NATIONAL UPDATES:
1. India’s 1st HAM project in “Sewerage Sector”
inaugurated in Haridwar: Union Minister for Jal
Shakti Gajendra Singh Shekhawat and Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh
Rawat inaugurated the 14 MLD sewage treatment plant (STP) in Sarai village near
Haridwar in the presence of Sweden’s King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia. The
Sarai STP is “the first-ever project in the country on a hybrid annuity PPP
model (HAM)”. 34 STPs are being built in Uttarakhand at a cost of Rs 1,144
crore, besides crematoria and ghats on the Ganga. Of these, 23 have been
completed. Once all the STPs become operational, there will be “considerable
improvement in the water quality of Ganga”.
Note: Capital
of Uttarakhand: Dehradun; Governor: Baby Rani Maurya.
2. Goa hosts 2nd edition of Startup India Global
Venture Capital Summit 2019: The Startup
India Global Venture Capital Summit-2019 (2nd edition) has been started in Goa
for Fund Managers and Limited Partners of Top Global Venture Capital Firms. The
theme for Startup India Global Venture Capital Summit 2019 ‘India Opportunity:
Investing in tomorrow together’. The event will be organized by the Department
for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), in partnership with
Government of Goa. The key objectives of the Summit are to show India’s
opportunity in the sectors of E-Mobility, FinTech, MedTech, Enterprise
Software, EdTech, Genomics and Lifesciences.
3. Piyush Goyal inaugurates 3rd edition of
National Public Procurement Conclave: Commerce and
Industry Minister inaugurated the 3rd edition of National Public Procurement
Conclave in New Delhi. The two-day conclave has been organized by Government
e-Marketplace (GeM) in association with Confederation of Indian Industry. GeM
epitomizes the speed, skill and scale which is essential in an e-marketplace
platform. GeM rests on the three pillars of openness, fairness and
inclusiveness and is a symbol of a truly transparent e-marketplace. During this
conclave, a road map for the future of GeM will be put in place that will unify
all government procurement, across all Ministries and Departments.
Note: Union
Commerce and Industry Minister: Piyush Goyal.
4. IIT researchers to create ‘Gandhipedia’: The National Council of Science Museums (NCSM) and IIT (Indian
Institutes of Technology) Gandhinagar and Kharagpur, 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 which are to be completed by March 2020, and the
remaining four phases will be worked on till March 2024. The aim of Gandhipedia
is to reconstruct and remember the inspiring works of Mahatma Gandhi.
Note: National
Council of Science Museums Director-General: A. D. Choudhury; Founded: 4 April
1978; Headquarters: Kolkata, India; Parent Organization: Ministry of Culture.
5. Govt sanctions Rs 100 cr to set up women help
desks in police stations: Union Home Ministry has
sanctioned a sum 100 crore rupees from Nirbhaya Fund for setting up and
strengthening of Women Help Desks in Police Stations of States and Union
Territories (UT). The Help Desks would focus on making the Police Stations more
women-friendly and approachable. They would be the first and single point of
contact for any woman walking into a police station. Essentially, lady police
officers would be deployed at these help desks. These help desks would have
enlisted panel of experts like lawyers, psychologists and NGOs to facilitate
legal aid, counselling, shelter, rehabilitation and training.
Note: Nirbhaya
Fund was announced by the Finance Minister (then FM P. Chidambaram) in his 2013
budget speech, with Government contribution of Rs. 1000 Crores for empowerment,
safety and security of women and girl children. The Fund is administered by the
Department of Economic Affairs of the finance ministry.
6. Country's first aqua lab to be set up in
Dehradun: State forest minister Shri Harak Singh Rawat laid
the foundation stone of India’s first Ganga centralised aqua lab at Wildlife
Institute of India (WII) Dehradun, Uttarakhand. The aqua labs will be set up
under the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG). Tributaries of river Ganga
such as Gomti, Betwa, Kosi will be scientifically studied and their biological
components will be preserved in the lab.
