Current Affairs Quiz - November, 2023

Notes:
The Environmental Investigation Agency is an international NGO founded in 1984 in the United Kingdom.
‘Parts of tigers, leopards, pangolins & rhinos being used in 88 Chinese medicines’ A probe by the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) has found that body parts of leopards and pangolins, which are highly trafficked and endangered mammals, are used in at least 88 traditional Chinese medicines.

Notes:
The Maitree Super Thermal Power Project, funded through an Indian Concessional Financing Scheme loan of USD 1.6 billion, is a 1320 MW Super Thermal Power Plant (MSTPP) situated in Bangladesh.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina, jointly inaugurated three development projects supported by India, including the Unit – II of the Maitree Super Thermal Power Plant.

Notes:
Launched in 2013, the Dutch golden visa initiative was designed to stimulate the economic growth of the Netherlands.  The program required foreign investors to contribute a minimum of €1,250,000 to Dutch businesses.
This program was in line with the goals of several other countries that offer similar investment schemes. However, as of January 2024, the Netherlands will be discontinuing its ‘Golden Visa’ program.

Notes:
Forty nations within a US-led alliance intend to commit to never paying ransoms to cybercriminals and to collaborate in eradicating the financial support for hackers, as part of the International Counter Ransomware Initiative.
Ransomware attacks involve hackers encrypting an organization’s systems and demanding ransom payments in return for decrypting them.

Notes:
According to official data, 70% of rural households in India have been provided tap water connections under the Jal Jeevan Mission.
This means that 13,47,50,894 households out of the 19,24,26,914 rural households in the country have been provided tap water connections. The Jal Jeevan Mission is an initiative of the Government of India under the Ministry of Jal Shakti. The main objective of the project is to provide functional tap connections to each household.

Notes:
Lucy is a NASA space probe on a twelve-year journey to eight different asteroids. Lucy Spacecraft came within 430 kilometers of the small asteroid named Dinkinesh. Dinkinesh is less than 1 kilometer wide, making it so small that it is nearly imperceptible from Earth.
The first images returned by Lucy reveal that the small main belt asteroid Dinkinesh is actually a binary pair. The team estimates that the larger body is approximately 790 metres at its widest, while the smaller is about 220 metres in size.

Notes:
The draft State Energy Efficiency Action Plan for Kerala suggests that the state has the potential to achieve significant energy savings by the year 2030.
This can be accomplished through various measures such as increasing the adoption of electric vehicles, promoting green buildings, and enhancing energy efficiency in households and industries.

Notes:
The COP-28 Presidency launched ‘Net-Zero Transition Charter: Accountability Mobilisation for the Private Sector’, it recognises the important role the private sector must play in combating climate change.
COP28 Presidency has called for a collaborative approach to reduce emissions by 43 percent in the next seven years. COP28 will be held in Dubai between November 30 and December 12.

Notes:
The PM GatiShakti-National Master Plan (NMP) has reduced the time it takes to prepare a detailed project report (DPR) from six months to about 15 days.
This development is a significant step towards expediting the implementation of urban infrastructure projects in India. India has planned around 8,890 km of roads, 27,000 km of railway tracks and 920 km of petroleum and nat-gas pipelines based on the plan, two years after it was launched.

Notes:
The India-US 2+2 meeting is scheduled to be held in New Delhi in November 2023. The meeting will be held amid global turbulence and it will address differences over Canada’s allegations against India.
US Secretary of State Antony J Blinken and Defence Secretary Lloyd J Austin will be visiting India next week for the India-US 2+2 ministerial dialogue. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will host the two visiting US Cabinet ministers.