Current Affairs Quiz - December, 2020

Notes:
The Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) has approved the Dry Swab RT-PCR for COVID-19 testing, which was developed by CSIR’s Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Hyderabad.
In this simple and fast method, nasal swab is collected and transported in dry state, as against the using the viral transport medium used in conventional testing. It does not require RNA isolation from the sample.

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:
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:
Facebook-backed Libra cryptocurrency has been renamed as “Deim” which means “Day” in Latin.
The Libra Association has made this decision in order to gain approval from regulators and to increase its publicity. The new Deim crypto currency is proposed to be launched in early 2021, which would be backed by USD.

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 cyclone name “Burevi” was suggested by Maldives. The second cyclone approaching India from Bay of Bengal has been named as “Burevi” as per the guidelines of World Meteorological Organisation (WMO).
The storm commenced its course from South West Bay of Bengal and it is the fifth tropical cyclone system that has developed in the Norther Indian Ocean, this year.

Notes:
India and the United States attended the inaugural meeting of the Counter-narcotics Working Group (CNWG), in virtual mode.
Indian delegation was represented by the Deputy Director General of Narcotics Control Board, Ministry of Home Affairs. The two countries also agreed to improve their data sharing operations to fight the production, distribution, and export/import of drugs and related chemicals.

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 Senate of United States of America has passed a bill which envisages to remove the restrictions on number of employment related immigration visas from a particular country.
This bill has been passed unanimously by the Senate. This relaxed legislation is expected to benefit many Indian professionals in America.