Current Affairs Today 22nd to 24th December 2019-Download in PDF

Hello and welcome to exampundit. Here are the important Current Affairs Today 22nd to 24th December 2019. These are important for the upcoming Exams. Candidates who were preparing for the examination can use these current affairs and also you can download the same as PDF.

Current Affairs Today – 22nd to 24th December 2019

IMPORTANT DAYS AND THEMES

National Farmers Day observed on December 23

• National Farmers Day or Kisan Diwas observed every year in India on the 23rd of December. 23rd December chosen to honor the birth anniversary.
• The birth anniversary of the fifth Prime Minister of India, Choudhary Charan Singh.
• He played a pivotal role in the Agricultural Sector of India by drafting and enacting various bills for farmer’s reforms.
• He introduced many policies to improve the lives of Indian farmers.

BANKING CURRENT AFFAIRS

Bank Of Baroda Partners With Gujarat Govt To Provide MSME Loans

• The flow of credit in the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), Bank of Baroda signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Gujarat government.
• The credit will be provided to the MSME sector for greenfield projects, startups, women entrepreneurs, and entrepreneurs from backward areas under the Gujarat Single Window Clearance Act 2017 & Ordinance Number 1 of 2019 dated October 24, 2019.

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BOB: Bank of Baroda is an Indian Multinational, public sector Banking and Financial Services company. It is the third largest public sector bank in India with a business mix of close to US$225 billion. Based on 2019 data, it is ranked 1145 on Forbes Global 2000 list.

• CEO: P. S. Jayakumar
• Headquarters: Alkapuri, Vadodara

ADB 490 million dollars loan to upgrade Indian state roads

• Asian Development Bank and the Government of India signed a 490 million dollar loan for public-private partnerships.
• Around thousand six hundred kilometers of state highways and major district roads from single-lane to two-lane widths in Madhya Pradesh.
• The 286 million dollars investment mobilized through private sector participation under the PPP modality.

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ADB: DescriptionThe Asian Development Bank is a regional development bank established on 19 December 1966, which is headquartered in the Ortigas Center located in the city of Mandaluyong, Metro Manila, Philippines. The company also maintains 31 field offices around the world to promote social and economic development in Asia.

• Headquarters: Mandaluyong, Philippines
• President: Takehiko Nakao
• Founded: 19 December 1966
• Membership: 68 countries
• Purpose: Economic development

FINANCE AND ECONOMY

Wipro to launch skilling platform to train 10,000 engineering students

• Wipro partnered with Nasscom to launch a skilling platform for new-age technologies like AI that will reach 10,000 students over 20 engineering colleges in India.
• Future Skills will bridge the industry-academia skill gap and help students keep pace with emerging technologies.
• It is a part of Wipro’s Corporate Social Responsibility program, TalentNext.
• The Future Skills is a platform built to bridge the industry-academia skill gap with the emerging technologies Artificial Intelligence, Big Data, Cloud Computing, Cybersecurity, and Internet of Things (IoT).
• This will create a talent pool of students, certified by Wipro and Nasscom.

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Wipro:WIPRO Group is an Indian multinational corporation that provides information technology, consulting and business process services. It is headquartered in Bangalore, Karnataka, India. In 2013, Wipro separated its non-IT businesses and formed the privately owned Wipro Enterprises.

• CEO: Abidali Neemuchwala
• Founder: M.H. Hasham Premji
• Headquarters: Bengaluru

NATIONAL CURRENT AFFAIRS

India constructs Girls’ Hostel for Nepal Armed Police Force

• The Govt. of India has constructed Girls’ Hostel for Nepal Armed Police Force School, Kirtipur, Nepal.
• Deputy Chief of Mission, Embassy of India, Dr Ajay Kumar inaugurated hostel building.
• Nepal Armed Police Force (APF) School is an academic institution created under the APF Welfare Service Centre of Nepal Armed Police Force.
• The school was established in 2005 and it has over 21 percent of girls students.

