Daily Current Affairs Quiz: August 22 2024

Ans (B)

The 3rd India-Japan 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue took place in New Delhi on 20 August 2024.

This dialogue, started in 2019, focuses on enhancing security and defence cooperation between the two countries.

India and Japan will mark the 10th anniversary of their Special Strategic and Global Partnership in 2024.

The initiative was decided at the 13th India-Japan Annual Summit in Japan in October 2018.

The first dialogue occurred in New Delhi in November 2019.

The second dialogue was held in Tokyo in September 2022.

They agreed on supporting an open Indo-Pacific region.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh had separate talks with Japanese Defence Minister Kihara Minoru.

Ans (D)

Paetongtarn Shinawatra was sworn in as the new Prime Minister of Thailand after King Maha Vajiralongkorn approved her appointment.

She replaces Srettha Thavisin, who was dismissed by the Constitutional Court for ethical violations.

At 37 years old, Paetongtarn Shinawatra is the youngest Prime Minister of Thailand and the second female Prime Minister after Yingluck Shinawatra.

She is the niece of Yingluck Shinawatra and the third member of the Shinawatra clan to become Prime Minister.

Paetongtarn Shinawatra secured a two-thirds majority in Parliament to gain the King’s approval.

She belongs to the Pheu Thai Party, which has been influential in Thai politics for decades but did not win a majority in the 2023 election.

Ans (C)

Riiohlang Dhar from Meghalaya has been selected as an assistant referee for the eighth FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in the Dominican Republic.

The tournament will take place from 16 October to 3 November 2024.

India hosted the seventh FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in 2022, where Spain won the title by beating Colombia.

Riiohlang Dhar is the second Indian assistant referee in this tournament, following Uvena Fernandes.

Uvena Fernandes was an assistant referee at the fifth FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup held in Jordan in 2016.

Dhar is one of 38 match officials selected for the eighth U-17 Women’s World Cup.

Dhar, a former football player, retired in 2009 and later became a referee. She recently officiated at the 2024 AFC U17 Women’s Asian Cup in Indonesia.

The first FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup was held in 2008 in New Zealand, with North Korea winning the inaugural edition.

The U-17 Women’s World Cup is held every two years, but the 2020 edition was postponed due to Covid-19.

From 2025 to 2029, FIFA has announced that the U-17 Women’s World Cup will be held annually in Morocco.

North Korea and Spain have each won the trophy twice, while South Korea, France, and Japan have won it once.

Ans (A)

The ‘Mukhyamantri Bal Poshtik Aahar Yojana’ was launched by Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on 17 August 2024 in Hamirpur.

The scheme is specifically for government school children from nursery to class eight.

Students will receive boiled eggs or fruits once a week, with fruits sourced from local markets based on children’s preferences.

It will complement the existing mid-day meal scheme by providing additional nutritious food.

The scheme will cover 15,181 government schools and 5,34,293 students in Himachal Pradesh.

The state government has allocated Rs. 12.75 crore for the scheme for the 2024-25 period.

Ans (B)

The World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, declared mpox (monkeypox) a “public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC)” due to an increase in cases in the Democratic Republic of Congo and other African countries.

This is the second time mpox has been declared a PHEIC by the WHO; the first declaration was in July 2022.

The disease was renamed mpox by the WHO in November 2022 after concerns that the original name was “racist and stigmatising.”

No cases of mpox have been detected in India so far.

Ans (A)

President Droupadi Murmu conferred the 2023 National Geoscience Awards at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi on 20 August 2024.

Prof. Dhiraj Mohan Banerjee, Emeritus Scientist at INSA, received the Lifetime Achievement Award.

The National Geoscience Award was instituted by the Union Ministry of Mines in 1966 as the National Minerals Award and renamed in 2009.

It is one of the oldest and most prestigious awards in geosciences.

The awards are given annually in three categories: Lifetime Achievement, Young Geoscientist, and National Geoscience Award.

The awards honor achievements in mineral discovery and exploration, mining technology and mineral beneficiation, and fundamental/applied geosciences.

The National Young Geoscientist Award for 2023 went to Dr. Ashutosh Pandey, Assistant Professor at Pondicherry University.

The National Geoscience Award for 2023 in the category of Mineral Discovery and Exploration was also conferred.

Ans (D)

Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a bilateral meeting with Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim at Hyderabad House in New Delhi.

The discussions aimed to deepen engagement between India and Malaysia across various domains.

Anwar Ibrahim’s visit marked his first state visit to India as the Malaysian Prime Minister.

Anwar Ibrahim paid homage to Mahatma Gandhi by laying a wreath at Delhi’s Rajghat and signed the visitor’s book there.

The bilateral relationship between India and Malaysia was upgraded to Enhanced Strategic Partnership in 2015.

Ans (C)

The ICC Women’s T20 World Cup was initially scheduled to be held in Bangladesh from October 3-20.

The tournament will now take place in Dubai and Sharjah, UAE.

The change is due to ongoing unrest in Bangladesh and travel advisories from several countries.

The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) will keep the hosting rights.

The ICC thanked the UAE, Sri Lanka, and Zimbabwe for their support and praised the BCB’s efforts.

Ans (B)

Maria Branyas Morera, the world’s oldest person, died on August 21, 2024, at the age of 117 years and 168 days.

She became the world’s oldest person in January 2023.

The oldest person ever recorded was Jeanne Calment from France, who lived to be 122 years and 164 days old.

The title of the oldest living person now belongs to Tomiko Itooka from Japan, born on May 23, 1908, who is currently 116 years old.

Ans (A)

On August 21, 2024, Sembcorp Industries and Japanese firms signed an agreement for India’s first green ammonia export to Japan.

Sembcorp Industries will produce green ammonia using renewable energy.

Japan’s Kyushu Electric will integrate this green ammonia into their energy mix.

India aims to become a global hub for green ammonia and hydrogen.

There are ongoing tenders in India for green ammonia production.