Current Affairs Quiz - December, 2020

Notes:
Starship is the futuristic rocket-ship of SpaceX, the private space company owned by billionaire Elon Musk. It is being designed to carry people to Mars.
The first high-altitude test flight of the Starship was aborted at the last second, due to an automatic engine abort just ahead of the count-down. SpaceX has conducted five Starship test flights but not at high altitude.

Notes:
The Union Cabinet headed by the Prime Minister has approved establishment of Submarine Optical Fibre Cable Connectivity between Kochi and Lakshadweep Islands.
The project is proposed to be established at a cost of Rs.1,072 crore that includes operational maintenance of the project for a period of 5 years. The proposed project would connect 11 islands of Lakshadweep.

Notes:
Google launched a new health research app called the ‘Google Health Studies’. It enables the research institutions to connect with potential study participants.
Through this app, android users can take part in health studies by answering survey questions and providing relevant data. Its first study will focus on respiratory illnesses like COVID-19.

Notes:
The International Olympic Committee has recently confirmed Breakdancing as an official Olympic sport, to be added at the 2024 Paris Games.
IOC executive board also confirmed three sports namely skateboarding, sport climbing, and surfing at the Tokyo Games. The Olympic Games scheduled at Tokyo in 2020 was postponed to 2021.

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 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:
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 state government of Maharashtra has launched a new set of rules governing the real estate development.
Called as the ‘Unified Development Control and Promotion Regulations (UDCPR)’, the rules will be applicable to the entire state except Mumbai civic body and some authorities with their own rules. This will bring clarity in regulations and uniformity in the width and size of the projects etc.

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:
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.