Current Affairs Quiz - November, 2023

Notes:
The Vigilance Awareness Week, 2023 is being observed by the Central Vigilance Commission and all institutions across the country from 30th October till 5th November. This year the theme is – Say no to corruption, commit to the Nation.
Every year Vigilance Awareness Week is observed as an outreach measure to create greater awareness about the importance of integrity and ethics in public life.

Notes:
Union Finance Minister launches phase IV of ‘Operation Sesha’ to curb the illegal trade of Timber, including Red Sanders.
She launched this during the inaugural session of the first ever Global Conference on Cooperation in Enforcement Matters (GCCEM) in New Delhi. Delegates representing over 40 Custom Organisations participated in the event.

Notes:
Rashtriya Gokul Mission, India’s flagship program aimed at enhancing indigenous cattle breeds, was launched in 2014.
Instead of enhancing the quality of all indigenous breeds as originally intended, the scheme has predominantly promoted one specific indigenous variety, the Gir cow, nationwide. This trend, if left unaddressed, could pose a risk to the genetic purity of indigenous cattle breeds throughout the country.

Notes:
A vision document aimed at making India a developed country is in its final stages and a draft is expected to be ready by December, as per NITI Aayog CEO BVR Subrahmanyam.
NITI Aayog was tasked with the consolidation of the ten sectoral thematic visions in July this year including infrastructure, welfare, commerce and industry, technology, and governance. NITI Aayog has also forecasted that India’s economy will be worth 30 trillion in 2047, with a per capita GDP of 17,590.

Notes:
India and Switzerland launched the Indo-Swiss Innovation Platform. The platform’s launch included an Indo-Swiss Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) Innovation Dialogue in Bengaluru. The platform began with a pilot project on antimicrobial resistance.
The platform’s launch was intended to deepen bilateral collaboration on innovation and make it more strategic. About 50 experts from Switzerland and India came together to discuss innovative ideas.

Notes:
The COP-28 Presidency launched ‘Net-Zero Transition Charter: Accountability Mobilisation for the Private Sector’, it recognises the important role the private sector must play in combating climate change.
COP28 Presidency has called for a collaborative approach to reduce emissions by 43 percent in the next seven years. COP28 will be held in Dubai between November 30 and December 12.

Notes:
Bipolar disorder, formerly called manic depression, is a mental health condition that causes extreme mood swings.
Researchers at the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom have achieved significant advancements in enhancing the diagnosis of bipolar disorder. They have created a straightforward blood test that, when used in conjunction with an online psychiatric assessment, provides a more precise means of diagnosing this mental health condition.

Notes:
The PM GatiShakti-National Master Plan (NMP) has reduced the time it takes to prepare a detailed project report (DPR) from six months to about 15 days.
This development is a significant step towards expediting the implementation of urban infrastructure projects in India. India has planned around 8,890 km of roads, 27,000 km of railway tracks and 920 km of petroleum and nat-gas pipelines based on the plan, two years after it was launched.

Notes:
In 2021, climate adaptation funding from public multilateral entities (such as the World Bank) and bilateral sources (from developed to developing nations) experienced a 15% decrease, as revealed in the 2023 Adaptation Gap Report by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
This decline occurred despite the commitments made at the 26th Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. These commitments aimed to double the support for adaptation finance from 2019 levels, targeting an annual sum of approximately $40 billion by 2025.

Notes:
The report, titled ‘Hunger Hotspots’ for the period between November 2023 and April 2024, was published recently.
The new report by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Food Programme (WFP) indicates that acute food insecurity is expected to deteriorate in 18 hunger hotspots until April 2024. These hotspots encompass 22 countries or territories, including two regional clusters.