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CURRENT AFFAIRS: DAYS
National Energy Conservation Day
- Energy conservation day is celebrated on December 14 since 1991 every year.
- Energy conservation is the effort made to reduce the consumption of energy by using less of an energy service.
- In order to create mass awareness on the importance of conservation and efficiency of energy, BEE observed National Energy Conservation Week from 9th to 14th December 2019
International tea day
- It is being observed every year on December 15. The aim of International Tea Day is to raise awareness of tea trade. The debut International Tea Day took place in New Delhi, India back in 2005. In the year 2015, the Indian government proposed the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization to make the day a bigger observance around the world.
- In India people consumes 837,000 tonnes of it every year.
Vijay Diwas: 16 December
- The nation celebrates Vijay Diwas to commemorate India’s victory over Pakistan in 1971 war. Rich tributes are being paid to the martyrs who laid down their lives during the war. It was on this day in 1971, the chief of the Pakistani forces, General AA Khan Niazi, along with 93 thousand troops, had surrendered unconditionally to the allied forces consisting of Indian Army and Mukti Bahini.
- The end of the war also resulted in subsequent secession of East Pakistan into Bangladesh.
CURRENT AFFAIRS: NATIONAL
Ministry of Coal to Establish Sustainable Development Cell for Environmental Mitigation Measures
- The Ministry of Coal has decided to establish a ‘Sustainable Development Cell’ in order to promote environmentally sustainable coal mining in the country and address environmental concerns during the decommissioning or closure of mines.
- The Sustainable Development cell (SDC) will advise, mentor , plan and monitor the mitigation measures taken by the coal companies for maximising the utilisation of available resources in a sustainable way, minimising the adverse impact of mining and mitigating it for further ecosystem services and will act as nodal point at Ministry of Coal level in this matter
Uttarakhand to get a ‘Centre of Excellence for Skilling’ in Uttarkashi
- Uttarakhand will soon get a ‘Centre of Excellence for Skilling’ in Uttarkashi district.
- A skill university will also come up to train youths of the hill state.
- The Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship will send experts for discussing avenues for promotion of skill development and entrepreneurship. The team will look into areas and aspects which require skill development such as wellness, healthcare, tourism and adventure sports.
CURRENT AFFAIRS: STATES
Kerala launches two welfare schemes to support differently-abled persons
- The state government unveiled two social welfare schemes – ‘Vijayamritham’ and ‘Sahachari’ to honour differently-abled people as well as NSS, NCC and Student Police Cadet (SPC) units working for their care and welfare.
- The ‘Vijayamritham’ scheme has been introduced to provide financial assistance for differently-abled people who battled odds and scored high marks in degree, PG and professional courses.
- Differently-abled students of government or government-approved educational institutions, as well as students of parallel colleges and distance education programmes, are eligible under the scheme.
- Such students should have passed degree, PG or professional courses in the first chance. For degree courses, the candidate should have scored at least 60% (for arts subjects) and 80% (for science subjects).
- While students who have passed degree courses with the above criteria will be given cash awards of Rs 8,000, those who have passed PG or professional courses will be given Rs 10,000.
- Sahachari scheme has been evolved to honour groups that assist people, with over 40% disability, in their studies and other tasks.
West Bengal tops in a 100-day work programme for promoting livelihoods
- West Bengal has been selected for the 1st prize in 100-Day Work Programme for Promoting Livelihoods.
- The Rural Development Ministry has selected Bankura and Cooch Behar Districts of the state for 1st and 2nd positions among districts in the country in implementation of rural job scheme.
- Baburmahal Gram Panchayat of Kulpi in South 24 Parganas District has also bagged best performance award from the Centre.
CURRENT AFFAIRS: BANKING AND FINANCE
Edelweiss AMC launches India’s 1st corporate bond ‘Bharat Bond ETF’
- Edelweiss Asset Management Company (AMC), a subsidiary of Edelweiss Capital Limited (ECL) has launched India’s 1st Corporate Bond ETF (exchange trade fund) called the Bharat Bond ETF.
- The ETF is a government initiative and Edelweiss AMC was given the mandate to design and manage the product.
- Edelweiss aims to raise an initial amount of Rs 3,000 crore through this bond from institutional players with a greenshoe option of Rs 2,000 crore in the 3-year maturity period (2023) and Rs 4,000 crore with a greenshoe option of Rs 6,000 crore in the 10-year maturity bucket (2030). Small retail investors will have to invest at least Rs 1,000 in this fund. After this, there is a facility for multiple investments.
- Here they can invest up to 2 lakhs. At the same time, the minimum amount for anchor investors has been fixed at Rs 10 crore.
Wholesale Price Index inflation rises to 0.58 per cent in November amid rising food prices
- Wholesale prices based inflation rose to 0.58 per cent in November, as against 0.16 per cent in October due to increasing in prices of food articles.
- The annual inflation, based on the monthly wholesale price index (WPI), was at 4.47 per cent during the same month a year ago (November 2018).
The rate of price rise for food articles rose to 11 per cent during the month as against 9.80 a month earlier, while for non-food articles it eased 1.93 per cent from 2.35 per cent in October, showed the data released by
- For manufactured products, the wholesale inflation remained static (-)0.84 per cent during the month under review. The consumer price index-based retail inflation, as per data released last week, spiked to over a 3-year high of 5.54 per cent in November due to costlier food products like vegetables, pulses and protein-rich items.
