Current Affairs Quiz - December, 2022

Notes:
Maharashtra is the first state to set up the Divyang department, for the welfare of people with disabilities.
The government has created over 2000 posts for the new department which will formulate policies for the welfare of the disabled. Welfare activities of Divyang people like education, training, and rehabilitation were taken care of by the state social justice department, so far.

Notes:
The Ministry of Civil Aviation has issued guidelines for the implementation of the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme to support the indigenous drone industry.
The government approved Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme for Drones and Drone Components in India. For the implementation of this scheme during 2022-23 to 2024-25, a corpus of Rs 120 crore was also allocated.

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:
India has jumped to the 48th position in the global aviation safety ranking by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).
The Indian aviation safety has scored the highest ever score of 85.49 per cent. In 2018, India was at the 102nd rank. In the ranking, Singapore is at the top, followed by the UAE and South Korea at the second and third positions.

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:
Google’s Jigsaw subsidiary is launching a new anti-misinformation project in India. The project is aimed to prevent misleading information that has been blamed for inciting violence.
The initiative will use prebunking videos, which have been designed to counter false claims before they are circulated on the company’s YouTube platform and other social media sites. In India, the project is released in multiple local languages including Bengali, Hindi and Marathi.

Notes:
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) released the ‘Global status of black soils’ Report on the occasion of World Soil Day, December 5, 2022.
As per the report, Black soils, which feed the global population, are under threat, with most losing at least half of their soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks. As per the FAO, the reasons are Land-use change, unsustainable management practices and excessive use of agrochemicals.

Notes:
The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) will launch India’s first-ever surety bonds insurance product to boost liquidity in the infrastructure sector, as per Union minister Nitin Gadkari.
The surety bonds will help in boosting the liquidity in the infrastructure sector by providing relief to the contractors’ working capital stuck in bank guarantees.

Notes:
The United Arab Emirates made history with the successful launch of the Arab world’s first lunar rover ‘Rashid’.
This marks the start of 385,000km journey that will make the UAE the fourth country to land on the moon and the first in the Arab world. Rashid Rover was named after the late former Ruler of Dubai- Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum.

Notes:
The Minister of State for Electronics & Information Technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar announced that India is the largest connected nation in the world today with more than 800 million broadband users.
The announcement was made during ‘India Internet Governance Forum 2022’, held on the theme ‘Leveraging Techade for Empowering Bharat’. It is an initiative associated with the UN Internet Governance Forum (UN-IGF).