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Nepal (Capital/Currency): Kathmandu/Nepalese rupee

• President: Bidhya Devi Bhandari
• Prime Minister: KP Sharma Oli

Indian Railways to Procure 44 rakes of Vande Bharat Trains from ICF

• Shri Narendra Modi flagged off the Vande Bharat trainset on New Delhi -Varanasi route on 15th February 2019.
• The Train set service between New Delhi and Shri Mata Vaishnodevi Katra flagged off by Hon’ble Home Minister Shri Amit Shah on 3rd October 2019.
• Integral Coach Factory published for the supply of electrical equipment and other items for 44 Trainsets of 16 coaches each.
• The procurement process promotes transparency, accountability, speed of delivery.

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Indian Railways is India’s national railway system operated by the Ministry of Railways. It manages the fourth largest railway network in the world by size, with a route length of 67,368-kilometre and a total track length of 121,407-kilometre as of March 2017.

• Headquarters: New Delhi
• Founded: 16 April 1853, India

Central government to organize 100 Hunar Haats in next five years

• Union Government decided to organize a hundred Hunar Haat across the country in the next five years.
• The market exposure and employment opportunities to artisans, artisans, and traditional culinary experts.
• The 100 Hunar Hubs in different parts of the country wherein training is being provided to master artisans, artisans, and traditional culinary experts.
• Around two lakh 65 thousand artisans and craftsmen employed Hunar Haat in the last two years.

Govt approved projects worth Rs 7000 cr under Nirbhaya fund

• The NIRBHAYA Fund projects of Rs 7,000 crore, including setting up of 1,023 fast-track courts approved by the Modi government, Women and Child Development Minister Smriti Irani.
• The 23-year-old Delhi gangrape victim, then Congress-led government had announced setting up Nirbhaya Fund of Rs 1,000 crore for safety and empowerment of women in the Budget presented in February 2013.

Urban India declared Open defecation free

• Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban has achieved its target of creating Urban India Open Defecation Free.
• Urban areas of 35 states and Union Territories have become ODF. In all, 4,320 cities out of 4,372 have declared themselves ODF, of which 4,167 cities have been certified through third-party verification.
• This has been achieved by the construction of nearly 65.81 lakh individual household toilets against Mission target of 59 lakhs and 5.89 lakh seats of public toilets against Mission target of 5.08 lakh seats.

‘Oxygen Parlour’ at Nashik Railway Station to combat air pollution

• In a unique initiative to battle rising air pollution in cities, an ‘Oxygen Parlour’ has been opened at Nashik railway station to provide an experience of breathing clean air to the commuters.
• The initiative comes with the efforts of Airo Guard in collaboration with the Indian Railways.
• The concept of Oxygen Parlour is based on the recommendation of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
• There are around 1500 plants here, so, these plants can directly and effectively bring down the pollution in the air at the railway station and allow the people to breathe cleaner air.

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Maharashtra:

• Capital: Mumbai
• Chief Minister: Uddhav Thackeray
• Governor: Bhagat Singh Koshyari
• National Parks: Chandoli National Park, Nawegaon National Park, Gugamal National Park, Pench National Park, Sanjay Gandhi (Borivilli) National Park, Tadoba National Park
• Wildlife Sanctuaries: Amba Barwa WLS, Bor WLS, Great Indian Bustard WLS,
• Lonar WLS, Melghat WLS, Gangewadi New Great Indian Bustard WLS, etc..

President Ram Nath Kovind releases mobile app of Red Cross Society of India

• President of India Shri Ram Nath Kovind visited Secunderabad, Telangana, his annual southern sojourn at Rashtrapati Nilayam from December 20 to 28, 2019.
• President launches a mobile app of the Indian Red Cross Society, Telangana State Branch at Raj Bhavan, Hyderabad.
• On December 25, 2019, President will visit the Vivekananda Rock Memorial and Vivekananda Kendra in Kanniyakumari.
• The President will host a reception for senior dignitaries.

