Current Affairs December 2025

For the very purpose of getting you ready for the challenge that is Current Affairs In India, we are covering the 2025 December current affairs including politics current affair, current affair news, science current affairs, general knowledge current affair, current government affair and international current affairs. Only studying India's current affairs or political current affairs is not sufficient as you have to cover international events and current affairs along with the Indian current affairs, as well as those in the field of science and sports.

Current Affairs December 15 to December 21

People In News

Lt Gen Manoj Mukund Naravane: He is an alumnus of the National Defense Academy and the Indian Military Academy. He was commissioned into the 7th battalion, the Sikh Light Infantry Regiment in June 1980. He is the Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) designate. He is the current 40th Vice Chief of Army Staff (VCOAS) of the Indian Army. He has commanded infantry brigades in the eastern front and Rashtriya Rifles Battalion in J&K. At present he is heading the Eastern Command of the army that guards India’s 4,000 km border with China. Prior to his appointment as VCOAS, he was the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief (GOC-in-C) Eastern Command and before that General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Army. He has been honored with Param Vishisht Seva Medal(PVSM), Ati Vishisht Seva Medal(AVSM), Vishisht Seva Medal(VSM),Sena Medal(SM). Apart from that, he was also honored with Operation Parakram Medal, Special Service Medal, Samanya Seva Medal.

Lt General Manoj Mukund Naravane is set to become the next chief of the 1.3 million-strong Indian Army. The three-year tenure of the current Army Chief Bipin Rawat ends on December 31 as he retires.

Sridhar Patra: He is at the Director (Finance) in the National Aluminium Company Limited (NALCO). The Appointments Committee of Cabinet (ACC) chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has appointed him as the new chairman-cum-managing director (CMD) of National Aluminium Company Limited (NALCO). He has been appointed as CMD of NALCO till the date of his superannuation, i.e. on 31 October 2024.

NALCO: It’s the abbreviation to National Aluminum Company Limited. It is a Navratna group ‘A’ CPSE having integrated and diversified operations in mining, metal and power under Ministry of Mines, Government of India. Presently, Government of India holds 52% equity of NALCO. It is one of the largest integrated Bauxite-Alumina-Aluminum- Power Complex in India. NALCO has achieved the distinction of being the ‘lowest cost producer of bauxite’ in world for the year 2018, globally.

Air Marshal D Choudhury: He is an alumnus of National Defense Academy (NDA) and was commissioned into fighter stream of India Air Force (IAF) on 22 December 1983. He is also an alumnus of Royal College of Defense studies, UK, Post Graduate in Strategy and International Security from King’s College London. He holds an M.Phil degree in Defense and Strategic Studies. The Air Officer is not only a Fighter Combat leader and and Instrument Rating Instructor and Examiner but has a vast operational flying experience on all variants of MiG-21, MiG-27, MiG-29 and Su-30 aircrafts too. He has served two tenures at Tactics and Air Combat Development Establishment (TACDE), as Instructor and Commandant. He has commanded 15 Sqn, TACDE and two frontline bases as the Air Officer Commanding in Chief (AOC).

Air Marshal D Choudhury took charge as Commandant of National Defence College from Vice Admiral Srikant. Prior to this appointment Air Marshal Choudhury was senior Air Staff Officer at Headquarters of Western Air Command in New Delhi.

NDC: It is the abbreviation National Defence College. NDC is a premier Institution under Union Ministry of Defence which wa establilshed on 27 April 1960. It is the highest seat of Strategic Education of Nation.It’s prestigious annual Course of 47 weeks duration on “National Security and Strategic Studies” is therefore in great demand both nationally and internationally. Its present Alumni strength is nearly 4000 includes Four Heads of State, numerous Chiefs of Armed Forces in India and abroad, substantial number of high ranking military and civilian officers, statesmen and public servants.

Deepika Padukone: She is an Indian actress who works in the Bollywood film industry. She has received four Filmfare Awards, three IIFA, two Producers Guild Film Awards, nine Screen Awards, three Stardust Awards and six Zee Cine Awards.

Deepika Padukone has been honored with the World Economic Forum’s 26th Annual Crystal Award for raising mental health awareness. She is the only Indian actress to feature in Davos 2020 winners list. Along with her there are 3 more recipients of the award. They are, Theaster Gates (US), for his leadership in creating sustainable communities, Jin Xing (China), for her leadership in shaping inclusive cultural norms and Lynette Wallworth (Australia), for her leadership in creating inclusive narratives.  The winners will be honored at the opening session of the World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting  which will take place in in Davos-Klosters, Switzerland from 21-24 January 2020, under the theme, “Stakeholders for a Cohesive and Sustainable World.”

Crystal Award: The annual awards are hosted by World Economic Forum’s World Arts Forum. The Crystal Awards recognizes as well as celebrates the achievements of leading artists and cultural figures whose leadership inspires inclusive and sustainable change.

Pandit Vidyadhar Vyas: Pandit Vidyadhar Vyas who was born on 8 September 1944, in Nagpur, is an Indian Hindustani vocalist, and a contemporary exponent of the Paluskar style of North Indian classical singing. He belongs to the Gwalior gharana and the lineage of Sangeet Maharshi Pandit Vishnu Digambar Paluskar contributed to his background. Malkauns Bhairav Bahar and Guldasta are his famous albums. He has been awarded with Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for Hindustani Music - Vocal Songs.  He will be bestowed the National Tansen Award for 2019 during the Tansen Festival.

2019 Tansen Award: The award was instituted by the Madhya Pradesh government. The award recognizes the outstanding exponents of Hindustani classical music. It carries a cash prize of Rs.2 lakh.

Narendra Damodardas Modi: He is an Indian politician and government official who rose to become a senior leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). He was born on September 17, 1950, Vadnagar in India. He is serving as the 14th and current Prime Minister of India since 2014. He was the Chief Minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014 and is the Member of Parliament for Varanasi.

Union Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment Shri Thaawarchand Gehlot released the Braille Edition of the book "Exam Warriors" authored by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi.The Braille Edition has been prepared both in Hindi and English. It has been printed in the Braille Press of Rajasthan Netraheen Kalyan Sangh. The book contains a detailed-deion of the animated picture and various yoga asanas which will let students imagine the pictorial graphics with ease.

The book aims to not only benefit visually-impaired students who face mental stress during examinations but will also boost the confidence level of these students and help them get success in various competitive exams.

Sahitya Akademi:  The Sahitya Academy Award is a literary honour in India, which the Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, annually confers on writers of the most outstanding books of literary merit published in any of the major Indian languages (24 languages including the 22 listed in the Eighth Schedule of the Indian Constitution recognised by the Sahitya Akademi, New Delhi. It was established in 1954. The award comprises a plaque and a cash prize of Rupees 1,00,000.It was awarded for the first time in 1954.

Sahitya Akademi has announced its annual Sahitya Akademi Awards in 23 languages. 7 books of poetry, 4 of novel, 6 of short stories, 3 of essays and one each of non-fiction, autobiography and biography have won the Sahitya Akademi Awards 2019.They will be awarded at a special function to be held on 25 February 2020 at New Delhi during the Festival of Letters organized by Sahitya Akademi.

Seven books of poetry were awarded to Dr. Phukan Ch. Basumatary (Bodo), Dr. Nand Kishore Acharya (Hindi), Sri Nilba A. Khandekar (Konkani), Sri Kumar Manish Arvind (Maithili), Sri V. Madhusoodanan Nair (Malayalam), Smt. Anuradha Patil (Marathi) and Prof. Penna Madhusudan(Sanskrit). 

Four novels were awarded to Dr. JoysreeGoswami Mahanta (Assamese), Sri L. Birmangol Singh (Beryl Thanga) (Manipuri), Sri Cho. Dharman (Tamil) and Sri Bandi Narayana Swamy (Telugu).

Six books of short stories were awarded to Sri Abdul Ahad Hajini (Kashmiri), Sri Tarun Kanti Mishra(Odia), Sri Kirpal Kazak (Punjabi), Sri Ram sawroop Kisan (Rajasthani), Sri Kali Charan Hembram(Santali) and Sri Ishwar Moorjani (Sindhi).

Dr. Shashi Tharoor (English), Dr. Vijaya(Kannada) and Prof. Shafey Kidwai (Urdu) have won for each of their works on creative non-fiction, autobiography and biography respectively. Three books of essays were awarded to Dr. Chinmoy Guha(Bengali), Sri Om Sharma Jandriari (Dogri) and Sri Ratilal Borisagar (Gujarati).

Miss World: It is the oldest running international beauty pageant. It was formed on 29 July 1951 by Eric Morley. Since his death in 2000, Morley's widow, Julia Morley, has co-chaired the pageant. It is headquartered in London, United Kingdom.

The winner of Miss World 2019 was Tony-Ann Singh of Jamaica. She was crowned by her predecessor Miss World 2018 Vanessa Ponce from Mexico at the beauty pageant held at the ExCeL London. Ophelia Mezino of France was the first urnner-up  and Suman Rao of India was the second runners up of the beauty pageant. Miss World 2019 was the 69th edition of the contest and contestants from 120 countries competed for the title.

Places In News

Odisha: Odisha,formerly Orissa is an eastern Indian state on the Bay of Bengal. It is known for its tribal cultures and its many ancient Hindu temples. The capital, Bhubaneswar, is home to hundreds of temples, notably the intricately-carved Mukteshvara. The Lingaraj Temple complex, dating to the 11th century, is set around sacred Bindusagar Lake. The official language of the state is Odia.

The Chief Minister of Odisha, Naveen Patnaik has launched the 'Jalsathi' programme to ensure supply of safe drinking water to all households in the state. The Government seeking to boost the economic empowerment of women have included Woman volunteers called as- ‘Jalasathis’for Mission Shakti for piped water supply for which water quality testing kits and POS (point of sale) machines was distributed to them.

A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed between Water Corporation of Odisha (WATCO) and women federations in Bhubaneswar (Odisha Capital) for implementation of ‘Jalsathi’ programme.

Kerala: It is a state on the southwestern Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions. Kerala is known especially for its ecotourism initiatives and beautiful backwaters.

The State Government of Kerala has launched 2 social welfare schemes – ‘Vijayamritham’ and ‘Sahachari’. These schemes are also applicable to NSS(National Service Scheme), NCC(National Cadet Corps) and Student Police Cadet (SPC) units working for their care and welfare.

Vijayamritham Scheme: It has been launched to provide financial assistance to differently-abled students of government or government-approved educational institutions, and students of parallel colleges and distance education programmes.

Sahachari Scheme: The scheme aims to honor National Service Scheme (NSS), Student Police Cadet (SPC) and National Cadet Corps (NCC) units that assist people, with over 40% disability, in their studies and other tasks by conferring award to them. Under the scheme, three best NSS, NCC or SPC units will be selected for the award with each being given a cash award of Rs.10,000 each besides certificates and plaques.

Gwalior: It is a city in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It's known for its palaces and temples, including the Sas Bahu Ka Mandir intricately carved Hindu temple. Ancient Gwalior Fort occupies a sandstone plateau overlooking the city and is accessed via a winding road lined with sacred Jain statues.

Tansen Samaroh: It is a festival celebrated in the memory of one of the most eminent singers of Indian history Mian Tansen every year. Tansen was one of the nine gems in the court of Emperor Akbar who was one of the greatest Mughal rulers of India. The festival is organized under the Madhya Pradesh culture department by Ustad Alauddin Khan Kala Evam Sangeet Academy.

The five day musical festival Tansen Samaroh began in Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh which is being held from 17-21 December 2019. 2019 is the 95th year of the festival. It is one of the oldest and esteemed classical music festival. Vocalist Pandit Vidyadhar Vyas will be presented with the National Tansen Award for 2019 during the Tansen Festival. The award was instituted by the Madhya Pradesh government.

Manipur: It is a state in northeastern India, with the city of Imphal as its capital. It is bounded by Nagaland to the north, Mizoram to the south, and Assam to the west; Myanmar lies to its east. The official language is Meitei. It is a state rich in tradition, culture, and ethnicity. It is famous for its natural beauty.

Orange festival: The State-level 3-day Orange Festival which began in Manipur was inaugurated by Chief Minister N. Biren Singh at district headquarters Tamenglong. Tamenglong district is the largest producer of orange fruit in Manipur. The festival is conducted under the sponsorship of the North Eastern Council. The festival seeks to promote the fruit and encourage its growers and very soon the Tamenglong orange hopes to receive Geographical Indication Tagging Certificate.

Tripura: It is a hilly state in northeast India, bordered on 3 sides by Bangladesh, and home to a diverse mix of tribal cultures and religious groups. It's capital is Agartala. The Governor of Tripura is Ramesh Bias and Chief Minister is Biplab Kumar Deb.

 

The Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MoCI) has notified the setting up of first ever Special Economic Zone(SEZ) in Tripura. The developer of the SEZ will be Tripura Industrial Development Corporation (TIDC) Ltd. The SEZ is being set-up at Paschim Jalefa, Sabroom, South Tripura District. Sabroom is 130 km away from Agartala. It will be a Sector Specific Economic Zone for Agro-Based Food Processing.

The setting up of the SEZ in Sabroom seeks to open up new avenues to attract private investment considering the proximity of the Chittagong Port and construction of the bridge across Feni River in South Tripura which is underway. The SEZ is estimated to generate 12,000 skilled jobs. Rubber based industries, textile and Apparel Industries, bamboo and Agri-food Processing Industries will be set-up in the SEZ. It will help not only help native people get employment but also provide an opportunity to learn new technologies in the agro-based food processing sector.

