Latest Current Affairs – December 12 2018
1. Manika Batra becomes first Indian to win ‘Breakthrough Table Tennis Star’ award
Indian table tennis player Manika Batra became the first Indian to win the ITTF’s ‘Breakthrough Table Tennis Star’ award. “I’m really honoured and happy to have received the award. I feel, 2018 has been the best year of my career so far,” said the 23-year-old, who had won four medals at the Commonwealth Games earlier this year.
2. TVS Motor chief appointed as Vice Chairman to 7 Tata trusts
TVS Motor Chairman Venu Srinivasan and former Defence Secretary Vijay Singh were appointed Vice Chairmen of seven Tata trusts. Ratan Tata is the chairman of all the Tata trusts while R Venkataramanan is the Managing Trustee. Srinivasan is also on the board of Tata Sons while Singh recently stepped down from the Tata Group holding company’s board.
3. MNF’s Zoramthanga to be sworn-in as Mizoram CM on December 15
Zoramthanga, who was unanimously appointed as the leader of MNF legislature party in Mizoram, will be sworn-in as the Chief Minister on December 15. MNF spokesperson Lena Jongte said the ceremony will take place at the Raj Bhavan in Aizawl. MNF won 26 seats in the 40-member assembly, bringing down Congress to five seats as compared to 34 in 2013.
4. Ayushmann starrer ‘AndhaDhun’ named top Indian movie by IMDb
Ayushmann Khurrana and Tabu starrer ‘AndhaDhun’ has been named the top Indian movie of 2018 by the global film and TV website IMDb. The website on Wednesday released the names of India’s top ten movies, based on IMDb customer ratings. Akshay Kumar’s ‘PadMan’ was sixth on the list, while Alia Bhatt starrer ‘Raazi’ landed in the ninth position.
5. K Chandrashekar Rao to be sworn-in as Telangana CM on December 13
TRS chief K Chandrashekar Rao will be sworn-in as the Chief Minister of Telangana on December 13 after he was unanimously elected as the leader of the state legislative party. The ceremony will take place at Raj Bhavan and is tentatively scheduled for 1:30 pm. Rao has never lost an election since 1985.
6. Japan picks ‘disaster’ as symbol for 2018
Japan has picked the kanji character for “disaster” as its “defining symbol” for the year 2018, following a series of natural disasters that struck the country this year. The symbol, which is chosen by popular vote, best embodies the events that take place in a particular year. The second most popular kanji character was “peace”.
7. Shaktikanta Das takes charge as 25th RBI Governor
Shaktikanta Das has assumed charge as the 25th Governor of the RBI, effective December 12, 2018. “Assumed charge as Governor, Reserve Bank of India. Thank you…for your good wishes,” he tweeted. Das, who served as the Economic Affairs Secretary when demonetisation was announced, will be succeeding Dr Urjit R Patel who resigned on Monday citing personal reasons.
8. Slain Journalist Khashoggi Named Time Magazines Person of the Year
Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who was murdered in October 2018 at his country’s Istanbul consulate, has been named Time magazine’s “Person of the Year” alongside several other journalists.
The magazine also honored Philippine journalist Maria Ressa, Reuters reporters Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo — currently imprisoned in Myanmar and the staff of the Capital Gazette in Annapolis, Maryland, including five members killed in a June shooting.
9. International Mountain Day observed on December 11
The Theme for the 2018 edition of the International Mountain Day is: “#MountainsMatter”.
It is celebrated by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) to spread awareness about the contribution of mountains in the biodiversity as it consists of approximately a quarter of the terrestrial biological diversity.
To commemorate the day, there will be an IMD side event on “Mountain adaptation: Vulnerable peaks and people” at UNFCCC COP24 in Katowice, Poland.
10. Jana Small Finance Bank Launches Jana Bankable Debit Card
Jana Small Finance Bank in association with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) launched Jana Bankable Debit Card.
This card is designed for cricket fans who like deals and offers on online shopping, gym membership, health & wellness products, food delivery, music and travel on top brands like Snap Fitness, Snapdeal, Gaana.com, IXIGO, Myntra, Crocs, Puma and GrowFit.
The card comes with images of the top Indian cricketers – Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni, Shikhar Dhawan, and Hardik Pandya.
The Jana Small Finance Bank is the official sponsor of BCCI for all the cricket matches that are played in India.
11. India and ADB sign $31 million loan agreement for Tamil Nadu
The Government of India and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) signed in New Delhi a Loan Agreement for $31 million to build-up the State Tourism Industry and boost visitor arrivals in Tamil Nadu.
The signatories to the tranche 4 loan for Infrastructure Development Investment Program for Tourism (IDIPT) were Mr. Sameer Kumar Khare, Additional Secretary (Fund Bank and ADB), Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, who signed for the Government of India, and Mr. Kenichi Yokoyama, Country Director for ADB in India, who signed for ADB.
