Current Affairs Quiz - December, 2020

Notes:
Based on the shadow of the earth falling on the moon, the lunar eclipse is classified into three categories. Full, Partial or Penumbral Lunar Eclipse.
The Penumbral Lunar Eclipse occurs when the moon passes through the outer shadow of the earth. The last full moon occurring in November, before the winter solstice, is also called as the ‘Beaver moon’, named after Beavers, the rodents found in temperate regions.

Notes:
The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of India has contracted by 7.5 % in the second quarter of the financial year 2020-21. The contraction in GDP is registered for the second consecutive quarter and hence India is said to have entered ‘Technical Recession’.
The real GDP in the first quarter of 2020-21 (April – June) registered a record low of 23.9% contraction.

Notes:
As per the US Air Quality Index released recently, Lahore is named the most polluted city in the world, followed by Delhi and Kathmandu.
Lahore, the cultural capital of Pakistan, has reported a particulate matter (PM) rating of 423. The The United States Environmental Protection Agency registers air quality as ‘satisfactory’ if the AQI is under 50.

Notes:
Dubbed as the “world’s loneliest elephant”, the 36-year-old bull elephant at Islamabad zoo has been shifted to a Cambodian sanctuary.
This step is taken after years of outcry of public and activists and recent campaigning by American pop star Cher. Kaavan is the only Asian elephant in Pakistan, where the elephants at other zoos are African. Kaavan’s mate Saheli, who arrived from Sri Lanka, died in the year 2012.

Notes:
BrahMos Aerospace is a joint venture company set up by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Mashinostroyenia of Russia.
Recently, Indian Navy test-fired the naval version of BrahMos missile in the Bay of Bengal. The missile was test-fired from a Rajput-class destroyer INS Ranvijay, hitting a decommissioned target ship. Earlier, the Indian Army and Air Force test-fired the missile.

Notes:
Union Minister for Finance & Corporate Affairs Nirmala Sitharaman delivered a Keynote Address at the 20th Edition of Sri Lanka Economic Summit (SLES) 2020 in virtual format.
SLES is annually organized by the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce (CCC). The theme for this year’s event is “Roadmap for Take-off: Driving a People –Centric Economic Revival”.

Notes:
The United Kingdom has become the first nation in the world to approve coronavirus vaccine made by Pfizer – BioNTech.
The country’s medical regulator has given a nod for commercial production and mass vaccination. The vaccine is said to offer 95% protection against Covid disease. The country aims to produce 8 lakh doses in the next few days.

Notes:
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has recently directed HDFC Bank to temporarily halt all its digital launches and new sourcing of credit card customers.
The country’s largest private sector lender has been asked to stop the digital launches as the bank had faced technical glitches in the past two years. RBI also asked the bank’s board to examine the lapses and fix accountability.

Notes:
The government of Maharashtra has decided to rename the settlements in the state having names based on caste.
Habitations like Maharwada, Mangwada, Bramhanwada etc that have indications of caste-based settlements would be changed and named after leaders of the nation. The State Cabinet has recently approved to change the names of those settlements.

Notes:
As per the Union Ministry of Finance, the Indian Economy is registering a V Shaped recovery of GDP. This was expressed in the latest Monthly Economic Review.
The contraction of GDP in Q1 of current financial year was 23.9% where as the economy has contracted by 7.5 % in Q2. Maximum growth is registered by Agriculture sector followed by Construction.