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 (TN) Molugamboondi 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
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.
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.
