Current Affairs Quiz - December, 2020

Notes:
US President-elect Joe Biden has recently appointed the country’s first all-female White House communications team.
He also appointed Jen Psaki, who earlier served as the spokesperson in Barack Obama administration, as the White House Press Secretary. Six other women who had held important positions, were appointed in the official Press Team.

Notes:
The Petrodava Dacian Fortress is the oldest historical monument located in Piatra Neamt city, Romania. The fort was built around 82 BC and AD 106 by the Dacian people in ancient Europe.
Days after the first mysterious metal monolith disappeared in a remote, uninhabited desert in Utah, USA, a second similar structure has been spotted in Romania, a few metres away from the fortress. The monolith which disappeared and appeared again was a triangular, shiny pillar.

Notes:
The ‘International day for the abolition of slavery’ is observed every year on December 2, since 1986.
It aims to raise awareness about slavery and put an end to all kinds of slavery including trafficking in persons, sexual exploitation, child labour among others. It marks the date of the adoption of the UN Convention related to trafficking and exploitation.

Notes:
During the India-Oman virtual dialogue recently held, Oman announced to establish first-of-its-kind Oman-India Friendship Association.
This is the first such initiative in West Asia led by the Foreign Ministry. In December 2019, India and Oman signed a Maritime Transport Agreement during the visit of Foreign Minister Jaishankar to the country.

Notes:
One of the two lesser florican birds that was tagged by the Gujarat forest department has flown all the way to the state of Telangana.
The bird was tagged at the Blackbuck National Park (BBNP), Velavadar, in Bhavnagar. This has confirmed a research finding that lesser florican birds migrate to peninsular India from the western part of India after their breeding season.

Notes:
India has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) recently with the United States of America (USA) to increase intellectual property cooperation between the two nations.
The agreement has been signed by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) – India and United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

Notes:
In response to the August 4 Ammonium Nitrate explosions that occurred in Beirut, the capital city of Lebanon, a new framework named Reform, Recovery and Reconstruction Framework (3RF) has been announced by the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
The plan has been prepared jointly by World Bank, the European Union (EU) and the UN.

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:
A comic book depicting India’s glorious Naval past and maritime heritage has been released by the Navy Vice Chief Vice Admiral G Ashok Kumar.
The book has been published in association with Amar Chitra Katha and has been released on the occasion of Naval Day Celebrations. The book is the first in series of three comic books.

Notes:
The Central Government has launched the Quarterly Return filing & Monthly Payment of Taxes (QRMP) scheme for small taxpayers under GST system.
Under the scheme, taxpayers with aggregate annual turnover of up to Rs 5 crore in the previous financial year are eligible for this scheme. Those tax-payers should also have filed their October GSTR-3B (sales) return by November 30, 2020.