Current Affairs Quiz - December, 2020

Notes:
India’s first indigenous vaccine against pneumonia has been developed by Serum Institute of India (SII), for active immunisation against invasive disease and pneumonia caused by ‘Streptococcus pneumonia’ in infants.
This vaccine is expected to be more affordable than existing vaccines manufactured by two foreign companies- Pfizer and GlaxoSmithKline.

Notes:
The European Union has recently announced that it has banned to export unsorted plastics to less industrialized nations outside the OECD.
The new rules amend the group’s 2006 Waste Shipment Regulation and under the rules effective from January 1 2021, Non-OECD nations could be sent clean, non-hazardous waste exports for recycling.

Notes:
The state government in Kerala has announced Rs 10,000 crore worth development projects would be completed or launched in the next 100 days.
The Chief Minister also announced that nine new industrial units, including the Defence Park in Palakkad would be inaugurated. The state also targets job openings through poverty eradication mission, Kudumbashree.

Notes:
Former India pacer Chetan Sharma has been appointed Chief selector of the national men’s cricket team.
The Cricket Advisory Committee also selected two more members to the All-India Senior Selection Committee. The CAC will review the candidates after one year and make recommendations to the BCCI.

Notes:
The World Health Organization (WHO) has released a list of global health issues that the world shall have to deal with in the year 2021.
The issues include building solidarity, tackling health inequities, fighting non-communicable diseases, strengthening health systems of all countries, fast-tracking Covid-19 testing and treatment, among others.

Notes:
Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) has been selected as the best performing civic body in the country.
Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs announced this under the Annual awards for excellence, for its contribution of PMAY-Urban scheme in 2019. Andhra Pradesh has secured the third position in the best performing State category.

Notes:
Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) commissioned a Monpa handmade paper making unit in Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh.
The 1000-year-old heritage art, which disappeared in recent years, has been recovered by the efforts of KVIC. The fine-textured handmade paper is called Mon Shugu in the local dialect, and is made from the bark of a local tree called Shugu Sheng.

Notes:
The Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath announced that the history of Sikh gurus will be included in the school curriculum.
He also declared that ‘Sahibzada Diwas’, which marks the martyrdom of four sons of 10th Sikh Guru Gobind Singh and his mother, will be celebrated in all schools.

Notes:
Bank of Baroda (BoB) has recently launched a Digital lending platform (DLP) to enable retail clients to get loans digitally through a paperless process.
Under the platform, ‘In Principle approval’ for Home Loans, Car loan and Personal Loans are granted in 30 minutes without human intervention. Micro personal loans are also offered to shop through partner channels and pay later in EMIs.

Notes:
The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has recently updated its mobile application “My FASTag” with a new feature to check balance status.
In 2017, NHAI launched two mobile applications namely MyFASTag and FASTag Partner. While the former is for FASTag uses the latter is to be used by the merchants like CSCs, banking partners and vehicle dealers.