Current Affairs Quiz-December, 2019

Notes:
Amid the outrage over the death of the Unnao rape victim, the Uttar Pradesh government on December 9,2019 announced that it would set up 218 fast track courts for the speedy disposal of sexual crimes against women and children. The decision was taken by the State Cabinet, a day after the last rites of the Unnao victim were performed in her native village, 75 km from Lucknow. The State at present has 42,389 pending cases of sexual offences against children and 25,749 pending cases of rape and sexual crimes against women.

Notes:
Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has identified 138 monuments as ‘Must See Monuments’. This information has been made available on ‘Must See’ portal of ASI. There are 38 UNESCO World Heritage Sites in India, which includes 30 cultural sites, 7 natural sites and 1 mixed-criteria site. India has the 6th largest number of sites in the world. Out of 38, the 22 cultural sites including monuments, buildings and caves are under the protection of ASI. Therefore, the ‘Must See’ list features outstanding Indian monuments and archaeological sites, under the protection of ASI, including those that feature on World Heritage List of UNESCO.

Notes:
National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA), India’s anti-doping body has selected Bollywood actor Suniel Shetty as its brand ambassador. NADA hopes that his celebrity status would help its efforts to clean up sports in the country from the menace.

Notes:
On December 11, 2019, the social security code bill was introduced in Lok Sabha. The bill paves way for universalization of social security of 50 crore workers in the country.The bill proposes setting up of a social security fund to fulfill benefits such as medical cover, pension, death and disablement benefits including gig workers. This will help to tap the corporate social responsibility fund and divert it towards the unorganized sector.

Notes:
On December 11, 2019, the South Pacific Archipelago of Bougainville voted to become independent of Papua New Guinea. Around 98% of 1,81,067 voters voted to get independent from Papua New Guinea.It is the largest island of the Solomon Islands Archipelago. The island has the world’s largest copper deposits. The most widely spoken language in the country is Halia.

Notes:
United States has surpassed Kuwait to become India’s sixth-largest oil supplier. India began to import crude oil from the US in 2017 as a move to diversify India’s import basket beyond the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) nations. Note that, currently Iraq is top supplier of crude oil for India, while Qatar is top supplier of natural gas to India.

Notes:
Blue Sky Analytics won the Space Oscars awards on the international competition Copernicus Masters. The awards were presented in a ceremony during the European Space Week held at Helsinki, Finland. Blue Sky Analytics became the has become the first Indian Startup to win the Space Oscars award presented by the European Space Agency.

Notes:
Jamaica’s Toni-Ann Singh was crowned Miss World at an annual beauty pageant held at the 69th annual beauty pageant held in ExceL London, UK on 14 December. She was crowned by the 2018 winner Vanessa Ponce de Leon of Mexico. She became the fourth Jamaican woman to win Miss World. 
India’s Suman Rao became the second runners-up. She was crowned as Miss World Asia.

Notes:
Around 850 Indian peacekeepers who are serving in South Sudan were awarded with the prestigious UN medal for their service and contribution to promote peace in the strife-torn nation. India is among the largest contributors to the UN peacekeeping operations.

Notes:
The Journalism Project is an initiative of social media giant Facebook. As a part of this course, the firm is developing content to teach journalists how to identify fake information like photos and videos. The content is to be made available online for free.