Current Affairs Quiz-December, 2019

Notes:
Union Minister of Human Resource Development (HRD) Shri Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank has launched 3 books for children namely Kumbh, Garam Pahad and Dilli ki Bulbul (Sindhi edition)in New Delhi. The 3 books, penned by Dr. Anita Bhatnagar Jain (an officer of Indian Administrative Services (1985 batch), are a collection of stories for children and have documented the environmental issues & topics like socio-cultural unity, cultural heritage along with the message of save environment in a very lucid manner.

Notes:
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has extended a 451 million loan to strengthen power connectivity between the southern and northern parts of the Chennai–Kanyakumari Industrial Corridor (CKIC). CKIC is part of the East Coast Economic Corridor (ECEC) in Tamil Nadu. Government of India and Asian Development Bank (ADB) has signed a 451 million loan for strengthening power connectivity between northern and southern parts of Chennai–Kanyakumari Industrial Corridor (CKIC) which is part of East Coast Economic Corridor (ECEC). ECEC is India’s first coastal economic corridor.
It will help establish extra-high-voltage transmission link between Coimbatore and Virudhunagar. It will meet increased power demand in CKIC by transfering additional generation capacity of 9,000 megawatt (MW), including 6,000 MW from renewable by 2025. This will help reliably evacuate power from these new power plants in southern CKIC.

Notes:
Union Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI) and Union Ministry of Women and Child Development (MoWCD) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to organise ‘National Organic Festival of Women Entrepreneurs’. The event will be planned and organized through National Institute of Food Technology Entrepreneurship and Management (NIFTEM), Sonepat, Haryana. NIFTEM Vice Chancellor has agreed to organize festival annually. NIFTEM is an academic institution under the administrative control of Union Ministry of Food Processing Industries.

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The Indian Navy has commissioned its sixth Dornier aircraft squadron in the Porbandar town of Gujarat. It aims to give a fillip to coastal security near the sea border with Pakistan. It was commissioned by Deputy Chief of Naval Staff Vice-Admiral M S Pawar. Dornier aircraft squadron: The Indian Naval Air Squadron 314 is called Raptors. It will operate with four newly-inducted, next-generation Dornier aircraft.

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BlackBuck, the online trucking platform, has partnered with private lenders IDFC Bank and Yes Bank on 28 November. The partnership aims to provide FASTags to truck owners free of cost. With this partnership, the Truck owners can order FASTags on BlackBuck’s Boss App. It will be delivered at their doorstep free of cost until 31 December 2019. The initiative will help over 3 million trucks in India become FASTag compliant.

Notes:
A court in Suriname on November 29,2019 convicted President Desi Bouterse of murder for the execution of 15 opponents in 1982 following a coup to seize power, sentencing the man who has dominated the former Dutch colony’s recent history to 20 years in prison. Opposition parties called for Bouterse, currently in China on an official visit, to step down. The military court that found him guilty has not yet ordered his arrest.

Notes:
Lewis Hamilton ended another title-winning Formula One season by cruising to victory at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. In his 250th grand prix, Mercedes’ six-time world champion qualified on pole for the first time since July’s German Grand Prix and eased clear of the field to claim an easy victory at the Yas Marina Circuit. It marked Hamilton’s 11th triumph of the campaign in a race where there was little on the line for most on the grid. Max Verstappen was second to ensure he finished third in the drivers’ championship, with Charles Leclerc completing the podium, though Ferrari were due to meet with the stewards after the race over a fuel discrepancy in his car.

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:
The 8th India-China joint training exercise ‘HAND-IN-HAND 2019’ with the theme counter terrorism under United Nations mandate is scheduled to be conduct at Umroi, Meghalaya from 07 to 20 December 2019. The aim of the exercise is to practice joint planning and conduct of counter terrorist operations in semi urban terrain.The exercise schedule is focused upon training on various lectures & drills associated with counter terrorist handling & firing with each others weapons, special heliborne operations and case studies of various operations carried out in counter terrorist environment. Two tactical exercises are scheduled during the training; one on counter terrorism scenario and the other on Humanitarian and Disaster Relief (HADR) operations.

Notes:
The Punjab cabinet on December 2, 2019, approved the amendment of Punjab Village Common Land (Regulation) rules, 1964. It aims at creating land banks in rural areas to boost industrial development in the state.
The amendment has included Rule 12-B that provides special provision to transfer shamlat land or common land to the development of industrial projects. According to GoI, Shamlat land is the land that does not come under cultivation and habitation. It is the consolidated land holdings that are held by the state governments for common use.Under the amendment, the Gram Panchayat can transfer the shamlat land to the industries with prior approval from the state government. Land Banks are to be set up under Gram Panchayat to implement this amendment.