DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS: 18TH DEC 2019


DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS: 18TH  DEC 2019
1.        Mission Antyodaya scheme
ü  Rankings on gram panchayats in the country, on implementation of development and infrastructure programmes under the Mission Antyodaya scheme was released. As per the ranking, Tamil Nadu’s (TNMolugamboondi gram panchayat topped the ranking for the year 2019.
ü  Bambhaniya GP of Bhavnagar in Gujarat ranked second on the list while four more Gujarat panchayats were tied for third ranks.

2.        Steeling India- 2019: Driving metal intensity in key sectors”
ü  Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) organized the “Steeling India- 2019: Driving metal intensity in key sectors” in New Delhi. DharmendraPradhan, Union Minister for Steel and Petroleum & Natural Gas participated in the event.

3.         ‘Tansensamaroh 2019’ commenced
ü  A 5-day long 95th edition of  Popular classical music festival ‘TansenSamaroh 2019’, has commenced in Gwalior ,Madhya Pradesh(MP) with Harikatha and Milad. The festival is an annual celebration (started in 1924) in memory of MianTansen, a prominent 16-century Indian classical music composer, musician, and vocalist.
The Madhya Pradesh Government has conferred the annual TansenSamman for the year 2019 upon Pandit
ü  VidyadharVyas (75), an Indian Hindustani vocalist, and a contemporary exponent of the Paluskar style of North Indian classical singing.
ü  The award carries a cash prize of Rs 2 lakh and is given to outstanding exponents of Hindustani classical music.

4.        9th  Global sports summit ‘TURF 2019’
ü  FICCI (Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry), an association of business organizations in India, has organized the 9th edition of Global Sports Summit ‘TURF 2019‘ & India sports awards 2019 at the FICCI Federation house in New Delhi. Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, KiranRijiju was the chief guest of the event.

5.        WEF Gender Gap Index 2019
ü  World Economic Forum (WEF) released its annual survey, India slipped four places and is in the 112th place in the Gender Gap Index, and ranks in the bottom-five in terms of women’s health and survival and in the economic participation of women.
List of Countries in Gender Gap Index:
Rank
Country 
1
Iceland
2
Norway
3
Finland
4
Sweden
112
India

6.        SBI signed MOU wiyhKfW for energy-efficient housing programme
ü  State Bank of India has signed a loan agreement worth of $277 million with KfW a German state-owned development bank for establishing an energy-efficient housing programme in India.
ü  SBI Capital Markets Ltd.,a wholly owned investment banking subsidiary of State Bank of India will arrange the loan and grant facilities under this programme.
ü  Financial assistance will be provided to both builders & home buyers for developing and purchasing energy-efficient residential projects that achieve at least 25% energy savings in comparison to standard reference buildings.

7.        NPCI sets up subsidiary to take UPI to the international level
ü  National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), an umbrella organisation works under RBI for operating retail payments, has set up a subsidiary to take the Unified Payment Interface (UPI) model to other countries.
ü  It is a smartphone application which allows users to transfer money between bank accounts. It is a single-window mobile payment system developed by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI).
There are currently 140 member banks using the UPI rails to enable payments for customers across the banking sector.

8.        Fortune India 500 list 2019
ü  Indian multinational conglomerate, Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) led by MukeshDhirubhaiAmbani topped the list surpassing Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), which ranked as India’s largest company to top Fortune India 500 list for 10 years. IOC ranked 2nd in the list. Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) stood at the same 3rd place.

9.        28th Chief of Army Staff
ü  Lieutenant General Manoj MukundNaravane will be appointed as the 28th Chief of Army Staff (COAS) for a period of 3 years. He is currently the Vice Chief of the Army Staff and will replace Army Chief General BipinRawat who is set to retire on 31st December 2019 after a three-year term.

10.     BrahMos missile successfully test-fired
ü  Supersonic cruise missile BrahMos was successfully test fired from Chandipur district of Odisha. The land attack version was test fired from a mobile autonomous launcher at Launch Complex-3 of the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur. The air attack version was test fired from Su-30 MKI fighter aircraft.
ü  Brahmos is a medium-range ramjet supersonic cruise missile that can be launched from submarine, ships, aircraft, or land. It is the world’s fastest supersonic cruise missile.

11.     World’s Deepest land canyon
ü  The deepest canyon on land on earth is found in the Denman glacier in East Antarctica. The project is led by Mathieu Morlighem, an associate professor from USA.

12.     Women’s FIDE Grand prix 2019
ü  Indian chess grandmasterKoneru Humpy has finished 2nd  in the FIDE (FédérationInternationale des Échecs) women’s Grand Prix (WGP) 2019 held in Monaco.She also retained the World No. 3 position. Alexandra Kosteniuk (Russia) won the title at the event.