The government, after the setting up of SEZ,will provide 100% Income Tax exemption on export income for SEZ units under Section 10AA of the Income Tax Act for the first 5 years and 50% of the ploughed back export profit for another 5 year

SEZ: It refers to Special Economic Zone. Its a zone that is specially defined geographical area for trade, economic activity, production and other commercial activities. SEZs are located within a country's national borders, and their aims include increased trade balance, employment, increased investment, job creation and effective administration. India is the first Asian country that established SEZ in Kandla in 1965 to increase exports. It was named Export Processing Zone (EPZ). The SEZ comes under Special Economic Zone Act 2005, with effect from 10th February, 2006.

Science and Technology

ICMR: It is an abbreviation for Indian Council of Medical Research. The ICMR is setting up a task force on gene therapy research to encourage research in the emerging field. As many inherited disorders are not treated by current available drugs or traditional therapies, this task force seeks to encourage research and explore gene editing based therapeutic approaches that will treat illness. The work of the force will be completely abided to the guidelines on gene therapy released by ICMR.

According to ICMR, it is important to build a strong task force that will work exclusively on gene therapy as many rare diseases can be cured through gene therapy. Western world has stridden far ahead in the field in the last 30 and India is far behind

Gene Therapy: It refers to the process of introduction, removal or change in content of an individual’s genetic material with the goal of treating the disease and a possibility of achieving long term cure.

IAU: It refers to International Astronomical Union. It has announced the names of the newly discovered stars and planets. The new star has been named 'Sharjah' and one of the planet was named 'Barjeel' for the efforts and contributions of the Emirate of Sharjah to the global scientific community. The announcement was made yesterday during a press conference of the IAU in the French capital, Paris, celebrating the centennial of the union.

International Astronomical Union (IAU): It was formed on 28 July 1919. It is headquartered in Paris, France. Its President is Ewine van Dishoeck.

Bhibha Chawdhuri: She is a 20th century Indian woman physicist. She not only worked with Bhabha and Sarabhai at TIFR and PRL respectively but in the laboratory of Nobel-winning physicist P M S Blackett, who was also an advisor of Prime Minister Nehru on matters relating to organizing scientific research in newly independent India. She published several research papers in international journals including the venerated Nature. She remained a life-long researcher, and the last paper co-authored by her was published in the Indian Journal of Physics in 1990.

On December 17, 2019, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) named a white yellow star in Sextans Constellation as “Bhibha” and its planet as “Santamasa”. Santamasa is a sanskrit word which means clouded. Until now, the stars were called HD 86081 and 86081b.

StrandHogg:  It is a bug in the OS component that allows malware applications to pose as genuine applications. This malware can potentially listen to their conversations, access photo album, read/send messages, make calls, record conversations and get login credentials to various accounts.

The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has sent an alert to all States warning them about the vulnerability of the Android operating system to this StrandHogg bug. The information was shared by Threat Analytical Unit, Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (ICCCC) so as to take steps to create awareness among public on vulnerability of Android to ‘StrandHogg’.

CBERS-4A: It is an Earth Resource Satellite-4A (CBERS-4A) which was jointly developed by China and Brazil as part of a bilateral programme. It is equipped with 3 optical payloads that is, a wide-range panchromatic multispectral camera developed by China, and a wide-field imager and a multispectral camera developed by Brazil.

The satellite was the 6th developed under the China-Brazil Earth Resources Satellite (CBERS) program that began in 1988. The satellites are designed for Earth observation from orbit for non-military use. The CBERS-4A will support the Brazilian government's monitoring of the Amazon rainforest and changes in the country's environment, according to Xinhua.

It was launched on a Long March-4B carrier from Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in Shanxi Province of China. The same rocket also put into orbits another 8 satellites, including a wide-range multispectral remote-sensing microsatellite donated to Ethiopia (which is also Ethiopia’s first satellite).

Ethopia: The country lies in the Horn of Africa. It is a rugged, landlocked country split by the Great Rift Valley. It’s a place of ancient culture with archaeological finds that dates back more than 3 million years. Its capital city is Addis Ababa. Its official language is Amharic and its currency is Ethopian birr. Abiy Ahmed is the Prime Minister of Ethopia.

Ethiopia launched its first satellite, named ETRSS-1 on Friday, December 20. The satellite will operate from space at about 700km above the surface of the Earth. It is the nation's Chinese-backed maiden satellite. The launch of the Ethiopian Remote Sensing Satellite (ETRSS) took place at a space station in China. The launch makes Ethiopia the 11th African country to put a satellite into space. Egypt was the first in 1998. Egypt was the first in 1998.

The data which will be provided by Ethiopia’s satellite is expected to paint a fuller picture of the country’s agriculture, forestry and mining resources and improve responses to flooding and other disasters.

Future Skills: It is an initiative which is a part of Information Technology firm- Wipro’s corporate social responsibility (CSR),  programme called ‘TalentNext’, which prepares faculty & academic leaders to train students.

 

Software major Wipro has partnered with Indian IT (Information Technology) industry apex body, NASSCOM (National Association of Software and Services Companies) to launch ‘Future Skills’ platform for new age technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), cloud computing, big data, cyber security and internet of things(IoT) that seeks to reach 10,000 students from over 20 engineering colleges in India.

NASSCOM aims to include 9 crore techies to the industry by 2030 and the tie-up with Wipro will ensure they possess the right skills to be employed.

Sports

ICC Annual Awards: The ICC Awards are a set of sports awards for cricket. The awards recognize and honor the best international cricket players of the previous 12 months. The awards have been institutionalized by International Cricket Council since 2004.

Australian all rounder Ellyse Perry has been crowned the international women's cricketer of the year. She claimed the Rachael Heyhoe-Flint award for the second time in three years for ICC Women’s Cricketer of the Year. She was also named the ODI player of the year. She has been the standout performer in 2019 across formats, with 3 hundreds, including one in Ashes Test. She also became 1st player to complete 1,000 runs and 100 wickets in T20I cricket.

Australia's Alyssa Healy as ICC Women’s T20I Player of the Year.

Thailand's Chanida Sutthiruang as ICC Women’s Emerging Player of the Year.

Indian opener Smriti Mandhana was today named in both the International Cricket Council's ODI and T20 teams of the year.

Along with Smiriti, Shikha Pandey, Jhulan Goswami and Poonam Yadav were also named in ODI team of the year and all-rounder Deepti Sharma in T20 side.

Australia's Meg Lanning was chosen as captain of both ODI and T20 team.

Qatar International Cup: The Qatar Cup is held under the supervision and organization of the IWF (International Weightlifting Federation) and also the QWF (Qatar Weightlifting Federation). The tournament has been held from the year 2015 onwards with editions in 2016 and 2018.

Former world champion, weightlifter 24-year-old Manipuri Saikhom Mirabai Chanu won the women's 49kg category gold medal to open India's account at the 6th Qatar International Cup in Doha

Jeremy Lalrinnunga: The 17-year-old youth Olympic gold medallist weightlifter Jeremy Lalrinnunga went on a record-breaking spree. He claimed three world marks in a remarkable performance, on the way to a silver in the men's 67kg category at the 6th Qatar International Cup in Doha. In a power-packed performance, He smashed his own Youth World and Asian record in snatch, clean and jerk and total lift with an effort of 306kg (140kg+166kg) to win the silver medal.

Spanish League: The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as La Liga (La Liga Santander for sponsorship reasons with Santander), is the men's top professional football division of the Spanish football league system. A total of 62 teams have competed in La Liga since its inception.

The Argentina superstarLionel Messi closed the year with a total of 50 goals for club and country for the sixth straight time, helping Barcelona stay in position to keep the Spanish league lead entering the holiday break. Luis Suárez, Antoine Griezmann and Arturo Vidal also scored as Barcelona comfortably defeated Alaves 4-1.

Squash: Squash is a racket and ball sport played by two (singles) or four players (doubles squash) in a four-walled court with a small, hollow rubber ball. The players alternate in striking the ball with their racquets onto the playable surfaces of the four walls of the court.

Indian squash player Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu clinched the men's title while Hana Ramadan of Egypt won the women's crown in the third leg of the HCL-SRFI India Tour Squash Tournament in Mumbai.

Tomotaka Endo of Japan was defeated by Harinder by 3-0 in a match while England's Lucy Turmel was defeated by Hana beat by 3-1 in the women's final.

Open Golf Championship: The Open Championship, often referred to as The Open or the British Open, is the oldest golf tournament in the world, and one of the most prestigious. It was founded in 1860.

Abhinav Lohan lifted his first PGTI title securing a narrow one-shot triumph at the Bengaluru Open golf championship. He had also won the PGTI Feeder Tour event in Lucknow two months back.

Karandeep Kochhar of Chandigarh with 71 finished runner-up at 12-under-276. The Bengaluru duo of M Dharma, who shot the day's best round of 67, and Rahil Gangjee 71 took third and fourth places with totals of 11-under-277 and 10-under-278.

Lohan has become the fourth Indian golfer to register his maiden title on the TATA Steel PGTI this season following the likes of  Priyanshu Singh,Kshitij Naveed Kaul and Veer Ahlawat.

U-17 tournament: The FIFA U-17 World Cup, founded as the FIFA U-16 World Championship, later changed to U-17 in 1991 and to its current name in 2007, is the world championship of association football for male players under the age of 17 organized by Fédération Internationale de Football Association.

The U-17 tournament final of the In Women's Football took place in Mumbai. Sweden won the tri-nation series beating India 4-0 in the final with Thailand coming out third in the tournament.

FIH: Its the acronym for International Hockey Federation. The Fédération Internationale de Hockey, commonly known by the acronym FIH, is the international governing body of field hockey and indoor field hockey. Its headquarters are in Lausanne, Switzerland and the president is Narinder Batra. It was founded on 7 January 1924.

The International Hockey Federation (FIH) unveiled a new world ranking system for 2020 in Lausanne, Switzerland. It has been launched after 12 months of analysis, testing and painstaking research. New ranking will be match-based instead of tournament-based calculation for a better reflection of current performances.

It will come into effect from the first of January 2020. As per the world body governing hockey, the new model removes much of the subjectivity surrounding continental weighing by creating a system which is fair to all.

The outgoing world ranking system was in existence since 2003 which was originally devised to allocate teams into pools at tournaments. The old model allowed nations to earn ranking points two to three times per year.

ODI: It is an abbreviation for One Day International. It is a form of limited overs cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of overs, usually 50. The Cricket World Cup, generally held every four years, is played in this format.

The 2nd ODI was held in Vishakahpatnnam where India beat West Indies by 107 runs.

The 25-year-old Spinner from Uttar Pradesh Kuldip Yadav achieved a hat-trick during the second ODI. He became the first India player to claim two hat-tricks in international cricket, joining an elite band that includes pace legend Wasim Akram.

Earlier, the West Indies had registered a comfortable eight-wicket win over the India in the first ODI at Chennai.

Virat Kohli: Virat Kohli born on 5 November 1988, is an Indian cricketer who currently captains the India national team. A right-handed top-order batsman, Kohli is regarded as one of the best batsmen in the world. He plays for Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League, and has been the team's captain since 2013.

The Indian skipper retains top spot in ICC Test rankings.

In the ICC World Test Championship, India stand on top with 360 points, way ahead of Australia 216, Sri Lanka 80, New Zealand 60 and England 56.

National Shooting Championships: Himachal Pradesh's 18 year old Zeena Khitta won the gold ahead of three of world’s best shooters in the 63rd National Shooting Championship. She was crowned the new national champion in the women's 10m air rifle at the ongoing National Shooting Championships in Bhopal. Mehuli Ghosh won the silver and world No 3 Apurvi Chandela of Rajasthan won the  bronze respectively.

 

National

President's Colours award: It is the highest honor bestowed upon a police force in India. The honor recognizes the invaluable contribution of the police force to society. Earlier, it was awarded to states of Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Jammu and Kashmir, Tripura and Assam.

Vice President, Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu bestowed Gujarat police with the President's Colors award on 15 December 2019 at a ceremony held in Karai Police Academy in Gandhi Nagar. Gujarat has become the 7th State to be honored with the prestigious award. President’s Colours, also called as Nishaan, an emblem which all police officers of Gujarat would wear on left-hand sleeve of their uniform. A new logo of Gujarat Police was also unveiled and the force was also awarded a specially designed flag and an emblem. The proposal for President's Colours was initiated by the office of the Director-General (DG) and Inspector General of Police (IGP), the head of the Gujarat Police.

Vijay Diwas: It is celebrated on 16 December every year. The day aims to commemorate the victory of India over Pakistan in 1971. On 16 December 1971, the chief of the Pakistani forces, General AA Khan Niazi, along with 93 thousand troops, surrendered to the allied forces consisting of the Indian Army and Mukti Bahini. The war culminated with the subsequent secession of East Pakistan into Bangladesh.

The Nation celebrated Vijay Diwas at the National War Memorial. A wreath-laying ceremony was held at Vijay Smarak at Fort William the Head Quarters of Eastern Command in Kolkata, West Bengal. A delegation of Mukti Joddhas from Bangladesh and Indian war veterans also took part in the celebrations. The day is also a remembrance of the brave soldiers of India and Mukti Joddhas from Bangladesh who sacrificed their lives for a noble cause.

MLF: It refers to the Military Literature Festival. It is a joint initiative of Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh and Punjab Governor VP Singh Badnore in collaboration with Western Command. It has steadily earned brand presence in the region by successfully encompassing all aspects of defence literary works, arts, crafts, music and displays welded around the central theme to encourage youngsters to take up defense forces as career.

