Current Affairs Quiz-December, 2019

Notes:
Union Minister of Human Resource Development (HRD) Shri Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank has launched 3 books for children namely Kumbh, Garam Pahad and Dilli ki Bulbul (Sindhi edition)in New Delhi. The 3 books, penned by Dr. Anita Bhatnagar Jain (an officer of Indian Administrative Services (1985 batch), are a collection of stories for children and have documented the environmental issues & topics like socio-cultural unity, cultural heritage along with the message of save environment in a very lucid manner.

Notes:
Two IITs and the National Council of Science Museums (NCSM) have joined hands to develop Gandhipedia, an online repository of books, letters and speeches written by Mahatma Gandhi, to commemorate his 150th birth anniversary.The entire project will be done with the help of Artificial Intelligence (AI). In the first phase, over 40 books written by Mahatma Gandhi will be digitised and indexed and their portions tweeted. IIT Gandhinagar is also a part of the project along with IIT Kharagpur and NSCM, an autonomous organisation under the Ministry of Culture.

Notes:
The government is to organize a two-day Conference on Ek Bharat Shreshta Bharat form 30 November- 1 December 2019 at Jammu. It will be inaugurated by Dr. Jitendra Singh, Minister of State (Independent charge) of the Ministry of DONER, Minister of State for PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions; Atomic Energy & Space along with Shri G.C. Murmu, Lieutenant Governor of the Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir, Shri R.B. Udhayakumar, Minister for Revenue & Disaster Management, Government of Tamil Nadu and Shri R.K. Mathur Lieutenant Governor of the Union Territory of Ladakh.

Notes:
Supplementary, additional or excess grants and Votes on account, votes of credit and exceptional grants are mentioned in the Constitution of India 1949.Article 115: Supplementary, additional or excess grants.Article 116: Votes on account, votes of credit and exceptional grants.When grants, authorised by the Parliament, fall short of the required expenditure, an estimate is presented before the Parliament for Supplementary or Additional grants. These grants are presented and passed by the Parliament before the end of the financial year.

Notes:
The Punjab Small Industries and Export Corporation (PSIEC) has launched the Estate Management System (EMS) and Web-based Geographic Information System (Web-GIS) on 28 November 2019. PSIEC launched it under the leadership of Capt. Amarinder Singh. The aim of the system is to ensure transparency. The system also promotes ease of doing business in the State.

Notes:
Thailand has been elected as a member of the World Heritage Committee. It was selected during the 22nd session of the General Assembly of States Parties to the World Heritage Convention in Paris. The representatives from 193 countries cast their votes to fill nine vacant seats on the 21-member World Heritage Committee.
With this selection, it will be the fourth time Thailand has served on the World Heritage Committee. The term would end in 2023. Also, the committee will reconsider Bangkok’s proposed listing of the Kaeng Krachan Forest Complex and also Phu Phrabat Historical Park in 2020.

Notes:
Congress MLA Nana Patole has been elected as Speaker of the Maharashtra Assembly. Mr Patole’s election came after the BJP took back the name of Kisan Kathore as the party’s nominee with minutes to go before the 10 am deadline. It is a tradition in the Maharashtra Assembly for the Speaker to be elected unopposed.

Notes:
Carolina Marin won second title in 71 days but Sourabh Verma faltered at the final hurdle of the $150,000 Syed Modi International badminton tournament on December 1,2019. Marin, a three-time World champion and ranked 18th in the world, went about her job in a business-like manner. She was comfortably ahead in the opening game. In the second, she easily bridged a five-point deficit. In fact, she won 15 of the last 20 points. In January, Marin suffered a nasty fall during the Indonesia Masters final against Saina Nehwal and underwent a surgery on her right knee. Following an eight-month layoff, in six tournaments, Marin won the China Open in September, lost the French Open final and now added a second title.

Notes:
The third edition of the Khelo India Youth Games which is scheduled to be held from January 10 to 22,2019 in Guwahati. The third edition will have two additional sports — Cycling and Lawn Bowls as over 10,000 participants from across the country participate in a total of 451 medal events during the 13 action-packed days. The Khelo India Games was launched in 2018 to imbibe a culture of sports in the country.

Notes:
The International Day for the Abolition of Slavery is a yearly event on December 2, organized by the United Nations General Assembly. The Day was first celebrated in 1986. The convention for the suppression of the traffic in persons and of the exploitation of the prostitution of others was approved by the United Nations General Assembly on December 2, 1949. Besides, by resolution 57/195 of 18 December 2002, the Assembly proclaimed 2004 the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle against Slavery and its Abolition.