Current Affairs Quiz - December, 2021

Notes:
Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) introduced a major national initiative, “System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research” known as “SAFAR”. It enables greater metropolitan cities of India to provide location specific information on air quality.
As per SAFAR, the overall Air Quality Index (AQI) in the national capital stood at 372 in the ‘very poor’ category. An AQI between zero and 50 is considered ‘good’, 51 and 100 ‘satisfactory’, 101 and 200 ‘moderate’, 201 and 300 ‘poor’, 301 and 400 ‘very poor’, and 401 and 500 ‘severe’.

Notes:
Senior Indian Revenue Service Officer Shri. Vivek Johri has been appointed as the chairman of the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC), by the personnel ministry.
Shri. Vivek Johri is a 1985-batch Indian Revenue Service (Customs and Indirect Taxes) officer who is presently a member of the CBIC.

Notes:
Magdalena Andersson, leader of the centre-left Social Democratic Party, became the country’s first female prime minister.
But she resigned within hours of taking the job, after her budget was rejected in favour of one proposed by the opposition. Now Magdalena Andersson has been reappointed Prime Minister of the country.

Notes:
Hanukkah, also known as the Festival of Lights, is a Jewish festival celebrating the Jewish victory over a tyrant king, the rededication of the Second Temple at the beginning of the Maccabean revolt against the Seleucid Empire in the 2nd century BCE.
The eight-day Jewish celebration of Hanukkah is being held across the UAE between Sunday, November 28 and December 5, for a second year in a row after the Abraham Accords.

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:
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:
National Professor Rafiqul Islam, is a scholar, and cultural activist from Bangladesh. He recently passed away at the age of 87.
The linguist actively participated in the Language Movement in 1952 and he was made the national professor by the government in 2018. He received the Independence Award, Ekushey Padak, and the Bangla Academy Literary Award. He was also awarded the International Mother Language Award.

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:
The Beyond European Project for Ice Coring in Antarctica (EPICA) is the Oldest Ice project funded by the European Commission.
It is being carried out by the Institute of Polar Sciences of the Cnr (National Research Council of Italy) and The British Antarctic Survey (BAS). The project aims to collect the oldest continuous ice core in Antarctica, providing a record of the climate spanning 1.5 million years.

Notes:
The government of Arunanchal Pradesh has signed Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt as the brand ambassador on the occasion of the golden jubilee celebrations, marking the 50th year of the naming of the state.
It also announced filmmaker Rahul Mittra as its brand advisor. The announcement was made by Chief Minister Pema Khandu.