IMPORTANT CURRENT AFFAIRS OF DECEMBER 5th, 2018
IMPORTANT
CURRENT AFFAIRS OF DECEMBER 5th, 2018
1.
(5th December) is World Soil Day.
a. The
International Union of Soil Sciences (IUSS), in 2002, adopted a resolution
proposing the 5th of December as World Soil Day to celebrate the importance of
soil as a critical component of the natural system and as a vital contributor
to human wellbeing.
b. Theme of
World Soil Day 2018 : "Be the Solution to Soil Pollution!"
2.
(5th December) is International Volunteer Day (IVD).
a. This day is
an international observance designated by the United Nations since 1985.
b. It offers an
opportunity for volunteer organizations and individual volunteers to make
visible their contributions - at local, national and international levels - to
the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
c. Theme
of International Volunteer Day 2018 : “Volunteers
build Resilient Communities”
3.
The 1st bilateral air exercise between Japanese Air Self
Defence Force (JASDF) and Indian Air Force (IAF) titled SHINYUU
Maitri-18 began at Air Force Station, Agra.
a. Theme of
SHINYUU Maitri 18 : Joint Mobility/Humanitarian Assistance & Disaster Relief
(HADR) on Transport aircraft.
4.
Australia is going to pass legislation giving police and
intelligence agencies access to encrypted messages on social networking
platforms such as WhatsApp.
5.
Indian Navy is going to conduct its flagship large-scale coastal
defence exercise Theatre Level Operational Readiness Exercise
(TROPEX) from January to March 2019 to test robustness of entire
coastal security apparatus.
a. As part of
TROPEX, Indian Navy will conduct large-scale coastal defence exercise ‘Exercise
Sea Vigil’.
b. This exercise
will involve all stake holders across mainland and island territories.
c. It will
see participation of all operational ships, submarines and aircraft as well as
units of Indian coast guards (ICG), Indian Army and Indian Air Force (IAF).
6.
University Grants Commission (UGC) has directed all universities
across country to observe December 7 as Armed Forces Flag Day to
commemorate supreme sacrifices made by country’s soldiers during
conflicts.
7.
Union Government has included Gangotri and Yamunotri in
Uttrarakhand, Amarkantak in Madhya Pradesh and Parasnath in
Jharkhand under it's PRASAD scheme to develop pilgrimage and heritage
destinations in the country.
a. With the new
additions, the number of sites under PRASAD has now reached to 41 in 25 states.
b. PRASAD - Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spiritual,
Heritage Augmentation Drive
8.
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) today successfully
launched India's
heaviest satellite GSAT-11 from
the European Spaceport in French Guinana.
a. France-headquartered
Arianespace’s Ariane-5 rocket successfully lifted off with communication
satellite Gsat-11 and South Korean geo satellite Geo-Kompsat-2A.
b. Weighing
5,854 kg, GSAT-11 will boost broadband speeds (at least 16 Gbps) and provide
the capacity to meet growing demands for internet connectivity.
c. The
satellite, with a mission life of 15 years, will be placed in a Geostationary
Orbit.
9.
Microsoft Azure recently launched the Virtual
Assistant Accelerator (VAA), which promises to develop
conversational bots to enhance personalised content delivery across multiple
devices.
10. Russian
Ambassador to India Nikolay Kudashev today
announced that Russia is ready to assist India, particularly in training
astronauts, for Gaganyaan (India's 1st manned mission to space) planned
for 2022.
11.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has kept
the repo rate, the rate at which banks borrow from RBI, unchanged
at 6.50% in its 5th bi-monthly monetary policy review of 2018-19.
a. The
six-member Monetary Policy Committee, headed by RBI Governor Urjit
Patel, began its three-day meeting on Monday.
b. The Reverse
repo-rate, the rate at which RBI borrows money from the banks, is 6.25 per
cent.
12. Bollywood
Actor Salman Khan has topped the Forbes
Celebrity 100 list of 2018 with ₹253.25
crore earnings.
a. Top 5 in the
List :
i) Salman
Khan
ii) Viraty Kohli
iii) Akshay Kumar
iv) Deepika
Padukone
v) Mahendra
Singh Dhoni
13.
During External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj's Abu Dhabi
visit, India and UAE signed a ₹3,500-crore Currency Swap Agreement.
a. The agreement
is expected to reduce the dependency on hard currencies like US dollar and
reduce transmission costs arising from exchange rate risks.
14. India &
UAE also signed an agreement to undertake development projects in Africa.
15.
Indian cricketer Gautam Gambhir announced
his retirement from all forms of cricket.
a. He was
the top scorer for India in the 2007 and 2011 World
Cup finals that India won.
b. He played 58
Tests, 147 ODIs and 37 T20Is.
16. Pakistani
all-rounder and former captain Mohammad Hafeez announced
his retirement from Test cricket at the end of the ongoing
third and final Test match of the series between Pakistan and New Zealand in
Abu Dhabi.
17. Indian
Premier League (IPL) franchise Delhi Daredevils has
been renamed as Delhi Capitals ahead of the
2019 IPL season.
18. Canada's
now-retired weightlifter Christine Girard was given
the London 2012 Gold Medal and the Beijing
2008 Bronze Medal after the urine samples of the weightlifters
finishing above her at the events tested positive for banned substances.
a. Note : Girard
became the 1st Olympic champion in Canadian weightlifting history and the 1st
Canadian ever to win two Olympic medals in the sport.
19. The Indian
Olympic Association (IOA) has submitted a formal expression of
interest to bid for 2032 Olympics.
20.
The New India Assurance Company Ltd (NIACL)
is recruiting Administrative Officers (Generalists) Scale I for
the year 2019. There are 312 Posts in total.
a. Check
complete details about this notification from HERE.
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