Current Affairs Quiz - December, 2022

Notes:
The United States has announced that it would provide its key Patriot missile defence system to Ukraine.
The Patriot missile system can be used as a shield against short-range ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and incoming jets. The package also includes military vehicles, mortars, ammunition for HIMARS (High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems), and small arms.

Notes:
Nepal President Bidya Devi Bhandari appointed CPN-Maoist Centre chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ as the new Prime Minister of Nepal.
Prachanda has been appointed as the Prime Minister of Nepal as per the Article 76 Clause 2 of the Constitution. There has been an understanding between Prachanda and Oli to lead the government on rotation basis.

Notes:
Pharmaceutical company Hetero received World Health Organization Prequalification of Medicines Programme (WHO PQ) approval for its generic version of Covid-19 oral antiviral treatment candidate Nirmatrelvir.
Nirmatrelvir, which originated in Pfizer laboratories, is co-packaged with ritonavir tablets as Pfizer’s Covid-19 oral antiviral drug Paxlovid.

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:
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 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:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi virtually laid foundation stone and projects worth more than ₹7,800 crore in West Bengal.
He also virtually inaugurated Dr. Syama Prasad Mookerjee – National Institute of Water and Sanitation (DSPM – NIWAS). It will serve as an apex body in the country on water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) in the country, serving as a hub of information and knowledge for Central, State and local governments.

Notes:
Indian Air Force (IAF) successfully test-fired the extended-range version of BrahMos Air-Launched missile.
It was test fired against a ship target from a frontline SU-30MKI aircraft. The maiden test of the extended range of the Brahmos Air Launched missile was conducted on May 12. BrahMos missiles are designed, developed and produced by BrahMos Aerospace, a joint venture company set up by India’s DRDO and Russia’s Mashinostroyenia.