Current Affairs Quiz - December, 2020

Notes:
Starship is the futuristic rocket-ship of SpaceX, the private space company owned by billionaire Elon Musk. It is being designed to carry people to Mars.
The first high-altitude test flight of the Starship was aborted at the last second, due to an automatic engine abort just ahead of the count-down. SpaceX has conducted five Starship test flights but not at high altitude.

Notes:
Google launched a new health research app called the ‘Google Health Studies’. It enables the research institutions to connect with potential study participants.
Through this app, android users can take part in health studies by answering survey questions and providing relevant data. Its first study will focus on respiratory illnesses like COVID-19.

Notes:
National poet Mahakavi ‘Subramaniya Bharati’ is a famous poet from the southern state of Tamil Nadu. He was an Indian independence activist, journalist and a pioneer in Tamil Literature.
International Bharati Festival is organized by the Vanavil Culture Centre in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, to honour the poet. His 138th birth anniversary was observed on December 11, 2020. Prime Minister Narendra Modi participated and presented the Bharati Award to the writer Seeni Viswanathan.

Notes:
Every year December 12th is observed as the Universal Health Coverage (UHC) Day by the World Health Organisation. UHC ensures that all people get access to quality health services without any financial hardships.
Universal health coverage has been inducted as Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by the United Nations.

Notes:
Gujarat is set to launch the country’s first online mechanism for approval and renewal of fire safety certifications for buildings.
A portal named ‘Fire Safety COP’ will be launched for implementing the process. Under the system, the state will train and empanel private ‘Fire safety officers (FSOs)’ to carry out periodic inspection and maintenance of fire safety systems.

Notes:
Scientists have stated that the strongest meteor shower of the year – “Geminids meteor shower” would be active from December 4 to 20 this year. These meteors originate from 3200 Phaethon Asteroid and its diameter is about 5 Km. This meteor was discovered in the year 1983 and has been named after the Greek myth of Phaethon the son of Sun god Helios.

Notes:
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has decided to set up an Automated Banknote Processing Centre (ABPC) in Jaipur.
The Centre would undertake all processes for receipt, storage and dispatch of currency notes. It would also process the banknotes received from currency chests and bank branches, and destroy soiled banknotes in an automated manner.

Notes:
The Indian Coast Guard ship ‘Sujeet’ has been launched and commissioned to the Indian Coast Guard at Goa recently. It is second in series of 105 meter off-shore patrol vessels. It has been designed and built by the Goa Shipyard Limited (GSL).
The ship is equipped with integrated platform management system, integrated bridge system, power management system and high power external fire-fighting technologies.

Notes:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Gujarat and laid the foundation stones for various developmental projects.
The Hybrid Renewable Energy Park in the district of Kutch will be the country’s largest renewable energy generation park, when completed. Foundation stones were also laid for a fully automated milk processing and packing plant and a Desalination plant in Mandvi, Kutch.

Notes:
The Department of Posts and India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) have launched a new digital payment application named ‘DakPay’.
It is a suite of digital banking services provided through their postal network, across the country. The features include Domestic Money Transfers – DMT, Virtual debit card, UPI payment, AePS and Bill payment.