Current Affairs Quiz - December, 2022

Notes:
Cuba enacted a new penal code, which is a modified version of the country’s 1987 regulations. Several activists and human rights organisations warned that it could further limit free expression and trigger protests.
The code increases the minimum penalties and prison sentences on things like public disorder, resistance and insulting national symbols. It also establishes criminal categories for digital offenses and its penalty as two years in prison.

Notes:
The US Air Force has unveiled its latest nuclear stealth bomber named ‘B-21’, which will gradually replace aircraft first flown in the Cold War.
The country’s first new bomber in 30 years could cost about USD 700m each and can carry nuclear and conventional weapons.

Notes:
Ministry of Culture in association with Department of Post launched ‘Daakroom’, the famous letter writing carnival.
The event was organised under the aegis of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, at Raj Ghat, New Delhi. The event is supported by India Post, Ministry of Culture and Gandhi Smriti and Darshan Samiti, with the aim of reviving the art of letter writing in India.

Notes:
Japanese Encephalitis is caused when a person is infected by flavivirus. The disease is transmitted from one person to another by Culex mosquitoes.
To prevent the rise of Japanese Encephalitis (JE) cases among children, the Karnataka government announced a program to vaccinate around 48 lakh children of age between 1-15 years.

Notes:
The Indian President approves new design of ‘President’s Standard and Colour’ and Indian Navy Crest.
These were unveiled in Visakhapatnam on the occasion of the Navy Day. The previous design of the President’s Standard and Colour for the Indian Navy was instituted on September 2017. The new design is based the new Naval Ensign which was adopted on September 2.

Notes:
The Chief Justice of India, Justice Dr Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud has directed to organise a Hackathon event in the Supreme Court, for the first time in the history.
It is an initiative to identify innovative ideas for refining process of ‘filing to listing’ of cases. The event will be organised under the supervision and guidance of Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Supreme Court Judge.

Notes:
The Oxford English Dictionary recently unveiled the word of the year 2022 as ‘Goblin mode’, which was selected by public votes.
According to Oxford University Press (OUP), it means ‘a type of behaviour which is unapologetically self-indulgent, lazy, slovenly, or greedy, typically in a way that rejects social norms or expectations.’ The term was first used in 2009 but went viral on social media earlier this year.

Notes:
Chinese leader Jiang Zemin passed away recently at the age of 96. He was China’s first head of state to have visited India in 1996, and played a key role in signing a crucial agreement to reduce the tensions along their disputed border.
Jiang was the President of China and General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CPC) from 1989 to 2002.

Notes:
Indonesian lawmakers unanimously passed a sweeping new criminal code that criminalizes sex outside marriage.
The new code, which also applies to foreign residents and tourists, bans cohabitation before marriage, apostasy, and provides punishments for insulting the president or expressing views counter to the national ideology.

Notes:
University Grants Commission (UGC) has sought the translation of textbooks for undergraduate programmes in languages such as Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Gujarati, Odia, Bengali, Assamese, Punjabi, Hindi, and Urdu.
UGC also constituted an apex committee to prepare the roadmap to introduce undergraduate and postgraduate courses in regional languages in disciplines including commerce, humanities, and science.