Current Affairs Quiz - December, 2023

Notes:
Mahe, Malvan and Mangrol, the first three ships of Shallow Water Craft (CSL) project were launched recently.
The contract for building eight ASW SWC ships was signed between the Ministry of Defence and Cochin Shipyard Limited in 2019. The Mahe class of ships will be equipped with indigenously developed, state-of-the-art underwater sensors, and are envisaged to undertake anti-submarine operations in coastal waters as well as Low Intensity Maritime Operations (LIMO) and Mine Laying Operations.

Notes:
Sri Lanka has reached an agreement in principle with India and the Paris Club group of creditors including Japan, on a debt treatment plan.
It will help the crisis-hit island nation tap the next tranche of the International Monetary Fund’s nearly-$3 billion recovery package.

Notes:
Russian President Vladimir Putin gave his official approval to a significant increase in military spending that will see around 30% of fiscal expenditure directed towards the armed forces in 2024.
The President signed draft budget plans into law. Russia is diverting ever more resources towards prosecuting its war in Ukraine. Spending on defence and security combined is set to reach around 40% of all budget expenditure next year.

Notes:
World AIDS Day is observed on December 1st every year. The theme for 2023 is “Let Communities Lead”. This theme highlights the importance of communities in the HIV response and the goal of ending AIDS by 2030. World AIDS Day is an international day that raises awareness of the AIDS pandemic and mourns those who have died from the disease. It also celebrates victories, such as increased access to treatment and prevention services.

Notes:
A Goa government appointed committee has determined that the deadly Sattari landslides in July 2021 were caused by a combination of geological factors, human activity, and extreme rain. Their report states that deep chemical weathering of rocks creating structural weaknesses, combined with naturally steep slopes, made the terrain prone to landslides during heavy precipitation. Additionally, anthropogenic activities like unscientific road cutting, construction, mining, etc further aggravated slope instability in protected forest areas of Sattari such as Satre, Karmali-Budruk, Karanzol-Savarde, and Maushi-Zarme.

Notes:
NASA’s Lucy spacecraft recently discovered that an asteroid named Dinkinesh, which it flew past last month, has a tiny “contact binary” moon – two space rocks gently rested against each other. The International Astronomical Union approved the name “Selam” for this moon, meaning “peace” in Ethiopia’s language.
The names Dinkinesh and Selam refer to two famous hominid fossils discovered in Ethiopia. Dinkinesh is the Ethiopian name for the 3.18 million-year-old Lucy fossil that the Lucy mission is named after. Selam was a 3-year-old girl’s fossil found in 2000 in Dikika, belonging to the same species as Lucy and dating over 100,000 years earlier than her.

Notes:
Anthrobots are tiny, self-assembling robots made from human cells. They can move around in a lab dish and are capable of healing neurons and damaged tissue. Anthrobots are made from human tracheal cells and can be created without genetic modifications. They are made up of a few hundred cells and only last a few weeks before breaking down. This means they can be easily reabsorbed into the body after their work is done. Anthrobots could be used in personalized medicine. They could help heal wounds or damaged tissue by forming large structures that span the width of a wound.
A team at Tufts University and Harvard University’s Wyss Institute created anthrobots.

Notes:
The concept of Special Category States (SCS) emerged in 1969 when the Indian government recognized that certain states faced more developmental challenges than others. The criteria for SCS classification includes hilly terrain, low population density, sizable tribal population, strategic border locations, and economic backwardness.

Initially in 1969, Jammu & Kashmir, Assam and Nagaland were granted SCS status. Currently, 11 states hold this status – Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Sikkim, Tripura, Himachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Telangana and Uttarakhand.

The preferential categorization aims to channel additional funds and incentives to remote, underdeveloped regions facing geographic handicaps. SCS states receive central assistance for programs tailor-made to their unique needs. The classification also enables access to separate Center-State funding mechanisms and industrial promotions to spur growth.

Notes:
The researchers at NASA, have been allowed to study the moon samples collected by China, in a first-of-its-kind collaboration between the space agencies of the two countries. The laws by the US have till now kept NASA and its counterpart the China National Space Administration (CNSA) at a distance, but now they have been allowed to work together.
As per the Wolf Amendment which was passed in 2011 by the US Congress, it places a ban on NASA from cooperating with China unless they have been authorised by lawmakers.

Notes:
A rare golden mole species called De Winton’s golden mole, presumed extinct since 1936, has been rediscovered after an extensive two-year survey in South Africa’s west coast sand dunes. The blind mole around mouse/hamster size burrows expertly underground and leaves no tunnels, making it extremely elusive. Advanced DNA sampling methods and sniffer dogs helped confirm traces matching the rare species.
Its rediscovery raises hopes for the survival of more thought-extinct species as biodiversity surveying improves. Protecting such rare endemic species is vital for conservation.