Current Affairs Quiz - December, 2022

Notes:
Flipkart and PhonePe announced the full ownership separation of PhonePe, India’s largest digital payments platform.
The PhonePe Group was acquired by the Flipkart Group in 2016 and is one among India’s largest digital payments platform. PhonePe has over 400 million registered users, as it builds products and offerings tailored to the Indian market.

Notes:
Sitiveni Rabuka has been elected as the new Prime Minister of Fiji, after his People’s Alliance party secured the backing of Social Liberal Democratic party.
Frank Bainimarama’s reign as leader of Fiji has ended almost 16 years since he made himself as the Prime Minister after a coup in 2006.

Notes:
Indian badminton star PV Sindhu is the only Indian player in the top 25 in Forbes’ annual list of the highest-paid female athletes in the world.
The 27-year-old made 7 million US Dollars of her earnings, after having won a singles gold and doubles silver at the Commonwealth Games earlier this year in Birmingham. Japanese tennis star Naomi Osaka tops the list, for the third straight year.

Notes:
Union Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs has recently released the draft guidelines for a new ranking system of cities based on their financial performance and beautification.
The ‘City Finance Rankings 2022’ aims to evaluate and reward urban local bodies on the basis of their strength across resource mobilisation, expenditure performance and fiscal governance systems. The ‘City Beauty Competition’ initiative aims to recognise efforts made by the cities and wards towards creating beautiful, innovative and inclusive public spaces.

Notes:
The bar-headed goose, considered one the world’s highest flying birds, recently visited the Muttukadu backwaters in Tamil Nadu.
As many as seven bar-headed geese made a temporary stop at Muttukadu. Bar-headed geese, native to Central Asia, are capable of flying through the passes of the highest mountains with speedy winds freezing temperatures.

Notes:
The Government of India and Asian Development Bank (ADB) signed a USD 125 million loan to improve urban services in Tamil Nadu.
Tamil Nadu Urban Flagship Investment Program seeks to develop climate-resilient sewage collection and treatment, and drainage and water supply systems in three cities in the state. This is the third and the last tranche of the USD 500 million multi-tranche financing facility (MFF) for the Program approved by ADB in 2018.

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:
Afghanistan’s supreme leader has ordered judges to fully enforce aspects of the Sharia system. It is the Islamic law that include public executions, stonings, floggings and the amputation of limbs for thieves among others.
‘Hudud’ refers to offences for which certain types of punishment are mandated under Islamic Law, while ‘Qisas’ is translated as retaliation in kind.

Notes:
Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the country’s first ever metro rail line in its capital city Dhaka.
Dhaka is regarded as one of the world’s most densely populated cities. The Metro project has been mostly funded by Japan and the train network has been in development for nearly 10 years.

Notes:
The Election Commission of India has developed a prototype of a remote electronic voting machine (RVM) for domestic migrant voters.
It has invited political parties for a demonstration. If implemented, migrant voters do not need to travel to their home district to exercise their franchise and this will be a major move to increase voter participation.