The third edition of coveted Military Literature Festival (MLF) was inaugurated by Punjab Governor and UT Administrator VP Singh Badnore. It was held at UT Lake Club, Chandigarh.

NBM: It refers to National Broadband Mission. NBM is a part of government’s National Digital Communications Policy, 2018. The Minister for Communications, Law & Justice and Electronics and Information Technology (IT), Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad launched National Broadband Mission (NBM) in New Delhi. The logo of NBM and a booklet was also launched on the occasion.

The aim of the mission is to fast track the growth of digital communications infrastructure, bridge digital divide and to provide affordable and universal access of broadband to all villages by 2022, to facilitate universal and equitable access to broadband services and significantly improve quality of services for mobile and internet for across country and especially in rural and remote areas.

The Missions objectives also include:-

Route for Optical Fiber Cable: Laying of incremental 30 lakhs route kilometers of Optical Fiber Cable(OFC) and increasing the tower density from 0.42 to 1.0 tower per thousand of population by 2024.

Broadband Readiness Index: Develop a Broadband Readiness Index (BRI) which will measure the availability of digital communications infrastructure and conducive policy ecosystem within a State/UT (Union Territory).

Digital fibre map: Creating a digital fiber map of Digital Communications network and infrastructure, including OFC and Towers, nationwide.

Models for Right of WAy(RoW): Develop innovative implementation models for Right of Way (RoW). RoW is legal right, established by usage or grant, to pass along a specific route through grounds or property belonging to another.

Investment:  investment from stakeholders of $100 billion (Rs 7 Lakh Crore) including Rs 70,000 Crore from Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF).

NITI Aayog: It is a policy think tank of the Government of India, established with the aim to achieve sustainable development goals with cooperative federalism by fostering the involvement of State Governments of India in the economic policy-making process using a bottom-up approach.

The NITI Aayog is preparing to draft a roadmap for achieving population stabilisation in collaboration with the Population Foundation of India (PFI). In order to attain its aim in creating a vision for the country to help stabilize population, birth rate and family planning, a national consultation titled "Realising the vision of population stabilisation: leaving no one behind" was organized on 20 December, 2019 at NITI Bhavan, New Delhi along with Population Foundation of India. The national consultation meeting was attended by senior officials, specialists, and experts  who discussed on the subject ways and means to strengthen India’s family planning programmes and population policy. The recommendations from the consultation will contribute to a NITI Aayog working paper.

The drafted roadmap will help in achieving India's vision of attaining population stabilization by helping to address key gaps in India's family planning programmes, addressing regional disparities by focusing on adolescents and youths, providing suggestions not only for budgetary allocations for family planning but also for the existing socio-cultural barriers towards contraception by investing extensively in innovative behavior-change communication strategies and recommending ways for strengthening the quality of care, including counseling services, managing side effects, and family planning support

PMGSY: It refers to Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana. PMGSY is a nationwide plan in India to provide good all-weather road connectivity to unconnected villages.It was launched in December 2000 and is fully funded by the central government under the recommendation of the 14th finance commission. The project was funded by both centre and state in the ratio 60:40.The PMGSY is under the authority of the Ministry of Rural Development.

Union Minister of Rural Development, Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Shri Narendra Singh Tomar launched the third phase of Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana.

Phase III of PMGSY, the central Government aims to construct 1,25,000 km of roads to connect residential areas to Gramin agricultural markets (GrAMs), high secondary schools and hospitals with major connectivity roads in rural areas across the country. The funding pattern for the scheme will be 60:40 between Centre and the States. For North-East and the Himalayan States the ratio will be 90:10. The scheme has used green technology to of using waste plastic and cold mix technology to build major portion of roads.

Minorities Rights Day: It is observed annually on the 18th of December as on this day the in 1992 United Nations(UN) adopted the Statement on the individual's Rights belonging to religious or Linguistic National or Ethnic Minorities. It highlighted cultural, religious linguistic and national identity of the minorities that shall be respected, preserved, and protected by the states and within individual territories.

Minorities Rights Day is observed by the National Commission for Minorities (NCM).

India celebrated Minorities Rights Day 18 December to promote the rights of Minority communities in India and also to create awareness the Minority Rights among the people. It focuses on the religious harmony, respect, and better understanding of all minorities' communities in India.

 

The Constitutional and Statutory Bodies that are set up by the govt. of India are Central Wakf Council (CWC), National Commission for Minorities (NCM), Commissioner for Linguistic Minorities (CLM).

NCM: National Commission for Minorities (NCM) was established by the Government of India under the National Commission for Minorities Act, 1992. Six religious communities of India namely Muslims, Christians, Buddhists, Parsis and Jains have been notified as minority communities in India.

Ministry of Minority Affairs: The Ministry was established on 29 January 2006. It was carved out of the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.

It is the apex body in the Union government to carry out various welfare, regulatory and developmental programmes for the minority communities. It was carved out of the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.

International

UNESCO: It is the United Nations' agency for education, culture, and science. It was founded in 4 November 1946. It’s headquartered in Paris, France. It's Director General is Audrey Azoulay.

UNESCO declared the traditional massage of Thailand, Nuad Thai as a cultural heritage. It was included in the prestigious list, the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, which features practices and traditions which have been passed across generations and are known globally. The Intangible Cultural Heritage list recognizes traditional practices. It has 550 items from 127 countries which have been split into three categories further. A new list is released every year.

Nuad Thai massage: It is a famous 2000 year old  traditional form of massage of Thailand. It is also known as Thai Yoga massage or Nuad Bo-Rarn. It is a type of Oriental bodywork therapy that is based on the treatment of the human body, mind, and spirit. The actual origin of this Thai massage is India. It was brought it to Thailand about 2,500 years ago by doctors and monks who carried its secrets for generations.

Algeria: It is a North African country with a Mediterranean coastline and a Saharan desert interior. Many empires have left legacies here, such as the ancient Roman ruins in seaside Tipaza. In the capital, Algiers, Ottoman landmarks like circa-1612 Ketchaoua Mosque line the hillside Casbah quarter, with its narrow alleys and stairways. The city’s Neo-Byzantine basilica Notre Dame d’Afrique dates to French colonial rule. The currency of Algeria is Dinar.

Former Prime Minister of Algeria Abdelmadjid Tebboune has been elected as the President of Algeria succeeding Abdelkader Bensalah. He served as the PM from May 2017 to August 2017, under the governance of President Abdelaziz Bouteflika.

International Tea Day: It is observed annually on December 15. It has been celebrated since 2005 in tea producing countries like India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Vietnam, Indonesia,Bangladesh, Kenya, Malawi, Malaysia, Uganda and Tanzania.

The United Nations has now declared May 21 as International Tea Day after Indian government moved a proposal at the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Intergovernmental Group (IGG) on Tea expanding the observance of International Tea Day through UN FAO. May has been selected because the season of quality tea production starts in May in most of the tea producing countries. The purpose of celebrating this day is to boost its production and consumption, to help in fighting hunger and poverty in rural areas and also improve the condition fo the tea producers and tea workers.It seeks to encourage the status of tea workers, daily wages, social security, employment security, health and workers' rights.

IOD: It refers to the Indian Ocean Dialogue (IOD). It is a flagship initiative of the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA), with its origins in the 13th Council of Ministers meeting, held in November 2013 in Perth, Australia. The first IOD was held in Kerala, India in 2014, in Perth, Australia in 2015 and Padang, Indonesia in 2016, respectively.

The 6th Indian Ocean Dialogue and Delhi Dialogue XI was held in at the Pravasi Bharatiya Kendra in New Delhi which was hosted by the External Affairs Ministry. It is for the first time that these two dialogues, which are key elements of India-ASEAN calendars and Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) was held consecutively and on similar Indo-Pacific themes.

The theme for Indian Ocean Dialogue was "Indo-Pacific: Re-imagining the Indian Ocean through an Expanded Geography”.

External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar officially announced that India is planning to expand its area covered by its Indo-Pacific policy by including Gulf States and Africa. So far, the Indo-Pacific covered Indian Ocean and the Arabian sea. The expansion will help India in its Act East Policy. With the expansion of the Indo-Pacific, ASEAN becomes the geographical centre of a greater perimeter and becomes heart of Indo-Pacific. This will also help India in moving beyond cultural, historical and economic linkages.

Indo Pacific: It is a US construct that includes regions between the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean. The Indo-Pacific is one such mental map which ranges from the eastern shores of the African continent to the western shores of the US that has gained currency in recent times. It is a vision which recognizes that no one nation can or should dominate the Indo- Pacific.

Lahore-Wagah shuttle train: It is a train service between Lahore and Wagah railway station. It serves as a sub-urban border station, before crossing into India. The service was operational till 1997, after which it was suspended due to certain operational and security reasons.

Wagah station: It is the last station located in Wagah, Punjab, Pakistan. It is the last station in Pakistan on the Lahore–Wagah Branch Line and serves as the border station before crossing into India. The station is used for immigration and custom of passengers who travel between India and Pakistan through the Samjhauta Express.

The shuttle train service between Lahore and Wagah railway station resumed its operation on 15 December 2019 after a gap of twenty two years. The service was inaugurated by Pakistan Railways Minister Sheikh Rashid. The objective of reviving of the Lahore-Wagah train service is the revive the connection of Lahore with its suburbs through rail routes.

Bougainville: Bougainville, officially the Autonomous Region of Bougainville, is an autonomous region of Papua New Guinea. The largest island is Bougainville Island, while the region also includes Buka Island and a number of outlying islands and atolls. It is a chain of islands that lie 959 kilometers northwest of Papua New Guinea’s capital, Port Moresby.

Bougainville has voted unequivocally for independence.

The referendum marks an important part of a peace agreement signed almost 20 years ago. The 2001 Bougainville Peace Agreement ended the deeply divisive nine-year conflict (1988-1997) that lead to the deaths of approximately 20,000 people, or about 10 per cent of Bougainville’s population. Pacific Island Referendum could give the world a tiny New country.

Bougainville holds one of the world's largest untapped deposits of copper. It is also rich  for fisheries, gold and other resources. So, China seeks to influence an independent Bougainville. Building strong ties with the country will help China increase its presence in the Pacific.

Impeachment: It is the process by which a legislative body levels charges against a government official. Impeachment does not in itself remove the official definitively from office; it is similar to an indictment in criminal law, and thus it is essentially the statement of charges against the official.

Impeachment in the United States is the process by which the lower house of a legislature brings charges against a civil officer of government for crimes alleged to have been committed, analogous to the bringing of an indictment by a grand jury. The impeached official remains in office until a trial is held.

USA: President Donald Trump was impeached by the U.S. House of Representatives on 18 December 2019. He has become the third US president in history to be impeached by the House of Representatives. The House voted on two charges which were - the president had abused his power and that he had obstructed Congress. The vote for the first article of impeachment, abuse of power, was passed 230-197 and the second, for obstruction of Congress, 229-198.

Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton are the other two former Presidents who have been impeached.

Indian polity

Supreme Court: The Supreme Court of India is the highest judicial court under the Constitution of India, the highest constitutional court, with the power of judicial review. Consisting of the Chief Justice of India and a maximum of 34 judges, it has extensive powers in the form of original, appellate and advisory jurisdictions. The Supreme Court of India came into being on 28 January 1950.

CAA: It refers to Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019. It amended the Citizenship Act of 1955 by providing a path to Indian citizenship for Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi, and Christian religious minorities from the neighboring Muslim majority countries of Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan.

The Supreme Court has decided to examine the constitutional validity of the amended Citizenship Act (CAA), which provides Indian citizenship rights to non-Muslim migrants of Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan, but refused to stay its operation. The top court issued notice to the Centre on a batch of pleas challenging the Citizenship (Amendment) Act.

Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly: The Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly on on 16 December 2019 passed two Bills that enable setting up of separate Commissions for Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs). The two bills were passed by voice note.

State Minister for Tribal Welfare Pushpa Srivani tabled the Andhra Pradesh State Commission for Schedule Tribes (st) Bill that allows setting up of a separate Commissions to safeguard the interests of STs. Social Welfare Minister P Viswarup tabled the Andhra Pradesh State Commission for Scheduled Castes(sc) Bill. The Bill was required after the State decided to bifurcate the existing Andhra Pradesh State Commission for SCs and STs into two separate commissions.

SECTION 144 CrPC: India. Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) of 1973 empowers an executive magistrate to prohibit an assembly of more than four people in an area. According to 141-149 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), the maximum punishment for engaging in rioting is rigorous imprisonment for 3 years and/or fine.

Section 144 restricts carrying any sort of weapon in that area where it has been imposed and people can be detained for violating it. It is also imposed in urgent cases of apprehended danger of some event that has the potential to cause trouble or damage to human life or property. No order under Section 144 shall remain in force for more than two months but the state governments can extent the validity for two months and maximum up to six months. It can be withdrawn at any point of time if situation becomes normal. Section 144 was used for the first time in 1861 by the British Raj.

Prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the Code Of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), 1973 has been issued by the State Governments of India to deal with demonstrations by protesters against the Citizenship Amendment Act.

Indian Policy

SDC: It is the abbreviated form of Sustainable Development Cell. The Ministry of Coal has announced its decision to establish a ‘Sustainable Development Cell’ in order to promote environmentally sustainable coal mining in the country.