Mandatory to link PAN-Aadhaar by Dec 31: Income Tax Department
- The Income Tax Department has said that it will be mandatory to link Permanent Account Number (PAN) with Aadhaar by the end of december month. This will facilitate to reap seamless benefits of income tax services. The deadline for linking PAN with Aadhaar was extended till the 31st of December, by Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) through an order issued in September this year. Earlier, the deadline was 30th of September.
- In order to link a PAN with Aadhaar online, the assess is required to log in to the e-filing portal. The Income Tax Department also provides an SMS-based facility to enable the linking.
- Aadhaar is issued by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) to a resident of India and PAN is a 10-digit alphanumeric number allotted by the I-T Department to a person, firm or entity.
CURRENT AFFAIRS: MOU
Indian Embassy signs agreement for reconstruction of Nepal’s 11 cultural heritage sites
- Indian Embassy signed an agreement with the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH), India for the post-earthquake reconstruction of 11 Cultural Heritage sites in Nepal.
- The INTACH will provide Design and Project Management Consultancy services for the reconstruction of 11 Cultural Heritage sites in four districts (Kathmandu, Lalitpur, Bhaktapur and Solukhumbhu).
- It will also work with the Department of Archeology (DoA) of the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, Nepal to reconstruct and conserve Cultural Heritage sites as per the Government of Nepal’s guidelines on the reconstruction of Cultural Heritage Sites.
- The Agreement was signed by Dr Ajay Kumar, Deputy Chief of Mission, Embassy of India, Kathmandu, on behalf of the Government of India, and by Dr. (Mrs) C.T. Mishra, Member Secretary, INTACH.
CURRENT AFFAIRS: APPOINTMENTS AND RESIGNATION
Former PM Abdelmadjid Tebboune declared as the President of Algeria
- Former Prime Minister Abdelmadjid Tebboune was declared the winner of Algeria’s presidential election.
- Tebboune – who also served as housing minister under Abdelaziz Bouteflika – the former president forced to step down in April following mass protests.
Nagaland governor R.N RAVI to hold additional charge of Meghalaya
- Nagaland Governor citizenship to R.N. Ravi was on Monday given additional charge of Meghalaya
- Ravi is also the Centre’s interlocutor for talks with Naga insurgents.
- N. Ravi, Governor of Nagaland to discharge the functions of the Governor of Meghalaya, in addition to his own, during the absence on leave of Tathagata Roy, Governor of Meghalaya.
- The move assumes significance as the state has witnessed protests against the amended Citizenship Act, that seeks to grant Indian religious minorities of Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Pakistan facing persecution.
CURRENT AFFAIRS: AWARDS AND HONOURS
Thai massage could get UNESCO status as 2,000-year-old skill goes global
- 2,000-year-old skill – the body-folding, sharp-elbowed techniques of Thai massage, which could be added to UNESCO’s prestigious heritage list.
- Nuad Thai is an intense form of massage in which the body is pulled and rotated well with the help of the thumb, elbow, knees and feet. This massage targets many acupuncture points of the body, which improves blood circulation. It also aims to cure muscle pain.
Jamaican’s TONI ANN SINGH takes the crown of miss world 2019.
- Jamaican TONI ANN SINGH was crowned as miss world 2019 and said she wanted to use her title to work for sustainable change for women and their children.
- The 23 year old was declared as he 23-year-old Jamaican was declared the winner at a televised event, hosted by British television personality Piers Morgan, held at ExceL London.
President Kovind to present Visitor’s awards 2019
- President Ram Nath Kovind will present the Visitor’s awards, 2019 at Rashtrapati Bhavan.
- The awards will be conferred during the conference of Vice-Chancellors of Central Universities, Directors of IISERs and Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore.
- These will on issues such as the promotion of research, innovation and entrepreneurship, industry-academia linkages, filling up of vacancies, creating and utilising alumni-based endowment funds and completing infrastructure projects.
Deepika Padukone receives the Crystal Award 2020 for its awareness of mental health
- Deepika Padukone has been very active on mental health issues and her own battle with clinical depression for the past two years.
- The Bollywood actress launched the Live Love Laugh Foundation in 2015 to reduce the stigma around mental health and raise awareness of mental illnesses such as depression.
- For her contributions, Deepika will be honored with the 26th annual Crystal Award. She is the only Indian actress to appear in the list of winners of Davos 2020.
- Deepika will receive the award in January 2020 at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) with artist Theaster Gates, choreographer Jin Xing and artist Lynette Wallworth.
- Theaster Gates, for his leadership in creating sustainable communities.
- Jin Xing, for her leadership in shaping inclusive cultural norms.
- Lynette Wallworth, for her leadership in creating inclusive narratives
England cricketer Ben Stokes has been voted BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2019.
- The all-rounder was man of the match as England won the World Cup for the first time with a dramatic super over victory against New Zealand at Lord’s.
- Stokes, 28, also hit an unbeaten 135 in the one-wicket third Ashes Test triumph against Australia at Headingley.
- In a public vote, Formula 1 driver Lewis Hamilton finished second while sprinter Dina Asher-Smith was third.
CURRENT AFFAIRS: BOOKS AND AUTHORS
Viswanathan Anand launches autobiography ‘Mind Master’
- Indian chess Grandmaster Viswanathan Anand’s autobiography ‘Mind Master: Winning Lessons from a Champion’s Life’ was released in Chennai.
- The book was co-authored by sports journalist Susan Ninan.
- Anand was born in Mayiladuthurai, Tamil Nadu and is a former World Chess Champion. He became the first grandmaster from India in 1988.