Current affairs 29 December 2023

Japan successfully launched H-IIA rocket carrying Moon lander.

• Japan successfully launched its H-IIA rocket, carrying JAXA's Moon lander SLIM, set to land on the moon next year.
• The mission comes weeks after India's successful Chandrayaan-3 mission.
• Launched from Tanegashima Space Center, the rocket also carries the X-Ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission (XRISM) to study origins of the universe and intergalactic space.

Gujarat emerged as India's "Petro Capital".

• With the world's largest grassroots oil refinery in Jamnagar and the OPaL petrochemical complex at Dahej, Gujarat is acknowledged as India's petro capital.
• The Jamnagar refinery, owned by Reliance Industries Ltd. has a capacity to process 1.4 million barrels of crude per day.
• It hosts the world's largest units including the fluidised catalytic cracker, coker, petcoke gasification plants.

Ayodhya Airport to be renamed as Maryada Purushottam Sri Ram Airport.

• Uttar Pradesh's cabinet approved a proposal to rename Ayodhya airport as Maryada Purushottam Sri Ram Airport.
• The proposal has been sent to the Ministry of Civil Aviation.
• Adityanath previously announced that Ayodhya's airport, potentially one of UP's largest, will have international and domestic terminals.
• This coincides with the ongoing construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya.

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ISRO launched FEAST software and book to guide faculty and students.

• The Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre of ISRO has developed FEAST (Finite Element Analysis of Structures), a software for performing Finite Element Analysis on various structures including rockets, aircraft, satellites, and buildings.
• FEA is a method used to predict how a structure reacts to real-world forces, assisting in design, product development.
• It is aimed to bolster structural engineering.

Delhi, Bangalore, Mumbai host over 20% of India's crypto investments.

• Over 20% of India's cryptocurrency investments are concentrated in Delhi, Bangalore and Mumbai, revealed 2023 investor report by CoinSwitch.
• Around 75% of crypto investors are under 35 years old, while women make up 9% of India's crypto investor base.
• Dogecoin, Bitcoin, and Ethereum were the most invested cryptocurrencies of the year.