Tnpsc Current Affairs in English – 8th December 2023

1. India announced a USD 250 million line of credit to which country for modernisation of its agricultural sector?

A. Kenya 🗹

B. South Africa

C. Congo

D. Papua New Guinea

• India announced a USD 250 million line of credit to Kenya for modernisation of its agricultural sector as Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Kenyan President William Samoei Ruto agreed to enhance bilateral ties in areas of defence, trade, energy, digital public infrastructure and healthcare. The Kenyan side offered to provide land to Indian companies and institutions for cultivation of crops, including millets.

2. What is the trend of cybercrimes and economic offences in 2022, as compared to 2021?

A. Increased 🗹

B. Decreased

C. Remained same

D. No data

• India saw a rise of 24.4 per cent in cybercrimes registered in 2022 compared to 2021, whereas other categories of crime – including economic offences (11.1%), crimes against senior citizens (9%), against women (4%), too recorded an increase, as per the latest data released by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB).

3. ‘Gram Manchitra’ application, which was recently launched, is associated with_:?

A. Geographic Information System 🗹

B. Cultural Archive

C. Educational Resources

D. Vaccination Reminder

• In order to encourage the Spatial Planning by the Gram Panchayat, Ministry of Panchayati Raj had launched the Geographic Information System (GIS) application “Gram Manchitra”.
• This application facilitates and supports Gram Panchayats to perform planning at Gram Panchayat level using geo-spatial technology. It provides a unified Geo Spatial platform to better visualize the various developmental works to be taken up across the different sectors and provide a decision support system for Gram Panchayat Development Plan (GPDP). Ministry has launched mActionSoft, a mobile based solution to help in capturing photos with Geo-Tags (GPS Coordinates).

4. What is the expansion of PDI, launched by the Ministry of Panchayati Raj?

A. Panchayat Development Index 🗹

B. Panchayat Distribution Index

C. Panchayat Direction Index

D. People Development Index

• To assess and measure the progress made by Grassroots level Institutions in achieving Localized SDGs and thereby attaining SDG 2030, Ministry has released a report on Panchayat Development Index (PDI). Panchayat Development Index would play a significant role for performance evaluation and progress assessment in achieving the SDGs in rural area.

5. ‘JT-60SA’, the world’s largest and most advanced nuclear fusion reactor, is a joint initiative between the European Union and which country?

A. India

B. Japan 🗹

C. USA

D. Australia

• ‘JT-60SA’, the world’s largest and most advanced nuclear fusion reactor, started its official operations in Japan’s Ibaraki Prefecture. JT-60SA is a joint initiative between the European Union and Japan. The JT-60SA reactor is a six-storey- high machine, which is kept in a hangar in Naka north of Tokyo.

6. Which technology company introduced a new AI model named ‘Gemini’?

A. Microsoft

B. Google 🗹

C. Oracle

D. Apple

• Google introduced Gemini as it’s most capable and general model yet. The first version, Gemini 1.0, is optimized for different sizes: Ultra, Pro, and Nano. These are the first models of the Gemini era and the first realization of the vision as the company formed Google DeepMind earlier this year.

7. As per National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data, which state recorded the highest number of custodial deaths in 2022?

A. Gujarat 🗹

B. Karnataka

C. Andhra Pradesh

D. Uttar Pradesh

• Gujarat has recorded the highest number of custodial deaths in 2022, according to the recently released report of the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB). Gujarat has retained this top spot for the third consecutive year in a row. According to the NCRB report, Rajasthan and Punjab, which together claimed the second spot.

8. ‘TRIPS agreement’, which was seen in the news, is associated with which institution?

A. WTO 🗹

B. UNICEF

C. IMF

D. WEF

• India, Pakistan and South Africa, along with five others, have pushed for a five-year global patent waiver for COVID diagnostics and therapeutics. In a submission to the World Trade Organization, they said that diagnostics and therapeutics are essential tools to fight the pandemic.

9. Which organisation released the draft of a global climate agreement which presented three options to tackle fossil fuels?

A. United Nations 🗹

B. World Economic Forum

C. NITI Aayog

D. International Monetary Fund

• The United Nations released the latest draft of a global climate agreement which presented three options to tackle fossil fuels. The first proposes an “orderly and just phase out of fossil fuels”.
• The second calls for faster efforts to phase out projects that lack the means to capture and store emissions, and to “rapidly” reduce fossil fuel use to achieve carbon neutrality in global energy production by 2050.The third option contained in the 24-page draft is “no text” at all, a position supported by oil giant Saudi Arabia and China.

10. Which Union Ministry launched the ‘Startup Gateway for Garbage Free Cities’?

A. Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs 🗹

B. Ministry of MSME

C. Ministry of Finance

D. Ministry of Corporate Affairs

• Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), rolled out the Startup Gateway for Garbage Free Cities, in collaboration with Startup Incubation and Innovation Centre (SIIC) IIT Kanpur, to call for applications for the second cohort of startups.
• This collaboration will support startups working at the nexus of technology and social innovation to solve India’s waste management challenges by improving the efficiency of waste management. Under Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban, Swachhata Startup Challenge was launched in 2022 to nurture the evolving startup ecosystem from the Indian waste sector.