December 2020 Monthly Current Affairs Online Test English

• The Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 has been amended by the Motor Vehicles Amendment Act, 2019 to include the definition of the term ‘Aggregator’.
• The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has issued the Motor Vehicle Aggregator Guidelines 2020, to regulate shared mobility services. The ride hailing services require permission from the state governments to start operations, and states will follow the norms specified by the Centre.

• Several groups of farmers from Punjab, Haryana and other parts of the country, demanding the repeal of the new agriculture reform laws passed by the Union Government, are holding protests under the name of ‘Delhi Chalo’. The farmers were granted permission to hold peaceful protests at Nirankari Ground in North west Delhi. As per the farmers, the new agriculture laws will dismantle the minimum support price (MSP) system.

• Mizoram has debarred its Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) and retired IPS officer Lalduhoma from the state assembly. He was in charge of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s security. In 1988, he was the first Member of Parliament to have been disqualified from the Lok Sabha, under the Anti–Defection Law. At present, the charge on him is despite being elected as an independent candidate, he declared himself as a representative of ZPM.

• The International Day for the Abolition of Slavery is a yearly event on December.2, organized by the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA). The day was first celebrated in the year 1986.

• GMRT (Giant Metre–wave Radio Telescope) is an observatory located in Pune, Maharashtra. It is operated by the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research– National Centre for Radio Astrophysics. US based technical organisation, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) has granted the status of ‘Milestone’ to the observatory. This is the third facility to receive the milestone status in India after the works of Sir C V Raman and Sir J C Bose.

• The Indian Navy has taken two MQ–9B Sea Guardian drones from an American defence company, on lease for 1 year. The unmanned aerial vehicles, manufactured by US firm General Atomics, have been obtained on lease, to enhance surveillance over the Indian Ocean Region (IOR). The vehicles arrived at the naval air station INS Rajali in Tamil Nadu.

• As per the recent study conducted by the Central Pollution control board and IIT– Delhi, Indo–Gangetic plains continue to be the most polluted region in the country, in terms of PM 2.5 levels. The study also revealed that the rate of increase in pollution levels southern and eastern India is greater than the Indo–Gangetic plains, between 2000 and 2019. It also found that air pollution in rural areas of the country increased similar to that of urban areas.

• As per International Air Transport Association’s (IATA), recent report, China’s Shanghai has become the world’s most connected city, replacing London from the top spot. According to the IATA, London has witnessed a 67% fall in air connectivity due to the prevalent COVID–19 pandemic. With Shanghai added to the top list, world’s four most connected cities are now in China.

• US based– Merriam–Webster, known for its dictionaries, has recently announced ‘pandemic’ as its 2020 word of the year.
• As per the company, when the World Health Organisation declared the novel coronavirus outbreak a global pandemic on March 11, the searches on the site for ‘pandemic’ rose hugely. The word has roots in Latin and Greek. It is a combination of pan, meaning all, and demos, meaning people.

• The 4th Trilateral Meeting on Maritime Security Cooperation between India, Sri Lanka, and Maldives was hosted by Sri Lanka. It was held in Colombo and India was represented by the National Security Advisor Ajit Doval. The earlier such meetings were held in Maldives (2011), Sri Lanka (2013) and in India (2014).

• Japan’s spacecraft named ‘Hayabusa2’ is approaching the Earth after a year–long journey from an asteroid Ryugu, about 300 million kilometers from earth. As per the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, the spacecraft will bring soil samples and data that could provide clues to the origins of the solar system and life on Earth. The agency would drop the capsule containing the samples, in southern Australia.

• As per the recent statement, India recorded the highest reduction in Malaria cases, in the South–East Asian region. As per the ‘World Malaria Report 2020’, India reduced the number of cases from 20 million in 2000 to about 5.6 million in 2019. India also recorded a reduction in the number of deaths from malaria. Globally there were 229 malaria cases in 2019.

• The birth anniversary of the first Sikh guru, Guru Nanak is celebrated as the Guru Nanak Dev Gurpurab, commonly called as ‘Gurupurab’. On this occasion, a book titled ‘Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Government’s Special Relationship with Sikhs’ was launched.
• It is published by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and was released in English, Hindi and Punjabi languages with the messages of Guru Nanak.