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Telangana

• Capital: Hyderabad
• Chief Minister: K. Chandrashekar Rao
• Governor: Tamilisai Soundararajan

WHO 1st time approved Biosimilar of “Trastuzumab” for breast cancer treatment

• The World Health Organization (WHO) announced that for the 1st time it had approved a “biosimilar” medicine of Trastuzumab named “Ontruzant” to make cheaper breast cancer treatment at an affordable rate to women globally.
• The medicine is derived from living sources rather than chemicals.
• The biosimilar medicine of the Trastuzumab drug was supplied by Samsung Bioepis co Ltd.

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WHO:The World Health Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations that is concerned with international public health. It was established on 7 April 1948, and is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland. The WHO is a member of the United Nations Development Group.

• Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland
• Head: Tedros Adhanom
• Founded: 7 April 1948

STATE CURRENT AFFAIRS

EChO Network was launched in New Delhi

• Krishnasamy VijayRaghavan, Principal Scientific Adviser to the Govt of India launched a national program called “EChO Network” in New Delhi.
• The EChO network provides a template for cross-disciplinary leadership in India.
• The purpose of this programme is to bring citizens, govt etc to solve problems in the areas of research knowledge, and awareness of Indian ecology and the environment.

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Delhi:

• Chief Minister: Arvind Kejriwal
• Governor: Anil Baijal

Uttar Pradesh government targetting MSME loans worth Rs 62,000 cr in 2019-20

• Uttar Pradesh government to facilitate business loans worth more than Rs 62,000 crore to the beleaguered micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSME) in the current financial year 2019-20.
• The figure of Rs 62,000 crore is 20 percent higher than the target of Rs 51,808 crore in MSME lending fixed for commercial banks in UP for 2019-20.
• Kerala sets 2024 deadline for Semi High-Speed Rail project
• Thiruvananthapuram–Kasargode Semi High-Speed Rail Corridor (SHSR) a high-speed rail corridor in India connects Thiruvananthapuram with Kasaragod in Kerala expected to be completed by 2024.
• The central government in-principle approval to the Rs.56,000 crore Thiruvananthapuram-Kasaragod SHSR corridor project.

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Uttar Pradesh:

• Capital: Lucknow
• Chief Minister: Yogi Adityanath
• Governor: Anandiben Patel
• Nation Park: Dudhwa National Park

Chairman 15th Finance Commission holds meeting with the CM Andhra Pradesh

• Fifteenth Finance Commission Shri N K Singh met the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, Shri YS Jagan Mohan Reddy in Vijaywada on 19th December 2019.
• To discuss various issues specific to state finances for the award period of the Commission from 2021 to 2026.
• Shri Reddy highlighted the State’s fiscal challenges arising out of the bifurcation of the erstwhile Andhra Pradesh and stressed on the requirement of financial management by the new State Government.

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Andhra Pradesh:

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

Sikkim CM laid the foundation stone two IPUs of Sikkim IFFCO

• Sikkim laid the foundation stone of Integrated Organic Food Processing units of Sikkim IFFCO Organics Ltd. in Rangpo, East Sikkim.
• It is a joint venture between the world’s biggest fertilizer Cooperative, IFFCO, and Government of Sikkim.
• The main aim to promote and market the organic produce of the country and especially from Sikkim and other north-eastern states of India.

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Sikkim:

• Capital: Gangtok
• Chief Minister: Prem Singh Tamang
• Governor: Ganga Prasad

Rajasthan government starts its first Janta Clinic

• Rajasthan Chief Minister inaugurated its first “Janta clinic” at in the Malviya Nagar area of Jaipur.
• This clinic open to provide free primary health care to people living in slums.
• In its first phase, 12 Janta Clinics will be opened in Jaipur where people would get free medicines and free medical examination in some cases.
• Later, in the second and third phases of this scheme, Janta Clinics will be opened in other areas.

