NATIONAL UPDATES:
1. Andhra CM Jagan Mohan Reddy launches YSR LAW
Nestham: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan
Reddy has launched 'YSR Law Nestham Scheme' at his camp office at Tadepalli.
Under this scheme, a stipend of Rs 5,000 has been credited in the accounts of
beneficiary junior lawyers with the click of a button. Lawyers thanked the
Chief Minister for granting Rs 100 crore to Lawyers' Welfare Fund and for
giving a stipend of Rs 5,000 to junior lawyers.
2. Punjab Cabinet approves an amendment to create
rural land banks for industrial development: The
Punjab Cabinet headed by Captain Amarinder Singh gave in-principle approval to
amend the Punjab Village Common Land (Regulation) Rules, 1964, to create land
banks in rural areas to boost industrial development in the city. It was
decided to further fine-tune the amendments to ensure that the Panchayats get
their dues, with all decisions to be taken on a case to case basis, keeping
their interests in view. The Cabinet cleared the proposal to provide special
provision for transfer of Shamlat Lands for development of industrial
infrastructure projects, to be implemented by Industry Department and Punjab
Small Industries & Export Corporation.
Note: Punjab Capital: Chandigarh;
Governor: V.P. Singh Badnore; Chief Minister: Amarinder Singh
3. Haryana CM inaugurates Integrated Command and
Control Centre: Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar has
inaugurated Gurgaon's ambitious Integrated Command and Control Centre (ICCC).
The ICCC has been designed to serve as the nodal point for all online data
related to the Smart City applications, including CCTV-based public safety and
adaptive traffic management system, smart parking system, water supply
management system, pollution monitoring, property tax management system and
asset management system. It has been developed as the nerve centre to provide
multifaceted online smart services to people. The Integrated Command and
Control Centre was built at the cost of 38 crore rupees.
Note: Haryana Governor:
Satyadeo Narayan Arya; Capital: Chandigarh
4. Human Library event held in Mysuru: Human Library event, a concept which seeks to replace books with
humans, will be held in the City of Palaces, Mysuru, Karnataka. The first event
of the Human Library aims to break past long-standing prejudices and
stereotypes by creating a safe framework for conservation by using a library
analogy of lending people rather than books. It intends to generate greater human
cohesion across various social, religious and ethnic diversities. The notion of
Human Library was initially launched in the year 2000 and currently exists in
more than 85 countries, known as The Human Library Organization. In India,
Human Library is spread across various metropolitan cities including Hyderabad,
Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru.
Note:
Copenhagen, Denmark-headquartered Human Library is a registered international
non-profit organization.
5. Odisha Government Reduces Assistance under
KALIA Scheme to Rs 4,000 from Rs 10,000: The
government of Odisha has reduced the financial assistance given to farmers
under the Kalia scheme to Rs 4,000 per annum from Rs 10,000. This decision to
reduce the Kalia assistance has been taken since Odisha government has merged
the Kalia scheme with the Centres Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN).
To keep the parity of both the schemes, in the merged scheme, farmers will now
get Rs 6,000 from PM-KISAN and Rs 4,000 from KALIA to receive annual assistance
of Rs 10,000. Also, since all the eligible farmers will get assistance from
PM-KISAN from 2019-20, no assistance for Rabi-2019 will be given under the
Kalia scheme to these farmers. The actual cultivators (share croppers) who are
landless, if any, will continue to get Rs 10,000 annual assistance from Kalia,
since they are not considered under PM-KISAN.
Note: Odisha
Capital: Bhubaneswar; Governor: Ganeshi Lal; Chief Minister: Naveen
Patnaik.
6. ISRO to Launch its Latest spy satellite
RISAT-2BR1 along with 9 Foreign Satellites from Sriharikota: The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is all set to launch
country’s latest spy satellite RISAT-2BR1 and 9 foreign satellites from the
Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh on December 11. All
the 10 satellites will be sent to space through the Polar Satellite Launch
Vehicle rocket (PSLV-C48).
