Current Affairs Quiz - December, 2021

Notes:
New Zealand will ban the sale of tobacco to its next generation, with an aim of eventually phasing out smoking in the country.
As per the law expected to be enacted next year, anyone born after 2008 will not be able to buy cigarettes or tobacco products in their lifetime. New Zealand’s health ministry recently announced a crackdown on smoking.

Notes:
India’s Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Indian Air Force (IAF) successfully flight-tested the stand-off anti-tank (SANT) missile from Pokhran range.
The indigenously designed and developed helicopter-launched missile has the ability to neutralise targets in a range of up to 10 kilometres. It also has a millimetre wave (MMW) seeker which provides high precision strike capability from distance.

Notes:
Universal Health Coverage Day is observed every year on December 12. According to UN, this year’s theme – “Leave No One Behind When It Comes to Health: Invest in Health Systems for All”.
Universal Health Coverage Day seeks to renew global efforts to ensure that people have access to health care when they need it and progress toward a more equitable and healthy society.

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:
Dubai has become the world’s first government to turn completely paperless, the Emirate’s Crown Prince, Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.
The Government announced that it provided a savings of 1.3 billion Dirham (USD 350 million) and 14-million-man hours. “The Dubai Paperless Strategy” was implemented in five phases. The strategy was implemented across all 45 government entities in the emirate, to provide than 1,800 digital services.

Notes:
Embassy of India in Madagascar organized the monthly literary program LaLitTana. It was held in a virtual platform for the first time due to the Omicron spread.
The event witnessed Malagasy and Indian poets reading their translations of poems to each other. The event was attended by several Indian poets. The Indian ambassador to Madagascar & Comoros Abhay Kumar highlighted that the Malagasy language has about 300 Sanskrit words.

Notes:
Manohari Gold Tea, a rare variety of tea in Assam has recently created history as it was sold for Rs 1 lakh per kilogram at Guwahati Tea Auction Centre.
The Tea variety broke its own record of 2020, when the tea was auctioned at Rs 75,000 per kg. The North Eastern Tea Association has planned to increase the production of such tea and started making different types of tea like white tea, green tea, yellow tea.

Notes:
Majhi Vasundhara Abhiyan is implemented by Maharashtra Government. The state’s Department of Environment and Climate Change and UNICEF have developed the Majhi Vasundhara curriculum on environment for school students.
The curriculum for Class I-VIII includes Biodiversity Conservation, Solid Waste Management, Water Resources Management, Pollution & Climate Change.

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:
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.