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Rajasthan

• Capital:Jaipur
• Chief Minister:Ashok Ghelot
• Governor:Kalraj Mishra

Andhra Pradesh CM launched ‘Netanna Nestham’ welfare scheme for weavers

• Andhra Pradesh chief minister YS Jaganmohan Reddy launched the ‘YSR Nethanna Nestham’ scheme at Dharmavaram in Anantapur district.
• Under the scheme, the state government of Andhra Pradesh will provide financial assistance of Rs 24,000 annually to handloom weavers across the state.

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Andhra Pradesh:

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

Haryana approves Rs 5.5K cr projects

• Haryana State Level Sanctioning Committee of Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana approved projects of Rs 552.73 crore.
• The projects forwarded to the Government of India for sanctioning.
• The projects approved to provide water in every field increase crop production, development of watershed, and realize the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to double the income of farmers by 2022.

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Haryana:

• Capital:Chandigarh
• Chief Minister:Manohar Lal Khattar
• Governor:Satyadev Narayan Arya
• National Park: Sultanpur National Park, Kalesar National Park

INTERNATIONAL CURRENT AFFAIRS

UAE and Oman sign MoU to enhance trade and economic cooperation

• UAE national export credit company, Etihad Credit Insurance (ECI) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Export Credit Guarantee Agency of Oman (Credit Oman)
• To enhance trade and economic cooperation between the two countries.
• The sign took place during the 10th AMAN UNION General Assembly, held in Muscat.

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UAE (Capital/Currency):Abu Dhabi/Dirham

• President: Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan

Oman (Capital/Currency):Muscat/Omani rial

SUMMITS AND CONFERENCES

India-Iran 19th Joint Commission meeting held in Iran

• External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar co-chaired the 19th Joint Commission meeting with Foreign Minister of Iran.
• The Joint Commission meeting was held in Tehran, Iran.
• The meeting reviewed the entire gamut of the cooperation and agreed to accelerate work on the strategic Chabahar project.
• The Chabahar port is jointly being developed by India, Iran and Afghanistan.
• It is located on the Indian Ocean in the Sistan and Baluchestan province of Iran.

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Iran (Capital/Currency):Tehran/Iranian rial

• President: Hassan Rouhani

Nagpur Resolution adopted at regional conference organized by DARPG

• Nagpur Resolution adopted during a Valedictory session of a regional conference organized by DARPG (Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances).
• The meeting was on Improving Public Service Delivery and attended by officials from the Ministries of MSME, Road transport, northeast development, and officials from the prime minister office.The Conference resolved to empower citizens.

Important Aspects

• To provide services to the citizens through policy and implementation of citizen charters.
• To reduce the timelines of grievance redressal.
• To focus on dynamic policy, work towards long-term engagements, and ensure timely publication of useful governance index.

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Maharashtra:

• Capital: Mumbai
• Chief Minister: Uddhav Thackeray
• Governor: Bhagat Singh Koshyari
• National Parks: Chandoli National Park, Nawegaon National Park, Gugamal National Park, Pench National Park, Sanjay Gandhi (Borivilli) National Park, Tadoba National Park
• Wildlife Sanctuaries: Amba Barwa WLS, Bor WLS, Great Indian Bustard WLS,
• Lonar WLS, Melghat WLS, Gangewadi New Great Indian Bustard WLS, etc..

AGREEMENTS AND MOU SIGNED

India and Iran agree to accelerate Chabahar development

• India and Iran agreed to accelerate work on the strategic Chabahar project.
• External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar held wide-ranging talks with his Iranian counterpart Javad Zarif on regional and global issues of mutual interest.
• Chabahar port jointly being developed by India, Iran and Afghanistan is considered a gateway to golden opportunities for trade with central Asian nations by the three countries.
• It is located on the Indian Ocean in the Sistan and Baluchestan province of Iran.
• Iran and Afghanistan inked a pact the establishment of Transit and Transport Corridor among the three countries using Chabahar Port.

