Current Affairs Quiz - December, 2021

Notes:
As per National Health Accounts (NHA) estimates for India for 2017-18, the share of government health expenditure in the GDP of the country has increased to 1.35% in 2017-18 from 1.15% in 2013-14.
The findings also show the government spending on health as a share of total expenditure also increased to 5.12% from 3.78% between 2013-14 and 2017-18. In case of per capita OOPE, there was a decline from ₹2,336 to ₹2,097 between 2013-14 and 2017-18.

Notes:
Railways is constructing the world’s tallest railway bridge pier at Noney Valley in the state of Manipur with a height of 141 metres.
It is a part of the 111 Kilometre long Jiribam-Imphal railway line, which aims to connect the capital of Manipur with the broad gauge network of the country. The bridge at Noney Valley will surpass the Mala – Rijeka viaduct’s existing record of 139 meters, located in Montenegro, Europe.

Notes:
India International Science Festival IISF 2021 is being organized jointly by Ministry of Science & Technology, Ministry of Earth Sciences, and NGO Vijnana Bharati (VIBHA) and would be held from 10th December 2021, for 4 days in Goa.
This year’s festival would contain Science Film Festival, Science Literature Festival, Engineering Students Festival, Village Festival etc.

Notes:
The ‘Day of Remembrance for all Victims of Chemical Warfare’ is observed by the United Nations on 30 November.
The day is marked to pay tribute to the victims of chemical warfare. The day also highlights the pledge taken by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to eliminate the threat of chemical weapons.

Notes:
Archaeological ruins of Liangzhu City are a World Heritage site. Archeologists have resolved the mystery of the Liangzhu culture in the Yangtze River Delta (YRD).
It was among the world’s most advanced Neolithic cultures. Archeological evidence suggests that the Liangzhu ancient city was abandoned, and then the culture collapsed. In a recent research, a layer of clay points to a possible connection between the demise of the civilisation and floods of the Yangtze River or floods from the East China Sea.

Notes:
Bangladesh Navy (BN) and the US military personnel began the annual Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT) maritime exercise.
The exercise will be carried out virtually and in the Bay of Bengal. Bangladesh Navy has been taking part in the CARAT exercise since 2011. It aims to address shared maritime security concerns and strengthen partnerships between regional navies.

Notes:
Gita Gopinath, the India-born, first female chief economist of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), is set to take over as the first deputy managing director (FDMD).
She is set to take over the role from Geoffrey Okamoto. Two months ago, Gita Gopinath had announced that she would re-join Harvard University in January 2022 to retain her tenured facility post, after three years in IMF.

Notes:
Eminent Indian-American mathematician Nikhil Srivastava, has been jointly selected for the inaugural $5,000 Ciprian Foias Prize.
He was awarded for his contribution in Operator Theory by the American Mathematical Society (AMS).Along with Professor Srivastava, who teaches at the University of California, Berkeley, two other awardees are Adam Marcus and Daniel Spielman.

Notes:
India has set a $400 billion target for merchandise exports for 2021-22, of which $262 billion has already been achieved in the April-November 2021-22 period.
A record export target of $43 billion has been set for agricultural products in 2021-22. During the Agri-Export Conference held at Uttar Pradesh, the Minister of State of Commerce and Industry announced that the target would be achieved in the current fiscal.

Notes:
The United States has recently warned Russia not to invade Ukraine and urged both countries to return to the agreements designed to end a separatist war by Russian-speakers in eastern Ukraine.
In 2014, Ukraine and the Russian-backed separatists agreed a 12-point ceasefire deal in the capital of Belarus- Minsk. Representatives of Russia, Ukraine, OSCE and the leaders of two pro-Russian separatist regions signed a 13-point agreement in 2015 in Minsk. These are called Minsk agreements.