Current Affairs Quiz-December, 2019

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:
Union Cabinet has approved certain amendments in Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (code), through Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (Second Amendment) Bill, 2019. The amendments aim to remove certain difficulties being faced during insolvency resolution process to realise objects of code, protect corporate debtors, prevent ill-thought-out triggering of bankruptcy proceedings and to further ease doing of business (ADB). Amendment Bill seeks to amend sections 5(12), 5(15), 7, 11, 14, 16(1), 21(2), 23(1), 29A, 227, 239, 240 of Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (Code) and insert new section 32A in it.It aims to remove bottlenecks, streamline Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP) and protect last mile funding in order to boost investment in financially distressed sectors of country.

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:
Union Cabinet approved the proposal of Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH), which authorizes National Highways Authority of India(NHAI) to set up Infrastructure Investment Trust(s) (InvIT) as per InvIT Guidelines issued by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). This will enable NHAI to monetize completed National Highways that have a toll collection track record of at least 1 year and the NHAI reserves the right to levy toll on identified highway.

Notes:
Chennai has become the first city to have an online waste exchange for municipal solid waste. Residents who want to sell their waste online will be able to contact 2,600 scrap dealers and other agencies across the city. The Madras Waste Exchange, which is both a web portal and an application, has been conceptualized by the Smart City Mission, with support from the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.

Notes:
Actress Deepika Padukone has been honoured by the 26th Annual Crystal Award for raising mental health awareness. She is the only Indian actress to feature in Davos 2020 winners list. With more than 300 million people suffering with the illness, depression is the leading cause of ill health and disability in the world and a major contributor to the overall global burden of disease.

Notes:
The Haryana Police Department has adopted a unique barcoding software. The software is used to ensure that 1000s of digital forensic reports are stored safe and secure. It offers a foolproof security to the samples collected from the crime scene.The Software features two stages of bar coding to maintain the secrecy of the samples. The samples and reports are sent through biometrically authorized chain. The cases are allocated to the biotechnology experts through automated case allocation. Therefore, the experts will not know about the details of the case or the names associated with case.

Notes:
The ministry of women and child development is planning to implement the ‘Saksham Anganwadi’ scheme. Through this program, 2.5 lakh anganwadis are to be upgraded over the next 5 years. The scheme will introduce upgraded facilities like smart teaching, smart learning, crèche facilities, etc.

Notes:
The National Securities Depositories Limited recently reintroduced the electronic signature facility after temporarily suspending the service. The eSign facility allows the holders of Aadhaar card to digitally sign a document. NSDL is based in Mumbai and is a depository of shares and stocks for Indian investors.

Notes:
Ben Stokes, the famous all rounder of the England Cricket team has won the coveted ” BBC Sports Personality of the year 2019″. He played a crucial role in the World Cup finals match against New Zealand. This is one among the BBC’s annual sporting awards, that honours sportspersons and teams selected through public voting. The England Cricket team won the Best Team of the year award.