December – Weekly Current Affairs (1-7)

Thailand has been elected as a member of the World Heritage Committee. It was selected during the 22nd session of the General Assembly of States Parties to the World Heritage Convention in Paris.

Reliance Industries (RIL) chief Mukesh Ambani ranked as the 9th richest person globally in the Real-Time Billionaires List of Forbes. His net worth was $60 billion. Ambani made it to the daily list of the top 10 richest people in the world because of the increase in the share price of his flagship firm Reliance Industries.

Usha Jadhav won the Best Actor-Female Award at the 50th International Film Festival of India (IFFI).

Seu Jorge won the Best Actor-Male Award at the 50th International Film Festival of India (IFFI).

The Real-Time Billionaires List of Forbes list was topped by Amazon Founder and CEO Jeff Bezos with a net worth of $113 billion.

Indian Navy successfully test-fired the 290 km strike range Brahmos supersonic cruise missile. The supersonic cruise missile was test-fired in the Arabian Sea.

Maharashtra’s Savitribai Phule Pune Universit (STPU) and Qatar’s Milestone International Education signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to enable the University to set up its campus in Doha.

World AIDS Day was first observed on 1st December 1988. The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS (UNAIDS ) took the lead on campaigning for World AIDS Day from 1994-2004.

The 2nd Annual India-Bhutan Development Cooperation Talks have held New Delhi. The talks aimed at renewing India’s commitment to supporting projects under Bhutan’s ongoing twelfth five-year plan, that is from 2018-23.

The 50th International Film Festival of India (IFFI) has been scheduled was held from 20th November to -28 November 2019 in Goa.

Thailand has been elected as a member of the World Heritage Committee. It was selected during the 22nd session of the General Assembly of States Parties to the World Heritage Convention in Paris.

The 2nd Annual India-Bhutan Development Cooperation Talks have held New Delhi. The talks aimed at renewing India’s commitment to supporting projects under Bhutan’s ongoing twelfth five-year plan, that is from 2018-23.

The theme of the 2019 World AIDS Day is Communities Make The difference. The theme provides an opportunity to recognize the essential role that communities have played and continue to play in the AIDS response at the local, national and international levels.

Reliance Industries (RIL) chief Mukesh Ambani ranked as the 9th richest person globally in the Real-Time Billionaires List of Forbes. His net worth was $60 billion. Ambani made it to the daily list of the top 10 richest people in the world because of the increase in the share price of his flagship firm Reliance Industries.

World AIDS Day is observed on 1 December every year. The day aims to raise public awareness about AIDS. The day aims to motivate the people who are infected by the fatal disease.

The French-Swiss co-produced drama film Particles directed by Blaise Harrison and produced by Estelle Fialon won the Golden Peacock Award at the 50th International Film Festival of India (IFFI). It is an ambitious yet modest film about the mysteries of being a teenager.

Thailand has been elected as a member of the World Heritage Committee. It was selected during the 22nd session of the General Assembly of States Parties to the World Heritage Convention in Paris. The representatives from 193 countries cast their votes to fill nine vacant seats on the 21-member World Heritage Committee. With this selection, it will be the fourth time Thailand has served on the World Heritage Committee. The term would end in 2023.

India is largest country of origin of international migrants, with 17.5 million living abroad, followed by Mexico (11.8 million) and China (10.7 million).

The latest notification by the Government of India revealed that the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for quarter 2 shows a growth rate of 4.5 percent.

The transgender bill 2019 was passed by the Lok Sabha on August 5, 2019. The transgender community has been protesting for the bill to be sent to a select committee as it fails to address the fundamental right of a transgender to determine his or her identity but rather it confers power to the District Magistrate to grant certificate of identity to Transgender applicants.

National Constitution Day is celebrated on 26 November every year in India. On this day, the efforts of Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar, are remembered on this day. The Indian constitution was adopted on 26 November 1949 by the Constituent Assembly of India.

