Current Affairs Quiz - December, 2023

Notes:
Leading automobile manufacturer Tata Motors has launched a registered vehicle scrapping facility (RVSF) in Punjab, which will be the company’s fourth such unit.
Named ‘Re.Wi.Re – Recycle with Respect, the facility uses environmentally friendly processes and has the capacity to disassemble 12,000 end-of-life vehicles safely and sustainably, each year. It is equipped to scrap both passenger and commercial vehicles, regardless of their brand.

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:
Zimbabwe announced that it will construct its first utility-scale geothermal energy Independent Power Producer (IPP) and support the reduction of greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions in the country.
Energy sector is the highest contributor of the emissions in the country. Zimbabwe’s total energy generation in 2021 comprised of 29 per cent from non-renewable sources and 71 per cent from renewable sources, with hydropower (69%) as the largest share.

Notes:
Pressmud, a residual byproduct in the sugar industry often known as filter cake or press cake, has been acknowledged as a valuable resource for green energy production.
The byproduct can help Indian sugar mills generate extra revenue by utilising it as a feedstock for biogas production through anaerobic digestion and subsequent purification to create compressed biogas (CBG).

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:
India’s Union Ministry of Tourism hosted an industry round-table on developing the country as a MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibitions) tourism destination in New Delhi.
During India’s G20 Presidency, more than 200 meetings have been organized in 56 cities across the country.

Notes:
The Union Cabinet has approved Central Sector Scheme for providing Drones to the Women Self Help Groups (SHGs), with an outlay of Rs. 1261 Crore for the period from 2024-25 to 2025-26.
The scheme aims to provide drones to 15,000 selected Women SHGs during the period 2023-24 to 2025-2026 for providing rental services to farmers for agriculture purpose. the scheme seeks to empower women Self Help Groups (SHGs) and bringing new technologies through drone services in agriculture sector.

Notes:
On December 1, 2023, R. Vaishali became India’s third female chess Grandmaster. She is also India’s 84th Grandmaster. Vaishali, 22, joined Koneru Humpy and D Harika as India’s female Grandmasters. Humpy was the first Indian woman to become a Grandmaster in 2002 at the age of 15. Harika received the title 12 years ago.

Notes:
The government has approved a five-year extension of the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY), its flagship free foodgrain scheme for the poor, beyond December 2023. Launched in 2020 to provide relief during the COVID-19 crisis, the PMGKAY supplies 5 kgs of free ration monthly to over 800 million beneficiaries covered under the National Food Security Act. The scheme will now continue till 2028 at an estimated expenditure of Rs 1.18 lakh crore annually.

Notes:
As per a report by the Environment ministry and UNDP, India has successfully phased out ozone depleting and climate warming chemical HCFC 141b (1,1-Dichloro-1-fluoroethane) and is ahead of schedule in eliminating another such gas in new equipment manufacturing.
As against the 35 per cent phase-out target for HCFCs, India has achieved an impressive 44 per cent reduction.