Weekly Current Affairs
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5th Bi-monthly Monetary
Policy - In its 5th Bi-monthly Monetary
Policy Committee meeting, the Reserve
Bank of India has decided to keep the policy repo
rate unchanged to 5.15%. Key Rates are –
Repo Rate – 5.15% (Unchanged)
Reverse Repo Rate – 4.9% (Unchanged)
Cash Reserve Rate – 4% (Unchanged)
Statutory Liquidity Ratio – 18.5% (Unchanged)
Bank Rate – 5.4% (Unchanged)
Marginal Standing Facility – 5.4% (Unchanged)
GDP (2019-20) Forecast – 5%
Prithvirajsing Roopun - The National
Assembly of Republic of Mauritius has unanimously
elected Prithvirajsing Roopun, as
new President of the island
nation, a largely ceremonial post.
Masatsugu Asakawa - The Asian
Development Bank (ADB) board has unanimously elected Masatsugu Asakawa as its
new president. He will assume office as ADB’s 10th President on January 17, 2020. He will succeed Takehiko Nakao.
Sundar Pichai - Sundar
Pichai promoted as Alphabet Inc. CEO after Google
co-founders Larry Page and Sergey
Brin have announced that they are stepping down from the
leadership role of the parent company Alphabet. Alphabet and Google no longer
need two CEOs and a President and Sundar Pichai will be the CEO of both Google and Alphabet.
Sanna Marin - Finland’s
Social Democrats elected 34-year-old Sanna
Marin to the post of the prime minister, making her the youngest head of government in the
country’s history.
Roger Federer - Tennis legend Roger
Federer will become the first living person in Switzerland
to have a coin minted in his honour.
Girish Chandra
Chaturvedi - The National Stock Exchange of India Ltd (NSE)
has appointed Girish Chandra Chaturvedi as
its new chairman.
Miss Universe 2019 - Miss South
Africa Zozibini Tunzi was
crowned Miss Universe 2019 in Atlanta, US.
Arnab Goswami - The News
Broadcasters Federation (NBF), the country’s largest
association of over 78 news channels, has elected editor-in-chief of Republic TV Arnab Goswami as
the President of its governing board.
C. Sugandh Rajaram - C.
Sugandh Rajaram has been appointed as the next High
Commissioner of India to the Republic
of Ghana.
Suniel Shetty - Actor Suniel
Shetty has been selected as the brand ambassador of National
Anti-Doping Agency NADA.
Sunil Chhetri - Indian men’s football
team captain Sunil Chhetri has signed
a 3-year deal with PUMA.
He was also conferred with the Arjuna award in 2011 and Padma Shri in 2019.
Salman Khan - PepsiCo has appointed
actor Salman Khan as the new brand
ambassador of its flagship Pepsi brand of carbonated
beverage in India.
ET Lifetime
Achievement Award - Arun Jaitley former Finance Minister of India was
bestowed with the Economic Times (ET) Lifetime Achievement Award for
Public Service 2019.
PETA Person of the Year - ‘Joker’ fame Joaquin
Rafael Phoenix, American
actor from California, United States (US) has been bestowed with the PETA
(People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) ‘Person of the Year’ Award 2019.
Lionel Messi - Barcelona
forward Lionel Messi has won the Ballond’Or
award for the world’s best player for a record 6th
time.
Prithvi-II Missile Tested
- India successfully test-fired its indigenously developed
surface-to-surface nuclear-capable Prithvi-II missile off Odisha coast. The Strategic Forces Command of the Indian Army conducted the user
trial of the 350 km range missile from a
mobile launcher from launch complex-3 of the Integrated Test Range at Chandipur.
Bhopal Gas Tragedy - The 35th
anniversary of Bhopal Gas Tragedy is being observed across
the country. It is one of the world’s worst industrial disaster that claimed
thousands of lives on the night of December 2, 1984. The disaster took
place in a pesticide production plant, named the Union
Carbide India Limited (UCIL) when deadly methyl
isocyanate gas leaked in night of December
2 and 3, 1984.
Eat Right Station - The Mumbai
Central station of Railways was conferred with the ‘Eat
Right Station’ certification with four stars rating by
the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India
(FSSAI), as a part of ‘Eat Right India’ movement
launched last year. The Mumbai Central Railway Station is the country’s first “Eat Right Station.”
HAND-IN-HAND 2019- The 8th
India-China joint training exercise ‘HAND-IN-HAND
2019’ with the theme counter-terrorism under
United Nations mandate is scheduled to be conducted at Umroi,
Meghalaya from 07 to 20 December 2019.
