Current Affairs Quiz - December, 2022

Notes:
According to a recent clarification, the Central Government will allow a consortium of foreign funds and investment companies to own over 51% in IDBI Bank Ltd.
As per the current Reserve Bank of India (RBI) rules, foreign ownership is restricted in new private banks. At present, the government and the Life Insurance Corporation of India hold 94.71% in IDBI Bank and are looking to sell 60.72%.

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:
Vice-President of India is the ex-officio Chairman of the Rajya Sabha. The winter session of the Parliament commenced as the Vice president Jagdeep Dhankar officiated as the chair of Rajya Sabha, for the first time.
The Centre’s agenda for the winter session of Parliament includes introduction of 16 new bills.

Notes:
The World Bank recently released a report titled ‘Climate Investment Opportunities in India’s Cooling Sector’.
The report was released during the two-day ‘India Climate and Development Partners’ Meet’ being organised by World Bank in partnership with the Kerala government. As per the report, the country is experiencing higher temperatures that arrive earlier and stay far longer. India could become one of the first places in the world to experience heat waves that break the human survivability limit.

Notes:
Government of UT, Ladakh has approached the Indian Institute of Remote Sensing (IIRS) to develop Spatial Data Infrastructure geoportal ‘Geo-Ladakh’ for UT-Ladakh.
A Memorandum of Understanding was earlier signed between Indian Institute of Remote Sensing (IIRS), ISRO and UT-Ladakh Administration. The portal provides geospatial data visualization and analytics for Ladakh.

Notes:
Mirabai Chanu has clinched silver medal at the weightlifting World Championships in Bogota, Colombia.
Tokyo Olympics silver medallist won the silver, despite a wrist injury. The 2017 World Champion leads a four-member Indian squad at the competition. The 28-year-old from Imphal earned a silver medal in two individual categories and for her total score.

Notes:
Sushmita Shukla, Indian-origin veteran of the insurance industry, has been appointed as First Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
The appointment was approved by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System of New York. She has been appointed as First Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, effective March 2023, as the second-ranking officer.

Notes:
Three medicinal plant species found in the Himalayas have been added to IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
Meizotropis pellita, commonly known as Patwa and endemic to Uttarakhand, has been assessed as ‘critically endangered’, Fritilloria cirrhosa as ‘vulnerable’, and Dactylorhiza hatagirea as ‘endangered’.

Notes:
The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) announced that the test run of hypersonic vehicles was successfully conducted with Headquarters of the Integrated Defense Staff (HQ IDS).
The Trisonic Wind Tunnel system helps with the aerodynamic design of rockets and re-entry spacecraft. The tunnel can simulate flight at speeds from 68 metres per second to 1,360 metres per second.

Notes:
UN General Assembly declared 2002 as the UN International Year of Mountains and designated 11 December, as “International Mountain Day” from 2003 onwards.
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is the coordinating agency for this celebration (IMD). ‘Women Move Mountains’ is the theme of this year’s International Mountain Day. International Mountain Day 2022 raises awareness about the need to empower mountain women.