Current Affairs Quiz - December, 2023

Notes:
The Indian Government cleared for submission the country’s Third National Communication (TNC) and Initial Adaptation Communication to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
The submission will fulfil India’s obligation to furnish information under the Convention and the Paris Agreement. In a press brief, key points were highlighted from the TNC, emphasising India’s commitment to addressing climate change, reducing emissions, and enhancing adaptive capacities. India currently has a 41 per cent share of clean power in terms of capacity, while India generated 73 per cent of its power from coal in 2022-23.

Notes:
Local villagers of Odisha have expressed fear of environmental degradation and loss of livelihood due to the proposed Sijimali Bauxite Mines by Vendanta Ltd.
The concerns were raised by the locals during the public hearing for the proposed mining area of 1,549 hectares. A large variety of flora and fauna will be endangered due to the proposed mining activity in the said project areas. The local tribal people fully depend on the Sijimali and Karlapat forest for their livelihood and fuelwood for cooking, which will be hampered drastically.

Notes:
India and Oman begun talks for a free trade agreement. Mineral fuels, inorganic chemicals, compounds of precious metals and iron and steel are India’s top exports to Oman while oil, fertilisers and plastics are the top imports.
India’s exports to Oman in April-September FY24 were $2 billion and imports were $2.1 billion. The government has identified petroleum products, gems and jewellery, engineering products, pharmaceuticals, cement and ceramic products, ready-made textiles, and footwear as some goods with scope for more trade with Oman.

Notes:
Hundreds of thousands of people worldwide are killed annually by malaria and other diseases spread through the bite of mosquitoes, insects that date back to the age of dinosaurs. All of these bites are inflicted by females, which possess specialized mouth anatomy that their male counterparts lack.
Researchers said they have discovered the oldest-known fossils of mosquitoes – two males entombed in pieces of amber dating to 130 million years ago during the Cretaceous Period and found near the town of Hammana in Lebanon. The male mosquitoes possessed elongated piercing-sucking mouthparts seen now only in females. They are identified as hematophagous meaning blood-eaters.

Notes:
Kotak Mahindra Bank has launched a global service account (GSA) to address the banking needs of companies in the service export sector.
The account includes advisory services on forex markets and trends for a competitive edge. Clients will also have access to trade experts and digital solutions for expert trade insights and innovative digital solutions. They can also access business financing up to Rs 2 crore for on-time salaries, vendor payments or other short-term requirements. The bank said that the sector export sector contributes to 40% of total exports in India and grew at 26.8% in FY23 to $323 billion.

Notes:
The draft text on the Santiago Network has been adopted by the Parties and sent to the Conference of the Parties and Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Paris Agreement.
The collaborative framework aims to connect vulnerable developing countries with technical support and resources to effectively address and manage loss and damage caused by climate change. The waste sector has seen the launch of LOW Methane, an initiative to drastically amplify global action to reduce methane emissions from the waste. It aims to deliver at least one million tonnes of annual waste sector methane reductions well before 2030.

Notes:
The researchers of Botanical Survey of India (BSI) have discovered a new species of plant from Kalakad Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve, Tamil Nadu. The plant has been named ‘Impatiens karuppusamyi’.
The species shows similarity with its alike species Impatiens Bicornis, but differs from it in terms of having small leaves, six to eight flowered, short scape, and small flowers. It also has a conical spur that is horizontally straight with an obtuse tip; base of the anterior lobe with two purplish, fleshy and erect auriculate projections to 1 mm long; stout biseriate purplish-blue hairs in front of the mouth; and orange-pinkish pollen grains. There are more than 1000 species of Impatiens worldwide, of which more than 280 are found in India.

Notes:
The death toll from a volcano eruption in Indonesia has risen to 23 after 10 more bodies were discovered.
Mount Marapi on the island of Sumatra spewed an ash tower 9,800 feet into the sky. About 75 climbers who had started their way up the mountain and stranded, and about 52 of them were rescued after the initial eruption, while 11 more were initially confirmed dead. New eruptions spewed additional columns of hot ash into the air, reducing visibility and temporarily halting the search and recovery operations.

Notes:
Novak Djokovic earned the year-end No. 1 spot in the ATP rankings for the eighth time. The 36-year-old from Serbia regained the top ranking from Carlos Alcaraz.
Djokovic won three of the four Grand Slam tournaments, the Australian Open in January, the French Open in June, and U.S. Open in September, to raise his career total to a men’s-record 24 and was the runner-up at the other, Wimbledon.

Notes:
Samir Shah, a British-Indian has been picked by the U.K. government to head the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) as its next chair.
The India-born media executive has over 40 years of experience in TV production and journalism. The 71-year-old, was honoured with a CBE (Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire) by Queen Elizabeth II in 2019 for services to television and heritage.