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Iran (Capital/Currency):Tehran/Iranian rial

• President: Hassan Rouhani

APPOINTMENT

Shiv Das Meena appointed as Chairman of Patna Metro Rail Corporation

• Shiv Das Meena assumed the charge of Chairman of Patna Metro Rail Corporation Limited (PMRC).
• He belongs to the 1989-Batch IAS officer of Tamil Nadu cadre and an additional secretary and CVO in the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA).
• Meena took charge of Chairman, PMRC, on December 14, 2019.

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PMRC:Patna Metro is an under construction rapid transit system for the city of Patna in Bihar, India. It would be owned and operated by state run Patna Metro Rail Corporation. It will be constructed on PPP mode, estimated to cost 13411.77.

• Planned completion date: 2024
• Number of stations: 24 (Phase 1)
• Locale: Patna
• Number of lines: 2 (Phase 1)
• Transit type: Rapid transit
• System length: 42 km (26 mi) (planned)

Monisha Ghosh named as first woman CTO at FCC in US

• Indian-American Dr Monisha Ghosh appointed as the first woman Chief Technology Officer at the US government’s powerful Federal Communications Commission (FCC).
• Indian-American Chairman of the FCC Ajit Pai and the agency on technology and engineering issues, and work closely with the Office of Engineering and Technology.
• Dr Ghosh will take charge on January 13. She replaces Dr Eric Burger.

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FCC:Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government created by statute to regulate interstate communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable.

• Founder: Franklin D. Roosevelt
• Founded: 19 June 1934
• Headquarters: Washington

Justice Gulzar Ahmed sworn-in as 27th Pak Chief Justice

• Justice Gulzar Ahmed appointed as the 27th Chief Justice of Pakistan.
• He takes over from Chief Justice Asif Saeed Khosa, whose tenure came to an end after serving the country’s top judge from January this year.
• The new Chief Justice will remain in office till February 21, 2022.

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Pakistan (Capital/Currency):Islamabad/Pakistani Rupee

• Prime Minister: Imran Khan
• President: Arif Alvi

Harsh Vardhan Shringla appointed new Foreign Secretary

• Senior diplomat Harsh Vardhan Shringla, India’s Ambassador to the US, has been appointed as the new Foreign Secretary.
• He is a 1984-batch officer of the Indian Foreign Service.
• He will take over the charge of the foreign secretary on January 29 from incumbent Vijay Gokhale.
• The appointment has been cleared by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

DEFENCE CURRENT AFFAIRS

India test fires QRSAM System

• Quick Reaction Surface to Air Missile (QRSAM) system developed by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) was successfully flight-tested from Integrated Test Range, Chandipur off the Odisha coast.
• The missile was flight-tested with the full configuration in deployment mode intercepting the target mid-air, meeting the mission objectives.
• With this mission, the developmental trials of the weapon system are successfully completed and the weapon system is expected to be ready for induction by 2021.

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QRSAM:The QRSAM weapon system, which operates on the move, comprises of fully automated Command and Control System, Active Array Battery Surveillance Radar, Active Array Battery Multifunction Radar and Launcher.

Indian Coast Guard conducts ‘Swachchh Samundra NW-2019’

• The Indian Coast Guard (ICG) conducted a two-day regional level pollution response exercise named ‘Swachchh Samundra NW-2019’ at sea off Vadinar in Gulf of Kutch.
• The exercise was conducted to validate and reinforce the response mechanism for oil pollution incidents and enable the Indian Coast Guard to fine-tune the actions required in such eventualities.
• The exercise was conducted in two phases.
• The Gulf of Kutch (GoK) region handles 70 per cent of the oil imported by India and 11 Single Point Moorings (SPMs) out of total 27 SPM.

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ICG:The Indian Coast Guard is an armed force that protects India’s maritime interests and enforces maritime law, with jurisdiction over the territorial waters of India, including its contiguous zone and exclusive economic zone.