• The International Day of Persons with Disabilities is observed every year on December 3 to promote the rights and well–being of persons with disabilities in all spheres of society and development and to increase awareness of the situation of persons with disabilities in every aspect of political, social, economic and cultural life.

• ‘BrahMos Aerospace’ is a joint venture company set up by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Mashinostroyenia of Russia. Recently, Indian Navy test–fired the naval version of BrahMos missile in the Bay of Bengal. The missile was test–fired from a Rajput–class destroyer INS Ranvijay, hitting a decommissioned target ship. Earlier, the Indian Army and Air Force test–fired the missile.

• China launched the ambitious ‘One Belt and One Road’ (OBOR) initiative in 2013, to link Southeast Asia, Central Asia, the Gulf region, Africa and Europe with a network of land and sea routes. During the 19th meeting of the Council of Heads of Governments of the SCO, all other member nations of SCO, except India reaffirmed their support to the OBOR project of China. India is critical of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a part of OBOR.

• Pune City Police has recently inaugurated the ‘Balsnehi (Child–Friendly) Police Station’, on the premises of Lashkar Police Station in Pune Camp.
• The Police Station has a room designated for children, who would come to report cases to the station. It also aims to create a set–up to rehabilitate children in need. Earlier, a Child–friendly Police Station was set up in Krishna District on the premises of Machilipatnam.

• The Union Minister for Tribal Affairs Arjun Munda has launched a virtual edition of the first ever Aadi Mahotsav celebrated in the state of Madhya Pradesh. This is a festive being celebrated for 10 days. It would be hosted by Tribes India. The key focus on this year’s Aadi Mahotsav is “tribal craft and culture of Madhya Pradesh”.

• India and the United States attended the inaugural meeting of the Counter–narcotics Working Group (CNWG), in virtual mode. Indian delegation was represented by the Deputy Director General of Narcotics Control Board, Ministry of Home Affairs.

• The United States has issued an order to ban the cotton and cotton products from the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (XPCC), one of the largest producers of China. The U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency issued “Withhold Release Order” to increase economic pressure on the Xinjiang region. US cites the reason for the ban as ‘slave labour’ of detained Uighur Muslims used by China.

• In 1996 the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed that 7 December was to be the International Civil Aviation Day. The day has been celebrated by the International Civil Aviation Organization since 1994 December 7, the 50th anniversary of the signing the Convention on International Civil Aviation. The purpose of the day is to recognize the importance of aviation to the social and economic development of the world.

• Microsoft India and the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) have partnered for the India edition of the Microsoft Imagine Cup 2021. Imagine Cup is an annual innovation challenge held by Microsoft for students and technology enthusiasts. It aims to empower students to apply artificial intelligence and other technologies to solve the sustainability issues of the world.

• CLMV countries are Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam. They are also the members of the Association of South East Nations (ASEAN). During the Inaugural Session of the 6th India – CLMV Business Conclave 2020, India invited the CLMV countries to join the International Solar Alliance and the Resilient Supply Chain Initiative by India.

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has proposed to increase the limit for contactless card transactions to Rs 5,000 from Rs 2,000 per transaction from January 1, 2021.
• This announcement was part of the RBI’s Statement on Developmental and Regulatory Policies, announced during the RBI’s bi–monetary policy announcement. The limit for e–mandates for recurring transactions using cards and UPI is also raised to Rs 5000.

• The United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) is one of the commissions of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), headquartered at Vienna, Austria.
• Recently, during a reconvened session of CND, 53 member states voted for removing Cannabis from Schedule IV of the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, where it was listed with deadly & addictive drugs. 27 members including India, voted for removing Cannabis from the convention.

• One of the two lesser florican birds that was tagged by the Gujarat forest department has flown all the way to the state of Telangana. The bird was tagged at the Blackbuck National Park (BBNP), Velavadar, in Bhavnagar. This has confirmed a research finding that lesser florican birds migrate to peninsular India from the western part of India after their breeding season.

• Parkash Singh Badal, who is the former Chief Minister of Punjab and a leader of Shiromani Akali Dal party has returned Padma Vibhushan award back to the Government. He has returned the award to show his protest against Agriculture reforms brought by the Centre. He was honoured with the prestigious award in the year 2015.