Union Minister G. Kishan Reddy on November 26, 2019 introduced the Bill regarding the merger of Union territories of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu in Lok Sabha. The Bill is named as ‘Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu (Merger of Union Territories) Bill, 2019’.

The term of the 15th Finance Commission has been extended till October 30, 2020. The Finance Commission will be submitting its interim report by November 30, 2019.

Saudi Arabia was recently elected to the World Heritage Committee of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) for the first time. The development came after the Kingdome won the membership of UNESCO Executive Board.

India has announced a $400 million line of credit to Sri Lanka to help the nation in strengthening its economy. PM Modi made the announcement while delivering a joint statement with visiting Sri Lankan President, Gotabaya Rajapaksa on November 29, 2019.

Swedish citizen Greta Thunberg was recently honoured with the International Children’s Peace Prize. She launched a global campaign called ‘School Strike’ for which she was given this award.

Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind has filed a review petition against the Supreme Court’s Ayodhya verdict, highlighting few errors in the judgement. The Muslim body stated that the apex court, by giving the disputed land to the Hindu parties, had condoned their illegal act of destroying the Babri Mosque.

Soma Roy Burman has taken charge as the 24th Controller General of Accounts (CGA). She is the seventh women to hold the post.

The Intensified Mission Indradhanush was lauched by PM Narendra Modi on October 8, 2017 to intensify India?s immunization programme.

Saudi Arabia recently became the first Arab nation to assume the G20 Presidency. The Kingdom took over the presidency from Japan. Saudi Arabia will now host world leaders for the G20 Summit on November 21-22, 2020.

Bangladesh will begin the process of registration of online news portal from next week. The nation has received a total of 3,595 applications for news portal registrations.

The International Slavery Abolition Day is observed every year on 02 December. This day is celebrated to spread awareness about ending human trafficking and exploitation of humans.

Akkitham Achuthan Namboodari has won the 55th Jnanpith Award. He was born on March 8, 1926 in Palakkad district of Kerala. Akkitham Namboodari was interested in literature and art since childhood. Apart from poetry, Akkitam has also written plays and novels.

World AIDS Day is observed every year worldwide on December 1, 2019 to make people aware of HIV infection. In August 1987, it was celebrated globally for the first time.

The Election Commission of India (ECI) has recently recognized the Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) as state party of Haryana and alloted the symbol of ‘key’ for the party. The decision in this regard was taken on the basis of the poll performance of the party in the recent 2019 Assembly elections in Haryana. The JJP was formed in December 2018 by a breakaway faction of the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) & won 10 seats in the recently-held Haryana Assembly elections and formed the government with the BJP.

Former deputy governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), H R Khan has been appointed as the first chairman of the steering committee of the Code for Responsible Lending (CRL) in micro-credit. The CRL is a self-regulatory step for the micro-credit industry making diverse entities like banks, NBFC-MFIs and NBFCs adhere to standards of customer protection.

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has sought response from the centre and state government on their standard operating procedures for dealing with sexual harassment cases and similar atrocities against women.

The Global Migration Film Festival (GMFF) was organised in Dhaka on December 2, 2019. The day-long festival screened 15 films on the theme of migration and its various aspects.

China has suspended visits by US Navy ships and aircraft to Hong Kong after the United States passed a legislation backing pro-democracy protesters last week. China also unveiled sanctions against a number of US human rights groups.

The day, December 3, 2019, marks the 35th year of Bhopal gas tragedy. The tragedy is known as one of the worst industrial disasters of the world, as a gas leak from the Union Carbide Plant in Bhopal exposed over 500,000 people to toxic methyl isocyanate (MIC) gas and other chemicals.

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) marks its 70th year in 2019. The leaders of the bloc met in London on December 3, 2019 to commemorate the alliance’s establishment. The alliance, which has twenty nine members, is the world’s largest military alliance.

