Daily Current Affairs Quiz: April 2 2024

Ans (A)
In a ceremony held at the Rashtrapati Bhavan on 30 March 2024, the President of India, Droupadi Mumrmu, conferred India’s highest civilian award, Bharat Ratna, on the former Prime Minister Chaudhary Charan Singh, PV Narasimha Rao, former Chief Minister of Bihar Karpoori Thakur and famous agricultural scientist M S Swaminathan.
Former Deputy Prime Minister Lal Krishna Advani will be conferred the award by President Murmu on 31 March 2024.
Except for Lal Krishna Advani, the Bharat Ratna to Chaudhary Charan Singh, PV Narasimha Rao, Karpoori Thakur, and M S Swaminathan were awarded posthumously.
On February 13, 1948, the government of India set up the Prime Minister’s Committee on Honours and Awards.
Only two foreigners, Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan of Pakistan and former South African President Nelson Mandela have been conferred this award in 1987 and 1990 respectively.

Ans (C)
India’s ‘Government e-Market’ (GeM) portal is the world’s third largest e-commerce platform for public procurement after Korea’s On-Line e-Procurement System (KONEPS) and Singapore’s GeBIZ.
According to GeM CEO PK Singh, GeM ended this financial year with a gross merchandise value (GMV) of over Rs 4 lakh crore. This is almost 100% more than the GMV at the end of the last financial year. This demonstrates its unique potential to promote digital inclusion.
GMV denotes the aggregate worth of products or services traded during a defined timeframe.
Launched in August 2016, GeM recorded total orders worth Rs 17,445 crore in 2018-19. This gradually increased to around Rs 1.07 lakh crore in 2021-22. In the last financial year (FY23), the order value (GMV) was slightly more than Rs 2.01 lakh crore.

Ans (D)
Indian men’s badminton duo of Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy broke the record of Saina Nehwal for most weeks as world No 1 for an Indian Badminton Player.
London 2012 Olympic bronze medalist Saina Nehwal held the previous record for being world No. 1 for nine consecutive weeks.
Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy have been the world No.1 men’s doubles pair for the last 10 weeks.
The BWF badminton rankings system takes into account the 10 highest-scoring events by a player/pair in the last 52 weeks.
The international governing body of Badminton, BWF, introduced the ranking system on April 1, 1995.
The first Indian badminton player to be crowned world No. 1 was Kidambi Srikanth. He reached the world No. 1 ranking in men’s singles in April 2018. He was No. 1 for only one week.
The second Indian player was Saina Nehwal. She became the world’s No.1 player in women’s singles on 18 August 2015 and remained there for nine weeks, till 21 October 2015.
The third Indian player to be ranked world No.1 is the Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy pair.

Ans (D)
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) held the closing ceremony of the International Year of Millets (IYM) 2023 on March 29th, 2024, at the FAO headquarters in Rome, Italy.
In March 2021, the United Nations General Assembly declared 2023 as the International Year of Millets after a proposal by India, which was supported by over 70 countries.
The closing ceremony served as a forum to review the achievements and lessons learned from the International Year of Millets.
The United Nations General Assembly declared 2023 as the International Year of Millets at its 75th session in March 2021.
Millets are a type of grain that can grow in arid lands with minimal inputs and are resilient to changes in climate.
This makes them an ideal solution for countries looking to increase self-reliance and reduce dependence on imported grains.

Ans (B)
The Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras) is hosting the International Chess Federation (FIDE)-rated rapid chess tournament from 30 to 31 March 2024.
This is the sixth Shaastra Rapid FIDE-rated chess tournament held in Chennai.
IIT Madras is the only IIT in the country to conduct an Open Rapid Rating Tournament every year.
The total prize money of the tournament is Rs 5,00,000. The first prize in this is Rs 65,000.
Chess Tournament Tamil Nadu is the chess powerhouse of India and Chennai is at its centre.

Ans (C)
Professor Meena Charanda, Principal of Kalindi College, Delhi University, was given the ‘International Culture Award’ for the year 2024.
Prof Meena Charanda has been given this honor for her remarkable work in the field of education and social service.
Prof Charanda was presented with this honor at a program at the India International Center on March 30, 2024.
Professor Charanda was given a memento, plaque, shield, and citation from the university in the award.

Ans (B)
Sunil Chhetri became the 8th player in the world and the first Indian football player to play 150+ international matches.
Since his debut with Mohun Bagan in 2002, Chhetri has scored 94 goals and remains the top Indian scorer in club football.
He is the only third among active players behind Cristiano Ronaldo (128) and Lionel Messi (106).
He became captain of the Indian team in 2011.

Ans (B)
First ever India-made swine fever vaccine by IIT Guwahati.
This vaccine marks the 1st recombinant virus-based solution for classical swine fever developed in India, offering a swift and cost-effective method for pig vaccination.
The technology has been transferred to BioMed Pvt Ltd for commercial production of the vaccine.
States like Punjab, Haryana, Bihar, Gujarat, and Kerala are among the states with frequently observed instances of swine fever.
Swine flu is also known as hog cholera or swine influenza.
It is an acute respiratory disease that affects pigs.
The main cause of swine flu is the influenza virus.
The virus is highly contagious and can spread quickly among pigs.
The disease is not caused by bacteria, fungi, or protozoa,
It is caused by a specific type of influenza virus known as H1N1.
Swine flu can result in high mortality rates in pig populations.

Ans (D)
Saudi Arabia to chair the UN forum on women’s rights and gender equality.
The United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) unanimously appointed Saudi Arabia to chair its 69th session in 2025.
Saudi ambassador to the UN, Abdulaziz Alwasil, was elected as chair.
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is a country in West Asia, bordered by the Red Sea, Jordan, Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar, UAE, Oman, and Yemen.
Capital: Riyadh
King: Salman of Saudi Arabia
Currency: Saudi Riyal

Ans (D)
International Day of Zero Waste 2024 has been observed on 30th March.
On 14 December 2022, the UNGA adopted a resolution at its 77th session to proclaim 30 March as International Day of Zero Waste.
The United Nations Environment Program and the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) jointly facilitate the observance of this day.
Promoting zero-waste initiatives can help advance all the goals in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.