Current Affairs Quiz - December, 2020

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:
The researchers at Centre for Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences (CAOS) – Indian Institute of Science (IISc) have revealed that more than half of the droughts that have occurred in India has occurred due to atmospheric disturbances from the North Atlantic region.
Since, Indian agriculture and water needs are predominantly rain dependent, any shortfall in annual rain fall has drastic impact. Till date, the usual suspect for such droughts has been the El Nino.

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:
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:
Veteran aerospace scientist and Padma Vibhushan awardee Roddam Narasimha has recently passed away at the age of 87.
He served at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), teaching Aerospace Engineering from 1962 to 1999. He also served as the director of the National Aerospace Laboratories. He was conferred with the Padma Vibhushan award in 2013.

Notes:
The United Stated of America (USA) has imposed sanctions on Turkey under the Section 231 of the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA).
This has been done in response to Turkey’s purchase of S-400 missile defence system from Russia. The sanctions have been imposed on Turkey’s defence procurement agency.

Notes:
The Goa Shipyard Limited has launched the fifth Offshore Patrol Vessel (OPV) named ICGS Saksham for the Indian Coast Guard (ICG).
This is the last such Offshore Patrol Vessel being launched by the shipyard for the ICG. The vessel is fitted with 30-mm guns, quick response boats which makes it capable of handling emergencies along the coast, emergencies along the coast and piracy.

Notes:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Gujarat and laid the foundation stones for various developmental projects.
The Hybrid Renewable Energy Park in the district of Kutch will be the country’s largest renewable energy generation park, when completed. Foundation stones were also laid for a fully automated milk processing and packing plant and a Desalination plant in Mandvi, Kutch.

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 Government of India and New Development Bank today signed a loan agreement for USD 1000 million.
The loan aims to provide support to Aatma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyan through MGNREG Scheme. This is expected to facilitate economic activity and employment generation to stimulate rural demand, which will in turn help the recovery of economy, hit by Covid-19.