Current Affairs Quiz-December, 2019

Notes:
Veteran Tamil actor and theatre artist Bala Singh passed away at the age of 67 in Chennai, Tamil Nadu due to illness. Bala, an alumnus of National School of Drama (NSD) started his career as a theatre artiste. He rose to fame in actor Nasser’s Avatharam(1995), where he played the role of a villain. It was also his debut film.

Notes:
Particles, the French-Swiss film directed by Blaise Harrison won the Golden Peacock Award at the 50th International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in Goa. The IFFI 2019 concluded on November 28, 2019. The Golden Peacock Award includes a cash prize worth Rs 40 lakh, a trophy and a citation. The jury described ‘Particles’, which is produced by Estelle Fialon, as an “ambitious yet modest film about the mysteries of being a teenager.” The prize money is to be distributed equally between the director and producer.

Notes:
US President Donald Trump signed a bill that supports pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong, a move that is bound to anger China. The legislation proposes to impose sanctions on officials committing human rights violations against pro-democracy supporters in Hong Kong. It was passed by both the chambers of the US Congress House of Representatives (417-1) and the Senate unanimously.

Notes:
Eminent Malayalam poet Akkitham Achuthan Namboothiri has been chosen as the recipient of the 55th Jnanpith Award for the year 2019. Born in 1926, Akkitham is one of the most revered names in Malayalam poetry. Apart from poetry, his literary excellence has footprints in genres like drama, reminiscence, critical essays, children literature, short stories and translation. He has authored 55 books out of which 45 are collections of poems including “Khanda Kavyas”, “Katha Kavyas”, “Charitha Kavyas” and songs. His works have also been translated into many Indian and foreign languages.

Notes:
‘Surya Kiran XIV’ between India and Nepal will be conducted at Salijhandi, Rupendehi district of Nepal from 3 to 16 December 2019. The exercise will comprise of 300 soldiers from both the Indian Army and Nepal Army who will be sharing their experiences in the conduct of various counter-insurgency and counter-terrorism operations, as also various humanitarian assistance missions by both Armies.
 

Notes:
China will require telecom operators to collect face scans when registering new phone users at offline outlets starting, according to the country’s information technology authority, as Beijing continues to tighten cyberspace controls.In September, China’s industry and information technology ministry issued a notice on “safeguarding the legitimate rights and interests of citizens online”, which laid out rules for enforcing real-name registration.The notice said telecom operators should use “artificial intelligence and other technical means” to verify people’s identities when they take a new phone number.

Notes:
Bestselling author Ashwin Sanghi will come out with his next book, “The Vault of Vishnu”, on January 23, 2020, announced publishing house Westland. The book, which will be the sixth installment of the author’s famous mythological ‘Bharat series’, will be released at the upcoming Jaipur Literature festival (JLF). Setting a fictional timeline of mythological events, Sanghi said, the new book will also be a “combination of history, mythology, culture, philosophy, geology, and science”.

Notes:
Lt Gen Podali Shankar Rajeshwar took over as the 14th Commander-in-Chief of the Andaman and Nicobar Command (CINCAN). He is a graduate of Indian Military Academy and was commissioned into the Regiment of Artillery in December 1980. A gunner and aviator, he is an alumnus of the Defence Services Staff College, Army War College and National Defence College in New Delhi and Philippines.

Notes:
India and Sweden has joined hands to set up a healthcare innovation centre to promote research, broadly in non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and help scale-up Indian start-ups in the sector. Later, AIIMS, Delhi; AIIMS, Jodhpur, and Swedish Trade Commissioner’s Office in New Delhi signed a Memorandum of Intent (MoI) to cement cooperation, to set up a healthcare innovation centre. The signing of MoI marks 10 years of India-Sweden health cooperation.

Notes:
The world’s best loved species are being slaughtered by widespread and dangerous criminal networks. On December 4, 2012, the first time that World Wildlife Conservation Day was officially recognized around the world and calls on individuals around the globe to sign its Wildlife Pledge to respect and protect wild animals.