Current Affairs Quiz - December, 2021

Notes:
Yutu-2 is a robotic lunar rover which was launched in 2018, as a part of Chang’e 4 mission to the Moon.
The rover has recently detected a strange-looking, cube-shaped object on the surface of the Moon. The rover spotted the object as it crossed the Von Karman crater on the far side of the Moon. The object has been dubbed “mystery house” and scientists are set to drive the rover closer to get a better look.

Notes:
A bright comet in northern skies was spotted in November this year. It is Comet C/2021 A1, also known as Leonard.
The comet was first discovered around Jupiter in January 2021.  The comet was picked up by the telescope, with a greenish coma, at the heart of NGC 4631 also known as the Whale Galaxy. The comet Leonard will grow brighter in the month of December.

Notes:
A new data has been released by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). As per the report, sales of arms and military services by the 100 largest companies totalled $531 billion in 202, which is an increase of 1.3 per cent compared with the previous year.
The United States hosted the highest number of companies ranked in the Top 100. It is followed by China. Even though the global growth contracted, the arms sales increased across the world.

Notes:
National Commission for Women (NCW) launched a pan-India capacity building programme, ‘She is a Changemaker’.
The programme has been launched for women representatives at all levels, gram panchayats to parliament members and political workers. It aims to improve leadership skills,  decision making and communication skills of women political leaders.

Notes:
IndiGo was the first airline in India to have launched an ESG report. IndiGo announced that it has signed an agreement with CSIR-Indian Institute of Petroleum (CSIR-IIP), Dehradun to join hands in deploying sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) in India and across the world.
Under this partnership, IndiGo and CSIR-IIP will enter into arrangements for projects for SAF based on techno-commercial feasibility. They will also focus on Environment, Social, and Governance (ESG) value creation.

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:
Assamese poet Nilmani Phookan Jr has won the 56th Jnanpith Award.  He was awarded the Padma Shri in 1990 and received the Sahitya Akademi Fellowship in 2002.
Konkani novelist Damodar Mauzo has won the 57th Jnanpith Award. He won the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1983 for his novel Karmelin. He worked towards the inclusion of Konkani as a language in the 8th Schedule of the Constitution of India, in a movement called Konkani Porjecho Avaz.

Notes:
Government think tank NITI Aayog recently announced the launch of ‘e-Sawaari India Electric Bus Coalition’, to share knowledge on e-bus adoption in India.
The Coalition has been launched in partnership with Convergence Energy Service Ltd (CESL) and World Resources Institute, India (WRI India), with support from Transformative Urban Mobility Initiative (TUMI).

Notes:
Mouse opossums are relatively small members of the Neotropical marsupial family Didelphidae. They are endemic to Americas, especially to South America.
Recently a newly-identified species, named the Adler’s mouse opossum (Marmosa adleri), is among the smallest subgenus Micoureus. It was named after the researcher Greg Adler and  has larger ears, with a short furry tail.

Notes:
SCORES is a grievance redressal system of the Capital Market Regulator SEBI- Securities Exchange Board of India. The portal was launched in June 2011.
According to the data released by SEBI, a total of 3,789 complaints received through grievance redressal system SCORES have been disposed of against listed entities or market intermediaries in November.