This is the current affairs of 11 January 2023. Here are questions and answers of daily current affairs for better preparation of competitive exams for government jobs.
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1. Who became the youngest and first gay Prime Minister of France?
a. Grabiel Atal
b. Marine le Pen
c. Laurent Fabius
d. Patrick Wignall
Answer: a. Grabiel Atal
– On January 9, 2024, the President of France, Emmanuel Macron, appointed Gabriel Atal as the new Prime Minister.
– At 34 years old, Gabriel had previously served as the Minister of a crucial department in the cabinet under former Prime Minister Elizabeth Born.
– He is the youngest Prime Minister in France and the first openly gay (homosexual) Prime Minister as well.
What powers does the Prime Minister have in France?
– In France, the main power lies with the President of the government.
– It is somewhat similar to the power of the President in the United States.
– While the United States does not have the position of Prime Minister, France does.
– A unique feature of the French constitution is that the Prime Minister is not necessarily the leader of the majority in the Parliament.
– The Prime Minister in France is the head of the French Republic’s government and the leader of the Cabinet. However, the real power lies with the President of the government.
Two-year tenure of France’s second female PM
– Former PM Élizabeth Born resigned from the position of Prime Minister on January 8, 2024.
– Élizabeth Born was elected as the Prime Minister of the country in May 2022. She served in this position for almost two years.
– She became the second female Prime Minister of France to hold this position.
– Élizabeth resigned due to increasing political tension on the immigration issue.
About Gabriel Atal
– According to media reports, when Gabriel Atal took the oath of the ministerial office in 2022, he became the youngest politician (32 years old) to become a minister.
– Before Gabriel Atal, the youngest Prime Minister in France was Laurent Fabius, appointed in 1984.
– Fabius was 37 years old at that time. It’s worth mentioning that parliamentary elections are also scheduled in France this year.
About France
– Capital: Paris
– President: Emmanuel Macron
– Prime Minister: Gabriel Atal
– Currency: Euro
– 8 neighboring countries: Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Monaco, Spain, and Andorra
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2. Who became the new Prime Minister of Bhutan?
a. Jigme Khesar
b. Tshering Tobgay
c. Ugyen Dorji
d. Tshering Bangse
Answer: b. Tshering Tobgay
– The Election Commission elected them as Bhutan’s new Prime Minister on January 10.
– Their party won approximately two-thirds (30 out of 47) of the seats on January 9, 2024.
– This marks their second term as Prime Minister.
– They served as the Prime Minister of the Himalayan kingdom from 2013 to 2018.
– They are the leader of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).
About Bhutan
– King: Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck
Bhutan is a mountainous country surrounded by land and is home to approximately 800,000 people.
– Bhutan shares its borders with India and China (Tibet).
– States sharing borders: West Bengal, Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, and Assam
– Capital: Thimphu (largest city)
– Currency: Bhutanese Ngultrum, Indian Rupee
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3. PM Modi and President of which country Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan held a road show in Ahmedabad in January 2024?
a. Iraq
b. Qatar
c. Yemen
d. UAE
Answer: d. UAE
– This roadshow took place on January 9, covering approximately three kilometers from Ahmedabad Airport to Sabarmati Ashram.
– The President of the United Arab Emirates attended the ‘Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit’ in Gujarat.
– The summit was held in the capital city, Gandhinagar, Gujarat, and was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
– Business delegates from around the world participated in this summit.
– It’s noteworthy that Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the first ‘Vibrant Gujarat Summit’ in 2003 when he was the Chief Minister of Gujarat. Thus, it has been 20 years since the inception of the first global investor summit.
About the UAE
– Capital: Abu Dhabi
– President: Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan
– Prime Minister: Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum
– Currency: UAE Dirham
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4. Name the first Indian who became the Secretary General of BIMSTEC?
a. Parul Chaudhary
b. Rakesh Mohapatra
c. Indramani Pandey
d. S Jaishankar
Answer: c. Indramani Pandey
– In January 2024, he assumed the role of Secretary General of BIMSTEC.
