Daily Current Affairs Quiz: November 20, 2023

ANSWER: A

ANSWER: D

ANSWER: C

ANSWER: C

• About two billion years ago in a galaxy far beyond our Milky Way, a massive star exploded (called supernova) that unleashed a huge burst of gamma rays, which pack the most energy of any wave in the electromagnetic spectrum.
• Those waves traversed the cosmos and finally reached Earth last year.
• Scientists previously determined that this was the strongest such burst ever detected.
• This gamma-ray burst caused a significant disturbance in Earth’s ionosphere.
  • It is a layer of the planet’s upper atmosphere that contains electrically charged gases called plasma.
  • The ionosphere is situated about 30-600 miles (50-950 km) above Earth’s surface, stretching to the very edge of space.
  • It helps form the boundary between the vacuum of space and the lower atmosphere inhabited by people and Earth’s other denizens.
  • The ionosphere, which helps protect life on Earth by absorbing harmful ultraviolet rays from the sun, is highly sensitive to changing magnetic and electrical conditions in space, usually connected to solar activity.
  • It also expands and contracts in response to solar radiation.
• The gamma rays from the burst impacted Earth’s atmosphere for a span of about 13 minutes in October, 2022.
• They were detected by the European Space Agency’s Integral (International Gamma-Ray Astrophysics Laboratory) space observatory and various satellites orbiting close to Earth.

ANSWER: B

• A life-size statue of Sachchidananda Sinha was inaugurated by Bihar Chief Minister in Patna on the occasion of his birth anniversary.
• He donned multiple hats during his illustrious career as a barrister, a lawmaker, journalist and university administrator.

ABOUT SACHCHIDANANDA SINHA

• He was born in Arrah, in erstwhile Bengal Presidency on 10^th November, 1871.
• He was an active member of British Committee on Indian National Congress in London.
• He was at the forefront of a movement that eventually led to the creation of a separate province of Bihar and Orissa (now Odisha) in 1912 with Patna as its capital.
• From 1910 until 1920, he served on the Imperial Legislative Council and the Indian Legislative Assembly.
• He was the first Indian to be appointed as a Finance Member of a province.
• He also served as the provisional president of the Constituent Assembly before Rajendra Prasad was formally appointed as President.
• He also held the position of Speaker in the Bihar and Orissa Legislative Councils.
• He was one of the Vice-Chancellors of Patna University from 1936 to 1944.

ANSWER: A

• NASA is currently conducting trials on an innovative robot, EELS, with a snake-like design, capable of autonomous exploration in untapped regions on both the Moon and Mars.
• Utilizing lidar and four sets of stereo cameras, the EELS head visually perceives and interprets the world, generating a 3D map of its surroundings.
• Propulsion, traction, and grip on icy surfaces and in loose materials such as snow and sand are achieved through the use of independently actuated counter-rotating screws.
• The EELs architecture has been tailored to accommodate the challenges posed by crevasse envelopes, ensuring adaptability throughout its journey from the surface to the ocean.
• Each segment houses both actuation and propulsion mechanisms, along with the necessary power and communication electronics to operate them.

ANSWER: A

• The annual apex-level international conference of the Indian Navy – the Indo-Pacific Regional Dialogue (IPRD) – was recently held in New Delhi.
• The IPRD is the principal manifestation of the Navy’s international engagement at the strategic-level, addressing ‘holistic’ maritime security issues across the Indo-Pacific.
• The National Maritime Foundation (NMF) is the Indian Navy’s knowledge partner and chief organiser of each edition of the IPRD.
• The overarching theme of IPRD-2023 is “Geopolitical Impacts upon Indo-Pacific Maritime Trade and Connectivity”.

ANSWER: D

• The President and Prime Minister led political leaders in wishing people for Chhath Puja.
• While Chhath has been celebrated in Bihar, parts of eastern Uttar Pradesh and Nepal for centuries, over the past decade or so, it has become a lot more visible across the country.

ABOUT THE FESTIVAL

• Chhath Puja is a four-day elaborate celebration in honour of the Sun.
• Chhath is a festival that epitomises religiosity in Bihar.
• While only some people observe the fast, the entire community gets involved in making the festival a success — cleaning river banks and the roads leading up to those banks, gathering all the little things needed for the rituals, and preparing thekuas, the prasad for the festival which is now synonymous with Bihari cuisine.
• The festivities include
  • The first day of the festival is called naha kha, where those observing it take a meal (khana) only after a ceremonial bath in a river, a pond, or the sea (nahana).
  • The second day is called kharna, on which the one observing the fast takes only one meal in the evening, of roti and kheer (rice pudding).
  • After the roti-kheer meal begins a 36-hour fast, during which devotees don’t even drink water.
  • On the third day, devotees go to the banks of a water body whose banks are decorated with diyas, rangoli, and sugarcane stalks.
  • All the offerings to the God — seasonal fruits like sweet potato, water chestnuts, pomelo, banana — are placed in soops (cane baskets) along with diyas. As the Sun sets, the person fasting raises the soop to it as an offering (arghya).
    • This is called the Sanjh ka Arghya, or the evening offering.
  • The next day, the same ritual is conducted at dawn, for the rising Sun, called the Bhor ka Arghya.

ANSWER: A

• To promote sustainable and eco-friendly constructions in the domestic housing sector, the Indian Green Building Council (IGBC) launched a rating and certification initiative ‘Nest’.
  • IGBC is a part of the Confederation of Indian Industry.
• ‘Nest’ would help pave the way for individual house owners and the residential sector to adopt green building features in a big way
• It aims to help in bringing down electricity consumption, water usage and creating a healthy living space.

ANSWER: B

• Australia won the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 final defeating India with a convincing 6-wicket margin.
• With this win Australia has won the World Cup title 6 times – 1987, 1999, 2003, 2007, 2015 and 2023.
• Some statistics
  • Player of the Final: Travis Head (137 runs)
  • Player of the Tournament: Virat Kohli (765 runs and one wicket)
  • Most runs: Virat Kohli (765 runs in 11 matches)
  • Most wickets: Mohammed Shami (24 wickets)
  • Most hundreds: Quinton de Kock (Four centuries)
  • Highest score: Glenn Maxwell (201* against Afghanistan)