GK & CA
Collection of weekly GK & CA since year 2016.
December, 2019
4589
Scientists find World’s oldest Fossil forest
World’s oldest fossil forest- an extensive network of trees around 386 million years old in a sandstone quarry in United States. According to the researchers from Binghamton University, and New York State Museum in U.S., the fossil forest in Cairo would have spread from New York all the way into Pennsylvania and beyond.
Fri, 27 Dec, 20194588
Pat Cummins becomes most expensive overseas IPL player
The Australian pacer Pat Cummins, with a base price of Rs.2 crore, became the most expensive overseas player in Indian Premier League (IPL) as he was sold to Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) for a whopping Rs.15.50 crore($2.2 million).
Fri, 27 Dec, 20194587
Manuel Marrero Cruz Cuba’s 1st PM in more than 40 years
Marrero Cruz who was named prime minister for a five-year term, has served as Cuban tourism minister for 16 years. He is an architect by trade and has helped boost Cuba’s economy by making tourism one of the engines of growth.
Fri, 27 Dec, 20194586
First Tripartite Agreement on Fisheries and Aquaculture
NABARD and Tamil Nadu Government signed an agreement to implement Fisheries and Aquaculture Development Fund (FIDF). The tripartite agreement set a total of Rs 7522 crores to address the infrastructure requirement of fisheries sector.
Fri, 27 Dec, 20194585
1st time: National Green Corps Ecoclub programme meets
Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) organized an annual meeting of state nodal agencies implementing the Ecoclub programme for the first time. The event was organized in collaboration with GEER foundation, Gujarat.
Fri, 27 Dec, 20194584
Important days Oct 22 to Oct 28
24 December: National Consumer Day
22 December: National Mathematics Day
23 December: National Farmers Day
4583
India to get its First Chief of Defence Staff
The Cabinet Committee On Security (CCS) chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved the creation of a Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) post post that will function as a single point of contact for different branches of armed forces.
Fri, 27 Dec, 20194582
120th birth anniversary of Shaheed Udham Singh
Centre government is planning to revamp ‘All India Radio’ officially known as Nation is paying homage to great revolutionary, Shaheed Udham Singh, a well-known freedom fighter from Punjab on his 120th birth anniversary being celebrated on 26 December 2019. He was born on this day in 1899 in Sangrur district of Punjab.
Fri, 27 Dec, 20194581
India’s first Transgender University to come up in UP
India’s first university for transgender community will be opened in Fazilnagar block of Kushinagar district in Uttar Pradesh. It is the first of its kind University in country, where transgender community members will be able to get education.
Fri, 27 Dec, 20194580
South India’s earliest Sanskrit Inscription found in A.P.
The Epigraphy Branch of Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has discovered the earliest Sanskrit inscription to have been discovered in South India as on date. This significant finding is also the earliest epigraphic evidence for ‘Saptamatrika’ cult so far. The discovery was made in Chebrolu village in Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh.
Fri, 27 Dec, 20194579
Massive Locust Invasion in Gujarat
The farmlands in Gujarat border are in great threat from locust invasion. The insects were flying from Pakistan Sindh province and spread in the villages of Gujarat and Rajasthan. The locusts emerged from Sudan and Eritrea in the coast of Red Sea.
Fri, 27 Dec, 20194578
India’s first Transit-Oriented Development Project
Under the TOD project a state-of-the-art infrastructure zone, including national capital’s tallest tower, will be built in east Delhi. The project- ‘East Delhi Hub’ at Karkardooma (in New Delhi), spreading over 30 ha, will come up in next 3.5 years.
Fri, 27 Dec, 20194577
Bhibha and its planet as Santamasa
On December 17, 2019, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) named a white yellow star in Sextans Constellation as “Bhibha” and its planet as “Santamasa”. The star has been named Bhibha honoring Indian Woman Scientist Bhibha Choudhury who discovered subatomic particle pi-meson.
Sat, 21 Dec, 20194576
WHO launches 1st 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.
