Daily Current Affairs Quiz: December 09, 2023

ANSWER: B

ANSWER: D

ANSWER: B

ANSWER: A

• Four years after becoming the only G7 nation to join China’s ambitious Belt and Road initiative (BRI), Italy has decided to leave the project.
• The deal was due to automatically renew in March 2024 unless Italy opted out by the end of 2023.

ABOUT BRI

• The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is a global infrastructure development strategy launched by China in 2013.
• It aims to invest in over 150 countries and international organizations, creating road, rail, and sea routes for trade and connectivity.
• The initiative, often referred to as “One Belt One Road” (OBOR), is a key part of China’s foreign policy.
• The initiative includes two principal components-
  • Silk Road Economic Belt- This segment is dedicated to improving connectivity, infrastructure, and trade links across Eurasia through a network of overland transportation routes.
  • Maritime Silk Road This component emphasizes maritime connections and cooperation in the form of ports, shipping routes, and maritime infrastructure projects.
    • It begins via the South China Sea going towards Indo-China, South-East Asia and then around the Indian Ocean thus reaching Africa and Europe.
  • Issues
    • “Debt-trap diplomacy” of China
    • Geopolitical rivalries and disputes
    • Implementation problems like labour violations, environmental hazards, corruption scandals etc.
  • Sierra Leone in 2018 and Philippines in 2023 had also announced their exit from BRI.

ANSWER: D

• China began commercial operations of the world’s first fourth generation, gas-cooled nuclear reactor power plant.
• The Shidao Bay plant in eastern Shandong province is powered by two high-temperature reactors cooled by gas rather than pressurised water.
• The facility, which began construction in 2012, features two 250 megawatt thermal reactors and a steam generator with an installed capacity of 200 megawatts.
• Conventional reactors produce electricity from nuclear energy. However, these advanced models — known as small modular reactors, or SMRs — can be used for other applications that include heating, desalination or steam for industrial needs.
• Instead of using water to cool the system, the high-temperature reactor will be cooled using helium gas, offering a promising way to develop more inland nuclear plants, as they will not need to be located next to a water source.
• According to the International Atomic Energy Agency, more than 80 SMR projects are currently under development in 18 countries.

ANSWER: A

• Union education minister recently urged Odisha CM to implement the Pradhan Mantri Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (PM-USHA).
• As per guidelines of the PM-USHA scheme, states/UTs are required to sign an MoU for onboarding the scheme for its implementation.
• The MoU contains clauses regarding proper planning, implementation and monitoring of the scheme.

ABOUT PM-USHA

• Pradhan Mantri Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (PM-USHA) a centrally sponsored programme, aims to work with 300-plus state universities and its affiliated colleges.
• Launched in 2013, the PM-USHA aims at providing strategic funding to eligible state higher educational institutions.
• The central funding is based on norms and is outcome dependent.
• Funds flow from the central ministry through the state governments/union territories before reaching the identified institutions.
• Funding to states would be made on the basis of the critical appraisal of State Higher Education Plans, which would enlist each state’s strategy to address issues of equity, access and excellence in higher education.

This scheme has been approved till March 31, 2026 with a total outlay of Rs 12926 crore in continuation of the scheme of the Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA).

ANSWER: C

• The sale and consumption of meat, alcohol and other intoxicants have been restricted around the Pashupatinath Temple area in Kathmandu due to the Hindu festival Bala Chaturdashi.
• During the festival, seven types of grains mixed with fruits are sprinkled at the Shleshmantak Forest near the Pashupatinath Temple in memory of the deceased relatives.

ABOUT THE TEMPLE

• Situated on the banks of the holy River Bagmati on the eastern outskirts of Kathmandu, Pashupatinath is the most revered Hindu temple in Nepal.
• It is dedicated to Pashupati, a form of Shiva.
• The temple was classified as a World Heritage Site in 1979.
• It includes 518 mini-temples and a main pagoda house.
• It attracts hundreds and thousands of Hindu pilgrims from across the world apart from being a major tourist destination.

ANSWER: A

• International Day against Corruption or International Anti-Corruption Day (IACD) is celebrated on December 9^th, every year, to raise awareness among the general public on the impact of this prevailing malice.
• The United Nations General Assembly adopted the United Nations Convention against corruption on October 31, 2003.
• The authorities also designated the date of December 9 as World Anti-Corruption Day to raise awareness about corruption and the role of the Convention in preventing it.
• Following the same, the observance of the day was first officially held on 9 December 2005.
• The theme for this years’ celebration of International Anti-Corruption Day is ‘UNCAC at 20: Uniting the World Against Corruption.’

ANSWER: C

• The Ibu volcano on Halmahera Island in the eastern Indonesian province of North Maluku erupted recently, throwing ash up to 1,200 metre above its peak.
• Standing as high as around 1,300 metre above sea level, Ibu volcano is classified in the second danger level, below the highest level of IV.
• Located on the Pacific Ring of Fire, Indonesia is one of the countries with the most volcanoes in the world.