Current Affairs Quiz-December, 2019

Notes:
The government launched the fourth phase of the Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) to stimulate air connectivity in an affordable way. Ministry of Civil Aviation has invited bids for the 4th round of Regional Connectivity Scheme UDAN. The scheme was launched by the Ministry of civil aviation (MoCA). The scheme is a part of the government’s vision to operationalize over 100 airports in smaller towns and cities over the next five years.
The scheme focuses to introduce connectivity to priority areas like North East India, UT Jammu and Kashmir, UT Ladakh, hilly states in other parts of the country, and islands.The scheme was launched in April, 2017. The Regional Connectivity Scheme is also known as UDAN or Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik.

Notes:
Union Minister for Food Processing Harsimrat Kaur Badal inaugurated Steel Silo based Avantee Mega Food Park in Dewas, Madhya Pradesh. This is the first food park of central India. It is spread over 51 acres and has been constructed at a cost of about Rs.150 crore. Excess production compels farmers to sell their produces at low rates. Since the mega food park is now present in the region, farmers will be able to earn more through value addition by storing their produces after getting facility of food processing and storage.

Notes:
The Indian Government has introduced Artificial Intelligence (AI) as a subject in class IX from the session 2019-20 in the schools affiliated with the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE). Centre has also launched a twelve hours Inspire module in which schools can take up with the students of class VIII. The move aims to enhance the multidisciplinary approach in teaching-learning and to sensitize the new generation.

Notes:
Jharkhand’s Mahuamilan railway station has become the latest among these to get the facility. Mahuamilan station becomes the country’s 5500th station to get free wifi facility. Free Wi-Fi service to passengers are being provided under RailWire. The Railways began the service of providing free WiFi at their stations from January 2016 from the Mumbai Central station.

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:
Four eminent diplomats have been honoured with the ‘Diwali – Power of One’ award in recognition and of their work, especially at United Nations (UN), for a secure and peaceful world. The Winner were honoured with the ‘Power of One’ awards during a ceremony at UN Headquarters in New York, United States. The award annually honours those who have made exemplary contributions in upholding the values that the United Nations stands for.
The awards which have now come to be known as ‘Oscars of Diplomacy’ were established by Diwali Foundation USA, Inc in 2017. The awards seeks to promote a peaceful and consensus-based process to achieve societal good, as befitting high hopes and ideals of humanity enshrined in UN Charter. The co-organisers of this year Diwali Foundation USA’s Power of One awardees were- Permanent Missions of Belarus, Georgia and India to UN, along with 32 co-sponsors.

Notes:
Malaysia has reported the first case of Polio in 27 years, when a three-month-old Malaysian infant boy was diagnosed with polio. The last polio case in Asia-Pacific country occurred in 1992, and in 2000, after which the country was declared polio-free. In this recent case, the child was confirmed to be infected with vaccine-derived poliovirus Type 1 (VDPV1) on 6 December 2019.

Notes:
Madhya Pradesh State government sanctioned a sum of Rs.156 crore for the development of Omkareshwar. It was approved in a meeting chaired by Chief Minister Kamal Nath. The State government had earlier sanctioned Rs.300 crore for development of areas in and around Ujjains Mahakaleshwar and a jyotirlinga shrine located in Madhya Pradesh.
Omkareshwar: It is a famous pilgrimage centre.  It houses one of the 12 jyotirlinga shrines of Lord Shiva.  It is located about 80km from Indore.

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:
The Delhi government launched a booklet on the life and teachings of Dr. BR Ambedkar for students of class 6-8 in government schools. The booklet was launched on Ambedkar’s 63rd death anniversary. It is a three-part booklet. It explores the life and education of Ambedkar, his social reforms initiatives, contribution to women empowerment. It also ponders on his roles and efforts on writing the Constitution of India and his contributions to social and gender justice.