Current Affairs - December 14, 2018 Current Affairs

The Congress party has picked old guard Ashok Gehlot over Sachin Pilot as Chief Minister of Rajasthan. Pilot will be the deputy CM of Rajasthan and will also continue as the state Congress chief. India's Grand Old Party won 99 seats of the 199 in the Rajasthan Assembly, just one short of the halfway mark to form the government.

Yes Bank Ltd has named one of its independent directors Brahm Dutt as the bank's part-time non-executive independent chairman after former Finance Secretary Ashok Chawla resigned from the position. Brahm Dutt is a former bureaucrat and is one of the oldest members of Yes Bank's board.

International Universal Health Coverage Day (UHC Day) was observed throughout the world. It aims to mobilize diverse stakeholders to call for stronger, more equitable health systems to achieve universal health coverage, leaving no one behind. The theme for the 2018 UHC Day is: "Unite for Universal Health Coverage: Now is the Time for Collective Action". Universal health coverage (UHC) ensures all people, everywhere, can access the quality health services they need without suffering financial hardship. The United Nations proclaimed 12 December as International Universal Health Coverage Day (UHC Day) by resolution 72/138 in 2017.

December 12 is seen as International Day of Neutrality after its adoption by United Nations General Assembly in the 69th plenary meeting. It is celebrated by United Nations to ensure neutrality among nations and abstention of a state from all participation in a war. It is aimed at promoting the use of preventive diplomacy, and enhancing public awareness of the value of neutrality in international relations.

The Climate Change Performance Index was released on the sidelines of COP24 Un Summit in Katowice, Poland. he index was produced by the New Climate Institute, Climate Action Network and Germanwatch. No countries were in the top three ranks because none did well in all categories assessed. But among the league of nations, Sweden topped as the 4th country (for the second time as on 2017) followed by Morocco in the 5th position. India ranked 11th, But Germany fell from 22nd to 27th because of its reliance on lignite coal, a big source of greenhouse gas emissions.

The government has constituted a Group of Ministers (GoM) headed by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley to vet the recommendations of a high-level panel on stressed power projects. The panel, headed by Cabinet Secretary P K Sinha, had submitted its report in November 2018. The other members of the GOM are Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari, Commerce Minister Suresh Prabhu, Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, Railways Minister Piyush Goyal and Power Minister R K Singh.

National energy conservation day is celebrated every year by the people all over India on 14th of December. The Energy Conservation Act in India was executed by the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) in the year 2001. The Bureau of Energy Efficiency is a constitutional body which comes under Government of India and helps in the development of policies and strategies in order to reduce the energy use.

Dr Dharmendra Singh Gangwar, Additional Secretary & Financial Advisor, Ministry of Culture inaugurated the third exhibition of the 2nd series of collection titled "Uncrowned Glory - An exhibition of Ethnic Ornaments of Himachal Pradesh" in National Museum, New Delhi. This exhibition aims to showcase the silver and gold ornaments, from different communities and regions of Himachal Pradesh,through photographic prints. This also help in preserving and transmitting the intangible aspects of the communities through generations. The exhibition will be open for public till the 31st of December 2018.

'Kala Utsav' was inaugurated by Union Minister of Human Resource Development, Prakash Javadekar in New Delhi on 12 December 2018. Kala Utsav is an initiative of the Department of School Education and Literacy of the Ministry of Human Resource Development. The aim of the festival is to promote arts in education by nurturing and showcasing the artistic talents of school students.

The Uttar Pradesh Government announced creation of an umbrella university named after former Prime Minister late Atal Bihari Vajpayee. The decision was taken in a cabinet meeting headed by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath at Lucknow. The University would be the controlling authority of all the medical and dental colleges and nursing institutions in the state. This would help in bringing transparency in entrance and examination system and would enhance quality of medical education.

