Daily Current Affairs Quiz 11th July 2024

” Notes:the philippines and japan signed a reciprocal access agreement (raa) to enhance defense ties, focusing on regional stability amid tensions with china. the pact, easing equipment and troop entry for training and disaster response, is japan’s first in asia. philippine and japanese defense ministers highlighted the importance of cooperation against china’s assertive actions in the south china sea. this agreement strengthens the defense relationship between two key u.s. allies in asia.”

” Notes:prime minister narendra modi officially received russia’s prestigious order of st andrew the apostle, awarded in 2019 for his contributions to india-russia strategic partnership and fostering friendly ties. established in 1698 by tsar peter the great, the honor recognizes exceptional civilian or military merit.”

In the 22nd annual summit india and russia agreed to increase bilateral trade to 100 billion by 2030 and use national currencies to bypass western sanctions

” Notes:four-time olympian and 2012 bronze medallist gagan narang replaced mary kom as india’s chef-de-mission for the 2024 olympics, the indian olympic association (ioa) announced. mary kom stepped down due to health issues. ioa president p.t. usha expressed confidence in the athletes’ preparedness. p.v. sindhu will be the female flagbearer. the paris olympics will run from july 26 to august 11, 2024.”

” Notes:gautam gambhir, a former indian cricketer, has been appointed as the head coach of the indian men’s cricket team, replacing rahul dravid. announced by bcci secretary jay shah on july 9, 2024, gambhir’s term will last three years. he will oversee the team in key tournaments like the 2026 t20 world cup, 2027 odi world cup, and 2025 icc champions trophy. gambhir starts his role in july with a tour to sri lanka.”

” On 5th july 2024, indo-russian rifles private limited (irrpl), a joint venture (jv) between india and russia, delivered 1st batch of 35,000 kalashnikov ak-203 assault rifles to the indian army. this development came just ahead of prime minister (pm) narendra modi’s visit to russia. these rifles were produced at the korwa ordnance factory in amethi, uttar pradesh(up) and the production of these rifles in india is in full compliance with the pm’s “make in india” and “atmanirbhar abhiyan” initiatives. the main features of the project include complete technology transfer and to achieve 100% localization of ak-203 assault rifles production. in may 2024, irrpl handed over 27,000 ak-203 assault rifles, with 25% of localization to indian army.”

” The national aeronautics and space administration (nasa) is set to launch the ‘habitable worlds observatory (hwo)’ in 2040 to find proof of extraterrestrial life (aliens) and inhabited planets beyond the solar system. hwo is a unique telescope, dubbed “super hubble”, capable of detecting a range of ‘biosignatures’ emitted by living organisms and discovering inhabited planets by 2050.the indian space research organisation (isro) has shortlisted 2 of its four trained gaganyaan astronauts for the axiom-4 mission to the international space station (iss). only one of the shortlisted astronauts will go on the mission, which is set to be launched by october 2024 at the latest. the gaganyaan astronauts are captain prashanth balakrishnan nair group captain ajit krishnan group captain angad pratap and wing commander shubhanshu shukla.”

” India’s largest research organisation, the defence research and development organisation (drdo) conducted successful trials of the indigenous light battle tank ‘zorawar’ in hazira, gujarat. it was reviewed by drdo chief dr samir v kamat. it is expected to be inducted into the indian army (ia) by the year 2027 after the completion of all the trials.i.the light tank zorawar with 25 tonnes in weight and it is the first time a fresh tank has been developed and made ready for trials in such a short time. the tank was designed in collaboration with larsen and toubro limited (l&t).ii.the drdo and l & t have integrated unmanned surface vehicles(usvs) in loitering munitions in the tank learning lessons from the russia and ukraine conflict.”

” British formula one (f1) mercedes driver lewis hamilton won the f1 british grand prix 2024 held on 7th july 2024 at silverstone circuit in england, the united kingdom (uk). he has become the first f1 driver to have won this race for the 9th time extending the record, which he previously shared with michael schumacher. this was the 104th grand prix win of lewis hamilton’s career and has also extended a record run for podiums at the same race to 12. three-time world champion max verstappen (red bull) finished 2nd in the race followed by mclaren’s lando norris in the 3rd spot.”

” On 6th july 2024, dr. masoud pezeshkian (69 year old), a reformist politician and a heart surgeon, won iran’s runoff presidential election with 53% of the vote. he became the 9th elected president of iran. he will take over from mohammad mokhber, who has been serving as the interim president of iran since the death of ebrahim raisi on 19th may 2024. he became the 2nd reformist president of iran after his predecessor ebrahim raisi.”

” On july 6, 2024, the board of the bandhan bank limited approved the appointment of ratan kumar kesh as its interim managing director (md) and chief executive officer (ceo), with effect from 10th july 2024 for three months or until an appointment of regular md and ceo, whichever is earlier. he is currently serving as the executive director (ed) and chief operating officer (coo) of bandhan bank (since march 2023). he is set to succeed chandra shekhar ghosh, the founder and incumbent md & ceo of the bandhan bank who is set to retire on 9th july 2024.”

” On july 5, 2024, the national commission for women (ncw) and cyberpeace foundation launched ‘digital shakti 5.0’, the 5th phase of the digital shakti campaign, during a hybrid event at vigyan bhawan in new delhi, delhi. this pan-india project aims to digitally empower and upskill women and girls in cyberspace. digital shakti was started at punjab university, chandigarh in 2018 on the lines of digital india. so far, the initiative has trained 6 lakh women on digital safety.  digital shakti 5.0, the 5th phase of the initiative, aims to extend this reach to 10 lakh (1 million) women.”

” The ministry of minority affairs (moma), led by union minister kiren rijiju, has been designated the nodal ministry for the haj committee of india (hcoi), a statutory body that organises the haj pilgrimage for indian pilgrims. this designation shifts the responsibility from the ministry of external affairs (mea) to the moma. previously, the mea managed the haj pilgrimage, including the administration of the haj committee act of 2002. the new rules called the haj committee (amendment) rules, 2024, now assign these duties to the moma.”

” According to the Union Ministry of Defence (MoD), Government of India(GoI), India’s annual domestic defence production has hit a record high of approximately Rs 1.27 lakh crore i.e. Rs 1, 26,887 crore in FY24(2023-24). This shows the growth of 16.7% over the defence production compared to Rs 1, 08,684 crore of total Value of Production (VoP) recorded in FY23 (2022-23). This figure is based on the data received from all Defence Public Sector Undertakings (DPSUs), other PSUs manufacturing defence items and private companies. As per MoD, DPSUs/other PSUs; and Private sector contributed about 79.2% and 20.8% of the total Value of Production (VoP) in FY24 respectively.”

” The ministry of culture (moc) has initiated project pari (public art of india) ahead of the 46th session of the world heritage committee(whc), which is scheduled to be held from 21st july to 31st july, 2024 at bharat mandapam in new delhi, delhi. the first intervention under project pari is taking place in delhi coinciding with the meeting. for the first time, india is set to chair and host the united nations educational, scientific and cultural organization (unesco)’s whc.  the initiative is executed by the lalit kala akademi and national gallery of modern art. under this project, more than 150 visual artists from across india have come together to create various wall paintings, murals, sculptures and installation in public spaces.click here to read more”