Current Affairs Quiz - December, 2021

Notes:
Under Mukhyamantri Tirth Yatra Yojna, senior citizens of Delhi can go on pilgrimages at the government’s expense.
Kartarpur Sahib and Velankanni Church in Tamil Nadu have been recently added to the Mukhyamantri Tirth Yatra Yojna’. The programme could not be held in 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic outbreak.

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:
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:
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:
‘World Aids Day’ is observed every year on December 1, across the world. It was first observed in 1988.
“End inequalities. End Aids. End pandemics.” is the theme for this year’s World Aids Day as per the UN. The Day aims to create awareness about the disease and working towards ending the stigma surrounding it.

Notes:
Central American country Honduras is set to elect its first female president, Xiomara Castro, after the ruling party conceded defeat.
Ms Castro is the candidate for the left-wing Libre (Free) Party, and has a preliminary lead of almost 20 percentage points over her rival. The 12-year reign of the right-wing National Party was accused for scandals and corruptive practices.

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:
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:
The Philippines based Asian Development Bank has approved a loan of USD 500 million (about Rs 3,752 crore) to India for improving the quality of the country’s school education.
The funding would support India’s Integrated Scheme for School Education and help mitigate the impact of the COVID 19 on student’s education.

Notes:
The Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative Limited (IFFCO) has been adjudged as the ‘number one Cooperative’ among the top 300 cooperatives in the world. The ranking is based on the ratio of turnover over the gross domestic product (GDP) per capita of the country.
This rank signifies that IFFCO is contributing significantly to the GDP and economic growth of the nation.