A Chennai-based engineer Shanmuga Subramanian was the first to sport Vikram Lander’s debris on the lunar surface and he alerted NASA about it. NASA confirmed the same through a tweet on December 2, 2019. The Chandrayaan-2 mission’s Vikram Lander was found to have crashed, about 1 km away from its landing site.

The World Disability Day was observed across the world on December 3, 2019. The day is observed annually. It is observed mainly to bring changes in people’s behavior towards the people with disabilities and to make them aware of their rights.

Argentinian football star Lionel Messi was honoured with the 2019 Ballon d’Or award. Messi has been awarded the prestigious football honor for the sixth time. Virgil Van Dijk finished second and Cristiano Ronaldo was at the third position.

English writer Tony Joseph will be awarded the 12th ‘Shakti Bhatt First Book Prize’ for his book ‘Early Indians: The Story of Our Ancestors and Where We Came From’ published in 2018.

The first night test launch of Agni-III, a long-range surface-to-surface ballistic missile failed recently. The test was conducted as a user trial for the Indian Army.

India was the fifth most climate-affected country in 2018, according to the Global Climate Risk Index 2020 released on December 4, 2019.

Japan topped the list of the most affected countries in 2018. The country was hit by three exceptionally strong extreme weather events during the year- severe rainfall, severe heatwave and Typhoon Jebi.

The United States has passed the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act that aims to address the mass captivity of over 1,000,000 Uyghurs and other ethnic Muslim minorities in China.

Google CEO Indian-American Sundar Pichai will soon take over as the CEO of Alphabet, Google?s parent company. The move is expected to make him one of the most powerful corporate leaders of the world. The announcement came after Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin informed about their decision to step down from the leadership position at Alphabet.

The Indian Navy Day is celebrated annually on December 4. This day is celebrated by the Indian Navy to commemorate the victory of the Indian Navy in the Indo-Pak war of 1971. Indian Navy destroyed Karachi port on this day in 1971.

The Mumbai Central Railway Station was recently declared as the country’s first ‘Eat Right Station’ by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI). It has been declared ‘Eat Right Station’ because of the availability of healthy food, hygiene, drinking water, food waste management, etc. at this station.

China recently inaugurated ‘Power of Siberia’ cross border gas pipeline along with Russia. This pipeline will help China and Russia to replace coal with natural gas. The new

India has signed a 206 million loan agreement with the Asian Development Bank to develop water supply and sewerage infrastructure in 5 cities of Tamil Nadu.

Surya Kiran XIV’ between India and Nepal will be conducted at Salijhandi, Rupendehi district of Nepal from 3 to 16 December 2019. The exercise will comprise of 300 soldiers from both the Indian Army and Nepal Army who will be sharing their experiences in the conduct of various counter-insurgency and counter-terrorism operations, as also various humanitarian assistance missions by both Armies.

Eminent Malayalam poet Akkitham has been chosen for the 55th Jnanpith Award, the Jnanpith Selection Board announced on November 29. ‘The Jnanpith Selection Board has announced the recipient of the 55th Jnanpith Award for the year 2019. It went to Shri Akkitham, eminent Indian poet writing in Malayalam. Born in 1926, Akkitham Achuthan Namboothiri, popularly known as Akkitham is one of the most revered names in Malayalam poetry. Apart from poetry, his literary excellence has footprints in genres like drama, reminiscence, critical essays, children literature, short stories and translation.’

Every year International Volunteer Day is celebrated on the call of the United Nations on December 5 around the world. The theme of this year is ‘Volunteer for an inclusive future.’

A Coast Guard ship named ‘Kaamyaab’ was recently given to the Maldives by Prime Minister Narendra Modi was given to the Maldives. Several other development projects were launched in the Maldives by PM Modi.

India is testing a Swedish technology that can convert paddy crop residue into ‘bio-coal’ to find a solution to this issue. A company BioDev has started this project in Punjab.

The 20th Hornbill Festival is being organized in the Nagaland. This time it is being celebrated with a ban on single-use plastic. The festival is named after the hornbill bird and the festival was started in the year 2000.

