Daily Current Affairs Quiz 18th May 2024

This pool at 8200 feet is the worlds highest swimming pool launched in 2019 the initiative aims to provide top-tier aquatic facilities globally promoting aquatic sports the new pool marks a significant milestone for bhutanese aquatic sports development

The third session of the india-zimbabwe joint trade committee was held from 13 to 14 may 2024 in new delhi co-chaired by indias priya p nair and zimbabwes rudo m faranisi the session aimed to enhance bilateral trade investment and cooperation

” Notes:the 12th joint working group (jwg) of indian and mongolian defence ministers met in ulaanbaatar on may 16-17, 2024, as part of their annual meetings. indian delegation led by amitabh prasad, joint secretary of defence, and mongolian delegation by brigadier general gankhuyag davagdorj. discussions included bilateral cooperation, indian armed forces capabilities, and potential collaboration in defence manufacturing. both sides expressed satisfaction with ongoing cooperation and pledged to enhance it further.”

World telecommunication and information society day is observed annually on may 17 to explore the use of ict and the internet in societies and to address the digital divide each year the itu selects a theme for 2024 which is digital innovation for sustainable development sustainable development as defined by the brundtland

” Notes:japan and the u.s. signed a contract to develop interceptors for hypersonic missiles by the 2030s, costing over $3 billion. announced in august, the plan addresses the rapid advancements in missile technology around japan. japan allocated ¥75 billion ($480 million) for 2024 development. hypersonic missiles’ speed and irregular trajectories make them difficult to intercept. japan’s defense budget increased amid rising tensions with china and north korea.”

” The Olympic and World Champion javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra claimed the second spot in the Doha Diamond League 2024 that was held on 10th May 2024 at the Qatar Sports Club, Doha, Qatar.• The three-time Olympian for Czech Republic Jakub Vadlejch claimed the top spot with 88.38 meters throw while Neeraj Chopra missed the first spot by just 2 centimeters (88.36 meters).• India’s Kishore Jena, who claimed the silver medal at the Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games held in China in 2023, finished ninth in his Diamond League debut.Note:The Diamond League is a high-level multi-tier group of track & field meets conducted under the World Athletics.Option Revision:4. Covered on 24th & 25th March 2024:Sharath KamalThe Indian Olympic Association (IOA) named table tennis player Achanta Sharath Kamal as India’s flagbearer for the 2024 Paris Olympics, set to be held from 26th July to 11th August 2024 in Paris, France.Sharath Kamal will be the 19th flag bearer for India at the Olympics.”

” On 13th may 2024, india and iran signed a long-term contract of 10 years to operate the shahid beheshti port terminal at chabahar port, iran. this will boost regional connectivity and trade ties.• the contract was signed by india ports global limited(ipgl), a wholly-owned subsidiary of india ports global chabahar free zone (ipgcfz) and by port and maritime organisation (pmo), iran.• as per the contract, ipgl is committed to invest approximately usd 120 million in equipping the port.• india has also offered a credit window of usd 250 million for mutually identified projects aimed at enhancing chabahar-related infrastructure.option revision:1. covered on 26th april 2024:kuwaitthe international financial services centres authority(ifsca) of india signed a memorandum of understanding(mou) with the capital markets authority (cma) of kuwait to share information regarding technologies and innovation within the financial and regulatory ecosystem.2. covered on 24 january 2024: cubathe ministry of electronics and information technology (meity), government of india, signed a memorandum of understanding (mou) with the ministry of communications of the republic of cuba, to foster cooperation in the field of sharing successful digital solutions implemented at a population scale for digital transformation4. covered on 16 march 2024: bhutancabinet approves signing of mous between india and bhutan:• for co-operation in the field of energy efficiency and energy conservation measures• for food safety• for the general supply of petroleum, oil, lubricants (pol), and related products from india to bhutan”

The un office on drugs and crime unodc has released the 3rd edition of its world wildlife crime report titled world wildlife crime report 2024 trafficking in protected species this report highlighted the persistent issue of illegal trafficking in plant and animal wildlife from 2015 to 2021

The 7th joint military exercise shakti 2024 commenced at umroi on 13 may 2024 and is a biennial training exercise that is conducted alternatively in india and france the 14-day joint exercise is scheduled to be conducted from 13th may to 26th may 2024

” United nations educational, scientific and cultural organisation (unesco) has included: the ramcharitmanas (rāmacaritamānasa), panchatantra (pañcatantra fables) and sahṛdayāloka-locana in its “memory of the world (mow) asia-pacific regional register”.• the inclusion of these literary works was made at 10th meeting of the memory of the world committee for asia and the pacific (mowcap) in ulaanbatar, mongolia.• the asia-pacific member states newly inscribed 20 items from different countries (including 3 from india) during the 2024 cycle.• the ramcharitmanas, panchatantra and sahṛdayāloka-locana were authored by goswami tulsidas, pt. vishnu sharma and acharya anandvardhan respectively.”

