Current Affairs Quiz - December, 2020

Notes:
The Union Cabinet has approved the Memorandum of Understanding between Indi and United States for exchange of information in areas of mutual interest in the electricity sector.
Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC), India and Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), USA would join hands for this arrangement. The MoU will help to improve regulatory framework in power sector.

Notes:
The Prime Minister headed Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved a financial assistance amounting Rs.3500 crore to sugarcane farmers of the country.
The funds are to be credited directly into the bank accounts of the farmers. The decision is expected to benefit 5 crore sugarcane farmers and 5 lakh workers employed in the sugar mills.

Notes:
International Development Association (IDA) is member of the World Bank Group, headquartered in Washington, D.C. It offers concessional loans and grants to the poorest developing countries.
The IDA has signed a USD 400 million agreement with India, to support India’s efforts to provide social assistance to the poor and vulnerable households, affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Earlier, the World Bank group had approved a USD 750 million loan to India.

Notes:
A Coroner in the United Kingdom has delivered a landmark judgement, which stated that severe air pollution was the cause of the death of a 9-year-old child in the year 2013.
The child named Ella Kissi-Debrah died in a hospital due to acute respiratory failure, severe asthma and air pollution exposure.

Notes:
A new feature has been added in the RuPay cards that will allow offline contactless transactions even in areas with limited internet connectivity.
This has been introduced by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI). Additionally, the facility of reloadable wallet facility has also be introduced to boost retail transactions.

Notes:
As a part of SAGAR (Security And Growth for All in the Region) – India’s doctrine of maritime cooperation in the Indian Ocean region, India and Indonesia have engaged in the IND-INDO CORPAT exercise.
This is the 35th edition of Naval exercises between the two countries. From the Indian side, Naval Ship INS Kulish, along with P8I Maritime Patrol Aircraft (MPA) has participated in the exercise.

Notes:
The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) headed by the Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, has cleared a set of proposals for military equipment procurement amounting Rs.27,000 crore.
The proposal includes indigenously designed airborne early warning aircraft and patrol vessels. Most of these procurements are to be made from the domestic industry.

Notes:
The Prithvi-2 short range ballistic missile, which is a Surface-to-Surface Missile developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has been successfully test fired recently.
Two Prithvi-2 were test fired, off the coast of Odisha in Balasore. Prithvi 2 is the Air Force version of the missile that has a 350 km range and a payload of 500 kg.

Notes:
The new green field airport that is being constructed at Jewar of Uttar Pradesh has been named NOIDA international airport. The new logo of the airport contains a Sarus Crane, which is the state bird of Uttar Pradesh.
The contract to construct the airport has been awarded to Zurich Airport International AG. The first phase of the airport is expected to be functional by 2024.

Notes:
Chennai Mathematical Institute is a premier research and education institute, which was founded in 1989. It was granted ‘University’ status in 2006.
The Institute is set to establish Dr FC Kohli Centre of Excellence for Advanced Research in Mathematical and Computing Sciences. Dr Faquir Chand Kohli was the founder and first CEO of Tata Consultancy Services and considered the father of Indian IT Industry.