To promote the sustainable coal mining in the country, the cell will advise, mentor, plan and monitor the mitigation measures taken by the coal companies for maximizing the utilization of available resources in a sustainable way, minimizing the adverse impact of mining and mitigating it for further eco-system services. It will also address environmental concerns during the decommissioning or closure of mines. This cell will formulate the future policy framework for the environmental mitigation measures including the Mine closure Fund too.

The task of the cell is adopt a systemic approach,  starting from collection of data, analysis of data, presentation of information, planning based on information by domain experts, consultations, innovative thinking, site-specific approaches, adoption of best practices, knowledge sharing and dissemination and finally end with an aim to ease the lives of people and communities in general. The SDC envisages to address the environmental mitigation measures in a systemic manner and to provide a better environment to people working and residing in the vicinity of Mines. The move gains significance as the new private entities are now going to form a significant part of the future.

Vintage Vehicles Policy: It is a draft notification. The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways formulated a draft order ‘Regulation of Vintage Motor Vehicles Order, 2019’ to regulate the registration of old vintage vehicles. The ministry has planned to provide a special number plate with letters VA to signify the vintage vehicles. The registration plates of the vehicles will bear letters “XXVAYY”, where VA stands for Vintage, XX stands for state code and YY stands for numbers between 1 and 9.

The draft rules are aimed at preservation of vintage vehicles owing to their historic, cultural, technical and aesthetic significance.

As there was no formal procedure or clarity of registering old vintage cars which became an issue especially while conducting vintage car rallies, the need for a policy to be implemented  was felt at the 55th meeting of the Central Motor Vehicles Rules-Technical Standing Committee. The committee was constituted to receive recommendations from other committees such as Bureau of Indian Standards, Automotive Industry Standards Committee and provide safety recommendations.

According to the current Central Motor Vehicle rules, the central government exempts vehicles taking part in vintage car rallies from registration. The rules define any car older than 50 years as a vintage car.

GST Council:It refers to the Goods and Services Tax Council. It is an apex member committee to modify, reconcile or to procure any law or regulation based on the context of goods and services tax in India. The council is headed by the union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman assisted with the finance minister of all the states of India. The Goods and Services Tax (GST) is being implemented in the country since 1 July 2017.

GST Council headed by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has fixed a uniform tax rate of 28 per cent on both state-run and private lottery. It will come into effect from 1 March 2020. It has also decided to rationalize the GST rate on woven and non-woven bags to 18%. The GST Council also decided to exempt upfront amount payable for long term lease of industrial and financial infrastructure plots by an entity having 20% or more ownership of Central or State Government.

It was for the first time that the controversial issue of the GST rate for lotteries was decided on the basis of voting. All the earlier decisions by the Council had been taken through consensus.

Environment

29th National Energy Conservation Awards: The National Energy Conservation Awards are presented to industry and other establishments and prizes to the winners of the annual Painting Competition on Energy Conservation for school children every year by the Ministry of Power with the objective of promoting energy conservation among all sectors of economy.

Bureau of Energy Efficiency(BEE)  organized the “29th National Energy Conservation Awards”. It was organized under the guidance of Ministry of Power, Government of India. India celebrates the National Energy Conservation Day every year on 14th December to recognize and celebrate the efforts towards energy conservation. The concluding event witnessed awards distribution to the winners from different industries and establishments, and the winners of National Painting Competition for students. The event aims to promote energy conservation among all the sectors of economy, followed by an award distribution ceremony for the industrial units &other establishments to encourage more actions in achieving efficient utilization and conservation of energy. Star Labeling Programme for Solar Water Heater was launched and a Handbook for Implementation of Provisions of Energy Conservation Act 2001 was also released.

Bushfires: Bushfires are very common in Australia. It impacts extensive areas, and can cause property damage and loss of human life. However, certain native flora in Australia have evolved to rely on bushfires as a means of reproduction, and fire events are an interwoven and an essential part of the ecology of the continent. Bushfires occur more likely when the weather is very hot and dry. The higher the temperature the more likely it is that a fire will start or continue to burn. They can start from human activity - either accidently or deliberately - or can start by natural causes like lightning.

Australia declares seven-day state of emergency in New South Wales as record heat wave fanned unprecedented bushfires raging across the region. About 100 fires have been burning for weeks in the state, with half of those uncontained, including a "mega-blaze" ringing Sydney, covering Australia's biggest city in a haze of toxic smoke. According to NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian, the bushfires was due to "catastrophic weather conditions.

Savannah monitor lizards: The savannah monitor (Varanus exanthematicus) is a medium-sized species of monitor lizard native to Africa. The species is known as Bosc's monitor in Europe, since French scientist Louis Bosc first described the species. It belongs to the subgenus Polydaedalus, along with the Nile, the ornate and other monitors.

Birds and mammals are on extreme ends of the airflow spectrum. Mammals inhale oxygen-rich air and they exhale depleted air, exhibiting a so-called tidal flow pattern. In contrast, bird breath travels tidally through part of the respiratory system, but in a one-way loop throughout most of the lung.

Biologists have discovered that Savannah monitor lizards have a mammal and bird-hybrid system for breathing. The reason for this strange breathing apparatus is still unknown.

UN Climate Summit: The UN Climate summit concluded on December 15 2019. It was the longest climate talks in the history of United Nations that was held in Madrid, Spain. The climate summit ended without crucial agreement on carbon market rules as per the rules of the Article 6 of Paris Agreement. Most of the members were not willing to reduce their emissions at the pace suggested by the conference.  According to World Resources Institute NDC tracker, only 80 countries which are primarily small and developing have so far submitted proposals to enhance their NDCs.

The United Nations Environment Programme released its Emission Gap Report at the summit and also the report of Global Carbon Project which was tabled at the summit. The Climate Ambition Alliance was launched by the Presidency of the summit, Chile even though it was held at Madrid, Spain.

Article 6 of Paris Agreement: Article 6 of the Paris Agreement on greenhouse gases enables Parties to cooperate in implementing their nationally determined contributions towards emission reduction. Among other things, this means that emission reductions can be transferred between countries and counted towards NDCs.

Namami Gange Project: It is an Integrated Conservation Mission, approved as 'Flagship Programme' by the Union Government in June 2014 with budget outlay of Rs. 20,000 Crore to accomplish the twin objectives of effective abatement of pollution, conservation and rejuvenation of National River Ganga. Prime Minister Narendra Modi made it his personal agenda and set a deadline: “Ganga will be clean by 2019”, it has now been extended to 2020. Namami Gange is being implemented by the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG), and its state counterparts.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today chaired the first meeting of the National Council for Ganga and reviewed the progress of the Namami Gange project aimed at cleaning river Ganga.

River Ganga:The Ganges, or Ganga, is a trans-boundary river of Asia which flows through India and Bangladesh. The 2,525 km river rises in the western Himalayas in the Indian state of Uttarakhand, and flows south and east through the Gangetic Plain of India and Bangladesh, eventually emptying into the Bay of Bengal. She is regarded as sacred by Hindus, the river is personified as the goddess Ganga in ancient texts and art.

New York: Scientists have discovered fossilized trees dating back 386 million years have been discovered at an abandoned quarry in New York, nestled in the foothills of the Catskill Mountains. It dates back 386 million years. The forest was found in a town called Cairo, which is part of New York's Greene County. Interestingly, this fossil forest is only one of the three known fossil forests dating back to the same period. According to the researchers the forest found is so large that the trees would've spanned from New York to Pennsylvania and beyond. The discovery is significant as it can offer new insights into how trees transformed our planet. The finding of the fossilized trees could increase the understanding of the evolution of trees and how they remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

Economics

UPI: It is the abbreviated form of Unified Payment Interface. It was introduced in India in 2016. Based on its performance, Google has recommended similar service called FedNow to the US Federal Reserve Board.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on December 16, 2019 announced the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) which is an initiative of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the Indian Banks’ Association (IBA), and the developer of the UPI system is now going to set up a subsidiary to take the UPI model to other countries based on its growing popularity. India is already extending the app to other countries. PM Modi, recently, launched the service in Singapore during his visit to the country.

The subsidiary that is being set up by the NPCI will not only take the technology to foreign markets but will also stream line various business propositions the service will bring upon exporting its service. It is India’s fastest growing payment transfer. The leading UPI players in India includes Google Pay (35% of market share), Walmart’s PhonePE and Paytm (16%)

The reason for its popularity is because the process is simple and easy and the transaction requires minimal details. Countries like UAE, Singapore are welcoming UPI for its flexibility to build on it. The user interface of the service remains the same whether it is used by a bank or third part tech firm or any other financial organization.

NDB: It refers to New Development Bank. NDB was earlier known as the BRICS Development Bank. It is a multilateral development bank that was created by governments to leverage capital for development purposes, especially infrastructure projects. It was founded by Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (collectively the BRICS countries) in July 2014. The bank was launched a year later with an initial authorized capital of $100 billion.

BRICS: It is the acronym coined for an association of five major emerging national economies that are- Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. Originally the first four were grouped as "BRIC", before the induction of South Africa in 2010. It is headquartered in Shanghai, China. It main objectives are to cooperate between the member nations for development, provide financial assistance, support various projects, infrastructure.

NIIF: It is the abbreviated form of National Investment and Infrastructure Fund. NIIF is India’s first sovereign wealth fund. It is a fund manager set up by the government of India in 2015 to invest in infrastructure and related sectors in India. It was created with the objective to maximise economic impact especially by infrastructure investment in commercially viable projects. NIIF currently manages three funds each with its distinctive investment mandate. The funds are registered as Alternative Investment Fund (AIF) with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).

New Development Bank (NDB) has committed $100 million to India’s National Investment and Infrastructure Fund’s (NIIF) Fund of Funds.

GeM: It is abbreviated form of Government e-commerce. GeM is the national public procurement portal that offers end to end solutions for all procurement needs of Central and State Government Departments, autonomous institutions, Public Sector Units (PSUs) and local bodies. It was launched on 9 August 2016. It has not only transformed public procurement in India by leveraging technology but also by making procurement contactless, paperless, and cashless. It has more than 15 lakh products and around 20,000 services, more than 3 lakh registered sellers and service providers and more than 40 thousand government buyer organizations.

Government e-commerce portal GeM has launched a national outreach programme, “GeM Samvaad”, to bring on-board more local sellers. It was launched by Anup Wadhawan, Secretary of Department of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Government of India (GoI) and Chairman of Government e-Marketplace (GeM) in New Delhi.

GeM Samvaad: It is an outreach programme which aims to spread awareness about the Government e-Marketplace (GeM). It will not only take place with stakeholders across the country and with local sellers to facilitate on-boarding of local sellers on the marketplace but will also cater to specific requirements and procurement needs of buyers. It will cover all States and Union Territories (UTs) of the country.

Skill Prime: The Government of India (GoI) has announced Rs 436 crore for Future Skills PRIME programme which is an outlay for skilling 4 lakh professionals in futuristic areas such as artificial intelligence, blockchain, and cybersecurity over the next 3 years. The ”Future Skills PRIME” programme will be jointly rolled out by the information technology ministry and industry body Nasscom and will seek to position the initiative as India stack for digital talent. The programme seeks to increase employment.

Infosys: Infosys Limited is an Indian multinational corporation that provides business consulting, information technology and outsourcing services. It has its headquarters in Bangalore, Karnataka, India. It was founded on 7 July 1981, Pune.

Infosys announced the launch of three blockchain-powered distributed applications for government services, insurance, and supply chain management domains. The company seeks to capitalise on blockchain's benefits of trust, immutability, and transparency. These applications are equipped with predictive return on investment (ROI) analytics for business investments that can be tailored to meet numerous industry-specific needs.

Block-chain Technology:  It is a technology which is most simply defined as a decentralized, distributed, and oftentimes public, digital ledger that is used to record transactions across many computers so that any involved record cannot be altered retroactively, without the alteration of all subsequent blocks.

Current Affairs December 08 to December 14

Economics

NSIC & Saudi Aramco: It refers to National Small Industries Corporation and Saudi Aramco is also known as Soudi Arabian Oil Company. A Memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed between National Small Industries Corporation (NSIC) and Aramco Asia. for the development of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) Ecosystem in India in Oil & Gas Sector. The MoU will pave a way for accredited Indian MSMEs to carve out a space as vendors in Global space. The MoU is also aimed for the development of Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) Ecosystem in India in Oil & Gas Sector.

The MoU was signed by Sh. P. Udayakumar, Director (P&M) from NSIC and Mr. Mohammed Al Mughirah, President, Aramco Asia for the development of Ministry of MSME.

NSIC: The National Small Industries Corporation (NSIC) was founded on 1955 as a Government of India agency and was later made into a fully owned government corporation. Its headquartered in New Delhi, India. It is a flagship Mini Ratna public sector undertaking (PSU) under Union Ministry of MSME in the business of facilitating MSMEs in India.

Suadi Aramco: It is a Saudi Arabian national petroleum and natural gas company based in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. It is world’s largest Oil & Gas Company and is one of the largest companies in world by revenue.

Indian Economic Census: It is the census of the Indian economy which counts all entrepreneurial units in the country involved in any economic activities of either agricultural or non-agricultural sector which is engaged in production and/or distribution of goods and/or services and not for the sole purpose of own consumption. The economic census provides information on operational and other characteristics such as number of establishments, number of persons employed, type of ownership,source of finance, etc. These information which the census provides is used for micro level/ decentralized planning and to assess contribution of various sectors of the economy in the gross domestic product (GDP). It was first launched in 1977. So far 6 census have been conducted in the years 1977, 1980, 1990, 1998, 2005, 2013. The economic census 1980 and 1990 were integrated with population census.

