Daily Current Affairs Today MCQ : 26 & 27 February 2023 Quiz

The Uttarakhand government has signed a contract to construct a 3.38 km ropeway from Janki Chatti in Kharsali to Yamunotri Dham.

To be built at a cost of Rs 166.82 crore, the ropeway will cut down the travel time from the current 2-3 hours to just 20 minutes.

At present pilgrims have to trek for 5.5 km to reach Yamunotri Dham from Kharsali.

The contract was signed by Uttarakhand Tourism Development Board with two private construction company, namely SRM Engineering Solutions Pvt Ltd and FIL Industries Pvt Ltd.

Key Points -

Yamunotri is a part of Char Dham (along with Gangotri, Kedarnath and Badrinath), the four most revered Hindu pilgrimages in the Himalayas.

The length of the ropeway, which comes at an altitude of 10797 feet, will be 3.38 km (aerial distance) and will be developed at a cost of Rs 166.82 crore.

According to HedgewithCrypto research, India emerged as 7th biggest nation ready to adopt crypto in 2023.

Australia is the biggest country when it comes to the adoption of cryptocurrency in 2023 with a score of 7.37 out of 10.

The sale of cryptocurrency and other digital assets is legal and regulated in Australia.

Following this, USA ranks as the second biggest country in crypto adoption with a score of 7.07 out of 10.

Currently, there 33,630 crypto ATMs throughout the country.

Ranking wise, Brazil comes third with a score of 6.81/10 and has seen a huge increase in average monthly searches for crypto of 355%.

A new bill signed in December 2022 legalizes cryptocurrency throughout Brazil.

Top 5 Countries are - Australia, USA , Brazil, United Arab Emirates, Hong Kong.

The Kerala government has launched robotic scavenger, "Bandicoot", to clean sewages in the temple town of Guruvayur, becoming the first state in the country to use robotic technology to clean all its commissioned manholes.

Water Resources Minister, Roshi Augustine, launched Bandicoot under the Guruvayur Sewerage Project in Thrissur district by the Kerala Water Authority (KWA), as part of the 100-day action plan of the state government.

Bandicoot, developed by Kerala-based Genrobotics, had recently bagged "Kerala Pride" award at the Huddle Global 2022 conclave organised by Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM).

Bandicoot robots are currently deployed in few towns across 17 states in India and three Union Territories.

In 2018, KWA started using Bandicoot to clean the manholes in Thiruvananthapuram. Later, it was introduced in Ernakulam also.

SS Rajamouli’s directorial, "RRR" has bagged the "Best International Film" award at the Hollywood Critics Association Film Awards.

The film director Rajamouli and actor Ram Charan accepted the award with joy and pride.

It has also won three more awards at the HCA film awards.

Before bagging the "Best International Film" award, "RRR" won three awards at HCA – "Best Action Film", "Best Stunts", and "Best Original Song".

In January this year, "Naatu Naatu" won the Golden Globes in the "Best Original Song" category.

"RRR" bagged two more awards at the 28th edition of the Critics Choice Awards.

RRR is a fictional story based on the lives of two Telugu freedom fighters, Alluri Seetharama Raju and Komaram Bheem.

India and Guyana have agreed to cooperate in the oil and gas sector, including long-term crude purchase from the South American country and investment in its upstream sector.

Oil minister Hardeep Singh Puri met Guyana president Mohamed Irfaan Ali.

The leaders agreed on direct government-to-government cooperation across the entire spectrum of the oil and gas sector including increased long-term offtake, participation in exploration and production activities in Guyana.

India is the third-largest consumer and importer of oil worldwide and nearly 85 per cent of its oil demand is met through imports from abroad that includes nearly 10 per cent from Latin America and Caribbean region (LAC).

In the world arena, with the growing energy demand in Asia, crude oil from Latin Americais moving eastward into China and India.

Infosys, a next generation digital services and consulting, announced that it will expand its collaboration with Microsoft, to help accelerate enterprise cloud transformation journeys worldwide, via an exchange filing.

According to the Infosys cloud radar, enterprises can add up to $414 billion in net new profits, annually, through effective cloud adoption.

The deepening of the collaboration will entail the onboarding of Infosys Cobalt solutions to Microsoft’s industry clouds, to empower enterprises to build agile cloud-powered platforms and innovate at scale.

These will bring enterprises the benefits that come from best of breed Microsoft platforms, along with Infosys Cobalt suite of cloud-powered solutions, implemented to minimize time-to-market and maximize value.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the "Barisu Kannada Dim Dimava" cultural festival at Talkatora Stadium in Delhi on 25th February 2023.

"Barisu Kannada Dim Dimava" cultural festival is being organized to celebrate Karnataka’s culture, traditions and history.

It is in line with the Prime Minister’s vision of "Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat".

Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat Scheme -

The "Ek Bharat, Shreshtha Bharat" scheme was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Ekta Diwas, 31st October 2015, on the occasion of the birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel draws inspiration from the life of India’s freedom fighter.

The scheme was launched to celebrate the cultural vibrancy of India while establishing a strong mechanism to inculcate nationalism and cultural awareness among the citizens of our nation.

The key aim of Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat is to promote the Indian ideology of "Unity in Diversity" India.

It aims to build the interest of people in their neighboring states and UTs, and also encourages them to promote their culture.

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF), a global organization that monitors financial crime, suspended Russia’s membership after finding that Moscow (Russia)’s conflict in Ukraine breached the FATF’s principles.

Key Points -

FATF is an intergovernmental organization created to fight money laundering and the financing of terrorism by establishing international standards and monitoring their observance by nations.

Ukraine expressed its appreciation for the FATF’s decision to suspend Russia but also stated that it will keep working with FATF members to further penalise and blacklist Moscow.

As part of its efforts to exert pressure on Moscow, whose invasion began its second year, Ukraine has repeatedly called for Russia to be excluded from the organization.

Russia is still a member, despite the fact that it has been suspended.

Germany has signed a 5.2 billion dollar agreement with India to jointly construct six conventional submarines in India.

The naval project is a Western military manufacturing power’s most recent effort to wean New Delhi off of its reliance on Russian military hardware.

Key Points -

With 11 of its 16 conventional submarines being more than 20 years old, India is looking to rebuild its ageing submarine fleet in an effort to stave off China’s expanding influence in the Indian Ocean.

Two indigenous nuclear-powered submarines are also available to the Indian Navy.

After being one of the top importers of weapons for many years, the national government intends to increase domestic weapon production in cooperation with foreign partners.

Just before Modi’s visit to Paris in May 2022, France’s Naval Group backed out of the project due to its failure to meet the requirements set forth by the Indian government in 2021.

A vice-ministerial level meeting of I2U2 countries including Israel, India, the United States and the United Arab Emirates discussed with private sector stakeholders investment opportunities to address issues related to the management of the energy crisis and food insecurity.

The UAE hosted the first vice-ministerial meeting of the I2U2 in Abu Dhabi which was attended by senior officials from the four countries, along with representations from the private sector.

During the business forum, the I2U2 leadership discussed opportunities to advance multi-regional cooperation and investment opportunities to address some of the region’s most pressing issues, including management of the energy crisis and food insecurity.