Current Affairs Quiz - December, 2021

Notes:
The Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (Amendment) Bill, 2021 was passed by Lok Sabha. It is an unusual amendment and seeks to rectify a drafting “anomaly” created by a 2014 amendment to the parent legislation.
The anomaly is just a sentence that alters numbering of the provisions. The 2021 Bill amends the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985. Section 27A of the NDPS Act, 1985, prescribes punishment for financing illicit traffic and harbouring offenders.

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 Bank has announced a $93 billion package of the International Development Association (IDA) to help the poor countries tackle Covid crisis and boost economic growth.
The latest pledge includes $23.5 billion of contributions from 48 high- and middle-income countries, raised in the capital markets, repayments, and the World Bank’s own contributions.

Notes:
The Union Cabinet passed a proposal to raise the legal age of marriage for women from 18 to 21 years — the same as men.
This step is based on recommendations submitted to NITI Aayog in December 2020 by the task force headed by Jaya Jaitly, which was constituted to examine “matters pertaining to age of motherhood, imperatives of lowering MMR (Maternal Mortality Rate), improvement of nutritional levels and related issues”.

Notes:
India being world’s second largest coal producer and it is currently producing over 729 million tonnes of coal. Jharkhand has the most Coal reserves in the country.
Union Minister of Coal Pralhad Joshi has recently launched the fourth tranche of auction of 99 coal mines including 24 new mines. Of these 99 mines, 59 are fully explored mines and 40 are partially explored. These mines are spread across 8 states of Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.

Notes:
The Barn owl is the most widely distributed species of owl in the world and one of the most widespread of all species of birds. Its scientific name is “Tyto alba”.
Recently, the bird is spotted in the state of Bihar. Though it is seen across many parts of the world including the US, the UK and other parts of Europe, it is very rarely seen in the Indian subcontinent. It is generally found in countries with low temperature.

Notes:
The Defence Research Development Establishment (DRDE) is to set up an advanced biological defence lab to study viruses dangerous to humans, at Madhya Pradesh’s Gwalior.
The proposed Advanced Biological Defence Research Centre (ABDRC) will focus on dangerous viruses, their effect on humans and it will come up with safeguards and develop equipment to fight them.

Notes:
Indian badminton champion K.Srikanth has become the very first Indian man to reach the final match of BWF World badminton championship. But unfortunately, K.Srikanth lost against Singapore’s Loh Kean Yew at the final match and ended up winning a silver-medal.
K.Srikanth was ranked world number 1 at the BWF ranking in April 2018 and is the recipient of Arjuna award in 2015 and Padma Shri in 2018.

Notes:
European aerospace major Airbus has selected India-based engineering and product development digital services firm Tata Technologies, as a strategic supplier.
The company is set to become an “engineering, manufacturing engineering and services strategic supplier (EMES3)”. Tata aims to collaborate with Airbus across multiple areas and geographies through the master supply agreement (MSA).

Notes:
An Indian Desert Cat has been spotted for the first time in Madhya Pradesh’s Panna Tiger Reserve (PTR).
“Felis silvestris ornate” is the scientific name of the species. The Indian Desert Cat is usually found at the Thar desert in Rajasthan. A fishing cat, one of the endangered animals in India, was earlier spotted in the reserve.