current affairs 15 December 2022

Tennis player, Iga Swiatek named 2022 WTA Player of the Year.

• Polish tennis player, Iga Swiatek (World No.1) has been selected for the 2022 WTA Player of the Year by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA).
• While, Barbora Krejcikova (Czech Republic) and Katerina Siniakova (Czech Republic) have been named the WTA 2022 Doubles Team of the Year.
• Other awardees:
• Most Improved Player of the Year: Beatriz Haddad Maia (Brazilian)
• Newcomer of the Year: Zheng Qinwen (Chinese)
• Comeback Player of the Year: Tatjana Maria (German)

New Zealand passes world's first law to ban smoking for future generation.

• New Zealand has passed a new anti-smoking laws, which banned the future generation of NZ from purchasing tobacco.
• This law has banned the selling tobacco to anyone born on or after Jan. 1, 2009 and punishable by fines up to NZ$150,000 ($95,910).
• The ban will remain in place for a person’s whole life.
• It will also reduce the amount of nicotine, that allowed in smoked tobacco products.
• Retailers licensed to sell tobacco will be cut to 600 by the end of 2023 from 6,000.

France host conference "Standing with the Ukrainian People".

• France has hosted an International conference Standing with the Ukrainian People in Paris on 13th December 2022.
• Aim: To coordinate international support for civilian resilience in Ukraine and address the Ukrainian people's urgent humanitarian needs.
• The conference was organised at the initiative of French President Emmanuel Macron and co-organised with Ukraine.
• The conference was virtually attended by Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Jeremy Farrar appointed as new chief scientist of World Health Organisation.

• Jeremy Farrar (74) has been appointed as a new chief scientist of the World Health Organization (WHO) and will join WHO in the second quarter of 2023.
• He has replaced Soumya Swaminathan, who had served as chief scientist from 2019 to 2022.
• Role: To ensure that WHO, its member states and our partners benefit from cutting-edge, life-saving science and innovations.
• Presently, he is serving as the Director of the Wellcome Trust.
• WHO DG: Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus

Karnataka Health Minister inaugurates 114 "Namma Clinics".

• The Karnataka Health Minister, Dr K Sudhakar has inaugurated 114 Namma clinics in all the districts of Karnataka.
• Aim: To provide elderly care, emergency medical services, health check-ups and medicines to urban poor.
• In the initial phase, 114 clinics has launched simultaneously across the state.
• The government is working to operationalise all 438 Namma clinics across the state soon and all the remaining ones will be operational by January 2023.