DAILY GK 24-25 DECEMBER 2024
1. WORLD RECORD OF LONGEST SPACEWALK
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According to China
Manned Space Agency (CMSA), two Chinese astronauts of Shenzhou-19 mission
aboard the Tiangong Space Station (TSS) have
successfully completed the 1st Extravehicular Activities (EVAs) of
their mission in 9 hours, setting a new world record for the longest duration of spacewalk.
·
Mission Commander Cai Xuzhe and Song Lingdong, carried
out the historic spacewalk outside TSS in Low-Earth Orbit (LEO).
·
The former Soviet Union became the 1st country to carry a
spacewalk in 1965 for about 12 minutes.
2. PM MODI VISIT TO KUWAIT
·
Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi made an
official 2-day visit to Kuwait at the invitation of Sheikh Meshal Al-Ahmad
Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, the Amir of the State of Kuwait.
·
Indira Gandhi was the last Indian PM to visit Kuwait 43 years
ago in 1981.
·
India and Kuwait signed four Memorandum of
Understandings (MoUs) in the areas of defence, sports and cultural cooperation.
·
Kuwait also joined as a member of International
Solar Alliance (ISA) to adopt solar energy and help to develop
low-carbon growth economies.
·
PM Modi was awarded the Wisam Mubarak al-Kabeer,
or the Order of Mubarak the Great which is the highest
national award of Kuwait.
·
PM Modi attended the opening ceremony of the 26th Arabian
Gulf Cup in Kuwait which was organized by Kuwait with participation
from eight countries, including Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)
nations, Iraq, and Yemen.
·
Kuwait Prime Minister– Ahmad Al-Abdullah Al-Sabah
·
Currency– Kuwaiti Dinar
3. INDIA & CHINA TO RESUME
MANSAROVAR YATRA
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India and China have signed a six-point agreement to resume
the Kailash Mansarovar Yartra and Nathula border trade during
the 23rd meeting of the Special Representatives (SRs)
on the China-India Boundary Question in Beijing, China.
·
The Kailash-Mansarovar Yatra has been suspended since 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the
Chinese side’s failure to renew the necessary arrangements.
·
The Kailash Mansarovar Yatra is a sacred pilgrimage to Mount Kailash and Lake Mansarovar, which hold
spiritual significance in Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Bon.
·
Mount Kailash is regarded as the abode of Lord Shiva, while Lake Mansarovar holds deep spiritual
significance.
·
Mount Kailash is situated
in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China.
·
Travelers take various routes to reach this peak, including
Kathmandu (Nepal), Simikot (Nepal), and Lhasa (Tibet).
·
On the Indian side, the routes pass through Lipulekh Pass
(Uttarakhand) and Nathu La Pass (Sikkim).
·
The Nathula border trade follows the ancient Silk Route in Sikkim, India, to China.
·
It was reopened in 2006 after being closed since the 1962
Sino-Indian War.
4. HURUN INDIA’S TOP 200 SELF-MADE
ENTREPRENEURS
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Radhakishan Shivkishan Damani, the founder of Avenue
Supermarkets Limited (DMart) has topped the list for 2nd consecutive
year, with a valuation of Rs 3.4 lakh crore, witnessing
a growth of 44%.
·
Deepinder Goyal, of Zomato is ranked at 2nd position
5. INDIA STATE OF FOREST REPORT 2023
·
Union Minister, Bhupender Yadav, Ministry
of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) released the 18th edition of
‘India State of Forest Report (ISFR
2023)’ at Forest Research Institute (FRI) in Dehradun, Uttarakhand.
·
According to the report, India’s total forest and tree
cover in 2023 stands at 827,357 square kilometer(sq
km), which is around 25% of the geographical area of India .
·
This marks an overall
increase of 1,445 sq km from 2021, with forest cover alone rising by 156 sq
km.
·
The ISFR report was brought out by the Forest Survey of
India (FSI) on a biennial basis in 1987.
·
Highest forest cover MP (77,073 sq km) followed by
Arunachal Pradesh(AR) (65,882 sq km) and Chhattisgarh (55,812 sq km) are the
top three states having largest forest cover in Area wise.
