Current Affairs - December 20, 2019 Current Affairs

Sahitya Akademi has announced the winners of the 2019 Sahitya Akademi Awards in 23 languages on 18 December. Four of novels, seven books of poetry, six of short stories, three of essays and one each of non-fiction, biography, and autobiography won the award. Six books of short stories were awarded to Sri Tarun Kanti Mishra in Odia, Sri Abdul Ahad Hajini in Kashmiri, Sri Kirpal Kazak in Punjabi, Sri Ram Swaroop Kisan in Rajasthani, Sri Kali Charan Hembram in Santali and Sri Ishwar Moorjani in Sindhi. For creative non-fiction, Dr. Shashi Tharoor in English was awarded. For the autobiography, Dr. Vijaya in Kannada was awarded and for biography, Prof. Shafey Kidwai in Urdu won the award.

The Minorities Rights Day was celebrated by the National Commission for Minorities in India in order to focus religious harmony and better understanding of the minority communities in the country. On December 18, 1992, the United Nations adopted the Individual's rights belonging to religious, linguistic and religious minorities. The organization also stated that it is the responsibility of the state to improve minority conditions and create awareness about their linguistic, national, cultural and religious identity.

Odisha state government unveiled the "Jalsathi" programme. It was launched by the Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. He also distributed water quality testing kits and point of sale (POS) machines to the women volunteers "Jalasathis". The Jalsathi programme aims to ensure the supply of safe drinking water to all households in the state. The Water Corporation of Odisha (WATCO) and women federations in Bhubaneswar signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for the implementation of the Jalsathi programme.

Centre Government launched the National Broadband Mission (NBM) to provide broadband access to all villages by 2022. It was launched by Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad in New Delhi. NBM is part of government's National Digital Communications Policy, 2018.To fast track growth of digital communications infrastructure, bridge digital divide and to provide affordable and universal access of broadband for all.To provide broadband access to all villages by 2022.

Amitabh Bagchi's new novel titled, "Half the Night Is Gone" won the DSC Prize for South Asian Literature 2019. The Award was given by Nepal Foreign Affairs Minister - Pradeep Gawali.

Infosys announced the launch of three block chain-powered distributed applications for government services, supply chain management and insurance domains. These applications are equipped with predictive return on investment (ROI) analytics for business investments that can be tailored to meet numerous industry-specific needs. These comprehensive applications are designed as ready-to-subscribe business networks, thus, they would ensure quick deployment, interoperability across disparate systems of value chain stakeholders as well as a wide variety of use cases involving other digital technologies such as Internet of Things (IoT), Analytics among others.

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot inaugurated the first Janta clinic at Valmiki Basti in Malviya Nagar, Jaipur on 18 December 2019. The chief minister had announced Janta clinics during the state budget. Janta clinic will provide free primary health care to poor people living in city slums. In the first phase, 12 Janta clinics are to be opened where people will get free medicines as well as free medical examination in some cases.

Centre released the Braille Edition of the book Exam Warriors. It was authored by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi. The book was released by the Union Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment Shri Thaawarchand Gehlot on 18 December. The Braille Edition was prepared in Hindi and English. It was prepared in the Braille Press of Rajasthan Netraheen Kalyan Sangh. All the pictures of the book have been well described for the benefit of blinds readers. It is expected to benefit millions of blind students of the country by providing motivation and mental strength. Exam Warriors is a compilation of speeches made by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi.

Centre to begin Phase III of Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY). It was launched by the Union Minister of Rural Development, Agriculture and Farmers Welfare and Panchayati Raj, Shri Narendra Singh Tomar. The Phase-III of PMGSY is aimed to consolidate 1, 25,000 Kms through routes and major Rural links that connect habitations to Gramin Agricultural Markets (GrAMs), Higher Secondary Schools and Hospitals. The estimated cost of the project is Rs.80, 250 crores. Of the total cost, the Central government will share Rs.53, 800 crores for the period 2019-20 to 2024-25. The funding pattern for the PMGSY-III will be 60:40 between Centre and the States, except North Eastern and Himalayan States.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Government of India signed a $250 million loan to Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL). The agreement aims to expand energy efficiency investments in India. The agreement is expected to benefit residential, agricultural, and institutional consumers. The Clean Technology Fund (CTF) will provide $46 million in financing. It will be administered by ADB. In 2016, EESL was offered a $200 million by ADB for Demand-Side Energy Efficiency Sector Project. The project focused on efficient lighting and appliances.

