Current Affairs Quiz - December, 2020

Notes:
Agharkar Research Institute (ARI), Pune, an autonomous institute of the Department of Science & Technology, has recently spotted a new species of Murainagrass.
Ischaemum is a genus of grass, widespread in tropical and semitropical regions. It is commonly called as Murainagrass. A new and tolerant species has been spotted in Goa in the Western Ghats. It was named Ischaemum janarthanamiiin honour of Goa University’s Botany Professor M. K. Janarthanam.

Notes:
The “Heroes of 2020” is published by the TIMES Magazine. It honours those people who have “went above and beyond the call of duty”.
Rahul Dubey who is an Indian-American has been listed in the Heroes of 2020, who opened the doors of his Washington DC home to over 70 people demonstrating against the killing of George Floyd.

Notes:
Google, Intel, Dell and Citrix along with other technology major in the industry have partnered to form Modern Computing Alliance. The alliance aims to address some of the greatest IT challenges faced by the players in the industry and would provide “cloud first” computing solutions.
The alliance would be creating a seamless, user-friendly experience across the web and devices.

Notes:
The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare conducts a national level health survey called as the ‘National Family Health Survey’.
So far four editions of the survey have been conducted, with the latest being conducted in 2015-16. The Health Ministry has released the phase 1 results of the Fifth edition of the survey. The Under 5 and infant mortality rate (IMR) has decreased in 18 states and UTs.

Notes:
The USA’s Electoral College has ratified the results of the elections and has declared that Joe Biden would be next President of the country.
The Electoral College of USA is required to be formed once in 4 years, as per the us Constitution for the purpose of electing the President and Vice President.

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 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:
T-Fiber, Telangana Fiber Grid Project is a state-wide project, which aims to establish optical fiber network and to provide high-speed broadband service in Telangana.
Recently, the Telangana state government has declared the T-Fiber project a ‘Vital Public Purpose Project’. This means, the project need not get permission from several state departments for implementation.

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 North Eastern Region Power System Improvement Project (NERPSIP) was approved in 2014 as a Central Sector Scheme and is being funded with the assistance of World Bank fund.
It is being implemented through POWERGRID, a Public Sector Undertaking under Ministry of Power in association with six beneficiary North Eastern States namely, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, and Tripura. The Union Cabinet has approved the Revised Cost Estimate of the scheme at Rs 6700 crore.