Current Affairs - December 28, 2017 Current Affairs

The President of India, Ram Nath Kovind, dedicated to the people of Andhra Pradesh four projects of the State Government at a function held at Velagapudi, Andhra Pradesh. The Projects were Andhra Pradesh Fibregrid Project, Andhra Pradesh Surveillance Project, Drone Project; and Free Space Optical Communication (FSOC) system. The President focused on the 24/7 hyper-connected world and the online presence of the government.

President Ram Nath Kovind has formally inaugurated the 100th annual conference of Indian Economic Association (IEA) at Acharya Nagarjuna University (ANU) near Guntur in Andhra Pradesh on December 27. The focus of the 3-day conference will be on economic growth of the country and growth in agriculture, industry and service sectors. Approx 1,300 dignitaries are expected to attend the conference. Apart from this, President also inaugurated fibernet at the temporary Secretariat in Velagapudi.

Mumbai received the first cargo of fruit from Kabul. The consignment comes after Kabul-New Delhi the second air corridor between Afghanistan and India was opened by sending fruits from the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul. Afghanistan was historically our window to the Central Asian landlocked countries and was connected through long-distance trade with the western part of India. The air connectivity now established through the air freight corridor will provide Afghanistan greater access to markets in India and will allow Afghan businessmen to leverage India's economic growth and trade networks for its benefit.

The five-day Teesta Rangit Tourism Festival 2017 started in Darjeeling. The Teesta Rangit Tourism festival will be held in separate phases in different places of Darjeeling and Kalimpong districts. It will be held in Darjeeling from December 27 to 29, in Kurseong from December 28 to 29, in Kalimpong from December 29 to 30 and in Mirik from December 30 to 31. This festival is organized by Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) and Darjeeling state tourism department and information and cultural affairs department.

Actress Anushka Sharma named PETA's Person of the Year by animal rights organization People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). Anushka is a vegetarian, has nabbed the title for helping to protect dogs from fireworks to advocating for horses who are forced to pull carriages in Mumbai. She was named PETA's Hottest Vegetarian Celebrity in 2015.

Union Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare Minister, Shri Radha Mohan Singh launched Livestock Disease Forewarning -Mobile Application (LDF-Mobile App). The app is developed by ICAR-National Institute of Veterinary Epidemiology and Disease Informatics (ICAR-NIVEDI), Bengaluru. Apart from early warning, the app will also provide information about clinical samples for the diagnosis in case of the epidemic so that immediate action can be taken in case of the epidemic.

The 25th National Children Science Congress begun in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. The 25th National Children Science Congress was inaugurated by Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani. This event is held till 31st December 2017. The theme of the 25th National Children Science Congress is: 'Science and Innovation for Sustainable Development'. The event's main focus will be on persons with disabilities.

India's largest mobile-first financial services platform, Paytm announced that its app crossed the 100 million milestones on Google Play Store in the second week of December 2017. This makes Paytm the country's first payments app to cross the 100 million downloads mark.

Paul Antony has been appointed as the next Chief Secretary of Kerala. Paul Antony is an IAS Officer of the 1983 batch. He will take charge as the Chief Secretary of Kerala on January 1, 2018. He will work as Chief Secretary tillJune 27, 2018. He replaces K.M. Abraham, who will retire on December 31, 2017. Paul Antony is currently the Additional Chief Secretary in charge of Industries, Power, and Forest departments.

The 25th edition of National Children Science Congress (NCSC-2017) has inaugurated by Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani in Ahmedabad on December 27. The theme of the five-day Congress is 'Science and Innovation for Sustainable Development' with the special focus on persons with disabilities. 50 children and teachers from Asian nations will participate in the event this year. Apart from science exhibition, the event will witness various activities such as hands-on demonstrations, presentations by child scientists, poster session and cultural programmes. The NCSC is an ideal and innovative programme for children to inspire, empower and expand their minds to world. It is a flagship programme of department of Science & Technology, Ministry of Science and Technology.

The field of cinematography is one woman who has become the leading lady to win a national award of cinematography for her first film. Anjuli Shukla became the first lady to win the award for Malayalam film industry. It has come up like a challenge for her to shoot a film which she is quite unknown and oblivion of. Acing her skills in this profession the female has proved herself in a male-dominated industry.

Mayanka Patel and Poonam Gaur were crowned Mrs India-Pride of Nation 2017 contest in two different categories, in Gurgaon. Mayanka Patel from Mumbai was named winner in Group A - 21 years to 34 years women's category. Poonam Gaur from Gurugram won the crown in Group B- 34 years to 45 years women's category. The Mrs India-Pride of Nation 2017 contest was organised by Glamour Gurgaon. The Grand Finale consisted of 3 rounds and 61 contestants participated.

Abhay, the senior IPS officer, has been appointed as the new Director General (DG) of Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB). On December 27, 2017, the appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved his appointment to the post till 18th of November 2019. Mr.Abhay is at present working in Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF). The post was lying vacant after R R Bhatnagar took over as DG of CRPF in April 2017.

Veteran singer K S Chitra selected for prestigious 'Harivarasanam' award 2017, instituted by the Kerala government. The award carrying a cash prize of Rs one lakh, citation and plaque would be presented to the veteran playback singer at a function on January 14, 2018.

Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) has selected additional 1500 Schools for establishment of Atal Tinkering Labs (ATLs), thereby taking the total number of schools selected so far to 2441. NITI Aayog's Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) is Indian Government's endeavour to promote a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship across Indian schools, universities and industries. Vision of AIM is to 'Cultivate One Million children in India as the Innovators of tomorrow'. Under AIM, Atal Tinkering Laboratories (ATLs) have been established in schools across India to foster curiosity, creativity and imagination in young generation.