Current Affairs Quiz - December, 2020

Notes:
Russia has successfully test-launched its heavy lift Angara A5 space rocket for the second time, the first launch having undertaken in 2014.
As per the state space agency Rocosmos, these Angara rockets do not use aggressive and toxic propellants, thereby increasing environmental safety in the areas adjacent to the launch complex and in the drop zones.

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.

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.

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:
Bangladesh marks Martyred Intellectuals Day on December 14 every year, to remember the teachers, journalists and poets killed on this day in 1971.
The Bangladesh Liberation War which began in 1971 grew into the Indo-Pakistan War of 1971, and ended with the victory of Bangladesh. After the victory, Bengali intellectuals and professionals were said to have been killed by Pakistani forces and their collaborators.

Notes:
The Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi lit the ‘Swarnim Vijay Mashaal’ at the National War Memorial (NWM) in Delhi. This has kick started the 50th-anniversary celebrations of the 1971 India-Pakistan war.
In December 1971, the Indian Armed Forces won a battle against the Pakistan counterpart, which resulted n creation of a new nation called Bangladesh.

Notes:
The vaccine maker Serum Institute of India is set to achieve “Net Zero State” by cutting down all forms of emission and harmful release in to the environment to zero.
A start-up firm incubated at IIT-SINE named h2e Power Systems and backed by SII would be joining hands to transform SII into a company that runs on renewable and green energy.

Notes:
India’s communication satellite CMS-01 was successfully launched by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
The satellite was launched aboard the launch vehicle, PSLV-C50, from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) SHAR, Sriharikota. The vehicle injected the satellite into its planned orbit. PSLV-C50 is the 52nd flight of PSLV and this was the 77th launch vehicle mission from SDSC SHAR.

Notes:
Chinese lunar capsule of the Chang’e 5 probe has returned to Earth with the first samples of rock and debris from the moon.
The modules of the probe landed on the moon and collected about 2 kilograms of samples by drilling the surface of the moon. After Soviet Union’s Luna 24 robot probe in 1976, only this probe brought fresh samples of lunar rocks.

Notes:
The Government of India has recently offered official recognition to Yoga as a competitive sport, as a push to make it a part of the Olympic Games.
Recently, India established the National Yogasana Sport Federation of India (NYSFI) for the development of yoga as a competitive sport. Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports and Ministry of AYUSH are collaborating in this regard. Sporting Leagues and Competitions are being planned.