Current Affairs Quiz-December, 2019

Notes:
On December 8, 1985 at the first SAARC Summit in Dhaka, the leaders of the seven South Asian states – the Maldives, India, Bhutan, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka – signed a charter to establish the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC). Afghanistan became the eight SAARC member in 2007.

Notes:
Human Rights Day is celebrated annually across the world on 10 December every year. The date was chosen to honour the United Nations General Assembly’s adoption and proclamation, on 10 December 1948, of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), the first global enunciation of human rights and one of the first major achievements of the new United Nations. The formal establishment of Human Rights Day occurred at the 317th Plenary Meeting of the General Assembly on 4 December 1950, when the General Assembly declared resolution 423(V), inviting all member states and any other interested organizations to celebrate the day as they saw fit.

Notes:
Eminent Hindi poet Viswanath Prasad Tiwari would be honoured with the prestigious ‘Gangadhar National Award’ during the 53rd Foundation Day celebrations of the Sambalpur University. The award, carrying a cash prize of Rs 50,000, a shawl and citation, would be presented to Tiwari in January. Instituted in memory of Odisha’s renowned bard Gangadhar Meher, the award is conferred on a poet of national repute every year since 1991.

Notes:
As per the latest SIPRI Report, Arms manufacturers’ profit rose to USD 420 billion in 2018. Three Indian companies were part of this index. These companies are – Hindustan Aeronautics (38), Indian Ordnance Factories (56) and Bharat Electronics (62). However, Lockheed Martin of the USA secured its first place in the index.

Notes:
In order to secure the CPEC sea route, China and Pakistan have signed a deal to build drones with maximum payload of 480 kg, with top speed of 370 km per hour and can fly up to 20 hours. The drones are called Loong II. These drones are similar to the MQ-9 Reaper drones developed by the US. Pakistan and China have agreed to build 48 drones in the Pakistan soil. The deal is to be implemented by the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex and Aviation Industry Corp of China. This deal is considered to be the biggest drone sale of China to any country.

Notes:
Audible, a part of e-commerce giant Amazon, on December 12 launched an India-first audio service ‘Suno’. Audible Suno – which will be available via a separate Android app – provides free and advertising-free access to hundreds of hours of original audio entertainment in Hindi and English. Suno includes more than 60 original and exclusive audio series available at launch.

Notes:
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has topped the Forbes’ 2019 edition of 100 World’s Most Powerful Women for the ninth consecutive year. She was joined in top spots by fellow prominent female political leaders. The 65-year-old German leader has made 14 appearances in list’s 16-year history of Forbes magazine which releases a wide-ranging list intended to celebrate 100 most influential females. She was praised for standing up to US President Donald Trump and for allowing over a million Syrian refugees into Germany.

Notes:
Japanese movie ‘They Say Nothing Stays the Same’, directed by actor and musician Joe Odagiri bagged the ‘Suvarna Chakoram’ (The Golden Crow Pheasant) award at the 24rd edition of the International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK). The movie recites a poetic tale of idyllic rural life being threatened by change in an uncompromising visual style. Brazilian director Allan Deberton was awarded the ‘Rajatha Chakoram’ (The Silver Crow Pheasant), for the best director for his movie ‘Pacarrete’, which brings out the bold dynamic life and dreams of an ageing artiste in a changing world.

Notes:
The Haryana Police Department has adopted a unique barcoding software. The software is used to ensure that 1000s of digital forensic reports are stored safe and secure. It offers a foolproof security to the samples collected from the crime scene.The Software features two stages of bar coding to maintain the secrecy of the samples. The samples and reports are sent through biometrically authorized chain. The cases are allocated to the biotechnology experts through automated case allocation. Therefore, the experts will not know about the details of the case or the names associated with case.

Notes:
State Bank of India (SBI) has signed a loan agreement with KfW, the German development bank, worth $277 million on 16 December 2019. The arrangement of the loan and the grant facilities was facilitated by SBI’s investment banking subsidiary SBI Capital Markets Ltd. The aim of the agreement was to establish an energy-efficient housing programme in India. The facility was signed after an agreement on financial cooperation between the two governments in October 2019. The programme will be a part of Indo-German Development Cooperation which is guided by the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.