– According to the Indian Ministry of External Affairs, Indramani Pandey is the first Indian to become the Secretary General of BIMSTEC.
– His term will be three years.
– He is a 1990 batch officer of the Indian Foreign Service. Before this, he served as the Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations office in Geneva.
Note – Arindam Bagchi is the new Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations office in Geneva.
About BIMSTEC
– Full Name: The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation
– Headquarters: Dhaka, Bangladesh
– Seven Member Countries: Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Thailand.
– BIMSTEC includes countries in the Bay of Bengal region, where approximately 22% of the world’s population resides in the seven countries surrounding the Bay of Bengal.
– Its objective is to function as an organization between South and Southeast Asian nations.
– The organization was established in 1997 as BIST-EC (Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, and Thailand Economic Cooperation). Later, Myanmar, Nepal, and Bhutan also joined, and it was then named BIMSTEC.
– Objective: To foster technical and economic cooperation among countries in South and Southeast Asia with coastlines along the Bay of Bengal.
– BIMSTEC has 14 main sectors, including Trade and Investment, Transport and Communication, Energy, Tourism, Technology, Fisheries, Agriculture, Public Health, Poverty Alleviation, Counter-terrorism and Transnational Crime, Environment and Disaster Management, People-to-People Contact, Cultural Cooperation, and Climate Change.
Focusing on China
– The Bay of Bengal is crucial for China as it rapidly expands its reach to the Indian Ocean. As China initiates the Belt and Road Initiative, excluding Bhutan and India, it has launched a significant campaign for financing and construction through the Belt and Road Initiative in almost all BIMSTEC countries. Therefore, the BIMSTEC region becomes a new battleground in the struggle for dominance between India and China.
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5. Which state government created a separate sports department for the first time in January 2024?
a. Bihar
b. Odisha
c. Jharkhand
d. Uttar Pradesh
Answer: a. Bihar
– This decision was made during a cabinet meeting in Patna on January 8, 2024.
– Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has assigned the responsibility of the Sports Department to Jitendra Kumar Rai.
– Jitendra Kumar Rai already holds the portfolio for Art, Culture, and Youth Department.
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6. When is World War Orphans Day observed?
a. 2 January
b. 4 January
c. 6 January
d. 8 January
Answer: c. 6 January
– Its objective was to assist children affected by conflict.
– The goal is to raise awareness about the plight of children who have lost their parents due to conflict.
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7. When is World Hindi Day celebrated?
a. 7 January
b. 8 January
c. 9 January
d. 10 January
Answer: d. 10 January
Theme of 2024 – Connecting Hindi Traditional Knowledge and Artificial Intelligence
– It is celebrated with the aim of promoting the development of Hindi worldwide and spreading – it as an international language.
– It was initiated in the year 2006.
– Former Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh organized the first World Hindi Day celebration on January 10, 2006.
Why is it celebrated on January 10?
– The first World Hindi Divas Conference took place on January 10, 1975, in Nagpur, Maharashtra.
– Hence, January 10 was chosen for the celebration.
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8. According to the report of Copernicus Climate Change Service, what was the world’s hottest year recorded (highest in the last 100,000 years)?
a. 1998
b. 2005
c. 2020
d. 2023
Answer: d. 2023
– We might be feeling the chill right now, but would you believe that 2023 has been recorded as the hottest year globally?
– Efforts are being made to keep the Earth’s temperature rise (compared to pre-industrial levels) below 1.5 degrees, but the first analyses of the temperature in 2023 indicate that the Earth’s temperature increased by 1.48 degrees just last year.
– This information has been provided by the European Climate Agency Copernicus, suggesting that the efforts made to limit the Earth’s temperature rise under the Paris Agreement seem to be failing.
The Hottest Year in a Hundred Thousand Years
– The Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) announced that 2023 was the hottest year on record, likely making it the warmest period in the past 100,000 years.
– This report was released on January 9, 2024.
