Current Affairs - December 15, 2018 Current Affairs

Jharkhand has been selected for "Krishi Karman" award in the rice category from the Union Ministry of Agriculture. The award to be given away in February 2019 carries a cash prize of Rs 2 crore and a citation.

Indian Tea Association (ITA) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with China Tea Marketing Association (CTMA). It aims at promoting green and black tea consumption in major tea markets in Europe, the U.S., Russia, and West Asia. The MoU covers the areas of trade promotion, intellectual property protection, and technology exchange. China imported 30 million kg of black tea annually amid its rising popularity in the country where green tea had earlier held sway. Indian exports stood at about 8.7 million kg in 2017 with the market being dominated by Sri Lanka and Kenya. An export of 15 million kg was being targeted next year. China was the world's third largest exporter, mainly of green tea.

Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju inaugurated the 19th All India Police (AIPDM) Shooting Competition-2018 at Manesar, Gurugram in Haryana, on 6th December 2018. The competition was held till 11th December 2018. More than 750 participants of 31 teams of State Police Forces and Central Armed Police Forces took part in the event. Total of 13 matches and 41 medals and 13 Trophies were awarded to the winners.

Ashok Kumar Singh, Lok Sabha Secretariat Service, Additional Secretary, Lok Sabha Secretariat has assumed charge as Secretary, National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST).

Ericsson, Swedish telecom company, said it has set up its Global Artificial Intelligence Accelerator (GAIA) in India. The facility has been planned to be set up in Bengaluru. It will focus on research and development in Artificial Intelligence and automation and will be key in accelerating the execution of Ericsson's strategy. This facility will help create 150 new jobs for data scientists, engineers, AI architects and software developers in 2019.

Ministry of Power has launched the ECO Niwas Samhita 2018, an Energy Conservation Building Code for Residential Buildings (ECBC-R). The Code was launched on the occasion of National Energy ConservationDay 2018 (14th December) in the presence of Chief Guest Smt. Sumitra Mahajan, Hon'ble Speaker, Lok Sabha. It aims to benefit the occupants and the environment by promoting energy efficiency in design and construction of homes, apartments and townships.

President Ram Nath Kovind launched a mobile app developed for farmers in Myanmar and dedicated a centre and a bio park to promote agriculture research and education to the people. App provides crop and livestock knowledge and information apart from cropping guidelines based on location. The app links farmers with more than 2,000 experts.

Situ Malik (15), a minor boy from Kendrapara district of Odisha has been selected for the National Bravery Award for saving his paternal uncle from a crocodile attack. He will be awarded from Prime Minister Narendra Modi on January 23, 2019. Situ had saved his uncle Binod Malik from attack of a crocodile which had sneaked into the village pond on February 20 2018.

Noted English author Amitav Ghosh has been honoured with Jnanpith Award for 2018, an award for outstanding contribution to literature. The decision was taken in a meeting of Jnanpith Selection Board chaired by eminent novelist, scholar and Jnanpith laureate Pratibha Ray. Ghosh, one of the most prominent contemporary Indian writers, is known for a series of novels such as "Shadow Lines", "The Glass Palace", "The Hungry Tide", and Ibis Trilogy - "Sea of Poppies", and "River of Smoke". He has become the first English author to be honoured with the award.

Shri Bharat Bhushan Vyas, IAS officer from Jammu and Kashmir cadre of 1986 batch was administered the Oath of Office and Secrecy as Member, Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) by Shri Arvind Saxena, Chairman, UPSC. Born in 1957, Shri Bharat Bhushan Vyas has served in State & Centre in various capacities, retired as Chief Secretary, Jammu & Kashmir and was serving as Adviser to the Governor, Jammu & Kashmir before assuming the charge as Member, UPSC.

The Kaiga Atomic Power Station (KAPS) has created a world record for the longest uninterrupted operation for 941 days. The Unit-1 of Kaiga Generating Station (KGS) at Kaiga, located the river Kali in Uttar Kannada district of Karnataka, has been generating electricity continuously since May 13, 2016. It is an indigenously-built PHWR run by domestic fuel (uranium). It began commercial operations on November 16, 2000, and has produced 500 cr. units of power so far. It evidences the excellence in design, construction, safety, quality and operation & maintenance practices of Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCIL). Earlier, the record of 940 days was held by Unit 2 of Heysham of the United Kingdom (UK).

