Current Affairs Quiz - January, 2023

Notes:
Ministry of Rural Development’s Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana – National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM) has launched the Prajjwala Challenge.
Under the challenge, ideas are invited from individuals, Enterprises, Start ups, Private Sector, Civil Society and others to transform the rural economy.

Notes:
The Minister of State for Electronics & Information Technology and Skill Development & Entrepreneurship, Rajeev Chandrasekhar announced Government of India is going to launch a Digital India Innovation Fund.
The Fund aims to catalyse Deep-tech Startups. He announced this during his address in the event of ‘New India for Young India: Techade of Opportunities’ program at the Catholic Bishop House Campus in Kerala.

Notes:
A recent study by scientists of the National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS) have discovered that butterflies warn, fool, and escape their predators using traits such as wing colour patterns and even flight behaviour.
The study investigated the butterfly mimetic communities of the Western Ghats over five years. The female Common Mormon mimics the toxic Common Rose. In mimicry, a palatable organism resembles an unpalatable organism to deceive predators.

Notes:
The government signed a pact with the Pune-based Institute of Veterinary Biological Products (IVBP) for commercial production of ‘Lumpi-ProVac’ vaccine.
It is an indigenously developed vaccine for the control of lumpy skin disease in cattle. At present Goat Pox vaccine is used for controlling Lumpy Skin Disease in animals. ICAR-NRCE, Haryana, in collaboration with ICAR- IVRI, Uttar Pradesh developed the vaccine named Lumpi-ProVac.

Notes:
According to the latest UN survey, the Arab region registered a 12 per cent unemployment rate in 2022, which is the highest in the world.
Poverty measured against national lines also surged, affecting 130 million people in Arab countries. More than one-third of the region’s population is affected, excluding Libya and Gulf Cooperation Council countries. The survey showed an expected 3.4 per cent growth next year throughout the Arab region.

Notes:
The Centre has appointed Ajay Kumar Srivastava as the Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Indian Overseas Bank.
Partha Pratim Sengupta has demitted office as MD & CEO of the bank after his superannuation. Sanjay Vinayak Mudaliyar, Chief General Manager at Bank of Baroda is appointed as executive director in IOB. As of 30 September 2022, the Government of India held 96.38% in IOB.

Notes:
The Centre has constituted a High Powered Committee to discuss measures to protect Ladakh’s unique culture, language and employment.
A 17 member committee has been set up under the Chairmanship of Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai. Other members include Ladakh Lieutenant Governor RK Mathur, MP Jamyang Tsering Namgyal, and nominee officials of Home ministry among others.

Notes:
Scientists from South Korea have developed a new water purification system that can efficiently filter out microplastics.
The polymer used is inexpensive with excellent adsorption performance and photo-thermal properties. In a recent experiment, over 99.9 per cent of contaminants were taken out of the water in 10 seconds.

Notes:
Captain Shiva Chouhan, an officer from the Corps of Electronics and Mechanical Engineers, became the first woman officer to be operationally deployed at Kumar Post in the Siachen Glacier.
The post is located at an altitude of 15,632 feet. Kumar Post is named after late Colonel Narinder Kumar, who was instrumental in the Indian Army launching ‘Operation Meghdoot’ and securing the Siachen Glacier in 1984.

Notes:
A 49-year-old Missouri inmate was put to death for a 2003 killing, in the first execution of a transgender person in the United States.
A database on the website for the anti-execution Death Penalty Information Center shows that 1,558 people have been executed since the death penalty was reinstated in the country in mid-1970s.