• Motto: वयम्रक्षामः(Sanskrit); Vayam Rakṣāmaḥ (IAST); We protect (English)
• Director General: Director General Krishnaswamy Natrajan, PTM, TM
• Additional Director General: Additional Director General Krupa Ram Nautiyal, PTM, TM
• Headquarters: New Delhi
• Founder: Parliament of India
• Founded: 18 August 1978

Sangita Reddy appointed as the President of FICCI for 2019-20

• Sangita Reddy, Joint Managing Director, Apollo Hospitals Group, has taken over as the President of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) for 2019-20.
• She succeeds Sandip Somany, Vice-Chairman and Managing Director, HSIL.
• President of The Walt Disney Company APAC & Chairman of Star & Disney India, Uday Shankar has been elevated as Senior Vice President of FICCI.
• Similarly, Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL), Sanjiv Mehta was appointed as the Vice President of FICCI.

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FICCI:The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry is an association of business organisations in India. Established in 1927, on the advice of Mahatma Gandhi by GD Birla and Purushottam Das Thakurdas, it is the largest, oldest and the apex business organization in India.

• Headquarters location: New Delhi
• Founded: 1927
• Members: over 250,000 companies
• Founders: Ghanshyam Das Birla, Purshottamdas Thakurdas

RANKS AND INDICES

India world’s 3rd largest producer of Scientific Articles

• India has emerged as the world’s third-largest publisher of science and engineering articles, according to a latest US report.
• In 2008, India published 48,998 science and engineering articles.
• This increased to 1,35,788 articles in 2018 and the country now accounts for 5.31 per cent of the total world publications in science and engineering.
• China, which accounts for 20.67 per cent of all global publications in scientific articles, is at the top position, followed by the US at 16.54 per cent, as per the statistics compiled by the US National Science Foundation (NSF).

SPORTS CURRENT AFFAIRS

Virat Kohli Becomes First Sportsperson To Top Forbes India Celebrity 100 List

• Virat Kohli Bollywood’s biggest A-listers to top the Forbes India Celebrity 100 List in 2019 become the first sportsperson to do so since its inception eight years ago.
• The top position with actors before Kohli, who earned Rs 252.72 crore between October 1, 2018, and September 30, 2019.

Abid Ali becomes first Pak batsman to score centuries in his first two Tests

• Abid Ali became the first Pakistan cricketer to score centuries in his first two Test matches.
• The feat against Sri Lanka in the ongoing second Test of the two-match Test series at the National Stadium in Karachi.
• Ali is currently at the crease unbeaten on 147.
• The opener made 109 in the first Test against Sri Lanka and as a result, become the first-ever batsman in the history of the sport to score a century in his ODI and Test debut.
• He scored 112 runs in his first ODI against Australia earlier this year.

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Pakistan (Capital/Currency):Islamabad/Pakistani Rupee

• Prime Minister: Imran Khan
• President: Arif Alvi

BOOKS & AUTHORS

Vice Prez released book ‘Turbulence and Triumph: The Modi Years’

• The Vice President of India Venkaiah Naidu released a book titled ‘Turbulence and Triumph: The Modi Years’ in New Delhi.
• The book is jointly authored by Rahul Agarwal and Bharathi S Pradhan and is published by Om Books International.
• The book is about the life journey of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi from his days as a young boy rin Gujarat till becoming the Prime Minister of India.

AWARDS

Nadal and Barty named 2019 ITF World Champions

• Ashleigh Barty and Rafael Nadal were named International Tennis Federation’s (ITF) World Champions in singles for 2019.
• These awards will be given at the 2020 ITF world champions 2nd June, in Paris.
• Men Singles- Rafael Nadal (Spain)
• Women Singles- Ashleigh Barty (Australia)
• Women Doubles- Timea Babos (Hungary) and Kristina Mladenovic (France)
• Men Doubles- Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah (Colombia)
• Men’s Wheelchair- Gustavo Fernandez (Argentina)
• Women’s Wheelchair- Diede de Groot (Netherland)
• Quad- Dylan Alcott (Australia)

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ITF:The International Tennis Federation is the governing body of world tennis, wheelchair tennis, and beach tennis. It was founded in 1913 as the International Lawn Tennis Federation by twelve national associations, and as of 2016, is affiliated with 211 national tennis associations and six regional associations.

