Current Affairs Quiz - December, 2023

Notes:
The Indian Navy received the warship Imphal from Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL) in Mumbai.  The crest design depicts the Kangla Palace on the left and ‘Kangla-Sa’ on the right. Kangla Palace is an important historical and archaeological site of Manipur and was the traditional seat of the kingdom.
With a dragon’s head and lion’s body, the ‘Kangla-Sa’ is the state emblem of Manipur. Imphal is the third of the four warships sanctioned under an important project called P-15B. INS Visakhapatnam and INS Mormugao have already been commissioned. The ship has an indigenous content of around 75% including its medium range surface-to-air missiles, BrahMos missiles and others.

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:
India’s AstroSat space telescope has crossed a major milestone by detecting 600th Gamma-Ray Burst (GRB). The Gamma Ray Bursts represent either the death of a massive or merger of neutron stars.
AstroSat was launched in the year 2015 by Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). It was designed to last for five years. However, it has exceeded its lifespan and is still functioning fine making important observations.

Notes:
The Ministry of Defence has signed a contract with Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) for procurement of 16 Upgraded Super Rapid Gun Mount (SRGM) along with associated equipment/ accessories for Indian Navy under Buy (Indian) category at a total cost of ₹2956.89 Cr.
The upgraded SRGM, which will be manufactured by BHEL is a medium caliber anti-missile/anti-aircraft point defence weapon system which provides a sustained rate of fire and high accuracy.

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:
French ambassador to India honoured Lalithambika, former director, Directorate of the Human Spaceflight Programme of ISRO with Legion d’Honneur.
Lalithambika has worked extensively on various ISRO rockets, especially PSLV. Lalithambika is the second ISRO scientist after former ISRO chairman A S Kiran Kumar to be awarded the Legion d’Honneur of France for promoting Indo-French space cooperation.

Notes:
Hydropower currently makes up around 11% of India’s energy mix, as per government data. However, experts estimate the country has a total hydroelectric potential of 145 gigawatts (GW), of which only 29% has been utilized so far. Unlike coal power, hydropower offers flexible generation as the units can rapidly adjust output to match demand fluctuations. This ability makes it well-suited to balance the intermittency of renewables like solar and wind.

Notes:
India’s Aditya L1 satellite has begun unravelling solar wind enigmas as two cutting-edge particle spectrometers commenced data gathering in recent months. The SWIS and STEPS instruments on the Aditya Solar Wind Particle Experiment payload have detected protons, Helium ions and energy histograms exhibiting solar wind behavior fluctuations near Sun-Earth Lagrange Point L1.
SWIS’ 360-degree coverage and directional monitoring capacities will significantly further comprehension of solar wind properties, variability and links to space weather influencing Earth. Researchers eagerly anticipate more revelations to address enduring questions about the complex solar wind and corona heating as Aditya L1 nears L1 orbital point for uninterrupted solar observation.

Notes:
Brazil’s President Lula da Silva has clarified that Brazil is seeking OPEC+ membership to convince member nations to move away from fossil fuels, not to cap its own oil output. Lula said Brazil aims to persuade major oil producers to invest profits into renewable energy development assistance for poorer regions like Africa and Latin America instead.
Brazil seeks a leadership role in rallying OPEC+ oil economies to finance global south’s green transition through proceeds earned from essentially the last fossil fuel boom before inevitable decline. Joining the 23-member group controlling 40% of world’s oil reserves aligns with Lula’s climate justice advocacy, with rainforests protection another priority. Hence Brazil is eyeing OPEC+ as platform for climate action cooperation.

Notes:
Indian activist Safeena Hussain has been awarded the prestigious $500,000 WISE Prize for her work promoting girls’ education across rural India. Her NGO Educate Girls has helped over 1.4 million girls re-enroll in schools in remote villages, drawing global recognition to grassroots education reform. Her interventions that focus on community participation have also boosted learning outcomes. The WISE prize validates the impact of her innovative model that is empowering India’s most marginalized girls to access their right to education.