Current Affairs Quiz - December, 2021

Notes:
North Eastern Development Finance Corporation Ltd. (NEDFi), a financial institution in the North-Eastern Region launched ‘Atmanirbhar Hastshilpkar Scheme’.
It aims to provide financial assistance in the form of term loan to the Artisans of the region, for setting up, modernization and other activities related to the sector. The credit facility is collateral free and carries a subsidized interest rate.

Notes:
Voters in the French island territory of New Caledonia chose to stay part of France, in a referendum, hailed by French President Emmanuel Macron.
Sonia Backes, President of the Southern Province region, announced the results, which showed 96 per cent of those who took part chose to stay in France. The vote was monitored by the UN and regional powers.

Notes:
Indian Government passed an amendment to the Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation Act to ensure that account holders can access their insured deposit amount within 90 days.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended a bank deposit insurance programme and said that Rs 1,300 crore had been paid to over 1 lakh depositors whose banks faced financial crises. 3 lakh such depositors were set to receive funds stuck in such accounts.

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.

Notes:
The World Health Organization recently released the “Tracking Universal Coverage – 2021 Global Monitoring Report”.
On the occasion of Universal Health Coverage day, World Bank also released the “Global Monitoring Report on Financial Protection in Health 2021”. The report showed that the COVID-19 pandemic is likely to halt two decades of global progress towards Universal Health Coverage.

Notes:
The Israeli government has announced to donate 1 million coronavirus vaccines to the U.N.-backed COVAX programme.
Italy’s Foreign Ministry said the AstraZeneca vaccines would be transferred in the coming weeks. This decision is seen as a part of Israel’s strengthening ties with the African countries. Israel has close ties with several African nations, including Kenya, Uganda, and Rwanda. Last year, Israel established relations with Sudan.

Notes:
Former US President Barack Obama has retained his position at the most admired man in the world as per an international survey carried out by YouGov.
For this survey, 42,000 people from 38 countries were asked who they admired most. Bill Gates is in second spot among men while Chinese President Xi Jinping is on third place. India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi was listed as 8th most admired man. Among women, Michelle Obama bagged the top spot.

Notes:
The Government of India has decided to notify the Najafgarh Jheel, which is the second largest water body in Delhi-NCR as a transboundary wetland for its restoration and rejuvenation.
Najafgarh Jheel is fed by Sahibi River and was a vast lake in south west Delhi and was connected to the river Yamuna by a drain called the Najafgarh nullah.

Notes:
The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE) has named Aditya Birla Group Chairman, Kumar Mangalam Birla, as the Global Entrepreneur of the Year in Business Transformation, for his leadership during the Covid-19 pandemic.
He is also the first Indian industrialist to receive this award. Other awardees are Elon Musk (Global Entrepreneur of the Year-Immigrant Entrepreneur), Jeff Bezos (Global Entrepreneur of the Year-First Generation) and Satya Nadella (Global Entrepreneur of the Year – Entrepreneurial CEO).

Notes:
Joumou soup of the Caribbean country Haiti has been recently placed in the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage List.
The traditional Haitian soup is seen as a symbol of the nation’s independence. The soup became a symbol of things not allowed to slaves under French domination until Haiti gained independence in 1804, as the first nation created by insurgent Black slaves.