Current Affairs Quiz - November, 2022

Notes:
National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has announced the launch of the BHIM App open-source license model.
Under the new model, the source code of the BHIM app will be licensed to regulated entities participating in the UPI ecosystem. New features that get launched on BHIM App in the future will also be extended to these entities.

Notes:
The Tamil Nadu government has notified the Cauvery South Wildlife Sanctuary on 68,640 hectares as the state’s 17th wildlife sanctuary.
The sanctuary is home to several species of mammals and birds, Leith’s soft shelled turtles, smooth coated otters, marsh crocodiles and four horned antelopes. Grizzled giant squirrel, four-horned antelope, and Lesser Fish Eagle which are exclusively dependent on the Cauvery River and its ecosystem, are also found here.

Notes:
The Union home ministry has declared certain databases related to the Census and the National Population Register (NPR) as critical information infrastructure.
The decision has been taken after exercising the powers conferred to it under the Information Technology Act, 2000, (amended 2008). The computer resources of all associated dependencies of the entities have also been declared as ‘protected systems’ under the law.

Notes:
Union Minister of state for Science and Technology, Jitendra Singh inaugurated India’s first national repository for life science data ‘Indian Biological Data Center’ (IBDC) at Faridabad, Haryana.
IBDC is established at Regional Centre of Biotechnology (RCB), Faridabad with a data ‘Disaster Recovery’ site at National Informatics Centre (NIC), Bhubaneshwar. It has a data storage capacity of about 4 petabytes and the ‘Brahm’ High Performance Computing (HPC) facility.

Notes:
Every year on the second Thursday of November, the world observes World Usability Day. It is also known as ‘Make Things Easier’ day.
‘Usability’ is a quality that evaluates how efficiently and effectively a person can use a product. The theme of World Usability Day 2022 is “Our Health”.

Notes:
The Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) has received the central government’s nod to go ahead with Rs 26,281 crore deal with Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), to launch 4G services in India.
TCS will set up the 4G lines and maintain the network for nine years. The state-run company will aim to launch its 4G services by December 2022 or January 2023.

Notes:
Cochin Shipyard has signed an MoU with Inland Waterways Authority of India to build the country’s first hydrogen fuel cell catamaran vessel for Varanasi.
The air-conditioned hydrogen fuel cell catamaran vessel will have a seating capacity for 100 passengers. The vessels will contribute to the reduction in pollution levels in the National Waterways. Cochin Shipyard also signed an MoU for construction of six electric catamaran vessels for Uttar Pradesh and two such vessels for Guwahati.

Notes:
The year 2022 has been declared as the ASEAN-India Friendship year, as ASEAN and India commemorate 30 years of partnership.
As a part of this programme, Indian media delegation is on a visit to Singapore and Cambodia under the ASEAN-INDIA Media exchange programme.

Notes:
World Diabetes Day is observed every year on November 14 by the World Health Organisation. It aims to raise awareness of diabetes as a global public health issue and solutions for prevention, diagnosis and management of the condition.
This year’s theme “Access to diabetes education” follows the multi-year theme of “Access to care.” As per WHO, there were about 8.4 million individuals worldwide with type-1 diabetes in 2021.

Notes:
World Bank released a report titled ‘Financing India’s Infrastructure Needs: Constraints to Commercial Financing and Prospects for Policy Action’.
As per the report, India needs to increase urban infrastructure investments to USD 55 billion a year. The report also estimated that India would need USD 840 billion over the next 15 years.