India's first private sector unit for manufacturing unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) opened at Adani Aerospace Park in Hyderabad. Built by the Adani Group and Israel-based Elbit Systems, the 50,000 square feet facility will develop Hermes 900 medium altitude long-endurance UAVs for the Indian and global markets. The unit will begin with the manufacture of complete carbon composite aerostructures for Hermes 900, followed by Hermes 480, catering to global markets.

The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, inaugurated the 2-day fourth Partners' Forum in New Delhi. It concluded on December 13, 2018. India is hosting the Partners' Forum for the second time. The previous chapters were held in Johannesburg, South Africa in 2014, New Delhi, India in 2010 and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania in 2007. Its objective was to improve the health and well-being of women, children and adolescents.

Ministry of Power announced that 9 states have achieved complete household electrification under the PM Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana (SAUBHAGYA) scheme. Madhya Pradesh, Tripura, Bihar, Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand, Mizoram, Sikkim, Telangana and West Bengal. With this, 16 States in the country now have 100 per cent household electrification. Furthermore, the country is expected to achieve 100 per cent household electrification by December 31, 2018. Additionally, 31.68 crore LED bulbs have been distributed under the Unnat Jyoti by Affordable LED for All (UJALA) scheme resulting in estimated cost saving of Rs.16,457 crore per year. The Power Ministry also aims to replace 1.34 crore conventional streetlights with smart and energy efficient LED lights by March, 2019.

Justice Tarun Agarwala retired Chief Justice of the Meghalaya High Court has been appointed as the presiding officer in the Securities Appellate Tribunal, Mumbai. Justice Agarwala will remain presiding officer for a period of five years or till the age of 70 years, whichever is earlier. The Securities Appellate Tribunal is a statutory body established under the provisions of Section 15K of the Securities and Exchange Board of India(SEBI) Act, 1992, to hear and dispose of appeals against orders passed by the SEBI or by an adjudicating officer under the Act. Justice Agarwala had graduated from the Allahabad University with a law degree. He started practicing as an advocate in the Allahabad High Court in 1981 in the matters of Civil Law, Constitutional, Taxation, Labour, Testamentary and Corporate Affairs matters.

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has allowed Bandhan Bank to open as many as 40 new branches, by the end of December, releasing the restriction that RBI has put on the Bandhan bank's branch opening spree three months back. The RBI had barred the bank from opening new branches in September after the private-sector lender failed to bring down main shareholder's stake to below 40 % as mandated in the licensing norms for universal banks. Bandhan Financial Services (BFSL) the promoter of Bandhan Bank, currently holds 82.28 % stake in the bank. The bank is planning either to float an open offer for sale or to acquire a non-bank lender which would in turn bring down the promoters' stake.

Japan picked the Chinese character "disaster" to define the year 2018, a year that saw deadly floods, strong earthquakes and heavy storms. The selection came after Japan was buffeted this year by torrential rains in the country's west and an large earthquake in Hokkaido, heightening public awareness of the importance of disaster prevention measures. Japan was also rocked by man-made calamities such as stolen cryptocurrencies and the uncovering of harassment by coaches in the athletic world. The competition is rum by every year by the Kyoto-based Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation since 1995. The Chinese characters (or Kanji) are used widely in Japanese as well as other alphabets. Earlier, "North" won in 2017 after North Korea's missile launches, and "gold" in 2016 after the Rio Olympics.

Delhi Police has entered the Limca Book of Records for training 2,08,125 women and girls in 989 self-defence programme in 2017. The self-defence programme of Delhi Police was started in 2002 and is carried out by the Special Police Unit For Women and Children (SPUWAC) which has trained 9,80,456 women under 5,140 programmes till November 2017. The Delhi Police will receive the award in February next year. The Delhi Police have set a target to train around 3.5 lakh women in 2019.

India and Russia have agreed to simplify export clearances to take forward joint manufacturing in the defence. This decision was made during the 18th meeting of the India-Russia Inter-Governmental Commission on Military Technical Cooperation (IRIGC-MTC) chaired by Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and her Russian counterpart General Sergei Shoigu on 13th December 2018. India is planning for joint production under Make in India. This includes allowing Indian companies, both Defence Public Sector Undertakings (DPSU) and private sector, to manufacture spares for Russian systems in India. So far, four military-industry conferences have been held between Russian manufactures and Indian companies to take the process forward, in this regard.

Uttar Pradesh-based 'HelpUsGreen' named startup has been honoured by the UN. The startup works to clean up the mighty river Ganga by recycling thousands of tonnes of floral waste from temples. 'HelpUsGreen' has come up with the world's first profitable solution to the monumental temple waste problem: 'flowercycling'.