RISAT-2BR1 is
radar imaging earth observation satellite weighing about 628 kg and will be
placed into an orbit of 576 km. It will have a life of five years. The 9
foreign satellites will be from USA, ISRAEL, ITALY and JAPAN which are: 6
satellites of USA including four multi-mission Lemur satellites, one technology
demonstration Tyvak-0129, and earth imaging 1HOPSAT;
Remote sensing
satellite, Duchifat-3 of Israel; Search and rescue satellite, Tyvak-0092 of
Italy and Japan’s QPS-SAR, a radar imaging earth observation satellite.
7. FIA invites Anand Kumar for India’s Republic
Day celebrations in New York: The ‘Super 30’
fame mathematician Anand Kumar will be attending the India’s Republic Day
celebrations in New York, United States, on January 26. Kumar has been invited
by Federation of Indian Association (FIA), the organisation of non-resident
Indians, to celebrate the pioneering work he has done in the field of education.
Note: The
Federation of Indian Association is the oldest organisation of the non-resident
Indians. Year “2020” also marks the 50th anniversary of FIA. Anand Kumar has
been invited for his contribution in the field of education through his programme
‘Super 30’.
‘Super 30’ is
a programme that prepares 30 students from underprivileged sections of society
for the prestigious IIT entrance test every year, without any fees.
INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:
1. Finland’s Sanna Mirella Marin Elected World’s
Youngest Sitting Prime Minister: The Social
Democratic party of Finland has elected 34-year-old Sanna Marin as the new
Prime Minister of the country. She will succeed Antti Rinne (Social Democratic
Party) who resigned as Prime Minister recently due to a postal strike and
crisis in Finland. Marin, who will assume charge from December 10, will become
the world’s youngest currently-serving prime minister. She will also be the
youngest-ever prime minister of Finland and also the third female prime
minister of the country.
Note: Finland
Capital: Helsinki, Currency: Euro.
2. 8th edition of Embassy’s annual film festival
inaugurated at Riyadh: The 8th edition of the
Embassy’s annual film festival titled “Ambassador’s Choice: Screening of Films”
was inaugurated at the auditorium of Embassy of India, Riyadh. Embassy’s annual
film festival titled “Ambassador’s Choice: Screening of Films” saw the popular
Hindi film ‘Dangal’ screened at Riyadh, which drew a large number of audience.
Note: Saudi
Arabia Capital: Riyadh; Currency: Saudi riyal.
3. International Day of Commemoration and Dignity
of the Victims of the Crime of Genocide and of the Prevention of this Crime: 9
December: The United Nations General Assembly established 9
December as the International Day of Commemoration and Dignity of the Victims
of the Crime of Genocide and of the Prevention of this Crime. It was
established by the United Nations General Assembly in September 2015, to
commemorate the anniversary of the adoption of the 1948 Convention on the
Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (the “Genocide Convention”).
This year marks the 70th anniversary of the Convention. The purpose of the day
is to raise awareness of the Genocide Convention and its role in combating and
preventing the crime of genocide, as defined in the Convention, and to
commemorate and honour its victims.
4. International Anti-Corruption Day: 9 December:
International Anti-Corruption Day (IACD) is being
observed annually on 9th December to raise public awareness of corruption and
what people can do to fight it. This year International Anti-Corruption Day
theme is “United Against Corruption”. Every year USD 1 trillion is paid in
bribes while an estimated USD 2.6 trillion are stolen annually through
corruption.
Note: The UN
General Assembly (UNGA) had designated 9th December as International
Anti-Corruption Day by passing resolution 58/4 of October 31, 2003.
5. India ranks 129th in 2019 human development
index: India has been ranked at 129th spot in the 2019
Human Development Index released by United Nations Development Programme
(UNDP). Last year India was ranked 130th. As per the 2019 Human Development
Report (HDR), the 2019 Human Development Index has been topped by Norway. Switzerland
is on second while Ireland is on the third. South Asia was the fastest-growing
region witnessing 46 percent growth during 1990-2018.
