Current Affairs Quiz - December, 2020

Notes:
The Indian Government and World Bank signed an agreement on USD 500-million project, to build safe and green national highway corridors.
According to the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, the highway corridors will be developed in the states of Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh. Under the Green National Highways Corridors Project, 783 km of highways will be developed.

Notes:
The Finance Ministry has linked a part of additional borrowing permission granted to the States to completion of reforms.
One of the four reforms is the Urban Local body/ utility reforms. Recently, the Ministry announced that Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh completed the set of reforms in functioning of ULBs, with Andhra Pradesh getting permission to mobilise highest financial resources of Rs.2,525 crore.

Notes:
The UNICEF has recently launched a Covid-19 vaccine market dashboard. It is an interactive tool to display the developments of the coronavirus vaccine market.
It also showcases the global research and development overview, the projected production capacity and supply agreements. It will also provide details on status of procurement by the UNICEF and others participating in the COVAX Facility, in 2021.

Notes:
The Union Cabinet has recently approved 100 per cent foreign direct investment (FDI) in Direct-to-Home (DTH) broadcasting services.
The Cabinet also approved revised guidelines for DTH services, similar to those of Commerce Ministry and increased the licence period to 20 years, from the present scenario of 10 years.

Notes:
Tso Kar Wetland Complex located in Ladakh has been declared as India’s 42nd Ramsar site i.e as wetland of international importance. This is the highest number of such sites in South Asia.
The high-altitude wetland complex Changthang region is of two connected lakes, the freshwater Startsapuk Tso and the hypersaline Tso Kar, in Ladakh.

Notes:
The state government in Kerala has announced Rs 10,000 crore worth development projects would be completed or launched in the next 100 days.
The Chief Minister also announced that nine new industrial units, including the Defence Park in Palakkad would be inaugurated. The state also targets job openings through poverty eradication mission, Kudumbashree.

Notes:
India has recently challenged the international arbitration court’s ruling in favour of Vodafone in the retrospective tax case, as per media reports.
Vodafone had won the case against India’s income tax (IT) department, which demanded over ₹22,000 crore on a retrospective basis. The Permanent Court of Arbitration in held that any attempt by India to enforce tax demand on Vodafone would be a violation of the country’s law obligations.

Notes:
The farmers in the tribal areas of Jawhar and Mokhada in the state of Maharashtra have started cultivation of strawberries, leading to employment generation.
Because of this, Jawhar is being called as mini-Mahabaleshwar, a place which is known for its large cultivation of strawberries in the state. Earlier, the regions were known for issues like malnutrition, unemployment and illiteracy.

Notes:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is to virtually inaugurate 351- km-long New Khurja-New Bhaupur section of the Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC).
An Operation Control Centre (OCC), which will act as the command centre for the entire DFC will also be inaugurated at Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh. This section is built at a project cost of Rs 5,750 crore and is funded by the World Bank.

Notes:
State-owned Electric power distribution company NTPC has announced that its Dulanga coal mine is commercially operational from October 1, 2020.
The mine has an annual capacity of 7 Million Tonnes Per Annum, at its peak. Out of the ten blocks allotted to NTPC by the Government, three mines are in operation. The PSU also incorporated NTPC mining Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary, for its coal mining business.