Current Affairs Quiz - December, 2022

Notes:
India has received all 36 Rafale aircraft from France, with the last aircraft landing in the country recently.
India and France signed the inter-government agreement in 2016, under which France agreed to provide 36 Rafale fighter jets at a cost of around 60,000 crore rupees to India.

Notes:
Reliance Consumer Products fully owned subsidiary of Reliance Retail Ventures launched FMCG brand ‘Independence’.
Reliance Consumer Products announced the launch of home-grown consumer packaged goods brand in Gujarat. The company’s new brand will compete with the likes of Tata Consumer Products, Adani Wilmar and ITC Ltd.

Notes:
Leo Varadkar takes over for the second time as Ireland’s Prime Minister. He is still one of Ireland’s youngest ever leaders even in his second stint in the role.
Varadkar’s Fine Gael and current premier Micheal Martin’s Fianna Fail parties is unprecedented in Irish history, agreed to the rotating premiership as part of a coalition with Ireland’s Greens following 2020 elections.

Notes:
The Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council met after a gap of six months under the chairmanship of Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman recently, over videoconference.
The Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council clarified tax provisions on several items to reduce disputes. It also approved decriminalisation of some offences but did not discuss about the setting up of a GST Appellate Tribunal.

Notes:
The leaders of Azerbaijan, Georgia, Romania and Hungary signed an agreement on the construction of an electric cable running under the Black Sea to carry green energy from Azerbaijan.
The agreement involves a 1,100 km 1,000 MW cable running from Azerbaijan to Romania as part of European Union efforts to diversify energy resources away from Russia amid the Ukraine war.

Notes:
Casper Ruud has been announced as the winner of the 2022 Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship Award. The winner of the award is selected by fellow players on the ATP Tour.
The 23-year-old Norwegian reached the summit clashes of French Open, US Open and ATP Finals this year. He also won titles in Buenos Aires, Geneva and Gstaad while finishing runner-up at Miami. Casper Ruud reached a career-high ranking of World No. 2 and finished the year as World No. 3.

Notes:
The Great Barrier Reef is the world’s largest coral reef system, located in Australia. Scientists working on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef have successfully trialled a new method for freezing and storing coral larvae.
As per the scientists, this could help rebuild reefs threatened by climate change.  The Great Barrier Reef has suffered four bleaching events in the last seven years including the first ever bleach during a La Nina phenomenon.

Notes:
EU member states and parliamentarians announced agreement for major reform to the bloc’s carbon market.
The deal aims to accelerate emissions cuts, phase out free allowances to industries and targets fuel emissions from the building and road transport sectors.

Notes:
The government has raised over Rs 4.04 lakh crore through disinvestment and strategic sale of public sector enterprises since 2014, the Finance Ministry said.
The largest amount of over Rs 1.07 lakh crore was raised through offer for sale in 59 cases. This was followed by a stake sale through Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) in 10 tranches, amounting to Rs 98,949 crore. Strategic sales in 10 companies, including Air India, yielded Rs 69,412 crores. 17 CPSEs were listed since 2014-15, which yielded Rs 50,386 crore.

Notes:
Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders (MDL) announced the delivery of the fifth Scorpene Submarine ‘Vagir’ of Project P-75 to the Indian Navy.
It is scheduled to be commissioned into service in January. The sixth Scorpene submarine Vaghsheer was launched on 20 April 2022 and is getting readied for trials. Vagir can undertake anti-surface, anti-submarine, intelligence gathering, mine laying, area surveillance missions.