Dear Friends,
Welcome to the Quick Gyan (QG) Section of D2G. QG is just a glimpse of what happened today all over the world.
Only For Serious Candidates : We strongly recommend you to read the Current Affairs in detail. For your convenience, we have provided quick links under the updates. Make use of it.
Always Keep Yourself Updated!!!
1. December 14 – National Energy Conservation Day
National Energy Conservation Day is celebrated every year in India on 14th December. The main aim of National Energy Conservation Day is to create awareness among the people about the significance of our energy resources and also to minimize the energy consumption. The Energy Conservation Act (EC Act) was enacted in 2001 with the goal of reducing energy intensity of Indian economy. Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) was set up as the statutory body on 1st March 2002 at the central level to facilitate the implementation of the EC Act.
Quick Link – National Energy Conservation Day
2. Countdown begins for ISRO’s launch of six Singapore satellites
The 59-hour countdown for the launch of six Singapore satellites by Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on board its Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle has began in from Sriharikota. The launch is scheduled at 6:00 pm on December 16, at Satish Dhawan Space Centre in the spaceport of Sriharikota. The Mission Readiness Review committee and Launch Authorisation Board have cleared the countdown.
ISRO’s trusted workhorse Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle on its 32nd flight would launch the six satellites into a 550-km circular orbit inclined at 15 degrees to the equator. Of the six satellites, TeLEOS-1 is the primary satellite weighing 400kg whereas the other five satellites include two micro-satellites and three nano-satellites. TeLEOS-1 is the first Singapore commercial earth observation satellite and would be launched into a low Earth orbit for “remote sensing” applications.
Quick Link – Singapore Satellites
3. Losar festival beings in Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir
The ten-day long festival of Losar festival has begun in Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir with illumination of religious and residential places on the eve of the festival. This festival marks the beginning of New Year in Ladakh and it is an important social and religious celebration in Ladakh. Losar is Tibetan word for ‘new year’. Following the old tradition, people from Ladakh visit graveyards of ancestor family members and pray for peace for the departed soul. On third day of the festival is people wait for the night to see the first moon of the New Year.
Quick Link – Losar Festival
4. Ahmad Javed appointed as Ambassador to Saudi Arabia
Mumbai Police Commissioner Ahmad Javed has been appointed as the Ambassador to Saudia Arabia. A 1980-batch IPS officer, Javed is scheduled to retire on January 31, 2016. According to official sources, the officer will serve his term before embarking on his new assignment. He will be the fourth IPS officer to be appointed as India’s envoy to Saudi Arabia in an assignment which is traditionally a domain of the Indian Foreign Service. Another former Mumbai Police Commissioner, Julio Ribeiro, had earlier served as India’s Ambassador to Romania.
Quick Link – Ahmad Javed
5. Infosys invests USD 3 mn in sports startup WHOOP
IT major Infosys has invested USD 3 million in US based wearable device startup firm WHOOP to pick up a minority shareholding in the company. Infosys said with through this transaction it will acquire “minority shareholding, not exceeding 20 per cent of the outstanding shareholding of the company.” Infosys said WHOOP’s system includes a device worn by athletes on their wrist that continuously measures key strain and recovery variables and actionable analytics powered by proprietary algorithms that generate intensity and recovery scores.
Quick Link – Infosys and WHOOP
6. Vijay Kumar won gold in the 59th National shooting championship
Olympic medallist Vijay Kumar shot his way to the men’s 25-metre centre fire pistol gold medal on day 12 of the 59th National Shooting Championship, held in New Delhi. Vijay, who has not yet secured a quota for the upcoming Rio Olympics, is trying to get back to his best after being laid low by injury over the past couple of years. The win at the Dr. Karni Singh Shooting Range will give him a lot of confidence before the final Rio Olympic qualifying event begins at the same venue in January 2016. Gurpreet Singh of the Army won the silver while national rapid fire pistol champion Pemba Tamang bagged the bronze to make it a clean sweep for the Army team.
Quick Link – National Shooting Championship
7. Japan’s Nozomi Okuhara, Kento Momota won singles titles at World Dubai Superseries Finals
Japanese shuttlers Kento Momota and Nozomi Okuhara emerged champions in the men’s and women’s singles categories, respectively, in the BWF Superseries Finals, held in Dubai. While world No. 5 Momota beat Denmark’s Viktor Axelsen 21-15, 21-12 in 36 minutes, world No. 4 Okuhara overcame world No. 3 Yihan Wang from China 22-20, 21-18 in an hour and three minutes. The two right-handed players Okuhara and Yihan took home $42,000 and $20,000 prize money, respectively.
