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:
In 2020, the Government of India increased the FDI limit in the defence sector to 74% under the automatic route for companies with existing licences. Previously, the cap was 49%. Foreign investment beyond 74% requires government approval. FDI up to 100% is permitted under the government route. Defence sector FDI inflows rose substantially after this policy change.

Notes:
The Union Cabinet headed by the Prime Minster Narendra Modi has approved for an MoU between SEBI and Financial and Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier (CSSF), Luxembourg.
The MoU is expected to enhance the cooperation between the two countries in the field of securities regulations.

Notes:
Ranjitsinh Disale, who is a primary school teacher from the state of Maharashtra, has been awarded the most prestigious “Global Teacher Prize 2020”.
He has been conferred with the USD 1 million Global Teacher Prize, for his contribution in the field of teaching and for injecting new ideas for girl education. This award was constituted by Varkey Foundation in partnership with UNESCO.

Notes:
Two elephants, a calf and a female adult in Assam, were found dead in the in the Joypur range of Dehing Patkai wildlife sanctuary. The elephants were tested positive for Anthrax, a zoonotic disease caused by Bacillus anthracis.
On account of the incident, the state forest department has started an immediate vaccination drive. All livestock and cattle in a 5km radius would be vaccinated.

Notes:
NASA has named the 18 astronauts group half of them being women, who will train for its Moon-landing Mission by 2024, named ‘Artemis’.
From this set of astronauts, the first woman to set foot on the moon and the next man on the moon will be picked up. The group includes Christina Koch and Jessica Meir, who performed the world’s first all-female spacewalk.

Notes:
Recently, Japan has exempted import inspection for the Indian black tiger shrimps. Japan is the second largest market for Indian black tiger shrimps after the US.
This decision has been taken by the country after the export consignments were found totally free from any residue of synthetic anti-bacterial drug ‘Furazolidone’. This will enhance the farming and export of the shrimps from West Bengal and Kerala.

Notes:
The NASA is implementing a program for “Data sonification”, which involves the use of non-speech data to be translated into sound.
Recently, the Researchers at the Chandra X-ray center have used three important phenomenon of the universe and translated the frequencies of light into different pitches of sound. Crab Nebula, Bullet Cluster and Super nova are the three iconic images.

Notes:
The 9th of December is observed every year as the International Day of Commemoration and Dignity of the Victims of the Crime of Genocide, by the United Nations.
This year marks the 72nd anniversary and a convention in this regard was held in the year 1948. It was at this convention the first Human Rights Treaty was adopted by the United Nations.

Notes:
The year 2021 has been declared as the International Year of Creative Economy for Sustainable Development, by the United Nations. This has been decided in the UN General Assembly meeting held in December 2020.
The proposal was sponsored by Indonesia and was presented by a group of nations including China, India, Australia, Philippines and Thailand.