Current Affairs Quiz-December, 2019

Notes:
Santhali language on December 6, 2019 made its debut in Rajya Sabha when a lawmaker from Odisha used it to raise a matter of urgent public importance during the Zero Hour. Sarojni Hembram of the Biju Janata Dal spoke in Santhali, an Austroasiatic-Munda language spoken mostly by tribals in Odisha. She also demanded Bharat Ratna for Raghunath Murmu, who in 1925 created the Ol Chiki script for the Santhali language.

Notes:
On December 4, 2019, the Cabinet approved the launch of Bharat Bond Exchange Traded Fund (BBETF) in order to allow the investors to buy government debts. The fund will allow easy and low-cost access with the smallest amount of Rs 1000. The BBETF at its initial stages will hold basket of bonds that are issued by the public sector undertakings and other government organization bonds. It will have a maturity period of 3 to 10 years and are permitted to be traded on stock exchanges.

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:
Odisha government on December 6,2019 distributed free laptops to Plus Two (+2) meritorious students under the ‘Biju Sashaktikaran Yojana’ as part of their government’s youth policy in Odisha. The state government had started distributing free laptops with the aim to inspire and upgrade the skill of the young people of the state. 90,203 students have been covered under the scheme. The top 15,000 students from different streams were selected on a merit basis at the state level.

Notes:
Three youngsters, Alon Abramovich, Meitav Assulin and Shmuel Aviv Levi, from an Israeli school, will travel to India to launch a satellite, Duchifat 3. The three 17 to 18 years old are the students of Sha’ar HaNegev High school in Israel’s southern region. The satellite was designed and built by the students aboard PSLV C48 from ISRO’s Sriharikota launch site. The satellite is to be launched on 11 December.
Duchifat 3: Duchifat 3 is the third satellite made by the Israeli student.The satellite was jointly built by Herzliya Science Center and Sha’ar Hanegev High School students. The satellite was designed to serve children from across the country to observe the Earth. It is an imaging satellite that will be used for ecological research of Earth from space.

Notes:
Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar inaugurated Gurgaon’s ambitious Integrated Command and Control Centre (ICCC), developed as the nerve centre to provide multifaceted online smart services to people. Built at the cost of Rs 38 crore, the ICCC has been designed to serve as the nodal point for all online data related to the Smart City applications, including CCTV-based public safety and adaptive traffic management system, smart parking system, water supply management system, pollution monitoring, property tax management system and asset management system.

Notes:
A three-day TECH (Transforming Education Conference for Humanity) 2019, being organised jointly by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) and Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Education for Peace and Sustainable Development (MGIEP), is being held at Novotel hotel in Vishakhapatnam from December 10. As a prelude to TECH 2019, the organisers brought together policy makers on digital learning, representatives from educational technology companies and other stakeholders at a Policy Forum on Digital Learning.

Notes:
Veteran opener Wasim Jaffer on December 9,2019 became the first player in Indian cricket to feature in 150 Ranji matches. The 41-year-old from Maharashtra, who has been an important part of the title-winning Vidarbha team in the last two years, achieved the rare distinction during their Group A opener against Andhra Pradesh. The former India opener is now just 853 runs away from completing 20,000 runs in first class cricket. Jaffer is followed by Madhya Pradesh batsman Devendra Bundela (145 matches) and Amol Muzumdar (136 matches), who have played for Mumbai and Assam.

Notes:
Caroll Spinney, the puppeteer who brought beloved “Sesame Street” characters Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch to life, died. Spinney passed away at his Connecticut home after battling dystonia, a common movement disorder. He was 85. The legendary puppeteer was known for his “kind and loving view of the world,” giving two of the show’s most iconic characters the joyous (and grouchy) personalities that viewers around the world adored.

Notes:
Abu Dhabi is selected as the world’s leading Sports tourism Destination for the seventh consecutive time. The decision was made at the 26th edition of the World Travel Awards (WTA) that is being held in Muscat, Oman. Abu Dhabi stands as a premium destination for sports tourism in 2019. It hosted some of the world’s top sporting events, such as the Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) Club World Cup 2017 and 2018, the AFC Asian Cup 2019, the Special Olympics World Games 2019, the 1st edition of the UAE Tour, and the Brazil vs South Korea international friendly match.