Sat, 21 Dec, 20194575
Important days (Dec 15 to Dec 21)
December 18: Minorities Right Day celebrated in India
December 18: International Migrants Day
4574
India:world’s 3ird largest producer of scientific articles
According to a latest report by US National Science Foundation (NSF), India has emerged as the world’s third largest publisher of science and engineering articles. As per the statistics compiled in report, China has topped the list followed by US.
Sat, 21 Dec, 20194573
Apharan: Indian Navy’s largest anti-hijacking exercise
The exercise acted as a platform for the stakeholders to identify gaps and self-assess the preparedness of their respective organizations. It also helped to formulate an integrate crisis management for the port of Kochi or Cochin.
Sat, 21 Dec, 20194572
Portugal sets up Gandhi Citizenship Education Prize
Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa announced the setting up of a Gandhi Citizenship Education Prize in order to help promote Mahatma Gandhi’s ideals. The announcement was made while he was addressing the second meeting of National Committee for Commemoration Mahatma Gandhi’s 150th Birth Anniversary.
Sat, 21 Dec, 20194571
India’s 1st ever fresh vegetable export to Dubai
On December 20, 2019, the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) sent its first trial shipment of fresh vegetables from Varanasi to Dubai by sea route. APEDA is the organization under Ministry of Commerce and Industry that promotes export of agricultural and processed food products from India.
Sat, 21 Dec, 20194570
HDFC:3rd Indian company to cross $100 bn M-cap
HDFC Bank Ltd has crossed the $100 billion market capitalization (M-Cap) in intraday trading, thus becoming only the third company in India to achieve this milestone. However, it closed below $100 billion mark at $99.5 billion. HDFC is one of India’s largest private-sector lenders.
Sat, 21 Dec, 20194569
Pinaka missiles
Pinaka is a multi-barrel Rocket launcher (MBRL) system. It is capable of deploying 72 rockets in 44 seconds. Also, the rockets can be fired in different directions as well.
Salvo mode is simultaneous discharge of firearms. This is a tactic used to cripple an enemy and prevent them from fighting back.
4568
Afghanistan 1st country to recognize Indian Pharmacopoeia
The Islamic Republic of Afghanistan has become the first country to recognize Indian Pharmacopoeia (IP) pursuant to the efforts of Department of Commerce and Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. The formal recognistion came from Afghanistan’s National Department of Regulation of Medicines and Health Products of Ministry of Public Health.
Sat, 21 Dec, 20194567
ITBP 1st among CAPF launch a matrimonial site for its staff
This is the first -ever dedicated and well-managed matrimony portal among Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF). A link for the unique portal was launched on 9 December on the official website of ITBP. The website will be managed by ITBP and only the staff will be able to access it.
Tue, 17 Dec, 20194566
India's most powerful women
Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Biocon’s billionaire founder Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw and HCL Corp chief Roshni Nadar feature in a Forbes list of the world’s 100 most powerful women. Sitharaman – who makes her maiden appearance on the list at the 34th position – is India's first female finance minister and has also served as the defence minister.
Tue, 17 Dec, 20194563
Maharashtra with highest employable talent
4562
Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019
The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019 was introduced in the Lok Sabha by the Union Home Minister Amit Shah on December 9, 2019. It was passed on the same day in Lok Sabha.
Sat, 14 Dec, 20194561
ASI identified 138 monuments as Must See Monuments: Govt
4560
World’s First Electronic Flight takes off from Canada
4559
Abu Dhabi: World’s leading Sports Tourism Destination
Abu Dhabi has been selected as the World’s leading Sports Tourism Destination for seventh time in a row. This time the coveted award was conferred at 26th edition of World Travel Awards (WTA), being held in Muscat, Oman.
Sat, 14 Dec, 20194558
Parliament passes The Arms (Amendment) Bill, 2019
Parliament has passed the Arms (Amendment) Bill, 2019, which seeks to amend the Arms Act, 1959. Apart from introducing new categories of offences, the Bill also seeks to decrease number of licensed firearms allowed per person and increase penalties for certain offences under the Act.
