Current Affairs Quiz - December, 2021

Notes:
Indian professional squash player Saurav Ghosal has become the first Indian player to claim the Malaysian open. At the final event, Saurav Ghosal clinched the title by defeating former world No.4 Miguel Rodriguez of Colombia.
On many occasions, the two players have played together and at one point were even trained by the same coach David Palmer.

Notes:
The Union government has approved the strategic disinvestment of Central Electronics Ltd (CEL) after the competitive bidding process. CEL is a CPSE under the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR), Ministry of Science and Technology.
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) empowered Alternative Mechanism (AM) has approved the highest price bid of Nandal Finance and Leasing for sale of 100% equity shareholding of GoI in CEL. The winning bid is over Rs 210 crores.

Notes:
According to data released by the Union finance ministry, the GST Revenue was at ₹1,31,526 crore for the second month in a row.
It is 25% higher than the GST revenues in the same month last year and 27% over the 2019 value. The highest ever GST collection of ₹1,41,384 crore was reported in April. This is the fifth consecutive month in which collections have crossed the ₹1 lakh crore benchmark.

Notes:
Israel has delivered advanced Heron drones to Indian Armed Forces, which are far more advanced than the Herons in the existing inventory with better anti-jamming capability.
The acquisition of these drones has been done under the emergency financial powers granted by Indian government to the defence forces under which they can buy equipment and systems worth ₹500 crores to upgrade their military capabilities.

Notes:
The Reserve Bank’s annual publication titled ‘State Finances: A Study of Budgets of 2021-22’ was released recently.
As per the report, the combined debt-to-GDP ratio of states is expected to remain at 31 per cent by end-March 2022 which is higher than the target of 20 per cent to be achieved by 2022-23 (FY23).

Notes:
Elon Musk’s aerospace company SpaceX successfully launched a Falcon 9 rocket carrying 48 Starlink internet satellites and two BlackSky satellites as a payload from Florida.
The partially reusable Falcon 9 rocket had its first-stage boosters launched into space as part of several missions. The array of Starlink satellites offer internet coverage in remote areas of several countries.

Notes:
The ‘Joint Declaration on the Advancement of Gender Equality and Women’s Economic Empowerment Within Trade’ is otherwise called as Gender equality pact.
United States will join the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) Gender equality pact at the organization’s ongoing ministerial meeting in Switzerland.

Notes:
Every year, the International Day of Persons with Disabilities (IDPD) is marked on December 3. The theme of this year is ‘Leadership and participation of persons with disabilities toward an inclusive, accessible, and sustainable post-COVID-19 world’.
The day is observed to promote the rights and well-being of people with disabilities at every level of society and development.

Notes:
The MSME Conclave was organised by Department of Defence Production, Ministry of Defence in partnership with Society of Indian Defence Manufacturers (SIDM) in hybrid mode, in New Delhi.
Defence Minister, during his inaugural address, urged MSMEs and SIDM to create an industrial base in India, on the lines of ‘Mittelstand’ of Germany, which has been recognised by the whole world for manufacturing metal equipment.

Notes:
‘World Petroleum Congress’, the largest gathering in the industry, began in Houston, the largest city of south-central U.S. state Texas.
More than 300 speakers are set to participate in the programme and technical forums, from about 70 countries and regions. The World Petroleum Congress is organized every three years by the London-based World Petroleum Council which includes 65 member countries.