Current Affairs Quiz - December, 2020

Notes:
UNESCO has launched the ‘2020 State of the Education Report for India: Vocational Education First’ report, virtually in New Delhi.
This is the second edition of the State of Education Report and it focuses on technical and vocational education and training (TVET). UNESCO also reaffirmed to support India in the National Skill Development Mission.

Notes:
Veteran aerospace scientist and Padma Vibhushan awardee Roddam Narasimha has recently passed away at the age of 87.
He served at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), teaching Aerospace Engineering from 1962 to 1999. He also served as the director of the National Aerospace Laboratories. He was conferred with the Padma Vibhushan award in 2013.

Notes:
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has decided to set up an Automated Banknote Processing Centre (ABPC) in Jaipur.
The Centre would undertake all processes for receipt, storage and dispatch of currency notes. It would also process the banknotes received from currency chests and bank branches, and destroy soiled banknotes in an automated manner.

Notes:
T-Fiber, Telangana Fiber Grid Project is a state-wide project, which aims to establish optical fiber network and to provide high-speed broadband service in Telangana.
Recently, the Telangana state government has declared the T-Fiber project a ‘Vital Public Purpose Project’. This means, the project need not get permission from several state departments for implementation.

Notes:
In a bilateral meeting between India’s Education Minister and Foreign Secretary of UK, the countries agreed to strengthen their engagement in the field of education and research.
They also agreed to set up a joint Task Force consisting of designated higher education organizations from both the countries, for working towards mutual recognition of academic qualifications.

Notes:
The Human Development Index for the year 2020 has been released by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
As per the report, India has been ranked at 131 out of 189 countries. Last year, India was ranked at 130. HDI is measured with three parameters namely life expectancy, education and per capita income. This year’s index has incorporated new parameters namely CO2 emission and Material foot print and introduced Planetary pressures–adjusted Human Development Index (PHDI).

Notes:
The Himalayan serow has been spotted for the first time in the Himalayan cold desert region, in Spiti, Himachal Pradesh.
These are herbivores animals and are found between 2000 m and 4000 m altitude. They have an appearance similar to that of a goat, but with long ears. They have a habit of standing with fore legs stretched.

Notes:
E-commerce platform Snapdeal has partnered with National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) to allow buyers to make digital payments at the time delivery.
This QR-based facility aims to assist new or first-time users who are not comfortable in pre-paying for the goods. The delivery executive will generate a UPI-linked QR code, which will be scanned by the customer for payment.

Notes:
Department of Telecommunication, Ministry of Communication presents the Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay Telecom Skill Excellence Awards.
The Award scheme was originally launched in the year 2017, to recognise the successful telecom skilled people and to enable them apply telecom related solution in various fields like health and Education. This year’s awards were recently presented by the Communications Minister.

Notes:
Captain of the Poland National Football Team, Robert Lewandowski won The FIFA Best Men’s Player Award 2020.
The Poland striker beat the previous winners Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, who were in the short-list. He was also named the 2019-20 UEFA Men’s Player of the Year in October. English footballer Lucy Bronze won the Best Women’s player award.