Current Affairs Quiz - December, 2020

Notes:
The France’s new security bill makes it an offence to show the face or identity of any Police Officer on duty with the aim of damaging the officer’s integrity. The offence would make the convict liable of one-year imprisonment.
This proposed amendment is protested by many people in France and is seen a curtail of press freedom. It is feared by many that this law would increase police brutality on civilians.

Notes:
The Goldman Environmental Prize is awarded to 6 individuals each year to recognize their efforts to save and protect environment. The prize is selected by an international jury among nominations submitted by global environment organisations and individuals.
Leydy Pech, Kristal Ambrose, Paul Sein Twa, Lucie Pinson, Chibze Ezekiel, Nemonte Nenquimo are the six personalities chosen for this year’s award.

Notes:
Avian Influenza, commonly called as the Bird flu, has been detected in a fourth region in Japan. This can be the country’s worst outbreak in over 4 years.
Avian influenza was discovered at a poultry farm in Hyuga city in Honshu island in southwestern Japan. However, the country announced that there is no possibility that humans will contract bird flu from eating poultry or eggs. It has also decided to cull over 1.8 million chickens.

Notes:
December 2 is observed as National Pollution Control Day every year, in the memory of those who lost their lives in the Bhopal Gas tragedy and to create awareness on environment pollution.
Bhopal Gas tragedy, one of the biggest industrial pollution disasters of the country, occurred on the night of December 2nd and 3rd, 1984. Many people died due to the leakage of the poisonous gas Methyl Isocyanate.

Notes:
‘737 MAX’ is the best-selling airliner of US-based leading multi-national aerospace company Boeing. It was grounded in March 2019 after two crashes in five months killing a total of 346 people.
The redesigned version of the ‘737 MAX’ airliner has recently staged its first post-grounding flight with media on board. It made a 45-minute flight from Texas to Oklahoma in the US. The flight’s first commercial passenger flight is scheduled in the month-end of December.

Notes:
Bhasan Char is an uninhabited island in Bangladesh. It is located in the Bay of Bengal, about 60 kilometers from the mainland.
The Bangladesh government started the process of relocating the Rohingyas from Cox’s Bazar refugee camp to the newly developed facility at the Bhashan char Island. Bangladesh constructed shelter houses for Rohingya refugees at an estimated cost of 2,300 crore takas.

Notes:
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has proposed to increase the limit for contactless card transactions to Rs 5,000 from Rs 2,000 per transaction from January 1, 2021.
This announcement was part of the RBI’s Statement on Developmental and Regulatory Policies, announced during the RBI’s bi-monetary policy announcement. The limit for e-mandates for recurring transactions using cards and UPI is also raised to Rs 5000.

Notes:
Parkash Singh Badal, who is the former Chief Minister of Punjab and a leader of Shiromani Akali Dal party has returned Padma Vibhushan award back to the Government.
He has returned the award to show his protest against Agriculture reforms brought by the Centre. He was honoured with the prestigious award in the year 2015.

Notes:
Leading space start-up Pixxel has signed an agreement with the NewSpace India Limited (NSIL) to launch the country’s first private remote-sensing satellite.
The satellite is to be launched on an ISRO PSLV rocket in early 2021. Earlier, regulatory body under the Department of Space called ‘IN-SPACe’ was established to enable private players undertake space activities in India.

Notes:
The Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has recently issued an advisory to all the private satellite channels to ensure that no advertisements that promote prohibited activities are telecasted.
The advisory mentioned that advertisements on online gaming, betting and fantasy sports were misleading and are inconsistent with the Ministry’s Advertising Code.