Current Affairs Quiz - January, 2023

Notes:
Uganda declared an end to an Ebola virus outbreak that emerged almost four months ago and claimed lives of 55 people.
The disease was first detected in September in the district of Mubende. The outbreak was caused by the Sudan Ebola virus, one among six species of the Ebola virus. There is currently no confirmed vaccine for the virus.

Notes:
The Cabinet has cleared India’s National Green Hydrogen Mission, which aims to make the country a global green hydrogen hub.
The outlay of the mission is Rs 20,000 crore and the goal is to develop a green hydrogen production capacity of at least five million metric tonnes (mmt) and an associated renewable energy capacity addition of about 125 gigawatts (GW) by 2030.

Notes:
The world’s longest river cruise MV Ganga Vilas was flagged off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Varanasi.
Ministry of Culture organised a grand curtain raiser cultural program ‘Sur Sarita – Symphony of Ganga’ on the eve of the launch of the world’s longest river cruise in Varanasi. The concert was organsied at the Kashi Vishwanath Corridor.

Notes:
India is hosting the ‘Voice of Global South Summit’. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar addressed the Foreign Ministers’ Session at the Voice of Global South Summit.
He said that the case for a Global South-sensitive model of globalisation is becoming stronger and India stands for a shift from self-centered globalisation to one that is human-centered.

Notes:
Astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope have validated the discovery of an exo-planet interior to the habitable zone of the dwarf star LHS 475.
Named LHS 475b, this planet is almost 99.1% the size of Earth, and has an orbital period of 2.03 days. LHS 475 hosts at least one planet, which was previously classified as a planet candidate by NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) mission.

Notes:
Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF) added Neelakurinji flower (Strobilanthes kunthiana) on the list of protected plants under Schedule III of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.
The plant was endemic to a small stretch in the Western Ghats from the Mangaladevi hills to the Nilgiris hills.

Notes:
Essel Mining and Industries Limited (EMIL), a subsidiary of the Aditya Birla group, has been trying operationalise a big diamond project in Madhya Pradesh. There are protests over human displacement, environmental damage, loss of livelihood
The mine is inside a forest in Buxwaha, located 200 kms from Sanchi, Madhya Pradesh. Madhya Pradesh accounts for about 90% of the total diamond resource of the country. Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh are the other states that produce diamonds.

Notes:
The Tamil Nadu Assembly amended a legislation, to make securing a pass in Tamil language paper compulsory for recruitment to State government services.
The act was amended with retrospective effect, from December 1, 2021. Previously the act said the employees should pass a ‘second class language test’ in Tamil within a period of two years from the date of their appointment, failing which they shall be discharged from service.

Notes:
The US government has announced name changes for five places whose designations included a racist term for Native American women.
Deb Haaland, who is the first Native American cabinet secretary in US history created a task force to replace derogatory names of the nation’s geographic features. The sites are in the states of California, North Dakota, Tennessee and Texas.

Notes:
The World Economic Forum, known for its annual summit in Davos, Switzerland, is a non-governmental organisation founded by economist Klaus Scwab.
This year’s World Economic Forum theme is “Cooperation in a Fragmented World”. Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) marks India’s presence at WEF through three lounges with focus on investment opportunity, sustainability and inclusive approach.