Gk Next exam current Affairs PDF Today- 5 April 2023
(Governance, constitution, polity, social justice, and international affairs)
This news is mainly important for GS Paper 1 and 2, the given pdf covers the major points you will be having on it. You can get its complete information in PDF very well.
1- Myanmar is building a navy base near Andaman
Satellite images taken in January show new construction activity on and around Myanmar’s Coco Islands in the northeastern Bay of Bengal, which can be a matter of concern for India.
Myanmar’s Coco Islands are a small group of islands in the northeastern Bay of Bengal and has been the center of geopolitical tensions in the region. The islands have reportedly been witnessing military modernization.
Political analysts and experts have claimed that China is behind the military modernization on the islands.
Satellite images taken in January by Maxar Technologies show new construction activity on and around the group of islands, which can be a matter of concern for India.
The phantom Chinese intelligence post
The islands are experiencing a steady makeover, with tell-tale signs of military modernization and facilities to support aircraft. Instead of the phantom Chinese intelligence post still prevalent in the popular imagination, the latest images reveal that Myanmar may soon be intending to conduct maritime surveillance operations from Great Coco Island, the largest in an isolated archipelago that lies just 55 kilometres north of India’s strategic Andaman and Nicobar Islands
The photos from January 2023 by Maxar Technologies, which specializes in satellite imagery, show renewed levels of construction activity on Great Coco. Visible are two new hangars, a new causeway and what appears to be an accommodation bloc, all of which are visible in proximity to a freshly lengthened 2,300-metre runway and radar station. Visible as of late March on the southern tip of Great Coco, just beyond the causeway connecting the islands, is evidence of land clearing efforts indicating construction work to come.
The runway: Initially a length of 1,300m, the runway on Great Coco Island has been extended over the last decade to reach its current reported length of 2,300m. The runway has also been widened as of January 2023, and there are clear signs of ongoing construction visible, with new hangars at the centre of the image and new buildings located in the north. A large pier is also visible.
The militarization of the Coco Islands by the Tatmadaw, combined with the wider Chinese developments occurring inland, could pose a significant security challenge to India and its navy. The Andaman and Nicobar Islands provide India’s Eastern Fleet strategic depth in the Bay of Bengal and command approaches to the Strait of Malacca.
Chinese commercial shipping could soon bypass the strait and offload their cargo in Myanmar, nullifying India’s advantage. Meanwhile an expanded airbase on Great Coco opens the possibility that India may soon have to contend with Tatmadaw eyes watching the movements of its warships.
Growing evidence suggests Myanmar’s military coup has increased Beijing’s influence in the country. With Myanmar’s armed forces struggling to control large swaths of the country and with the economy in freefall, China seems to be shoring up the regime and protecting its investments for now. Chinese companies are believed to be operating on the ground, building major infrastructure projects such as deepwater ports, while the junta is allocating the few troops it has left to protect them.
Since the coup China has been – by far – the main source of foreign investment in Myanmar. This includes $2.5 billion in a gas-fired power plant to be built west of Myanmar’s capital, Yangon, that will be 81% owned and operated by Chinese companies.
Among the dozens of infrastructure projects China is funding are highspeed rail links and dams. But its most strategically important investment is the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor, encompassing oil and gas pipelines, roads and rail links costing many tens of billions of dollars.
The corridor’s “jewel in the crown” is a deep-sea port to be built at Kyaukphyu, on Myanmar’s west coast, at an estimated cost of $7 billion. This will finally give China its long-desired “back door” to the Indian Ocean.
Debt-trap warnings
In 2020, before the coup, Myanmar’s auditor general Maw Than warned of growing indebtedness to China, with Chinese lenders charging higher interest payments than those from the International Monetary Fund orWorld Bank.
At that time about 40% of Myanmar’s foreign debt of $10 billion was owed to China. It is likely to be greater now. It will only increase the longer a military dictatorship, with few other supporters or sources of foreign money, remains in power, dragging down Myanmar’s economy.
Efforts to restore democracy in Myanmar should therefore be seen as crucial to the longterm strategic interests of the region’s democracies, and to global peace and prosperity, given the increasing belligerence of China under Xi Jinping.
