Current Affairs Quiz - December, 2023

Notes:
The Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe) has announced a seed fund scheme to offer start-ups focusing on urban development and disaster management a financial assistance of up to Rs 1 crore each.
It has launched the scheme in collaboration with ISRO’s National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC) to provide a leg-up to companies that leverage space technology for societal benefit.  The selected start-ups will receive seed funding for transforming an original idea into a prototype using space technology, ISRO facility support.

Notes:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi offered to host the 33rd Conference of Parties (COP33) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in India.
Speaking at the opening ceremony of high-level segment at COP 28 in UAE, PM Modi expressed his desire to host the summit in India. India has hosted the UNFCCC COP8 was held from October 23-November 1, 2002, in New Delhi.

Notes:
To assess and measure the progress made by Grassroots level Institutions in achieving Localized SDGs and thereby attaining SDG 2030, Ministry has released a report on Panchayat Development Index (PDI).
Panchayat Development Index would play a significant role for performance evaluation and progress assessment in achieving the LSDGs in rural area. Under the revamped RGSA, Ministry has been incentivizing best performing Panchayats through National Panchayats Award (NPA) by assessing their performance in the attainment of SDGs to generate positive competition among Panchayats.

Notes:
On the occasion of International Day of Persons with Disabilities (PwD) on 3rd December, 2023, a new Accessibility Widget was launched at the iGOT Karmayogi Platform.
The Widget currently offers user-friendly features such as: Screen Reader, Smart Contrast, Text Spacing, Dyslexia Friendly, Saturation, Pause Animations, and Page Structure. iGOT’s Accessibility Widget seeks to create an inclusive and equitable learning experience for all. iGOT Karmayogi is a comprehensive online learning portal to guide government officials in their capacity-building journey.

Notes:
Bharat Bill Payments (BBPS), the platform built by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) to digitise the country’s large utility bill payments market, is increasingly being used for loan repayments and clearing credit card dues.
The way utility bills get generated for consumers every month, EMI (equated monthly instalment) gets generated every month on a specific date for borrowers. The customer can use any mode of payment to clear the EMI due, and this is where the BBPS platform is fast emerging as a popular tool.

Notes:
The three-day 9th International Food Convention, IFCON – 2023, jointly organised by CSIR-CFTRI and Association of Food Scientists and Technologists (India) (AFSTI) will be held at Mysuru.
The event, which is held once in five years, is expecting more than 3,000 delegates including students, industrialists, researchers and others taking part. While the international research and conferences are held in foreign countries, the food convention is being held in India.

Notes:
Santiniketan, the university town in West Bengal’s Birbhum district, was recently inscribed on the UNESCO’s World Heritage List.
A Centre-approved board identifying Santiniketan as UNESCO-approved world heritage site has finally been erected by Visva-Bharati in the location and mentions Rabindranath Tagore. Santiniketan – founded by Debendranath Tagore and home to Visva-Bharati, the university set up by his son Rabindranath – was accorded world heritage status by UNESCO, and shortly after that plaques had come up marking the site and they bore the names of only Chancellor Narendra Modi and the then Vice-Chancellor Bidyut Chakrabarty.

Notes:
For more than five years, the two black rhinos in Chad’s Zakouma National Park have lived a lonely existence.
In May 2018, the pair of females were part of a group of six critically endangered black rhinos that African Parks helped translocate from South Africa to Zakouma. But within days of release into their new home, four had died. This week, five more black rhinos arrived in Zakouma, Chad’s oldest national park, to join the surviving pair.

Notes:
Gujarat’s traditional dance form ‘Garba’ was included in the list of Intangible Cultural Heritage by UNESCO.
The popular dance form is the 15th cultural item from India to make it to UNESCO list two years after Kolkata’s Durga Puja was last added to the prestigious list.

Notes:
The Assam cabinet approved a socio-economic survey of the state’s indigenous Muslim population. A year-and-a-half ago, the Himanta Biswa Sarma government recognised five communities as “indigenous Assamese Muslims”.
The Directorate of Char Areas Development, which will be renamed as Directorate of Minority Affairs and Char Areas, will carry out the socio-economic assessment of indigenous Muslims. According to the 2011 Census, Muslims comprise more than 34% of Assam’s population, the third highest among all states and Union Territories after Lakshadweep and J&K. Of the state’s total population of 3.1 crore, over 1 crore are Muslims.