Current Affairs Quiz - December, 2020

Notes:
US based- Merriam-Webster, known for its dictionaries, has recently announced ‘pandemic’ as its 2020 word of the year.
As per the company, when the World Health Organisation declared the novel coronavirus outbreak a global pandemic on March 11, the searches on the site for ‘pandemic’ rose hugely. The word has roots in Latin and Greek. It is a combination of pan, meaning all, and demos, meaning people.

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 France’s new security bill makes it an offence to show the face or identity of any Police Officer on duty with the aim of damaging the officer’s integrity. The offence would make the convict liable of one-year imprisonment.
This proposed amendment is protested by many people in France and is seen a curtail of press freedom. It is feared by many that this law would increase police brutality on civilians.

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:
State Bank of India has partnered with National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) and Japan’s JCB International Co to launch new ‘SBI RuPay JCB Platinum Contactless Debit Card’.
This card has a dual interface feature, under which customers can use it for both contact and contactless transactions, both in the domestic market as well as overseas. The card has been launched on the RuPay network.

Notes:
The Chardham highway project is a 900-km strategic projects, which aims to provide all-weather connectivity to four holy towns in the state of Uttarakhand- Kedarnath, Badrinath, Gangotri and Yamunotri.
Recently, the Supreme Court has asked the committee monitoring the Chardham highway project, to consider the Defence Ministry’s application to widen three highways in the Indo-China Border up to 7 metres.

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 Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh Shivraj Singh Chouhan has made an announcement to construct a memorial for the Bhopal Gas Tragedy victims.
Nearly 3700 people were killed due to the leak of methyl isocyanate (MIC) gas from Union Carbide factory at Bhopal on December 3, 1984.

Notes:
The Supreme court on Thursday upheld that the Goods and Service Tax (GST) shall be imposed on the sale of lotteries, betting and gambling.
The Bench also highlighted that the GST Act, 2017 defines the goods to include ‘actionable claims’ and included only three categories of such claims namely lottery, betting and gambling, to levy GST. Actionable claim is the claim for a debt related to any benefit from unpossessed movable property and for which relief can be claimed in civil court.

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.