Current Affairs - December 25, 2019 Current Affairs

Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) announced the appointment of Uday Shankar, APAC President, and Chairman - The Walt Disney Company. He is also the chairman of the FICCI Media and Entertainment Committee. He served as the chairman and CEO of 21st Century Fox for Asia before his association with Walt Disney.

BJP's Jharkhand CM Raghubar Das hands over his resignation to Governor Draupadi Murmu in Ranchi after party's defeat in Assembly polls.

Indian Army Chief Gen. Bipin Rawat felicitated Major Anoop Mishra with prestigious Army Design Bureau (ADB) Excellence Award for indigenously developing 'Sarvatra Kavach', a bulletproof jacket that can provide protection against various ammunition including that from sniper steel bullets. Maj. Anoop is presently posted as Instructor at College of Military Engineering, Pune and was among the four awardees felicitated by Gen. Rawat.

Erode Venkatappa Ramasamy (17 September 1879 - 24 December 1973), commonly known as Periyar, also referred to as Thanthai Periyar, was an Indian social activist, and politician who started the Self-Respect Movement and Dravidar Kazhagam.He is known as the 'Father of modern Tamilnadu'. He has done exemplary works against Brahminical dominance, caste prevalence and women oppression in Tamilnadu.

India's first long range CNG bus that can travel 1000 kms in a single fill launched by Indraprastha Gas Limited (IGL).

Ashleigh Barty and Rafael Nadal named International Tennis Federation's (ITF) World Champions. These awards will be given at the 2020 ITF world champions 2nd June, in Paris.

Bachan Singh, Delhi's oldest voter who voted in 2019 Lok Sabha election, dies at 111.

Prakasam district police of Andhra Pradesh have launched 'Abhay'- a pilot emergency drop-home service for stranded women.

National Consumers Right Day is observed across India on 24th December of every year.The date was chosen, because on this day the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 was enacted on this day in 1986.The day provides an unique opportunity to highlight the importance of the consumer movement and the need to make every consumer more aware of their rights and responsibilities.

Marudur Gopalan Ramachandran (17 January 1917 - 24 December 1987), popularly known as M. G. R., was an Indian actor, filmmaker and politician who served as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu for ten years between 1977 and 1987.He is a cultural icon in the state and is regarded as one of the most influential actors of the Tamil film industry. He was popularly known as "Makkal Thilagam" (People's King) as he was popular with the masses. He was a philanthropist and a humanitarian icon.

The Appointments Committee of Cabinet (ACC) has approved the appointment of Harsh Vardhan Shringla, currently serving as India's ambassador to United States (US), as the next foreign secretary. He is likely to take over will take over as next Foreign Secretary soon after Republic Day, 2020 i.e. on 29 January for a two-year tenure.

8 km long strategic tunnel under Rohtang Pass in Himachal Pradesh is to be named after former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

Russian President Vladimir Putin opens 19-km long railway bridge connecting Russia to Crimea.

The National Association of Street Vendors of India (NASVI) and food regulator FSSAI (Food Safety and Standards Authority of India) are jointly organising National Street Food Festival (NSFF) at Jawahar Lal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi during 25-29 December 2019. This year is the 11th edition of National Street Food Festival. Ever since its inception in 2009, this festival, has helped mainstream various street vending communities.

Vice President of India, Shri M Venkaiah Naidu conferred National Film Awards for the year 2018 in various categories at its 66th edition, held at New Delhi. Badhaai Ho bagged the award for Best Popular Film, Hindi movie Padman was awarded Best Film on Social Issues, Aditya Dhar won Best Director Award for Uri: The Surgical Strike, Ayushman Khurana and Vicky Kaushal won Best Actor Award for their performances in Andhadhun.

Minister of State (MoS) for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai, inaugurated a State-of-the-Art DNA Analysis Centre at Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL), Chandigarh. All States and Union Territories (UTs) will be utilizing this facility and will in future set up similar facilities in their respective States for quick disposal of forensic cases referred to them.

Markets regulator SEBI (Securities and Exchange Board of India) has signed a bilateral memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Kazakhstan-based Astana Financial Services Authority (AFSA) for mutual co-operation and technical assistance. The MoU was signed by SEBI Chairman Ajay Tyagi and the acting chief executive officer (CEO) of AFSA Mukhtar Bubeyev.

In a unique initiative to battle rising air pollution in cities, Indian Railways has opened an 'Oxygen Parlour' at Nashik railway station in Maharashtra. The initiative seeks to provide an experience of breathing clean air to the commuters.

India's shuttler Maisnam Meiraba Luwang has won the Men's single Bangladesh Junior International badminton Series 2019 in Dhaka. Meiraba hails from Manipur.

NITI Aayog will launch the second edition of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) India Index. The progress made by India's States and Union Territories towards implementing the 2030 SDG targets, on 30 December 2019 at NITI Aayog,