IMPORTANT CURRENT AFFAIRS OF DECEMBER 23^rd & 24^th, 2018

              IMPORTANT CURRENT AFFAIRS OF DECEMBER 23^rd  & 24^th , 2018

1.     The government of Burundi has declared Gitega as the country’s new political capital. 

a.      Bujumbura, the previous capital of Burundi, will serve as the economic capital of the country. 

b.     President Nkurunziza had made this promise of shifting the capital in 2007 which has been implemented now.

c.      About Burundi :

i)      President : Pierre Nkurunziza

ii)    1st Vice President : Gaston Sindimwo

iii) 2nd Vice President : Joseph Butore

iv) Official Languages : Kirundi, French, English

v)    Currency : Burundian franc

  2.     India and China concluded the 7th edition of ‘Hand-in-Hand’ military exercise in China’s Chengdu city. 

a.      Note : The  ‘Hand-in-Hand’ military exercise did not take place last year due to prevailing tensions between both sides after 73-day military standoff at Doklam

     3.     Kisan Diwas (National Farmers Day) is observed on 23rd December.

a.      This day is being observed to celebrate the birthday of Chaudhary Charan Singh, the fifth Prime Minister of India. 

4.     National Consumers Day / National Consumers Right Day is observed on 24th December with the objective of providing better protection of consumer's interest. 

a.      This day is being observed since the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 was enacted on this day in 1986.

b.     Theme of National Consumers Day 2018 :  “Timely Disposal of Consumer Complaints” 

5.     Aiming to reduce the number of mob lynchings in the state, the Manipur Assembly today passed the 'Manipur Protection from Mob Violence Bill'. 

a.      This bill recommends life imprisonment for those involved in mob violence if it results in the death of a victim.

6.     The “Asiatic Lion Conservation Project” has been launched by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change(MoEFCC). 

a.      The main objective of this project is to work for the conservation of the world’s last ranging free Asiatic Lion population and the ecosystem associated with it.

b.     This project will be funded under the ‘Development of Wildlife Habitat (CSS-DWH)’ scheme which is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme

c.      The total budget of the “Asiatic Lion Conservation Project” for 3 years stands at about Rs. 9784 lakh. 

d.     The cost will be borne in the 60:40 ratio by the Central and State government.

7.     A 20-year-old Pune woman Vedangi Kulkarni has become the fastest Asian to cycle the globe. 

a.      She has completed the 29,000 km distance required to qualify as bicycling across the globe.  

8.     An accountability court today handed ousted Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif 7 years in jail and a fine of $2.5 million in the Al-Azizia Steel Mills corruption case.

a.      Note : Sharif was in July 2017 disqualified by Supreme Court over Panama Papers scandal.

     9.     Prime Minister Narendra Modi today released a Rs. 100 commemorative coin in honour of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who passed away earlier this year. 

a.      Features of this Coin : 

i)      The commemorative coin features the Emblem of India on the front face. 

ii)    The words Satyamev Jayate are inscribed below the Lion Capital of Ashoka Pillar in Devanagri script. 

iii) Also inscribed on the coin are the words 'Bharat' in Devanagri and 'India' in Roman script.

iv) The coin's value -- Rs 100 -- is also inscribed below the national emblem.

v)    The reverse side of the coin features a portrait of Atal Bihari Vajapyee and his name inscribed in both Devanagari and Roman. 

vi) The years 1924 and 2018 are inscribed below Vajpayee's portrait to mark the year of his birth and death respectively. 

10.                       The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has shortlisted six IT majors to set up Public Credit Registry (PCR) for capturing details of borrowers and wilful defaulters. 

a.      They are :

                                                       i.      TCS

                                                     ii.      Wipro 

                                                  iii.      IBM India 

                                                  iv.      Capgemini Technology Services India

                                                     v.      Dun & Bradstreet Information Services India

                                                  vi.      Mindtree. 

11.                       India has successfully test-fired nuclear strategic ballistic missile Agni-IV from Dr Abdul Kalam Island off the Odisha coast as a part of user trial by the Army. 

a.      The missile has a 4,000-km strike range and is equipped with advanced avionics, 5th generation on board computer and distributed architecture. 

b.     This is the 7th trial of Agni-IV missile.

12. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has created the coldest known place in the Universe inside NASA’s Cold Atom Laboratory (CAL) at the International Space Station. 

a.      The researchers successfully produced clouds of "ultracold" atoms which can reach a fraction of a degree above absolute zero temperature. 

