Current Affairs Quiz - December, 2020

Notes:
Asian Development Bank (ADB) has recently lowered the expected contraction for India in the current fiscal to 8 per cent from 9 per cent.
After falling by 23.9 per cent in Q1 of fiscal year 2020, the Indian economy began to normalise with only 7.5 per cent in Q2. This was released in ADB’s latest ‘Asian Development Outlook 2020 Update’.

Notes:
Malana Cream is a type of hash, which comes from the Malana Valley in Kullu district of Himachal Pradesh. The Charas is the resin obtained from a species of the cannabis plant, which grows in the valley.
The Narcotics Control Bureau has recently claimed that it has seized the smuggled ‘Malana Cream’. Charas was banned in India in 1986 under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985.

Notes:
The Asia Pacific Vaccine Access Facility (APVAX) has been launched by the Asian Development Bank. This initiative is set to support to its developing member economies to procure and deliver COVID-19 vaccines.
The total cost of this project is USD 9 billion. The aim of the scheme is to help ADB’s member countries to vaccinate their people and tide away from the ongoing COVID crisis.

Notes:
The state of Maharashtra is set to launch an ambitious scheme for distribution of assistive devices to persons with disabilities.
Named as Maharashtra System for Health and Rehabilitation Assistance or ‘MahaSharad’, the Digital Platform is named after the NCP chief Sharad Pawar. The platform, which aims to lakhs of people, will be available by March 2021.

Notes:
Indian Mountain Initiative (IMI) organized the 9th edition of Sustainable Mountain Development Summit in Dehradun. The summit has been organized in a Virtual Mode, on account of the COVID 19 pandemic.
It is a 4-day long summit where issues like migration, water security, climate resilience would be discussed by delegates.

Notes:
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla released a book on occasion of 19th anniversary of the Indian Parliament attack.
The book titled ‘The Shaurya Unbound’ (English Version) and ‘Samundar Samawe Boond Mein’ (Hindi Version) were released on the 2001 incident. As many as 14 people including the five terrorists died during the incident.

Notes:
The United Stated of America (USA) has imposed sanctions on Turkey under the Section 231 of the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA).
This has been done in response to Turkey’s purchase of S-400 missile defence system from Russia. The sanctions have been imposed on Turkey’s defence procurement agency.

Notes:
The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami has recently launched a project to set up 2,000 mini-clinics across the state.
They will be known as ‘Amma Mini Clinics’, after the former late Chief Minister J Jeyalalitha. The clinics aim to provide essential healthcare services to the poor and downtrodden. Minor ailments will be treated and this step will reduce the burden of Government hospitals.

Notes:
The Goa Shipyard Limited has launched the fifth Offshore Patrol Vessel (OPV) named ICGS Saksham for the Indian Coast Guard (ICG).
This is the last such Offshore Patrol Vessel being launched by the shipyard for the ICG. The vessel is fitted with 30-mm guns, quick response boats which makes it capable of handling emergencies along the coast, emergencies along the coast and piracy.

Notes:
The Human Development Index for the year 2020 has been released by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
As per the report, India has been ranked at 131 out of 189 countries. Last year, India was ranked at 130. HDI is measured with three parameters namely life expectancy, education and per capita income. This year’s index has incorporated new parameters namely CO2 emission and Material foot print and introduced Planetary pressures–adjusted Human Development Index (PHDI).