Current Affairs Quiz - December, 2020

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 Presidential Years” is an upcoming book authored by the late former President of India Pranab Mukherjee.
This memoir is the fourth volume of the memoirs, that will be released globally in January 2021. The third volume of former President’s autobiography titled “The Coalition Years — 1996-2012” in the year 2017.

Notes:
The International Mountain Day is celebrated across the world on December 11 every year. The day aims to encourage sustainable development in mountains. The theme of this year’s International Mountain Day is ‘Mountain biodiversity’.
United Nations General Assembly designated the Mountain Day in the year 2003. The UN also declared 2002 as the UN International Year of Mountains.

Notes:
The United Nations General Assembly created UNICEF on December 11, 1946, as the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund.
The programme was originally initiated to provide assistance to improve the nutrition, education, and welfare of children after World War II. It was later renamed as United Nations Children’s Fund. UNICEF Day is observed every year on December 11.

Notes:
Britain Prime Minister Boris Johnson accepted the invitation by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to be the Chief Guest at India’s Republic Day celebrations on 26 January, 2021 in New Delhi.
With this, Boris Johnson becomes the second UK prime minister to attend the celebrations after John Major in 1993. Moreover, UK Prime Minister has invited Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to join the UK-hosted G7 summit next year.

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:
The Union Cabinet headed by the Prime Minister has recently approved the next round of auctioning of the telecommunication spectrum. A total of 2251.25 MHz is being offered for auction valued at Rs.3,92,332.70 crore.
The most recent Spectrum auction in India was held in the year 2016, with the government raising Rs 65,789.12 crore in revenue.

Notes:
The Human Development Index for the year 2020 has been released by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
As per the report, India has been ranked at 131 out of 189 countries. Last year, India was ranked at 130. HDI is measured with three parameters namely life expectancy, education and per capita income. This year’s index has incorporated new parameters namely CO2 emission and Material foot print and introduced Planetary pressures–adjusted Human Development Index (PHDI).

Notes:
To commemorate the 125th birth anniversary of Netaji Subhas Chandra in the year 2022, the Union Culture Ministry has proposed for construction of a museum in Kolkata.
An exhibition at the Victoria Memorial and few cultural performances are also proposed regarding the same. Subhas Chandra Bose was born on 23 January 1897, in Cuttack of Odisha.

Notes:
The North Eastern Region Power System Improvement Project (NERPSIP) was approved in 2014 as a Central Sector Scheme and is being funded with the assistance of World Bank fund.
It is being implemented through POWERGRID, a Public Sector Undertaking under Ministry of Power in association with six beneficiary North Eastern States namely, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, and Tripura. The Union Cabinet has approved the Revised Cost Estimate of the scheme at Rs 6700 crore.