Current Affairs Quiz - December, 2022

Notes:
Nepal’s drug regulatory authority has blacklisted 16 Indian pharmaceutical companies, including Divya Pharmacy which manufactures Patanjali products.
The authority stated that the companies failed to comply with the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) drug manufacturing standards.

Notes:
Parliament has passed the Maritime Anti Piracy Bill 2022 after the approval of Rajya Sabha. The Bill has already been passed by Lok Sabha.
The Bill enables Indian authorities to take action against piracy on the high seas. It applies to the sea beyond the Exclusive Economic Zone, which is beyond 200 nautical miles from India’s coastline. Ministry of External Affairs is associated with the bill.

Notes:
Israel’s longest-serving Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu has secured a deal to form a new government.
Netanyahu has managed to form a government after tough negotiations with far-right coalition partners.  Though Netanyahu’s Likud and like-minded religious-nationalist parties won a comfortable majority, the agreement to form a government was held up by several political disputes.

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:
Harmanpreet Singh was named the captain of the 18-member Indian squad for the FIH Men’s Hockey World Cup.
Hockey India announced the squad for the FIH men’s World Cup scheduled from January 13 to 29, 2023 in Bhubaneswar-Rourkela, Odisha. Amit Rohidas will be his deputy for the event.The Men in Blue will play its opening game against Spain at the newly built Birsa Munda Stadium in Rourkela.

Notes:
The Union Cabinet approved pending One Rank One Pension (OROP) revision for retirees from armed forces and their families.
The scheme has been delayed since July 2019. Arrears will be paid from July 1, 2019 to June 30, 2022 which is approximately ₹23,638 crore. As per the Defence Ministry, over 25.13 lakh people, including over 4.52 lakh new beneficiaries, armed forces pensioners and family pensioners will benefit.

Notes:
England player Sam Curran became the most expensive player in IPL history in the INR 18.50 crore deal signed by Punjab Kings.
Sam Curranwas the Player of the Final and the Tournament at the 2022 T20 World Cup in Australia, and since September this year he has taken 25 wickets in 14 T20s at an economy rate of 7.08.
Ben Stokes became Chennai Super Kings’ costliest signing at INR 16.25 crore while Sunrisers Hyderabad bought Harry Brook for INR 13.25 crore.

Notes:
The Ministry of Railways has formulated a new scheme to modernise over 1,000 small stations over the coming years.
Amrit Bharat Station Scheme is a part of its station redevelopment drive. The key features of the proposed stations include provisions for roof top plazas, longer platforms, ballast-less tracks, and 5G connectivity.

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:
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.