Current Affairs Quiz - December, 2023

Notes:
Angadvir Singh Bajwa and Ganemat Sekhon won the mixed skeet gold for Punjab in the 66th National shooting championship.
In the women’s 50-metre rifle 3-position event, Asian Games champion Sift Kaur Samra beat Olympian Anjum Moudgil by 1.9 point for the gold.

Notes:
The Special Jury or Silver Peacock Award was given to the Kannada film ‘Kantara’, directed by Rishab Shetty at the 54th International Film Festival of India.
Abbas Amini directed ‘Endless Borders’ which bagged the Best Film or the Golden Peacock Award, while the Best Director award went to Stephan Komandarev for the film ‘Blaga’s Lessons’.

Notes:
Victims of chemical warfare in Syria are leading international efforts to set up a specialist tribunal to prosecute illegal toxic attacks that killed and maimed thousands during the civil war. This proposed Exceptional Chemical Weapons Tribunal has quietly garnered engagement from over 40 countries across continents in assessing the political, legal and logistical viability. If created through a treaty, this court based in The Hague could try perpetrators of chemical strikes worldwide, not just limited to Syria. Survivors believe such a tribunal could provide delayed justice and deter future use of prohibited weapons.

Notes:
The UK will deploy surveillance aircraft over Israel and Gaza to locate over 130 people still held hostage by Hamas since its October attack on Israel. At least 5 missing British nationals are feared captive amid rescued hostages. The unarmed Shadow R1 drones conduct intelligence gathering for UK forces. While the offensive has resumed after a temporary Gaza truce, the reconnaissance flights starting soon will solely focus on hostage recovery without any combat role. The visuals and data obtained on captives’ whereabouts will be shared with Israeli authorities coordinating rescue operations. The UK move follows similar US aerial scanning assistance to pinpoint Hamas hostage locations through unarmed drones.

Notes:
The researchers of NOAA Ocean Exploration, in a major discovery, found a massive underwater mountain, also known as a seamount, on the Pacific Ocean’s floor off the coast of Guatemala.
The seamount is likely to be a remnant of an extinct volcano, similar to other seamounts. The seamount found is 1,600 metres (5,249 feet) tall, which is nearly twice the height of Burj Khalifa in Dubai – the world’s tallest building.

Notes:
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has extended the timeline for implementation of linking SEBI Complaint Redressal (SCORES) with the online dispute resolution platform to April 1, 2024.
Earlier, the deadline for linking both the platforms was December 4. The SCORES platform, launched in 2011, was an initiative by SEBI to provide a facilitative platform for investors to file their grievances against listed companies or registered intermediaries which are unresolved.

Notes:
Developed jointly by the Union Ministry of Health, Ministry of Defence and the National Security Council, world’s first portable disaster hospital, consisting of 72 aid cubes, that can be deployed in mass casualty incidents was unveiled in India.
Designed indigenously under Project BHISHM (Bharat Health Initiative for Sahyog, Hita and Maitri), the system is tailored to treat up to 200 casualties in areas affected by natural calamities.

Notes:
India saw a rise of 24 per cent in cybercrimes registered in 2022 compared to 2021, whereas other categories of crime – including economic offences (11%), crimes against senior citizens (9%), against women (4%), too recorded an increase, as per the latest data released by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB).
According to the report ‘Crime in India’, 65,893 cases were registered under cybercrime, showing an increase of 24.4 per cent compared to 52,974 cases in 2021. According to the NCRB data, a total of 1,93,385 cases were registered under economic offences, showing an increase of 11.1 per cent compared to 1,74,013 cases in 2021.

Notes:
Also known as Glycogen Storage Disease Type II, Pompe disease is a rare genetic disorder caused by a deficiency of the enzyme acid alpha-glucosidase (GAA).
This enzyme is crucial for breaking down glycogen into glucose within the lysosomes of cells. Its prevalence estimates range from 1 in 40,000 to 1 in 300,000 births. While there is currently no cure for Pompe disease, there are treatment options available to manage symptoms and improve the patient’s quality of life. Enzyme Replacement Therapy (ERT) is a standard treatment, involving the infusion of the missing enzyme to alleviate glycogen buildup.

Notes:
The decade from 2011-2020 was the warmest ever in history. While there has been a rise in economic losses from extreme weather and climate losses.
As per the report titled ‘The Global Climate 2011-2020: A Decade of Acceleration’ from the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), this was the decade with the lowest number of deaths from extreme events.