Current Affairs - November 15, 2023 Current Affairs

Iceland is on high alert as an unprecedented seismic swarm, with 800 earthquakes in 14 hours, has raised concerns about a possible volcanic eruption in the Reykjanes peninsula. The Iceland Met Office has warned of a "considerable" likelihood of a volcanic eruption in the coming days, leading to the declaration of a state of emergency.

The Rashtriya Rail Sanraksha Kosh (RRSK) is a fund established by the Government of India to improve railway safety. The fund provides funding for a variety of measures to prevent and mitigate railway accidents and incidents. The Rashtriya Rail Sanraksha Kosh (RRSK) was established in 2017 under the Railway Safety Act, 2016, as a grant-in-aid fund to improve railway safety.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh is set to participate in the 10th ASEAN Defence Ministers' Meeting-Plus (ADMM Plus) in Jakarta, Indonesia, from November 16th to November 17th.

The 42nd edition of the India International Trade Fair (IITF) 2023 is inaugurated at Pragati Maidan in New Delhi, with Anupriya Patel, the Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry, presiding over the inauguration ceremony.

Pablo Picasso's renowned painting "Femme à la montre" ("Woman with a Watch") set a record by selling for $139 million at a Sotheby's auction in New York on November 8, 2023. This makes it the second most expensive Picasso painting ever auctioned and the highest-priced artwork sold at auction in the current year.

SIDBI partnered with Jocata, a digital lending transformation platform, to launch the innovative 'Sumpoorn' MSME Economic Activity Index, offering a real-time snapshot of India’s essential MSME sector, contributing significantly to the country’s Gross Value Added (GVA) and exports.

Virat Kohli became the first batter in the world to score 50 One Day International (ODI) centuries.

India's Wholesale Price Index (WPI) recorded a three-month low of minus 0.52% in October, marking the seventh consecutive month of deflation and indicating a downward trend in WPI-based inflation.

The groundbreaking discovery of India's first lithium deposits, estimated at 5.9 million tonnes, was made in Jammu and Kashmir in February. Subsequent modifications to mining rules in July allowed private miners to explore these critical minerals, and reports indicate that the region will auction its lithium reserves in the coming months.

In a significant finding, scientists have discovered that environmental factors play a greater role than genetic variants in determining the height of children in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) in contrast to those from European nations, where genetic aspects predominate in regulating childhood height. Human height is strongly influenced by fixed genetic and variable environmental factors. Fixed genetic factors are those that are inherited from our parents and cannot be changed. Variable environmental factors are those that can change over time, such as diet, nutrition, and access to healthcare.