7. Nation pays homage to Dr BR Ambedkar on his
64th Mahaparinirvan Diwas: The nation is paying
homage to Bharat Ratna Dr BR Ambedkar on his 64th Mahaparinirvan Diwas (death
anniversary) on 6 December. He was popularly known as Babasaheb Ambedkar and
everyone knows that he was one of the architects of the Indian Constitution. He
was a very well-known political leader, eminent jurist, Buddhist activist,
philosopher, anthropologist, historian, orator, writer, economist, scholar and
editor, too. He is a leader who dedicated his life to eradicating social
inequality in India. Dr Ambedkar (also known as the Father of the Indian
Constitution) died on 6th December 1956.
Note: What is
Mahaparinirvan? Parinirvan is one of the major principles and goals of
Buddhism.
As per the
Buddhist text (i.e. Mahaparinibbana Sutta) the death of Lord Buddha at the age
of 80 is considered as the original ‘Mahaparinirvan’.
INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:
1. NATO Summit 2019 in Watford, United Kingdom: The United Kingdom(UK) hosted two days organised 2019 NATO (North
Atlantic Treaty Organization) Summit in London. The year 2019 marks the 70th
anniversary of the summit. It was attended by NATO leaders and chaired by NATO
Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg. The purpose of the summit was to make the
heads of state and heads of government of NATO member countries to evaluate and
provide strategic direction for Alliance activities.
Note: Member
countries of NATO: 29; Founded: 4 April 1949; Headquarters: Brussels, Belgium.
2. Upender Singh Rawat appointed as the next
Ambassador of India to the Republic of Costa Rica: Senior diplomat Upender Singh Rawat (Indian Foreign Service 1998
batch) has been concurrently accredited as the next Ambassador of India to the
Republic of Costa Rica. Presently Mr Rawat is Ambassador of India to the
Republic of Panama. Shri Anjani Kumar (IFS: 2003) has been appointed as the
next Ambassador of India to the Republic of Mali.
Note: Republic
of Mali Capital: Bamako; Currency: West African CFA franc
Republic of
Costa Rica Capital: San José; Currency: Costa Rican colón
OTHER UPDATES:
BANKING AND FINANCE
1. 1st time India’s forex reserves cross $450
billion: The country’s foreign exchange reserves crossed
the $450-billion mark for the first time ever on the back of strong inflows
which enabled the central bank to buy dollars from the market, thus checking
any sharp appreciation of the rupee. India’s foreign exchange reserves were at
$451.7 billion on December 3, 2019, an increase of $38.8 billion over end-March
2019. The Reserve Bank has always maintained that it intervenes in the foreign
exchange market to curb volatility and does not target a particular level of
the exchange rate.
2. HDFC ERGO launches my: health Woman Suraksha
policy: HDFC ERGO general insurance company, India’s
third-largest non-life insurance provider in the private sector, has launched
“my: health Woman Suraksha policy”, a comprehensive medical insurance scheme
specially designed for women. The my:health Woman Suraksha policy is specially
designed to cover women against numerous illnesses and contingencies they may
face during their lifetime, thereby providing financial aid in case of medical
contingencies. The benefits include fitness discount at renewals, specially
designed preventive health check-ups after every renewal and wellness services
like health coaching, nutrition and weight management services, discounts at
pharmacies, etc. It also provides counselling on stress management, pregnancy
care, work-life balance, etc which is much needed by today’s new age women.
This policy is offered to women between 18-65 years of age and offers a sum
insured ranging from Rs. 1 lakh to 1 crore.
Note: HDFC
ERGO MD & CEO: Ritesh Kumar; Founded: 2002; Headquarters: Mumbai,
Maharashtra.
3. BlackBuck partners with IDFC Bank, Yes Bank to
offer free FASTags to truckers: The Online
trucking platform BlackBuck has partnered with private lenders IDFC Bank and
Yes Bank to provide FASTags to truck owners free of cost. Truck owners can
order FASTags on BlackBuck’s Boss App, a digital services platform exclusively
for truck fleet owners, and it will be delivered at their doorstep free of cost
until December 31, 2019. The initiative is expected to help over 3 million
trucks in India become FASTag compliant.