The purpose of celebrating World Soil Day is to make farmers and common people aware of the importance of soil. The United Nations General Assembly had passed a resolution at the 68th General Assembly meeting to celebrate December 05 as World Soil Day every year.

The reservation period for these categories in Lok Sabha and Legislative Assemblies was to end on 25 January 2020. After the approval of this bill, the period of reservation in Lok Sabha and Legislative Assemblies will be increased till 25 January 2030.

The purpose of the Madhu app is to help school students to learn their lessons through videos and tutorials. The first phase of the app has study material for Mathematics and Science subjects from class 5th to 8th.

Kamala Harris (55-year-old) recently announced that she is ending her campaigning for the presidential election. Democratic MP Kamala Harris is considered an ardent critic of President Donald Trump.

Surya Kiran XIV’ between India and Nepal will be conducted at Salijhandi, Rupendehi district of Nepal from 3 to 16 December 2019. The exercise will comprise of 300 soldiers from both the Indian Army and Nepal Army who will be sharing their experiences in the conduct of various counter-insurgency and counter-terrorism operations, as also various humanitarian assistance missions by both Armies.

The Government of India has proposed increasing the fine for illegal and improper use of national emblems for commercial gains from Rs.500 to Rs.1 lakh. It also suggested change also includes jail time and a fine of Rs.5 lakh for repeat offenders. The aim is to crack down on their misuse. The Emblems and Names (Prevention of Improper Use) Act, 1950 of India prohibits the misuse of the national flag, the Ashoka Chakra, the official seal of the President or Governor, the coat-of-arms used by a government department, the pictorial representation of Mahatma Gandhi and the Prime Minister.

India witnessed a sharp reduction (28 percent) in malaria cases between 2017 and 2018, according to the World Malaria Report 2019, which was released by UN’s World Health Organisation (WHO) on December 4, 2019.

India and nineteen countries in sub-Saharan Africa were found to have carried 85 percent of the global malaria burden, among which Nigeria accounted for most number of global malaria cases (25%), followed by the Democratic Republic of the Congo (12%), Uganda (5%) and C?te d?Ivoire, Mozambique and Niger (4% each).

The National Florence Nightingale Awards 2019 were conferred upon 36 nursing professionals. One award was conferred posthumously to honour nurse Lini Sajeesh from Kozhikode, who had passed away while caring for a NIPAH patient in Kerala. The award was received by her husband Sajeesh.

India will host the 4-day conference of the Asian Pacific Association of Gastroenterology from December 12, 2019. India will host the annual event after a gap of 11 years. The conference is expected to witness participation from about 4,000 doctors from across the Asia-Pacific region.

Santhali language made its debut in Rajya Sabha on December 6, 2019. The Austroasiatic language, mostly spoken among Odisha tribals, is one of the 22 scheduled languages of India. The language was used by Biju Janata Dal MP Sarojni Hembram to raise a matter of urgent public importance during the zero hour.

Artificial Intelligence has been introduced as a subject in class IX from academic session 2019-20 in all schools affiliated with the CBSE board. The main objective behind the move is to enhance multidisciplinary approach in teaching-learning and to sensitize the new generation.

Saudi oil giant Aramco has announced its initial public offering (IPO) at $25.6 billion, which is the world’s largest ever. The gulf nation?s state oil company made the announcement on December 5, 2019.

Priyanka Chopra was awarded Danny Kaye Humanitarian Award from UNICEF. This award is known as the biggest humanitarian award of UNICEF. She was nominated for this award in June, 2019.

Nirav Modi has been declared fugitive economic offender under Prevention of Money Laundering Act. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had filed a petition against Nirav Modi.

Union Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal inaugurated the first Mega Food Park in Madhya Pradesh. This is central India’s first food park which is spread over more than 51 acres. Its construction cost is 150 crores. About five thousand local people will get employment from this mega food park.