Current Affairs Quiz - November, 2023

Notes:
The Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) bags prestigious SKOCH National Award- 2023 for its innovative Rs 1 Crore accident relief Sarige Suraksha Insurance Scheme for its staff which is the first in the history of transport organizations in the country.
SKOCH Group India is an independent think tank industry based in Delhi established in 1997, which has instituted SKOCH awards in 2003 for best governance, finance, technology and inclusive growth. SKOCH group selects the projects for awards based on benchmark performance and outcome.

Notes:
France recently test-fired a long-range ballistic missile to improve its nuclear deterrence capabilities. The M51.3 missile was launched from the Biscarosse missile testing site and landed in the North Atlantic.
The French defense ministry said the test-firing significantly increased the credibility of France’s nuclear deterrence. France’s nuclear deterrence force is called the Force de dissuasion (Deterrence Force). It used to be a triad of nuclear weapons based on land, sea, and air.

Notes:
Union Minister for Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal, participated in the Investor Forum of the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment (PGII) and Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF).
The Forum was also attended by Ministers and senior officials from IPEF partner countries. The Minister participated at the APEC Informal Leader’s Dialogue in San Francisco, in the United States.

Notes:
In a recent study, the James Webb Space Telescope from NASA has detected a sophisticated cosmic supply chain involving ice-covered pebbles drifting inward from the outer Solar System.
This observation supports the longstanding theory that these pebbles are transporting water to planets in the process of formation closer to their respective stars.

Notes:
The 14th Emissions Gap Report 2023 was released by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
As per the report, even if the existing nationally determined contributions (NDC), both conditional and unconditional, are fulfilled by 2030, the global temperature is projected to rise by 2.5°C, surpassing the 2°C target established by the Paris Agreement.

Notes:
After numerous attempts to curb the issue of illicit sand mining, officials in Bihar’s Bhojpur district have introduced a new approach.
They are constructing pillars along the Sone River, flanking the Arrah-Sahar bridge, with the aim of preventing boats from transporting unlawfully extracted sand between Bhojpur and Patna, and vice versa.

Notes:
The Comptroller and Auditor General of India, Girish Chandra Murmu, has been elected as the Vice-Chair of the UN Panel of Auditors for the upcoming year.
Murmu participated in the sixty-third session of the Panel of External Auditors, held at the UN headquarters in New York.

Notes:
The state government of Gujarat has announced the ghol species as the state fish of Gujarat at the Global Fisheries Conference India 2023.
The ghol, also known as the blackspotted croaker, is highly valued for its swim bladder, which is used in cosmetics. It is also considered a delicacy and has claimed medicinal properties. Gujarat’s annual fish export stands at Rs 5,000 crore, accounting for 17% of India’s fish exports.

Notes:
Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh, Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, inaugurated the Vidhya Samiksha Kendra (VSK) in Shimla.
This data repository will consolidate information from all Ministry of Education (MoE) initiatives. The VSK aims to monitor real-time status, including projects and activities under Samagra Shiksha, oversee enrolled students’ progress, track learning outcomes, identify dropouts, assess support required by teachers and schools, and monitor field-level academic and non-academic activities.

Notes:
The Karnataka government’s Shakti scheme has provided free bus travel to 100 crore women since its launch in June 2023.
The scheme allows women to travel for free in 18,609 state-run buses, including 6,308 city buses, 5,958 ordinary buses, and 6,343 express buses. The value of the free tickets issued to women by state-run transport corporations is Rs 2,397.8 crore.