Current Affairs Quiz - December, 2022

Notes:
India has recently launched a ‘Group of Friends’ to promote accountability for crimes against peacekeepers, during its current presidency of the UN Security Council.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar announced that New Delhi will soon have a database that will record all crimes against the peacekeepers. India, Bangladesh, Egypt, France, Morocco and Nepal are co-chairs of the group. India, among the largest troop-contributing countries to UN peacekeeping, has lost 177 of its peacekeepers in the line of duty.

Notes:
Atal Innovation Mission (AIM), NITI Aayog called for ‘ATL Marathon 2022-23’. It is an innovation challenge under AIM’s Atal Tinkering Labs program.
The theme for this edition of ATL Marathon is ‘India’s G20 Presidency’. It is a national level innovation challenge for young innovators across India who can solve community problems and develop innovative solutions. Top teams will get an Internship opportunity through the Student Innovator Program

Notes:
Fiji’s general election ended without a clear result, with two rival ex-coup leaders failing to win a clear majority.
Incumbent Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama’s Fiji First party and an opposition coalition led by Sitiveni Rabuka now need a kingmaking minor party to secure power. Fiji has been toppled by four coups in the past 35 years.

Notes:
Top seed Sasikumar Mukund beat Seydina Andre of Senegal 6-4, 6-1 in the semi-finals of the USD 15,000 ITF men’s tennis tournament in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt.
In the final match, Martyn Pawelski of Poland beat top seed Sasikumar Mukund to clinch USD 15,000 ITF men’s tennis tournament.  It was the maiden professional title for the 18-year-old Martyn.

Notes:
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky recently addressed the US Congress. He appealed to lawmakers and citizens to continue supporting Ukraine.
He delivered a 25 minute-speech while unfurling the Ukrainian battle flag in the end and evoking the analogy of the ongoing war in Ukraine with second world war’s ‘Christmas of 1944’.

Notes:
Decacorn is the name given to a business with a value more than USD 10 billion. Unicorns are businesses with a value more than USD 1 billion.
Recently, the collective value of the Indian Premier League (IPL) is estimated to have gone up to USD 10.9 billion, thereby becoming a decacorn. Media rights, sponsorships, ticket sales, and in-stadia revenue are the contributors for its revenue.

Notes:
The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has bagged a top data security award for best practices in the government sector.
Data Security Council of India (DSCI) is a not-for-profit industry body on data protection in India, setup by NASSCOM.  DSCI awarded UIDAI for its significant role in securing ‘Aadhaar’ infrastructure that provides digital identity based welfare services to residents.

Notes:
New Delhi Television Ltd (NDTV) founders Prannoy Roy and his wife Radhika Roy said that they have decided to transfer most of their shares in the company to billionaire Gautam Adani.
With this the control of about 65% of the news broadcaster will be transferred to Adani, while Radhika and Prannoy Roy will retain a combined 5% stake in NDTV.

Notes:
Union Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports, Anurag Singh Thakur inaugurated the Sports Science Centre in Udupi.
This Sports Science Centre will bring together sports scientists and athletes. The Government has spent 2700 crore rupees to enhance sporting infrastructure as well as 3,136 crore rupees for Khelo India Games, for a period of five years.

Notes:
India and Bangladesh agreed to start negotiations for a free trade agreement (FTA) at an early date. The decision was taken in a meeting between Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal and his Bangladeshi counterpart Tipu Munshi.
A joint feasibility study on the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), has been carried out after the two countries agreed to explore the possibility of negotiating a trade pact. The bilateral trade between India and Bangladesh increased to USD 18.2 billion in 2021-22.