Current Affairs Quiz - September, 2022

Notes:
Google Cloud has launched the first cohort of the computing foundations with Kubernetes course in collaboration with FutureSkills Prime.
It is a digital skilling initiative launched by the Union Ministry of Electronics and IT and NASSCOM. The beginner-level course aims to provide participants an opportunity to experience cloud computing, cloud basics, big data and machine learning (ML).

Notes:
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has recently released a supplement to its Asian Development Outlook (ADO).
As per the report, the 2022-23 growth projection for India’s economy was slashed to 7% from 7.5% estimated in April. The report says that India’s inflation has turned out to be more persistent than expected, and led to a sharp tightening in monetary policy, eroding consumers’ purchasing power.

Notes:
As per a recent study by the Centre for Social Impact and Philanthropy (CSIP), out of total donations worth Rs 23,700 crore given by Indians between October 2020 and September 2021, the maximum of 64% went to religious organisations.
As per the study “How India Gives 2020-21”, the highest number of donations was made by lower-income and middle-class households. The amount donated was higher in urban areas, while the number of donations was more in India’s rural areas.

Notes:
Indian IT major Wipro has terminated the services of 300 employees, who were found to be working for its competitors simultaneously.
The act is also called as ‘Moonlighting’. Companies worry that this practice might create a conflict of interests, data breaches, and mis-use of company’s Intellectual Property (IP) and assets.

Notes:
Union Cabinet approves modifications in “Programme for Development of Semiconductors and Display Manufacturing Ecosystem in India”.
Under modified scheme, a uniform fiscal support of 50% of project cost shall be provided across all technology nodes for setting up of semiconductor fabs. This is in addition to incentives of over ₹76,000 crore, or about USD 10 billion, were announced by the government in December 2021.

Notes:
World Rhino Day is celebrated every year on September 22 to raise awareness about the five rhino species including the greater one-horned rhino, Sumatran rhino, Javan rhino, black rhino and white rhino.
The theme for this year’s World Rhino Day is ‘Five Rhino Species Forever.’ The rhino species is on the verge of extinction due to poaching, climate change and disturbance in the natural habitat.

Notes:
Germany nationalised its largest gas importer Uniper for energy security against the backdrop of Russia’s gas supply freeze and rising gas prices.
Uniper has a 50 per cent share of Russian gas in its portfolio and is responsible for about 40 per cent of gas supply in Germany. Russia earlier decided to completely suspend gas deliveries through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline on September 1.

Notes:
As per the latest World Bank assessment, Sri Lanka ranks 5th in the highest food price inflation in the world. The list is led by Lebanon followed by Zimbabwe, Venezuela, and Turkey.
Sri Lanka’s inflation surged to 70.2 per cent in August from 66.7 per cent a month ago as the country is grappling with the worst economic crisis. According to official data, food prices have risen by 84.6 per cent. In mid-April, Sri Lanka declared its international debt default due to the forex crisis.

Notes:
The Breakthrough Prizes was created in 2010 by a group of Silicon Valley entrepreneurs, including a venture capitalist Milner, Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, of Facebook and Sergey Brin of Google.
The 2023 winners of the Breakthrough Prizes, also known as the ‘Oscars of Science’ were announced recently in the life sciences category, one for mathematics and one for physics. The winners will split a total of more than USD 15 million.

Notes:
The Appointments committee of the Cabinet appointed Rajiv Bahl- a senior World Health Organisation researcher- as the Director General of Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).
Bahl is the head of research on maternal and newborn child, adolescent health and aging at the World Health Organisation (WHO). He will also be the Secretary, department of health research (DHR). Prior to joining WHO, he was a Senior Scientist at the AIIMS for 10 years.