Current Affairs Quiz - December, 2021

Notes:
The Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Studies (KUFOS) has been selected to join a research project backed by the Space Application Centre of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) under a NASA-ISRO collaborative project.
NASA and ISRO are jointly developing a synthetic aperture radar (NISAR), to be launched in January 2023. The radar will produce high resolution data for systematic observation of earth resources. The data will be used in activities related to agriculture, forestry, wetlands, and soil moisture estimation.

Notes:
James Webb is a space telescope, which is regarded as the successor to Nasa’s Hubble space telescope, is set to be launched into space from French Guiana onboard an Ariane 5 rocket on 25th December.
It is said to be 100 times more powerful than the Hubble space telescope is built to research through space and time on formation of the universe and our solar system.

Notes:
The Indian men’s hockey team won the bronze medal at Asian Champions Trophy after beating Pakistan 4-3 in third-place play-off match.
Earlier, India was defeated by Japan 3-5 in the semi-finals the previous day, though it topped the previous stages with an unbeaten record. In the other semi-final, South Korea beat Pakistan 6-5.

Notes:
Italian-born British architect Richard Rogers (1933-2021) was known for designing several famous structures. He passed away recently.
He helped in designing some of the most remarkable buildings in the recent years, including the Pompidou Centre in Paris, the Lloyd’s building in London and the Millennium Dome at Greenwich. He changed the buildings into, “a place for all people, all ages and all creeds”.

Notes:
Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) successfully conducted the flight test of indigenously developed High-speed Expendable Aerial Target (HEAT) Abhyas.
Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE), a DRDO laboratory along with other laboratories has developed this HEAT. This was developed to meet the requirement of aerial targets of the Indian Armed Forces.

Notes:
Punjab’s Ludhiana Central Jail now has recently inaugurated its own radio channel, “Radio Ujala Punjab,”.
Only jail inmates will be running the radio channel and prisoners who work as ‘Radio Jockeys’ have undergone training. Six other jails of Punjab would also get their own radio channels in the coming days. This programme aims to rehabilitate the prisoners and provide welfare opportunities.

Notes:
As per a recent research, Matterhorn, one of the highest summits in the Alps, moves back and forth in every two seconds.
The peak is located on the border of Switzerland and Italy at nearly 4,478 m above sea level. As per the data, the mountain is moving in the north–south direction at a frequency of 0.42 Hertz and similarly in the east-west direction. This movement is stimulated by seismic energy in the Earth.

Notes:
Kerala has emerged as the state with the best overall health performance for the fourth consecutive year, in the fourth Health Index of NITI Aayog. Tamil Nadu and Telangana have emerged as the second and third best performers, respectively.
India’s most populous state Uttar Pradesh is at the bottom of the list. The report ranks UP at the top in ‘incremental performance’, from the base year (2018-19) to reference year (2019-20).

Notes:
‘Airgun Surrender Abhiyan’ is being implemented in Arunachal Pradesh. Under the programme,  people are voluntarily surrendering their airguns to stop  indiscriminate hunting of birds.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently appreciated about the Airgun Surrender Abhiyan. The state has been running a unique campaign for a year and in the name of ‘Arunachal Pradesh Airgun Surrender Campaign’.

Notes:
The Union Home Minister Amit Shah has asked all the states to form and notify a dedicated Anti-Narcotics Task Force (ANTF) in their respective jurisdictions, with an aim to eradicate drugs from the country.
As per the official notification, these ANTF can act as Narco Coordination Centre (NCORD) secretariat at the state level.