Current Affairs Quiz-December, 2019

Notes:
2019 Gold-Medalist from Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee (IIT-R) & founder of International Changemaker Olympiad Rahul Adhikari, was conferred with 2019 Karmaveer Chakra Award REX Karmaveer Global Fellowship at the REX CONCLiVE held in Noida, Uttar Pradesh.  The award was given for his contribution in the education sector.

Notes:
The seventh Indo-Sri Lanka joint military exercise Mitra Shakti was held on December 1, 2019 at Aundh military station. The main objective of the exercise is to build and promote positive relations between the countries. The exercise was scheduled to be conducted at the Foreign Training Node in Pune between December 1 and December 14, 2019.

Notes:
UN Climate Change Conference, known as COP25 gets underway in the Spanish capital, Madrid, under the Presidency of Chile from 2-13 December 2019.COP 25 is an important conference as countries prepare to move from pre-2020 period under Kyoto Protocol to post-2020 period under Paris Agreement. India’s approach will be guided by principles and provisions of UNFCCC and Paris Agreement particularly the principles of Equity and Common But Differentiated Responsibilities and Respective Capability (CBDR-RC).

Notes:
Priyanka Chopra Jonas will be honoured at the Marrakech International Film Festival for her contribution to cinema. Even though the festival celebrated Indian cinema back in 2012, this is the first time that an Indian celebrity is being honoured there. A tribute will be given to Priyanka Chopra Jonas at the mythical Jemaa El Fna Square in the presence of people and at a special venue where there have been no award ceremonies hosted in the past.

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 14 million litres per day (MLD) Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) Sarai in Haridwar, Uttarakhand started its functioning on 5 December 2019. The plant was completed before its scheduled timeline. It was inaugurated by their Majesties, King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia of Sweden. The Sarai 14 MLD Sewage Treatment Plant is the first STP that was completed under the Hybrid Annuity Model (HAM) based Public-Private Partnership Model. The cost of the project was Rs.41.40 crores. The Plant is based on an advanced aerobic biological process which is capable of removing the nutrients during treatment.

Notes:
A report by Lancet Global Health said India recorded the highest estimated number of cervical cancer deaths in 2018. The report titles Estimates of incidence and mortality of cervical cancer in 2018: a worldwide analysis said that the global cervical cancer cases reported in India and China together contributed 35% of the global cases in 2018. India contributed with 97,000 cases and 60,000 deaths and China recorded over 106,000 cases and 48,000 deaths.

Notes:
India continues to be the largest country of origin of international migrants with a 17.5 million-strong diaspora across the world. It received the highest remittance of $78.6 billion from Indians living abroad. The International Organisation for Migration said in its ‘Global Migration Report 2020’ that the number of international migrants in 2019 is now estimated at 270 million and the top destination remains the US, at nearly 51 million.

Notes:
: On December 6, 2019, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries reached a deal deepening their output cuts. They have set the target as 500,000 barrels a day. The action is being implemented in order to eliminate surplus and bolster crude prices. In 2019, the organization had agreed to reduce production by about 1.2 million barrels per day. Saudi Arabia in 2019 pumped well below its quota of 10.3 million barrels per day. Other members of the organization Azerbaijan, Mexico and Angola were unable to sustain their production quota due to natural declines. Russia had achieved its target in 3 months. Nigeria and Iraq increased their output. The above data was published by the International Energy Agency.

Notes:
Former India cricketer GS Lakshmi has become the first woman match referee to oversee a men’s One Day International (ODI). She officiated the opening match of the third series of the World Cup League 2 in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Lakshmi will oversee the match between the UAE and the US at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium. The competition aimed to provide development opportunities for sports officials. This is the second significant achievement for Lakshmi in 2019. The first achievement of Lakshmi was her appointment as the first woman onto the ICC International Panel of Match Referees in May.