Current Affairs Quiz - December, 2021

Notes:
Union Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment Dr. Virendra Kumar has launched a National Helpline against Atrocities (NHAA).
The Helpline is available on toll-free number “14566” across the country in Hindi, English and regional language of the State/UTs. It aims to ensure proper implementation of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) [PoA] Act, 1989.

Notes:
The Odisha government and the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) signed an agreement to announce the launch of Mission Shakti Living Lab.
It aims to empower women economically and promote gender equality. The Mission Shakti Living Lab will promote the use of digital technologies and e-commerce. The Mission Shakti was originally launched in 2001 for holistic development of women.

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:
Parker Solar Probe of NASA has successfully flown through the Sun’s upper atmosphere, the corona. It is an extreme environment that’s roughly 2 million degrees Fahrenheit.
The probe has sampled particles and magnetic fields from the corona. A key instrument on board the probe, the Solar Probe Cup, collects particles from the Sun’s atmosphere. the outer boundary, which scientists call the Alfven point.

Notes:
The state of the world’s land and water resources for food and agriculture (SOLAW 2021) report was released by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
From 8 to 9 December 2021, the Land and Water Days are hosted by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). The central theme of SOLAW 2021 is “Systems at breaking point”.

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:
Rani Abbakka Chowta was the first Tuluva Queen of Ullal who fought the Portuguese in the second half of the 16th century.
Ullal is one of the oldest towns, which is now present in the state of Karnataka. Veera Rani Abbakka Utsava is celebrated every year in the state. Veera Rani Abbakka Award and Veera Rani Abbakka Puraskar for 2021 were presented to writers Chandrakala Nandavara and K.A. Rohini respectively.

Notes:
World Arabic Language Day is observed on 18 December to honour the language, which is spoken by over 400 million people globally.
It has been celebrated since 2012 to mark the adoption of Arabic as the sixth official language of the United Nations by the UN General Assembly. This year, the theme of the World Arabic Language Day is “Arabic Language, a bridge between civilisations”.

Notes:
Haryana government has launched “Khel Nursery Scheme” to promote sports in the state. Under the scheme, sports nurseries will be started in government, private educational institutions and private sports institutions.
Under the scheme, sports nurseries are being opened for the sports included in the Olympic, Asian and Commonwealth Games.

Notes:
PANEX-21 is a trans-national, multi-agency exercise, which aims to develop capabilities in disaster management aspects for the BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation) countries.
The exercise was recently organised at the College of Military Engineering in Pune. The BIMSTEC regional organisation comprises Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand, besides India.