Current Affairs - December 28, 2019 Current Affairs

India ranks 47th in the world in terms of appreciation in housing prices as rates grew by only 0.6 percent during the July-September quarter over the year-ago period on slow demand, global property consultant Knight Frank. India stood at 11th position in the April-June quarter of 2019, with a 7.7 percent year-on-year rise in home prices.

On December 27, 2019, RBI released Financial Stability Report. The report is biennial and reflects the collective assessment of the Sub-committee of Financial Stability and Development Council. The report said that the non-performing asset ratio of banks is increasing. It was 9.9% in September 2019 and may rise to 9.9% in September 2020.

Political Analyst S Gurumurthy released a book titled Politics of Opportunism at a function in New Delhi. The book written by R P N Singh throws light on the subject related to the rise of regional parties and Centre -States relation.

Union Territory of Ladakh is celebrating Losar Festival on 27 December 2019, to mark the Ladakhi or Tibetan New Year. Until 2018, Losar gathering use to have 'UT Status for Ladakh' as a resolution for New Year. This year, it will be joyous Losar festival celebrations in newly born Union Territory Ladakh. Losar festival, which has its origin in 15th century, is also observed in all Himalayan states of country but in different times.

On December 28, 2019, a trial run of the first freight train was conducted in the western dedicated freight corridor. The train was flagged off by Dedicated Freight Corporation India Limited (DFCIL). The train will be operated in the Rewari-Madar Section in Haryana and Rajasthan state.

Digit Insurance awarded the General Insurance Company of the Year 2019 in Singapore by Asia Insurance Review Award named the Fastest Growing General Insurance Company in the world with a 1% market share (Q2 FY2019-20) fortified their product portfolio with the launch of retail Health Insurance product Digit Health Care Plus.

Nepal banned vehicles with Indian number plates from running in the tourist hub of Pokhara ahead of the New Year. To attract two million tourists mostly Indians Pokhara Pokhara is one of the most visited tourist destinations in the country on Christmas and the New Year. They decided to ban Indian vehicles in consultation with the district administration of Kaski to ease traffic congestion during celebrations.

The United Nations on December 27, 2019, approved a new resolution in order to draft an international treaty to combat cyber crime. The Budapest Convention was the first ever treaty on cyber crime that addressed internet and computer crimes. It was drawn by Council of Europe.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman released a postage stamp on Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) DRI was formed on December 4, 1957 to function as an apex intelligence agency of the Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs to counter the menace of smuggling.

Louis Pasteur was born on December 27, 1822, in Dole, Jura, France, to a Catholic family of a poor tanner. In Pasteur's early work as a chemist, beginning at the Ecole Normale Superieure, and continuing at Strasbourg and Lille, he examined the chemical, optical and crystallographic properties of a group of compounds known as tartrates.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah laid the foundation stone for country's first transit-oriented development (TOD) project in New Delhi. Under the TOD project a state-of-the-art infrastructure zone, including national capital's tallest tower, will be built in east Delhi.

The MiG-27, which is known to NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) as the 'Flogger' and to Indian Air Force (IAF) as 'Bahadur', flew its last sortie in Jodhpur, Rajasthan. After this flight, IAF bid adieu to its squadron of seven aircraft as all were decommissioned. The last MiG-27 unit to operate the jet, Number 29 Squadron, bid farewell to jet in Jodhpur Air Base where the aircraft participated in a flypast.

Karnataka Bank digital initiative launched KBL Xpress SB Accounts a digitized version for opening Savings Bank account through TAB Banking on the spot. The TAB banking account opening process, the Bank can on-board the prospective customer and open the Savings Bank Account. The Bank official visit the customer's place and open the account using the TAB and issue the pre-activated Debit Card and Mobile and Internet Banking will be activated instantly.

Ashok Leyland has inked a pact with Yes Bank for vehicle finance for a period of 2 years. It will help the company design customized financial solution, and the pan-India reach will help chose the financial solution they desire.

Indian Government makes Aadhaar mandatory for subscribers of the Pradhan Mantri Vaya Vandana Yojana (PMVVY), a pension scheme for senior citizens. The scheme, which envisages an assured rate of return of 8% annually, is being implemented through LIC.

Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) commissioned the first lignite-based 500 MW thermal unit of the 2x500 MW Neyveli New Thermal Power Project in Tamil Nadu. The country's first lignite-fired 500 MW power plant, but also its highest-rated pulverized lignite-fired thermal unit commissioned. Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) The plant is based on the Once-Through and Tower Type Boiler design adopted for the first time in the country for a lignite-based thermal unit.

Japan executed its first foreigner in 10 years on a Chinese man convicted in the 2003 murder and robbery of a family of four. Wei Wei, 40 hanged in Fukuoka more than 16 years.

Ellyse Perry from Australia is the only female cricketer in the 'Wisden Cricketer of the Decade' list.

CSIR (Council of Scientific and Industrial Research) has developed a new low-cost technology to produce Geranium saplings. Geranium acts as an anti-inflammatory and anti-septic agent. It has several medicinal values. The development has been made under Aroma Mission. The plant is originally from South Africa and is predominantly used in manufacturing essential oils.

The Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) has set up the new state-of-the-art LPG Bottling Plant at Village Barkani in Bolangir district of Odisha.