Carlo Buontempo, the director of C3S, said, “From a climate perspective, this has been an extraordinarily unusual year.”
– In comparison to pre-industrial levels, the average global temperature rise has reached approximately 1.5 degrees Celsius.
– Scientists have warned that by January or February 2024, this increase could surpass the 1.5-degree Celsius threshold, potentially exacerbating climate impacts.
– Scientists have stated that in 2023, for the first time, the daily average global temperature exceeded the pre-industrial (1850-1900) levels by one degree Celsius.
– According to C3S, the global average temperature in 2023 was 14.98 degrees, which was 0.17 degrees Celsius warmer than the previous highest annual record in 2016.
– This was 1.48 degrees Celsius higher than the pre-industrial level between 1991 and 2020.
Why is the temperature rising?
– The continuous increase in the global average temperature is due to pollution.
– Pollution prevents a significant portion of the sun’s heat from returning, trapping it in the Earth’s atmosphere.
– It acts like a greenhouse, significantly impacting the climate. This has severely affected the weather.
– The influence of La Niña could also result in even higher temperatures.
– In the coming years, there is a risk of the complete melting of the Arctic Ocean, and many coastal cities could submerge in water.
– The rising temperatures will have a devastating impact on the Indian subcontinent. – India may face a dire situation, as witnessed in 2015 when a heatwave claimed the lives of 2500 people.
On what basis is the claim being made for the highest temperature in a hundred thousand years?
– The task of recording temperatures began 174 years ago. So, for data before that, scientists adopted another method.
– Through samples of tree rings, ice cores, and stalagmites, scientists have climate data spanning several centuries (1000 years).
– This data is considered the foundation for understanding scientific climate systems.
– After the industrial revolution, humans have significantly contributed to global warming.
It will get even hotter in the future.
– Environmental journalist Hridayesh Joshi says that we need to remember that the La Niña impact cycle began in 2023 and is still active, which is keeping temperatures high. – Despite the use of fossil fuels, such as oil, coal, and gas, showing no signs of reduction, and governments worldwide installing green energy plants, the effective absorption is not happening. Behind this, there are the significant interests of fossil fuel companies that want to continue their investments for the next 4-5 decades, aiming to keep the entire energy cycle centered on fossil fuels.
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9. DRDO launched which indigenous assault rifle for the armed forces?
a. Garad
b. Dade
c. Ugram
d. Rudram
Answer: c. Ugram
– The first operational prototype of the rifle, named “Ugram,” meaning fierce, was unveiled on January 8, 2024, by Dr. V. Shailendra Gade, the Director-General of Armament and Combat Engineering Systems at DRDO in Pune.
Armed Forces:
– The Indian Armed Forces, comprising the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guard, are collectively known as the Armed Forces of India. They are also referred to as the Indian Defense Forces.
Development of the Rifle:
– The rifle was developed in collaboration with Hyderabad-based Divya Armor India Private Limited with the support of the Armament Research and Development Establishment (ARDE), a facility of DRDO located in Pune.
Ugram Rifle Features:
– The rifle has an effective range of 500 meters.
– It weighs less than four kilograms.
– The rifle is equipped with a 20-round magazine.
– All essential components are made of steel.
– It can fire in both single and full-auto modes.
– The design of the rifle is based on the General Staff Qualitative Requirements (GSQR) of the Indian Army.
Comparison with Other Rifles:
– Ugram rifle can be compared to the latest AK and AR-type rifles.
– Approximately 72,000 rifles like Ugram were purchased in the year 2020.
– Note: The ‘Ugram’ rifle will have to undergo several internal tests and trials before being inducted into the military.
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10. When is Death anniversary of Lal Bahadur Shastri observed?
a. 9 January
b. 10 January
c. 11 January
d. 12 January
Answer: c. 11 January
– Former Prime Minister of India, Lal Bahadur Shastri, passed away on January 11, 1966.
– At that time, he was in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, participating in negotiations with Pakistan.
