Current Affairs Quiz - January, 2023

Notes:
The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has specified identity standards for basmati rice including brown basmati, milled basmati, parboiled brown basmati, and milled parboiled basmati.
The standards aimed at establishing fair practices in the trade of basmati rice and protect consumer interest, both domestically and globally. These new standards will be enforced from August 1.

Notes:
Researchers at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) and Unilever have collaborated to develop computational models to speed up screening of antimicrobials?
The models of bacterial cell walls can speed up the screening of antimicrobials. Antimicrobials are molecules which can kill disease-causing bacteria. According to IISc, each bacterial cell is enveloped by a cell membrane, which is in turn surrounded by a cell wall.

Notes:
Swastika defeated Chinese Taipei’s Liu Hsing-Yin thereby becoming the fourth Indian to qualify for the World Table Tennis Championship.
Swastika joins Sreeja Akula, Manika Batra and Sharath Kamal, who qualified for the World by finishing among the top-16 from the continent.

Notes:
The trade deficit for India stood at USD 101.02 billion, crossing the USD 100 billion mark for the first time.
The trade between India and China touched an all-time high of USD 135.98 billion in 2022, according to data released by Chinese customs. The total India-China trade was 8.4 per cent higher than the USD 125 billion mark in 2021. While China’s exports to India climbed to USD 118.5 billion rising 21.7% y-o-y, Indian exports to China dipped to USD 17.48 billion.

Notes:
Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh kick-started the ‘Soul of Steel’ alpine challenge, an initiative to promote tourism in border areas.
He launched a website for volunteers to sign up for various adventure activities under the joint initiative of Indian Army and CLAW Global, a veterans’ organisation. The Minister also flagged-off ‘Road to the End’, a 460-km long car rally, as part of a joint expedition by the Army and CLAW Global.

Notes:
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that India will establish a Global South Centre of Excellence.
The Centre aims to undertake research on development solutions of any of developing countries which can be scaled up and implemented in other members of the Global South. He announced this at the concluding session of the Voice of Global South virtual summit.

Notes:
The “Varuna” bilateral naval exercise between India and France is being conducted on the Western Seaboard.
The exercise began in 1993 and was given its name in 2001.  This 21st edition of the exercise will include advanced air defence exercises and other maritime operations. The exercise has been regarded as a symbol of the strategic relationship between the countries.

Notes:
Thiruvalluvar is a celebrated Tamil poet and philosopher, best known as the author of the Tirukkuraḷ, a collection of couplets on ethics, political and economics, and love.
Thiruvalluvar Day is celebrated in Tamil Nadu as a part of Pongal celebrations. On the occasion of Thiruvalluvar Day, chief minister MK Stalin launched the ‘Vallalar Palluyir Kappagangal’, a Rs 20 crore scheme announced for animal welfare.

Notes:
The Central Electricity Authority (CEA) has released the disaster management plan (DMP) for the power sector.
It aims to evolve an integrated approach to strengthen disaster mitigation, preparedness, emergency response, and recovery efforts. It includes investing in risk mapping globally, creating a network of universities working on disaster-related issues, leveraging social media and mobile technologies for disaster risk reduction among others.

Notes:
The First edition of Chennai International Book Fair recently began in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. The fair has been organised by the Directorate of Public Libraries, Tamil Nadu Text Book and Educational Services Corporation and Booksellers and Publishers Association of South India.
It focuses on facilitating the exchange of knowledge between publishers in Tamil Nadu and those from across the world. It aims to provide a platform for literary and culture exchange with a number of Tamil books on display, Tamil publishing houses as participants and stalls put up by 30 countries.