Current Affairs Daily Digest – December 04 2019
1. New Zealand win 2019 Christopher Martin-Jenkins Spirit of Cricket award
The national cricket team of New Zealand was awarded the Christopher Martin-Jenkins Spirit of Cricket award for the year 2019. England team captain Kane Williamson was presented with the award during the drawn second Test between his team and England.
2. Organ Donation Awards given by NOTTO
The autonomous organisation National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation (NOTTO) of Union Health & Family Welfare Ministry (MoHFW) conferred, Organ Donation Awards on the occasion of 10th National Organ Donation Day in a programme held at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi.
During the programme, the organs donor families were honoured and Best SOTTO (State Organ Tissue Transplant Organisation), Best Hospital and Best Transplant Co-ordinator awards were presented for outstanding activities in field of organ donation at national and state level.
3. Mumbai Central railway station certified as country’s first ‘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).
4. Ministry of Tourism sanctions 18 North East Development Project
The Ministry of Tourism on December 3, 2019 sanctioned 18 projects under the schemes PRASHAD and Swadesh Darshan. The Ministry has also allocated Rs 1456 crores for the projects.
In order to develop the North Eastern region as a tourist destination several projects are being initiated. The Ministry has released television campaigns on private channels in the country and on Doordarshan.
5. India, Sweden join hands to set up Healthcare Innovation Centre in India
India and Sweden has joined hands to set up a healthcare innovation centre to promote research, broadly in non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and help scale-up Indian start-ups in the sector.
Later, AIIMS, Delhi; AIIMS, Jodhpur, and Swedish Trade Commissioner’s Office in New Delhi signed a Memorandum of Intent (MoI) to cement cooperation, to set up a healthcare innovation centre. The signing of MoI marks 10 years of India-Sweden health cooperation.
6. CSIR Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Test gets US FDA certification
The CSIR-IICT, Hyderabad on December 3, 2019, announced that the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) cleared the Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) Test facility at the centre. The inspection was conducted between August 21, 2019 and August 22, 2019 with regard to Current Good Manufacturing Practices and was certified “No Action Initiated”.
7. Delhi enters list of top 10 most popular destinations in the world
The National Capital has been witnessing soaring popularity and wellness tourism across the world. According to Euro Monitor International, Delhi currently ranks 11th in the list of world’s tops 100 destinations and is to gain 8th rank in 2019. The ranking was released by the organization on December 3, 2019 under the title “Top 100 city destination ranking”
8. Bharatiya Poshan Anthem launched by Vice President M Venkaiah
Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu launched the ‘Bharatiya Poshan Anthem’ in New Delhi, which aims towrads taking message of making India malnutrition free to all corners of country. While launching, Vice president hoped that the ‘poshan anthem’ will lead to a nutrition revolution to transform India into a malnutrition-free country by 2022.
The anthem was conceptualised by Union Ministry of Women and Child Development (MoWCD) and has been penned by noted lyricist Prasoon Joshi and sung by Shankar Mahadevan.
9. India plans to boost clean energy sector
The Government of India is planning to integrate largest lenders to the power sector in order to help clean energy firms clear their dues. It includes Rural Electrification Corporation (REC), Power Finance Corporation (PFC) and Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA). The integration will help resolve growing crisis in the clean energy sector and also aid India achieve its ambitious targets in renewable energy.
10. India conducts successful trial of indigenously made Prithvi-2 missile
India has successfully conducted another night trial of its indigenously developed nuclear capable Prithvi-2 missile from a mobile launcher of the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur in Odisha coast.
The successful test fires were part of a routine user trial for armed forces and met all parameters. Earlier, the flight test of surface-to-surface missile was carried out barely a 15 days after two back-to-back trials of Prithvi-2 were conducted successfully at night from same base on 20 November.
11. Navy Day in India is celebrated on 4 December
Navy Day in India is celebrated on 4 December every year to recognize the achievements and role of the Indian Navy to the country. 4 December was chosen as on that day in 1971, during Operation Trident, the Indian Navy sank four Pakistani vessels including PNS Khaibar, killing hundreds of Pakistani Navy personnel
Theme of 2019 is “Indian Navy – Silent, Strong and Swift”.
12. PM Modi and President of Maldives jointly inaugurate development projects in Maldives via video conference
The Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President of Maldives Ibrahim Mohamed Solih jointly inaugurated several key development projects in Maldives via video conference.
These included gifting of Made in India Coast Guard Ship Kaamiyaab to Maldives, launch of RuPay card, lighting up of Male using LED lights, High Impact Community Development Projects, launch of fish processing plants.
13. India to launch 1st debt exchange-traded fund ‘Bharat Bond ETF’
The Union Cabinet approved the launch of India’s first debt exchange-traded fund, called the Bharat Bond ETF, comprising bonds of state-run companies and other government entities. The ETF will have a fixed maturity of three and 10 years and will trade on NSE. Retail investors will be able to invest in the bonds with as little as ₹1,000.
14. PETA’s 2019 Person of the Year is Joaquin Phoenix
Joaquin Phoenix, the star of the Warner Bros. breakout hit Joker, now has the title of PETA’s 2019 “Person of the Year.”
Phoenix’s dedication to animal rights is just one of the many reasons the actor won the prestigious honor, along with his veganism at the age of 3 after seeing a fish caught and killed. Past winners of PETA’s “Person of the Year” include Pope Francis, Oprah Winfrey and Anjelica Huston.
15. UDAN 4.0: Government launches 4th round of air connectivity scheme
The Union Government has launched the fourth round of the regional connectivity scheme, UDAN to boost connectivity to more remote and regional areas of the country.
UDAN, which stands for ‘Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik’, aims to make air travel affordable and widespread. The UDAN 4.0 will focus on the priority regions including the northeast, hilly states, Jammu and Kashmir UT, Ladakh and islands.
16. Google founders Larry Page, Sergey Brin resign, Sundar Pichai is now CEO at Alphabet: Story in 10 points
Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin are taking a step back, resigning from their posts of CEO and president at Alphabet. Google CEO Sundar Pichai will also be the CEO at Alphabet. Alphabet is the parent company of Google and it was created in 2015 as a part of corporate restructuring.
17. Jagan launches post-operative sustenance allowance scheme
Chief Minister Y.S Jagan Mohan Reddy launched the YSR Aasaraa scheme under which postoperative sustenance allowance of Rs. 225 each per day will be paid for the period of treatment to those covered by Aarogyasri.
18. Siddharth Mittal takes over as Biocon CEO, joint MD
Pharmaceutical firm Biocon Ltd said Siddharth Mittal has taken over as the company’s chief executive officer (CEO) and joint managing director (MD) starting 1 December. Mittal has been elevated from his position as chief financial officer (CFO) and president – finance, in the company.
19. IRDAI Approves True North’s Stake Purchase In Max Bupa Health Insurance
The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) has approved Max India’s divestment of 51 per cent stake in Max Bupa Health Insurance Company to private equity firm True North.
The all-cash transaction announced in February valued Max Bupa at an enterprise value of Rs 1,001 crore. Bupa, the existing joint venture partner in Max Bupa, remains committed to the joint venture and will continue to play an active role as before through its board positions and knowledge exchange initiatives, according to an official statement.
Also read out: Current Affairs Daily Digest – December 03 2019
