Current Affairs Quiz - December, 2021

Notes:
The Indian government has recently finalized an air bubble agreement with Australia, which will allow all eligible passengers to travel between the two countries.
India currently has bilateral air bubble agreements with 33 countries, which include Afghanistan, Australia, France, Germany, Iraq, Japan, Russia, Rwanda, Singapore, the UAE, the UK, and the USA among others. Australian airline Qantas has recently started flights between Sydney and New Delhi.

Notes:
Malini Parthasarathy, the chairperson of The Hindu Group Publishing, is among four veteran journalists who are named by US-based Columbia Journalism School as the 2022 alumni award winners.
The other winners include Eric Marcus, founder and host of “Making Gay History” podcast, Stuart Schear, American Jewish World Service, and Thomas Maier, investigative journalist. Wendy Lu (HuffPost) and Mukhtar Ibrahim (Sahan Journal), jointly bagged the First Decade Award.

Notes:
Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved the India-Poland treaty on mutual legal assistance in criminal matters.
The treaty will enhance capability of both countries in investigation and prosecution of crimes, including crimes related to terrorism through mutual legal assistance. It will also increase India’s effectiveness in tackling criminal activities involving Poland.

Notes:
Meta-owned WhatsApp announced its pilot programme of adopting 500 villages across Karnataka and Maharashtra.
The programme aims to empower people with access to digital payments through ‘payments on WhatsApp’. The announcement regarding the programme was made at “Fuel For India 2021 — Meta’s annual event in India”.

Notes:
The Geographical Indications Registry (GIR) has accepted the plea to rename Bihar Makhana as Mithila Makhana.
It also suggested amendments in the brand logo to reflect its origins along with identifying and protecting the product’s Geographical Indications (GI) rights. Makhana or fox nut is one of the most famous products of mithila region, span across Bihar and Jharkand.

Notes:
The World Health Organization recently released the “Tracking Universal Coverage – 2021 Global Monitoring Report”.
On the occasion of Universal Health Coverage day, World Bank also released the “Global Monitoring Report on Financial Protection in Health 2021”. The report showed that the COVID-19 pandemic is likely to halt two decades of global progress towards Universal Health Coverage.

Notes:
India’s leading public sector bank “bob World Wave” has launched a solution for digital banking payments, named bob World Wave.
The bob World Wave is a wearable device, which will allow customers to monitor their Sp02, body temperature, heart rate and blood pressure. BoB has partnered with NPCI to offer the wearable payment solution.

Notes:
The Israeli government has announced to donate 1 million coronavirus vaccines to the U.N.-backed COVAX programme.
Italy’s Foreign Ministry said the AstraZeneca vaccines would be transferred in the coming weeks. This decision is seen as a part of Israel’s strengthening ties with the African countries. Israel has close ties with several African nations, including Kenya, Uganda, and Rwanda. Last year, Israel established relations with Sudan.

Notes:
The Union Cabinet headed by the Prime Minister of India has approved the construction of the Lakhwar Multipurpose Project in Uttarakhand, on the Yamuna River.
The project includes construction of a dam and a underground power house, to be constructed by Uttarakhand Jal Vidyut Nigam Ltd. This project would benefit Uttarakhand, Delhi, Rajasthan, Haryana, and Himachal Pradesh.

Notes:
Tokyo Paralympics champion Avani Lekhara won the ‘Best Female Debut’ award at the 2021 Paralympic Sport Awards.
Czech Republic’s Boccia player Adam Peska won the Male Debut accolade. Indian shooting Para sport athlete Avani Lekhara became the first-ever female Paralympic gold medallist from India. She also became the first Indian female to win two medals in the Paralympics.