Current Affairs Quiz - December, 2021

Notes:
Catherine Russell, an assistant to US President Joe Biden, has been appointed as the next head of the UN children’s agency UNICEF.
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres announced  that Russell will succeed Henrietta Fore, who resigned in July. Russell heads the White House Office of Presidential Personnel and had served as the ambassador-at-large for global women issues.

Notes:
The Log4j vulnerability is a software flaw as reported by cyber-security researchers that could allow attackers to have uncontrolled access to computer systems.
Dubbed CVE-2021-44228, it could impact several products from those of Apple to Microsoft. US government’s cyber-security agency has also issued a warning on the same. The issue was discovered in Microsoft-owned Minecraft.

Notes:
All 5 central Asian countries- Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan have been invited by India as the Republic day guest.
This is the first time that all central Asian countries will be present as the guest. In 2018, countries of ASEAN bloc were invited. Prime Minister Modi had visited all Central Asian countries in 2015, a first by any Indian Prime Minister.

Notes:
Asian Power Index is prepared by the Lowy Institute of Sydney. In the recently released index of 2021, the United States ranked at the top spot, for exerting influence over the region.
The Index, which ranks 26 nations and territories in Asia, ranks India as the 4th most powerful country. India has retained its 4th position, on the basis of several measures of power such as economic capability, military capability, resilience and cultural influence.

Notes:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid foundation stone of Maa Umiya Dham Development Project involving Umiya Mata Dham temple and temple premises in Gujarat.
The Community-led project involves the Temple of Goddess Umiya, clan-deity of Kadava Patidars. The complex will also comprise of medical facilities, senior citizen care facilities, students hostel, recreation & sports facilities, career development facilities among others.

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:
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:
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:
For the first time in European Union, Malta has become the first country to legalise cannabis at home and for personal use.
Under the new law of Malta, people aged 18 and above will be allowed to have up to seven grams of cannabis and grow up to four plants at home. But consuming cannabis in public remains illegal and punishable by a fine. The new law is set to go to the President for approval.

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.