Current Affairs Quiz - January, 2023

Notes:
The draft rules for online gaming in India was released by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY)
The ‘Draft Amendments to the IT (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules 2021’, propose a ban on betting and wagering in online games. The rules propose setting up a self-regulatory body for grievance redressal and mandating know-your-customer (KYC) rules for gamers and online gaming intermediaries.

Notes:
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved the proposal of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting regarding the Central Sector Scheme ‘Broadcasting Infrastructure and Network Development’ (BIND).
The BIND scheme aims to bring modernisation to the public broadcaster Prasar Bharati i.e. All India Radio (AIR) and Doordarshan (DD). The outlay of the scheme is Rs.2,540 crore for the time period up to 2025-26.

Notes:
The Union Cabinet has given ex-post facto approval for naming of Greenfield International Airport at Goa’s Mopa as Manohar International Airport.
It was named after former Defence Minister and Goa chief minister Manohar Parrikar. He served as Chief Minister of Goa from 2017 until his death.

Notes:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to flag off the world’s longest river cruise ‘MV Ganga Vilas’ from Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh.
The luxury cruise will cover a distance of more than 3,200 kilometers across 27 river systems in five States in India and Bangladesh. The MV Ganga Vilas vessel has three decks, 18 suites on board with a capacity of 36 tourists, with pollution-free mechanisms and noise control technologies.

Notes:
Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and Microsoft signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to promote the growth of space-tech startups in India.
The MoU seeks to empower space tech startups across the country with technology tools and platforms, market support and mentorship. The space-tech startups identified by ISRO will be onboarded onto the Microsoft for Startups Founders Hub platform.

Notes:
Kilauea Volcano, located in the Hawaii state of the USA is considered as one of the most active volcanoes on the planet.
The summit of Kilauea is located inside Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. The Kilauea volcano has started erupting after a brief pause. Its neighbour named the Mauna Loa, the largest volcano in the world, erupted for the first time in 38 years last month.

Notes:
The UN agency, Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) has published its latest Food Price Index (FFPI) which tracks the monthly international prices of cereals, vegetable oil, dairy, meat and sugar.
The FFPI averaged to 132.4 points in December, which is one per cent lower than the previous December.   The FFPI was notably higher in 2022 than in 2021.

Notes:
The United States has announced an additional USD 100 million to Pakistan for its recovery and reconstruction efforts.
The floods which occurred last year killed as many as 1,739 and affected 33 million people. The funding also includes humanitarian assistance to support flood relief and recovery efforts in refugee hosting areas.

Notes:
Suryakumar Yadav has become the fastest player to reach 1,500 runs in T20 International cricket in terms of balls faced.
He took only 843 balls to reach this landmark. The fastest batters to reach this milestone are Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Australian veteran Aaron Finch and Pakistan skipper Babar Azam, who all took 39 innings to score 1,500 runs in T20 International cricket.  Pakistan’s Mohammed Rizwan reached the milestone in 42 innings and he is now followed by Suryakumar.

Notes:
Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) successfully carried out a training launch of a Short-Range Ballistic Missile, Prithvi-II from Integrated Test Range, Chandipur off the Odisha coast.
The Defence Ministry said that the missile struck its target with high accuracy. The user training launch successfully validated all operational and technical parameters of the Prithvi-II missile, which has a range of around 350 kilometres.