Current affairs notes on December-Part 2

1.Maternal mortality ratio is measured as the number of maternal deaths per lakh live births. There is a 26.9% decrease since 2013.  Assam, which recorded the highest maternal mortality ratio, Kerala has the lowest MMR, at 42.

2.Rashtriya Vayoshri Yojana: Senior Citizens, belonging to BPL category and suffering from any of the age-related disability/infirmity Low vision, Hearing impairment, Loss of teeth and Locomotor disability. They are free-of cost. This is a Central Sector Scheme, fully funded by the Central Government. The expenditure for implementation of the scheme will be met from the “Senior Citizens’ Welfare Fund “.

3.Dec 11 is the birth anniversary of Subramanian Bharati. He was a poet, freedom fighter and social reformer from Tamil Nadu.He became the first poet whose works were nationalised by the state government.

4.ISRO has successfully launched RISAT-2BR1 along with nine commercial satellites from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) SHAR, Sriharikota. It is PSLV’s 50th successful mission and the 75 thlaunch vehicle mission from SDSC SHAR, Sriharikota.

5.NAVIC is 'Navigation with Indian Constellation (NavIC)' is an independent regional navigation satellite system designed to provide position information in the Indian region and 1500 km around the Indian mainland.

6.Atal Bhujal Yojana: The funding pattern is 50:50 between Government of India and World Bank. Aims to improve ground water management in priority areas in the country through community participation. The priority areas identified under the scheme fall in the states of Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.

7.IUCN red list of threatened species: It is the world’s most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of plant and animal species.

8.UNESCO has recognised the “Nuad” Thai massage as part of its Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.  Mudiyettu, ritual theatre and dance drama of Kerala was also selected once.

9.India is gearing up to host the 36th International Geological Congress (IGC) in March, 2020.Geological Survey of India is the nodal agency for organizing the event.

10.Trakea-It is the country’s first police force to have introduced this unique barcoding for forensic reports. Haryana police introduced it first.

11.Bharti Airtel has introduced Voice over Wi-Fi (VoWiFi), a first for India. Wi-Fi Calling is aimed especially for areas where cellular networks are not strong.

12. Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY): launched in 2010. The scheme is a conditional cash transfer scheme for pregnant and lactating women.

13.Odisha has won the ‘World Habitat Award’, global recognition for its ambitious initiative — Jaga Mission.Odisha Liveable Habitat Mission “JAGA” is a society under Housing & Urban Development Department, Government of Odisha.

14.Government testing GIMs, its secure messaging App. It is for employees of Central and state government departments and organisations for intra and inter organisation communications.

15.26th Annual Crystal Award for the year 2020 have been announced. It is Awarded by the World Economic Forum (WEF).

16.The government is planning to launch a programme called “Project Dolphin”, along the lines of “Project Tiger” to enhance the population of these dolphins. Dolphins have been included in Schedule I of the Indian Wild Life (Protection) Act 1972. In Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). ‘Endangered’ on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Red List.

17. ‘StrandHogg’ in news, It is a Malware which allows real-time malware applications to pose as genuine applications and access user data of all kinds.

18.Global Gender Gap Report 2020 has been released by the World Economic Forum. India has been ranked 112th among 153 countries this year. In 2018, it ranked 108. Iceland, Norway, and Finland occupy the top three spots.

19.Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) : AMRUT adopts a project approach to ensure basic infrastructure services relating to water supply, sewerage, storm-water drains, transportation and development of green spaces..etc.

20.First ever Global Refugee Forum is being held in Geneva, Switzerland. Jointly hosted by United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) along with Government of Switzerland.

21.The Ministry of Railways has granted in-principle approval for the ‘Silver Line’ project, a proposal of the Kerala government. It aims to connect major districts and towns with semi high-speed trains that will run on their own tracks.

22.Exercise ‘Apharan’: It is a large scale Anti Hijacking Exercise conducted recently by the Indian Navy in collaboration with Indian Coast Guard. Held in kerala.

23.Recently, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry has notified setting up of Tripura’s first ever Special Economic Zone (SEZ). Special Economic Zones (SEZs) are geographically delineated ‘enclaves’ in which regulations and practices related to business and trade differ from the rest of the country and therefore all the units therein enjoy special privileges.

24.The Kaleshwaram project in news, It is an off-shoot of the original Pranahitha-Chevella Lift Irrigation Scheme. It is on the Godavari River. 

25.The indigenously developed Pinaka Guided Weapons System was successfully test fired at Pokhran desert in Rajasthan. Developed by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). Its range was increased 70 to 80 km with Pinaka Mark II.

26.RBI to carry out US-model ‘Operation Twist’ to bring down interest rates. It is when the central bank uses the proceeds from sale of short-term securities to buy long-term government debt papers, leading to easing of interest rates on the long term papers.

Thank you.