Current Affairs Quiz - December, 2021

Notes:
R Ashwin recently became the India’s third-highest wicket-taker in Test cricket.
The 35-year-old clinched his 418th wicket in the first Test against New Zealand, surpassing another Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh. Only Anil Kumble (619) and Kapil Dev (434) have more wickets than Ashwin, as of now.

Notes:
The first edition of the India Young Water Professional Programme was launched virtually, under National Hydrology Project and supported by the Australian Water Partnership.
It is a Central Scheme of Department of Water Resources, river development and Ganga rejuvenation. A total of 20 participants (10 men and 10 women) have been selected for the first edition of this Programme from central and state implementing agencies of the National Hydrology Project.

Notes:
Shillong’s famous Cherry Blossom Festival was held between November 25 and 27, this year. The festival was cancelled due to COVID outbreak last year.
Meghalaya’s Chief Minister Cornad Sangma announced about the festival in Twitter. Several cherry blossoms are seen across Meghalaya’s capital city, Shillong. The festival includes various competitions, programmes and other art events.

Notes:
Indian actor Dhanush has been awarded with the Best actor (Male) at the BRICS Film Festival for his role in Tamil movie ‘Asuran’, which was directed by Vetrimaaran. He won the National Award for best actor, for the same movie this year. The movie has so far won three National Awards
Lara Boldorini was awarded the Best Actor (Female) at the festival for her performance in the Brazilian film ‘On Wheels’.

Notes:
The fifth Indian Ocean Conference is set to be held in Abu Dhabi on December 4-5, 2021. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will address the Conference.
The theme of the Indian Ocean Conference 2021 is “Indian Ocean: Ecology, Economy, Epidemic”. The inaugural address will be delivered by President of Sri Lanka Gotabaya Rajapaksa. The representatives of Maldives, Fiji and other countries will participate.

Notes:
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) released the report titled “State Finances: A Study of Budgets of 2021-22”.
It is an annual publication that provides assessment of the finances of State governments for 2021-22 against the actual and revised outcomes for 2019-20 and 2020-21, respectively. The theme of this year’s Report is “Coping with the Pandemic: A Third-Tier Dimension”. For 2021-22, States have budgeted their consolidated gross fiscal deficit to GDP Ratio at 3.7 per cent.

Notes:
Semeru is the tallest mountain on Java Island, Indonesia, spewed up towers of ash and hot clouds. The eruption of Semeru volcano has killed at least 14 people and injured many people in the island.
The eruption also destroyed buildings and damaged a strategic bridge connecting two areas in the district of Lumajang with the city of Malang. Around 1,300 people have been evacuated, while nine people were unaccounted for.

Notes:
United Nations General Assembly declared December 4 as International Day of Banks and it was celebrated for the first time in 2020.
The day was celebrated to recognise the importance of multilateral and international development banks in financing sustainable developments. Also recognises the vital role of banking systems in in contributing to the improvement of standard of living.

Notes:
Every Year, the 4th December is celebrated as the Indian Navy Day, to respect the Indian Navy’s counter-attack in Operation Trident during the Indo-Pakistan war in 1971.
This year, the Navy had celebrated the event under the theme – “Swarnim Vijay Varsh” to commemorate 50th Anniversary of India’s victory in the 1971 war.

Notes:
The Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has released a “National strategy on blockchain”, in which 44 potential areas have been identified for use of blockchain technology in India.
The Ministry has proposed setting up a National Blockchain Framework with 3 participants namely – user, operator and technology stack builder.