Current Affairs Quiz - December, 2023

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‘Children of Nobody’ clinched the Golden Royal Bengal Tiger Award for Best Film at the 29th Kolkata International Film Festival. Other films like ‘Endless Borders’ and ‘Kantara’ received accolades at the 54th International Film Festival of India (IFFI), with ‘Kantara’ making history in the Kannada film industry. Michael Douglas was honored with the Satyajit Ray Lifetime Achievement Award, and ‘Panchayat Season 2’ was named Best Web Series. ‘Featherweight’ had its Asian premiere at the 54th IFFI.

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Researchers from Visva-Bharati University discovered a new plant growth-promoting bacteria species which they named Pantoea Tagorei, in homage to Rabindranath Tagore’s agricultural promotion efforts. The bacteria has unique properties that enhance soil nutrients.

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Recently late Vice-Admiral Benoy Roy Chowdhury has been awarded the Vir Chakra. He was the hero of the India-Pakistan war of 1971. In this war, Benoy Roy was posted as an engineer on INS Vikrant. ‘Veer Chakra’ is an award given for military bravery during wartime.
Vice Admiral Dinesh Prabhakar, AVSM, NM, VSM (Retd), currently holding the position of Distinguished Chair Marine Engineering at INS Shivaji, received the ‘Vir Chakra’ on behalf of the Indian Navy. Honorary Captain Yogendra Singh Yadav was the recipient of the prestigious Param Vir Chakra award in 2022. Subedar Major (Honorary Captain) Yogendra Singh Yadav of the 18 Grenadiers Battalion (Retd) is the youngest person to win the Param Vir Chakra award.

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Tamil Nadu maintained its “achiever” status within the coastal group in the Logistics Ease Across Different States (LEADS) 2023 rankings by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. LEADS, which was launched in 2018, evaluates states and union territories on three critical dimensions: Infrastructure, services, and operating and regulatory environment, encompassing both perception-based and objective indicators.

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Iran’s navy recently added two domestically produced sophisticated cruise missiles named Talaeieh and Nasir to its arsenal. As part of boosting its defence capabilities, Iran announced addition of advanced Talaeieh and Nasir cruise missiles, with ranges over 1000 km and 100 km respectively, to its naval forces. This came amidst growing tensions between Iran and Western powers.

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SLIM (Smart Lander for Investigating the Moon) is a tiny Japanese probe, slightly larger than a tennis ball, sent by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) to demonstrate precise landing on the lunar surface. SLIM recently entered the moon’s orbit, ahead of a planned touchdown on January 20. If successful, it will showcase Japan’s prowess in precision lunar landing with an error margin under 100 metres. This will be a historic achievement making Japan the fifth nation after the US, Russia, China and India to softly land a probe on the moon.

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Mission Karmayogi, the government’s capacity building scheme for civil servants was extended with new features. Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh launched My iGOT, Blended Programs and Curated Programs on the digital iGOT Karmayogi platform. My iGOT provides targeted courses matching individual and organizational needs. Blended Programs integrate offline and online learning components. VIKAS is a blended course on developing functional, behavioral and technological competencies among mid-level civil servants. The extensions aim to groom civil servants to be more innovative, progressive and technology-enabled.

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On December 16, 2023, the country’s first Himalayan Air Safari was launched from Uttarakhand. Uttarakhand has become the first state in the country to start Gyrocopter Adventure.

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The Amnya fort along the Amnya River in western Siberia consists of pit-house depressions with earthen walls and wooden palisades, suggesting advanced agricultural and defensive capabilities.

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In 2018, the Government of India launched the Anaemia Mukt Bharat (AMB) strategy to reduce prevalence of anaemia in women, children and adolescents through life cycle approach. The 6X6X6 strategy aims to reduce anaemia among six beneficiaries age groups through implementation of six interventions and six institutional mechanisms.