Current Affairs Quiz - December, 2022

Notes:
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) Orion capsule made its closest approach to the Moon within 130 km.
The feat has been achieved after Apollo 17 flew half a century ago. The spacecraft is set to parachute into the sea and splash down on December 11. NASA shared a picture of the ‘Moon and the distant crescent Earth’ captured by the Orion spacecraft.

Notes:
Six Indian para-shuttlers clinch gold medals at Peru Para Badminton International in Lima. World No 3 Sukant Kadam defeated ace shuttler Singapore’s Chee Hiong Ang to clinch gold.
India won 14 medals in total including 6 gold, 1 silver and 7 bronze. In the women’s category, Nithya Sre Sumathy Sivan and Mandeep Kaur clinched the titles in the SH6 and SL3 singles sections.

Notes:
World Bank raised its gross domestic product (GDP) growth forecast for India during the current financial year (FY23) to 6.9 per cent from 6.5 per cent.
As per the India Development Update, the World Bank cited the economy’s resilience to external headwinds, and a strong out-turn in the second quarter of the current financial year. The report forecasts that the economy will grow at a slightly lower rate of 6.6 per cent in fiscal FY24 from the earlier projected 7 per cent.

Notes:
Yoginder K Alagh, a veteran economist and former Union minister, reecntly passed away at the age of 83.
He was the Union minister of state for Planning and Programme Implementation, Science and Technology and Power during 1996-98. He also served as the Vice Chancellor at the Jawaharlal Nehru University in Delhi.

Notes:
Indian shuttler Manisha Ramadass has been named the Badminton World Federation (BWF) female Para-Badminton Player of the Year.
The World Champion in the SU5 section, Manisha Ramadass won 11 gold and five bronze medals overall in 2022. BWF Male Para-Badminton Player of the Year went to WH2 world champion and reigning Paralympic champion Daiki Kajiwara. Viktor Axelsen and Zheng Si Wei/Huang Ya Qiong won the BWF Player of the Year Awards.

Notes:
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky has been named as the 2022 person of the year by Time magazine.
The Times cited that the President has put up a feisty resistance against the Russian invasion for nearly a year now. Zelensky shares the 2022 title with the spirit of Ukraine. When Russia declared war against its neighbour, Zelensky announced his decision to stay in Kyiv and rally his country.

Notes:
Dina Boluarte was appointed as Peru’s first female president amid a political crisis when her predecessor and former boss Pedro Castillo was ousted in an impeachment trial.
Peru’s leftist president Pedro Castillo was ousted by lawmakers and detained by police after he tried to illegally shut down Congress.

Notes:
The 4-day meeting of G20 Development Working Group (DWG) is set to begin in Mumbai under India’s Presidency.
The Development Working Group meeting aims to discuss developmental issues in Developing Countries, Least Developed Countries and Island Countries.

Notes:
Russia has remained India’s top oil supplier in November for the second month in a row, surpassing traditional sellers Iraq and Saudi Arabia,
According to Vortexa, an energy intelligence firm, Russia supplied 9,09,403 barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil to India in November. India imported 8,61,461 bpd of oil from Iraq in November and 5,70,922 bpd from Saudi Arabia.

Notes:
The International Day of Neutrality is commemorated on December 12. The day was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 2017, to focus on advocating and campaigning for intra-state peaceful relations.
The United Nations focuses on Preventive diplomacy, which is the diplomatic action taken to prevent disputes from escalating into conflicts, as well as limiting the spread of conflicts; as well as mediating in inter and intra-state conflicts at all stages, and peacekeeping.