Current Affairs Daily Digest – December 23 2019
1. Monisha Ghosh named as first woman CTO at FCC in US
Indian-American Dr Monisha Ghosh appointed as the first woman Chief Technology Officer at the US government’s powerful Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Indian-American Chairman of the FCC Ajit Pai and the agency on technology and engineering issues, and work closely with the Office of Engineering and Technology. Dr Ghosh will take charge on January 13. She replaces Dr Eric Burger.
2. ADB 490 million dollars loan to upgrade Indian state roads
Asian Development Bank and the Government of India signed a 490 million dollar loan for public-private partnerships. Around thousand six hundred kilometers of state highways and major district roads from single-lane to two-lane widths in Madhya Pradesh.
The 286 million dollars investment mobilized through private sector participation under the PPP modality. The rural roads and national highways and up-gradation of these roads under the project will improve rural and peri-urban connectivity in the state and improve access to markets and better services.
3. India constructs Girls Hostel for Nepal Armed Police Force School at Kirtipur
Govt. of India constructed Girls Hostel for Nepal Armed Police Force School, Kirtipur. Deputy Chief of Mission, Embassy of India, Dr. Ajay Kumar inaugurated hostel building at Kirtipur in Kathmandu district. Mayor of Kirtipur Municipality, senior officers of Nepal Armed Police Force and political, community leaders also attended the inaugural ceremony.
4. India Celebrates National Farmers Day
India celebrates National Farmers Day on 23rd December to commemorate the birth anniversary of the 5th Prime Minister of India, Choudhary Charan Singh. He was a farmer’s leader and he had introduced many policies to improve the lives of the Indian farmers. The day is being observed since 2001.
5. Space Force: Trump officially launches new US military service
Describing space as the world’s newest war-fighting domain, US President Donald Trump officially launched US military ‘Space Force’ at an army base near Washington. Trump highlighted that the Space Force will help to deter aggression and control ultimate high ground.
6. India-EU Summit: EU President calls on PM Modi
On December 21, 2019, the EU President called on PM Modi to discuss regarding an early India-EU summit 2020. It is expected that the leaders will discuss on making progress on the issues related to Bilateral Trade and Investment Agreement (BTIA), Europol, counter-terrorism, Euroatom, climate change, etc. The summit is to be held in Brussels.
7. 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).
8. UAE and Oman sign MoU to enhance trade & economic cooperation
The UAE federal export credit company, Etihad Credit Insurance (ECI) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding ( MoU) with the Export Credit Guarantee Agency of Oman (Credit Oman) to enhance trade and economic cooperation between the two countries.
9. Andhra police launch ‘Abhay’ facility to drop stranded woman home late at night
The Andhra Pradesh police may soon start dropping stranded women home at odd hours in major cities of the state in order to safeguard them against crime. A pilot of the programme named ‘Abhay’ kicked off in the Prakasham district with eight four wheelers and 70 two-wheelers on standby to pick up women held up at night.
10. Liverpool win maiden FIFA Club World Cup
Liverpool beat Brazil’s Flamengo 1-0 to win the FIFA Club World Cup at Doha’s Khalifa International Stadium. It is the first time Liverpool have won the competition, which features each continent’s champions, and they became only the second English team to lift the trophy after Manchester United in 2008.
11. Maisnam Meiraba Luwang wins Bangladesh Junior International Badminton Series
India’s shuttler Maisnam Meiraba Luwang has won the Men’s singles Bangladesh Junior International Badminton Series 2019 in Dhaka. Top-seeded Meiraba, who hails from Manipur, beat Ken Yong Ong 21, 14, 21-18 in the final lasting 38 minutes. Meiraba had defeated another Malaysian, M Fazriq Mohamad Razif, in the semifinals.
12. Union Ministers, CMs to join over 100 CEOs at World Economic Forum’s 50th annual meeting in Davos
Union ministers Piyush Goyal and Mansukh Mandaviya as well as three chief ministers – Amarinder Singh, Kamal Nath and B S Yeddyurappa will join over 100 Indian CEOs in the Swiss ski resort town of Davos next month for the WEF’s 50th annual meeting, which will be attended by thousands of rich and powerful from across the globe.
13. Prez Kovind releases mobile app of Red Cross Society of India in Hyderabad
He inaugurated the mobile app formally at a dinner hosted by Telangana governor Tamilisai Sounderarajan at Rajbhavan in his honour. Developed by the Telangana Centre for Good Governance in less than three months, the mobile app is accessible in all languages.
So far, 13 lakh members including junior red cross members downloaded the app. The developers informed that the access to blood bank and Red Cross membership will become easy with the launching of the mobile app.