7th Economic Census: On December 13, 2019, 7th Economic Census was launched in the National Capital Territory of Delhi. Delhi is the 26th state where the survey has been launched. It is being carried out by the Ministry of Statistics and Program Implementation (MoSPI) in collaboration with Common Service Centre (CSC), a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) under Ministry of Electronics and IT.

It is for the first time the census is being conducted on digital platform named ICT (Information and Communication Technology). Digital platform has reduced time of survey to 6 months from 2 years earlier. It is expected to be completed by March 2020. About 1.5 lakh trained enumerators who have been employed in the census will visit 35 crore households and establishments to carry out the census.

NHAI: It refers to the National Highways Authority of India. It was constituted under National Highways Authority of India Act, 1988. It is a nodal agency of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.

It is responsible for the development, Management and maintenance of National Highways entrusted to it and for matters connected or incidental there.

Union Cabinet has given its approval to the proposal of Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, authorizing National Highways Authority of India, NHAI to set up Infrastructure Investment Trust (InvITs), as per Guidelines issued by Securities and Exchange Board of India, SEBI. This will enable NHAI to monetize completed National Highways that have a toll collection track record of at least one year and NHAI reserves the right to levy a toll on the identified highway.

NHAI's InvITs: InvIT Trust will be a trust formed under Indian Trust Act, 1882 and Securities and Exchange Board of India (Infrastructure Investment Trusts) Regulations, 2014. It will be formed with an objective of investment primarily in infrastructure projects. It may hold assets either directly or through a Special Purpose Vehicles (SPV) or a holding.

The trust will provides greater flexibility to investors and it is expected to create opportunities like the generation of specialized Operation and Maintenance (O&M) Concessionaires, attract long-term capital to the Indian highway market and retail domestic savings and corpus of special institutions such as mutual funds, Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA), among others is expected to be invested in the infrastructure sector.

Environment

IUCN: It refers to International Union for the Conservation of Nature. IT is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. It is involved in data gathering and analysis, research, field projects, advocacy, and education. Its headquartered in Gland, Switzerland. It was founded by Julian Huxley on 5 October 1948.

According to the biggest study of its kind, undertaken by conservation group IUCN, there is a continuous decrease in the amount of oxygen in the oceans due to climate change. As per the report, Oxygen level has decreased by 2% in oceans. This deoxygenation in the oceans is having a negative effect on marine organisms that require more oxygen and one million animals are on the verge of extinction due to human activities.

Around 700 ocean sites are now suffering from low oxygen, compared with 45 in the 1960s. The threat to oceans are from nutrient run-off of chemicals such as nitrogen and phosphorus from farms and industry has long been known to impact the levels of oxygen in the sea waters and still remains the primary factor, especially closer to coasts. As more carbon dioxide is released enhancing the greenhouse effect, much of the heat is absorbed by the oceans. In turn, this warmer water can hold less oxygen. The scientists estimate that between 1960 and 2010, the amount of the gas dissolved in the oceans declined by 2%.

In recent years the threat from climate change has increased. According to the paper was published in the journal Ecology Letters. In 2014, researchers found that alpine goats appeared to be shrinking due to warming temperatures. The same year, another study found salamanders had shrunk rapidly in response to climate change. Even the size of the birds has shrunk due to climate change. It builds on a growing body of evidence that suggests animals are shrinking as the climate warms.

Volcano: A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. Earth's volcanoes occur because its crust is broken into 17 major, rigid tectonic plates that float on a hotter, softer layer in its mantle.

New Zealand has been the site of many large explosive eruptions during the last two million years, including several of super volcano size. These include eruptions from Macauley Island and the Taupo, Whakamaru, Mangakino, Reporoa, Rotorua, and Haroharo calderas.

White Island: It is also known as Whakaari located 48 kilometers off the coast of New Zealand’s North Island.It is the summit of a large volcano around 16 km wide and 18 km long. Most of the volcano is below water, and only a 2-kilometre-wide section of the cone is visible. The Maori name for the island is “Te Puia o Whakaari”, which means “The Dramatic Volcano”. The largest and longest series of eruptions ever recorded on White Island happened between 1976 and 1982. Molten rock rose up near the surface and ejected lava bombs and blocks of rock, and huge clouds of ash.

Deadly eruption hit New Zealand volcano tourist town White Island and transformed tourist destination to disaster zone as the volcanic activity drew thousands of tourists annually escalated with deadly consequences.

4th India Water Impact Summit, 2019: The Ministry of Jal Shakti and the Centre for Ganga River Basin Management and Studies (cGanga) led by IIT Kanpur organized the 4th India Water Impact Summit, 2019. The summit was held from 5-7 December 2019 at the Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi. The summit seeks to focus on integrated management of water resources in rural and urban areas and discuss the biggest problems associated with water. The theme of the 2019 summit is Valuing Water, transforming Ganga. The theme also focuses on the Financing of High Impact Projects in the water sector.

The Government of India has launched several initiatives namely, Environment Flow and Urban River Management Plan, Ganga River Basin Management Plan, Jal Jeevan Mission, National Mission for Clean Ganga in order to the impact of human activities on water and to reduce water scarcity. Addressing 4th India Water Impact Summit, 2019 in New Delhi,Jalshakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat said that river Ganga has become one of the 10 cleanest rivers in the world among the major rivers category because of the efforts made by the government towards that direction.

River Ganga: The Ganges, or Ganga, is a trans-boundary river of Asia which flows through India and Bangladesh. The 2,525 km river rises in the western Himalayas in the Indian state of Uttarakhand, and flows south and east through the Gangetic Plain of India and Bangladesh, eventually emptying into the Bay of Bengal. Ganga and it's tributaries (Yamuna, Gomati, ghagara and many more smaller ones) are the main source of water for domestic as well as irrigation purposes for the North Indian states. Ganga is considered to be a sacred river for the Hindus.

Due to the increase in the population density and various human activities such as bathing, washing clothes, the bathing of animals, and dumping of various harmful industrial waste into the rivers Ganga had become much polluted. The Centre approved the establishment of the Clean Ganga Fund (CGF). A massive river rafting expedition, Ganga Aamantran Abhiyan, was launched on 10 October 2019. Centre also launched the NamamiGange Mission as an integrated mission. The mission aimed at the conservation and rejuvenation of Ganga and its tributaries with a comprehensive basin based approach. SabkaSaath, SabkaVikas, SabkaVishwas is the motto of the mission.

CAA: It refers to Climate Ambition Alliance. About 73 Countries join Climate Ambition Alliance at COP25. Chile has led this alliance after a request of United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres in the context of the 2019 Climate Summit. It was launched at the Climate Action Summit, New York in 2019. They will also work towards COP26 that is to be held in November 2020 at Glasgow, UK. The CAA seeks to focus Nationally Determined Contributions in order to achieve Net Zero by 2050. The focus will be mainly on the resilience in infrastructure, management of water and sustainability of cities. This alliance demonstrates the urgent need to take ambitious action to address the climate change emergency.

Indian Policy

MoCA: It refers to the Ministry of Civil Aviation. It has recently announced that it is kicking off the fourth phase of the UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik) scheme. It aims to improve connectivity to remote and regional areas (like North East regions, hilly states, Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh) besides giving flexibility to airlines in designing their network, promoting short-haul routes, and revising the parameters of VGF (viability gap funding).The scheme is a part of the government's vision to operationalize over 100 airports in smaller towns and cities over the next five years.

UDAN: It is a Regional Connectivity Scheme. UDAN refers to Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik. It was launched in 2017. Under this scheme the airlines compete to win subsidies to operate flights that link small airports with bigger airports in the country. In its 4th phase the operation of the helicopter and seaplane would also be allowed. The 4th phase scheme will not only promotes short-haul routes but the government will develop airports and operationalize the routes that were auctioned during the previous phase of the RCS scheme.

National award: Department of Social Justice and Empowerment has started the scheme of National award for outstanding service in the field of Prevention of Alcoholism and Drug abuse. The scheme is applicable to institutions and individuals working in the field of prevention of alcoholism and drug abuse. The national award will be presented to the awardees on the occasion of International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking on 26th of June 2020. Thaawar Chand Gehlot is the Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment.

GoI: It refers to the Government of India. On 13 December 2019, the Ministry of Coal initiated the auction process of coal mines. It initiated the auction process for 27 coal mines. It includes mines at Bikram, Brahmapuri, Bhaskarpara, Jagannathpur and Jamkhani. This move came after the poor participation of investors in the previous rounds of coal auctions. The purpose of these auctions is to reduce the dependency on coal and its imports. Coal India seeks to raise its annual output to 880 million tons by 2024. This will not only help in reducing imports but eventually stop the country’s energy dependence on coal. This will also aid in India’s plan to expand the economy to 5 trillion USD by 2024. The Government of India is also using Clean Coal Technology to reduce air pollution caused due to usage of coal.

Clean Coal Technology: Clean technology, sometimes referred to as Cleantech, is a term generally used to define a set of technologies that either reduces or optimises the use of natural resources, whilst at the same time reducing the negative effect that technology has on the planet and its ecosystems. Some of the Clean Coal Technology procedure that are used in the country at present includes pre-combustion capture, oxy-fuel combustion and post-combustion capture. Pre-combustion capture includes production of heat through gasification of feedstock. In this process, a mix of hydrogen and Carbon dioxide rich gas is produced which can be separated easily. In Oxy-fuel combustion, fossil fuel such as coal is burnt in recirculated flue gas and oxygen rather than air. This eliminates nitrogen largely.

FASTag: It is an electronic toll collection system in India, operated by the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI). It employs Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology for making toll payments directly from the prepaid or savings account linked to it or directly toll owner. It is affixed on the windscreen of the vehicle and enables to drive through toll plazas without stopping for transactions.

The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways had announced that FASTags will become mandatory for all vehicles, private and commercial from 15 December. Earlier the deadline was set to 1 December 2019. If the vehicle owners do not have a FASTag, they should pay twice the regular amount if you pass a toll booth and your vehicle. The government has made it mandatory for all vehicle owners to adopt electronic toll payment using FASTags and not cash payment which will attract penalties. FASTags can be bought through e-tailers, banks, payment apps, fuel bunks, and toll plazas.

The National Electronic Toll Collection (NETC) programme, the flagship initiative of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, has been implemented on a pan-India basis in order to remove bottlenecks and ensure seamless movement of traffic and collection of user fee as per the notified rates, using passive radio frequency identification (RFID) technology.

Indian Culture web portal: Its a portal that will host images, documents, audio-video files and other data from archives, museums, academies and libraries across India. It was developed by a team from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Bombay and the curation of the data was done by Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), New Delhi.

Ministry of Culture Prahlad Singh Patel launched the Indian Culture web portal in New Delhi. The knowledge and cultural resources of various organizations of the Ministry of Culture are now available in the public domain on a single platform. It will showcase information about the rich cultural heritage of India. The portal also has a collection of rare books, manuscripts, e-books, virtual galleries, artifacts from the museum, photo archives, archives, gazetteers, Indian National Bibliography, videos, cuisine, images, UNESCO, Musical Instruments of India and many more. The content will be available both in Hindi and English language.

Indian polity

The Arms (Amendment) Bill, 2019: It is a Bill that has been introduced to control the use and possession of weapons in the country so as to reduce the illegal usage that endangers another human being. Strict punishment has been provided in the Bill against those who are found to be involved in the manufacturing, transportation and use of illegal arms.

The Parliament has passed the Arms (Amendment) Bill, 2019. The Bill seeks to amend the Arms ACt, 1959. The Bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha by Union Home Minister Amit Shah on November 29, 2019. It was passed by the Lok Sabha on December 9, 2019 and by the Rajya Sabha on December 10.

Important features of the Bill:-

*The Bill intends to decrease the number of licensed arms allowed per person and increase the alloted penalties for violations of the law. The excess firearms will be delicensed within 90 days from expiry of 1-year period including licenses given on inheritance basis. The new bill allows only 2 guns for the license holders.

*The Bill increases the duration of the validity of arms license from three years to five years.

*Strict punishment has been provided in the Bill against those who are found to be involved in the dealing in un-licensed firearms, including their manufacture, procurement, sale, transfer, conversion, shortening or conversion of a firearm without a license, and import and export of banned firearms with the intention of curbing the illegal trafficking of arms.

* The bill also introduces new categories of offences for forcefully taking a firearm from police or armed forces which is punishable with imprisonment between 10 years and life imprisonment along with fine, using firearms in a celebratory gunfire which endangers human life or personal safety of others. It is punishable with imprisonment of up to 2 years, or fine of up to Rs.1 lakh rupees, or both.

*The bill also proposes maximum punishment of life in jail for the makers of illegal arms if convicted.

*Shortening or conversion of a firearm without a license is also punishable by law.

*The Bill, however, accords special status to a sportsperson who need firearms and ammunition for practice and participating in tournaments. The bill allows members of rifle clubs or associations to use any firearm for target practice instead of only point 22 bore rifles or air rifles.

ANTI-MARITIME PIRACY BILL: The Bill seeks to provide for stringent punishment, including death penalty or life imprisonment, to those involved in piracy at sea. It was introduced with an aim to promote the safety and security of India's maritime trade, and the safety of the crew members. The government is bringing the law as part of commitment made by India while signing the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) in 1982. The UNCLOS was ratified by India in 1995.

External Affairs Minister Jaishankar introduced the Anti-Maritime bill in parliament. It was introduced on the 10th of December, 2019 after the kidnapping of 18 Indians aboard in Nigeria.

