Current Affairs Quiz - January, 2023

Notes:
22-year-old Vaidehi Chaudhari has clinched the USD 15,000 ITF women’s tournament singles in Gwalior after beating top seed Ksenia Laskutova.
It was Vaidehi’s maiden singles title in the professional circuit. She had won her maiden doubles title earlier with Laskutova as her partner. Vaidehi is also the reigning National Tennis champion.

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:
The Reserve Bank of India conducts the Systemic Risk Survey (SRS) in India. As per the recent survey, confidence of respondents in Indian financial system improved as 93.6 per cent of them remaining fairly or highly confident of the stability of the Indian financial system.
The 23rd round of the RBI’s Systemic Risk Survey was conducted in November 2022. The survey captured perception of risk to financial stability from external sector and their views on the likelihood of a global recession in 2023.

Notes:
Karnataka received clearance from the Centre for two Detailed Project Reports (DPRs) on the Kalasa-Banduri Nala on the Mahadayi River.
Goa objected to this decision and has planned to represent its concern to the Centre. The Kalasa Banduri Nala project aims to divert water from Mahadayi to satisfy the drinking water needs of 4 districts of Karnataka. The river originates in Belagavi district of Karnataka and flows into the Arabian Sea in Goa.

Notes:
Asian Pacific Postal Union (APPU) is an intergovernmental organisation of 32 member countries of the Asia-Pacific region. It is the only restricted union of the Universal Postal Union (UPU), a UN specialised agency.
India will take over the leadership of the Asian Pacific Postal Union (APPU) from this month, as per the Ministry of Communications.

Notes:
Article 19(2) lists down eight grounds on which the right to freedom of speech and expression can be reasonably restricted.
The Supreme Court has ruled with a 4:1 majority that statements made by a minister, even if these statements are traceable to any affairs of the State or for protecting the government, cannot be attributed to the government.

Notes:
A bird survey was conducted at the Silent Valley National Park, located in the Nilgiri hills in Kerala, in the last week of December.
The survey identified 141 species, of which 17 were new. So far, 175 species of birds have been spotted in Silent Valley. The first survey was held in the National Park in December 1990, 30 years ago.

Notes:
Space Kidz India, a Chennai-based space tech start-up is set to launch their satellite made by 750 girls from government schools aboard an Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) launch vehicle.
A targeted launch date of January 16 has been set for the satellite named AzaadiSAT. Space Kidz India selected 10 girl students from 75 government schools across the country for this mission. The project is also supported by Niti Aayog.

Notes:
At present, the government and state-owned Life Insurance Corporation hold a little over 94 per cent in IDBI Bank and are classified as its co-promoters. The central government is looking to sell nearly 61 per cent stake in IDBI Bank.
Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) accepted the central government’s request to reclassify its shareholding in the Bank after its disinvestment as ‘public holding’.

Notes:
Edelweiss Tokio Life Insurance commenced a three-week long organ donation initiative. As part of the initiative, a relay marathon called Zindagi Express is organised to tour nearly 5,500 km across the country to raise awareness about organ donation.
For the fourth year in a row, it joined hands with Mohan Foundation, an NGO working in the organ donation landscape.