Daily Current Affairs 29 April 2024, WBPSC Exam Current Affairs

Daily Current Affairs for WBPSC Exam

Polity & Constitution

Autonomy Issue in Assam: Article 244(A)

• This constitutional provision holds significant promise for the region, offering the potential for the establishment of an autonomous state within Assam, with a focus on granting greater autonomy to tribal areas.

• Diphu, designated for Scheduled Tribes (STs), stands out as the most sparsely populated among Assam’s 14 Lok Sabha seats, boasting a modest electorate of just 8.9 lakh voters.
• Governed under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution, the region is under the jurisdiction of two autonomous councils – the Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council (KAAC) and the North Cachar Hills Autonomous Council.
• This constituency serves as the residence for a diverse array of communities, encompassing Karbi, Dimasa, Hmar, Kuki, Rengma Naga, Zeme Naga, Bodo, Garo, Assamese, and Gorkha populations, among others.

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Economy

Curbs on Kotak Bank by RBI

• This action is in accordance with Section 35A of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949, which grants the RBI the authority to issue directives to banks to safeguard the interests of depositors and the bank itself.

• The RBI's decision comes in response to persistent issues with Kotak Mahindra Bank's IT infrastructure and risk management framework.
• Over the past two years, the bank's Core Banking System (CBS) and online and digital banking channels have experienced frequent and significant outages, leading to substantial inconvenience for customers.

Report & Indices

Global Report on Food Crisis (GRFC): 2024

• Magnitude of Acute Malnutrition: The report highlights that 36 million children under 5 years of age are acutely malnourished across 32 countries, indicating a dire situation for the most vulnerable demographic.
• Worsening Acute Malnutrition: Acute malnutrition exacerbated in 2023, particularly among displaced populations, emphasizing the critical need for targeted interventions to alleviate suffering.
• Consistent Trends: Notably, 36 countries have consistently appeared in GRFC analyses since 2016, representing 80% of the world's most hunger-stricken regions, underscoring the persistent nature of this crisis.

About the Global Report on Food Crises (GRFC)

• The Global Report on Food Crises (GRFC) is an annual publication produced by the Food Security Information Network and launched by the Global Network Against Food Crises.
• This comprehensive report highlights acute food insecurity and malnutrition on a global scale, identifying main drivers such as conflict, extreme weather events, and economic shocks.
• Moreover, it advocates for long-term investments aimed at transforming food systems to ensure sustainable solutions to the ongoing crisis.

Science & Technology

Astronomers Detect Rare Giant Flare from Magnetar

• This celestial phenomenon, observed in the Messier 82 (M82) galaxy, commonly known as the “Cigar Galaxy,” marks the furthest-known instance of such an occurrence.

• Magnetars, a distinct class of neutron stars, are characterized by their immensely potent magnetic fields, the most formidable ever recorded in the universe. Periodically, these enigmatic celestial bodies unleash colossal eruptions of gamma rays known as giant flares. These phenomena stand as the most potent non-destructive energy releases observed in the cosmos to date.
• The detection of this rare giant flare in the M82 galaxy adds to the limited catalog of confirmed occurrences. Prior to this discovery, only two giant flares had been definitively observed in our own Milky Way galaxy, occurring in 2004 and 1998, respectively. Additionally, one such event was documented in the neighboring Large Magellanic Cloud back in 1979.

• Magnetars take shape through the cataclysmic aftermath of massive stars, typically those with a mass at least eight times greater than that of our Sun.
• As these colossal stars deplete their nuclear fuel and succumb to gravitational collapse, they unleash a supernova explosion. The remnants of this explosive demise coalesce into the compact form of a neutron star.
• Despite their diminutive size — with a diameter not exceeding 12 miles (20 km) — these neutron stars possess a mass equivalent to 1-2 solar masses.

International News

China's Space Endeavors: Shenzhou-18 Mission and Beyond

• This mission marks a pivotal step in China's ambitious space program, geared towards achieving lunar exploration goals by 2030.

• In response to exclusion from the International Space Station (ISS), largely due to U.S. concerns over military involvement, China forged ahead with its own space station initiative.
• The Tiangong space station is primed for two cargo spacecraft missions and two manned spaceflight missions in 2024.

• Successfully retrieving lunar surface samples after decades
• Successfully deploying a rover to the comparatively uncharted far side of the moon