Current Affairs Quiz - December, 2022

Notes:
As per the Finance Ministry’s latest data, India’s gross domestic product growth in the first half of 2022-23 is averaged to 9.7 %.
This was announced in the Ministry’s mid-year expenditure and revenue statement. The ministry said it could not present the medium-term expenditure framework (MTEF) as mandated by the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act, as the global macro-economic situation disrupted the government’s projections.

Notes:
National Mathematics Day is observed on December 22 every year. It marks the birth anniversary of legendary mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan.
In 2012, then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh declared December 22 as National Mathematics Day. Srinivasa Ramanujan, a legendary mathematician, was born on December 22, 1887 and his contribution the field led to resolution of many unsolved theorems.

Notes:
The International Finance Corporation (IFC) has extended a USD 400-million loan to mortgage major HDFC for financing green affordable housing units.
The loan will help close the urban housing gap and improve access to climate-smart affordable homes by boosting green housing, creating jobs and ensuring long-term business growth.

Notes:
The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has appointed senior bureaucrat Santosh Kumar Yadav as Chairman.
Santosh Kumar Yadav, a 1995-batch IAS officer is currently additional secretary in the Department of School Education and Literacy, Ministry of Education.

Notes:
Daksh is the advanced supervisory management system maintained by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
RBI recently announced that it is migrating the payments fraud reporting module to Daksh on January 1, 2023. The move aims to streamline reporting, enhance efficiency and automate the payments fraud management process.

Notes:
The Maharashtra Assembly unanimously passed the Maharashtra Lokayukta Act, 2022, which will give additional powers to the Lokayukta to direct state agencies to probe public servants, including the chief minister and state ministers.
The government has accepted all the recommendations made by the committee led by social activist Anna Hazare. The Act will now be presented in the Legislative Council for approval.

Notes:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi virtually laid foundation stone and projects worth more than ₹7,800 crore in West Bengal.
He also virtually inaugurated Dr. Syama Prasad Mookerjee – National Institute of Water and Sanitation (DSPM – NIWAS). It will serve as an apex body in the country on water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) in the country, serving as a hub of information and knowledge for Central, State and local governments.

Notes:
The Election Commission of India has developed a prototype of a remote electronic voting machine (RVM) for domestic migrant voters.
It has invited political parties for a demonstration. If implemented, migrant voters do not need to travel to their home district to exercise their franchise and this will be a major move to increase voter participation.

Notes:
The US Census Bureau said the world’s population is projected to be at 7.9 billion on New Year’s Day 2023.
This is an increase of 73.7 million since January 2022 and an increase in global population of 0.9 percent over the previous year. The Census Bureau projected that there will be 4.3 births and two deaths globally every second in January 2023.

Notes:
The Indian Institute of Technology, Madras’ (IIT-M) BS in Data Science and Applications has won a silver prize in the ‘Best Online Program’ category in the Wharton-QS Reimagine Education Awards.
It is also referred to as ‘the Oscars of Education.’ NPTEL (National Programme on Technology Enhanced Learning), a joint initiative of IITs and IISc, won the Gold in the ‘Lifelong Learning category.’ NPTEL is led by IIT Madras and is funded by the Ministry of Education.