Sat, 14 Dec, 20194557
World’s New Nation
4556
Indian teachers in AI-powered Digital Technology
UNESCO and Dell Technologies will launch a new education programme where they will train 4,000 Indian teachers in Artificial Technology. The programme will aid in GoI step of introducing Artificial Intelligence as a subject in school.
Sat, 14 Dec, 20194555
Important days (8 Dec to 14 Dec)
10 December: International Human Rights Day
11 December: International Mountain Day
12 December: International Universal Health Coverage Day
4554
Lok Sabha passes Central Sanskrit Universities Bill, 2019
Lok Sabha passed the Central Sanskrit University Bill 2019, which seeks to convert three deemed Sanskrit universities, presently functioning in the country, into central universities. The bill was piloted by Union Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’.
Sat, 14 Dec, 20194553
Greta Thunberg named TIME’s 2019 Person of the Year
The Swedish teenager Greta Thunberg, who became voice of a generation facing climate change emergency was named as Time magazine’s 2019 Person of the Year. The magazine announced 16-year old Thunberg as its choice among other 2019 finalists.
Sat, 14 Dec, 20194552
GoI invokes DPCO, 2013 for the first time
4551
Trakea: A Unique bar-coding software used by Haryana Police
The software is used to ensure that 1000s of digital forensic reports are stored safe and secure. It offers a foolproof security to the samples collected from the crime scene. The samples and reports are sent through biometrically authorized chain.
Sat, 14 Dec, 20194550
7th Economic Census: 1st time digital;
4549
India 5th worst country:invasive use biometric data
According to a new report from Comparitech, a Britain-based tech research firm, India is fifth worst country after China, Malaysia, Pakistan and United States in terms of extensive and invasive use of biometric data.
Fri, 06 Dec, 20194548
Important days of week (Nov 30 - Dec 07)
5Dec: World Soil Day
3Dec: International Day of Persons with Disabilities
2Dec: National Pollution Control Day
2Dec: International Day for Abolition of Slavery
1Dec: World AIDS Day
30Nov: 10th Indian Organ Donation Day celebrated
Labour Ministry is celebrating Pension Week (Nov 30 to Dec 6)
4547
Mumbai Central railway station: country’s 1st Eat Right
The Mumbai Central Terminus of Western Railway has been certified as India’s first ‘Eat Right Station’ with a 4-Star rating awarded by Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), as a part of ‘Eat Right India’ movement launched in 2018. FSSAI is an autonomous body under Union Ministry of Health & Family Welfare (MoHFW).
Wed, 04 Dec, 20194546
Delhi :top 10 most popular destinations in the world
4545
Ekalavya model residential schools modernised
On December 2, 2019, the Ministry of Tribal Affairs provided financial assistance for the upgradation and modernization of the Ekalavya Model Residential Schools (EMRS). Each school is to be provided with a net amount of Rs 5 crores.
Wed, 04 Dec, 20194544
Shakti Bhatt First Book Prize 2019
4543
Sub-lieutenant Shivangi: India Navy’s First Woman Pilot
The Indian Navy got its first woman pilot (a front-line combat role) as ‘Sub-Lieutenant Shivangi’ completed her operational training in Kochi, Kerala. She received her ‘golden wings’ from Vice Admiral AK Chawla, and will fly the Naval Dornier surveillance aircraft.
Wed, 04 Dec, 20194542
India’s first Maritime Museum in Gujarat
4541
Awards for first ever CMS Vatavaran-2019 presented
The Awards for first-ever MoEF&CC and CMS VATAVARAN-2019 Short Film Competition and Festival on Environment was presented in New Delhi. The awards were presented by Ravi Agrawal, Additional Secretary, Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) at culmination of four-day festival where all shortlisted films were showcased.
Wed, 04 Dec, 20194540
1st India-Japan 2+2 Foreign & Defence Ministerial Meeting
Foreign and Defence Ministerial Dialogue (2+2) in New Delhi. During the meet the two sides discussed about boosting defence and security ties besides other issues of mutual interest. This India-Japan ministerial meeting comes ahead of annual summit of two prime ministers scheduled to be held in Guwahati, Assam in December 2019.
Wed, 04 Dec, 2019