·
The Forest Survey of
India (FSI) was established in 1981 after the expansion of the
Pre-Investment Survey of Forest Resources (PISFR) project initiated in 1965 by
Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), United Nations Development Programme
(UNDP) and Government of India (GoI).
·
Headquartered – Dehradun
6. INDIA TOPS GLOBAL LIST FOR
MOBILE MALWARE ATTACKS
·
According to the “Zscaler ThreatLabz 2024
Mobile, IoT, and OT Threat Report” by Zscaler Inc., headquartered
in United States America(USA), India
tops the list globally in mobile malware attacks, accounting for 28 % of worldwide attacks.
·
This marks a significant jump from its previous 3rd
place ranking in 2023.
·
India surpasses the United States (US) at 27.3% and Canada
at 15.9%.
·
The United States
remains the top target of Internet of Things (IoT) attacks,
experiencing 81% of overall attacks, followed by Singapore, the UK, Germany,
and Canada.
·
Manufacturing
experienced the highest volume of IoT attacks, accounting
for 36% of all IoT malware blocks observed, followed by transportation (14%)
and food, beverage & tobacco (11%).
·
Meanwhile, the technology and education sectors were most
targeted by mobile threats.
·
Nearly 50% of mobile attacks are trojans,
a type of malicious software (malware).
7. GSI GEOSCIENCE MUSEUM IN GWALIOR
·
The Vice President (VP) of India Jagdeep Dhankhar inaugurated
the state-of-the-art Geological Survey of India (GSI) Geoscience Museum at
the Victoria Market Building in Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh (MP).
·
The museum was developed in coordination with the Gwalior
Municipal Corporation(GMC) and the National Council of Science Museums (NCSM).
8. GOOGLE AI GEMINI NEW MODELS
·
Google has introduced 2 experimental upgrades to its Gemini
Artificial Intelligence (AI) suite “Gemini-Exp-1206 and Gemini
2.0 Flash”.
·
These models wer designed to support and improve performance
tasks such as coding challenges, mathematical problem-solving and creating detailed business plans.
9. SAHITYA AKADEMI AWARDS
2024
·
The Sahitya Akademi announced the winners of the Sahitya
Akademi Awards 2024, the annual award that recognizes literary works in 21
Indian languages (including
English).
·
The winners of the Sahitya Akademi Awards 2024 include 8
books of poetry, 3 Novels, 2 short stories, 3 Essays, 3 Literary Criticism, 1
Play and 1 Research.
·
Hindi: Gagan Gill - Main Jab Tak Aai Bahar (Poetry)
·
Punjabi: Paul Kaur - Sun Gunvanta Sun Budhivanta:
Itihaasnama Punjab (Poetry)
·
Sahitya Akademi was established in
March 1954
by the government of India.
·
It is an autonomous
body under the ministry of culture with the objectives to work for the
development of Indian letters and to set high literary standards
·
Akademi gives 24 awards annually to
literary works
in the languages it has recognised
·
Bengali, Dogri and Urdu language awards will be declared later.
10. RSSF ASIA-PACIFIC AWARDS
·
The Employees’ State
Insurance Corporation (ESIC), has bagged four awards at the Regional Social Security Forum for Asia
and Pacific (RSSF Asia-Pacific) in
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
·
The RSSF Asia-Pacific
was organized by the International Social
Security Association (ISSA).
·
ESIC has been awarded
one certificate of merit with special mention from the jury for its mobile application (Ask An Appointment
– AAA+) and three certificates of merit for Occupational Accident and Disease, Sustainable Investment and System
Resilience.
·
Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) is one of the two main statutory social
security bodies under the Ministry of Labour and Employment, Government of
India, the other being the Employees’
Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO).
·
The Employees’
State Insurance Act, 1948, was India’s first major social security law
for workers, passed by the Parliament.
·
The fund is managed by
the Employees’ State Insurance
Corporation (ESIC) according to rules and regulations stipulated in the ESI
Act 1948.
·
The scheme was
officially launched on 24th February 1952 Prime
Minister PanditJawahar Lal Nehru. This day is now celebrated as ESIC Day.
·
ISSA Headquarter – Geneva, Switzerland.
