Current Affairs Quiz - December, 2021

Notes:
Typhoon Rai hit Philippines and rapidly intensified to a Category 5 storm and made landfall in the southern Philippines.
Rai is the 15th typhoon to enter Philippines this year. It has hit the island of Siargao with sustained winds of up to 195 km (121 miles) per hour. This is set to be the second-most powerful typhoon to strike the nation this year.

Notes:
The ‘Index on Foundational Literacy and Numeracy’, an indicator of literacy among children below 10 years was released by Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM).
The Index was prepared by ‘Institute for Competitiveness’. West Bengal (58.95) topped the chart and Bihar was placed at the bottom in the ‘large states’ category. In the ‘small states’ category, Kerala (67.95) grabbed the top spot. Lakshadweep (52.69) and Mizoram (51.64) are top-scoring regions in the UT and Northeast state category, respectively.

Notes:
‘Arabic Calligraphy: Knowledge, Skills and Practices’ has been officially added to UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
This was done after collaboration between 15 Arab countries, led by Saudi Arabia and under the supervision of the Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization. The calligraphy has contributed to the transfer and spread of Arab culture.

Notes:
India being world’s second largest coal producer and it is currently producing over 729 million tonnes of coal. Jharkhand has the most Coal reserves in the country.
Union Minister of Coal Pralhad Joshi has recently launched the fourth tranche of auction of 99 coal mines including 24 new mines. Of these 99 mines, 59 are fully explored mines and 40 are partially explored. These mines are spread across 8 states of Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.

Notes:
The Barn owl is the most widely distributed species of owl in the world and one of the most widespread of all species of birds. Its scientific name is “Tyto alba”.
Recently, the bird is spotted in the state of Bihar. Though it is seen across many parts of the world including the US, the UK and other parts of Europe, it is very rarely seen in the Indian subcontinent. It is generally found in countries with low temperature.

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:
The Defence Research Development Establishment (DRDE) is to set up an advanced biological defence lab to study viruses dangerous to humans, at Madhya Pradesh’s Gwalior.
The proposed Advanced Biological Defence Research Centre (ABDRC) will focus on dangerous viruses, their effect on humans and it will come up with safeguards and develop equipment to fight them.

Notes:
Indian badminton champion K.Srikanth has become the very first Indian man to reach the final match of BWF World badminton championship. But unfortunately, K.Srikanth lost against Singapore’s Loh Kean Yew at the final match and ended up winning a silver-medal.
K.Srikanth was ranked world number 1 at the BWF ranking in April 2018 and is the recipient of Arjuna award in 2015 and Padma Shri in 2018.

Notes:
International Human Solidarity Day is observed annually on December 20, every year. It was first introduced by the UN General Assembly.
Solidarity is a social-cum-political concept which states that it is fair and just that benefits and obligations are shared between members of society. The theme of the day does not change every year in the United States. World Solidarity Fund was established to eradicate poverty.

Notes:
35-year-old leftist millennial Gabriel Boric became the youngest President of Chile. He is also the second millennial to lead in Latin America, after El Salvador’s Nayib Bukele.
With 56 per cent of the votes, Gabriel Boric defeated by more than 10 points lawmaker José Antonio Kast. The outgoing conservative President Sebastian Pinera is set to guide the new Government during transition. Boric gave the victory speech in the indigenous Mapuche language.