• Every year December 5 is celebrated as World Soil Day across the world since 2014, to create awareness about the importance of healthy soil and sustainable management of soil resources. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) campaign, the theme of World Soil day 2020 is “Keep soil alive, protect soil biodiversity”. International Union of Soil Sciences (IUSS) recommended it in 2002 recommended to celebrate this day in 2002.

• In 2019, the United Nations General Assembly designated December 4 as the International Day of Banks. It is celebrated for the first time in 2020. The day is celebrated to recognise the importance of multilateral development banks and international development banks in financing sustainable development. It also recognises the role of the banking systems in improving the standard of living.

• The Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has recently issued an advisory to all the private satellite channels to ensure that no advertisements that promote prohibited activities are telecasted. The advisory mentioned that advertisements on online gaming, betting and fantasy sports were misleading and are inconsistent with the Ministry’s Advertising Code.

• The Madras High Court has the highest number of women Judges among all the High Count of India. Among the additional 13 Judges who sworn in recently, 4 were women. As of now, the total number of women judges in Madras High Court stands at 13. Justice AP Sahi is the present Chief Justice of Madras High Court.

• India Empowerment Fund is set to be launched by the IIT Alumni Council for investing a sum of Rs.50,000 crore in India’s research system. The fund would be invested in a period of 10 years. The fund will be operated as IIT Angel Fund and would be regulated under Angel Investor Funds.

• The India Mobile Congress (IMC) is organised by the Department of Telecommunications, Communication Ministry and the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI). Prime Minister Narendra Modi delivered the inaugural address at the Mobile Congress. The event is to be held in virtual mode from December 8 to 10. The theme for IMC 2020 is “Inclusive Innovation – Smart, Secure, Sustainable”.

• The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) released the IUCN World Heritage Outlook 3. It uses the data of the previous reports from 2014 and 2017 to track whether the conservation efforts of the world’s 252 natural world heritage sites are on track. The report revealed that the conservation outlook of mountain chain of the Western Ghats is of great concern.

• Bihar state is set to organise the first ever migratory bird festival this year. This three–day long festival is aimed to enhance the awareness about migratory birds among common public and to check cases of poaching in the region. The festival would be jointly organised by Bhagalpur forest division, Bombay Natural History Society and Mandar Nature Club of Bihar.

• Nepal has recalculated the height of the world’s highest peak Mount Everest. The country along with China announced the revised height of the peak as 8,848.86 metres. This height is almost 86 centimetres higher than the previous measurement done by the Survey of India in 1954. The new height is also four metres higher than the China’s recent measurement. The Nepal–China border passes through the summit.

• India’s Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Manoj Mukund Naravane has undertaken a “historic” six–day visit to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia. This is first such visit by the Indian Army Chief to the two Gulf countries. This visit aims to strengthen the strategic and defence cooperation between the two countries. Saudi Arabia is India’s fourth–largest trading partner.

• The Rajasthan state Tourism department has tied up with UNESCO and implementing a project by adopting ‘Art of Life’ methodology. Around 10 cultural tourism hubs are being created in Jaisalmer, Jodhpur, Bikaner, and Barmer districts. The project aims to connect the performing artists and handicraft artists with the admirers of the art and culture.

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.

• The companies of USA and China have dominated the global arms market in the year 2019, as per a report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). The arms industry of USA accounts for nearly 61% of the sales by top 25 arms manufacturers. Chinese firms account for 15.7% of the sales by top 25 arms manufacturers.

• The Urban Governance Index–2020 has released by the Mumbai–based non–profit organisation Praja Foundation. As per the index, Odisha tops the list of states in urban governance followed by Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh. The study assessed the urban governance reforms across 40 cities in 28 states and NCT of Delhi.

• The United Kingdom became the first country in the world to start using the COVID–19 vaccine. The vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech was approved by the regulators. Several hubs across the country are vaccinating the people. The vaccine is given as two injections with 21 days apart. The complete immunity is said to be reached seven days after the second dose.

