Test: December 2021 Weekly Current Affair - 1 - UPSC MCQ

The union housing & urban affairs ministry has extended the timeline for the implementation of the Smart Cities Mission to June 2023 due to the Covid pandemic and other reasons.

External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar has stressed on the importance of respecting and facilitating freedom of navigation and overflight and unimpeded commerce in a globalised world. He said this while addressing the fifth Indian Ocean Conference in Abu Dhabi,UAE.

Legendary Indian athlete Anju Bobby George has been bestowed with the Woman of the Year Award by World Athletics (WA) for grooming talent in the country and advocating gender equality.

Paytm, the digital payment company, will train 6000 individuals over three years, to make them ready for the fintech domain. The tech company has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to this effect, with the Directorate of General Training (DGT), Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship.

Continuing its promotional campaign of offbeat tourist destinations in the valley, tourism department Kashmir in collaboration with district administration Kulgam organised a day-long Aharbal festival in south Kashmir’s Kulgam district.

China successfully launched a new communications satellite from the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre in southwest Sichuan Province.The satellite, ChinaSat 1D (Zhongxing 1D) was launched by a Long March-3B carrier rocket and entered the planned orbit successfully.

Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Sergey Lavrov arrives in New Delhi for his official visit.

The International Criminal Police Organisation (Interpol) has elected Major General Dr. Ahmed Nasser Al Raisi, inspector general of the UAE’s Ministry of Interior, as its new president.

India’s Gross domestic product, GDP, for the second quarter of the current fiscal logged fastest growth among major economies in the world.

State Bank of India, the country’s largest commercial bank, dual listed its $650 million green bonds simultaneously on the India International Exchange (India INX) and Luxembourg Stock Exchange (LuxSE).

Pradip Shah, the founder of IndAsia Fund Advisors, has been appointed chairman of the National Asset Reconstruction Company (NARCL).

Tel Aviv has been ranked the world’s most expensive city to live in thanks to the rapid rise in inflation that has pushed up the cost of a whole range of goods and services across the world in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

The government has estimated a saving of over ₹44,000 crore in fiscal 2020-21 with the help of the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) mechanism.

States have budgeted to bring down their deficits by a full percentage point from last year, as revenue improved in sync with lift in pandemic-related restrictions, but the local bodies have been badly hit by the pandemic and must be allowed functional autonomy, said a report by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

Punjab National Bank (PNB) said it has launched PNB Pride-CRMD module tool, an android-based application for differently-abled employees, to monitor and effectively follow up with the special mention account (SMA) borrowers.

The world’s first “floating city” will be built off the coast of South Korea — and it will be hurricane-proof, flood-proof and self-sustaining.

International Monetary Fund Chief Economist, Gita Gopinath is set to take over from Geoffrey Okamoto as the institution’s No. 2 official. It is going to be a historic movement when International Monetary Fund has the female at its first two leading positions.

India joined the G20 ‘Troika’. With this move, India has started the procedure for taking over the G20 presidency next year.

The 11th edition of Exercise EKUVERIN between India and Maldives will be conducted at Kadhdhoo Island, Maldives. It will conclude on 19th of this month.

Merriam-Webster announced that “vaccine” was its word of the year for 2021.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) superseded the board of directors of Reliance Capital Ltd , belonging to the Anil Ambani group, in view of the defaults by RCL in meeting the various payment obligations to its creditors and serious governance concerns which the board has not been able to address effectively.

nine-day joint maritime exercise between Bangladesh and the United States (US) has commenced in the Bay of Bengal.

The urban unemployment rate has increased to 9.3% in the January-March 2021 period from 9.1% in the year-ago period, according to a periodic labour force survey by the National Statistical Office (NSO).

State Bank of India (SBI) has recently inked an agreement with Adani Capital Private Ltd(Adani Capital), the NBFC arm of Adani Group, for co-lending to farmers for purchase of tractor and farm implements.

The government has approved the continuation of the Scheme for Investment Promotion (SIP) for five years (2021-26) with a financial outlay of Rs 970 crore, according to a notification of the commerce and industry ministry.