Current Affairs Quiz - December, 2022

Notes:
Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar has nominated legendary former athlete and MP PT Usha to the panel of Vice chairpersons in the Upper House.
This is the first time a nominated member has been appointed to the Vice Chairman panel. YSRC MP Vijai Sai Reddy has also been nominated along with her.

Notes:
Indian men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty reached their career-best world No. 5 rank in the BWF world rankings.
They clinched two world tour titles at Indian Open Super 500 and French Open Super 750 and claimed maiden gold at the Commonwealth Games and a bronze at the World Championships. HS Prannoy was ranked at world number 9. Double Olympic medallist P V Sindhu continued to hold on to the number six position.

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:
Most cervical cancers are associated with the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) and the HPV vaccine can prevent most cases of if the vaccine is given before girls or women are exposed to the virus.
National Technical Advisory Group   for Immunization (NTAGI) has recommended introduction of HPV Vaccine in the Universal Immunization Programme (UIP) with for 9-14 year-old adolescent girls. The Centre has written to all States and UTs to create awareness on prevention of cervical cancer and the importance of HPV vaccine.

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.

Notes:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid respects to Zorawar Singh and Fateh Singh, the sons of Tenth Sikh Guru Guru Gobind Singh’s sons who laid down their lives while defending their faith.
December 26 is observed as Veer Bal Diwas in Idia. Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee as well as Akal Takht, the highest temporal body of the Sikhs, opposed the government’s initiative.

Notes:
Pharmaceutical company Hetero received World Health Organization Prequalification of Medicines Programme (WHO PQ) approval for its generic version of Covid-19 oral antiviral treatment candidate Nirmatrelvir.
Nirmatrelvir, which originated in Pfizer laboratories, is co-packaged with ritonavir tablets as Pfizer’s Covid-19 oral antiviral drug Paxlovid.

Notes:
Cricket Australia has named the men’s Test Player of the Year award after Shane Warne. The legendary cricketer Warne passed away earlier this year.
In 2006, Warne won the Test player of the Year award and finished as the second-highest wicket-taker in Tests by the end of his career. Warne clinched 708 wickets from 145 matches.

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 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.