Current Affairs Quiz - December, 2020

Notes:
The Petrodava Dacian Fortress is the oldest historical monument located in Piatra Neamt city, Romania. The fort was built around 82 BC and AD 106 by the Dacian people in ancient Europe.
Days after the first mysterious metal monolith disappeared in a remote, uninhabited desert in Utah, USA, a second similar structure has been spotted in Romania, a few metres away from the fortress. The monolith which disappeared and appeared again was a triangular, shiny pillar.

Notes:
The state-owned PSU Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) has delivered a cryogenic propellant tank (C32 LH2) to the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
The component has been delivered by HAL much ahead of its scheduled delivery time. This is supposed to be the biggest ever component fabricated by HAL and is to be used in GSLV Mk 3 launch vehicle.

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:
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:
According to researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur, the Indo-Gangetic Plain (IGP) is the global hot-spot of atmospheric ammonia (NH3).
This is due to concentrated agricultural activities and fertilizer production in the region. The satellite data of agricultural emissions show that atmospheric ammonia is related with total fertilizer consumption and temperature.

Notes:
The Union Government has announced the post of a Deputy Chief of the Army Staff, or DCOAS, (Strategy), to bring about structural reforms in the army.
The proposal for creating this post was initiated before two years. The DCOAS would oversee the work of the Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) and the Director General Military Intelligence (DGMI), who would otherwise report to the Vice Chief f Army Staff.

Notes:
Parkash Singh Badal, who is the former Chief Minister of Punjab and a leader of Shiromani Akali Dal party has returned Padma Vibhushan award back to the Government.
He has returned the award to show his protest against Agriculture reforms brought by the Centre. He was honoured with the prestigious award in the year 2015.

Notes:
The Hayabusa2 spacecraft belonging to Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAEA) has successfully separated from a capsule in space, and is descending toward Earth.
The capsule is carrying samples from distant asteroid that is expected to provide information about the origin of Earth. The spacecraft was launched from Japan last year.

Notes:
India’s national think-tank – NITI Aayog has released a draft paper titled “Guiding principles for the uniform national-level regulation of online fantasy sports platforms in India”.
As per the released report, online sports fantasy sector in India has a huge FDI potential of Rs.10,000 crore in the upcoming years and can generate 1.5 billion transactions by 2023.

Notes:
The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has recently raised concern on pollution and frothing in Yamuna River.
The body has asked Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and other states to implement effective sewage treatment. Increase in ammonia level from untreated water and industrial effluents containing phosphorous are the two main reasons for frothing.