Current Affairs Quiz - December, 2022

Notes:
NITI Aayog released a study report, titled ‘Carbon Capture, Utilisation, and Storage Policy Framework and its Deployment Mechanism in India’.
The report explores the importance of Carbon Capture, Utilisation, and Storage as an emission reduction strategy to achieve deep decarbonisation. The report outlines broad level policy interventions needed across various sectors for its application.

Notes:
The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) is headed by a chairperson and can have a maximum of 10 members.
Former Health Secretary Preeti Sudan has been appointed as a member of Union Public Service Commission (UPSC). She superannuated as the health secretary in July 2020. With the appointment, there is a vacancy of four members in the Commission.

Notes:
Japan’s space agency Jaxa has announced that it has successfully used steam to propel its spacecraft, which was launched as one of the payloads aboard Nasa’s Orion spacecraft.
As per JAXA, this is the world’s first successful orbit control beyond low-Earth orbit using a water propellant propulsion system.

Notes:
Uttarakhand state government tabled the Uttarakhand Public Service (Horizontal Reservation for Women) Bill 2022.
It seeks to implement the system of 30 per cent horizontal reservation for women in the state. The government also tabled ‘Uttarakhand Religion Freedom (Amendment) Bill 2022’, to introduce strict law regarding religious conversions in the state.

Notes:
Uttarakhand government has named Prasoon Joshi as the state’s brand ambassador. He is a native of Uttarakhand, is a prominent member of the Indian advertising and media industry.
Earlier this month, the state government bestowed the Uttarakhand Gaurav Samman honour for his contributions to art, literature, culture and advertising. His campaigns on malnutrition, polio eradication, women’s empowerment, student suicide and Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan have been popular.

Notes:
The Digi Yatra paperless airport entry facility is now functional at three airports in the country, including Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International, Bengaluru and Varanasi airports.
Based on the Facial Recognition Technology (FRT), Digi Yatra aims to achieve seamless and contactless processing of passengers at airports. By March 2023, four more cities will be added: Hyderabad, Kolkata, Pune, and Vijayawada.

Notes:
The servers of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) remains hacked for over a week, after AIIMS reported a failure in its server.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has joined the investigation into the alleged ransomware attack, with agencies including the India Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-IN), Delhi Police, Intelligence Bureau, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Ministry of Home Affairs.

Notes:
Pakistan’s central bank said that Saudi Arabia has extended its term for a USD 3 billion deposit to support the foreign reserves of Pakistan.
Saudi Arabia agreed in October 2021 to revive its financial support to Pakistan, including about USD 3 billion in safe deposits and USD 1.2 billion worth of oil supplies on deferred payments. Pakistan requested to help improve its foreign exchange reserves.

Notes:
The United States has added a key anti-Pakistani militant group and its al-Qaida branch to its list of ‘global terrorists’.
As per the State Department, both groups operate from Afghanistan, but they have hideouts in Pakistan’s former tribal regions.

Notes:
The Kanger Valley National Park is located in Chhattisgarh. It is also home to a population of Chhattisgarh’s state bird, the hill myna.
Bird watchers and forest department officials recently counted 200 types of birds in Chhattisgarh’s first-ever inter-state bird survey conducted in the Kanger Valley National Park.