Current Affairs Quiz - December, 2022

Notes:
As per a recent report by the Centre, Transport and highways sector has the maximum number of delayed projects.
Of the 769 projects of the sector, 358 projects are delayed. The total original cost of implementation of the projects when sanctioned, was ₹4,33,744 crore, but this was subsequently anticipated at ₹4,60,524 crore with a cost overrun of 6.2%.

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:
Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) announced that India will become the third economic superpower by 2037 and a USD 10-trillion economy by 2035.
This growth trajectory will see India rise from fifth place on the World Economic League Table in 2022 to third in the global rankings by 2037.  The annual rate of India’s GDP growth is expected to average 6.4% in the next five years, average 6.5% in the subsequent nine years.

Notes:
The Indian Institute of Sciences (IISc), ARTPARK (AI and Robotics Technology Park) and Google have partnered together for ‘Project Vaani’ Initiative.
The digital project aims to map the language diversity of India by collecting speech sets of about a million people across 773 districts. The project aims to record over 150,000 hours of speech, part of which will be transcribed in local scripts. The goal is to boost development of automatic speech recognition, speech to speech translation and natural language understanding.

Notes:
In India, the minimum wage for labourers has been fixed at Rs 178 per day. The labour ministry is considering a shift from the minimum wage to a living wage.
As per reports, India could seek help from the International Labour Organisation (ILO) to arrive at living wages. A minimum wage is the amount required for subsistence and is set by law while the living wage is necessary for workers to meet their basic living requirements. The difference between the two may range from 10 to 25 per cent.

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:
Union Information and broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur released the Official Government of India Calendar for the year 2023.
It has 12 themes for the 12 months to highlight the efforts made by the Government towards public welfare. The calendar will showcase the achievements of the Government so far and the commitment for future, with the theme ‘Naya Varsh, Naye Sankalp’. It will be made available in 13 languages.

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:
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 Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA) is an autonomous Research Institute wholly financed by the department of Science and Technology. It has its headquarters in Bengaluru.
Astronomers and scientists at the Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA), along with their international collaborators, have recently found that hot stars and white dwarfs emitted less ultraviolet radiation than expected.