The Indian Navy inducted its first Deep Submergence Rescue Vehicle (DSRV) System at the Naval Dockyard in Mumbai on 11 December 2018. DSRV is used to rescue crew members stranded in submarines that get disabled. The Indian Navy joins a select group of naval forces in the world that boasts of DSRVs. The DSRV can be operated at a depth of 650 meters and can hold around 15 people.

In a study, published in the journal Royal Society Open Science, scientists found that the Dracula ant possesses the fastest animal movement on record. With speeds of up to 90 metres per second or 200 miles per hour, the ants can snap-jaws and power up their mandibles by pressing the tips together.

Akademik Lomonosov, the world's first "floating" nuclear power plant (FNPP) for installation in remote areas, has been started and brought to 10% of its capacity, Russian state-run atomic energy corporation Rosatom announced. An FNPP is basically a mobile, low-capacity reactor unit operable in remote areas isolated from the main power distribution system, or in places hard to access by land. They are designed to maintain both uninterruptible power and plentiful desalinated water supply in remote areas.

The International Human Rights Day (IHRD) is observed every year on December 10 to commemorate the day when the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) at the Palais de Chaillot in Paris in 1948. The 2018 theme is 'Stand up for the human rights'. This year marks the 70th anniversary of the document which declared inalienable rights which everyone is inherently entitled to as a human being -- regardless of race, colour, religion, sex, language, political or other opinions, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.

The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) released its report on the world's 100 biggest armaments groups and said that Russia has emerged as the world's second-largest arms producer after the U.S. Russia surpassed Britain, which had held the spot since 2002 and remains Western Europe's No. 1 arms maker. The report stated that the combined arm sales of Russian companies recorded 8.5 % year-on-year growth and amounted to$37.7 billion in 2017.Russia's sales accounted for 9.5 percent of a worldwide total of $398.2 billion. The U.S. topped the list with 42 companies accounting for 57 % of total sales, including the world's largest arms producer, Lockheed Martin Corp. The SIPRI's report doesn't include Chinese companies because of unreliable statistics.

The 39th Gulf Cooperation Council Summit was inaugurated by the King Salman of Saudi Arabia in Riyadh. It was announced at the conclusion of the summit that the 40th Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) summit will be held in the United Arab Emirates. The presidency of GCC shifts among the six members based on the Arabic alphabet. Although the 39th summit was held in Riyadh upon a request from Oman, Oman will be the president for the next 12 months.

Producer-director Brijendra Pal Singh was appointed as the new president of the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) and chairman of the institute's governing council by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. Mr Singh, best known as the producer-director of popular TV series 'CID', is currently the vice-chairman of the FTII governing council. He succeeds veteran actor Anupam Kher, who had stepped down as the chairman citing "international commitments".

India and Saudi Arabia signed the bilateral annual Haj 2019 agreement at Jeddah. The agreement was signed by the Union Minister for Minority Affairs, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and Haj and Umrah Minister of Saudi Arabia, Dr. Mohammad Saleh bin Taher Benten. The agreement is a part of strengthened bilateral relations of the two countries. Both India and Saudi Arabia share strong cultural, historical, economic and political relations.

Steel Authority of India's Hockey Academy wins 115th Aga Khan Gold Cup tournament by beating Army XI Danapur by 2-1 at Major Dhyan Chand hockey stadium in New Delhi. Jay Prakash Patel scored the match-winning goal for the SAIL Hockey Academy (SHA) in the final match of Aga Khan Gold Cup which is one of the oldest hockey tournament in the country. The SHA team defeated Madhya Pradesh Hockey Academy by 4-2 in the semifinals. SAIL Hockey Academy is run by SAIL's Rourkela Steel Plant.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Government of India signed a $60 Million Loan Agreement in New Delhi to continue financing riverbank protection works, renovation of flood embankments, and community-based flood risk management activities in critically flood-prone areas along the Brahmaputra River in Assam. The Tranche 2 loan is part of the $120 million multi-tranche financing facility (MFF) for the Assam Integrated Flood and Riverbank Erosion Risk Management Investment Program approved by the ADB Board in October 2010.