Current Affairs Quiz - December, 2022

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:
The Governor of Uttarakhand, Lt. Gen. (Retired) Gurmit Singh, approved the State’s Freedom of Religion (Amendment) Act.
According to the amended bill, forced conversion in the State will come under the category of crime. Apart from a maximum imprisonment of up to ten years, those persons indulging in forceful and unlawful conversion in Uttarakhand will be slapped with a fine of at least Rs 50,000.

Notes:
The Delhi Metro has recently completed 20 years of operations, since it started its journey in December 2002 with a corridor of just 8.2 km spanning six stations on the Red Line.
The DMRC’s network span is nearly 392 km with 286 stations in 2022. An exhibition named ‘Tracing Delhi Metro’s Journey’ was launched to mark the 20^th year. Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) provided financial support for rapid expansion of the metro network in Delhi-NCR.

Notes:
Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar mentioned that families with annual incomes up to 1,80,000 are being brought under ‘BPL family category’ and around 29 lakh cards will be made in this regard.
He also announced that the government’s official portal Haryana Shehri Vikas Pradhikaran (HSVP) will begin its Citizen Facilitation Center. The state government will celebrate 2023 as ‘Antyodaya Arogya Varsh, and under the ‘Chirayu Yojana’ 29 lakh families shall be given health insurance.

Notes:
The Union Mines Ministry approved the purchase of two new surveyor ships, to replace RV Samudra Shaudhikama and RV Samudra Kaustabh.
The new ships would conduct marine surveys for the Geological Survey of India (GSI). The RV Samudra Shaudhikama and RV Samudra Kaustabh were built in the Netherlands and commissioned in 1984.

Notes:
The President of India Droupadi Murmu, laid the foundation stone for the project ‘Development of Pilgrimage Facilities at Bhadrachalam Group of Temples’ at Bhadrachalam in the state of Telangana.
She also laid the foundation stone for another project called ‘Development of Pilgrimage and Heritage Infrastructure of UNESCO World Heritage Site at Rudreshwara (Ramappa) Temple’ in the state.  Both these projects have been approved under the PRASHAD (National Mission on Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spiritual Heritage Augmentation Drive) Scheme of the Ministry of Tourism.

Notes:
The first consignment under the India-Australia Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA) was flagged off from Chennai.
Another flagging off ceremony of the export consignments from Tamil Nadu under ECTA was held on at Ennore Adani Container Terminal, in Tamil Nadu.  The pact will boost overall bilateral trade and benefit various labour intensive sectors of India as import duty from existing 5% becomes zero.

Notes:
British Indian Army Memorial is set to be built in the Scottish city of Glasgow, to commemorate the sacrifice of millions of Indian soldiers who fought for the British during the two World Wars.
The memorial is visualised as Scotland’s first permanent memorial wall to recognise the service and sacrifice of the British Indian Army. Approximately 1.3 million Indian soldiers served in World War One, and over 74,000 of them lost their lives.

Notes:
The newly-discovered species named ‘Solanum scalarium’ belongs to Solanum, a large genus of flowering plants in the nightshade family Solanaceae.
Solanum is the most species-rich genus in the family Solanaceae and among the largest in the angiosperms or flowering plants. Solanum includes the potato, the tomato and the eggplant (brinjal or aubergine).

Notes:
The Election Commission has initiated the delimitation of assembly and parliamentary constituencies in Assam.
It will use the 2001 census figures for the readjustment of seats. The move to redraw the assembly and parliamentary seats of Assam as per Section 8A of the Representation of the People Act, 1950 has been initiated after a request from the Union Law Ministry.