PSLV-C48 - The ISRO
(Indian Space Research Organisation) will launch its earth
observation satellite, RISAT-2BR1 on PSLV-C48 from
the First Launch Pad (FLP) of Satish
Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota. RISAT-2BR1, a Radar imaging earth observation satellite weighing about 628 kg,
will be placed into an orbit of 576 km. PSLV-C48, which is the 50th mission of PSLV, will also carry 9
customer satellites of Israel, Italy, Japan and USA as co-passengers.
Human Development
Index - India has been ranked 129th among
189 countries in the Human Development Index 2019
released by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
India was ranked 130th last year in the index. Norway,
Switzerland, Ireland occupied the top
three positions in the index. India’s
HDI value increased from 0.431 to 0.647, which places it above
the average for countries in the medium human development group (0.634).
The Human Development Index measures
average achievement of the countries in 3 basic dimensions of human development
i.e. life expectancy, education and per
capita income.
COP25 climate summit -
India, for the first time, ranks among the top 10 in this
year’s Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI) at
the COP25 climate summit in
the Spanish capital Madrid. The current
levels of per capita emissions and energy use in India ranked 9th in
the high category showing that emissions are still comparatively low.
South Asian Games - The 13th
South Asian Games concluded in Nepal. India finished on
top with 312 medals comprising 174 gold, 93 silver and 45 bronze.
Host Nepal remained second and Sri Lanka got third place. During the
event athletes from India, Nepal,
Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Maldives competed for 1119
medals.
3rd Launch
Pad of ISRO - Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has begun preparatory
works for setting up a 3rd rocket launch pad in the
small coastal hamlet of Kulashekhrapattinam in
the Thuthukudi district of Tamil
Nadu. At present, the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO)
has two launch pads at Sriharikota in
Andhra Pradesh.
Time magazine’s Person
of the Year - Sweden’s Greta Thunberg has been named
as Time magazine’s Person of the Year for
2019. Greta Thunberg is the Swedish
schoolgirl who inspired a global movement to fight climate change and
became popular with the “#FridaysForFuture“. She is the youngest person to be chosen by the
magazine in a tradition that started in 1927.
World’s 100 Most
Powerful Women - Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has
been ranked 34th by Forbes in ‘The
World’s 100 Most Powerful Women’. HCL Corporation CEO and
Executive Director Roshni Nadar Malhotra (Rank - 54) and
Biocon Founder Kiran Mazumdar Shaw (Rank
- 65) are two other Indians who also featured in the above
list. The Forbes 2019 list of ‘The World’s 100 Most Powerful Women’ has
been topped by German
Chancellor Angela Merkel, followed by
President of the European Central Bank Christine Lagarde in
the 2nd spot.
International Seminar
on Climate Smart Farming Systems - The ‘International Seminar
on Climate Smart Farming Systems’ for BIMSTEC countries
began in New Delhi. The BIMSTEC member
states ‘Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Nepal and Bhutan are
among the countries dependent on the Bay of Bengal.
ADB Lowered GDP Growth - The Asian
Development Bank (ADB) has lowered its
forecast for India’s economic growth in fiscal
year 2019-20 to 5.1%.ADB has stated that the
consumption was affected by slow job growth and rural distress was aggravated
by poor harvest.
National Tribal Dance
Festival - A National Tribal Dance Festival will
be held in Chhattisgarh’s capital Raipur from
December 27 to 29. 23 states and guest artists from six countries
including Sri Lanka, Belarus, Uganda and Bangladesh will
participate in the three-day programme.
United
States-Mexico-Canada Agreement - The representatives from the United
States, Mexico and Canada inked a revamped version of
their regional trade pact after
months of negotiations. The United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) will
now go to the countries’ legislatures for final approval.
A.P. Disha Bill - The Andhra
Pradesh Cabinet approves the A.P.
Disha Bill, 2019 (A.P. Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill,
2019) paving the way for awarding the death
penalty for the offences of rape and gang-rape and expediting the verdict
in trials of such cases to 21 days.
Shilpa Shetty App - Bollywood actor Shilpa Shetty’s fitness app “Shilpa
Shetty App” has been awarded Google Play’s Best Apps of 2019. The app was awarded in the
category of ‘Personal Growth’.
INDRA - 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.
NATO Summit - 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.
Licensing of Small
Finance Banks - The Reserve Bank of India released guidelines
for ‘on tap’ Licensing of Small Finance Banks in the Private Sector.