The Bill includes death penalty to those involved in piracy at sea. Under Section 3 of the Bill, persons involved in the act of piracy shall be punished with life imprisonment or death penalty.

It enables the Central Government, in consultation with the Chief Justice of the concerned High Court to specify certain courts as Designated Courts for speedy trial of offences of piracy under the proposed legislation.

UNCLOS: It refers to United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. It is also called the Law of the Sea Convention or the Law of the Sea treaty. It is an International Agreement that resulted from the third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea, which took place between 1973 and 1982. As of June 2016, 167 countries and the European Union have joined in the Convention. The Convention, concluded in 1982. It replaced the quad-treaty 1958 Convention on the High Seas. It came into force in 1994, a year after Guyana became the 60th nation to ratify the treaty.

The Law of the Sea Convention defines the rights and responsibilities of nations with respect to their use of the world's oceans, establishing guidelines for businesses, the environment, and the management of marine natural resources.

Constitution (126th Amendment) Bill, 2019: The Bill seeks to extend reservation of seats in Lok Sabha and State Assemblies for SCs and STs by another ten years. The Bill was passed in the Lok Sabha with 352 members voting in favor and none against it and passed in the Rajya Sabha on December 12, 2019 with 163 votes in favor and none against. The voting had taken place through division, as it was a constitution amendment bill.

The Bill seeks to extend the reservation for SCs and STs by another 10 years till January 25, 2030. The reservation has been included in Article 334 and therefore the bill seeks to amend the article.

The Bill does not propose an extension of reservation quota for the Anglo-Indian community, which is also set to expire on January 25. As per the Government, there are only 296 Anglo-Indians in the country.

Article 334: Under this Article, the Constitution provides for reservation of seats for Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) and representation of the Anglo-Indian community by nomination, in Lok Sabha and Legislative Assemblies of states. This has been provided for a period of 70 years since the enactment of the Constitution and will expire on January 25, 2020.

The Recycling of Ships Bill, 2019: It is a Bill passed by the Parliament for safe and environmentally sound recycling of ships in India. It was passed On December 9, 2019 with Rajya Sabha approving it after its clearance in the Lok Sabha. Shipping Minister, Mansukh Mandaviya moved the bill. Once the Bill receives President’s assent and becomes an Act, it will ensure environment friendly recycling process of Ships and adequate safety of the yard workers.

Key features:-

*The bill restricts the use of hazardous materials on ships and regulates recycling of ships.

*It defines ship recycling as dismantling it at a facility to recover the components and materials for reuse and taking care of the hazardous material so produced.

*Under the legislation, every ship recycler must ensure safe and environmentally sound removal and management of hazardous materials from a ship.

*On violating these provisions, the ship recycler will be liable to pay environmental damages and cleanup operation compensation as prescribed.

*The Bill joins together the existing Ship breaking Code (revised), 2013 and the provisions of the Hong Kong Convention, 2009. So, now, ships to be recycled in India will need to obtain a ‘Ready for Recycling Certificate’ in accordance with Hong Kong Convention.

* The Bill will help the ship recycling industry and generate more jobs in the country.

*The Bill will raise brand value of India’s Ships Recycling Yards located at Mumbai Port, Kolkata Port, Azhikkal (Kerela) and Alang (Gujarat).

*10% of country’s Secondary steel needs, which is an outcome of Recycling of Ships, will be met in an eco-friendly manner.

*The National Authority will be the nodal agency to supervise, monitor and administer the recycling operations.

*The Bill will be applicable to any new or existing ship which is registered in India, the ships entering a port or terminal in India or the territorial waters of India​​​​​​​, ships owned and operated by an administration or any warships that are used on government non-commercial service, ship recycling facilities operating in India.

Aircraft (Amendment) bill, 2019: It is a bill approved by the Union Cabinet on December 11, 2019 to amend the Aircraft Act, 1934. The Bill will now be introduced in the Parliament. 

Key Features:-

*The Bill is intended to carry out amendments to the Aircraft Act, 1934 (XXII of 1934).

*The Bill enhances the maximum limit of fine from the existing ten lakhs rupees to one crore rupees failing to comply norms of Government of India.

*It will increase the safety and security of aircraft operations in the country.

* It aims to fulfill the safety requirements of International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).

* It will bring the regulations of all areas for air navigation within the ambit of the Act.

*It will enable three regulatory bodies namely Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS), Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) to become more effective in the level of safety and security of aircraft operations in the country.

ICAO: It refers to International Civil Aviation Organization. It is a specialized agency of the United Nations charged with coordinating and regulating international air travel. It was established in 1944 by Convention on International Civil Aviation (Chicago Convention).It's headquarters is in Quebec, Canada. Its council is composed of 36 states which are elected for a three-year term. It changes the principles and techniques of international air navigation and fosters the planning and development of international air transport to ensure safe and orderly growth.

CAB: It refers to Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019. CAB is a bill amending the Citizenship Act of 1955 to grant Indian citizenship to illegal migrants who are Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan, who entered India on or before 31 December 2014. It also seeks to relax the requirement of residence in India for citizenship by naturalization from 11 years to 5 years for these migrants.

President Ram Nath Kovind has given his assent to the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019, turning it into an Act. The Act has comes into effect with its publication in the official gazette. The Act was passed by both Houses of Parliament earlier this week with a clear majority.

The amendment is not applicable to the tribal areas of Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram or Tripura as included in the Sixth Schedule to the Constitution and in the areas covered under the Inner Line Permit. The Inner Line Permit regime is applicable in Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Mizoram.

It also proposes to incorporate a sub-section (d) to Section 7, providing for cancellation of Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) registration where the OCI card-holder has violated any provision of the Citizenship Act or any other law in force.

Citizenship Act, 1955: According to the provisions of the Citizenship Act, 1955, illegal migrants can either be kept in jail or sent back to their country under the Foreigners Act, 1946 and the Passports (Entry into India) Act, 1920. These two Acts empower the central government to check the entry, exit and residence of foreigners within India. A person is labeled an “illegal immigrant" if he or she has entered India without travel documents or has overstayed the date specified in the documents.

International Financial Services Centres Authority Bill, 2019: It is the Bill that seeks to set up a unified authority to regulate all financial activities in international financial services centres (IFSCs) in India. The Lok Sabha passed the International Financial Services Centers Authority Bill, 2019 on the 11th of December, 2019. The bill was earlier withdrawn from the Rajya Sabha.The first IFSC was set up at Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT) in Gandhinagar, Gujarat.

Provisions of the Bill:-

*The Bill will apply to all IFSCs set up under the Special Economic Zones Act, 2005.

*The bill will amend fourteen Acts, including the SEBI Act, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) Act and the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) Act.

*The bill seeks to establish a unified Authority that will regulate various financial activities in the IFSC in India. At pressent, multiple agencies are entrusted with regulating the specific market including the SEBI, RBI, IRDA and PFRDA.

*The authority will follow all that processes that are applicable to such financial services, financial products, and financial institutions

*An International Financial Services Centres (IFSC) provides jurisdiction for carrying out international financial services domestically.

*The IFSC’s are not necessarily restricted to the Gujarat International Finance Tech-City, known as the GIFT city in Gujarat alone. Other states can also seek nod for similar centres.

*All the laws of the land and the unified authority will be subject to audit by the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) and the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG). The Central agencies like the CBI, the ED and the Prevention of Money Laundering Act-PMLA will have jurisdiction over the proposed authority.

*According to the bill, there will be a tax holiday only for 10 years in the IFSC.

*The bill defines various financial products including IT-enabled services in the financial sector.

*The Bill sets up the International Financial Services Centres Authority. It will consist of 9 members, appointed by the central government. Members will have a term of 3 years, subject to reappointment.

Social Security Code Bill: It is a Bill that paves way for universalization of social security of 50 crore workers in the country. The Code on Social Security, 2019 was introduced in the Lok Sabha on the 11th of December, 2019 by the Minister for Labour and Employment Santosh Kumar Gangwar.

Key Features:-

*It has an enabling provision to empower the Centre to set up funds for providing social security such as medical cover, pension, death and disablement benefits to gig, platform, and unorganised workers.

*The Bill seeks to enable the central government to fix provident fund contributions to be made by employees in different sectors and provides for payment of gratuity to fix-term employees.

*The code makes Aadhaar mandatory for availing benefits under various social security schemes.

*The bill will provide options of reducing the provident fund contribution of the employees thereby increasing their take-home payment.

*The Code on Social Security will subsume 9 Central Labour Acts namely Employees' Compensation Act, 1923; Employees State Insurance Act, 1948, Employees Provident Funds and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952; Maternity Benefit Act, 1961, Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972, Cine Workers Welfare Fund Act, 1981, Building and Other Construction Workers Cess Act, 1996 and Unorganized Workers Social Security Act, 2008 and Employment Exchanges (Compulsory Notification of Vacancies) Act 1959.

*The bill also makes the fixed-term contract workers eligible for gratuity. Currently under the Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972, workers are not entitled to gratuity only after the completion of 5 years.

Aircraft Amendment Bill, 2019: The Cabinet on Wednesday approved the introduction of the Aircraft (Amendment) Bill, 2019 in the Parliament. The Bill is intended to carry out amendments to the Aircraft Act, 1934 (XXII of 1934).

The Bill enhances the maximum limit of fine from the existing ₹10 lakhs to ₹one crore. It will also include the regulation of all areas of air navigation to the Aircraft Act, 1934. The proposed amendments would fulfill the safety requirements of International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) enabling the three regulatory bodies in the civil aviation sector in India, namely Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) and Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) to become more effective, thereby, enhancing the level of safety and security of aircraft operations in the country.

Sanskrit Central Universities Bill, 2019: The Central Sanskrit Universities Bill, 2019, was passed by the Lok Sabha on December 12. The bill was initiated by Union Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’.

The Bill seeks to The Bill seeks to convert three deemed Sanskrit universities into Central universities, which are-Sri Lal Bahadur Shastri Rashtriya Sanskrit Vidyapeeth in New Delhi, Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan in Bhopal and Rashtriya Sanskrit Vidyapeeth in Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh.

The Sansthan dates back to 1970, Lal Bahadur Shastri Rashtriya Sanskrit Vidyapeeth was established in 1962 while the Rashtriya Sanskrit Vidyapeeth in Tirupati was set up in 1961. All three were granted deemed university status by the UGC later. The purpose of these universities will not only to impart Sanskrit knowledge to students but also to attract more students from India and abroad.

International

Diwali-Power of One Awards: Its the awards that have now come to be known as ‘Oscars of Diplomacy’ It is the “Power of One” award, established in 2017 by the Diwali Foundation USA. Currently it is chaired by Ranju Batra. The New York-based Batra is credited with the seven-year-long efforts towards the release of a Diwali stamp by the US Postal Service.

The awards seek to promote a peaceful and consensus-based process to achieve societal good, as befitting high hopes and ideals of humanity enshrined in the UN Charter. They are awarded to former Permanent Representatives or high-level UN diplomats or those diplomats who will soon finish their tenure at the world organization for working selflessly to help form a more perfect, peaceful and secure world for all." Six top diplomats, including an Indian woman, have been felicitated with the inaugural Diwali "Power of One" award at the UN headquarters here for their contribution to help form a more "perfect, peaceful and secure world". It was presented on the occasion of the first anniversary of the US Postal Service's issuing of a forever Diwali stamp last year.

The awardees were :-

*Former foreign minister and Permanent Representative of Kazakhstan to UN: Kairat Abdrakhmanov.

*Former Permanent Representative of Cyprus to UN: Nicholas Emiliou.

*Former Chef de Cabinet to President of 72nd Session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA)

*Permanent Representative of Slovakia to UN: Frantisek Ruzicka.

*Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the UN: Volodymyr Yelchenko.

*Indian head of the UN Women: Lakshmi Puri.

December 9: It is observed as the International Day of Commemoration and Dignity of the Victims of the Crime of Genocide and of the Prevention of this Crime. It is a day established by the U.N. General Assembly to raise awareness of genocide and the role the U.N. Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. Since, in 1948, on the 9th of December, the U.N. General Assembly adopted the Genocide Convention. The Genocide Convention was the first document that defined genocide and imposed obligations on states to prevent genocide and punish the perpetrators.

This year marked 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 honor its victims. In adopting the resolution, without a vote, the 193-member Assembly reiterated the responsibility of each individual State to protect its populations from genocide, which entails the prevention of such a crime, including incitement to it.

Exercise Iron Union 12: It is a joint militry exercise between the ground forces of the UAE and the United States. Exercise Iron Union 12 commenced on 10 December 2019 in the presence of Lieutenant General Terry Ferrell, commander of US Army Central, USARCENT and Major General Saleh Mohamed Saleh Al Amiri, UAE Commander of Land Forces. The exercise showcases the determination of the UAE Armed Forces that has proved to stand firm against all threats and challenges facing the region.

HUMAN RIGHTS DAY 2019: It is celebrated annually across the world on 10 December every year. This day is celebrated internationally to honor 10th Dec 1948, when the United Nations adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights(UDHR) at Palais de Challoit, Paris after the experience of the Second World War.

The theme of 2019 is – ‘Youth Standing Up for Human Rights’. UN believes that the participation of youth is an essential element to achieve sustainable development for everyone. Also, young people are always taken as major drivers of social, economic and political transformation.

NHRC: It refers to the National Human Rights Commission. Human Rights law came into existence in September 1993, 28 in India. The government of India constituted the National Human Rights Commission on October 12, 1993. This day is celebrated annually to recognize and empower human rights. It mainly includes economic, social, cultural rights and international commitments on civil and political rights.