Xi, now president for life, this month told the People’s Liberation Army to prepare for war. A compliant and indebted Myanmar with a deep-sea port controlled by Chinese interests tips the scales towards that happening.
During the early 2000s, when talk of Beijing’s ‘string of pearls’ was at its height, Great Coco was always cited, and it was widely accepted that there was a signals intelligence base there. There was just one problem. No such base ever existed.
In 2005, Admiral Arun Prakash, India’s chief of naval staff, set the record straight, stating there was no Chinese military installation of any kind on Great Coco. That same year, Myanmar’s junta invited Indian defence officials to visit Great Coco, confirming the presence of an airstrip but no visible Chinese military presence. There were no radar dishes or antennae farms collecting information and probably never were.
To this day rumours of a Chinese intelligence post persist, but the available evidence points to the facilities being operated by the Tatmadaw. Instead of a non-existent Chinese intelligence post, the Bay of Bengal may soon have to contend with an airbase hosting Myanmar’s air force.
2- NASA announces you are the first to go to the moon
- America’s Neil Arms Strong set foot on the moon for the first time on July 20, 1969.
- Neil is the first person to go to the moon. After 50 years, NASA is ready to send humans to the moon once again.
Main Point
- What is ARTEMIS MISSION ?
- Mission purpose
- What is Space Launch System?
- How far will Mission Artemis II go?
- What are the lunar exploration efforts of ISRO
- what is the history of lunar exploration
3- Demand for Scottish independence in the UK
Recently, the demand to hold a second referendumfor Scotland’s independence was rejected by the British PrimeMinister.
Main Point
- The beginning of the demand for Scott’s independence
- Parliament of Scotland
- current scenario
- Why the demand for independence?
- Is Scotland different from Duke?
- Why the demand for independence?
- UK stand
- road ahead
Gk Current Affairs Questions and Answer
Q-1:- Which is the World’s First Hydrogen Ferry sailing on Zero-Emission liquid Hydrogen put into operation?
a) MF Hydra
b) MF Glutra
c) MF Wattra
d) MF Galtra
Ans– a) MF Hydra
Q-2:- Which among the following state becomes the first US State to pass resolution condemning Hinduphobia?
a) Georgia
b) Texas
c) Florida
d) California
Ans– a) Georgia
Q-3:- PM Narendra Modi expresses happiness over which of the following mobile app of National Logistics Portal-Marine?
a) Sagar Setu
b) Samudra Setu
c) Sagar Manthan
d) Samudra Manthan
Ans– a) Sagar Setu
Q-4:- Recently, who is appointed as the executive director of Reserve Bank of India ?
a) Neeraj Nigam
b) Neeraj Singh
c) Rajeshwar Rao
d) Michael Patra
Ans– a) Neeraj Nigam
Q-5:- BDL signs how many crore(Rs) contract with defence ministry for Akash weapon system, recently?
a) ₹8,161-crore
b) ₹8,162-crore
c) ₹8,163-crore
d) ₹8,164-crore
Ans– a) ₹8,161-crore
Q-6:- Which of the following National park in munnar hill station got a first fernarium?
a) Eravikulam
b) Fun Forest
c) Anamudi Peak
d) Blossom Hydel
Ans– a) Eravikulam
Q-7:- Investment banker Sudha Shivkumar is now(new) the president of which of the following women’s wing?
a) FICCI
b) A.I.W.C.
c) NCWI
d) None of these
Ans– a) FICCI
Q-8:- Which Russian superstar won his 4th title of 2023 in a hard-fought final in Miami open?
a) Daniil Medvedev
b) Vladimir Berezin
c) Mikhail Gorbachev
d) Nikita Khrushchev
Ans– a) Daniil Medvedev
Q-9 :- Recently, which Oscar Winning Japanese composer died Age 71?
a) Ryuichi Sakamoto
b) Ayaka Sasaki
c) Naomi Osaka
d) Hayao Miyazaki
Ans– a) Ryuichi Sakamoto
Q-10 :- Recently, which former India all-rounder (cricketer) passes away at the age of 88?
a) Salim Durani
b) Syed Mushtaq Ali
c) Mansoor Ali Khan
d) Mohammad Azharuddin
Ans- a) Salim Durani
[pdf id=343]
Related Post
