Current Affairs Quiz - December, 2022

Notes:
The International Finance Corporation (IFC) has extended a USD 400-million loan to mortgage major HDFC for financing green affordable housing units.
The loan will help close the urban housing gap and improve access to climate-smart affordable homes by boosting green housing, creating jobs and ensuring long-term business growth.

Notes:
Russia will begin supplying India with the third squadron of the S-400 air defence missile system in January or February of next year.
India has already deployed its first two missile system squadrons to patrol the Ladakh sector, West Bengal’s Chicken’s Neck Corridor and the entire north-eastern region. India and Russia have agreed to a three-year ₹35,000 crore deal to buy five squadrons of S-400 air defence missiles.

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:
The Governor of Uttarakhand, Lt. Gen. (Retired) Gurmit Singh, approved the State’s Freedom of Religion (Amendment) Act.
According to the amended bill, forced conversion in the State will come under the category of crime. Apart from a maximum imprisonment of up to ten years, those persons indulging in forceful and unlawful conversion in Uttarakhand will be slapped with a fine of at least Rs 50,000.

Notes:
Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar mentioned that families with annual incomes up to 1,80,000 are being brought under ‘BPL family category’ and around 29 lakh cards will be made in this regard.
He also announced that the government’s official portal Haryana Shehri Vikas Pradhikaran (HSVP) will begin its Citizen Facilitation Center. The state government will celebrate 2023 as ‘Antyodaya Arogya Varsh, and under the ‘Chirayu Yojana’ 29 lakh families shall be given health insurance.

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 Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has been appointed as the nodal ministry for matters relating to online gaming with monetary risks.
The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports (MYAS) has been tasked with regulating esports (video games not involving money). India’s gaming market is currently estimated at USD 2.6 billion and expected to be worth USD 8.6 billion by 2027.

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.

Notes:
The US Census Bureau said the world’s population is projected to be at 7.9 billion on New Year’s Day 2023.
This is an increase of 73.7 million since January 2022 and an increase in global population of 0.9 percent over the previous year. The Census Bureau projected that there will be 4.3 births and two deaths globally every second in January 2023.

Notes:
‘Forks in the Road: My Days at RBI and Beyond’ book is a memoir of Dr C. Rangarajan, the 19th Governor of the Reserve Bank of India and a former Member of Parliament.
The book includes his journey as an economist and RBI Governor and sheds lights on some of the hidden truths surrounding India’s economic history including the account of 1991 reforms.