Current Affairs Quiz - December, 2020

Notes:
The United Kingdom became the first country in the world to start using the COVID-19 vaccine. The vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech was approved by the regulators.
Several hubs across the country are vaccinating the people. The vaccine is given as two injections with 21 days apart. The complete immunity is said to be reached seven days after the second dose.

Notes:
Researchers at Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati claimed to have developed a new technology to harvest water from the air.
The researchers have used the concept of hydrophobicity, which is the property of a material to repel water. Slippery liquid-infused porous surfaces or SLIPS material is chemically patterned and used.

Notes:
The United Nations General Assembly designated 9 December as International Anti-Corruption Day, every year. This year, the theme is ‘Recover with Integrity’.
The day aims to raise awareness of corruption and of the role of the UN Convention in fighting and preventing it. In the year 2003, the UNGA adopted the United Nations Convention against Corruption.

Notes:
The Department of Integrative Medicine has been proposed to be set up by the Union Ministry of AYUSH in association with AIIMS. The department is to be set up at AIIMS.
Also, it has been decided to develop an protocol for “Study on Post COVID treatment” with Ayurveda and Yoga, by Centre for Integrative Medicine and Research – AIIMS.

Notes:
The state of Maharashtra is set to launch an ambitious scheme for distribution of assistive devices to persons with disabilities.
Named as Maharashtra System for Health and Rehabilitation Assistance or ‘MahaSharad’, the Digital Platform is named after the NCP chief Sharad Pawar. The platform, which aims to lakhs of people, will be available by March 2021.

Notes:
India and Qatar have announced to set up a Task Force on Energy. This move aims to promote investments of Qatar in the Energy sector of India.
Earlier, Prime Minster of India has a discussion with the Qatar’s counterpart regarding FDIs in India. Both the countries have agreed to move beyond a buyer-seller relation to investment partnership.

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:
Asia’s oldest stock exchange, BSE Limited, has launched an electronic spot platform for agricultural commodities through its subsidiary BSE Investments.
The platform is named as BSE E-Agricultural Markets Ltd (BEAM). It is to function as a national level, electronic, commodity spot trading platform. Through this, farmers of one state will get access to markets in other states.

Notes:
Project Loon is the subsidiary of Technology giant Google. It undertakes the project of delivering internet access to remote parts of the world.
The project uses helium-filled balloons for this purpose. In the month of October, the company has announced that the balloons set a new record for the longest stratospheric flight by staying in air for 312 days.

Notes:
UNESCO has launched the ‘2020 State of the Education Report for India: Vocational Education First’ report, virtually in New Delhi.
This is the second edition of the State of Education Report and it focuses on technical and vocational education and training (TVET). UNESCO also reaffirmed to support India in the National Skill Development Mission.