Current Affairs Quiz - December, 2020

Notes:
The Central Government has decided to forego interest on eight specified categories of loans paid up to Rs two crore, on account of Covid-19 pandemic.
The Supreme Court of India has directed the government again to take steps to forego the interest in eight categories of loans, namely MSME, Education, Housing, Consumer durable, Credit card, Automobile, Personal and Consumption.

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:
Every year, November 27th is observed as Indian organ donation day by the Government of India. This year marks the 11th Organ Donation Day event.
Tamil Nadu received the ‘Best State award’ for organ donation, by the National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation of the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. This is the sixth consecutive year of the state receiving the award.

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:
Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) has recently launched the nation’s first 100 Octane petrol. Union Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan launched the petrol.
The 100-octane petrol also called as XP100 premium petrol will be initially available at select outlet of IOC in 10 cities. The fuel is manufactured at IOC’s Mathura refinery in Uttar Pradesh. Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) had earlier launched Octane 99. Higher the octane number of a fuel, higher will be its compression and performance.

Notes:
The recent spread of Leaf Fall Disease in rubber plantations of Thailand has been a cause of worry to Indian Plantations.
In November, the total affected area of rubber plantation of Thailand was 90,000 ha and there is a potential production loss of 1.30 lakh tons of rubber. It has been cited by Rubber Board officials that the disease has the potential to spread to India.

Notes:
The International Day of Persons with Disability is observed on 3rd December of every year.
The theme for this year is “Building back better: towards an inclusive, accessible and sustainable post COVID-19 world by, for and with persons with disabilities”. UNESCO is organizing a global awareness camp named “Tell our stories, enable our rights” on this occasion.

Notes:
The Ministry of Home Affairs has released the rank list of best performing police stations in India.
Nongpok Sekmai Police station in Manipur has topped the list which is followed by the All Women Police Station (AWPS) Suramangalam in Salem of Tamil Nadu. Most of the Police stations in the list are located in South India and in North Eastern India.

Notes:
The Parliament of Australia has recently passed a legislation that permits the country to block any agreement made between the country and a foreign government.
The legislation empowers foreign minister to veto any international agreement that are inconsistent with the foreign policy of Australia or is seen to affect Australia’s interest.

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.