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:
Recently, researchers have found the presence of animal products, such as the meat of pigs, cattle, buffalo, sheep and goat in the remains of Indus Valley Civilization.
This has been conformed from the Lipid residue analysis of ceramic vessels found in the urban and rural settlements of the civilization in North and western part of India.

Notes:
The 5th India Water Impact Summit (IWIS) has recently commenced with a focus on Arth Ganga – river conservation synchronised development.
The theme of the summit is comprehensive analysis and holistic management of rivers and water bodies. It is being organised virtually by the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) and the Centre for Ganga River Basin Management and Studies (cGanga).

Notes:
The Real Time Gross Settlement System (RTGS) transaction was introduced in India in the year 2004. Presently, RTGS handles a transaction volume of Rs 4.17 lakh crore per day and it is used by 237 participant banks.
Recently, Reserve Bank of India has permitted for round the clock RTGS facility in India, which makes India one among the very few countries offering this service.

Notes:
The Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways has circulated a draft of Indian Ports Bill 2020 for public consultation. The bill seeks to repeal and replace the Indian Ports Act, 1908.
This bill aims to enable the growth and sustainable development of ports and attract investments in the Port sector. Maritime Port Regulatory Authority, National Port policy and National Port plan are some of the new initiatives described in the bill.

Notes:
The Indian Embassy in Beijing recently launched a movie series “CinemaSCOpe”, for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO).
Under the programme, over two dozen Indian films dubbed in Russian, will be screened on a monthly basis. The screening will continue till India’s chairmanship of the SCO ‘Council of Heads of State’ meeting in 2023.

Notes:
Two lawsuits have been filed by the United States Federal government and governments of 48 US states and territories accusing Facebook.
The Social media major has been accused of eliminating competition with the acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp. The anti-competitive conduct, which adds to the monopoly of the company is accused.

Notes:
The European Council President has declared after their recent summit that the EU leaders have agreed to set a target of cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 55 percent by 2030.
After long series of discussions, the EU leaders came to a consensus of the target. European Commission had set a target of achieving climate neutrality by 2050.

Notes:
India’s largest Central Armed Police Force, the Central Reserve Police Force has set up the National Centre for Divyang Empowerment (NCDE).
This is a facility for training the CRPF personnel, who are injured and become physically challenged in the line of duty. The personnel will be trained in the latest technologies like artificial intelligence, cyber security or warfare among others.

Notes:
Shaheen (Eagle)-IX is the 9th joint Air Force Exercise between Pakistan and China. It conducted at an Air Force Base at Pakistan.
It is designed to deepen the cooperation between the two countries and enhance their combat skills. The first such exercise was conducted in the year 2011 at Pakistan. Every year, this exercise is held alternatively in China and Pakistan.