Current Affairs Quiz - December, 2022

Notes:
The Economic Advisory Council to Prime Minister (EAC-PM) along with Institute for Competitiveness and Social Progress Imperative today released the Social Progress Index (SPI) for States and Districts of India.
Puducherry has the highest SPI score of 65.99 in the country. It was followed by Lakshadweep, and Goa. The top three performing districts are Shimla in Himachal Pradesh, Solan in Himachal Pradesh, and Aizawl in Mizoram.

Notes:
Fitch Ratings affirmed India’s sovereign credit rating at ‘BBB-‘ with stable outlook. It also said that the country’s rating reflected strengths from a robust growth outlook and resilient external finances.
Fitch expects the government to push ahead with fiscal consolidation and forecast FY24 deficit target to be set at 6.0% of GDP in the FY 24 budget.

Notes:
Asian Wrestling Championships 2023 is set to take place between March 28 to April 2 in New Delhi, the United World Wrestling announced.
The Championship will include men’s freestyle, women’s freestyle, and men’s Greco-Roman divisions.  The first and second events will take place in Zagreb and Cairo in February while the third and fourth events will take place in Bishkek and Budapest in June and July.

Notes:
The Karnataka government has introduced a new startup policy (2022-27), which aims to add around 10000 startups more in the state in the next five years.
The new policy has been framed by the Department of Electronics and IT/BT. As a part of the policy, the state government will launch an INR 100 Cr venture capital fund to support deep-tech startups working in AI&ML, electric vehicle, med-tech, robotics and drones, among others.

Notes:
New Delhi Television Ltd (NDTV) founders Prannoy Roy and his wife Radhika Roy said that they have decided to transfer most of their shares in the company to billionaire Gautam Adani.
With this the control of about 65% of the news broadcaster will be transferred to Adani, while Radhika and Prannoy Roy will retain a combined 5% stake in NDTV.

Notes:
China’s National Health Commission will no longer be publishing daily data on COVID-19 case figures for the country.
The health agency has been publishing the numbers for the past three years. It is also not known how frequently China will now update Covid information. Relevant COVID information will be published by the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention for reference and research.

Notes:
Union Ministry of Power and the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) have recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to set up early warning systems for vulnerable hydro projects or power stations.
Specific tasks will be formulated between DRDO and respective project developer, under this agreement.

Notes:
Union Minister of Power and New and Renewable Energy RK Singh said, a world-class Kayaking-Canoeing Academy is to be set up at Tehri in Uttarakhand.
He inaugurated the National Championship ‘Tehri Water Sports Cup’ at Tehri Lake. The new sports policy has been implemented in the state, and the government has also announced the re-introduction of the sports quota in jobs.

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:
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).