Daily Current Affairs

th
for (20
app_20201213
April 2024)
International expands its military capabilities in the face of
Maldives Court Overturns Former President deepening tensions with the United States
Abdulla Yameen’s Prison Sentence and South Korea.
Maldives High Court has overturned former It conducted a similar set of tests in February,
President Abdulla Yameen’s 11-year prison but at the time it did not specify the names of
sentence on money laundering and bribery the cruise missile or the anti-aircraft missile.
charges and ordered a retrial. The
development comes two days ahead of National
parliamentary elections in this Indian Ocean Nalin Prabhat appointed as Director-General
archipelago nation. The judges cited errors in of National Security Guard
the trial and highlighted Yameen’s deprivation Nalin Prabhat, a 1992 batch IPS officer of the
of trial rights. They emphasized that the Andhra Pradesh cadre, has been appointed as
prosecution failed to prove the offense pillars the Director-General of the National Security
outlined in the indictment. Guard (NSG). He is currently posted as
Additional Director-General, Central Reserve
Sweden becomes 38th country to join NASA’s Police Force (CRPF) in Jammu and Kashmir.
Artemis Accords NSG is the country’s counterterrorism and
Sweden has officially joined the Artemis counter-hijack force.
Accords, becoming the 38th country to pledge
its commitment to outlined principles such as State-of-the-art submersible platform SPACE
transparency, interoperability, and the inaugurated at Kerala's Idukki
peaceful use of space. The Artemis Accords A state-of-the-art Submersible Platform for
are a set of principles and guidelines for Acoustic Characterization and Evaluation
international cooperation in space (SPACE) was inaugurated in Kerala's Idukki
exploration. They were announced by NASA in district. SPACE, set up by the Naval Physical &
May 2020 and named after NASA’s Artemis Oceanographic Laboratory of DRDO, has been
program, which is aimed at returning humans designed as a premier testing and evaluation
to the Moon by the mid-2020s. hub for sonar systems destined for the Indian
Navy onboard various platforms, including
Intel builds world’s largest neuromorphic ships, submarines and helicopters.
system to enable more sustainable AI The platform is suitable for survey, sampling,
Intel has built the world's largest and data collection of air, surface, mid-water,
neuromorphic system. Code-named Hala and reservoir floor parameters using modern
Point, this large-scale neuromorphic system, scientific instrumentation.
initially deployed at Sandia National
Laboratories, utilizes Intel’s Loihi 2 processor, India delivers first batch of BrahMos to
aims at supporting research for future brain- Philippines
inspired artificial intelligence (AI), and tackles India has delivered the first batch of BrahMos
challenges related to the efficiency and supersonic cruise missiles to the Philippines. It
sustainability of today’s AI. With its 1152 Loihi was delivered onboard transport aircraft of
2 processors, Hala Point can support up to 20 the Indian Air Force, which landed in the
quadrillion operations per second, allowing it Philippines. The Philippines is acquiring the
to handle real-time AI applications and systems under Horizon 2 of the Revised
complex computational tasks. Armed Forces of the Philippines
Modernization Programme. In January 2022,
N. Korea conducts test of ‘Super-Large’ cruise Philippines concluded a $375 million deal with
Missile Warhead India for three batteries of the shore-based,
North Korea has conducted a test of a ‘super- anti-ship variant of the BrahMos, becoming
large’ cruise missile warhead and a new anti- the first export customer for the joint venture
aircraft missile in a western coastal area as it missile between India and Russia.
 Daily Current Affairs
th
for (20
app_20201213
April 2024)
Uttar Pradesh now has the most GI-tagged and 78 launch vehicles for Indian space
items in the country programs.
Six more products from Uttar Pradesh have A former ISRO scientist, Rao incorporated
recently been given the Geographical Ananth Technologies Limited in 1992 to
Indication (GI) tag. The GI Registry awarded indigenously design and develop some of the
the certification to the Banaras Tirangi Barfi country’s most sophisticated avionics for ISRO
and the five other Uttar Pradesh products. The and the Defence sector.
