Current Affairs Quiz - December, 2020

Notes:
The famous stone chariot in front of the Vijaya Vittala Temple in the UNESCO World Heritage site of Hampi, has been covered by a protective ring by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).
This chariot is among three famous stone chariots in India while the other two are in Konark, Odisha, and Mahabalipuram, Tamil Nadu. Hampi chariot, was built during the dynasty of Vijayanagara rulers who ruled from 14th to 17th century CE.

Notes:
ICICI Bank has recently launched a new mobile banking application named ‘iMobile Pay’, which can offer payments and banking services to customers of any bank.
Through the app, customers can pay to any UPI (Unified Payments Interface) ID or merchants, pay bills and do online recharges among others. It also enables users to access instant banking services like loans, credit cards, gift cards, travel cards and more.

Notes:
The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has declared “Invest India” as the winner of ‘2020 United Nations Investment Promotion Award’.
Invest India is the Indian Government’s investment promotion and facilitation agency, which was set up in the year 2009 as a Nonprofit venture, under the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

Notes:
At the recent meeting of Central Zoo Authority chaired by Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Prakash Javadekar, two new zoos were granted recognition.
They are the Rajgir Zoo Safari in Nalanda, Bihar and Shaheed Ashfaque Ullah Khan Prani Udyaan in Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh. With this, the state of Uttar Pradesh has a total of 9 zoos.

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:
The French Government has published a draft legislation to combat radical Islamism and calls it a measure to achieve “law of freedom”.
The legislation aims to curb online hate speech, punish doctors who provide “virginity certificates” for marriages, reduce the practice of home-schooling for children over three years old etc.

Notes:
The Prime Minister Narendra Modi has laid the stone for the new Parliamentary Building, thus kick starting its construction. Tata Group has won the bid for constructing the triangular shaped Parliamentary Building.
The building is being constructed as a part of Central Vista redevelopment project, and is expected to be completed by 2022 at an estimated cost of Rs.971 crore.

Notes:
The India Workplace Equality Index has been launched in India by Keshav Suri Foundation in association with Pride Circle, Stonewall UK and FICCI.
This is the 1st benchmarking tool for employers to measure their progress on LGBT and their inclusiveness in work place. It was introduced in the United Kingdom in the year 2005.

Notes:
“The Presidential Years” is an upcoming book authored by the late former President of India Pranab Mukherjee.
This memoir is the fourth volume of the memoirs, that will be released globally in January 2021. The third volume of former President’s autobiography titled “The Coalition Years — 1996-2012” in the year 2017.

Notes:
Alejandro ‘Alex’ Olmedo, who won the Wimbledon and Australian Championships singles titles in 1959, died recently at the age of 84.
The legendary player was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1987. He was born in Peru and moved to the United States. He also won the Davis Cup trophy for the United States in 1958. For over 25 years, the veteran player was teaching tennis.