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:
The Goldman Environmental Prize is awarded to 6 individuals each year to recognize their efforts to save and protect environment. The prize is selected by an international jury among nominations submitted by global environment organisations and individuals.
Leydy Pech, Kristal Ambrose, Paul Sein Twa, Lucie Pinson, Chibze Ezekiel, Nemonte Nenquimo are the six personalities chosen for this year’s award.

Notes:
China launched the ambitious ‘One Belt and One Road’ (OBOR) initiative in 2013, to link Southeast Asia, Central Asia, the Gulf region, Africa and Europe with a network of land and sea routes.
During the 19th meeting of the Council of Heads of Governments of the SCO, all other member nations of SCO, except India reaffirmed their support to the OBOR project of China. India is critical of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a part of OBOR.

Notes:
Pune City Police has recently inaugurated the ‘Balsnehi (Child-Friendly) Police Station’, on the premises of Lashkar Police Station in Pune Camp.
The Police Station has a room designated for children, who would come to report cases to the station. It also aims to create a set-up to rehabilitate children in need. Earlier, a Child-friendly Police Station was set up in Krishna District on the premises of Machilipatnam.

Notes:
The United States has issued an order to ban the cotton and cotton products from the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (XPCC), one of the largest producers of China.
The U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency issued “Withhold Release Order” to increase economic pressure on the Xinjiang region. US cites the reason for the ban as ‘slave labour’ of detained Uighur Muslims used by China.

Notes:
Recently, a NGR (negotiating group on rules) meeting on fisheries subsidies was organized by the World Trade Organization.
Indian Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the WTO has stated that member countries should cut down subsidies on unsustainable fishing which leads to the problem of over fishing. India also asked to reduce the role of dispute panels in fisheries management.

Notes:
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has proposed to increase the limit for contactless card transactions to Rs 5,000 from Rs 2,000 per transaction from January 1, 2021.
This announcement was part of the RBI’s Statement on Developmental and Regulatory Policies, announced during the RBI’s bi-monetary policy announcement. The limit for e-mandates for recurring transactions using cards and UPI is also raised to Rs 5000.

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.

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 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.