Current Affairs Quiz-December, 2019

Notes:
Two IITs and the National Council of Science Museums (NCSM) have joined hands to develop Gandhipedia, an online repository of books, letters and speeches written by Mahatma Gandhi, to commemorate his 150th birth anniversary.The entire project will be done with the help of Artificial Intelligence (AI). In the first phase, over 40 books written by Mahatma Gandhi will be digitised and indexed and their portions tweeted. IIT Gandhinagar is also a part of the project along with IIT Kharagpur and NSCM, an autonomous organisation under the Ministry of Culture.

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:
In Japan, Yasuhiro Nakasone (101) has passed away at Tokyo on 29th November 2019. He was one of the longest-reigning Prime Ministers and known for his friendship with Ronald Reagan. He also broke an unwritten rule on limiting the annual defence budget to 1% of Gross National Product (GNP). In 1983, he became the first Japanese Premier to officially visit South Korea & mended fences with a country that Japan had brutally colonized from 1910 to 1945.

Notes:
Carolina Marin won second title in 71 days but Sourabh Verma faltered at the final hurdle of the $150,000 Syed Modi International badminton tournament on December 1,2019. Marin, a three-time World champion and ranked 18th in the world, went about her job in a business-like manner. She was comfortably ahead in the opening game. In the second, she easily bridged a five-point deficit. In fact, she won 15 of the last 20 points. In January, Marin suffered a nasty fall during the Indonesia Masters final against Saina Nehwal and underwent a surgery on her right knee. Following an eight-month layoff, in six tournaments, Marin won the China Open in September, lost the French Open final and now added a second title.

Notes:
Maharashtra’s Savitribai Phule Pune University (STPU) and Qatar’s Milestone International Education signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to enable the University to set up its campus in Doha. The aim of the agreement is to provide opportunities in higher education to around 8 million Indian diasporas based in Qatar.

Notes:
A powerful typhoon is blowing through the central Philippines, damaging homes and heading toward the capital, Manila. Typhoon Kammuri hit the eastern coast overnight and was moving west through Quezon province ripping off roofs, toppling trees and knocking out power. It had maximum sustained winds of 155 km per hour and gusts of up to 190 kmph. Nearly 90,000 residents were evacuating coastal and low-lying areas prone to flash floods and landslides.

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.

Notes:
The Himachal Pradesh State Cabinet approved to sign the memorandum of understanding (MoU) to sell the water of River Yamuna from Maharashtra’s share at Tajewala corridor. The Cabinet meeting was chaired by Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur. With this decision, the State would earn Rs.21 crore per annum.
The Yamuna is the longest tributary in India. It originates from the Yamunotri Glacier. It is the second-largest tributary river of the Ganges. The rivers cross several states namely Delhi, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and Uttar Pradesh.

Notes:
Software major Wipro Ltd on December 5, 2019 announced the launch of its cyber defence centre in Melbourne, Australia. The Indian IT giant also has plans to come up with more such centres in other cities in Australia, which will offer resilience and digital protection to large government organisations. With the launch of this centre, Wipro aims to make substantial investments to upskill its employees, hire more local resources and generate more than 100 jobs in Melbourne for cyber security specialists.

Notes:
Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi met the Prime Minister of Mauritius H.E. Mr. Pravind Jugnauth in New Delhi on December 6,2019. Prime Minister Jugnauth accompanied by his spouse, Mrs Kobita Jugnauth is on a private visit to India. Prime Minister Modi extended his warm felicitations to Prime Minister Jugnauth on his re-election with a resounding mandate. Prime Minister Jugnauth thanked Prime Minister and reiterated his commitment to further strengthen and deepen the fraternal and enduring bilateral ties between the two countries.