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:
The term “Mixopathy” means allowing a section of Ayurveda doctors to undertake certain surgeries. Allopathy Doctors and surgeons are agitated by the mixopathy, by which Government has decided to permit Ayurveda doctors to undertake certain surgeries.
A strike is being proposed by the Indian Medical Association to express its opposition against the Government’s decision.

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:
Alejandro ‘Alex’ Olmedo, who won the Wimbledon and Australian Championships singles titles in 1959, died recently at the age of 84.
The legendary player was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1987. He was born in Peru and moved to the United States. He also won the Davis Cup trophy for the United States in 1958. For over 25 years, the veteran player was teaching tennis.

Notes:
The Indian Space Research Organisation has announced that it is set to launch the communication satellite CMS-01 onboard the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C50).
The launch is scheduled on December 17 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota. PSLV-C50 is the 52nd mission of PSLV and the communication satellite will provide services to the Indian mainland, Andaman-Nicobar and Lakshadweep Islands.

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:
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.

Notes:
Social media major Facebook has launched a new iOS app called Collab, which lets users create collaborative musical videos.
Launched as a rival to the Chinese short-video making platform TikTok, this experimental app is now available on the App Store in the United States. Facebook had earlier launched Reels feature on Instagram and another app Lasso.

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.