Current affairs notes on December Part-1

1.Six Countries – Belgium, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden have recently joined INSTEX. It is a payment mechanism being setup by the European Union to secure trade with Iran. 

2.Malayalam poet Akkitham has been chosen for 55th Jnanpith Award for the year 2019. Award Instituted in 1961. 

3.Union Government is planning to set up a new rocket launch pad in Kulasekarapattinam in Tamil Nadu.At present, the Indian Space Research organisation (ISRO) has two launch pads at Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDCC) in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh. 

4.Operation ‘Clean Art’ It is first pan India operation to crackdown on the smuggling of mongoose hair. Mongoose is listed in Schedule II Part 2 of the Wildlife Protection Act 1972.

5.Government to set up National Company Law Appellate Tribunal Bench in Chennai. It was constituted under Section 410 of the Companies Act. 

6.The MoEFCC has embarked upon a programme for ‘Blue Flag’ Certification for select beaches in the country. The Blue Flag Programme for beaches and marinas is run by the international, non-governmental, non-profit organisation FEE (the Foundation for Environmental Education).

7.Sub Lieutenant Shivangi Swaroop is the first pilot in the Indian navy.   Bhawana Kanth, Avani Chaturvedi and Mohana Singh are the first women pilots in the Indian Air Force.

8.India's first National Maritime Heritage Museum will be established at Lothal in Gujarat. 

9.Hornbill festival started at Nagaland. It is also called the “Festival of Festivals”.

10.Mahila Kisan Sashaktikaran Pariyojana (MKSP): It is a sub component of the Deendayal Antodaya Yojana-NRLM (DAY-NRLM), It seeks to improve the present status of women in Agriculture. 

11.Vice- President has launched the new rotavirus vaccine – ROTAVAC5D. Rotavirus is a leading cause of severe diarrhoea and death among children less than five years of age.

12.Western Railway’s Mumbai Central Terminus has become India’s first Eat Right Station. Launched by FSSAI. It also aims to engage and enable citizens to improve their health and well-being by making the right food choices.

13.Bougainville is an island in the Pacific. It is holding a referendum to decide if it wants to remain a part of Papua New Guinea or become an independent country. 

14. The government has approved the launch of Bharat Bond ETF, India’s first corporate bond exchange traded fund. It will allow retail investors to buy government debt.

15.India has requested for an early delivery of Meteor air-to-air missiles from France. They are beyond-visual-range air-to-air missiles.

16.The international environmental think tank ‘Germanwatch’ has recently released the Global Climate Risk Index 2020. India is the fifth most vulnerable country to climate change. 

17.The International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) 10th Asian Elephant Specialist Group (AsESG) Meeting was held recently at Kota Kinabalu in Sabah, Malaysia. 

18.The Odisha government has decided to merge its flagship scheme- Kalia with the Centre’s Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-Kisan) yojana. 

Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi: It is a Central Sector Scheme. Under this programme, landholding farmer families, having cultivable land up to 2 hectares, will be provided direct income support at the rate of Rs. 6,000 per year.

19.President Ram Nath Kovind recently laid the foundation of a memorial dedicated to the 1817 Paika Rebellion. It was against the British East India Company's rule in Odisha in 1817.

20.UNDP has released the annual HDI 2019 report. The focus of the 2019 Report is on ‘Inequality in Human Development’. India’s rank- 129. Norway, Switzerland, Ireland occupied the top three positions. 

21.Green Good deeds: The campaign has been launched by the Environment Ministry. To sensitise the people and students, in particular, about climate change and global warming. The objective of the campaign is to restore and return the clean and green environment to the next generation.

Thank You.