In the mixed double final, Adcock couple, Chris and Gabriele defeated South Korean pair of Ko Sung Hyun and Kim Ha Na 21-14, 21-17 in 37 minutes.
Indonesian men’s doubles pair of Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan beat China’s Chai Biao and Hong Wei 13-21, 21-14, 21-14 in 53 to bag the championship.
8. Philippines evacuates 700,000 ahead of powerful typhoon
More than 700,000 people fled the central Philippines amid threats of giant waves, floods and landslides as powerful Typhoon Melor approached the archipelago nation. Melor brushed the northern tip of Samar, a farming island of 1.5 million people, with winds gusting at 185 kilometres per hour. Samar was among areas devastated in 2013 by Typhoon Haiyan, when giant waves wiped out entire communities, leaving 7,350 people dead or missing.
Authorities warned that Melor’s powerful winds had the potential to whip up four-metre (13-feet) high waves, blow off tin roofs and uproot trees while heavy rains within its 300-kilometre diameter could trigger floods and landslides. In Albay province alone, almost 600,000 people were evacuated due to fears that heavy rains could cause mudslides on the slopes of nearby Mayon Volcano.
Quick Link – Typhoon hits Philippines
9. Coast Guard DIG Loshali sacked
Coast Guard DIG B.K. Loshali, who was facing an inquiry for publicly contradicting the government over the sinking of a Pakistani ship off Gujarat coast on New Year’s Eve, has been dismissed from service. Loshali kicked up a controversy after a recording of his speech at a gathering emerged in public, showing him contradicting the Centre’s official line on the sinking of the so-called terror boat off Gujarat coast on the intervening night of December 31 and January 1.
Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar had said the “circumstantial evidence” indicated that the Pakistani boat had suspected terror links.
Quick Link – DIG Loshali
10. OP Longia new national president of IIMM
The Indian Institute of Materials Management (IIMM) has elected senior supply chain professional OP Longia as its new National President. Longia, formerly with the erstwhile Ranbaxy, was elected unopposed as the national president of IIMM for 2015-17 at its national convention held in Vadodara. IIMM is engaged in modernising the supply chain knowledge pool in the country as per global norms through its academic and research programmes.
Quick Link – OP Longia
11. Sebi links commodity trade data with its surveillance systems
For better surveillance of commodities derivatives market, regulator SEBI has integrated trading data flow from various commodity exchanges to its own integrated surveillance and intelligence systems. Following merger of the erstwhile commodity market regulator FMC with it earlier this year, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has become the unified regulator for the entire securities market.
Suspicion of relatively larger-scale manipulations in commodity markets was one of the key issues that eventually triggered the merger. In order to beef up its regulatory framework for the commodities markets and for more effective checks on any possible manipulations, Sebi has also formed two divisions in its Integrated Surveillance Department (ISD), which have been adequately manned for effective surveillance and monitoring of the commodity derivatives market.
Quick Link – SEBI
12. Natco Pharma gets DCGI nod to sell hepatitis C treatment drug
Drug major Natco Pharma has got approval from the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) to sell generic version of Daclatasvir, which is used for treatment of chronic hepatitis C. Daclatasvir is the first-in-class NS5A inhibitor used in combination with Sofosbuvir for the treatment of patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype 3 infection. Natco Pharma becomes the first in India to get approval for generic Daclatasvir Dihydrochloride (Daclatasvir) tablets, 30 mg & 60 mg, from the Drugs Controller General (India).
Quick Link – Natco Pharma
13. Indian-origin politician becomes S Africa’s Finance Minister
Pravin Gordhan, a widely respected Indian-origin politician, has been appointed as South Africa’s new Finance Minister by President Jacob Zuma, becoming the third finance chief of the country in a week amid a raging economic turmoil. Zuma sacked Nhlanhla Nene from the ministry and replaced him with the relatively unknown lawmaker David Rooyen. Credit agency Fitch downgraded South Africa on December 4, leaving the continent’s most sophisticated economy just one notch above junk status.
Quick Link – South Africa’s Finance Minister
Thank You 🙂 🙂 🙂
(Also Read the Current Affairs for December 13/2015)
