bolster strategic ties. This initiative aligns with India’s goal to expand global partnerships amid rising geopolitical tensions. Notably, India aims to strengthen defense relations with the Philippines to counter China’s assertiveness in the South China Sea. Recent deals include a USD 375 million agreement for BrahMos missiles. High-level discussions emphasize mutual security and development goals.

Notes:
NASA’s PACE satellite, launched into Sun-synchronous orbit, now shares high-quality Earth observation data publicly. Equipped with the Ocean Colour Instrument (OCI), alongside polarimeters SPEXone and HARP2, it enhances aerosol, cloud, and ocean research. OCI’s broad spectral range aids in phytoplankton identification. This data facilitates studies on oceanic life, air particles, fisheries health, algal blooms, pollution, and climate change impacts on the atmosphere and oceans, advancing scientific understanding.

Notes:
The Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi), established in 2015, supports companies in setting Science-Based Targets (SBTs) to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in line with the Paris Agreement. A recent decision allowing carbon offsetting for Scope 3 emissions has sparked controversy. SBTi verifies targets independently, ensuring alignment with the latest climate science. It distinguishes between near- and long-term goals, essential for significant progress by 2030 and achieving net-zero emissions by 2050.