Current Affairs Quiz 08 February 2024

Internationalization of UPI
• Countries like UAE, Singapore, Bhutan, and Nepal have adopted UPI in the past.
o In 2023, UPI and Singapore’s PayNow signed an agreement, allowing users in either country to make cross-border transactions.
o To enable cross-border transactions, the NIPL and Al Etihad Payments of UAE inked a Memorandum of Understanding in 2023.

About ABHYAS
• It is designed & developed by Aeronautical Development Establishment of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).
• The air vehicle was launched using twin under-slung boosters which provide the initial acceleration to the vehicle.
• It is powered by a small gas turbine engine to sustain a long endurance flight at high subsonic speed.
• The target aircraft is equipped with Micro-Electromechanical Systems-based Inertial Navigation System for navigation along with the Flight Control Computer for guidance and control along with Indigenous Radio Altimeter for very low altitude flight and Data Link for encrypted communication between the Ground Control Station and Target Aircraft.
• The vehicle is programmed for fully autonomous flight.

Atmospheric Rivers
• They are large, narrow sections of the Earth’s atmosphere that carry moisture from the Earth’s tropics near the equator to the poles.
• When they reach land, atmospheric rivers release this moisture, producing heavy snow and rain.
• A well-known example of a strong atmospheric river is the “Pineapple Express” that is a common feature for the west coast of the US and Canada.
• Atmospheric rivers are commonly observed in the extratropical North Pacific/Atlantic, the southeastern Pacific, and the South Atlantic oceans, frequently making landfall along the western coasts of North and South America.
Formation of Atmospheric Rivers
• The atmospheric rivers commence with the evaporation of ocean water due to elevated temperatures.
• Robust winds facilitate the transport of water vapor through the atmosphere. Upon reaching land, atmospheric rivers prompt further rise of water vapor into the atmosphere, where it undergoes cooling and condensation into water droplets, ultimately resulting in precipitation.

Impacts
• Atmospheric rivers are responsible for 90 percent of the movement of moisture from the tropics toward the poles.
• They have a significant influence on air temperatures, sea ice, and other components of the climate.

Position of states
• States like Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Assam have expressed their willingness to follow the UCC, none have officially adopted it.
• However, a version of the UCC is in place in Goa.
o It follows the Portuguese Civil Code of 1867, which means that people of all religions in Goa are subject to the same laws on marriage, divorce, and succession.
o The Goa Daman and Diu Administration Act of 1962, which was passed after Goa joined the union as a territory in 1961, gave Goa permission to apply the Civil Code.

About the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad)
• It is an informal strategic forum comprising the United States, India, Australia, and Japan.
• The core objective of the Quad is to secure a rules-based global order, freedom of navigation, and a liberal trading system, along with to work for a free, open, prosperous, and inclusive Indo-Pacific region.
o It is seen as to reduce Chinese domination in the Indo- Pacific region.
• The Quad leaders held their first formal summit in 2021.
• US Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti informed that the Quad can be the ‘model for the world’ as it is ‘very strong and stable’.