Now payments banks willing to convert themselves into small
finance banks (SFBs) can apply for such a licence only
after 5 years of operations. The minimum capital for setting up an SFB has been mandated at Rs 200 crores.
Foreign Exchange
Reserves - 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.
24×7 Facility for NEFT - The Reserve Bank of India announced round-the-clock
transactions will be allowed 24×7
facility under the National Electronic Funds Transfer (NEFT)
system on all days including weekends and holidays
from December 16.
Mahaparinirvan Diwas - The nation is
paying homage to Bharat Ratna Dr BR Ambedkar on his 64th
Mahaparinirvan Diwas (death anniversary) on 6
December.
National Clean Air
Programme - The Central Government launched the National
Clean Air Programme (NCAP) as a long-term, time-bound,
national-level strategy to tackle the air pollution problem across the country
in a comprehensive manner. The government is targeting to achieve 20 per cent
to 30 per cent reduction in Particulate Matter PM10 and PM2.5 concentrations by 2024 keeping 2017
as the base year for the comparison of concentration.
International Mountain
Day - International Mountain Day is held every year on 11
December globally. The theme for 2019 IMD is “Mountains
Matter for Youth”.
Electric Commercial
Aircraft - The world’s first fully-electric commercial aircraft took
its inaugural test flight, taking off from the Canadian
city of Vancouver and flying for 15
minutes.
Marrakech Film Festival - Indian
actress Priyanka Chopra was honoured
at the Marrakech Film Festival held
at the famous Jemaa el Fna square.
World Habitat Award - Odisha won the bronze in ‘World
Habitat Award’ for Jaga Mission also
called Odisha Liveable Habitat Mission (OLHM), a
slum land titling project executed for the benefit of millions of urban-poor
people living in slums.
UNESCO MGIEP - Dell
Technologies announced a new partnership with UNESCO
MGIEP (Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Education for Peace) to
enable school teachers to adopt technology in classrooms by using ICT tools.
The information and communication technology (ICT) tools have been developed
by Dell Aarambh and FramerSpace platform.
Mi Credit - Xiaomi has formally
launched its lending platform “Mi Credit” in India for
Android phones. According to platform “Mi Credit” individuals can avail up
to Rs 1 lakh loan.
NAVARMS-19 - The 4th
edition of International Seminar cum Exhibition on Naval
Weapon Systems ‘NAVARMS-19’ begins in Institute for
Defence Studies and Analysis, Development Enclave, New Delhi. The theme of the
Exhibition is “Make in India – Fight Category: Opportunities and
Imperatives”.
BioAsia2020- Switzerland will be the
country partner at the 17th edition of BioAsia2020 scheduled
to be held from February 17-19, 2020 with the theme “Today
For Tomorrow” in Hyderabad, Telangana.
Universal Health
Coverage Day - International Universal Health Coverage Day (UHC Day) is celebrated
globally on 12 December. International
Universal Health Coverage Day aims to raise awareness of the need for strong
and resilient health systems and universal health coverage with
multi-stakeholder partners. The theme for the 2019 UHC Day is “Keep
the promise”
Registration Tracking
Management System - The Election Commission of
India will implement the political parties Registration
Tracking Management System (RTMS). The Commission said, the
applicant who is applying for party registration from 1st
January 2020 onwards will be able to track the progress of
his or her application and will get status through SMS and email.
ADB Loan to India - The Asian
Development Bank (ADB) has agreed to advance a loan
of US $206 million to develop
water supply and sewerage infrastructure in Tiruchi and other cities in Tamil
Nadu.
Walmart India and HDFC
Launched Credit Card - Walmart India, in partnership with HDFC
Bank, launched a co-branded credit card exclusively for
members of its Best Price Modern Wholesale “B2B Cash & Carry” stores,
offering “free credit up to 50 days.
Navy Day - Navy Day is being
celebrated in India on 4th December. The day is celebrated
in honour of the maritime force’s role during the war with Pakistan
in 1971 when Indian warships attacked Karachi port and
successfully hurt Pakistani operations in the western coast.
International
Volunteer Day - The International Volunteer Day (IVD) is
observed across the world on 5 December every year. This
year theme is ” Volunteer for an inclusive future”.
World Soil Day - World
Soil Day is celebrated annually on the 5th
of December at the Food and Agriculture
Organization of the United Nations (FAO) headquarters
in Rome, Italy.
