Current Affairs Quiz - December, 2023

Notes:
The Union Ministry of Tourism in association with Ministry of Culture, Sangeet Natak Academy and State Government of Andhra Pradesh successfully organised the prequel event of Krishnaveni Sangeetha Neerajanam.
It is a first of its kind festival to celebrate the rich heritage of classical music and promote lesser-known tourist attractions. The main event is to be organized in December 2023 in Vijayawada. The event will also feature spectacular display and sale of regional cuisine, local handicrafts and handlooms.

Notes:
A critically endangered species as per the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List, has been recorded for the first time in Manipur’s Tamenglong district.
The Saurauia Punduana plant was recorded during a recent Rapid Biodiversity Assessment (RBA) field survey. The survey covered the key areas of the biodiversity heritage sites of Longku forest. The local people call this plant as Anoibang.

Notes:
Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC) is an intergovernmental body that develops food standards, guidelines, and codes of practice. The CAC was established in 1963 by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO). The CAC’s headquarters are in Rome. Recently, India’s proposal at Codex Alimentarious Commission (CAC) meet for standards for millets, covering parameters like moisture content and quality, was unanimously endorsed. The standards cover 15 varieties and will aid the promotion of millets in global trade and food markets. The CAC praised India’s specifications. The decision comes as 2023 was declared the International Year of Millets to boost production and consumption.

Notes:
On December 1, 2023, R. Vaishali became India’s third female chess Grandmaster. She is also India’s 84th Grandmaster. Vaishali, 22, joined Koneru Humpy and D Harika as India’s female Grandmasters. Humpy was the first Indian woman to become a Grandmaster in 2002 at the age of 15. Harika received the title 12 years ago.

Notes:
Hundreds of people displaced from Manipur due to ethnic clashes have taken refuge in Mizoram’s capital Aizawl since May 2022. They were given shelter, education for children, and healthcare by the previous MNF government. However, with Mizoram elections bringing a possible change in power, the Manipuri refugees housed in Aizawl’s Falkland camp grow uncertain about their future.
The 62 families appeal to the new government for continued support and being allowed to stay until stability returns back home. They do not want a change in government to alter the empathetic policy towards them. Their appeals come amid calls for a separate Kuki administrative division in Manipur following prolonged tensions between tribes and armed groups.

Notes:
Brazil’s President Lula da Silva has clarified that Brazil is seeking OPEC+ membership to convince member nations to move away from fossil fuels, not to cap its own oil output. Lula said Brazil aims to persuade major oil producers to invest profits into renewable energy development assistance for poorer regions like Africa and Latin America instead.
Brazil seeks a leadership role in rallying OPEC+ oil economies to finance global south’s green transition through proceeds earned from essentially the last fossil fuel boom before inevitable decline. Joining the 23-member group controlling 40% of world’s oil reserves aligns with Lula’s climate justice advocacy, with rainforests protection another priority. Hence Brazil is eyeing OPEC+ as platform for climate action cooperation.

Notes:
Indian activist Safeena Hussain has been awarded the prestigious $500,000 WISE Prize for her work promoting girls’ education across rural India. Her NGO Educate Girls has helped over 1.4 million girls re-enroll in schools in remote villages, drawing global recognition to grassroots education reform. Her interventions that focus on community participation have also boosted learning outcomes. The WISE prize validates the impact of her innovative model that is empowering India’s most marginalized girls to access their right to education.

Notes:
The researchers at NASA, have been allowed to study the moon samples collected by China, in a first-of-its-kind collaboration between the space agencies of the two countries. The laws by the US have till now kept NASA and its counterpart the China National Space Administration (CNSA) at a distance, but now they have been allowed to work together.
As per the Wolf Amendment which was passed in 2011 by the US Congress, it places a ban on NASA from cooperating with China unless they have been authorised by lawmakers.

Notes:
A rare golden mole species called De Winton’s golden mole, presumed extinct since 1936, has been rediscovered after an extensive two-year survey in South Africa’s west coast sand dunes. The blind mole around mouse/hamster size burrows expertly underground and leaves no tunnels, making it extremely elusive. Advanced DNA sampling methods and sniffer dogs helped confirm traces matching the rare species.
Its rediscovery raises hopes for the survival of more thought-extinct species as biodiversity surveying improves. Protecting such rare endemic species is vital for conservation.

Notes:
Local villagers of Odisha have expressed fear of environmental degradation and loss of livelihood due to the proposed Sijimali Bauxite Mines by Vendanta Ltd.
The concerns were raised by the locals during the public hearing for the proposed mining area of 1,549 hectares. A large variety of flora and fauna will be endangered due to the proposed mining activity in the said project areas. The local tribal people fully depend on the Sijimali and Karlapat forest for their livelihood and fuelwood for cooking, which will be hampered drastically.