Daily Current Affairs – December 23,24 2018
IMPORTANT DAYS
December 23 – National Farmers’ Day (Kisan Diwas)
- Kisan Diwas or National Farmers Day will be observed across the country on 23rd December to celebrate the birthday of Chaudhary Charan Singh, who was the 5th Prime Minister of India. During his tenure as the Prime Minister, Singh introduced many policies to improve the life of farmers in India.
December 24 – National Consumer Day
- Every Year 24th December is observed as National Consumer Day with a specific theme in India. On this day the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 had received the assent of the president. The enactment of this Act is considered as a historic milestone in the consumer movement in the country.
- Theme: “Timely Disposal of Consumer Complaints”.
NATIONAL
Tamil Nadu
India’s first music museum to be set up in Thiruvaiyaru
- The country’s first music museum will be set up with assistance from the Central government in Thiruvaiyaru, Tamilnadu, the birth place of Saint Tyagaraja, one of the Trinities of Carnatic music.
NEW DELHI
Commemorative coin in honour of Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee
- The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, released a commemorative coin in honour of former Prime Minister, Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
Delhi’s air quality deteriorates to severe category
- National Capital Delhi’s air quality has deteriorated to the severe category as a thick smog engulfed the national capital and prevented dispersion of pollutants.
ODISHA
Projects worth around 15K cr rupees
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated projects worth around 15,000 crore rupees in Odisha. The projects are related to health, road and highways, higher education and culture.
- Among the projects, the Prime Minister dedicated the new campus of IIT-Bhubaneswar at Aragul built at a cost of 1,660 crore rupees. He also inaugurated ESIC hospital in Bhubaneshwar costing over 73 crores.
INTERNATIONAL
Volcano-triggered tsunami in Indonesia
- A tsunami killed at least 280 people and injured hundreds on the Indonesian islands of Java and Sumatra following an underwater landslide believed caused by the erupting Anak Krakatau volcano.
- Anak Krakatau, roughly halfway between Java and Sumatra, has been spewing ash and lava for months. It erupted again just after 9 p.m. on December 22 and the tsunami struck about 30 minutes later, according to the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG).
Soviet-built nuclear reactor has been shut down after 45 years of service
- Russia’s nuclear power company said that a Soviet-built nuclear reactor has been shut down after 45 years of service.Launched in 1973, the reactor became the first unit of the RBMK-1000 type to be built in the Soviet Union. A reactor of the same type exploded in Chernobyl in April 1986 in the world’s worst nuclear accident.
Norway to build wind farm amid concerns about reindeer
- Norway has said it would build a wind park in an area used for reindeer grazing despite UN calls to suspend the project to study the impact on the indigenous herders’ livelihoods. UN wanted the project suspended to study if it would disturb the animals
SCIENCE
Step closer to detecting krait venom
- Researchers have found a DNA aptamer (a small, single-stranded DNA molecule that binds to a specific target molecule) originally developed against alpha toxin of Bungarus multicinctus krait snake can be used for reliable detection of another krait snake species — Bungarus caeruleus.
- multicinctus snake is found in China and Taiwan while B. caeruleus snake is found in the Indian subcontinent. Of five krait species found in India, B. caeruleus is the most common one. There are about 50,000 deaths a year in India due to snakebites.
BUSINESS & ECONOMY
GST reduced on 23 items and services
- The GST Council has reduced tax rates on 23 goods and services, including movie tickets, TV and monitor screens and power banks. With this, only 28 goods are left in the highest 28 per cent tax bracket. Monitors and TV screens up to 32-inches and power banks will attract 18 per cent GST, as against 28 per cent earlier.
SUMMITS & CONFERENCES
Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman launches IFC-IOR at IMAC in Gurugram
- Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman launched the Information Fusion Centre – Indian Ocean Region, IFC-IOR at the Information Management and Analysis Centre, IMAC in Gurugram. The objective of having an IFC-IOR is more for partners, equals to work towards keeping the global commons safe and democratically available for all.
APPOINTMENTS
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Patrick Shanahan to replace James Mattis as US Defense Secretary
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B.V.P Rao – Archery association president
AWARDS
Sardar Patel Award for National Integration
- Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi announced annual Sardar Patel Award for National Integration at the DGPs/IGPs Conference at Kevadia. This award would be given for outstanding efforts to further national integration.
- “Sardar Patel devoted his life towards unifying India. The Sardar Patel Award for National Integration would be a fitting tribute to him and will inspire more people to work towards furthering India’s unity and national integration.”
DEFENCE
India successfully test-fires Agni-IV ICBM
- India successfully test-fired its nuclear-capable long-range Inter Continental Ballistic Missile Agni-IV, with a strike range of 4,000 km. Agni-IV missile is equipped with advanced Avionics, 5th generation On Board Computer and distributed architecture. It has the latest features to correct and guide itself for in-flight disturbances.
Sino-India joint exercise Hand-in-Hand 2018
- The seventh edition of joint Sino-India military exercise Hand–in–Hand 2018 concluded on 23 December 2018. The exercise included lectures and discussions on various counter terrorism aspects like cordon and search operations, raid on terrorist hideouts, intelligence collection and joint operations.
APP & WEB PORTAL
Website of Cyber Coordination Centre
- The Prime Minister launched the website of the Cyber Coordination Centre. This is a one stop shop on all cyber related issues, whether it is cyber crime or cyber security. It would also act as bridge between law enforcement agencies on the one hand, and academia and private cyber security professionals on the other.
SPORTS
Seven year old to co-captain Australia
- Archie Schiller, the seven-year-old leg-spinner inducted into the Australian team earlier this month, is set to co-captain the side alongside Tim Paine in the in the Boxing Day Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
Indian woman becomes the fastest Asian to cycle the globe
- Vedangi, who hails from a suburb of Pune, cycled into Kolkata in the wee hours of December 23, completing the 29,000 km distance required to qualify as bicycling across the globe.
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