11. 34TH
VYAS SAMMAN
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Hindi writer Suryabala has
been chosen for the 34th Vyas Samman 2024 in
recognition of her novel “Kaun Des Ko Vasi: Venu Ki
Diary” which was published in 2018.
·
This Hindi novel
explores how Indian youth see America as
a land of opportunity, the challenges they face when moving there, the temptations
they encounter, and the cultural conflicts they experience.
·
Pushpa Bharathi was honored with the 33rd Vyas
Samman for the book “Yaadein Yaadein Aur Yaadein”.
·
The Vyas Samman is a prestigious
literary award presented annually by the
K.K. Birla Foundation to honors outstanding
Hindi literary works published in the last 10 years.
·
The first Vyas Samman was awarded in 1991 to
Dr. Ram Vilas Sharma for his work Bharat ke Pracheen Bhasha aur Hindi.
·
The award includes a cash prize of Rs 4
lakh, along with a citation and a plaque.
·
The K.K. Birla Foundation also presents the Saraswati Samman and
the Bihari Puraskar.
12. CHRISTOPHER NOLAN AND EMMA
THOMAS HONORED WITH KNIGHTHOOD AND DAMEHOOD
·
Oscar award winning
filmmaker Christopher Nolan and his wife, Emma
Thomas were honored with royal honors ‘knighthood’ and ‘damehood’,
respectively, by King Charles III for their
remarkable contributions to the film industry in a ceremony held at Buckingham
Palace in London
·
An honor knighthood is a title
bestowed upon men and an honor damehood is a title
bestowed upon women.
·
These honors allow them
to use the titles ‘Sir’ and ‘Dame’ before
their names, recognizing their outstanding work in film production.
·
Christopher Nolan, the director of Oppenheimer,
Inception, and Interstellar has earned global recognition for his visionary
film making.
·
Emma Thomas has
worked as a producer on all of his films, including Memento (2000), Batman
Begins (2005) and The Prestige (2006).
·
Their work has received critical acclaim, with ‘Oppenheimer’ winning 7
Academy Awards, including ‘Best Picture’ and grossing over USD
976 million worldwide.
·
In March 2024, Christopher Nolan received his 1st
Oscar for “Best Director for the film” Oppenheimer, which
stars Cillian Murphy at the 96th Academy Awards.
·
Emma Thomas is the first British female producer to
win the Oscar for Best Picture for Christopher Nolan’s biographical thriller
Oppenheimer.
13. RAM TEMPLE IN
AYODHYA WON ‘SWORD OF HONOUR’ AWARD
·
The Ram Temple project in Ayodhya has
recently been honoured with the ‘Sword of Honour‘ award by
the British Safety Council (BSC).
·
The Sword of Honour is awarded only to projects with a five-star
safety rating, setting a standard for excellence in safety management
within the construction industry.
·
L&T was previously awarded the ‘Golden Trophy’ by the
National Safety Council (NSC) in recognition of their effective safety measures
during construction.
14. SKOCH AWARD
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Maharashtra government’s initiative ‘Shasan Aplya Dari’ (‘Government
at Your Doorstep) has won the SKOCH Award for its
excellence in citizen-focused governance and commitment to
deliver efficient public services.
·
Over 5 crore benefits were delivered to the
doorsteps of the citizens in the initiative.
·
SKOCH Award was formed in 2003 to recognize
the people, projects and institutions for their extraordinary achievements in
contributing to the society.
15. REC LTD. WINS GOLDEN PEACOCK AWARD
2024
·
REC Limited (Rural Electrification Corporation Limited), a Maharatna Central
Public Sector Undertaking (CPSU) under the Ministry
of Power and a leading non-banking financial company (NBFC), has been
awarded with the prestigious Golden Peacock Award 2024 for Excellence
in Corporate Governance for maintaining transparency, accountability,
and ethical business practices.
·
The award was presented by the Golden Peacock Awards
Secretariat and Institute of Directors in a ceremony held
in London, United Kingdom (UK).
·
REC has won the award in Power (Financial Services) category.
·
Golden Peacock Awards has been formed by the Institute of
Directors (IOD) in 1991 and is regarded as a benchmark of
corporate excellence worldwide.
