Daily Current Affairs Quiz: November 24, 2023

ANSWER: D

ANSWER: A

ANSWER: C

ANSWER: B

• A study by the Indian Council for Medical Research and the National Institute of Virology has for the first time confirmed the presence of the Kyasanur forest disease (KFD) virus in two more districts of the state—Hassan and Mysore.
• KFD is endemic in Karnataka.
• In 1957, KFD was first reported from Shivamogga.

ABOUT KFD

• KFD is a zoonotic disease.
• Kyasanur forest disease virus (KFDV) is transmitted through the bite of ticks and bonnet, and black-faced langur monkeys are highly susceptible to the infection.
  • They play a significant role in the spread of the virus in the human population.
• KFDV has been mainly found to affect humans in the forests of the Western Ghats region, with considerable morbidity.
• The disease manifests with an acute and a convalescent phase lasting for four weeks.
• In about 10-20 per cent of individuals, it may manifest with haemorrhagic or neurological complications.
• Reported mortality rate is about 2–10% and in recent years, KFDV has spread along the entire stretch of the Western Ghats region, which also includes Maharashtra, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Goa.

ANSWER: B

• External Affairs Minister recently stated that India’s engagement with the Nordic-Baltic Eight (NB8) nations has significantly strengthened in recent years
• The focus has been on establishing “appropriate institutional frameworks” to foster closer business-to-business cooperation with countries in the group.

ABOUT NB8 STATES

• The Nordic Baltic Eight (NB8), consists of-
  • Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden (Nordic states)
  • Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania (Baltic states)
• It was established in 1992 to foster closer ties between the Nordic and Baltic countries.
• Notably, the NB8 countries collectively represent an economy of more than USD 2 trillion, with a population of about 33 million and a high standard of living.
  • NB-8 also stands as an innovation and technological powerhouse.
  • NB8 countries are global leaders in niche technologies in the areas of digitization, maritime solutions, port modernization, food processing, health & life-sciences, renewable energy, AI, agriculture, innovation and skill development, e-mobility, offshore wind, fuel-technologies, including green hydrogen and green methanol, ICT, life sciences, digitaization and e-governance, cyber technologies and Green Shipping.

ANSWER: C

• Kolkali is one of the most popular folk dance of Kerala’s Malabar region.
• Kolkali means ‘dance with sticks’.
• Both men and women participate in the dance.
• The dancers move in a circle striking small sticks and keeping rhythm with special steps according to the music.
  • The circle expands and contracts as the dance proceeds.
  • The accompanying music gradually rises in pitch and the dance reaches its climax.
• Musical instruments used include Chenda, Elathalam, Mathalam and Chengala.
• Usually it is presented once in a year after paddy harvest during the month of April.
• Farmers and all villagers celebrate the festival together without any caste and creed.

ANSWER: D

• A joint exercise of the special forces of India and the United States commenced in Meghalaya’s Umroi Cantonment.
• Titled ‘Vajra Prahar 2023’, it is the 14^th such exercise aimed at sharing the best practices and experiences in areas such as joint mission planning and operational tactics.
• The first edition of the joint exercise was conducted in 2010.
• The S. contingent is represented by personnel from the 1st Special Forces Group while the Indian Army contingent is led by the Special Forces personnel from the Eastern Command.
• The exercises include combat free-fall insertion of troops from stand-off distances, water-borne insertion of troops, precision engagement of targets at long ranges, combat air-controlling of fixed-wing and rotary-wing aircraft, and airborne insertion and sustenance of troops.

ANSWER: C

• This program was set in motion in 1967 by Dr. Robert Langlands at Princeton University.
• Langlands Program consists of “very complicated theoretical abstractions, which can be difficult even for specialist mathematicians to grasp”.
• At the heart of the Program is an attempt to find connections between two far-flung areas of mathematics: number theory and harmonic analysis.
  • Number theory is the arithmetic study of numbers and the relationships between them.
    • A famous example of such a relationship is the Pythagoras theorem: a2 + b2 = c2.
  • Harmonic analysis is interested in the study of periodic phenomena.
    • Unlike number theorists, who deal with discrete arithmetics (like integers), harmonic analysts deal with mathematical objects more continuous in nature (like waves).
  • In 2018, Dr. Langlands was awarded the Abel Prize, one of the highest honours for mathematicians, for “his visionary program connecting representation theory to number theory”.

ANSWER: A

• Max Verstappen, from team Red Bull won the Las Vegas Grand Prix.
• Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc came in second and his Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez finished third.