Current Affairs Quiz - December, 2020

Notes:
‘International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People’ is observed every year on November 29, across the world.
The day was established in the year 1977 and it marks the day in 1947 when the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution partitioning Palestine into an Arab State and a Jewish State. The UN Chief called on Israel and Palestine to achieve a two-State solution.

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:
Japan’s spacecraft named ‘Hayabusa2’ is approaching the Earth after a year-long journey from an asteroid Ryugu, about 300 million kilometers from earth.
As per the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, the spacecraft will bring soil samples and data that could provide clues to the origins of the solar system and life on Earth. The agency would drop the capsule containing the samples, in southern Australia.

Notes:
The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has created a new laboratory named Defence Geo Informatics Research Establishment.
It has been formed by merging two existing labs namely Manali-headquartered Snow and Avalanche Studies Establishment (SASE) and the Delhi-based Defence Terrain Research Establishment. The new lab will focus on research on the terrain along the borders with China and Pakistan.

Notes:
In the first-of-its-kind study by the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) under the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, the Malayan Giant Squirrel is at the verge of extinction.
It has projected that the numbers of the Malayan Giant Squirrel could decline by 90 per cent in India by 2050. If steps are not taken by the Government, the species could become extinct in the country.

Notes:
Waqf Boards and Waqf Council is administered under the Ministry of Minority Affairs.
The central Waqf council has decided recently that the Waqf Boards will be set up in the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, soon. This is the first time, Waqf Boards will be established in the J&K and Leh-Kargil areas of India.

Notes:
The Indian Navy and Russia Navy have engaged in a 2-day passage exercise – PASSEX. The exercise is carried out in East Indian Ocean Region (IOR).
The objective of the exercise is to enhance the interoperability between the two Navies and exchange the best Maritime practices between the two countries.

Notes:
Pfizer has approached the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) seeking for emergency use authorisation (EUA) for its COVID 19 vaccine in India.
The company has obtained the emergency use authorisation from United Kingdom and Bahrain recently. The company has asked permission to DCGI for distribution of its COVID vaccine in India and waiver of clinical trials.

Notes:
The Union Ministry of Commerce & Industry along with Union Ministry of AYUSH has decided to work together for establishing AYUSH Export Promotion Council.
The establishment of this organisation would boost the AYUSH export to various international destinations. The two ministries also decided to review the entire AYUSH sector for achieving price and quality competitiveness.

Notes:
The private space agency SpaceX has successfully launched a new Dragon resupply mission. Under the mission, the company sent a cargo space craft to the International Space Station, on behalf of NASA.
After the launch, the first stage booster of the rocket returned to Earth and landed on the company’s ship placed in Atlantic Ocean.