Current Affairs Quiz 31st December 2021 : Daily GK Update Quiz

Exp. Maharashtra govt passed Shakti Criminal Laws Act

Maharashtra Assembly passed Shakti Criminal Laws (Maharashtra Amendment) Act unanimously.

With this, Maharashtra became the second state in India after Andhra Pradesh to approve death penalty for heinous offences of rape and gangrape.

The Act has amended existing criminal laws to include death penalty as punishment in cases of rape and gangrape. Existing law on rape had provisions for death penalty only in cases of repeated offences.

Exp. UP’s Jhansi Railway Station renamed as ‘Veerangana Laxmibai Railway Station’

Yogi Adityanath, Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh has announced that the government of UP has renamed the Jhansi Railway Station, in Jhansi, UP as “Veerangana Laxmibai Railway Station” after Rani Laxmibai.

Governor of Sikkim Ganga Prasad has inaugurated the “Narendra Modi Marg” named after Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The Narendra Modi Marg is the 2nd road connecting the Tsomgo lake and Nathula border pass with Gangtok, Sikkim.

Exp. PM Modi launched blockchain-based digital degrees at IIT Kanpur

Under the National Blockchain Project, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has launched blockchain-based digital degrees at the 54th Convocation Ceremony of IIT Kanpur.

These digital degrees can be verified globally and are unforgeable. The blockchain technology being used by IIT Kanpur to award digital degrees has been developed in-house. The technology has been developed by the institute under the National Blockchain Project.

Exp. Odisha launched Digital Life Certificate system for pensioners

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik launched Digital Life Certificate system for pensioners virtually while attending the orientation programme for newly recruited 153 officers of Odisha Civil Services.

Odisha is the first state in the country to implement such a digital service for pensioners.

Under the Digital Life Certificate system, identification and life certificates can be submitted by the pensioners using an Artificial Intelligence-based video-verification process.

Exp. World’s longest Metro line opened in Shanghai

Shanghai has opened two new metro lines, upholding its rank as the city with the largest Metro network in the world.

With the inauguration of the new Metro lines, the Shanghai subway network will expand largely along 831km.

Now, Shanghai city boasts 508 stations. Over 10 million people use the system on an average workday.

Exp. RBI extended restrictions on PMC Bank for 3 months till March 2022

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has extended restrictions on Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative (PMC) Bank for another three months till 31 March 2022.

The move has been taken as further action on the draft scheme for the takeover of the crisis-hit bank by Delhi-based Unity Small Finance Bank (USFB) is in process.

RBI had superseded the board of PMC Bank in September 2019 and placed it under regulatory restrictions, including a cap on withdrawals by its customers.

Exp. CBI partnered with NPCI to launch ‘RuPay Business Platinum Debit Card’ for Corporates

Central Bank of India has partnered with the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) to launch ‘RuPay Business Platinum Debit Card’ for corporates.

Domestic card offers an ATM withdrawal limit of Rs.1 lakh along with a purchase of up to Rs.3 lakh at Point on Sale (POS) or E-Commerce.

International card users can also withdraw up to Rs. 75,000 at ATMs abroad and perform purchases globally worth up to Rs. 3 lakh at Point On Sale (POS) or E-Commerce and international online merchants.

Other Benefits includes Purchase Protection coverage of Rs. 2 lakh, Accidental death coverage worth Rs. 10 lakh, and Air accident coverage Rs. 20 lakh.

Exp. Baldev Prakash appointed as MD & CEO of J&K Bank

Baldev Prakash has been appointed as the Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer (MD & CEO) of Jammu & Kashmir Bank for three years.

His appointment will be effective from the date of taking charge or April 10, 2022, whichever is earlier.

Apart from him, R K Chhibber has been appointed as an additional director on the board of the bank.

Exp. Anupam Ray appointed as India’s Permanent Representative at UN Conference on Disarmament

Senior diplomat Dr Anupam Ray, a 1994 batch of Indian Foreign Service officer, has been appointed as India’s next permanent representative (or Ambassador) to the United Nations Conference on Disarmament in Geneva, Switzerland.

He is currently serving as the joint secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).

He replaced Dr Pankaj Sharma, a 1991 batch IFS officer who has been serving as the Ambassador/Permanent Representative to the UN on Disarmament since 2018.

Dr Pankaj Sharma has been appointed as the next Ambassador of India to Mexico.

