01-04-23 Daily-Punjab-PPSC Current Affairs

In a major pro-farmer decision aimed at safeguarding their interests during natural calamities, the Punjab Cabinet on Friday gave nod for enhancing the compensation due to natures fury by 25 per cent per acre thereby giving a major respite to the food growers.

Keeping in view the loss incurred by the farmers recently due to heavy rains, hailstorms, and strong winds, the Cabinet has decided to enhance the relief amount from Rs 12,000 per acre to Rs 15,000 per acre for 76-100 per cent loss of crops. This measure will give a healing touch to the affected farmers who will be able to get a reasonable financial relief from the government, said a spokesperson of the Chief Ministers Office, adding that these relief rates will be applicable from March 1, 2023.

The two spacecraft forming the European Space Agencys Proba-3 mission are ready with instruments and sensors allowing them to maneuver to a millimeter-scale precision relative to one another. The spacecraft will fly into space on India’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) in 2024.

The spacecraft is set to go into the testing phase where engineers will subject them to a simulated space Environment. The spacecraft has been designed to demonstrate precision formation flying in space, where they will fly together maintaining a fixed configuration as a large rigid structure.

In a sudden announcement, OPEC members, such as Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Iraq, Kuwait, and Algeria, have declared voluntary oil production cuts of more than one million barrels per day from May to December. They have stated that this is a preventive action to support the stability of the oil market

The group, which consists of 23 oil-producing countries, had reduced its collective output by two million barrels per day in the previous year and is expected to maintain the agreed-upon production levels at their upcoming virtual meeting

Jens Stoltenberg, the Secretary General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), has announced that Finland has become the 31st member of the alliance, thanks to Turkeys unanimous vote. Despite Russias opposition to Finlands membership, Turkeys approval has allowed the extension of NATO. Finland a long border of over 1,300 kilometers with Russia, and its decision to join NATO was prompted by security concerns following Russias invasion of Ukraine in 2022. However, Swedens application to join NATO has been declined by Turkey and Hungary.

NATO, or the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, is an intergovernmental military alliance established in 1949. It was formed as a collective defense pact between North American and European nations to deter Soviet expansion and protect member states from potential Soviet aggression during the Cold War