Current Affairs Daily Digest – December 24 2019
1. Manu Bhaker wins gold medals in senior, junior 10m air pistol events of Nationals Shooting C’ship
Manu Bhaker fired her way to twin gold medals in the women’s 10 meter air pistol senior and junior events of the National Shooting Championship in Bhopal. The 17-year-old Bhaker shot 241 in the final of the senior event to claim the gold medal. Bhaker, who is the Youth Olympics gold medallist, also shot 243 in the junior category to finish on top of the podium.
2 Senior diplomat Harsh Vardhan Shringla appointed foreign secretary
The Narendra Modi government on Monday approved the appointment of Indian ambassador to the United States Harsh Vardhan Shringla as the next foreign secretary. He has replaced Vijay Gokhale. The Appointments Committee of the cabinet officially announced Shringla’s appointment, making him the 33rd foreign secretary of the country.
3. Niranjan Hiranandani takes over as Assocham president
Hiranandani Group Managing Director Niranjan Hiranandani has taken over as the new president of industry body Assocham. Hiranandani succeeds Welspun Group Chairman Balkrishan Goenka.
“New India is a centre of the vortex to achieve an ambitious mission of $5 trillion economy. We are fully aligned with the goal set to achieve in tandem with double digit GDP growth rate inclusive of employment generation,” Hiranandani said.
4. Wipro partners with Nasscom to skill students
Wipro has partnered with industry body Nasscom to start a training platform on emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, data science, internet of things, cybersecurity.
Through this platform, Wipro will train 10,000 students from more than 20 engineering colleges in India.
5. Coal India inks pact with OCPL
Coal India Ltd (CIL) has joined hands with Odisha Coal and Power Ltd (OCPL) for buying 6,000 tonnes per day from the Manoharpur captive mine of OCPL, owned by the Odisha government.
Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd (MCL), the Odisha-based subsidiary of CIL, and OCPL have entered into an MoU for provisioning of excess coal from Manoharpur coal block to the miner, said a press statement issued by CIL.
6. First tripartite Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) signed under Fisheries and Aquaculture Development Fund (FIDF)
The first tripartite Memorandum of Agreement was signed between the department of Fisheries Government of India, NARBARD and the Government of Tamil Nadu for the implementation of Fisheries and Aquaculture Development Fund (FIDF).
Speaking on the occasion Shri Giriraj Singh, Union Minister for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying said that a dedicated fund has been created namely the Fisheries and Aquaculture Infrastructure Development Fund with a total of Rs. 7522.48 crore to address the infrastructure requirement for fisheries sector.
7. MakeMyTrip to offer e-tickets for Hyderabad metro rail
MakeMyTrip, along with Larsen & Toubro Metro Rail (Hyderabad) Limited, on December 23 introduced QR code-based e-tickets for the metro rail that would provide cashless and connected experience to riders.
The tech-powered ticket-booking feature would help commuters beat the queues at the metro stations and experience seamless connectivity, a press release from MakeMy Trip, an online travel company said here.
8. First Annual Meet of State Nodal Agencies for Ecoclub programme conducted
In a first, Annual Meet of the State Nodal Agencies implementing the National Green Corps ‘Ecoclub’ programme of the Ministry of the Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC), organized by the Ministry’s Environment Education Division, in collaboration with the GEER Foundation, Gujarat was held from 20th to 21st December 2019 in Kevadia, Gujarat.
9. Cabinet approves Atal Bhujal Yojana
The Union Cabinet on December 24 approved the Atal Bhujal Yojana, a Rs 6,000 crore scheme for sustainable management of ground water resources, Union Minister Prakash Javadekar said.
The scheme will cover 8,350 villages of Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, he said.
10.Major Anoop Mishra awarded Army Design Bureau Excellence Award
Indian Army Chief Gen. Bipin Rawat felicitated Major Anoop Mishra with prestigious Army Design Bureau (ADB) Excellence Award for indigenously developing ‘Sarvatra Kavach’, a bulletproof jacket that can provide protection against various ammunition including that from sniper steel bullets.
Maj. Anoop is presently posted as Instructor at College of Military Engineering, Pune and was among the four awardees felicitated by Gen. Rawat.