13. American multinational technology company Google has selected 87 news organisationsfrom 23 countries for funding under its Global News Initiative (GNI). 

a.      Of these 87 organisations selected, 10 are from India. 

b.     The funding aims at helping the organisations in building video capabilities and experiment with new formats for video journalism.

c.      The news firms selected from India are : Factly, Asianet News Media and Entertainment, NDTV, India Today, Bharatiya Digital Party, Nyooz and Video Volunteers.  

14. To offer broadband internet services to users worldwide, China has launched its 1st communication satellite. 

a.      The communication satellite was launched using a Long March 11 carrier rocketwhich took off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in north-western China.  

b.     It is CASIC’s (China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation) first satellite launch under China’s Hongyun project. 

c.      The satellite aims to rival Google and other companies which have similar plans for providing Internet services worldwide.

15.                       The Chief Minister of West Bengal Mamata Banerjee has been awarded the Skoch Chief Minister of the Year Award for the year 2017. 

a.      The award was given to her for her contribution in the overall development of West Bengal as West Bengal emerged as the best-performing state in the field of Governance.

16. Prime Minister Narendra Modi today announced the institution of 'Sardar Patel Award for National Integration', which would be given for "outstanding efforts to further national integration".  

17. The Union Government has announced to confer the Prime Minister’s Shram Awards 2017 to 40 workers across country.

a.      These awardees have been selected among the workers of Departmental Undertakings & Central and State Government PSUs and Private Sector companies having 500 or more workers.

b.     This year, no one was awarded the prestigious Shram Ratna Award.

18. Indian Railways bagged 17 awards at the 'National Energy Conservation Awards (NECA) 2018' held in New Delhi. 

a.      Out of the five categories, Indian Railways participated in three categories- railway stations, hospitals and institutions. 

b.     The awards are given by the Bureau of Energy Efficiency under the Ministry of Power to various institutions for adopting energy efficiency measures.

19.                       Veteran Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader and former West Bengal minister Nirupam Sen (72) passed away.

a.      Sen had handled the industrial reconstruction, planning and power portfolios in West Bengal under the Buddhadeb Bhattacharya cabinet in 2001.

20. Former Mumbai Mayor and Padma Shri awardee Nana Chudasama (85) passed away.

a.      He was honored with Padma Shri award in 2005 in recognition of his work in the social sector. 

21.                       US President Donald Trump has appointed Deputy Defence Secretary Patrick Shanahan as the acting Defence Secretary.

a.      He will replace Jim Mattis on 1st January 2019. 

22.                       Formula One drivers have chosen Mercedes' British driver Lewis Hamilton as the Best Driver of the 2018 season. 

a.      Hamilton registered 11 victories alongside 11 pole positions and 17 podium finishes from 21 races.  

23. Belgium Football team came at number one position in the End-of-the-year FIFA global rankings.

IMPORTANT CURRENT AFFAIRS OF DECEMBER 21^st &22^nd, 2018

              IMPORTANT CURRENT AFFAIRS OF DECEMBER 21^st  &22^nd, 2018

1.     India and China held the 1st meeting of the high-level people-to-people exchanges mechanism.

a.      This meeting was co-chaired by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi. 

b.     Both the countries agreed on '10 pillars' of cooperation to enhance cultural and people-to-people exchanges.

2.     Pakistan has rejected Punjab's request to make Kartarpur (home to Guru Nanak Dev's final resting place) a part of India in a land swap deal. 

a.      Punjab had planned to offer over 10,000 acres in the Dera Baba Nanak area in exchange for the land.

3.     Danish lawmakers have approved a government-backed proposal to make citizenship applicants shake hands with the official conducting the naturalisation ceremony. 

a.      The lawmakers argued the gesture, criticised for discriminating against Muslims, represents a mark of respect for the government.  

4.     22nd December is observed as National Mathematics Day.

a.      India observe this day to commemorate 132nd birthday of great Indian Mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan who made extraordinary contributions to mathematical analysis, number theory, infinite series, and continued fractions.

b.     He compiled more than 3900 mathematical results and equations. 

c.      On his 125th birth anniversary in the year 2011, India declared the birthday of Ramanujan, 22 December, as 'National Mathematics Day' and the year 2012 was observed as the National Mathematics Year. 