• The Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), an autonomous body under the administrative control of Ministry of External Affairs. It was founded in 1950 by Maulana Abul Kalam Azad. As per the ICCR president Vinay Sahasrabuddhe, the body is surveying the textbooks taught in the schools of more than 200 countries, under the “Global understanding of India project”, to understand what is taught about India globally.

• Some Indian organizations are investigating “organochlorines” used as pesticides or in mosquito as the cause for a mysterious illness in Andhra Pradesh. The illness has led to the death of one person and more than 400 people being hospitalized. Organochlorines are cancer causing agents and researches have proved that it causes multiple human ailments.

• In 1996 the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed that 7 December was to be the International Civil Aviation Day. The day has been celebrated by the International Civil Aviation Organization since 1994 December 7, the 50th anniversary of the signing the Convention on International Civil Aviation. The purpose of the day is to recognize the importance of aviation to the social and economic development of the world.

• Google India has recently released its annual ‘Year in Search’ results, which highlighted the most popular searches on Google. As per the report, US President–elect Joe Biden was the most searched personality on Google this year. The IPL was the top trending search of the year and Searches about Covid–19 pandemic featured the most in the list.

• Recently, Japan has exempted import inspection for the Indian black tiger shrimps. Japan is the second largest market for Indian black tiger shrimps after the US. This decision has been taken by the country after the export consignments were found totally free from any residue of synthetic anti–bacterial drug ‘Furazolidone’. This will enhance the farming and export of the shrimps from West Bengal and Kerala.
________________________________________

• The NASA is implementing a program for “Data sonification”, which involves the use of non–speech data to be translated into sound. Recently, the Researchers at the Chandra X–ray center has used three important phenomenon of the universe and translated the frequencies of light into different pitches of sound. Crab Nebula, Bullet Cluster and Super nova are the three iconic images.

• Recently, researchers have found the presence of animal products, such as the meat of pigs, cattle, buffalo, sheep and goat in the remains of Indus Valley Civilization. This has been conformed from the Lipid residue analysis of ceramic vessels found in the urban and rural settlements of the civilization in North and western part of India.

• Every year December 12th is observed as the Universal Health Coverage (UHC) Day by the World Health Organisation. UHC ensures that all people get access to quality health services without any financial hardships. Universal health coverage has been inducted as Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by the United Nations. This years’ (2020) is “Health for All: Protect Everyone”

• The 5th India Water Impact Summit (IWIS) has recently commenced with a focus on Arth Ganga – river conservation synchronised development. The theme of the summit is comprehensive analysis and holistic management of rivers and water bodies. It is being organised virtually by the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) and the Centre for Ganga River Basin Management and Studies (cGanga).

• The World Health Organisation (WHO) has recently appreciated India’s initiative of ‘Fitness Ka Dose, Aadha Ghanta Roz’. The campaign, which aims to promote physical activity, was launched as part of the nation–wide Fit India Movement. It urges all Indians to follow at least 30 minutes of fitness activities every day. This is on the lines with the WHO fitness campaign.

• Agharkar Research Institute (ARI), Pune, an autonomous institute of the Department of Science & Technology, has recently spotted a new species of Murainagrass. Ischaemum is a genus of grass, widespread in tropical and semitropical regions. It is commonly called as Murainagrass. A new and tolerant species has been spotted in Goa in the Western Ghats. It was named Ischaemum janarthanamiiin honour of Goa University’s Botany Professor M. K. Janarthanam.

• The Indian Railways has recently launched Hospital Management Information System (HMIS). This aims to provide enhanced health care facilities to its employees. The trial version of the project has been launched in South Central Railway. This is expected to improve the health care system of the Railways and improve the utilisation of resources.

• International Anti–Corruption Day is observed on 9 December. The day aims to raise awareness about corruption and the measures that can be taken to combat corruption. The theme for the year 2020 is “Recover with Integrity”.

• “The Presidential Years” is an upcoming book authored by the late former President of India Pranab Mukherjee. This memoir is the fourth volume of the memoirs, that will be released globally in January 2021. The third volume of former President’s autobiography titled “The Coalition Years — 1996–2012” in the year 2017.

• Indian Mountain Initiative (IMI) organized the 9th edition of Sustainable Mountain Development Summit in Dehradun. The summit has been organized in a Virtual Mode, on account of the COVID 19 pandemic. It is a 4–day long summit where issues like migration, water security, climate resilience would be discussed by delegates.

