CURRENT AFFAIRS OF 29th DECEMBER 2022

CURRENT AFFAIRS OF  29^th DECEMBER 2022

1. On the birth anniversary of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, which was marked as ‘Good Governance Day’ across the country, the Aurangabad unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) named a star after the ‘Bharat Ratna’ recipient.
2. Lieutenant General Arvind Walia has been appointed as the next Engineer-in-Chief of the Indian Army. He would be succeeding Lt Gen Harpal Singh who is superannuating on 31 December.
3. On 23 December 2022, National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) Executive Committee approved 12 projects worth around Rs. 2,700 crore for developing sewerage infrastructure in the Ganga basin - Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal, with special focus on tributaries of Ganga. 
4. For the first time ever, a rare and potentially fatal brain-eating amoeba has been discovered in South Korea. 
5. The Maharashtra state Women and Child Development department has launched ‘Balsnehi’ (child-friendly) buses and vans under an initiative aimed at rehabilitation of street-children.
6. Bajaj Allianz General Insurance, one of the leading private general insurers of India, announced the launch of its unique health insurance rider ‘Respect Senior Care Rider’.
7. The Ministry of Power announced that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) to implement an early warning system for vulnerable hydro projects and power stations in hilly regions.
8. Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Guwahati and IIT Bombay in collaboration with European Universities work towards building a low-cost technology to check the quality of potable and other water in India. 
9. On 27 December, 2022 following recommendations from the UP government the Union Ministry gave its consent to change the names of two places in Uttar Pradesh, municipal council ‘Mundera Baazar’ in Gorakhpur district to ‘Chauri-Chaura’ and ‘Telia Afghan’ village in Deoria district to ‘Telia Shukla’.
10. On 23 December 2022, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully operated CE-20, a cryogenic rocket engine with a thrust level of 22t for a long duration of 650 seconds. 
11. Santosh Kumar Yadav, a 1995-batch IAS officer of Uttar Pradesh cadre, was appointed as the Chairman of the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI). 
12. The Government of India and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) on 27 December, 2022 signed a $125 million loan to improve urban services in the state of Tamil Nadu.
13. The Union Cabinet has approved the opening of new Consulates in Maldives and Lithuania on 27 December, 2022. 
14. Prabhu Chandra Mishra was awarded Atal Samman Award for his excellence in field of science & research on 27 December, 2022. 
15. South Africa all-rounder Farhaan Behardien announced his retirement from cricket on 27 December, 2022. 
16. The Departments of Posts launched an ‘Online request Transfer Portal’ for Gramin Dak Sevaks on 28 December, 2022.