5.     For the overall development of farmers Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik today announced a Rs. 10,000 crore scheme titled KALIA. 

a.      KALIA - Krushak Assistance for Livelihood and Income Augmentation

b.     This scheme will provide farmers with Rs. 10,000 a year at the rate of Rs. 5,000 each for Kharif and Rabi season. 

c.      Additionally, crop loans of up to Rs. 50,000 will be interest-free under the scheme.

6.     To help 20 lakh small and marginal farmers of the state, Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das today announced a Rs. 2,250 crore scheme titled Mukhyamantri Krishi Ashirwad Yojana. 

a.      This scheme will provide farmers with a yearly financial assistance of Rs. 5,000 per acre for Kharif crops. 

b.     The scheme will start from 2019-20 financial year.

7.     The Home Ministry has authorised 10 agencies to monitor, intercept, and decrypt "any information generated, transmitted, received or stored in any computer". 

a.      The agencies include the Intelligence Bureau, CBI, Delhi Police Commissioner, RAW and Narcotics Control Bureau. 

b.     The government can direct any agency in the interest of the sovereignty, defence of India and security of the state among others.

8.     The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) had launched Apollo 8, the 1st-ever human mission to orbit the Moon, 50 years ago on this day (21st December 1968). 

a.      The mission's Saturn V rocket carried astronauts Frank Borman, James Lovell Jr and William Anders.

b.      The astronauts orbited the Moon 10 times over the course of 20 hours and returned to the Earth on December 27, 1968.

9.     106th foundation day of India's first Swadeshi Bank 'Central Bank of India' was observed on 21st December.

a.      Central Bank of India was completely owned and founded by Indians without any Britishers share. 

b.     It was established on 21st December 1911 by Sir Sorabji Pochkhanawala with Sir Pherozeshah Mehta as Chairman. 

c.      Note : Sorabji Pochkhanwala is the only banker inwho's honour postage stamp was released by the President of India. 

10. Public sector lender Bank of Baroda has announced that the 'Alternative Mechanism' of the finance ministry has accorded in-principle approval for its merger with Dena Bankand Vijaya Bank. 

a.      Bank of Baroda is the transferee bank, while Vijaya Bank and Dena Bank are the transferor banks in the amalgamation process. 

b.     The 'Alternative Mechanism' (AM) headed by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had decided to merge three banks with a view to create global size lender, which will be stronger and sustainable. 

11. India's stock market has overtaken Germany's to become the 7th-largest Stick Market the world with a market capitalisation of $2.08 trillion. 

a.      This is the first time in seven years that India moved past the equity market of Europe's largest economy.

b.     Important Note : At $27.07 trillion, United States is world's biggest stock market, followed by China ($5.46 trillion) and Japan ($5.41 trillion).

12. The UAE is going to deposit $3 billion in Pakistan's central bank to support its financial and monetary policy.

a.      The UAE's support comes amid the current financial crisis in Pakistan.  

13. Facebook is developing 'stablecoin', a type of cryptocurrency pegged to the dollar, for the payments feature on its messaging platform WhatsApp. 

a.      The social media giant's first focus will reportedly be India, the world's largest remittances market as per World Bank.  

14. Workers at state-owned banks have gone on a nationwide strike on 21st December 2018 protesting the proposed merger of Bank of Baroda, Dena Bank and Vijaya Bank, and demanded immediate wage rises. 

a.      The strike was called by the All India Bank Officers' Confederation, which has over 20 lakh members.   

15.                       Nilanjan Roy has been appointed as the new Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Infosys.

a.      Earlier, he has worked as the Global CFO of Airtel.

16. Technology giant Apple has promoted John Giannandrea to the position of Senior Vice President of Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence Strategy.  

17. Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer of 1984 batch, Harsh Vardhan Shringla, presently India's High Commissioner to Bangladesh, has been appointed as the new Indian Ambassador to the US. 

a.      He is going to replace Navtej Sarna who'll retire by the end of the year.  

18.                       Ex-Indian men's cricket team opener WV Raman has been appointed as the coach of the Indian women's cricket team.  

19. The Australian Open has joined Wimbledon in introducing a final set tiebreak from next year's competition. 

a.      According to the new rules, which will come into force at the January event, matches tied at 6-6 in the final set will move into a tiebreak and the first player to reach 10 points with a difference of two will win the contest.