• The Export–Import Bank of India (Exim Bank) has recently extended a USD 448–million line of credit (LOC) for various infrastructure projects in Uzbekistan. Extended on behalf of the Indian government, the LoC would be used in various projects in transport, water and technology sectors in the country. EXIM Bank has so far extended 266 LOCs to various countries.

• Russia has successfully test–launched its heavy lift Angara A5 space rocket for the second time, the first launch having undertaken in 2014. As per the state space agency Rocosmos, these Angara rockets do not use aggressive and toxic propellants, thereby increasing environmental safety in the areas adjacent to the launch complex and in the drop zones.

• 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.

• Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla released a book on occasion of 19th anniversary of the Indian Parliament attack. The book titled ‘The Shaurya Unbound’ (English Version) and ‘Samundar Samawe Boond Mein’ (Hindi Version) were released on the 2001 incident. As many as 14 people including the five terrorists died during the incident.

• French President Emmanuel Macron has announced a referendum to add the efforts against climate change and the need to protect the environment in the French Constitution. Earlier, the EU leaders including Macron agreed to achieve at least 55 percent compared with 1990 levels, by 2030.

• Several bar–headed geese have recently migrated to Point Calimere Bird and Wildlife Sanctuary, which is located on the eastern coast of Tamil Nadu. These birds have the ability to fly in extreme weather and very high altitudes. They might have flown thousands of miles from Tibet, Central China and Mongolia. They breed in these countries and migrate to India during winter.

• 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.

• An indigenously built interceptor boat C–454 of the Indian Coast Guard was commissioned at Hazira port in Surat, Gujarat. This Interceptor boat is built by L&T Jetty, Hazira and is capable of operating in shallow water with very high speed. The boat is fitted with advanced navigation and communication equipment.

• Union Minister for Finance & Corporate Affairs Nirmala Sitharaman chaired the 22nd Meeting of the Financial Stability and Development Council (FSDC) and reviewed the current global and domestic macro–economic situation and financial stability in the nation. Union Finance Minister is the chairperson of FSDC, an autonomous regulatory body set up in the year 2010.

• 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.

• The Union Cabinet headed by the Prime Minister has recently approved the next round of auctioning of the telecommunication spectrum. A total of 2251.25 MHz is being offered for auction valued at Rs.3,92,332.70 crore. The most recent Spectrum auction in India was held in the year 2016, with the government raising Rs 65,789.12 crore in revenue.

• The Young Champions of the Earth prize is given every year by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) to seven scientists, entrepreneurs, engineers and activists, who have contributed ideas for sustainable environment change. Every prize awardee would receive a prize amount of $10,000 as seed fund for development and incubation of their ideas.

• 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.

• The United Nations Development Programme introduced a new measure named called the Planetary Pressures–adjusted HDI, or PHDI. It assesses the impact caused by each country’s per–capita carbon emissions and its material footprint. While India stands at 131st rank in the Human Development Index, when this metric is considered, India is placed at 123rd rank in the list, which is topped by Ireland.

• The Human Freedom Index 2020 is released by the Cato Institute in the United States and Fraser Institute in Canada, which measures the state of Human Freedom in the world. Out of 162 countries that were ranked in the index, India has been placed at 111th rank. India was ranked 110 in terms of personal freedom and 105 on economic freedom. An overall score of 6.43 out of 10 was given to India, with the global average score being 6.93.

• The Government of India has recently offered official recognition to Yoga as a competitive sport, as a push to make it a part of the Olympic Games. Recently, India established the National Yogasana Sport Federation of India (NYSFI) for the development of yoga as a competitive sport. Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports and Ministry of AYUSH are collaborating in this regard.

• An Astronomical Conjunction, which is the closer appearance of the heavenly bodies from the Earth’s perspective, is to occur on the night of December 21. The planets will appear extremely close to each other, making them look like one bright dot in the sky. However, the actual distance from each other will be around 735 million kms. The planets were seen very close only in 1623.