United Kingdom: Prime Minister Boris Johnson's Conservative party won the UN's General election with a majority vote. 15 Indian-origin politicians have entered the House of Commons in the historic general election held on 12 December 2019. Indian-origin candidates in both the ruling Conservative and opposition Labour parties have registered equally strong results of seven wins on each side.

The Indian origin candidates are:-

The former UK Home Secretary Priti Patel who is likely to remain in Johnson's top team in the new Cabinet after her comfortable win. Gagan Mohindra and Claire Coutinho won for the Conservative Party where as Navendru Mishra for Labour Party and Munira Wilson for the Liberal Democrats are among the first-timers. Former International Development Minister Alok Sharma, Shailesh Vara, Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi, Goan-origin Suella Braverman, Preet Kaur Gill, Virendra Sharma are among others.

USMCA: It refers to United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement. The representatives from the United States, Mexico and Canada have finalized a trade deal that will replace the 25-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta). The three countries signed the pact in Mexico. The deal aims to improve enforcement of worker rights and hold down prices for biologic drugs by eliminating a patent provision. The United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) will now go to the countries’ legislatures for final approval.

National

Exercise Hand-in-Hand-2019: It is a military exercise of India and China called ‘Hand-in-Hand’. The joint military exercise commenced at Umroi, Meghalaya on 7 December 2019. It is a 14-day long event which is being conducted at the company level. Its the 8th edition of the exercise which is being held under the United Nations mandate. The main aim of the exercise is to enrich both Indian and Chinese contingents from each other's experience to combat counter-terrorism. The theme of this training exercise is Counter-terrorism. Under the theme, both the countries will practice joint planning and conduct of counter-terrorist operations in semi-urban terrain.

The Tibet Military command comprising of 130 personal from the Chinese side and 100 personnel from the Indian side will be participating in the event. The events includes discussions on Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) operations. The tactical exercises will include, one on counter-terrorism scenario and the other on HADR operations. It will also include lectures and drills on handling on weapons and fire arms, special helicopter-borne operations, battle obstacle courses and case studies of operations done in the counter terrorism field.

INDRA 2019: Its a joint navy exercise which will be conducted by Russia and India. The aim of exercise INDRA 2019 is to enhance interoperability between the two countries and also to develop an understanding among the countries in order to effectively tackle common security challenges.

The Russian Federation Navy (RuFN) Ships Yaroslav Mudry, Viktor Konetsky and Elyna arrived at Goa on December 10 to participate in INDRA 2019, the second edition of the tri-services exercise between the Indian and the Russian armed forces. The first Joint Tri-Services of the INDRA exercise was conducted in 2017.

MEA: It refers to Union Ministry of External Affairs. MEA will host 6th Indian Ocean Dialogue and Delhi Dialogue XI at Pravasi Bharatiya Kendra in New Delhi on 13 December 2019. For the first time, these two events will be held consecutively and on similar Indo-Pacific themes. The theme for Indian Ocean Dialogue is "Indo-Pacific: Re-imagining the Indian Ocean through an Expanded Geography”. The theme for the Delhi Dialogue is “Advancing Partnership in Indo-Pacific”. The themes are intended to build on the ‘growing recognition of the Indo-Pacific concept in strategic and academic circles within the region and beyond. The 6th IOD is being organized with assistance of the Indian Council for World Affairs (ICWA). The theme for this year’s Delhi Dialogue is "Advancing Partnership in Indo-Pacific”.

Through these processes, India intends to emphasise its open and inclusive approach to fostering a cooperative, free, and rules-based Indo-Pacific domain, in which all nations and their aspirations for development have equal space to find expression.

Ministry of Tourism: The ministry has identified 17 sites in 12 clusters in the country under the Iconic Tourist Sites Development Project. The 17 sites are TajMahal and Fatehpur Sikri in Uttar Pradesh, Ajanta and Ellora in Maharashtra, Humayun's Tomb, Red Fort and Qutub Minar in Delhi, Colva beach in Goa, Amer Fort in Rajasthan, Somnath and Dholavira in Gujarat, Khajuraho in Madhya Pradesh, Hampi in Karnataka, Mahabalipuram in Tamil Nadu, Kaziranga in Assam, Kumarakom in Kerala and Mahabodhi in Bihar. The monuments taken up for development under the Iconic Tourist Sites Development Project fall under the jurisdiction of Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) and State Archaeology Departments.

India and Maldives: India and Maldives will review bilateral cooperation at Joint Commission Meeting in New Delhi. Maldivian Foreign Minister Abdulla Shahid will co-chair the India-Maldives 6th Joint Commission Meeting. The aim of the meeting is to enhance cooperation for peace and mutual security in the Indian Ocean Region.

India and Myanmar: The 18th India-Myanmar Foreign Office Consultations was held in New Delhi on 6 December 2019. The Indian delegation was led by Foreign Secretary, Shri Vijay Gokhale, and the Myanmar delegation was led by Permanent Secretary, U Soe Han. The two sides reviewed the entire details of bilateral relations. The status of India's ongoing projects in Myanmar, capacity building initiatives, bilateral trade relations, border cooperation was also discussed.India reiterated its priority for the partnership with Myanmar which is at the intersection of Neighbourhood First and Act East policies. The Myanmar Permanent Secretary equally reaffirmed the high priority his Government attaches to relations with India, which are based on historic and civilizational contact.

Places In News

Nagaland: The State of Nagaland was formally inaugurated on December 1st, 1963, as the 16th State of the Indian Union. It is bounded by Assam in the West, Myanmar (Burma) on the east, Arunachal Pradesh and part of Assam on the North and Manipur in the South. The State consists of seven Administrative Districts, inhabited by 16 major tribes along with other sub-tribes. Each tribe is distinct in character from the other in terms of customs, language and dress. It is a land of folklore passed down the generations through word of mouth. Here, music is an integral part of life. Its home to diverse indigenous tribes, with festivals and markets celebrating the different tribes' culture. The capital city of Kohima suffered heavy fighting in World War II, commemorated by memorials at the Kohima War Cemetery.

Hornbill Festival : Every year the “Hornbill Festival” is celebrated in the Kisama village near Kohima, the state capital between December 1 and December 10. The festival is organized by the State Tourism and art and culture department in Kohima. The art and culture, paintings and lifestyles of the Morung tribes is exhibited at the festival. The aim of the festival is to protect and revive the rich culture of Nagaland. All the tribes of Nagaland take part in the festival. Traditional arts of the state such as wood carvings, paintings and sculptures are displayed in the festival.

Naga Morungs: The Naga Morung is a self-governing body that aims to protect the village men. Morungs were the community spaces in Nagaland where the young boys were trained. The boys are taught history and culture of the tribes in the land. They also learnt folk songs and tales during their stay. The boys were made Naga warriors in these Morungs.

Hornbill: It is a revered bird that is featured widely in the songs of Nagaland tribes. Hence the name horn bill is given to the festival. Hornbills are birds that are found in tropical and sub-tropical Asia, Africa and Melanesia.

Nagaland,ILP regime: Nagaland Government Brings Dimapur under Inner Line Permit Regime. Dimapur is the commercial hub of the state and it was the only district that was not under the ILP regime unlike the rest of Nagaland, which came into being in 1963. The state Cabinet had approved the proposal to extend the ILP to Dimapur. The ILP regime was also extended to neighboring Manipur with President Ram Nath Kovind signing the order in this effect. Besides Nagaland and Manipur, the ILP regime is also applicable to Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram.

ILP regime: It refers to Inner line permit regime. It aims to prevent settlement of other Indian nationals in these states to protect indigenous population. There are also protections for locals with regards to lands, jobs and other facilities. Under these regime outsiders, including people from other states of country need to take permission to visit the ILP-regime states. The ILP regime is applicable under the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation, 1873. In terms of Section 2 of the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulations, 1873, citizens of other states require ILP for visiting these three states.

Jammu and Kashmir: Lt Governor of Jammu and Kashmir Girish Chandra Murmu, inaugurated Draj Bridge in Rajouri, J&K.This bridge will facilitate all-weather and speedy movement of Army troops and locals.

Draj Bridge: The bridge which is a 72-metre-long Multi Cell Box Type Load Class 70 bridge spans over Draj nallah connects Draj Area with Tehsil Kotranka area under District Rajouri. The important Draj Bridge has been constructed by 110 Road Construction Company of 31 Task Force under Project Sampark of Border Roads Organisation (BRO). It is responsible for infrastructure development and war preparedness through construction of roads, bridge and tunnels. It also plays an important role in field of surface transport by connecting far-flung inaccessible remote areas along borders. It is involved with more projects in area to strengthen road network.

Punjab: The Union Government has formulated a special action plan for the development of tourism in Sri Anandpur Sahib parliamentary constituency under the Swadesh Darshan Scheme. The Ministry of Tourism under its Swadesh Darshan scheme had sanctioned a project Development of Heritage Circuit: Anandpur Sahib, Fatehgarh Sahib – Chamkaur Sahib – Ferozpur –Amritsar – Khatkar Kalan – Kalanour – Patiala in Punjab for Rs.99.95 crore in the year 2018-19.

Karnataka: The first event of the Human Library was held in the City of Palaces, Mysuru, Karnataka. Human Library event is a concept which seeks to replace books with humans. The main aim of the Human Library event is 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. It was organized by international non-profit organization.

Human Library: It is also known as Human Library Organization. The notion of Human Library was initially launched in the year 2000 and currently exists in more than 85 countries. It is a registered non-profit international organization which is headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark. Its aim is to ensure a global implementation of the Human Library as a learning platform. In India, Human Library is spread across various metropolitan cities including Hyderabad, Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru.

Madhya Pradesh: It is a large state in central India nicknamed the "Heart of India", retains landmarks from eras throughout Indian history. Begun in the 10th century, it’s Hindu and Jain temples at Khajuraho are renowned for their carvings of erotic scenes, most prominently Kandariya Mahadeva, a temple with more than 800 sculptures. The eastern Bandhavgarh and Kanha national parks, noted Bengal tiger sanctuaries, offer guided safaris.

The State government of Madhya Pradesh has sanctioned a sum of Rs.156 crore for the development of Omkareshwar. It was approved in a meeting chaired by Chief Minister Kamal Nath.

Omkareshwar: It is a famous pilgrimage centre which houses one of the twelve jyotirlinga shrines of Lord Shiva. It is located about 80km from Indore.

Andhra Pradesh: It is a state bordering India’s southeastern coast. Major cultural landmarks include Tirumala Venkateswara Temple, an ornate hilltop shrine to Hindu’s Vishnu, in the southern part of the state. The largest city in Andhra Pradesh is Visakhapatnam. Telugu is one of the classical and major and official language of Andhra Pradesh.

Andhra Pradesh Government decided to table a Bill in the Assembly to punish perpetrators of heinous crimes against women and children within 21 days. This was decided after the gang-rape and murder of a woman veterinarian in Hyderabad. The state Cabinet, chaired by Chief Minister Y. S. Jaganmohan Reddy has approved to enact the new law, Andhra Pradesh Disha Act, Andhra Pradesh Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2019 and Andhra Pradesh Special Court for Specified Offences against Women and Children Act- 2019. The Act would cover sexual offences against women and children, acid attacks and harassment of women and provide for harsher punishments which will including death sentence to those guilty. Andhra Pradesh is to set up a virtual police station (VPS) in the Andhra University (AU) which will be the first of its kind. It will help the students to report violence or any other crime online.

New Delhi: The 37th National Symposium of Heads of Police Training Institutions held in New Delhi. It was organized by the Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D), Ministry of Home Affairs. The theme of the Symposium was ‘Optimal Utilization of Resources-Through Sharing and Networking’. A Directory of Indian Police Training Institutions (DIPTI) which has information on the resources of around 300 Police training institutions all over the country, was released during the event. The symposium includes discussions on topics including Optimizing Capacity Building: Through Partnership and Collaboration, Skill Development: the Role of Co-ordination and Networking, Understanding the Learner's Psychology, and Optimal Utilization of Resources- through Sharing and Networking.

Bureau of Police Research and Development: The Bureau of Police Research and Development, was established on 28 August 1970 in furtherance of the objective of the Government of India for the modernization of police forces.

Odisha: President Ram Nath Kovind laid the foundation stone to the memorial being built in memory of the Paika rebellion, a 200-year-old armed revolt in 1817 against the British East India Company in Odisha which is often termed as the First War of Independence.The proposed project will come up at the foothills of Barunei hills in Khurda district, Odisha.

The memorial is seen as an epitome of Odisha’s valour and will serve as an inspiration for the youth. To mark the two hundred years of the event, a chair in the name of Buxi Jagabandhu who led this revolt has been established with a Rs 5 crore grant and memorial coin and a stamp has been issued.

Science and Technology

ISRO: It refers to the Indian Space Research Organization. It is the space agency of the Government of India headquartered in the city of Bengaluru. It was founded in 15 August 1969 by Vikram Sarabhai. it's parent organization is Department of Space. Its vision is to "harness space technology for national development while pursuing space science research & planetary exploration".

RISAT-2BR1: It is a radar imaging earth observation satellite weighing about 628 kg. The satellite will provide services in the field of Agriculture, Forestry and Disaster Management. The mission life of RISAT-2BR1 is 5 years.

ISRO launched RISAT-2BR1 and 9 Commercial satellites on-board PSLV-C48 in its 50th flight into designated orbit successfully. It was launched from Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota, a rocket port in Andhra Pradesh. As per ISRO, in the coming days, the satellite would be brought to its final operational configuration.

