Current Affairs Quiz - December, 2021

Notes:
Commercial Space Astronaut Wings Program is implemented by the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
The program comes under the Commercial Space Launch Act of 1984 and was designed to recognize pilots and flight crew. Recently, FAA announced that it will no longer issue Commercial Space Astronaut Wings, the pins given to individuals reaching space but instead recognise on its website.

Notes:
As per a new research, Quetzalcoatlus was the largest known flying animal to have ever lived on Earth.
The animal is claimed to have a 12-metre wingspan, as per a research collection published by the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology. The research team found that the creature took flight like a fighter jet off an aircraft carrier after years of research.

Notes:
Chief Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghose inaugurated the digital platform named LokpalOnline, which enables people to file corruption complaints with the Lokpal.
At present, complaints are being sent by post, e-mail or hand-delivered. The new portal can be accessed by the citizens of the country and complaints can be filed from anywhere, anytime at lokpalonline.gov.in. In 2019, Justice Ghose was appointed as the country’s first Lokpal.

Notes:
Four-time Olympic medalist Simone Biles was named Time’s 2021 Athlete of the Year, the Time magazine announced.
She had withdrawn from four event finals at the Tokyo Olympics, stating reasons of her mental health. However, the 24-year-old managed to earn all-around silver and a bronze in balance beam at the Tokyo Olympics.

Notes:
The Retail inflation based on Consumer Price Index increased to a three-month high of 4.91 per cent in November.
As per the data released by the National Statistical Office (NSO), Food inflation increased to 1.87 per cent in November from 0.85 per cent a month ago. The inflation figure is within the 4+/-2 per cent target range of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

Notes:
Time magazine has named CEO of Tesla and SpaceX Elon Musk as Person of the Year.
Elon Musk gained attention for becoming the richest person in the world due to the rise in Tesla’s (TSLA) stock price. As per Time Magazine, “Musk emerged not just as the world’s richest person but also as the richest example of a massive shift in our society.”

Notes:
“Q-Commerce” stands for “Quick commerce”, which essentially involves delivering customer orders faster than it does currently, by setting up micro-warehouses located closer to the point of delivery.
Online grocer Grofers has rebranded itself “Blinkit”, with a focus on “quick commerce”. Grofers decided to change its business model from the conventional grocer model to the quick-commerce model.

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:
Keechant Sewell has been named the New York City’s next police commissioner, making her the first woman to lead the nation’s largest police force.
Keechant Sewell was a Long Island police official. The 49-year-old will also be the third Black person to serve as New York Police Department commissioner. Among about 35,000 uniformed members of the department, around 45% are white, 30% are Hispanic, 15% are Black and 10% are Asian.

Notes:
The Supreme Court of India has permitted the state of Maharashtra to hold bullock cart races in the state till the pendency of the issue before the constitutional Bench. Generally, such races would be held in several parts of the state like Pune and western Maharashtra region and is considered to be a  400-year-old tradition.
Bullock cart races were banned in Maharashtra state after the apex Court ruled that the race is violative of the provisions Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act.