Current Affairs Quiz - August, 2023

Notes:
The Sports Ministry has decided to recognise the Handball Association of India (HAI) as the official body to run the game in the country.
Recently the IOA also gave HAI recognition after it agreed to merge with the Handball Federation of India (HFI). India has been preparing for the upcoming Hangzhou Asian Games.

Notes:
Recently, Moderna and its collaborator Merck announced the commencement of patient enrolment for an advanced-stage clinical trial.
This trial aims to test their customized mRNA-based vaccine for skin cancer, in combination with the immunotherapy drug Keytruda. Melanoma is the most deadly form of skin cancer.

Notes:
Tamil Nadu Skill Development Corporation (TNSDC) is implementing the Naan Mudhalvan programme.
Under the scheme, around 12,582 faculties from government engineering colleges and 7,835 faculties from arts and science colleges from across the state have been trained in the last one year, to enhance skilling of students.

Notes:
A stapled visa is an unstamped paper attached to a passport page using a pin or staples, which can be easily torn off or removed as desired.
China has adopted a policy of granting stapled visas to Indian nationals from Arunachal Pradesh, Ladakh and Jammu and Kashmir. While China considers these visas as valid documents, the Government of India has consistently rejected this stance.

Notes:
Over 13.13 lakh girls and women went missing in the country between 2019 and 2021, with Madhya Pradesh reporting the highest cases at nearly two lakhs, followed by West Bengal.
The data, which was presented by the Union Ministry of Home Ministry (MHA), revealed that 10,61,648 women above 18 years and 2,51,430 girls below that age went missing between 2019 and 2021 across the country. The data was compiled by the National Crime Records Bureau.

Notes:
To improve the collection of sowing data, the government has initiated a pilot project called Digital Crop Survey (DCS) in 12 states starting from the Kharif season of 2023.
The DCS reference application uses technologies like GIS and GPS, and aims to ensure accurate crop area estimation and support farmers with solutions. It has been created as a publicly available open-source and interoperable tool, adhering to open standards.

Notes:
In 2018, the Indian government introduced the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act (FEOA) as a measure to take action against individuals accused of committing significant economic frauds and fleeing the country to escape prosecution.
Under this act, 10 people have been declared as fugitive economic offenders by various courts, from 19 people booked by the Enforcement Directorate. These economic offenders were involved in fraud of over Rs 40,000 crores.

Notes:
On International Tiger Day, it was revealed that Bhutan’s Tiger population has grown by 27% since the previous count in 2015.
The announcement was made following the culmination of Bhutan’s National Tiger Survey 2021-22.

Notes:
Italian authorities from the Carabinieri Command for the Protection of Cultural Heritage reported the discovery of an ancient cargo ship wreckage off the port in Civitavecchia, near Rome.
The ship, dating back to the 1st or 2nd century BC, contains hundreds of well-preserved Roman jars, known as amphorae, found using a remotely operated robot.

Notes:
The ‘2023 Plastic Overshoot Day’ Report was released recently by the Swiss-based research consultancy Earth Action.
According to this report, approximately 68,642,999 tonnes of extra plastic waste will be dumped into the environment this year.