(PSLV)-C48: It refers to Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle. IT is an expendable medium-lift launch vehicle which is designed and operated by ISRO.

The Duchifat 3: It is a small remote sensing satellite weighing 2.3 kilogram, built by students from Sha'ar HaNegev High School and few other schools in collaboration with Herzliya Space Center (HSC) in Israel. It is designed to serve children from across the country to carry experiment through Earth observation. It was part of the nine commercial satellites launched by ISRO along with its own earth observation satellite. The other 8 foreign satellites are Italy's (search and rescue Tyvak-0092), Japan's (QPS-SAR – a radar imaging earth observation satellite) and USA's (multi-mission Lemur-4 satellites, earth imaging 1HOPSAT, technology demonstration Tyvak-0129). These international customer satellites are being launched under a commercial arrangement with NewSpace India Limited (NSIL) under Department of Space.

Electric Aircraft: It is an aircraft powered by electric motors. Electricity may be supplied by a variety of methods including batteries, ground power cables, solar cells, ultracapacitors, fuel cells and power beaming

The world’s first fully-electric commercial aircraft took its inaugural test flight. It took off from the Canadian city of Vancouver. It flying for 15 minutes. This 62-year-old six-passenger DHC-2 de Havilland Beaver seaplane was re-fitted with a fully electric 750 horsepower motor. It was piloted by Greg McDougall. He is the founder and chief executive of Harbor Air, a British Columbia-based charter airline that transport passengers between Vancouver. MagniX designed the motor and worked in partnership with Harbor Air which ferries thousands of people a year between Vancouver, Whistler ski resort and nearby islands.

Airtel Wi-Fi Calling: It is service designed to enhance voice calling experience for Airtel smartphone customers, especially when they are indoors. With 'Airtel Wi-Fi Calling', customers with Wi-Fi at home or office will get excellent signal quality indoors.

Telecom major Bharti Airtel on Tuesday launched the Wi-Fi calling service for its subscribers. The service is currently rolling out in Delhi-NCR and will be gradually implemented in other cities as well. This service is presently compatible with Airtel Xstream Fiber home broadband and will soon be compatible with all broadband services and Wi-Fi hotspots.

Bharati Airtel: It is an Indian global telecommunications services company based in Delhi which operates in 18 countries across South Asia and Africa.

BEE: It refers to Bureau of Energy Efficiency. It is an agency of the Government of India, under the Ministry of Power created in March 2002 under the provisions of the nation's 2001 Energy Conservation Act. The agency's function is to develop programs which will increase the conservation and efficient use of energy in India. It was founded on 1st March 2002. Its headquarters is in SEWA Bhavan, R. K. Puram, New Delhi.

The BEE is celebrating 'National Energy Conservation Week' from 9 to 14 December 2019 to raise awareness among the general public about the importance of energy efficiency and conservation. BEE in association with the International Energy Agency (IEA) under the SEAD initiative of Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM) conducted the International Workshop on Energy Efficient Cooling at Scope Convention Centre, New Delhi. It was organized as a part of the Energy Conservation Week that was observed from 9-14 December 2019. It served as a platform for global experts, industries, and policymakers to explore opportunities to accelerate deployment of energy-efficient cooling, across different sectors and establishments. Various delegates involving regulatory bodies, policymakers, Government officials, Public sector undertakings (PSUs), etc. from across the world participated in the workshop.

National Energy Conservation Day 2019: This day is observed every year on December 14 in India. National Energy Conservation Day is organized by the Energy Efficiency Bureau (BEE), a subordinate Ministry of Power. It aims to showcase India's achievements in energy efficiency and conservation.

TRAKEA: It is unique barcoding software that is used to ensure that 1000s of digital forensic reports are stored safe and secure. It ensures foolproof security of the samples collected from the scene of crime, and the forensic analysis reports, and is different from traditional methods that the state police force has been following for decades. The software was originally designed by a prisoner who was a software engineer by profession. He was lodged in Bhondsi jail for 13 months.

The Haryana Police Department has adopted this unique barcoding software (TRAKEA).

Sports

WADA: It refers to World Anti-Doping Agency. It is a foundation initiated by the International Olympic Committee based in Canada to promote, coordinate and monitor the fight against drugs in sports. It was founded on the 10th of November 1999. It’s Headquartered in Montreal, Canada.

World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has banned Russia for 4 years, from participation in global sporting events, including the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics for falsifying data from an anti-doping laboratory.

SAG: It refers to the South Asian Games championship. It was formerly known as South Asian Federation Games. It is a biennial multi-sport event held among the athletes from South Asia. The governing body of these games is South Asia Olympic Council (SAOC), formed in 1983. It is held every two years. The first South Asian Games were hosted by Kathmandu, Nepal in 1984. The motto‎ of SAG is ‎Peace, Prosperity and Progress.

South Asian Games championship, 2019 was held in Nepal. The official mascot for the SAG,2019 was a pair of blackbucks (Krishnashar). The opening and closing ceremonies were hosted at the Dasarath Stadium. India won the 13th edition of the 2019 South Asian Games championship which started from the 1st to 10th December 2019 in Kathmandu and Pokhara, Nepal. India collected 174 gold, 93 silver and 45 bronze after ten days of competitions.

GS Lakshmi: She is an Indian cricket match referee and a former domestic cricket player and coach. 51 year old Laxmi was a right handed batswoman and right-arm fast-medium outswing bowler. She is from Andra Pradesh. Earlier on May 2019, she became the first woman to get appointed onto the ICC International Panel of Match Referees. She has the experience of officiating in three women’s ODI matches, 16 men’s T20Is and seven women’s T20Is.

The former Indian cricketer has again set to become the first woman to be appointed to the International Cricket Council's International Panel of Match Referees on 14 May 2019. She will oversee the third series of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup League 2. The opening match of the competition will take place between the United Arab Emirates and the United States of America at Sharjah Cricket Stadium.

UEFA Europa League: It is an annual football club competition organized by UEFA since 1971 for eligible European football clubs. Clubs qualify for the competition based on their performance in their national leagues and cup competitions. It is the second-tier competition of European club football, ranking below the UEFA Champions League. It was founded in 1971 and known as UEFA Cup. The name was rebranded in 2009 as UEFA Europa League.

Four-star Manchester United wins Europa League group. Teenager Mason Greenwood Stars As Manchester United Top Group, Arsenal Draw 2-2 In Europa League. He scored twice in a 4-0 thrashing of AZ Alkmaar in the Europa League while Arsenal came back from two goals down to draw 2-2 vs Standard Liege.

BWF World Tour Finals: The BWF Super Series Finals (named as BWF Super Series Masters Finals until 2009) was an annual badminton tournament held at the end of the year where the players with the most points from that calendar year's twelve events of the BWF Super Series competed for total prize money of at least US$ 1,000,000. It was replaced by BWF World Tour Finals in 2018.

2019 BWF World Tour was held from 11 to 15 December 2019 in Tianhe Gymnasium in Tianhe, Guangzhou, China.

The defending world champian PV Sindhu knocked out of the BWF World Tour Finals after her second straight defeat. The world champion lost to China’s Chen Yufei 22-20, 16-21, 12-21 in 72 minutes in Guangzhou. Chen Yufei has won all six of her finals, including the All England Championships.

However, India's P V Sindhu recorded a consolation win over China's He Bingjiao in the third Group A match to end her campaign on a positive note at the year-ending BWF World Tour Finals in Guangzhou.

FICCI : It refers to Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry. FICCI confers the India Sports Awards to acknowledge and recognize contribution of sports persons and various stakeholders who deliver excellent results during the year.

The coveted FICCI India Sports Awards 2019 were were presented to the winners on 11 December 2019 at New Delhi. The jury for the awards included Justice (Retd) Mukul Mudgal.

The awardees were:-

Sports Person of the Year(Female): Rani Rampal for hockey

ports Person (Male): Saurabh Chaudhary for shooting

Para-Athlete: Sandeep Chaudhary for javelin

Special Recognition Para-Athlete: Manasi Joshi for badminton

Special Recognition Breakthrough Sports Person: Esow Alben for cycling

Breakthrough Sports Person: Amit Panghal

Coach or Support Staff: Satyanarayana

Lifetime Achievement (administrator): Govindaraj Kempareddy

Lifetime Achievement: Pankaj Advani for cue sport

Best State promoting sports: Odisha

Best Sports Journalist: Kamesh Srinivasan

Best National Sports Federation: National Rifle Association of India

Best Company Promoting Sports (Public Sector): Railway Sports Promotion Board

WTA Finals: WTA refers to Women's Tennis Association. WTA Finals is a tournament of the Women's Tennis Association played annually at the end of the season for the top-ranked professional players. The tournament predates WTA and started in 1972 as the Championship tournament of WTA Tour's predecessor: the Virginia Slims Circuit.

The current champion for Women's singles is Ashleigh Barty from Australia and Women's doubles is Timea Babos from Hungary and Kristina Mladenovi from France.

WTA Player Of The Year Award: World No. 1 Ashleigh Barty Wons WTA Player Of The Year Award. She won four titles in 2019 including the prestigious WTA Finals and finished the year on top of the WTA rankings. She is the first Australian to top the women’s tennis rankings since Evonne Goolagong Cawley in 1976.

People In News

Dr. Padmeswar Gogoi: He is a noted educationist, Botanist and folklore researcher. He was conferred the Siu-Ka-Pha Award, instituted by the central committee of different ethnic groups and organisations of Golaghat district at a programme held at Siu-Ka-Pha Samannay Kshetra in Golaghat, Assam. He was presented with the award for his effort and contribution in the field of botany and science. The award was presented to him by Golaghat Deputy Commissioner Dhiren Hazarika. The cash prize was donated by Gogoi to the organizing committee to spend on activities that are done in order to promote the ideals of Chaolung Siu-Ka-Pha.

Siu-Ka-Pha Award: It is an award that was instituted by the central committee of different ethnic groups and organizations of Golaghat district, Assam. The inaugural edition of the award carries a citation, a memento, a cheleng chador and Rs 10,000.  The award is named after the great King Sui-Ka-Pha. He was an able administrator. He laid the foundation of modern-day Assam. He was a strong believer of integration and oneness among his subjects and was instrumental in unifying various ethnic tribes.

Sanna Marin: She is a 34 year old Finnish politician. She is a Social Democrat and she has also been a member of the Parliament of Finland since 2015. She was the Minister of Transport and Communications between 6 June 2019 and 10 December 2019.

Sanna Marin becomes World’s Youngest-Serving Prime Minister. She was selected by her Social Democratic party of Finland. She took over after the resignation of outgoing leader Antti Rinne. She is expected to be sworn in as the new Prime Minister of Finland at the Parliament of Finland.

Before her The Prime Minister of Ukraine (aged 35) was the youngest Prime Minister in the world.

Zozibini Tunzi : She is a South African model. She has been crowned Miss Universe for the year 2019, beating more than 90 contestants on 8 December 2019 in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. She is the third woman from South Africa to win the title, and the first black woman since Leila Lopes was crowned Miss Universe 2011. She was presented the crown by Philippines’ Catriona Gray, who was the Miss Universe winner in 2018.

Miss Universe: It is an annual international beauty pageant that is run by the United States-based Miss Universe Organization. The contest is the largest pageant in the world in terms of live TV coverage, airing yearly in more than 190 countries worldwide to an audience of over 500 million people. Along with Miss World, Miss International, and Miss Earth, Miss Universe is one of the Big Four international beauty pageants. It was formed on June 28, 1952. It is headquartered in New York City, New York.

Girish Chandra Chaturvedi: He is a retired IAS officer and former Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas. He is currently on board of ICICI Bank and member of government appointed board of Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services Ltd (IL&FS). He also served as Director (Government Nominee) on Boards of Canara Bank, Bank of Baroda, IDBI Bank Ltd, GIC Re of India, IDFC Ltd, United India Insurance Co. Ltd, Agriculture Insurance Co. of India, New India Assurance Co. Ltd, National Insurance Academy and Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS).

 He has been appointed as the new chairman of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) by NSE with the approval of  markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi).

Greta Thunberg: Greta Thunberg born on 3 January 2003 is a Swedish environmental activist on climate change whose campaigning has gained international recognition. She started protesting on 20 August 2018, outside of the Swedish parliament in Stockholm to reduce carbon emissions according to the Paris Agreement. Nearly about 20,000 schools in 270 cities in the world went on strike on her call. She also gave a speech at the United Nations Climate Action Summit this year which was widely appreciated worldwide.

She has been selected as 'Person of the Year' by 2019 magazine for the year 2019. She was awarded as she managed to attract worldwide attention and changed millions of vague ideas. She called for immediate change and turned an idea into a global movement.

 Person of the Year (called Man of the Year or Woman of the Year until 1999) is an annual issue of the United States news magazine Time that features and profiles a person, a group, an idea, or an object that "for better or for worse... has done the most to influence the events of the year".

Vishwanath Prasad Tiwari: He is an Eminent Hindi poet. He was a former president of Sahitya Academy and has authored several anthologies. Notable among his creations are 'Rachana ki sarokar', 'Kavita kya hai', 'Saath chalte hue' and Bistar duniya le liye'. He would be honored with the prestigious Gangadhar National Award during the 53rd Foundation Day celebrations of the Sambalpur University.

Gangadhar National Award: The award was instituted in memory of legendary Odha poet Gangadhar Meher. It is being conferred on a bard of national repute every year since 1991. The award carrying a cash prize of Rs 50,000, a shawl and a citation.