other products that received certification in
Uttar Pradesh include Banaras Metal Casting Business and Banking
Craft, Lakhimpur Kheri Tharu Embroidery, Yes Bank co-founder Rana Kapoor gets bail in
Bareilly Cane and Bamboo Craft, Zardozi Craft, bank fraud case after four years
and Pilkhuwa Hand Block Print Textile. With A special court in Mumbai has granted bail to
these six new additions, Uttar Pradesh retains Yes Bank co-founder Rana Kapoor. The
its position as the state with the most GI- Enforcement Directorate (ED), Mumbai,
tagged products in India, reaching a total of arrested Mr. Kapoor on 7th March 2020, for
75. Tamil Nadu follows behind with 58 GI involvement in a ₹466.51 crore bank fraud. He
products. was also charged with money laundering and
eight other cases related to bank fraud. He
DRDO Hands Over Indigenous Flight Control secured bail in all the cases filed against him
Modules To HAL For LCA Tejas Mk-1A Variant by the ED after more than 4-years of
Defence Research and Development incarceration.
Organisation (DRDO) has handed over the first
batch of indigenous leading-edge actuators Archer Aviation aims to start electric air taxi
and airbrake control modules to Hindustan trials in India next year
Aeronautics Limited. DRDO’s Aeronautical U.S.-based Archer Aviation aims to begin trials
Development Agency, in collaboration with of its electric air taxi in India next year, ahead
Hyderabad’s Research Centre Imarat and of a planned commercial launch in 2026, the
Bengaluru’s Central Manufacturing Technology company's chief executive said. Archer last
Institute, marked a significant leap towards year partnered with InterGlobe Enterprises,
self-reliance in aeronautical technologies. It which backs India's top airline, IndiGo, to
said, the successful completion of flight trials launch the air taxis to help people avoid
for leading edge actuators and airbrake ground traffic in congested cities.
control modules has paved the way for Archer Aviation is backed by Stellantis and
production clearance, enabling HAL to gear up Boeing.
for equipping the Mk-1A variant of LCA Tejas.
Airtel Payments Bank launches NCMC-
Ananth Technologies founder Pavuluri Subba enabled debit and pre-paid cards
Rao gets Aryabhatta Award for contribution Airtel Payments Bank has announced the
to astronautics. launch of its eco-friendly NCMC (National
Ananth Technologies Founder, CEO and Common Mobility Cards)-enabled debit and
Chairman, Pavuluri Subba Rao, has been pre-paid cards. The bank has partnered with
conferred with the ‘Aryabhatta Award’ the National Payments Corporation of India
instituted by the Aeronautical Society of India (NPCI) to launch these interoperable cards
(ASI). He was also presented with ASI’s that are powered by RuPay.
‘Distinguished Fellow’ title. He received the The bank has introduced an NCMC-enabled
award in recognition of Rao’s tremendous debit card for its savings account customers
lifetime contribution to the promotion of and an NCMC-enabled pre-paid card for its
astronautics in India. ATL has supplied key wallet customers.
components and technologies to 98 satellites
 Daily Current Affairs
th
for (20
app_20201213
April 2024)
NSE to launch derivatives on Nifty Next 50
index from 24th April
The National Stock Exchange (NSE) will
introduce derivative contracts on the Nifty
Next 50 index on 24th April. The Nifty Next 50
index represents 50 companies from the Nifty
100 after excluding the Nifty 50 companies.
The exchange will offer three serial monthly
index futures and index options contract
cycles.

Sports
Tennis: Ruud and Tsitsipas reach Barcelona
Open semifinals
Casper Ruud and Stefanos Tsitsipas have won
their singles matches to advance to the
Barcelona Open semifinals, keeping them on
course to meet in a second straight final. Ruud
beat Matteo Arnaldi 6-4, 6-3 to notch his
season-leading 27th win. Tsitsipas defeated
Facundo Díaz 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (8).

Candidates 2024, Round 12: Vaishali stuns

Anna for a hat-trick of wins
In the 2024 Fide Women’s Candidates
Tournament, Vaishali Rameshbabu, after
losing four games in a row, defeated Anna
Muzychuk to register her third straight win,
and she has jumped to sixth place. Koneru
Humpy is joint-third with 6 points. China’s Tan
Zhongyi is in the lead after surviving a close
encounter with Nurgyul Salimova.