Current Affairs Quiz - December, 2020

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:
Two lawsuits have been filed by the United States Federal government and governments of 48 US states and territories accusing Facebook.
The Social media major has been accused of eliminating competition with the acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp. The anti-competitive conduct, which adds to the monopoly of the company is accused.

Notes:
The state government of Maharashtra has launched a new set of rules governing the real estate development.
Called as the ‘Unified Development Control and Promotion Regulations (UDCPR)’, the rules will be applicable to the entire state except Mumbai civic body and some authorities with their own rules. This will bring clarity in regulations and uniformity in the width and size of the projects etc.

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 Union Ministry of health and Family welfare has recently issued guidelines on mass Covid-19 vaccination drive in the country.
The Ministry has stated that COVID Vaccine Intelligence Network (Co-WIN) system would be used track the beneficiaries for COVID vaccination. In the first phase of vaccination, the Government has decided to vaccinate nearly 30 crore people.

Notes:
The Himalayan serow has been spotted for the first time in the Himalayan cold desert region, in Spiti, Himachal Pradesh.
These are herbivores animals and are found between 2000 m and 4000 m altitude. They have an appearance similar to that of a goat, but with long ears. They have a habit of standing with fore legs stretched.

Notes:
The Government of India and New Development Bank today signed a loan agreement for USD 1000 million.
The loan aims to provide support to Aatma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyan through MGNREG Scheme. This is expected to facilitate economic activity and employment generation to stimulate rural demand, which will in turn help the recovery of economy, hit by Covid-19.

Notes:
International Development Association (IDA) is member of the World Bank Group, headquartered in Washington, D.C. It offers concessional loans and grants to the poorest developing countries.
The IDA has signed a USD 400 million agreement with India, to support India’s efforts to provide social assistance to the poor and vulnerable households, affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Earlier, the World Bank group had approved a USD 750 million loan to India.

Notes:
The CEO of Prasar Bharati Shashi Shekhar Vempati has been elected as the Vice President of Asia Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU). ABU is one of the largest broadcasting associations in the world.
The election for the prestigious post was held virtually and Shashi Shekhar Vempati has been elected for a term of three years.