Daily Current Affairs for Competitive Examinations: December 16, 2022
This section covers the GK and Current Affairs quiz with daily MCQs on National Affairs, International Affairs, Economy, Banking Affairs, Polity, Geography, Environment, Sports, etc. for competitive examinations viz. UPSC, SSC, Bank PO, Bank Clerk, IBPS, Railways, Government Jobs, UPPSC, MPSC, and other state exams. This current affairs quiz will help you in the General Awareness section conducted in various Banking, SSC, Insurance, Railways, and other govt job entrance exams. The current affairs quiz will also help you outshine the crowd with all the information you gain from this article.
Current Affairs: Technology
India Internet Governance Forum (IGF) 2022
Recently, the Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology and Skill Development and Entrepreneurship addressed the India Internet Governance Forum (IIGF) 2022.
Objective:
The event’s goal is to discuss the roadmap to the digitisation and to reaffirm India’s place on the global stage by emphasising its role and importance in international policy development on internet governance.
Theme:
‘Leveraging Techade for Empowering Bharat’.
What Is the Internet Governance Forum?
India IGF is an initiative associated with the UN Internet Governance Forum for policy discussion. India hosted it for the first time last year (2021).
UN-GF is a multi-stakeholder platform bringing together representatives from various groups, considering all to be at par to discuss public policy issues related to the Internet.
Internet Governance, broadly defined, is the development and application by Governments, the private sector and civil society, in their respective roles, of shared principles, norms, rules, decision-making procedures, and programs that shape the evolution and use of the Internet.
Data of India About Internet:
India is the largest ‘connected’ nation in the world, with 800 million Indian users.
5G and the largest rural broadband connectivity network project at BharatNet will have 1.2 billion Indian users constituting the single largest presence of the global internet.
Question:
What is the number of broadband users in India, as per the most recent data by MeitY?
A. 200 million
B. 600 million
C. 800 million
D. 900 million
Answer: C
Current Affairs: Defence
Exercise “Kazind – 2022”
The sixth edition of the Indo–Kazakhstan joint training exercise “KAZIND-22” is being conducted at Umroi (Meghalaya) from 15 to 28 December 2022.
About the Exercise:
A joint annual training exercise with the Kazakhstan Army was instituted in 2016 as Exercise Prabal Dostyk, which was later upgraded to a company-level exercise and renamed Ex Kazind in 2018.
“Exercise KAZIND” will enhance the level of defence cooperation between the Indian Army and Kazakhstan Army, which will further foster the bilateral relations between the two nations.
Details:
During the exercise, participants will engage in a variety of missions ranging from joint planning, joint tactical drills, basics of special arms skills, HADR and raiding a hostile target.
Kazakhstan Army soldiers comprising troops from the Regional Command, South and Indian Army soldiers from the 11 Gorkha Rifles are participating in the exercise.
Aim of the Exercise:
The aim of the exercise is to build positive military relations, imbibe each other’s best practices and promote the ability to operate together while undertaking counter-terrorist operations in semi-urban / jungle scenarios under a UN peace enforcement mandate.
This joint exercise will enable the two armies to train, plan and execute a series of combined tactical drills to neutralise the likely threats that may be encountered in UN peacekeeping operations.
Question:
The sixth edition of Indo–Kazakhstan joint training exercise “KAZIND-22” is being conducted in which of the following States/UT?
A. Ladakh
B. Meghalaya
C. Manipur
D. Rajasthan
Answer: B
Current Affairs: Economy
Nine Products from Across the Country Get GI Tag
The Union government has granted the Geographical Indication (GI) tag to nine (9) products from across the country, including the Gamosa of Assam; Alibaug White Onion from Maharashtra; Ladakh Raktsey Karpo Apricot; and Attappady Aattukombu Avara, among others.
Of the nine (9) GI tags given, five were for products from Kerala.
The Numbers Related to GI Tag:
Currently, the total number of GI tags in India is 432.
The top five states holding the maximum number of GIs are Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, and Kerala.
Of these, 401 are Indian-origin products, and 31 are foreign-origin.
Karnataka has the highest number of GI tags, i.e., 48 products, followed by Tamil Nadu (42), followed by Kerala(35), Uttar Pradesh (34), and Maharashtra (31).
What Is a GI Tag?
The Geographical Indication is recognised by the World Trade Organization (WTO).
It is used to denote the geographical territory from where a product – agricultural, natural or manufactured –originates and also carries an assurance of quality and attributes unique to that specific geographic region.
As a member of WTO, India became a signatory to this convention when it enacted the Geographical Indications (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999, which came into effect on 15 September 2003.
For the protection of the GI of goods, a GI registry has been established to administer the GI of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999, under the Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks.
Question:
Which of the following states in India holds the record of having the highest GI tags against its name till December 2022?
A. Karnataka
B. Tamil Nadu
C. Uttar Pradesh
D. Kerala
Answer: A
Fact Book – 15 December 2022
Meghalaya awarded for TB control programme
The Meghalaya administration, which has launched a ‘Jan Andolan’ (people’s movement) against Tuberculosis, was honoured recently for using the best practices to combat the illness that affects nearly 2.6 million citizens annually in India.
