Current Affairs Quiz - December, 2021

Notes:
Nauru, Kiribati and the Federated States of Micronesia are island countries located in the western Pacific Ocean.
The United States, Australia and Japan have announced that they will jointly fund the construction of an undersea cable to boost internet access in three small Pacific countries. This is regarded as the counter to the rising Chinese influence in the region.

Notes:
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett became the first Prime Minister of Israel to visit the United Arab Emirates.
He recently arrived in the United Arab Emirates to meet the Gulf state’s Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan. The two countries signed a US-brokered agreement known as the Abraham Accords.

Notes:
Photodynamic therapy involves the use of light-sensitive medicine, which is activated by a light source. The treatment is used to treat certain cancers, and patients report a side effect due to the treatment.
Many people claim to have better night vision and also vision of unusual patterns and silhouettes in the dark. Researchers discovered Rhodopsin, a light-sensitive protein found in retinas, interacts with chlorin e6, a photosensitive used in cancer treatment.

Notes:
“Q-Commerce” stands for “Quick commerce”, which essentially involves delivering customer orders faster than it does currently, by setting up micro-warehouses located closer to the point of delivery.
Online grocer Grofers has rebranded itself “Blinkit”, with a focus on “quick commerce”. Grofers decided to change its business model from the conventional grocer model to the quick-commerce model.

Notes:
India voted against a UN Security Council (UNSC) draft resolution that linked climate change with global security challenges.
Moved jointly by Niger and Ireland, the draft resolution called on “integrate climate-related security risk as a central component into comprehensive conflict-prevention strategies.”India argued that this resolution would only create friction among the UN membership.

Notes:
The National Unity Government in Myanmar, the unofficial government, led by those faithful to Aung San Suu Kyi, has adopted stable-coin Tether as a legal currency.
As per the NU Government, Tether (USDT) will be domestic use to make it easy and accelerate the current trade, services and payment systems. The military forces currently control the country after declaring a one-year state emergency in February 2021.

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:
Indian government approved a Rs 76,000-crore scheme to boost semiconductor and display manufacturing in the country.
Under Design Linked Incentive (DLI) scheme, the Government will support 100 domestic companies of semiconductor design for Integrated Circuits (ICs), Chipsets, System on Chips (SoCs), Systems & IP Cores and semiconductor linked design. The scheme will offer incentive of eligible expenditure and product deployment linked incentive.

Notes:
Union Minister for Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Giriraj Singh launched MIS (Management Information System) portal for rankings of States/UTs in Land Acquisition Projects.
It is based on RFCTLARR Act, 2013 (Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013). The Department of Land Resources developed this MIS portal and top 3 Districts and States will be awarded based on their rankings on the portal

Notes:
Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu inaugurated Rishihood University, at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi. Rajya Sabha MP, Founder and Chancellor of Rishihood University Suresh Prabhu was also present during the occasion.
The university has launched many initiatives to promote social impact such as the Center for Water, Center for Innovation in Governance, etc.