Rohit & Rahul's Ton followed by a hattrick from Kuldeep Yadav sailed India through West Indies thus registering in 2nd ODI at Vishakhapatnam.

Edelweiss Asset Management Company has issued the first Bharat Bond ETF, the corporate bond exchange-traded fund in the country. The bond issue will close on 20 December 2019. The investors can subscribe to the exchange-traded fund (ETF) with a minimum unit size of Rs.1,000.Through the ETF, Edelweiss Mutual Fund proposed to raise an initial amount of Rs.3,000 crore. It has a greenshoe option of Rs.2, 000 crore in the 3-year maturity period (2023) and Rs.4, 000 crore with a greenshoe option of Rs.6, 000 crore in the 10-year maturity bucket (2030).

Mallika Srinivasan, Chairman of Tractors & Farm Equipments has been appointed to the Global Board of the US Chamber of Commerce's US-India BusinessCouncil (USIBC).

The Indian Coast Guard (ICG) organised 18th National Maritime Search and Rescue Board (NMSARB) meeting in New Delhi. The annual meeting was held to discuss policy issues, formulate guidelines & procedures as well as assess the efficacy of National Search and Rescue Plan (NSRP). MV Asia Emerald III was awarded the SAR Award for Merchant Vessel for the year 2018-19. It saved 6 lives from a distressed fishing boat. Anand A Ambhire from Maharashtra was awarded SAR Award for Fisherman for saving 11 lives from a sinking fishing boat. Indian Coast Guard Ships (ICGS) Sujoy and ICGS Vikram were jointly awarded SAR Award for Government Owned SAR Unit for saving 46 lives from ROSV Sagar Sampada off New Mangalore.

Ministry of Railways organized the third edition of the Conference on Wagon Development for New Commodities on 19 December 2019.The objective of the conference is to provide innovative solutions for transportation challenges in the steel, automobile, cement, food-grain, and other special commodities segments. The major themes of the conference were Steel, Bulk Fly ash, transportation of Automobiles and Special Commodities. The Conference prepared a roadmap to exploit the market potential in the freight segment for the Indian Railways.

The US National Science Foundation (NSF) reported that India has become the world's third-largest publisher of science and engineering articles. It has published over 1.35 lakh scientific papers. China topped the report as the world's largest publisher. As per the data provided by NSF, the number of scientific papers published worldwide has increased from 1,755,850 in 2008 to 2,555,959 in 2018. It also said that science and engineering (S&E) journal articles and conference papers, grew about 4% annually over the last 10 years.

An upgraded version of India's indigenously developed Pinaka guided rocket system was successfully test-fired from Odisha coast on 19 December 2019. The rocket aims to boost the Army's artillery power. It was fired from the Proof and Experimental Establishment firing test range at Chandipur. The multi-barrel rocket launch system was developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). The weapon system was mounted on a Tatra truck. It is equipped with a guidance kit comprising an advanced navigation and control system.In March 2019, three successful trials of the Pinaka guided rocket system were conducted from the Pokhran test range in Rajasthan.

On December 18, 2019, the World Health Organization launched its first biosimilar medicine to treat breast cancer. The WHO intends to make the expensive, life-saving treatment affordable for women all over the world.WHO launched a biosimilar medicine "Trastuzumab" in order to treat breast cancers. It is an antibody that shows high efficacy in curing early stages of breast cancers. It was included in the WHO Essential Medicines List in 2015.

The 11th Regional Quality Conclave (RQC) was held on 20th December 2019 at, Rudrapur, District Udham Singh Nagar, Uttarakhand. The Conclave will be inaugurated by Madan Kaushik, Minister of Urban Development Government of Uttarakhand. The RQC is organized by the Quality Council of India (QCI) along with PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PHDCCI).The theme of the Rudrapur RQC is "Advance Manufacturing with Quality, Innovation & Technology Interventions." The Conclave aims to create awareness about the significance of quality culture in businesses.

The Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council fixed a uniform tax rate of 28% on both state and private lottery. The 38th GST Council was chaired by the Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in New Delhi. The new rate for the lottery will be effective from March 2020.The GST Council rationalized the tax rate on woven and non-woven bags to 18%. Exemptions have been given on long-term lease for industrial plots. It aims to facilitate the setting up of industrial parks. The panel reduced the levy of penalty for non-filing of GSTR-1 from July 2017.