Current Affairs Quiz - December, 2021

Notes:
United States President Biden signed into law the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act. Earlier this year, the country recognized the atrocities against the Uyghurs as genocide and crimes against humanity.
The Act aims to ensure that goods made with forced labor in the Xinjiang Uyghur Region of the People’s Republic of China do not enter the United States market.

Notes:
The state cabinet of Punjab has recently approved the formation of a State General Category Commission.
The commission would aim to protect the interests of the unreserved classes and ensure effective implementation of welfare schemes, designed for the benefit of the poorer section of the unreserved classes in the state.

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The cabinet of Japan has approved a record high defence budget of 5.4 trillion yen ($47.2 billion) for the next financial year. The approved defence budget has exceeded the ceiling of 1% of the gross domestic product of the country.
This record high defence budget comes amidst threats from neighbouring China and frequent clashes between the two defence forces.

Notes:
The National Stock Exchange (NSE) has launched a new corporate governance initiative named ‘NSE Prime’.
It is a framework that prescribes higher standards of corporate governance for listed companies. All the NSE-listed companies can adopt NSE Prime voluntarily. The initiative enables investors to identify companies that have voluntarily signed up for better standards of corporate governance.

Notes:
Union Government has set up a high-level committee chaired by a Secretary-level officer to examine the withdrawal of Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958 (AFSPA) from Nagaland.
The committee will submit its report within 45 days. Fourteen civilians were killed by security forces in firing incidents in Mon district earlier.

Notes:
Chinese scientists have developed the world’s first machine that can charge people with crime using artificial intelligence.
As per the scientists, the AI “prosecutor” can charge people with over 97 per cent accuracy and it works on verbal description. The researchers also announced that it can also identify “dissent” against the state.

Notes:
“India Out” campaign was led by former Maldives President Abdulla Yameen. Recently, political parties in the Maldives have opposed the campaign. “India Out” slogan has been witnessed on social media over the past three years.
The “India Out” campaign centres around the allegations that India is seeking to establish a military presence in the Maldives through ongoing security cooperation.

Notes:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation of the Rs 6,700-crore Renukaji Dam project from Himachal Pradesh’s Mandi.
Once completed, the project on the Giri river is expected to generate 200 million units of energy in a 40 MW surface power house. The storage capacity of the dam would be 498 million cubic meters which would fulfil about 40 per cent of drinking water requirement of Delhi.

Notes:
The Prime Minister inaugurated the Bina-Panki Multi-product Pipeline Project. It is a 356 Km long project with a capacity of around 3.45 million metric tonnes per annum.
The project connects Bina refinery in Madhya Pradesh to Panki region in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh. The project has been built at a cost of over 1,500 crore rupees. It will enable the region access petroleum products from the Bina refinery.

Notes:
The state Government of Kerala has recently organised Beypore International Water Fest in the Beypore port.
INS Sharda, an offshore patrol vessel and INS Kabra, a waterjet fast attack craft visited the port for participating in the Water Fest, as per the Ministry of Defence.  It aimed to raise awareness about coastal security and promote patriotism in the local people.