Current Affairs Quiz - December, 2023

Notes:
The government launched a national protocol to provide for training of anganwadi workers to track and help children with disabilities.
The anganwadi eco-system reaches out to over eight crore children from birth to six years on a daily basis, according to a statement issued by the Women and Child Development Ministry. According to the Draft National Policy for Persons with Disabilities 2021, one-third of most disabilities in India are estimated to be preventable, if they are detected early enough and adequately addressed.

Notes:
India along with 10 ASEAN Member States (AMS) were represented by 200 participants, at the 4th edition of the annual ASEAN India Grassroots Innovation Forum (AIGIF) that was launched in Langkawi, Malaysia.
The AIGIF is an annual programme focused on fostering a strengthened relationship between India and AMS on the premise of cooperation in Science, Technology and Innovation (STI). Department of Science & Technology (DST) and National Innovation Foundation (NIF) of India and the Science and Technology Ministry of the host nation, Malaysia collaborated for the event.

Notes:
A critically endangered species as per the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List, has been recorded for the first time in Manipur’s Tamenglong district.
The Saurauia Punduana plant was recorded during a recent Rapid Biodiversity Assessment (RBA) field survey. The survey covered the key areas of the biodiversity heritage sites of Longku forest. The local people call this plant as Anoibang.

Notes:
In an initiative touted at aiming to leverage data for social good, the Foundation for Science Innovation and Development (FSID) within the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) announced the launch of the Centre of Data for Public Good (CDPG).
CDPG will serve as a hub for multidisciplinary research, bringing together experts from academia, industry, and government to harness the power of data to benefit the public.

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:
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin unveiled a statue of pioneering anti-caste activist Iyothee Thass Pandithar in Chennai in December 2023. The statue and memorial cost Rs 2.49 crores to build. Stalin hailed Iyothee Thass as the forerunner to Periyar in politically popularizing ‘Tamizhan’ and ‘Dravidian’ identity terms. Born in 1845 in Madras, Iyothee Thass promoted Dravidian ideology through the Dravida Mahajana Sabha he founded in 1891 with Rettamalai Srinivasan. In 1876, Thass had set up the Advaidananda Sabha and launched the magazine ‘Dravida Pandian’ alongside Rev. John Rathina. A prominent activist and Siddha medicine practitioner, he organized Nilgiri Hills tribes into the freedom movement in the 1870s. His most revolutionary declaration in 1886 was that Scheduled Castes were not Hindus, inspiring their separate socio-political mobilization. This declaration laid the grounds for the later Dravida Kazhagam. Thass urged Dalits to register as ‘Casteless Dravidians’ in the 1891 census. His anti-caste activities inspired Sri Lanka’s Anagarika Dharmapala as well. After a life dedicated to social justice, Iyothee Thass passed away on May 5, 1914.

Notes:
India is aiming to expand its clean energy capabilities by proposing 13 new hydroelectric projects in Arunachal Pradesh, which would contribute 13,000 megawatts to the national grid. The state government signed MoUs with central public sector undertakings to construct these ventures, which require an investment of Rs 1.4 lakh crore and would quadruple the region’s per capita income. This supports India’s goal to better utilize its hydropower potential, currently at only 35% of capacity. The 2,000 megawatt Subansiri dam, the largest hydroelectric project underway in India, will also boost Arunachal Pradesh through its environmentally friendly run-of-river model that maintains downstream river flow.

Notes:
The UK will deploy surveillance aircraft over Israel and Gaza to locate over 130 people still held hostage by Hamas since its October attack on Israel. At least 5 missing British nationals are feared captive amid rescued hostages. The unarmed Shadow R1 drones conduct intelligence gathering for UK forces. While the offensive has resumed after a temporary Gaza truce, the reconnaissance flights starting soon will solely focus on hostage recovery without any combat role. The visuals and data obtained on captives’ whereabouts will be shared with Israeli authorities coordinating rescue operations. The UK move follows similar US aerial scanning assistance to pinpoint Hamas hostage locations through unarmed drones.

Notes:
On December 5, Cyclone Michaung made landfall over Nellore in Andhra Pradesh as a super-cyclonic storm. A day earlier, the weather system had produced 150-200 mm of rain in north Tamil Nadu.
In 2000, a panel of the World Meteorological Organisation with members of the UN Economic and Social Commission prepared the list of names of tropical cyclones in the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea, to be given from the September 2004 season. The name of each cyclone is picked from this list and cycles through each country’s suggestion. After Michaung (by Myanmar), the next five cyclones will be called ‘Remal’ (Oman), ‘Asna’ (Pakistan), ‘Dana’ (Qatar), ‘Fengal’ (Saudi Arabia), and ‘Shakhti’ (Sri Lanka).

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.