Vaccine for Rotavirus - Vice President M
Venkaiah Naidu launched the new Rotavirus vaccine:
ROTAVAC-5D designed and developed by Bharat
Biotech in New Delhi. India is firmly committed to ending
morbidity and mortality in children caused due to diarrhoea by 2022.
National Maritime
Heritage Museum - Government of India (GoI) & Portugal has
decided to cooperate in the setting up of an India’s 1st
National Maritime Heritage Museum at the ancient Indian
site of Lothal in Gujarat with
the aim to boost the underwater or marine archaeology.
NIIF Master Fund - The National
Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) of India and Canada
Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) have agreed for
CPPIB to invest up to $600 million through the NIIF
Master Fund.
Transcend Strategic Partnership - India-Bangladesh
ties transcend strategic partnership. India is a committed development partner of
Bangladesh with a credit line worth 8 billion US dollars of which
80% is earmarked for infrastructure and connectivity sector.
Armed Forces Flag Day -
Armed Forces Flag Day is observed on 7th
of December every year across the country to honour the
martyrs and Armed Forces personnel, who safeguard the motherland.
International Civil
Aviation Day - The United Nations General Assembly officially
recognized 7 December as International
Civil Aviation Day globally. The theme of this year Civil
Aviation Day is “75 Years of Connecting the World”.
Duchifat-3- The “Duchifat-3”, Israeli
student’s made satellite will be launched from ISRO’s
Sriharikota launch site. “Duchifat-3” is a satellite
jointly built by Herzliya Science Center and Sha’ar
HaNegev High School students of Israel.
Integrated Command and
Control Centre - Haryana Chief Minister Manohar
Lal Khattar has inaugurated Gurgaon’s ambitious Integrated
Command and Control Centre (ICCC). It has been developed as the
nerve centre to provide multifaceted online smart services to people.
UN International Anti-Corruption Day - The United
Nations’ (UN) International Anti-Corruption Day has been
observed annually, on 9 December. This year International
Anti-Corruption Day theme is “United Against Corruption”.
Walmart Vriddhi
Supplier Development Programe - US retail major Walmart will
train 50,000 entrepreneurs from the
micro, small & medium enterprises (MSME) sector. The
objective will be fulfilled by opening 25 institute hubs
in India in next five years which would train
the MSME entrepreneurs. The institutes will be opened under the ‘Walmart
Vriddhi Supplier Development Programe‘ across the nation.
Exim Bank Provided
Loan to Bangladesh - India’s Exim Bank (Export-Import Bank of India) has
provided $500 million (Rs 3561 crore) Line
of Credit (LoC) to Bangladesh for defence-related
procurement in the neighbouring country. The Exim bank entered into an
agreement with Bangladesh’s Armed Forces Division (AFD) in
this regard on April 11, 2019.
Pradhan Mantri Mudra
Yojana - Union Government informed that loans
worth over 10 lakh crore rupees have been sanctioned till
1st November this year under the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana, PMMY.
World Travel Awards - Abu
Dhabi (UAE) has been selected as the world’s
leading Sports tourism Destination at the 26th
edition of the World Travel Awards (WTA) being held
in Muscat, Oman.
SIPRI Report on Arms Trade - Worldwide arms sales rose by nearly 5
per cent in 2018. According to a new report by the Stockholm
International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), the market
is dominated by the United States. US manufacturers
alone accounted for 59 per cent of the market. Russia was second in the rankings for arms production
with 8.6 per
cent of the market. The world’s largest arms maker remains
the US firm
Lockheed Martin.
WADA Banned Russia - The World
Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), banned Russia for 4
years, from participation in global sporting events,
including the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and
the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, after
accusing Moscow of falsifying data from an anti-doping laboratory. The Russian
flag and national anthem have also been banned in global events.
Human Rights Day - Human
Rights Day is observed every year on 10
December.
Indian Ocean Dialogue - The external
affairs ministry is organising the 6th
Indian Ocean Dialogue and Delhi Dialogue XI in New Delhi
during December 13-14. For the first time, these two events will be held
consecutively. The theme for the Indian Ocean Dialogue is “Indo-Pacific:
Re-imagining the Indian Ocean through an Expanded Geography”, while
the theme for the Delhi Dialogue is “Advancing Partnership in Indo-Pacific”.
Fast Track Courts in
Odisha - 45 new fast track courts will be set up in Odisha. The 21
courts would be dedicated to cases of rape
and sexual harassment of women. The remaining 24
fast track courts will specifically deal with Protection
of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) cases.