Current Affairs - December 3, 2019 Current Affairs

First night-trial of the nuclear capable Agni-III surface-to-surface ballistic missile was carried out from a mobile launcher. The test was carried out at the Integrated Test Range at the APJ Abdul Kalam Island off Odisha coast. The missile has a strike range of over 3,500 km.

The National Pollution Control Day is observed on 2 December. It is celebrated every year. The day is observed in order to honor the lives that were lost because of the Bhopal gas calamity. On this day, the Pollution Control Department will organize several programs in this regard in the education institutions. The day aims to spread awareness among the people about pollution and its control measures. The day also creates awareness about the problem caused by increasing pollution.

Minister of State for Human Resource Development Sanjay Dhotre inaugurated the India Pavilion at International Book Fair in Guadaljara, Mexico. This fair is the biggest book fair in the Spanish-speaking world. India is the 'Guest of Honour Country' in this book fair and it becomes the first Asian country to participate as 'Guest of Honour' in the Fair.

Laxminarayan Nayak, centenarian freedom fighter and former MP, died at Niwari town in Madhya Pradesh due to age-related illness. Nayak (101) was ill for some time. He had represented Khajuraho Lok Sabha seat from 1997 -1980. Before that, he was elected as MLA from Niwari assembly seat in 1957. During freedom struggle, Nayak was imprisoned several times.

13th South Asian Games have formally begun in Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal. President of Nepal Bidya Devi Bhandari declared games open in a glittering ceremony at Dasaratha Rangshala in Kathmandu on December 1. Over 2700 athletes from seven South Asian Countries participated in the march past.

Delhi's Shamim Khan fired a two-under 70 in the final round to coast to a comfortable three-shot win at the Kensville Open golf tournament at the Kensville Golf and Country Club in Ahmedabad on December 1, 2019.

India has become the first country in the world to completely digitize the Haj process. Various services have been added to the online application service like e-visa, haj mobile app, e-messiah health facility, stay and traffic information in Mecca Medina and Haj pilgrimage information.

The work on the country's second spaceport has started at Tuticorin in Tamilnadu .The new launch pad will mainly cater to launches of newly developed Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV). Initially, the launches of the SSLV will be done from Sriharikota but once the second spaceport is completed, subsequent launches will be shifted there. The advantages of the new spaceport include straight southward launches as the current rockets have to be manoeuvred around Sri Lanka. The TN spaceport will also be ideal fro putting satellites in the polar orbit through a PSLV.

Congress MLA Nana Patole has been elected as Speaker of the Maharashtra Assembly. Mr Patole's election came after the BJP took back the name of Kisan Kathore as the party's nominee with minutes to go before the 10 am deadline. It is a tradition in the Maharashtra Assembly for the Speaker to be elected unopposed.

Nagaland attained statehood with the enactment of the state of Nagaland Act in 1962 by the Parliament. The interim body was dissolved on 30 November 1963 and the state of Nagaland was formally inaugurated on 1 December 1963 and Kohima was declared as the state capital. It became the 16th State of the Union of India on 1st December 1963.

The government on December 1 appointed Soma Roy Burman, a 1986-batch Indian Civil Accounts Service Officer, as the new Controller General of Accounts (CGA). Ms. Burman is the 24th CGA and is the seventh woman to hold this position.

Comeback-girl Carolina Marin kept her date with a second title in 71 days but Sourabh Verma faltered at the final hurdle of the $150,000 Syed Modi International badminton tournament on December 1. Marin, a three-time World champion and ranked 18th in the world, went about her job in a business-like manner. She was comfortably ahead in the opening game. In the second, she easily bridged a five-point deficit.

The third edition of the Khelo India Youth Games which is scheduled to be held from January 10 to 22 in Guwahati. The third edition will have two additional sports -- Cycling and Lawn Bowls as over 10,000 participants from across the country participate in a total of 451 medal events during the 13 action-packed days. The Khelo India Games was launched in 2018 to imbibe a culture of sports in the country.

The seventh Indo-Sri Lanka joint military exercise was held on December 1, 2019 at Aundh military station. The main objective of the exercise is to build and promote positive relations between the countries. The exercise was scheduled to be conducted at the Foreign Training Node in Pune between December 1 and December 14, 2019.

US composer Irving Burgie, who helped to popularise Caribbean music with hit songs like Day-O, has died aged 95. His death was confirmed by Barbados Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley, who called for a moment of silence for the man who wrote its national anthem. Mr Burgie is best known for helping singer Harry Belafonte bring calypso music to the mainstream.

China will require telecom operators to collect face scans when registering new phone users at offline outlets. According to the country's information technology authority, as Beijing continues to tighten cyberspace controls.

India and Sweden are likely to sign their first maritime cooperation agreement, Cooperation in Polar Science, during the visit to India of the Swedish royal couple and senior Ministers, including Foreign Minister Anne Linde.

Maharashtra's Savitribai Phule Pune University (STPU) and Qatar's Milestone International Education signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to enable the University to set up its campus in Doha.

Senior officer Hari Mohan on December 1 took charge as the chairman of the Ordnance Factory Board (OFB). He succeeded Saurabh Kumar who superannuated from the services. He is a 1982-batch Indian Ordnance Factories' Service (IOFS) officer with a post-graduate degree in mechanical engineering.

The much-awaited festival, the Hornbill Festival began with a colourful blend of culture and tradition with a modern twist at Naga Heritage Kisama in Nagaland this evening. This is the 20th edition of Hornbill Festival. The festival organised by Nagaland Government is an annual tourism promotional event to showcase the state's traditional and rich cultural heritage in all its ethnicity, diversity and grandeur