” On 13th may 2024, india’s largest public sector bank (psb), state bank of india (sbi) has announced that it has become the 1st bank in india to act as trading-cum-clearing member (tcm) at the india international bullion exchange ifsc limited (iibx) which is india’s 1st international bullion exchange in gift city, gandhinagar (gujarat).• this enables international financial services centre (ifsc) banking unit (ibu) of sbi to conduct trades on the iibx platform.• the reserve bank of india (rbi) allowed the authorised indian banks to act as special category clients (sccs) to import gold or silver through iibx.• entities which are eligible to become member of iibx are: registered partnership firm, private limited company, public limited company, ibu branches at gift city, among others.option revision:1. covered on 26th march 2024:federal bankthe federal bank and national payment corporation of india(npci), launched a rupay smart key chain – ‘flashpay’ for contactless national common mobility card (ncmc) payments at enabled metro stations and point of sale (pos) terminals.2. covered on 28th march 2024:axisbankaxis bank has introduced digital opening of us (united states) dollar fixed deposits (fd) for nri (non-resident indian) customers at its international financial services centre/ifsc banking unit (ibu) in gujarat international finance tec (gift) city in gandhinagar, gujarat.i. with this, axis bank becomes the first bank to offer digitization of gift city deposits.4.covered on 8th february 2024:hdfc bankhdfc bank, india’s largest private sector bank., launched 4 variants of new small and medium enterprises (sme)-focused business range credit cards namely bizfirst, bizgrow, bizpower, and bizblack.these cards will cater to the needs of the self-employed community including micro-small and medium enterprises (msmes), startups, professionals, and freelancers.”

The united nations international day of plant health idph 2024 was observed on 12 may to raise global awareness of the importance of protecting plant health in order to end hunger and reduce poverty protect biodiversity and the environment and boost economic development 12 may 2024 marks the observance of the 3rd idph

” The Five-time World Champion & World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen emerged as the winner of the 2024 Superbet Poland Rapid & Blitz, a part of World Chess Tour that was held from 7th to 12th May 2024 in Warsaw, Poland.• Magnus received the prize money of USD 40,000.• Wei Yi of China clinched the second spot while Jan-Krzysztof Duda of Poland finished third.• India’s Praggnanandhaa claimed the fourth position in the tournament• Erigaisi Arjun finished fifth while Dommaraju Gukesh finished at 10th position.Option Revision:2. Covered on 22nd April 2024:GukeshThe 17-year-old chess Grandmaster (GM) Dommaraju Gukesh from Chennai (Tamil Nadu) has won (Open category) the International Chess Federation (FIDE) Candidates 2024 held in Toronto, Canada, by defeating Hikaru Nakamura of the United States to score 9 points.4. Covered on 2nd February 2024:Wei YiGrandmaster (GM)Wei Yi of China won his first master title by defeating GM Gukesh D of India in the finals of the 86th edition of the Tata Steel Chess Tournament (2024) held from 12-28 January 2024 in Wijk aan Zee, The Netherlands.5. Covered on 2nd February 2024:Leon LukeGM Leon Luke Mendonca (India) won the Challengers title of the 86th edition of the Tata Steel Chess Tournament (2024) by defeating International Master (IM) Divya Deshmukh (India) in the final round.”

” Hyderabad-based greenko zeroc signed an agreement with norway’s yara clean ammonia which is the largest trader and distributor company of ammonia in the world to supply renewable ammonia to norwegian firm.• as per this term sheet and the subsequent off-take agreement, greenko zeroc, production arm of renewable energy firm am green will supply up to 50% green ammonia to yara from phase 1 of its ammonia production facility in kakinada, andhra pradesh(a.p.).option revision:1. covered on 2nd march 2024:larsen & toubromumbai (maharashtra) headquartered larsen & toubro (l&t) limited has commissioned its first indigenously built hydrogen electrolyser at the green hydrogen plant in hazira in gujarat.2. covered on 25th & 26th february 2024: ntpc green energy limitedntpc green energy limited (ngel), a wholly owned subsidiary of ntpc ltd signed a land lease agreement with andhra pradesh industrial infrastructure corporation (apiic) to develop an “integrated green hydrogen hub” on 1,200 acres of land near pudimadaka village (atchutapuram mandal) in visakhapatnam, andhra pradesh (ap).3. covered on 18th & 19th february 2024:bharat petroleum corporation limitedcochin international airport limited (cial) has signed a memorandum of understanding (mou) with bharat petroleum corporation limited (bpcl) to set up the world’s first green hydrogen plant and fueling station within an airport setting.”

” The 19th session of the united nations forum on forests (unff19) was held at the united nations (un) headquarters in new york, united states (us) from may 6 to may 10, 2024. the forum was organized by unff secretariat. it was chaired by zéphyrin maniratanga of burundi.• the key outcomes of the session were high-level segment declaration and an omnibus resolution, which included the outcome of the midterm review as well as the new quadrennial programme of work of the forum for 2025-2028.• the indian delegation was led by jitendra kumar, director general of forests and special secretary, ministry of environment, forest and climate change (moef&cc).• “international forest governance: a critical review of trends, drawbacks, and new approaches” published by international union of forest research organizations (iufro) showed deforestation rates dropped from 13 million to 10 million hectares per year between 2010 and 2023click here to read moreoption revision:1. covered on 3rd april 2024:judith suminwa tulukafelix tshisekedi, president of the democratic republic of the congo (drc), appointed judith suminwa tuluka as the first woman prime minister of the drc.2. covered on 7th february 2024:vinícius juniorunited nations educational, scientific and cultural organization (unesco), appointed brazilian footballer vinicius josé paixão de oliveira junior (vinícius junior) as the goodwill ambassador for education for all.audrey azoulay, director-general of unesco presented the letter of appointment to vinícius junior during a ceremony at the real madrid training center in spain.3. covered on 9th february 2024:mio okathe asian development bank (adb) has appointed mio oka as its new country director for india.mio oka will take over from the incumbent takeo konishi who has been elevated as adb director general for south asia.”