The TB Mukt Bharat campaign or ‘Jan Andolan’ aims to enhance awareness, eradicate stigma and generate demand for services throughout the state.
The state registered 4,189 TB cases in 2021, while in the first quarter of 2022, around 1,075 patients were enrolled for treatment.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had set a national target to eliminate the disease, which affects more than 26 lakh Indians each year by 2025, five years ahead of the WHO’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Sri Aurobindo’s 150th birth anniversary
The PM addressed a programme celebrating Sri Aurobindo’s 150th birth anniversary via video conferencing under the aegis of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav.
The Prime Minister also released a commemorative coin and postal stamp in honour of Sri Aurobindo.
Sri Aurobindo’s 150th birth anniversary is being celebrated with great fervour throughout the year.
Sri Aurobindo (15 August 1872 – 05 December 1950) Born in Calcutta, Sri Aurobindo was adom fighter, philosopher and Yogi.
In London, he joined a secret society (Lotus and Dagger), working for India’sdom.
In India, he joined the State Service of Maharaja of Baroda (Sayajirao Gaekwad III).
After the ‘Partition of Bengal’, he joined the Indian National Congress (INC) in 1906.
He remained active till 1910 when he stopped political activities due to spiritual awakening and spent the rest of his life in Puducherry.
Contributions of Sri Aurobindo:
Wrote a series of articles under the title, ‘New Lamps For Old’ (1893), in ‘Indu – Prakash‘, a Bombay daily newspaper, criticising moderate politics of Congress
Started Bande Mataram (English Daily), Karmayogin (English newspaper) and Dharma (Bengali Weekly)
He joined the group led by Bal Gangadhar Tilak in the Surat Split of INC (1907)
In 1908, he was arrested in relation to Alipore Bomb Case and acquitted later
Other Contributions: Established Sri Aurobindo Ashram with Mirra Alfassa in 1926 and wrote spiritual books such as Essays on the Gita (1922), The Life Divine (1939), etc.
Tripura’s Unakoti, the ‘Angkor Wat of the North-East’ seeking UNESCO world heritage tag
Unakoti, famously known as the ‘Angkor Wat of the North-East’, is vying for a UNESCO world heritage tag with both the government and ASI working to preserve the lakhs of Shaivite rock carvings figures and images of gods and goddesses.
The structures of the rock-cut sculptures are gigantic and have distinct mongoloid features, and display almost the same mystical charm as the spellbinding figures in the Angkor Wat temple of Cambodia. So it can be called the Angkor Wat of the North-East.
Centre has approached UNESCO to declare it a World Heritage Site and has recently granted ₹12 crores to the state for developing the place as a major tourist destination.
Joe Root becomes the third player to score 10000 Test runs and pick up 50 wickets
Joe Root, the former England captain, has recently entered an exclusive club after reaching a significant milestone in Test cricket.
He claimed the wicket of Faheem Ashraf during the first session of day four of the second Test between England and Pakistan, effectively claiming his 50th Test wicket.
With his last wicket, the 31-year-old became only the third player in Test cricket history to have scored 10,000 runs and taken 50 wickets.
Jacques Kallis and Steve Waugh were the only other players to have accomplished this feat before Root.
Root has 10629 Test runs and 50 Test wickets to his name. Waugh has scored 10927 runs and taken 92 wickets, whereas Kallis has scored 13289 runs and taken 292 wickets.
Russia replaces Iraq as the top oil supplier to India
Russia has, for the first time, emerged as a top oil supplier to India, replacing Iraq as refiners last month snapped up oil from Moscow, fearing a price cap from 5th December could hit supplies and choke payment avenues, data obtained from trade sources showed.
India’s oil imports from Russia rose for the fifth straight month, totalling 908,000 barrels per day (bpd) in November, up 4% from October, the data showed.
The data showed that Russian oil accounted for about 23% of India’s overall import of about 4 million bpd of oil in November.
India’s overall imports in November declined 11% from October on lower purchases by Russia-backed Indian refiner Nayara Energy, which had shut its 400,000 bpd refinery for maintenance during the month, the data showed.
The Group of Seven nations, Australia, and the 27 European Union countries have imposed a price cap of $60 a barrel on Russian seaborne oil from 5th December as the West tries to limit Moscow’s ability to finance its war in Ukraine.
UK, France, and UAE extend support for India’s permanent membership at UNSC
The UK, France, and UAE have extended their support for India’s permanent membership in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).
India is holding the presidency of the United Nations Security Council for December 2022.
The United Nations Charter established six (6) main organs of the United Nations, including the UN Security Council (UNSC).
The Security Council has a permanent residence at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City.
The U.N. Charter provides for 15 members of the UNSC.
It comprises five (5) permanent members known as P5, including the United Kingdom, China, France, Russia and the US.
They have veto power over decisions of the UNSC.
It also includes ten (10) non-permanent members.
Each year the 193-member General Assembly elects five non-permanent members for a two-year term at the UNSC.
The ten (10) non-permanent seats are distributed on a regional basis:
Five (5) for African and Asian countries [Three are for Africa and Two for Asia]
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