Note: IDFC
Bank MD & CEO: V. Vaidyanathan; HDFC Tagline: Always You First.
Yes Bank MD
& CEO: Ravneet Gill; Yes Bank Tagline: Experience our Expertise.
4. Razorpay recognized as 'Most Innovative
Payment Start-Up' At IFTA 2019: Razorpay, the
neo-banking platform, successfully added three more accolades to its bouquet at
the India FinTech Awards (IFTA) 2019, organised by India Fintech Forum in
association with National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI). The company won
awards for the 'Most Innovative Payment Start-up' and 'Most Innovative Fintech
Product' for its neo-banking product, RazorpayX. The CEO and Co-founder,
Harshil Mathur was also honoured at the event as the 'Fintech Leader of the
Year'.
Note: IFTA is
a platform that celebrates and recognises the leaders and organizations for
their contribution to the payments and technology domain.
AWARDS AND HONOURS
1. UNICEF honours Priyanka Chopra with ‘Danny
Kaye Humanitarian Award’: Bollywood actress Priyanka
Chopra has been awarded the Danny Kaye Humanitarian Award from UNICEF (United
Nations Children's Fund) at the Snowflake Ball in New York. Fashion designer Diane
von Furstenberg (UNICEF's first Goodwill Ambassador) handed over the award to
the actor. Priyanka Chopra is quite active not only in the entertainment and
fashion world but also in social work. Priyanka Chopra has been associated with
UNICEF for the past 15 years as a Goodwill Ambassador.
2. Shilpa Shetty App” wins in 2019 Google Play
Awards: Bollywood actor Shilpa Shetty’s fitness and
wellness application ‘Shilpa Shetty App’ has been awarded Google Play’s Best
Apps of 2019 in the ‘Personal Growth’ category. Google has announced the
winners of Google Play's Best of 2019 awards selecting the best across apps,
games, ebooks, movies, and audiobooks of the year.
Best App of
2019 - Ablo
Best Game of
2019 - Call of Duty: Mobile
Google Play
User's Choice 2019 Awards:
App: Video
Editor - Glitch Video Effects
Game: Call of
Duty: Mobile
Movie: Marvel
Studios' Avengers Endgame
Ebook: Scary
Stories to Tell in the Dark
3. Roger Federer first living Swiss to have a
coin minted in his honour: Tennis legend Roger Federer
(38-years) is set to become the first living person in Switzerland to have a
coin minted in his honour. Swiss mint has announced that it would honour Roger
Federer by releasing 20 Swiss francs (USD 20.06) silver commemorative coin in
January 2020. This would be for the first time in its history of Swiss mint
that it is dedicating a Swiss commemorative coin to a living person. This
year's commemorative Swiss coins included the 50th anniversary of the moon
landings, the Furka Pass and the roe deer.
DEFENCE
1. Exercise INDRA 2019: Exercise INDRA 2019 a joint, tri-services exercise between India and
Russia will be conducted in India from 10-19 December 2019 simultaneously at
Babina (near Jhansi), Pune, and Goa. The contingents of both countries will
share expertise and their professional experience. The esprit-de-corps and
goodwill shall be the key areas during the exercise which will facilitate the
further strengthening of bonds between the defence forces of India and Russia.
Note: The
INDRA series of exercise began in 2003 and the First joint Tri-Services
Exercise was conducted in 2017. It will be a historic occasion for two of the
world’s greatest Armed Forces to join hands and successfully conduct an
exercise of this magnitude with professionalism, to imbibe the best practices from
each other, jointly evolve and drills to defeat the scourge of terror under the
United Nation mandate.
Russia
President: Vladimir Putin; Capital: Moscow; Currency: Russian ruble
OBITURIES
1. Writer DC Fontana passes away: Dorothy Catherine "DC Fontana’ (80-years) the first female writer
for 'Star Trek' passed away after battling with a brief illness. The writer
penned numerous stories for the original Star Trek' TV series and developed one
of its signature characters, Spock. She wrote 1967's 'Journey to Babel', which
introduced Spock's father Sarek and mother, Amanda.
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