ALL EXAM QUIZ 11.05.2024

Explanation:

• 4th Joint Trade Committee Meeting concluded between India and Ghana.
• With the aim of enhancing bilateral trade and investment cooperation, the fourth session of the India-Ghana Joint Trade Committee (JTC) was recently held in Accra.
• During the two-day meeting on May 2-3, India and Ghana agreed to operationalize the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) UPI on the Ghana Interbank Payment and Settlement System (GHIPS) within six months.

Explanation:

• Real Madrid wins its 36th Spanish league title.
• Real Madrid clinched the Spanish League title with four games to spare.
• After Girona defeated Barcelona by 4-2, Real Madrid has been declared the winner.
• Real Madrid moved to 87 points on top of the standings, 13 ahead of Girona in second and 14 clear of third-placed Barcelona.
• Real Madrid has now shifted their focus to the prestigious Champions League.
• Madrid has only lost once in 34 rounds so far.

Explanation:

• Department of Pharmaceuticals, Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers launched the MEDITECH STACKATHON 2024.
• MEDITECH STACKATHON 2024 was launched in New Delhi in collaboration with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).
• Its goal is to transform the rapidly expanding MedTech industry in India by carefully examining the value chain of certain medical products.
• Its objective is to address significant issues, encourage domestic production, reduce dependency on imports, and eventually position India as a world leader in medical technology.

Explanation:

• Vladimir Putin was sworn in for a six-year term on 7 May 2024 at a Kremlin ceremony.
• The United States and many other Western countries boycotted the ceremony due to Russia’s war in Ukraine.
• Putin has been in power as president or prime minister since 1999.
• In March, Putin got a landslide victory in the elections.
• If Putin completes his full six-year term, he will overtake Soviet leader Josef Stalin and become Russia's longest-serving leader since the eighteenth-century Empress Catherine the Great.
• Mikhail Mishustin is the current Prime Minister of Russia.
• The type of government in Russia is a federal semi-presidential republic.

Explanation:

• Russian forces to conduct tactical nuclear weapons exercises.
• Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered forces to conduct exercises involving tactical nuclear weapons.
• After the Ukraine invasion, it is the first time Russia has publicly announced drills involving tactical nuclear weapons.
• Tactical nuclear weapons include the use of air bombs, warheads for short-range missiles and artillery munitions for the battlefield.
• The exercises comprise preparations and deployment involving non-strategic nuclear weapons.
• The decision to conduct this drill has been taken after "provocative statements and threats" from Western officials. It aims to ensure Russia’s territorial integrity and sovereignty.
• Russia and the United States are the world’s biggest nuclear powers. They have more than 10,600 of the world’s 12,100 nuclear warheads.
• Russia has about 1,558 non-strategic nuclear warheads.

Explanation:

• Tripura’s First International Cricket Stadium is being constructed in Narsingarh, located in the West Tripura district.
• The stadium is expected to be operational for hosting major cricket events by February 2025.
• It will be the northeastern state’s first stadium. It is being constructed with a budget of Rs 200 crore.
• BCCI and Tripura Cricket Association have joined hands to construct this stadium. Its construction was started in 2017.
• This stadium will have a capacity of more than 25,000. Tripura will witness international and T20 matches next year.

Explanation:

• Department of Consumer Affairs issued a warning against drip pricing .
• The department also shared a sample of how drip pricing applies to customers.
• National Consumer Helpline urged people to connect for any assistance if they face any such situations.

‘Drip pricing’

• Drip pricing is a strategy where only a portion of an item's cost is initially displayed.
• Under this, the full amount is revealed later during the purchase process.
• The charges often include local taxes or booking charges.
• It is a technique used by companies to increase the price of an item after the customer has been drawn into the buying process.

Explanation:

• The Pulitzer Prize Board awarded the 2024 Pulitzer Prize on 6 May 2024.
• Pulitzer Prize is given for achievements in the field of newspaper, magazine and online journalism, literature, and musical composition.
• It was started on the name of Joseph Pulitzer in 1917.
• It is given in twenty-one categories and each winner receives a certificate and a US$15,000 cash award.

The winners of 2024 Pulitzer Prizes are given below.

2024 Pulitzer Prizes

Journalism

Public Service ProPublica, for the work of Joshua Kaplan, Justin Elliott, Brett Murphy, Alex Mierjeski and Kirsten Berg

Breaking News Reporting Staff of Lookout Santa Cruz, California

Investigative Reporting Hannah Dreier of The New York Times

Explanatory Reporting Sarah Stillman of The New Yorker

Local Reporting Sarah Conway of City Bureau and Trina Reynolds-Tyler of the Invisible Institute

National Reporting Staff of Reuters, Staff of The Washington Post

International Reporting Staff of The New York Times

Feature Writing Katie Engelhart, contributing writer, The New York Times

Commentary Vladimir Kara-Murza, contributor, The Washington Post

Criticism Justin Chang of the Los Angeles Times

Editorial Writing David E. Hoffman of The Washington Post

Audio Reporting Staffs of the Invisible Institute and USG Audio

Book, Drama and Music

Fiction Night Watch by Jayne Anne Phillips

Drama Primary Trust by Eboni Booth

History No Right to an Honest Living: The Struggles of Boston’s Black Workers in the Civil War Era by Jacqueline Jones

Biography King: A Life by Jonathan Eig, Master Slave Husband Wife: An Epic Journey from Slavery to Freedom by Ilyon Woo

Memoir and Autobiography Liliana’s Invincible Summer: A Sister’s Search for Justice by Cristina Rivera Garza

Poetry Tripas: Poems by Brandon Som

Music Adagio (For Wadada Leo Smith) by Tyshawn Sorey

Explanation:

• For the first time, researchers from Sweden’s Linköping University have created a free-standing one-atom thick sheet of gold, making gold the first metal to be formulated into freestanding 2-D sheets.

How was Goldene Developed

• Researchers first sandwiched an atomic monolayer of silicon between layers of titanium carbide.
• Then added the gold atoms, which diffused into the material and replaced the silicon atoms, forming a trapped monolayer of gold atoms. Finally, scientists etched away the titanium carbide using a solution of alkaline potassium ferricyanide known as Murakami’s reagent (an age-old technique used by Japanese smiths to decorate ironwork) to release the Goldene sheet.
• The researchers also added surfactant molecules (compounds that formed a protective barrier between Goldene and the surrounding liquid) to stop the sheets from sticking together.

Explanation:

A-3, B-2, C-1, D-4