Current Affairs Quiz - December, 2021

Notes:
The Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das announced that the Monetary Policy Committee had opted to keep the rates unchanged.
With this Repo and reverse repo rates currently stand at 4 per cent and 3.35 per cent, respectively. RBI also maintained its stance as “accommodative”. This is the ninth policy meeting where committee has maintained the key lending rate, in a row. Projection for real GDP growth is retained at 9.5% and CPI inflation at 5.3% in FY22.

Notes:
The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Charter Day is observed every year on 8th December.
On this day in 1985, SAARC Charter was adopted in Dhaka, during the first summit of the group. This year also marks the 37th Anniversary of the regional group. SAARC has organised 18 summits since 1985.

Notes:
The funding and implementation of the Ken-Betwa inter-linking of rivers project were approved by the Union Cabinet with a total cost of Rs 44,605 crore. It is the first project under the National Perspective Plan for interlinking of rivers.
It seeks to transfer water from the Ken river to the Betwa river, both tributaries of the Yamuna.  A Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) called Ken-Betwa Link Project Authority (KBLPA) will be set up.

Notes:
Asian Development Bank has approved a Rs 2,644.85 crore (USD 350 million) loan for India to help improve its urban services.
The loan supports the policies set up by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs to provide universal coverage of piped water supply and improved sanitation. This is part of the recently launched Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) 2.0

Notes:
The Pinaka MLRS has been successfully developed by two DRDO laboratories in Pune – Armament Research & Development Establishment (ARDE) and High Energy Materials Research Laboratory (HEMRL) – in partnership with two private sector firms, L&T and Tata Power Company Ltd (TPCL).
Recently, Pinaka Extended Range (Pinaka-ER) Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS), was successfully tested with rockets built by the two private firms.

Notes:
A Royal Bengal Tiger has been spotted in Buxa tiger reserve in West Bengal, after at least 23 years, as per the West Bengal government.
A picture of a tiger was captured on a trap camera in the forest of East Damanpur of Buxa tiger reserve.  It was in 1998 that images of a Royal Bengal Tiger were captured at the reserve earlier. The reserve had lost its identity as a tiger reserve from the National Wild Life Board.

Notes:
Scientists at the Himalayan Research Group NGO, a part of Department of Science and Technology Programme of Science for Equity Empowerment and Development (SEED) Division devised a customized solar water and space heating system.
Named the ‘Solar hamam’, the system is a cost-effective alternative to fuelwood. In the higher Himalayan region, 50% of fuelwood is consumed for the purpose of heating and is also a main reason for forest degradation.

Notes:
India, Iran and Uzbekistan held a virtual second trilateral working group meeting on the joint use of Chabahar port.
Dr. Sanjeev Ranjan, secretary, Ministry of ports, shipping and waterways co-chaired the meet along with his counterparts. India is participating in the development of the first phase of the Shahid Behesti Terminal, Chabahar port in cooperation with Iran.

Notes:
Ladakh recently got its first ever FM radio station in its capital city Leh. The first-ever Top FM radio was launched in Leh.
The frequency for Leh & Kargil will be 91.1 FM and it will cover 50 kilometres aerial distance in radius in the Union Territory.

Notes:
As per a new study published, Bubbler is a breathalyzer, which performs viral RNA detection to diagnose SARS-CoV-2, just by making the patient exhale into the device.
Its name is derived from the bubbling sound that occurs when the patient exhales. The Bubbler reverse transcribes RNA from airborne virus particles into DNA to be tested via PCR. It can also barcode that DNA, allowing samples to be linked directly to the patient they have come from and be used for sequencing.