Current Affairs Quiz - December, 2020

Notes:
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.

Notes:
The Reserve Bank of India’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) held on December 4, 2020 decided to keep interest rates unchanged with an “accommodative” policy stance.
The MPC has kept repo rate unchanged at 4% and maintained reverse repo rate at 3.35%. RBI also predicted a real GDP growth of -7.5% for FY21, from the earlier prediction of -9.5%. MPC also expected that the inflation rate will remain high.

Notes:
Recently, the state Government of Jharkhand has accepted the Union Government’s alternative offer to meet the GST compensation shortfall for States. By this, all states and 3 UTs have joined the option 1.
To compensate the shortfall in GST, the central government has proposed two options – First, States can borrow ₹1.1 lakh crore out of the estimated ₹ 2.35 lakh crore shortfall or second, states could borrow the entire compensation shortfall through the issue of market debt.

Notes:
A Legislation has been passed by the USA’s House of Representatives that seeks to create an initiative to study and promote the legacies of Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King. 
This paves way for an annual educational forum for scholars and researchers of both countries that would revolve around the preaching and ideologies of Gandhi – Martin Luther King.

Notes:
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.

Notes:
The International Volunteer Day, also called as the International Volunteer Day Economic and Social Development is observed every year on the 5th December by the United Nations.
This has been mandated by the UN General Assembly since 1885. This day promotes volunteer efforts and volunteerism for achievement of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at local, national and international levels.

Notes:
Mastercard, the National Institute for Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (ni-msme) and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) have partnered to launch Digital Saksham.
It is a capacity building initiative to create awareness on digitization for MSMEs in the country. Under the programme, more than 3 lakh micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) across 25 cities in seven states of India will be trained in the digital space.

Notes:
The 63rd Founding Day Celebrations of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) was held recently.
During the occasion, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman released the DRI’s report titled Smuggling in India Report 2019-20. The report makes a detailed analysis of smuggling trends on Gold, Foreign Currency, Narcotic Drugs etc.

Notes:
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.

Notes:
The United Nations General Assembly designated 9 December as International Anti-Corruption Day, every year. This year, the theme is ‘Recover with Integrity’.
The day aims to raise awareness of corruption and of the role of the UN Convention in fighting and preventing it. In the year 2003, the UNGA adopted the United Nations Convention against Corruption.