Current Affairs Quiz - December, 2023

Notes:
The UNAIDS agency said in its annual World AIDS Day Report that community-led responses are unrecognised, under-resourced and in some places under attack.
The UN first set out in 2015 the target of ending AIDS as a public health threat by 2030.  There are 39 million people around the world living with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. Of them, 20.8 million are in eastern and southern Africa and 6.5 million are in Asia and the Pacific.

Notes:
The Sri Lankan cabinet has given clearance to allow China’s energy major Sinopec to establish a new $4.5 billion petroleum refinery plant at the strategic Hambantota port in the island nation.
The upcoming plant of Sinopec, which entered the Sri Lankan market in July this year, would be the largest foreign direct investment with $4.5 billion for Sri Lanka.

Notes:
People celebrated the 554th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak, the founder of the Sikh faith. The Sikh community mark Guru Nanak’s Prakash Utsav with various rituals, including Asa di vaar, ardas, Nagar kirtan, Akhand Paath Sahib, langar, and cultural programs.
The festival includes worshipers singing hymns in procession during the pre-dawn hour. Pakistan issues 3000 visas to Sikh pilgrims to celebrate birth anniversary of Guru Nanak.

Notes:
Pakistan and the UAE have inked several agreements under which the Gulf nation is likely to invest between USD 20-25 billion in the cash-strapped nation, according to a media report.
The caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar’s meeting with the UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan was held in Abu Dhabi. Pakistan is battling an acute balance of payments crisis and falling foreign exchange reserves.

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:
Angadvir Singh Bajwa and Ganemat Sekhon won the mixed skeet gold for Punjab in the 66th National shooting championship.
In the women’s 50-metre rifle 3-position event, Asian Games champion Sift Kaur Samra beat Olympian Anjum Moudgil by 1.9 point for the gold.

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:
India expects its indigenous rail safety system Kavach to be ready for international export within five years, as trials prove its effectiveness in preventing signal jumping and high-speed derailments. Kavach is being deployed across India’s vast 66,000km railway network to curb accidents blamed on human error by controllers or drivers. The system is designed to bring any train violating signals or speed limits to a halt automatically using sensors and cameras that relay data to a central control room. With the project timed to completion by 2025, Kavach may start securing overseas rails by 2028.

Notes:
NITI Aayog has been publishing the Composite Water Management Index (CWMI) since 2018. So far two editions CWMI (June 2018) and CWMI 2.0 (August 2019) have been published.
Subsequent edition of CWMI was prepared in August 2022 with delay due to the nationwide Covid-19 situation. NITI Aayog will come up with a combined report from the third to sixth edition of the Composite Water Management Index.

Notes:
The third edition of the IIGF is being conducted under the overarching theme “Moving Forward – Calibrating Bharat’s Digital Agenda”.
The India Internet Governance Forum is an initiative associated with the UN Internet Governance Forum (UN IGF). It is a hybrid event and the event is being held at Bharat Mandapam, Pragati Maidan, New Delhi. The event is an effort to focus on issues such as building a secure, trusted and resilient cyberspace for, Enabling Innovation for India’s Developmental Goals etc.