• The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is set to launch satellites of private players onboard PSLV C51. The first of its kind mission would launch an earth observation satellite ‘ANAND’, fully built by a start–up named Pixel India. Two more satellites named ‘SATISH SAT’’, built by ‘Space Kids India’, and ‘UNIT–SAT’, built by consortium of universities would also be sent.

• The Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa launched the ‘Bengaluru Mission 2022’, to enhance the infrastructure facilities in the city in next two years to mark 75 years of independence. The Focus areas in infrastructure renovation for Bengaluru will be providing Faster commute, Green City, Access to services and Culture and heritage. Facilities for Electric Vehicles, Suburban rail, Tree parks are also being planned.

• Every year, 18th of December is observed as the International Day of Migrants by the United Nations. This decision was made by the United Nation General Assembly in the year 2000, taking into consideration large and increasing number of migrants around the world. The theme for this year’s Migration day is “Reimagining Human Mobility”.

• India has been ranked 63rd among 190 countries, as per latest Doing Business Report (DBR, 2020) of World Bank (WB). As per report, the World Bank (WB) has recognized India as one of the top 10 improvers for the third consecutive year.
• India’s recovery rate under resolving insolvency has improved significantly from 26.5% to 71.6%. The time taken for resolving insolvency has also come down significantly from 4.3 years to 1.6 years. India has reduced the number of procedures in granting construction permits. Apart from this, India continues to maintain its first position among South Asian countries.

• Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has launched ‘One Stop Shop’ facility, to make available over 100 types of clearances and services, required by investors. The Chief Minister also launched Public Welfare Portal 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.

• The Prime Minister Narendra Modi delivered the keynote address at ASSOCHAM Foundation Week 2020 via video conferencing. During the occasion, he presented the ‘ASSOCHAM Enterprise of the Century Award’ to Ratan Tata, who received the award on behalf of the TATA Group. Ratan Tata served as the Chairman of Tata Sons and Tata Group. He is now heading various Charitable Trusts of the Group.

• Recently, the Embassy of Japan in India has rolled out some images of E5 series Shinkansen – High speed bullet trains used in Japan, which would be modified for use in Mumbai–Ahmedabad High–Speed Rail (MAHSR) project. Once the project is completed, the travel time between Mumbai and Ahmedabad would be reduced to 2 hours. The project is expected to be completed by 2023.

• The National Farmer’s Day is celebrated every year in India on December 23 to acknowledge the role of farmers in India’s socio–economic development and to mark the birth anniversary of 5th Prime Minister Late Chaudhary Charan Singh. He used to be referred to as the ‘Champions of India’s peasants’ for his strive for the betterment of farmer’s lives in the country. The day is popularly known as ‘Kisan Diwas’.

• The Indian Government has decided to constitute a High–Level Committee to commemorate the 125th Birth Anniversary of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. The Committee headed by Union Home Minister Amit Shah will work on the activities for a yearlong commemoration starting 23rd January, 2021. Other members of the Committee will include historians, authors, family members of Netaji, as well as persons associated with Azad Hind Fauj–INA.

• Anthropological Survey of India (AnSI) is the apex organisation, functioning under the Ministry of Culture, Government of India. It is headquartered in Kolkata. It is involved in anthropological studies and field data research for human and cultural aspects. Recently AnSI in a policy document warned that any commercial activity in North Sentinel islands would be a threat to the tribals.

• An international team of scientists has recently collected the first possible radio signal from a planet beyond our solar system. Emission bursts have been observed which are originating from exoplanet ‘Tau Bootes’ star–system, which is about 51 light–years away. This was observed using the Low Frequency Array (LOFAR), a radio telescope in the Netherlands.

• Central Bank of India has recently launched contactless ‘RuPay Select’ debit card in association with the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI). Through this card, the users can avail membership and access to golf courses, gyms, spas and restaurants. The users can also avail discounted health check–ups with the National Common Mobility Debit Card (NCMC).

• On December 22, 2020, Assam Cabinet headed by Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal approved the ‘Assam Official Language Amendment Bill’ for making Bodo (Devanagari script) also known as ‘Boro’ as an associate official language of the state.
• According to the census 2011, There are ~ 14.16 Lakh Bodo speakers in Assam. It is one of the 22 languages listed in the 8th Schedule of the Constitution. It is spoken in the states of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Meghalaya & West bengal.

