Current Affairs Quiz - December, 2021

Notes:
National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) is set to find new buyers and operators for 21,700 km of operational highway stretches valued at over ₹2 lakh crore over the next three year starting 2022.
NHAI will use the funds to build new highways and cut its debt, which remained at Rs 3.17 lakh crore at the end of 2020-21.

Notes:
The Indian Navy launched ‘Sandhayak’, the first of the four large survey vessels, in Kolkata. The primary role of these survey ships would be to conduct full-scale coastal and deep-water hydrographic survey of ports and harbours.
The ships would be deployed for collecting oceanographic and geophysical data and determination of navigational routes. The contract for building four survey ships was signed between the Defence Ministry and Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE) in 2018.

Notes:
Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship has launched Aatmanirbhar Skilled Employees Employer Mapping (ASEEM) portal.
The portal acts as a platform that matches supply of skilled workforce with the market demand. ASEEM portal is being managed by National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC). As of July, 1.3 crore candidates have been registered on ASEEM portal.

Notes:
Lok Sabha has passed the Central Vigilance Commission (Amendment) Bill, 2021 and the Delhi Special Police Establishment (Amendment) Bill, 2021 for consideration and passage.
These Bills intend to provide enabling power to the government to extend tenure of the Chiefs of Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) up to five years. At present, both the officers are given a term of two years.

Notes:
The USA recently announced a new bill named ‘Platform Accountability and Transparency Act (PATA)’.
The bill establishes new rules which could compel social media platforms to share data with “Qualified researchers”. They are defined as university-affiliated researchers pursuing projects that have been approved by the National Science Foundation (NSF).

Notes:
On National Energy Conservation Day, the Power Ministry will distribute LED bulbs at a subsidised rate at 10 Rupees in over 2,500 villages in five states – Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, and Karnataka.
This will be done under the expansion of flagship Gram UJALA programme. The programme has been launched in March 2021 and achieved a distribution mark of more than 33 lakh LED bulbs in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.

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:
Chief Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghose inaugurated the digital platform named LokpalOnline, which enables people to file corruption complaints with the Lokpal.
At present, complaints are being sent by post, e-mail or hand-delivered. The new portal can be accessed by the citizens of the country and complaints can be filed from anywhere, anytime at lokpalonline.gov.in. In 2019, Justice Ghose was appointed as the country’s first Lokpal.

Notes:
As per a new study published, Bubbler is a breathalyzer, which performs viral RNA detection to diagnose SARS-CoV-2, just by making the patient exhale into the device.
Its name is derived from the bubbling sound that occurs when the patient exhales. The Bubbler reverse transcribes RNA from airborne virus particles into DNA to be tested via PCR. It can also barcode that DNA, allowing samples to be linked directly to the patient they have come from and be used for sequencing.

Notes:
India’s leading public sector bank “bob World Wave” has launched a solution for digital banking payments, named bob World Wave.
The bob World Wave is a wearable device, which will allow customers to monitor their Sp02, body temperature, heart rate and blood pressure. BoB has partnered with NPCI to offer the wearable payment solution.