Current Affairs Quiz - December, 2020

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:
Morocco has become the latest Arab League country to agree to normalise relations with Israel in a deal brokered with US initiative.
As part of the deal, the US has agreed to recognise Morocco’s claim over the disputed Western Sahara region. Morocco is also the fourth country to normalise ties with Israel since August, this year. Earlier, Bahrain and UAE signed such deal.

Notes:
The Indian Coast Guard has recently launched an operation named “Operation Oliva”. This operation aims to protect the Olive Ridley turtles of the Odisha coast, which are endangered.
The Coast Guard has launched two ships near the major nesting sites, to prevent entry of fishing vessels. Aircrafts of the coast guard have also been deployed as a part of this operation.

Notes:
Eswatini Prime Minister Ambrose Dlamini, who was undergoing treatment for coronavirus, has recently passed away. He is the first Prime Minister to die from the Covid pandemic.
Eswatini, which was earlier called as ‘Swaziland’ before official renaming in 2018, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. It is surrounded by Mozambique and South Africa. Eswatini is one of the smallest countries in Africa.

Notes:
In the year 2018, artists, journalists and activists gathered in the San Isidro region of Cuba, to protest against the country’s rules on censorship of cultural activities.
Hence, it came to be known as the Movimiento San Isidro, or the San Isidro Movement (MSI). After a member of MSI was arrested in November this year, its members began a hunger and then were arrested. The Government name the protestors as agents of Imperialism.

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 United States Agriculture Department has recently confirmed the first known case of the coronavirus in a wild animal, a mink.
Earlier, Denmark decided to cull several farmed minks after they were infected by the virus. The virus was also found in zoo tigers and household cats and dogs. But this is the first free-ranging and native wild animal being confirmed with the infection.

Notes:
The Union Finance Minister chairs the Financial Stability and Development Council (FSDC) meeting. FSDC was constituted as a non-statutory apex body under the Ministry of Finance in 2010.
Recently, the 23rd FSDC meeting was chaired by the Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman via video conferencing. The meeting discussed India’s efforts to economic recovery and the policy measures taken by the government.

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 Ministry of External Affairs has recently launched an Economic diplomacy website, to project ‘Brand India’ to global investors.
It is managed by the Economic Diplomacy Division of the Ministry. The website will also showcase India’s economic, regional and state-wise trends, the economic and policy profiles of state/ UTs. It connects the Indian businesses and the interested investors through agencies like APEDA.