OTHER UPDATES:
SPORTS
1. Former World No. 1, Caroline Wozniacki
announces retirement from tennis: Danish player
Caroline Wozniacki announced her retirement from tennis after next month's
Australian Open. The Dane (29-years) won her only Grand Slam singles title in
Melbourne last year in her third major final. She has won 30 WTA titles so far
in her career, including the 2017 Tour Finals in Singapore.
2. WADA bans Russia from International Sporting
Events for 4 years: The World Anti-Doping Agency, WADA, has imposed
ban on Russia for four years from participation in global sporting events,
during WADA’s Executive Committee in Lausanne on December 9, 2019. As per WADA,
Russian authorities tampered with Russian Anti-Doping Agency’s (RUSADA)
database to hide hundreds of potential doping cases and falsely shift the blame
onto whistle-blowers.
The ban means:
Russia will now not be able to participate in 2020 Tokyo Olympics and also the
2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. Apart from Russian athletes, government officials
will also be barred from attending such events. Russia will also not be
eligible to host or even bid to host major events during the same time period.
BANKING AND FINANCE
1. NTPC signs pact for Rs. 5,000-crore term loan
with SBI: National Thermal Power Corporation Limited (NTPC)
has signed a term loan agreement for Rs. 5,000 crore with State Bank of India
(SBI). The loan facility has been extended at an interest rate linked to
3-Month MCLR of the bank and has a door to door tenure of 15 years. The loan
will be utilised to part finance the capital expenditure of NTPC.
Note: NTPC
Chairman and Managing Director: Gurdeep Singh.
State Bank of
India Chairman: Rajnish Kumar.
2. Girish Chandra Chaturvedi appointed as new
Chairman of NSE: Former petroleum secretary Girish Chandra
Chaturvedi has been appointed as the Chairman of the National Stock Exchange
(NSE). The appointment comes within weeks of him joining the NSE board as a
public interest director. The position was vacant since Ashok Chawla resigned
as the chairman of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) in January this year. Mr.
Girish also serves as non-executive chairman of ICICI Bank.
Note: The
National Stock Exchange of India Limited (NSE) (established in 1992) is the
leading stock exchange of India, located in Mumbai. NSE was the first exchange
in the country to provide a modern, fully automated screen-based electronic
trading system which offered the easy trading facility to the investors spread
across the length and breadth of the country.
AWARDS AND HONOURS
1. South Africa’s Zozibini Tunzi crowned 2019
Miss Universe: Miss South Africa Zozibini Tunzi (26-years) has
been crowned Miss Universe 2019 in a glitzy ceremony held in Atlanta, the
capital of the US state of Georgia. Ms Tunzi beat over 90 contestants around
the globe in the 68th instalment of Miss Universe. Madison Anderson (Miss
Universe Puerto Rico) was the runner-up in this contest. Sofía Aragón (Miss
Universe Mexico) is the second runner up. India's Vartika Singh couldn't make
it to the top 20. The Philippines’ Catriona Gray (Miss Universe winner in 2018)
presented Ms Tunzi the crown.
2. Indian Shooters Elavenil Valarivan, Saurabh
Chaudhary and Divyansh Singh Panwar Awarded Golden Target award: Three Indian shooters namely Elavenil Valarivan, Saurabh Chaudhary and
Divyansh Singh Panwar have been presented the Golden Target award by the
International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF), at its headquarters in Munich,
Germany. The federation has for the first time introduced the Golden Target
award to recognise and honour the top-ranked shooters from 12 categories, who
finished the season as No.1 in their respective events in rifle and pistol.
India won three of the 12 awards. China and US won two each. Britain, Czech
Republic, Italy, Hungary and Korea were the other countries whose shooters were
awarded the Golden Target award.
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