Current Affairs One - liner : 10th April 2024

• National:
• On April 10, 2024, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) of India approved a proposal for India Ports Global Limited (IPGL) to take over the operations of the Sittwe Port in Myanmar. The Sittwe Port is a key component of the Kaladan multi-modal transit transport project, which aims to create a seamless trade route connecting Kolkata in India with Sittwe in Myanmar.

• On April 8, 2024, Air India and Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL) signed an agreement to develop Bengaluru as a premier aviation hub. The partnership aims to enhance international connectivity, operational efficiency, and passenger experience over the next five years. It includes the establishment of a dedicated domestic lounge and comprehensive Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul (MRO) facilities at the Kempegowda International Airport.
• On 10th April 2024, the President of India, Smt Droupadi Murmu, inaugurated a two-day Homoeopathy Symposium in New Delhi. The event was organized by the Central Council for Research in Homoeopathy and held on World Homoeopathy Day. The theme of the symposium was ‘Empowering Research, Enhancing Proficiency’.
• On 9th April 2024, the European Union (EU) and India launched an initiative under the India-EU Trade and Technology Council (TTC) to promote collaboration between startups in the field of Electric Vehicles (EVs) Battery Recycling. The initiative aims to enhance cooperation between European and Indian SMEs and startups in the clean and green technologies sector.
• Eid-Ul-Fitr is a Muslim festival marking the end of Ramadan, the holy month of fasting. In 2024, it was celebrated on April 10 in countries like Pakistan, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Australia, and on April 11 in India. The day is filled with prayers, meals, and social gatherings. Various leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, extended their wishes.
• Recent research reveals India has lost over 1,500 sq km of land to ‘catastrophic’ soil erosion. Nearly 30% of the country’s landmass is experiencing ‘minor’ soil erosion, while a critical 3% faces ‘catastrophic’ topsoil loss. The most significant hotspot for soil erosion in the country is the Brahmaputra Valley in Assam, which lost close to 300 square kilometers or 31% of its surface soil to ‘catastrophic’ erosion.
• Dr. Ashwini Keshavan, an Indian-origin neurologist, joined Britain’s research team on dementia on April 8, 2024. The team is researching to detect dementia through blood tests and collect more evidence in this direction. Dr. Keshavan focuses on p-tau217, a promising biomarker for Alzheimer’s disease.
• The Sangeet Natak Akademi is organizing a festival titled ‘Shakti - Festival of Music and Dance’ from 9th to 17th April 2024 at seven different Shaktipeeths in the country. The festival started at the Kamakhya Temple, Guwahati and will conclude at the Shaktipeeth Maa Harsidhi Temple, Jaisinghpur, Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh.
• The Ugadi festival, marking New Year’s Day for the states of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Karnataka in India, was celebrated on April 9, 2024. The festival involves various rituals, including bathing, applying oil, wearing new clothes, preparing special dishes, visiting temples, and exchanging gifts. The festival symbolizes new beginnings and the arrival of the spring season.
• International:
• Saudi Arabia was chosen to chair the United Nations Women’s Committee. This committee promotes the empowerment of women and gender equality across the world. The decision was met with criticism from human rights groups due to Saudi Arabia’s record on women’s rights. Despite these concerns, the bid for leadership was unopposed. Saudi Arabia will chair the 69th session of the committee, which is scheduled to take place from March 10 to 21, 2025.
• Russ Cook, a British man, became the first person to run the length of Africa. He started from South Africa’s most southerly point on April 22, 2023, and finished at Tunisia’s most northerly point, Ras Angela. The journey covered over 16,000 kilometers through 16 countries and took 352 days to complete. Despite facing numerous challenges including an armed robbery, health scares, and visa issues, he persevered and raised over £700,000 for charity.
• Economy:
• In the fiscal year 2023-24, India became a net importer of finished steel, with imports surging by 38% to 8.319 million tonnes. Despite an 11.50% increase in steel exports to 7.48 million tonnes, the inbound shipment of steel outpaced the outbound, leading to this shift. This development was reported on April 8, 2024.
• According to a report from Motilal Oswal, India’s household debt levels they reached an all-time high of 40% of GDP by December 2023. At the same time, net financial savings dropped to their lowest level at around 5% of GDP. This is seen as a sign of rising financial distress. The report attributes these figures to weak income growth, robust consumption, and growth in physical savings.
• Committee:
• India and Kazakhstan held the 5th meeting of their Joint Working Group on Counter Terrorism on April 8, 2024, in Astana. The meeting was led by KD Dewal, Joint Secretary (CT), Ministry of External Affairs of India, and Talgat Kaliyev, Ambassador-at-Large, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan. They discussed various security challenges, including state-sponsored, cross-border terrorism in South Asia, and terror activities in the Afghanistan-Pakistan region.
• Important Days:
• World Homoeopathy Day is celebrated every year on April 10th to honor the birth anniversary of Dr. Samuel Hahnemann, the founder of homoeopathy. The day aims to raise awareness about homoeopathy and its contributions to global healthcare. The theme for World Homoeopathy Day 2024 is "Homeoparivar: One Health, One Family".
• National Siblings Day is celebrated every year on April 10th to honor the unique bond between siblings. It was founded by Claudia Evart in 1995 in memory of her siblings, Alan and Lisette. The day is dedicated to appreciating the relationships shared between brothers and sisters.
• Appointments:
• Sushil Sharma has been appointed as the Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of SJVN Limited. He was recommended for this position by the Public Enterprises Selection Board (PESB) on April 8, 2024, and his appointment was announced on April 10, 2024. Before this, he was serving as the Director (Projects) at SJVN Limited.
• Simon Harris, born in 1986, was appointed as the youngest-ever Prime Minister (Taoiseach) of Ireland on 9th April 2024. He succeeded Leo Varadkar as the leader of the center-right Fine Gael party. His appointment came after the former Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, resigned.
• Air India announced the appointment of Jayaraj Shanmugam as the Head of Global Airport Operations on April 8th, 2024. Shanmugam, who previously served as the Chief Operating Officer at Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL), will assume his new role on April 15th, 2024.
• Awards & Honours:
• Mamta G. Sagar, a Bengaluru-based Kannada poet, writer, academic, and activist, won the World Literary Prize from the World Organization of Writers (WOW) on April 6. The award was given in recognition of her significant contributions to literature.
• The team behind ISRO’s Chandrayaan-3 mission was honored with the 2024 John L. “Jack” Swigert Jr. Award for Space Exploration. The award was received on behalf of ISRO by India’s Consul General in Houston, D C Manjunath, during the annual Space Symposium in Colorado on April 9, 2024. The mission was recognized for its groundbreaking accomplishment of being the first to land on the uncharted South Pole region of the Moon.
• Obituaries:
• R.M. Veerappan, a key person in Tamil Nadu politics, passed away on April 9, 2024. He worked with former Chief Ministers M.G. Ramachandran, Janaki Ramachandran, and J. Jayalalithaa. He was 98.
• Peter Higgs, the physicist who proposed the existence of the ‘God Particle’ or the Higgs boson, has passed away at the age of 94. He won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2013 for his revolutionary work. His contributions have greatly enriched our understanding of the universe.

Questions:

Q.1 How much land has India lost to ‘catastrophic’ soil erosion according to recent research?
a. 500 sq km
b. 1,000 sq km
c. 2,000 sq km
d. 1,500 sq km
Q.1 Who was honored with the 2024 John L. “Jack” Swigert Jr. Award for Space Exploration?
a. ISRO’s Chandrayaan-3 mission team
b. SpaceX
c. NASA
d. Blue Origin