Current Affairs Quiz - December, 2022

Notes:
The Jharkhand Assembly recently passed a Rs 8,533.79-crore supplementary budget for the current fiscal by voice vote.
On August 1, the house passed a Rs 3,436.56-crore supplementary budget for the 2022-23 fiscal. As per the house, the government has spent 49 per cent of the main estimates till date, and a supplementary budget was required for ensuring a proper supply of power and scholarships.

Notes:
Japan adopted a new policy promoting greater use of nuclear energy to ensure a stable power supply amid global fuel shortages and to reduce carbon emissions.
This is seen as a major reversal of its phase-out plan since the Fukushima crisis. The new policy seeks to maximise the use of existing nuclear reactors by restarting many of them and prolonging the operating life of old reactors beyond their 60-year limit, developing next-generation reactors to replace them among others.

Notes:
The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has approved Bharat Biotech’s intranasal Covid vaccine as a booster dose for those above 18 years of age.
India’s first intranasal Covid vaccine iNCOVACC will be added to the CoWin app, which is a web platform for vaccination registration in the country. At present, only Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin, Serum Institute’s Covishield and Covovax, Russian Sputink V and Biological E Ltd’s Corbevax are listed in the CoWin portal.

Notes:
The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India has detected large-scale anomalies in the updation of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) for Assam.
It also flagged the risk of data tampering due to improper software development for the exercise. The updation process of the 1951 NRC for Assam was done under the supervision of the Supreme Court. The updated final NRC was released on August 31, 2019 and it left out 1.9 million of the 33 million applicants on suspicion of their claims as Indian citizens.

Notes:
The Competition Commission of India (CCI) issued demand notices to Google for its failure to pay the penalties within the stipulated time.
CCI earlier imposed penalties on the internet major for anti-competitive practices.  Google has filed appeals before the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) against the Competition Commission of India’s (CCI) two orders in October.

Notes:
The Health Ministry of Uzbekistan said 18 children, with acute respiratory disease, have died from taking excessive doses of a cough syrup, Doc-1 Max.
It has been manufactured by Marion Biotech a Noida-based Indian firm. The children consumed the cough syrup, which contained ethylene glycol, a substance that ought not to be present in cough syrup. Parliamentary panel in The Gambia earlier found unacceptable levels of diethylene glycol and ethylene glycol in cough syrups made by Haryana-based Maiden Pharma.

Notes:
As part of India’s G20 presidency, the Minister for Electronics & Information Technology, Ashwini Vaishnaw has launched the ‘G20 Digital Innovation Alliance” (G20-DIA)’.
He also launched the ‘Stay Safe Online’ campaign to increase awareness about the safe practices to be used while being online. MeitY is the Nodal Ministry for the G20 Digital Economy Working Group (DEWG). During India’s G20 presidency, MeitY will focus on three priority areas, namely Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI), Cyber Security, and Digital Skill Development.

Notes:
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has ranked Indian-PSU company WAPCOS as top amongst consulting services firms in water and other infrastructure sectors.
In another report ‘Fact Sheet – 2022’ released by the ADB, WAPCOS was placed amongst the Top 3 consultants from India involved in consulting services contracts under ADB loan, grant, and technical assistance projects in energy, transport and water, and other urban infrastructure sectors.

Notes:
Tamil Nadu government has issued orders to conserve the Nilgiri tahr, the state animal, at a cost of Rs 25.14 crore.
This is regarded as the first Nilgiri Tahr conservation project in the country. The project would be implemented during a 5-year period from 2022-2027, and follow a strategy including synchronised surveys to estimate numbers of the tahrs. The tahr is an endangered species and is protected under Schedule-I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act of India, 1972.

Notes:
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) releases the financial stability report (FSR) twice a year in every June and December.
As per the recent report, the gross non-performing asset (GNPA) ratio of scheduled commercial banks (SCBs) fell to a seven-year low of 5.0 per cent. The net non-performing assets (NNPA) have dropped to ten-year low of 1.3 per cent in September 2022.