Current Affairs Quiz - December, 2020

Notes:
The Union Government has launched “Mission COVID Suraksha” and has allotted a package of Rs.900 crore for the same. The grant by the central government would be given to Department of Biotechnology (DBT) for Research & Development of Indian COVID-19 vaccines.
The mission aims at development of approximately 5 or 6 COVID 19 vaccine candidates and ensure their faster availability to the public.

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:
As many as 12 leopards from Sakkar Baug Zoological Park, which came in conflict with the humans, have been transferred to a private rehabilitation centre by Gujarat Forest Department.
The leopard’s maintenance would be done in a Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode by the Government of Gujarat and Reliance Industries Ltd- RIL’s Greens Zoological Rescue and Rehabilitation Kingdom. This is the first of its kind PPP model for protection of wild animals in India.

Notes:
The festival named Dev Deepawali is celebrated in Indian city. This is a festival of lights and is celebrated in the Poornima day of the Karthik Month of Hindu calendar.
This year’s celebration is attended by the Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi. During the event, 11 lakh earthern lamps were lit on both sides of river Ganga.

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:
The New Zealand Government has recently declared a climate emergency. This decision has been taken by the government to stress the fact that if emission cuts are not recorded, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) predictions on adverse environmental effects would be witnessed.
The country also announced that its public sector would strive to become carbon neutral by 2025.

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:
Indian Gas Exchange (IGX) was launched in 2020 as India’s first automated national-level trading platform for physical delivery of natural gas.
IGX is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Indian Energy Exchange (IEX). Recently, IGX obtained all necessary approvals as per the provisions of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (Gas Exchange) Regulations, 2020. It becomes the first regulated Gas Exchange of the country.

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:
The Chairperson of HCL Technologies Roshni Nadar is listed to be wealthiest woman of India in the year 2020.
The list of 100 leading Wealthy Women in India has been recently released by Kotak Wealth Hurun. Out of the 100 women, 31 self-made women on the list. Biocon founder Kiran Mazumdar Shaw has been ranked second in the list.