Current affairs 13 April 2023

South Korea to conduct 1st launch of commercial-grade satellite.

South Korea is planning to conduct its first launch of a commercial-grade satellite aboard a domestically built rocket as part of its space development program.
It will blast off from the space launch center on a southern island in May 2023.
It will carry one main satellite Next Generation Small Satellite 2 and seven other smaller cube-shaped satellites.
The main satellite will verify imaging radar technology and observe cosmic radiation in near-Earth orbit.

PM Narendra Modi has flagged off Rajasthan’s 1st Vande Bharat Express train on April 12, 2023.
It is the world’s 1st semi-high-speed passenger train on high-rise overhead electric (OHE) territory.
It will make its inaugural journey between Jaipur and Delhi Cantt railway stations.
It will operate between Ajmer and Delhi Cantt, with stops at Jaipur, Alwar, and Gurgaon.
It will complete the Ajmer-Delhi Cantt journey in 5 hours and 15 minutes.

India wrestler, Nisha Dahiya has secured the silver medal in the women's 68kg category at the Asian wrestling championships 2023, held in Astana, Kazakhstan.
She reached the final but fell to Japan’s Ami Ishii 10-0 and finished as a runner-up.
She had defeated China's Feng Zhou 7-6 in the semi-finals.
Another Indian wrestler, Priya Malik clinched a bronze in the 76 kg category after defeating Japan's Mizuki Nagashima.

WhatsApp has launched a new campaign named Stay Safe with WhatsApp to highlight the several safety features that are pre-built on the messaging app.
It will run for three months with a focus on several safety-centric features like Block and Report, Two-Step Verification, and Privacy and group settings.
The campaign highlights why it is important to add two-step verification to WhatsApp, which requires a 6-digit pin and an OTP to authenticate a user.

NSE Indices Ltd, an arm of the National Stock Exchange, has launched the country's first-ever Real Estate Investment Trusts and Infrastructure Investment Trusts index -Nifty REITs and InvITs Index.
Aim: To track the performance of REITs and InvITs that are publicly listed and traded on the NSE.
A Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) or an Infrastructure Investment Trust (InvIT) is an investment vehicle that owns revenue-generating real estate or infrastructure assets.