• Headquarters: London, United Kingdom
• President: David Haggerty
• Membership: 211 national associations
• Formation: 1 March 1913; 106 years ago
• Founded: 1 March 1913
• VPs: Katrina Adams, Bernard Giudicelli

Malayali boy Aditya bags top bravery award

• Aditya K. of Kozhikode, Kerala has become the first child from the State to bag the Bharat Award for bravery.
• The most prestigious of the National Bravery Awards, given away by the Indian Council for Child Welfare.
• The Bharat Award has gone to Aditya for rescued 20 people from a bus carrying members of the Calicut University Pensioners’ Forum and their families when it caught fire coming down a steep mountain road.

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Kerala:

• Capital: Thiruvananthapuram
• Chief Minister: Pinarayi Vijayan
• Governor: Arif Mohammed Khan
• Festivals: Onam, Vishu, Thrissur Pooram, Nehru Trophy Boat Race
• National Parks: Anamudi Shola National Park, Eravikulam National Park, Mathikettan Shola National Park, Pambadum Shola National Park, Periyar National Park,Silent Valley National Park
• Wildlife Sanctuaries: Aralam WLS, Chimmony WLS, Idukki WLS, Periyar WLS, Wayanad WLS, Peppara WLS, Neyyar WLS, Kurinjimala WLS, Malabar WLS etc

Indian Archaeologist honored in Bangladesh

• Noted archaeologist R. Nagaswamy was honored at the Silver Jubilee International Conference of Art in Dhaka by Bangladesh.
• He is an Indian historian, archaeologist and epigraphist.
• He served as the founder-director of Tamilnadu Archaeology Department.
• In 2018 he was awarded India’s third highest civilian award Padma Bhushan.

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Bangladesh (Capital/Currency):Dhaka/Taka

• Prime Minister: Sheikh Hasina

SASTRA Ramanujan Award for Warwick University faculty

• The International Conference on number theory at the SASTRA Deemed University campus at Kumbakonam and the SASTRA-Ramanujan Award to Adam Harper, Assistant Professor, University of Warwick, England.
• This year’s SASTRA-Ramanujan Award presented to Mr. Harper for his outstanding contributions to the probabilistic number theory.
• Shanmugha Arts found it, Science, Technology and Research Academy (SASTRA) located near Kumbakonam, India.
• The age limit for the prize has set at 32 (the age at which Ramanujan died), and the current award is $10,000.

Minister of State for Human Resource Development Shri Sanjay Dhotre confers the National ICT Awards 2017

• Minister of State for Human Resource Development Shri Sanjay Shamrao Dhotre conferred National ICT Awards to 43 School Teachers for the year 2017.
• The awards are presented for the innovative integration of ICT in promoting student’s learning in New Delhi.
• Shri Sanjay Dhotre congratulated the national awardees through their commitment to school education but also enriched the lives of their students.

Vice President of India honours winners for outstanding contributions in Films at 66th National Film Awards

• Vice President of India, Shri M Venkaiah Naidu conferred National Film Awards for the year 2018 in various categories at its 66th edition, held at New Delhi.
• Union Minister for Information & Broadcasting (I&B), Shri Prakash Javadekar Secretary, Ministry of I&B, Shri Ravi Mittal Chairperson, Feature Film Category, Shri Rahul Rawail; Chairperson, Non-Feature Film Category, Shri AS Kanal; Chairperson, Best Writing on Cinema, Shri UtpalBorpujari and other dignitaries were also present on the occasion.

OBITUARIES

Renowned Hindustani classical vocalist Vidushi Savita Devi passes away

• Renowned Hindustani classical vocalist Vidushi Savita Devi has passed away.
• She was known for her thumirs.
• She was the author of the book ‘Maa…Siddheshwari’ which was the biography of her mother Siddeshwari Devi.

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