Exp. Chandra Prakash Goyal appointed Director-General of Forests & Special Secretary

Indian Forest Service officer, Chandra Prakash Goyal has been appointed as the Director-General of Forests & Special Secretary (DGF&SS), Ministry of Environment, Forests & Climate Change.

Goyal, a 1986 batch IFS officer was previously the Principal Chief Conservator of Forest under Uttar Pradesh Department of Forest.

Exp. Sahitya Akademi Award 2021 announced

Sahitya Akademi announced its prestigious “Sahitya Akademi Awards, Yuva Puraskar as well as Bal Sahitya Puraskar” for 2021 in various languages.

7 books of poetry, 2 novels, 5 short stories, 2 plays, 1 biography, 1 autobiography, 1 critique and 1 Epic Poetry have won the Sahitya Akademi Awards 2021.

Assamese writers Anuradha Sarma Pujari and Namita Gokhale have won the award in the novel category. Namita Gokhale won in English for her novel ‘Things to Leave Behind’.

According to the board, an engraved copper plate, shawl and an amount of Rs 1 lakh will be given to the main Sahitya Akademi prize winner and an engraved copper plate and an amount of Rs 50,000 each will be given to the Yuva Puraskar and Bal Sahitya Puraskar.

Author Megha Majumdar won the Sahitya Akademi Yuva Puraskar 2021 in English for her debut book ‘A Burning’, published in 2020.

Exp. Sahitya Akademi Award 2021 announced

Sahitya Akademi announced its prestigious “Sahitya Akademi Awards, Yuva Puraskar as well as Bal Sahitya Puraskar” for 2021 in various languages.

7 books of poetry, 2 novels, 5 short stories, 2 plays, 1 biography, 1 autobiography, 1 critique and 1 Epic Poetry have won the Sahitya Akademi Awards 2021.

Assamese writers Anuradha Sarma Pujari and Namita Gokhale have won the award in the novel category. Namita Gokhale won in English for her novel ‘Things to Leave Behind’.

According to the board, an engraved copper plate, shawl and an amount of Rs 1 lakh will be given to the main Sahitya Akademi prize winner and an engraved copper plate and an amount of Rs 50,000 each will be given to the Yuva Puraskar and Bal Sahitya Puraskar.

Author Megha Majumdar won the Sahitya Akademi Yuva Puraskar 2021 in English for her debut book ‘A Burning’, published in 2020.

Exp. Danish Siddiqui posthumously awarded Mumbai Press Club’s RedInk Award 2020

Photojournalist Danish Siddiqui, who died during an assignment in Afghanistan, has been posthumously awarded as the ‘Journalist of the Year’ for 2020 by the Mumbai Press Club. CJI N V Ramana presented the annual ‘RedInk Awards for Excellence in Journalism’.

Danish Siddiqui’s wife Frederike Siddiqui received the award. Senior journalist Prem Shankar Jha bestowed with the lifetime achievement award “for his long and distinguished career of incisive and analytical writing”.

Exp. Nitesh Kumar won double gold at 4th Para-Badminton National Championship

Nitesh Kumar won doubled gold at the 4th Para-Badminton National Championship, which concluded in Bhubaneswar, Odisha.

Haryana’s Nitesh along with his partner Tarun Dhillon defeated World No. 1 Paralympic Games gold medallist Pramod Bhagat and Manoj Sarkar in straight sets 21-19, 21-11 in the Men’s doubles finals to win the gold. Earlier, Nitesh also won the gold medal in the Men’s singles category.

World No 1 SL3 Para-Badminton player Parul Parmar from Gujarat also secured gold while Mandeep Kaur from Uttarakhand won Silver and Mansi won bronze.

Exp. New Zealand’s Ross Taylor retired from international cricket

Senior cricket player of New Zealand, Ross Taylor announces to retire from international cricket after playing in the Two-Test series against Bangladesh and his last ODIs (One Day Innings) against Australia and the Netherlands in March 2022.

Ross Taylor was the World’s 1st player to play 100 international matches in all 3 formats of cricket.

Ross Taylor holds several records including scoring most runs for New Zealand in ODI (8,581) & Test (7584).

Exp. Former president of Greece Karolos Papoulias passed away

Former president of Greece Karolos Papoulias, who served two terms between 2005 and 2015 passed away.

Papoulias, who was also foreign minister in 1985-89 and 1993-96, was a high-ranking member of socialist PASOK party and a close associate of its late leader and former prime minister Andreas Papandreou.