Current Affairs Quiz - December, 2020

Notes:
Mastercard, the National Institute for Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (ni-msme) and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) have partnered to launch Digital Saksham.
It is a capacity building initiative to create awareness on digitization for MSMEs in the country. Under the programme, more than 3 lakh micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) across 25 cities in seven states of India will be trained in the digital space.

Notes:
The technology major Nokia is set to lead the project Hexa X which is the European Commission’s 6G initiative.
The project aims to establish next generation wireless networks. It project would create a 6G network a unique capability to understand human intentions, anticipate needs, make interactions.

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:
The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has recently made a successful demonstration of Quantum communications between two of its labs.
The communication was made using Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) technology which is a highly secure way to share encryption keys. In this method, the encryption keys are communicated in the form of qubits in a fibre optic cable, which is highly secure.

Notes:
The state Government of Madhya Pradesh government has issued a directive to form Matru Sahyogini Samiti’ or Mothers’ Cooperation Committees.
These committees will comprise 10 mothers at each anganwadi, to ensure better monitoring of services delivered at anganwadis. This is ultimately aimed to check malnutrition among children in the state.

Notes:
The state Government of Karnataka has recently passed “Karnataka Prevention of Slaughter and Preservation of Cattle Bill, 2020”.
This bill bans cow slaughter and proposes stringent punishment for violation of the law. This is a revised form of a bill that has been already passed in the state in 2010.

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:
Gennova Biopharmaceuticals has developed India’s first Covid-19 vaccine candidate based on mRNA. It has recently received approval from drug regulators of the country for entrusting it to clinical trials.
HGCO19 is the name of the mRNA vaccine candidate developed by the Pune based institution, using the seed grant received under Ind-CEPI mission of the department of biotechnology of the Union Ministry of science and technology

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:
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.