Current Affairs | December 8, 2021

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 This article presents a quick overview of everyday events on December 8, 2021, in the form of GK one-liners to help you prepare for the upcoming Kerala PSC, UPSC, SSC, Banking, Railways, and other competitive examinations.

Current Affairs

December 8, 2021

New Appointments

  • New President of FICCI - Sanjiv Mehta.
    • FICCI - Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry.
    • Founded in - 1927.
    • Headquarters - New Delhi.
  • New Head of BPCL Kochi Refinery - Ajith Kumar K. 

Parliament

  • Bills passed Today -
    • Lok Sabha - The High Court and Supreme Court Judges (Salaries and Conditions of Service) Amendment Bill, 2021.
    • Rajya Sabha - Assisted Reproductive Technology (Regulation) Bill, 2021  & The Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill, 2020.

National & International 

  • World Inequality Report 2022 - 
    • Authored by - Lucas Chancel, co-director of the World Inequality Lab.
    • India is one of the most unequal countries in the world on the basis of national income and gender inequality of wages.
  • How much of the national income does the top 1% control, according to the World Inequality Report 2022? 22%.
  • RBI rates are unchanged - 
    • Repo rate - 4%.
    • Reverse Repo - 3.35%.
  • India signed a $150 million loan agreement with an international organization yesterday with the purpose of providing sustainable housing facilities for urban poor people in Tamil Nadu. Which is this organization? Asian Development Bank (ADB).
  • Which Indian state cancelled their ongoing 10-day annual festival for repelling AFSPA? And what is the name of the festival? Nagaland & Hornbill Festival.
    • In association with the killing of 14 civilians by the Armed Forces.
    •  AFSPA - Armed Forces Special Act, 1958.
  • Name the training programme launched by National Commission for Women (NCW) - 'She is a Changemaker.'
    • Aim - to improve the leadership and decision-making skills and communication skills of grassroots women political leaders.
    • In Association with - Rhambhau Mhalgi Prabodhini (Maharashtra). 
    • Formed in - 1992.
    • Headquarters - New Delhi.
    • Chairperson - Rekha Sharma.
  • First loan against the Digital Gold scheme in India was introduced by - Shivalik Small Finance Bank & indiagold.
    • loans up to ₹60,000.
  • With which international organization did Paytm partner with to introduce the Paytm Startup Toolkit? Amazon Web Services (AWS).
  • What is the name of the new contactless wearable key chain launched by City Union Bank & NPCI for debit card users? On-the-Go.
    • NPCI  - National Payments Corporation of India.
    • In collaboration with - Rupay.
    • Without entering a PIN, payments can be made up to ₹5,000 at any Rupay-enabled point of sale (PoS).
  • Name the bird species discovered in South America - Flatbill flycatchers.
  • 16th bird sanctuary of Tamil Nadu - Kazhuveli wetland (5,151.60 hectares, Vanur & Marakkanam taluks).
    • Under subsection (1) of section 18 of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.
  •  First laser communications system of NASA - Laser Communications Relay Demonstration (LCRD).

Kerala

  • Name the Kerala government scheme that state employees and pensioners can benefit from a health insurance plan that allows for cashless treatment - MEDISEP.
    • MEDISEP  - Medical Insurance for State Employees and Pensioners.
    • Comprehensive health insurance coverage of up to Rs 3 lakh.
  • Keraleeyam -V.K. Madhavankutty Puraskaram - Anu Abraham (മിന്നുന്നതെല്ലാം ചാരിറ്റിയല്ല series; for Best Reporting)

Books & Awards

  • Author of 'At Home In The Universe' - B.K. Madhur (Autobiography, former DHFL Property Services Ltd CEO).

Sports

  • The second country to boycott Beijing Winter Olympics 2022 due to human rights violations in the Xinjiang province  - Australia.
  • First World Boxing Council India welterweight champion - J. Sabari (Chennai).
    • Venue - Hyderabad.
  • New ODI and T20I captain of Indian Team - Rohit Sharma.
  • Winner of WTA Player of the Year - Ashleigh Barty (Australia; for the second time).
    • WTA - Women’s Tennis Association.

Obituaries 

  • First Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) of India - General Bipin Rawat.
    • died in a helicopter crash near Coonoor in Tamil Nadu. 
    • Helicopter -  IAF Mi 17 V5 helicopter (Pilot: Wing Commander Prithvi Singh Chauhan; bought from Russia.).
    • Death toll - 13 people.
    • General Rawat -
      • Chief of the Indian army from 2017 to 2019.
      • Commissioned in Fifth Battalion of the Eleventh Gorkha Rifles (1978).
      • Awards - Sword of Honour.
  • The longest-lived international cricketer - Eileen Ash (110 years old, England).
(Updating...)

Today in History

  • 2019 – First confirmed COVID-19 case in China.
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