Current Affairs Today 14th December 2019-Download in PDF

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Current Affairs Today – 14th December 2019

FINANCE AND ECONOMY

Amazon’s Audible launches app “Audible Suno” in India

• Amazon’s audiobook company Audible has launched a new app “Audible Suno” in India.
• This app features original audio series which aims to expand Audible’s reach in India’s highly competitive digital entertainment and streaming space.
• The platform features hundreds of hours of Audible’s original audio series across a plethora of genres, steered by entertainers such as Amitabh Bachchan, Nawaazuddin Siddiqui, Anurag Kashyap, Tabu, Neena Gupta and Vir Das.

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Amazon.com, Inc., is an American multinational technology company based in Seattle that focuses on e-commerce, cloud computing, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence. It is considered one of the Big Four tech companies, along with Google, Apple, and Facebook.

• Founder: Jeff Bezos

NATIONAL CURRENT AFFAIRS

Govt. mandates FASTag from 15 December

• The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways had announced that FASTags will become mandatory for all vehicles, private and commercial from 15 December.
• Earlier the deadline was set to 1 December 2019.
• If the vehicle owners do not have a FASTag, they should pay twice the regular amount if you pass a toll booth and your vehicle.

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• Minister of Road Transport and Highways: Nitin Gadkari

STATE CURRENT AFFAIRS

Virtual Police Station inaugurated at Andhra University

• Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy inaugurated the Virtual Police Station at Andhra University. This is the first such facility in the State of Andhra Pradesh.
• The AU facility is seen as a pilot project and will later be replicated at other educational institutions.
• The initiative is expected to help bridge the gap between students and the police department
• The Virtual Police Station has been set up on the suggestion of Andhra University’s Vice-Chancellor to make it easy for students to report their grievances.

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Andhra Pradesh:

• Capital: Amravati
• Chief Minister: Y. S. Jaganmohan Reddy
• Governor: Biswabhusan Harichandan

AP approved the draft Disha Act

• The Andhra Pradesh Cabinet approved the draft Disha Act to ensure rape verdicts in 21 days. Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy announced that the State government will make amendments to the AP Criminal Law Act to hand out harsh punishments after a swift process.
• The act provides harsher punishments, including the death sentence, to those guilty of heinous crimes against women.
• The Bill called for completion of trial in 21 days and awarding death sentences in rape cases.
• The Act covers sexual offenses against women and children, harassment of women and acid attacks.
• The state government is to set up special courts in districts to try the cases related to attacks, sexual offenses on children and women.

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Andhra Pradesh:

• Capital: Amravati
• Chief Minister: Y. S. Jaganmohan Reddy
• Governor: Biswabhusan Harichandan

SUMMITS AND CONFERENCES

Defence Minister chairs Parliament’s meeting of Consultative Committee

• Defence Minister Rajnath Singh chaired a meeting of the Consultative Committee of Parliament for the Ministry of Defence in New Delhi.
• The subject of the meeting was Border Roads Organisation (BRO).
• During the meeting, BRO was appreciated for the in-building border infrastructure and contributing to the improvement of lives of people residing in the border areas.

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• Defence Minister: Rajnath Singh

BRO:The Border Roads Organisation develops and maintains road networks in India’s border areas and friendly neighboring countries. Officers from the Border Roads Engineering Service and personnel from the General Reserve Engineer Force from the parent cadre of the Border Roads Organisation.

• Headquarters: New Delhi
• Director-General: Lt. Gen.Harpal Singh
• Founder: Jawaharlal Nehru
• Founded: 7 May 1960
• Motto: everything is achievable through hardwork…, ‘Shramena Sarvam Sadhyam’

National Symposium of Heads of Police Training Institutions held in New Delhi

• The 37th National Symposium of Heads of Police Training Institutions held in New Delhi.
• It Symposium was organized by Bureau of Police Research & Development (BPR&D).
• The theme of the Symposium was ‘Optimal Utilization of Resources-Through Sharing and Networking’.
• A Directory of Indian Police Training Institutions (DIPTI) which has information on the resources of around 300 Police training institutions all over the country was also released during the event.

BEE organized the International Workshop on Energy Efficient Cooling

• Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE), Ministry of Power, conducted an International Workshop on Energy Efficient Cooling from 12-13 December 2019 at Scope Convention Centre, New Delhi.
• It was organized as a part of the Energy Conservation Week that was observed from 9-14 December 2019.
• The workshop was conducted by BEE in association with the International Energy Agency (IEA) under the SEAD initiative of Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM).

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BEE:The Bureau of Energy Efficiency is an agency of the Government of India, under the Ministry of Power created in March 2002 under the provisions of the nation’s 2001 Energy Conservation Act. The agency’s function is to develop programs that will increase the conservation and efficient use of energy in India.

• Founded: 1 March 2002
• Headquarters: SEWA Bhavan, R. K. Puram, New Delhi – 110066
• Organization type: Government agency

India to host the 36th IGC in New Delhi

• India is to host the 36th International Geological Congress (IGC) in New Delhi during the first week of March 2020.
• It is popularly described as the Olympics of Geosciences.
• In a move to boost the IGC preparation, a half-day interactive workshop was held here on 12 December.
• It was inaugurated by Dr. M. Rajeevan, the Secretary, Ministry of Earth, and Anil Kumar Jain, Secretary Coal & Mines.
• The theme of the event is Geosciences: The Basic Science for a Sustainable Development.
• The IGCs are global geoscientific events held once in four years.
• The event aims to provide a platform for international cooperation in all major fields of geosciences including the provision of investment opportunities in mining, launching of collaborative programs, mineral exploration, and environmental management and related enterprises.

