Current Affairs Quiz - December, 2020

Notes:
Two lawsuits have been filed by the United States Federal government and governments of 48 US states and territories accusing Facebook.
The Social media major has been accused of eliminating competition with the acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp. The anti-competitive conduct, which adds to the monopoly of the company is accused.

Notes:
As per the recent announcement from the India Meteorological Department (IMD), widespread rain or thundershowers will come back to Tamil Nadu, Kerala and regions over the South Peninsula.
The Easterly waves move fast across the Bay of Bengal and usually target the south peninsula region. Also called as the tropical wave or tropical easterly wave, it is an area of relatively low air pressure, which moves from east to west across the tropics and causes cloudiness and thunderstorms.

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:
T-Fiber, Telangana Fiber Grid Project is a state-wide project, which aims to establish optical fiber network and to provide high-speed broadband service in Telangana.
Recently, the Telangana state government has declared the T-Fiber project a ‘Vital Public Purpose Project’. This means, the project need not get permission from several state departments for implementation.

Notes:
Maharashtra had tabled the Maharashtra Shakti Criminal Law (Maharashtra Amendment) Act, 2020, as well as Maharashtra Exclusive Special Court Law in the state legislature.
The government has accepted the demand of the Opposition and sent the bill to a joint committee of both houses of the state legislature. The bill seeks to provide strict punishments for crimes such as rape, acid attack, and derogatory material on social media against women and children.

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.

Notes:
The pre 1965 rail link between India and Bangladesh – Chilahati-Haldibari rail link has been inaugurated. In order to enhance the rail connectivity between the two countries, it was decided that six number of pre 1965 rail routes would be reopened.
With the Chilahati-Haldibari rail link declared opened, five out of the said six routes are operational between India and Bangladesh.

Notes:
Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has launched ‘PAReSHRAM’ portal, for the industrial development of the state.
The Chief Minister also launched 22 online services of Department of Labour and Employees’ State Insurance (ESI). The portal will have information regarding different labour laws. Entrepreneurs can get registration certificate, licence and approval through the portal.

Notes:
Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has launched ‘One Stop Shop’ (OSS) facility, to make available over 100 types of clearances and services, required by investors.
The Chief Minister also launched Public Welfare Portal (PWP) or Jan Kalyan Portal, to consolidate the information of eligibility, benefits of the state schemes, useful circulars and orders etc. It also highlights the efforts of the Government in two years.

Notes:
The Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) has imposed a Rs 96 lakh penalty for the leading American online payment gateway giant PayPal.
The penalty is for the alleged contravention of the anti-money laundering law by the Company. FIU also accused PayPal for hiding suspect financial transactions. PayPal has been operating in India since 2017.