• The Submarine Day is celebrated every year by the Indian Navy on December 08 to commemorate the induction of the first submarine, the erstwhile INS Kalvari, into the Indian Navy on this day in 1967. The Foxtrot class submarine was decommissioned on the 31st May, 1996, after 29 years of service.

• The National Mathematics Day is celebrated every year in India on December 22 to commemorate the birth anniversary of great mathematical genius Srinivasa Ramanujan and to recognize his contribution to mathematics. It was in 2012 that then Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh declared December 22 as National Mathematics Day.

• The Union Cabinet has recently approved ₹59,000 crore Post Matric Scholarship for more than four crore Scheduled Caste (SC) students. In the scheme, which is to be implemented in the next five years, the total investment is ₹59,048 crore, out of which 60% will be borne by the Central Government. The rest will be spent by the state Government. Transfer of financial assistance to the students would be on DBT method.

• The International Human Solidarity Day is observed every year on December 20 to raise public awareness of the importance of solidarity. This day aims to celebrate unity in diversity and remind people of the importance of solidarity in working towards eradicating poverty. It is a day to encourage debate on the ways to promote solidarity for the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) including poverty eradication.

• On December 28, Prime Minister Narendra Modi virtually inaugurated India’s 1st ever Driverless Train Operations on Delhi Metro’s Magenta Line which connects Janakpuri West and Botanical Garden in Noida. Prime Minister Modi also inaugurated the fully operational National Common Mobility Card (NCMC) services on the Airport Express Line of Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC).

• Union Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment Thaawarchand Gehlot launched a Mobile Application “Swachhata Abhiyan”. The application aims to identify and geotag the data of insanitary latrines and manual scavengers. With this, the insanitary latrines can be replaced with sanitary latrines and rehabilitate all the manual scavengers.

• The State of the Mediterranean and Black Sea fisheries – 2020 (SoMFi 2020) was released by the Food and Agricultural Organisation’s General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM). As per the report, 75 percent of fish stocks in the Mediterranean and Black Sea marine ecosystems were subject to overfishing. But the number of such overfished stocks has decreased for the first time in the past decades.

• Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has recently flagged off the 100th Kisan Rail from Sangola in Maharashtra to Shalimar in West Bengal. The multi–commodity train service will carry vegetables and fruits. The Government of India has also extended a subsidy of 50% on transportation of fruits and vegetables. Kisan Rail enables the farmers to transport their agricultural produce across the country.

• China launched the ambitious ‘One Belt and One Road’ (OBOR) initiative in 2013, to link Southeast Asia, Central Asia, the Gulf region, Africa and Europe with a network of land and sea routes. During the 19th meeting of the Council of Heads of Governments of the SCO, all other member nations of SCO, except India reaffirmed their support to the OBOR project of China. India is critical of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a part of OBOR.

• Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) has recently launched the nation’s first 100 Octane petrol. Union Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan launched the petrol. The 100–octane petrol also called as XP100 premium petrol will be initially available at select outlet of IOC in 10 cities.
• The fuel is manufactured at IOC’s Mathura refinery in Uttar Pradesh. Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) had earlier launched Octane 99. Higher the octane number of a fuel, higher will be its compression and performance.

• The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has created a new laboratory named Defence Geo Informatics Research Establishment. It has been formed by merging two existing labs namely Manali–headquartered Snow and Avalanche Studies Establishment (SASE) and the Delhi–based Defence Terrain Research Establishment. The new lab will focus on research on the terrain along the borders with China and Pakistan.

• The recent spread of Leaf Fall Disease in rubber plantations of Thailand has been a cause of worry to Indian Plantations. In November, the total affected area of rubber plantation of Thailand was 90,000 ha and there is a potential production loss of 1.30 lakh tons of rubber. It has been cited by Rubber Board officials that the disease has the potential to spread to India.

• Suriname, officially the Republic of Suriname, is a small country on the north–eastern coast of South America. It was previously known as ‘Dutch Guiana’. The 7th India–Suriname Joint Commission Meeting (JCM) was recently held virtually. The JCM was co–chaired by Minister of State for External Affairs, V. Muraleedharan and his counterpart in Suriname.