AGREEMENTS AND MOU SIGNED

Maldives signs contract with JV of Indian companies for the development of Addu

• Maldives government has signed a contract with a joint venture of Indian companies.
• The contract aims to prepare the project reports and the development of Addu, which is the second biggest city in the island nation.
• The contract was signed L & T engineering limited and Lea associates south Asia for the Addu Road and Reclamation Project.
• Financing of the project will be done by EXIM bank of India through the line of credit of USD 800 million.

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Maldives (Capital/Currency): Male/Maldivian rufiyaa

• President: Ibrahim Mohamed Solih

DELL partners will UNESCO to adopt technology in classrooms

• Dell Technologies has signed an agreement with UNESCO Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Education for Peace (MGIEP) to enable school teachers to adopt technology in classrooms by using Information Communication Technology (ICT) tools.
• The ICT tools were developed by Dell Aarambh and FramerSpace platforms.

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UNESCO: The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations based in Paris, France.

• Headquarters: Paris, France
• Head: Audrey Azoulay
• Founded: 16 November 1945, London, United Kingdom
• Formation: 4 November 1946

India, Indonesia resolve to strengthen cooperation in several areas

• India and Indonesia have joined together to strengthen cooperation in areas of defence and security, connectivity and trade.
• It happened during talks between External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and his Indonesian counterpart Retno Marsudi in New Delhi.
• Retno Marsudi is on her visit to India.
• Both the countries reviewed the entire range of ties at the 6th India-Indonesia Joint Commission Meeting (JCM).

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Indonesia (Capital/Currency): Jakarta/Indonesian rupiah

• President: Joko Widodo

APPOINTMENT

Rohit Sharma becomes the brand ambassador of La Liga in India

• The top tier of Spanish club football “La Liga” has announced cricketer Rohit Sharma as its brand ambassador in India.
• Rohit Sharma is the first non-footballer in the 90-year-old history of the league to have become a brand ambassador.
• These initiatives include grassroots development programs like La Liga Football Schools and a digital broadcast deal with Facebook.

Fifteen Indian-origin candidates elected to House of Commons in UK

• Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Conservative party won the UN’s General election with a majority vote.
• Indian-origin candidates in both the ruling Conservative and opposition Labour parties have registered equally strong results of seven wins on each side.
• Around 15 MPs have made into the UK’s House of Commons, the lower house.
• The former UK Home Secretary Priti Patel who is likely to remain in Johnson’s top team in the new Cabinet after her comfortable win.
• Gagan Mohindra and Claire Coutinho won for the Conservative Party.
• Also, Navendru Mishra for Labour Party and Munira Wilson for the Liberal Democrats are among the first-timers.
• Former International Development Minister Alok Sharma, Shailesh Vara, Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi, Goan-origin Suella Braverman, Preet Kaur Gill, Virendra Sharma are among others.

TV Somanathan is appointed as expenditure secretary in the finance ministry

• The government-appointed TV Somanathan as an expenditure secretary in the finance ministry.
• Somanathan will replace Girish Chandra Murmu, who was named the first lieutenant governor of the Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir in October.
• TV Somanathan is a 1987 batch IAS officer from the Tamil Nadu cadre.
• Somanathan served as a commercial tax commissioner and principal secretary, Planning & Development, in the Tamil Nadu government.

SPORTS CURRENT AFFAIRS

FIH unveils new world ranking system for 2020

• The International Hockey Federation unveiled a new world ranking system for 2020 in Lausanne, Switzerland.
• The new method will come into effect from the 1st January 2020.
• The new ranking will be match-based instead of tournament-based calculation.
• The new model is expected to remove the subjectivity surrounding continental weighing by creating a system that is fair to all.
• The outgoing world ranking system was in existence since 2003.
• It was originally devised to allocate teams into pools at tournaments.

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FIH: The Fédération Internationale de Hockey, commonly known by the acronym FIH, is the international governing body of field hockey and indoor field hockey. Its headquarters are in Lausanne, Switzerland and the president is Narinder Batra.

• Headquarters: Lausanne, Switzerland
• President: Narinder Batra
• Founded: 7 January 1924
• CEO: Thierry Weil
• Membership: 137 national associations
• Motto: FairPlay Friendship Forever

AWARDS

Blue Sky Analytics won the Space Oscars awards at Copernicus Masters competition

• Blue Sky Analytics won the Space Oscars awards on the international competition Copernicus Masters.
• The awards were presented in a ceremony on 4 December 2019 during the European Space Week held at Helsinki, Finland.
• Blue Sky Analytics became the has become the first Indian Startup to win the Space Oscars award presented by the European Space Agency.

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Finland (Capital/Currency):Helsinki/Euro

• Prime Minister: Sanna Marin

OBITUARIES

Veteran Telugu actor and writer Gollapudi Maruti Rao passes away

• Former Nandi Award winner and renowned Telugu actor and writer Gollapudi Maruti Rao passed away recently.
• He enthralled people with his writings and acting for several decades and also acted in around 250 films in about four decades.
• He was a multi-faceted personality as he was a journalist, playwright, writer, actor and television personality.

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