Daily Current Affairs Quiz 24th December 2023

“Notes: Indian armed forces have been honored with the coveted ‘golden owl’ award for their outstanding performance. in a remarkable display of excellence, three officers from the indian armed forces, undergoing the prestigious command and staff course at defence services command and staff college (dscsc) in sri lanka, have been honored with the coveted ‘golden owl’ award for their outstanding performance. the award, presented by sri lankan president ranil wickremesinghe, recognizes their exceptional achievements in analytical skills, strategic thinking, and their potential for future leadership.”

Notes: In a ceremony in new delhi on 19 december 2023 the ministry of mines introduced the national geoscience data repository ngdr portal which is a comprehensive online platform for accessing and analyzing geospatial information across the nation

“Notes: the government of india and asian development bank (adb) on 15th december 2023 signed a $250 million policy-based loan that will continue support to industrial corridor development to make manufacturing more competitive, strengthen national supply chains and links with regional and global value chains, and create more and better jobs. the national industrial corridor development programme (nicp) has been conceived to promote world-class manufacturing facilities and develop futuristic industrial cities in india. 11 industrial corridors are being developed under the programme. it is under the administrative control of the department of promotion of industry and internal trade (dpiit), ministry of commerce and industry.”

“Notes: the fourth unit of the kakrapar atomic power project (kapp-4) in gujarat, with a capacity of 700 mwe, achieved criticality recently, marking the initiation of a controlled fission chain reaction. the kakrapar facility, houses the largest indigenous nuclear power reactors built by the nuclear power corporation of india limited (npcil). these pressurized heavy water reactors (phwrs) utilize natural uranium as fuel and heavy water as coolant and moderator. the npcil is a public sector undertaking of the department of atomic energy which already operates indigenous phwrs at other facilities.”

Notes: Using data from nasas cassini spacecraft scientists have discovered hydrogen cyanide a crucial molecule for life formation in the oceans of saturn’s icy moon enceladus the study suggests that enceladus subsurface oceans may possess more chemical energy than previously thought potentially

Notes: The uk will levy a carbon border tax on imports of carbon-intensive materials from 2027 on items like iron steel aluminum ceramics and cement the tax rate will depend on the carbon emissions associated with making the imported goods overseas and the gap with uk carbon prices

“Notes: in december 2023, the vijay hazare trophy, a domestic cricket tournament in india, concluded with haryana defeating rajasthan in the final at rajkot’s saurashtra cricket stadium. this victory marked haryana’s first title and their debut final appearance in the competition, which began in the 1993-94 season. tamil nadu holds the record for the most titles, having won the trophy five times.”

“Notes: the international gender equality prize in 2023 was awarded to the afghan women skills development center. prime minister petteri orpo of finland presented the €300,000 award to mahbouba seraj, the center’s executive director, in tampere on december 11, 2023. the center is recognized for its crucial work in defending women’s rights and promoting gender equality in afghanistan, particularly under challenging conditions following the taliban’s rise to power. international gender equality prize is a government prize administered by the ministry of social affairs and health, finland. tampere has been a partner of the prize and the host city for the award ceremony since 2017.”

“Notes: the potato disease that has ravaged crops across punjab districts is called late blight (100 words). it displays symptoms like green circular spots on potatoes that expand into dark brown lesions. over 50% of the state’s potato cultivation has been impacted by late blight fungal infestation. excess moisture and humidity encouraged its proliferation, resulting in rotting of tubers.”

“Notes: it is former army chief general m m naravane’s forthcoming memoir “four stars of destiny” that mentions the armed forces were taken by surprise when the agnipath military recruitment scheme was introduced. gen naravane writes he had proposed a tour of duty model for limited jawan intake but what came up as agnipath applied to all new recruits in army, navy and air force, that too for only 4 years.”