Current Affairs Quiz - December, 2021

Notes:
China recently showcased Y-8Q anti-submarine warfare aircraft. The People Liberation Army (PLA) Navy’s Y-8Q aircraft is also known as KQ-200.
This was launched amidst the deepening engagement between Taiwan and the US. Taiwan claimed that at least 5 Chinese warplanes had entered its Air Defense Identification Zone (AIDZ).

Notes:
Spanish Footballer Alexia Putellas has been awarded the Ballon d’Or Feminin for 2021 during the 2021 Ballon d’Or France Football award.
FC Barcelona’s midfielder Alexia Putell is just the third female player to win the prize after Ada Hegerberg and Megan Rapinoe. Argentina’s Lionel Messi has bagged the Ballon d’Or award for a record-extending seventh time. 19-year-old Pedri of Barcelona won the Kopa Trophy for the best player aged under-21.

Notes:
An international team of researchers has discovered a new marine reptile. Named as Kyhytysuka sachicarum, the specimen was a metre-long skull of a Hypercarnivore “Fish Lizard”.
Kyhytysuka translates to ‘the one that cuts with something sharp’ in an indigenous language from the region in central Colombia where the fossil was found. The name honours the ancient Muisca culture that existed in the region.

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:
The NITI Aayog released a report titled “Designing the future of dispute Resolution: the ODR Policy Plan for India”.
It proposed measures at three levels to address the challenges in adopting ODR. The report recommends increasing digital infrastructure, building capacity, regulatory framework, including permission for online notarisation, etc.

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 Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Indian government have signed a $ 250 million loan to support the National Industrial Corridor Development Program (NICDP).
The program aims to develop world-class industrial nodes and generate high level employment. This agreement was signed for the first of two subprograms of the Industrial Corridor Development Program, each of $ 250 million.

Notes:
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), released its annual overview of future needs.
As per the report, a record 274 million people is predicted to require emergency humanitarian aid next year in countries such as Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Myanmar, Syria and Yemen. It also projects a 17% jump in the number of people who will need urgent assistance in 2022, and appeals to donors to provide $41 billion to help 183 million needy people.

Notes:
Minister of State for Civil Aviation VK Singh announced that the Airports Authority of India (AAI) is working on the country’s first facial recognition technology-based biometric boarding system. It is to be piloted for passengers at Varanasi, Pune, Kolkata and Vijayawada airports.
This biometric boarding system is part of the first phase of Digi Yatra scheme. The Digi Yatra initiative seeks to promote paperless air travel. It is a biometrics-based digital processing system for passenger entry and related requirements. The system is set to be launched in early 2022.

Notes:
The Union Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry has extended the timeline for the implementation of Smart Cities Mission to June 2023 due to the Covid pandemic and other reasons.
As per the earlier deadline, the cities were expected to complete their projects within five years of selection under the Smart Cities Mission. Hundred smart cities were selected through four rounds of competition from January 2016 to June 2018.