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1. About 123 crore Aadhaar cards issued to people till Nov 2018
The UIDAI has issued a total of 122.90 crore Aadhaar
cards as on November 30, 2018. Out of these, 6.71 crore Aadhaar cards were
issued to children aged below five years while over 29 crore were given to
those aged between 5-18 years. Union Minister Hansraj Ahir said the number of
children born within last one year of the 2011 census is 2,08,98,228.
2. India, Pakistan exchange list of nuclear installations
According to an External Affairs Ministry release,
the two sides exchanged the list under the Agreement on the Prohibition of
Attack against Nuclear Installations between India and Pakistan. The agreement,
which was signed on December 31, 1988, and entered into force on January 27,
1991, provides that the two countries inform each other of nuclear
installations and facilities to be covered under the pact on the first of
January of every calendar year. This is the twenty seventh consecutive exchange
of such a list between the two countries, the first one having taken place on
January 1, 1992.
3. A new high level committee to protect Assams heritage
The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra
Modi approved the setting up of a high-level committee for implementation of
Clause 6 of the Assam Accord. It provides for constitutional, legislative and
administrative safeguards to protect, preserve and promote the cultural,
social, linguistic identity and heritage of Assam. It also recommended
reserving Assembly seats for indigenous communities in the State. This move is
after the Home Minister Rajnath Singh assured Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda
Sonowal in May 2018 that a committee would be set up at the earliest in
consultation with the State government. The Cabinet approved several measures
to fulfil the demands of the Bodo community. It approved the establishment of a
Bodo Museum-cum-language and cultural study centre, modernisation of the
existing AIR station and Doordarshan Kendra at Kokrajhar and naming a superfast
train as Aronai Express. Assam Accord: The Assam Accord (1985) was a
Memorandum of Settlement (MoS) signed between representatives of the Government
of India and the leaders of the Assam Movement in New
Delhi on 15 August 1985 A six-year agitation demanding
identification and deportation of illegal immigrants was launched by the All
Assam Students’ Union (AASU) in 1979 It culminated with the signing of the
Assam Accord
4. Justice AK Sikri nominated as Executive Chairman of NALSA by President Ram Nath Kovind
President Ram Nath Kovind nominated Justice Arjan
Kumar Sikri as Executive Chairman of National Legal Services Authority (NALSA).
His appointment is effective from December 31, 2018.
5. RBL Bank appointed Pankaj Sharma as its chief operations officer
Private sector lender RBL Bank appointed Pankaj
Sharma as its chief operations officer (COO). Prior to this, Sharma was heading
retail operations of Axis Bank. Under his leadership, the ATM channel, phone
banking and branch automation and digital initiatives at Axis Bank took shape.
6. NCC Limited bagged order worth Rs.2,890.7 crore
NCC Limited, formerly Nagarjuna Construction Company
Ltd, an infrastructure firm, received four new orders totalling to Rs. 2,890.7
crore (exclusive of GST) in December 2018 from government agencies.
One of them for Rs.680.3 crore pertains to water and environment division,
while two orders totalling Rs.2,126.8 crore pertain to roads division. The
fourth order for Rs.83.7 crore pertains to building division. Shares of NCC
were trading 3.12% up at Rs 74.40 apiece on the BSE. The Company has a cluster
of regional offices in Delhi, Ahmedabad, Bhubaneshwar, Kolkata, Mumbai, Bhopal,
Lucknow, Hyderabad, Chennai, and Bangalore. Also, NCC has a presence in
international level through offices in Dubai (UAE) and Muscat (Sultanate of
Oman).
7. Jair Bolsonaro takes Oath As New President of Brazil
Mr. Bolsonaro, 63 won the presidential election by a
wide margin against Fernando Haddad of the left-wing Workers’ Party. Brazil: ♦
Capital: Brasilia. ♦ Currency: Brazilian real.
8. France Introduced GAFA Tax On Global Internet, Technology Firm
France will introduce its own tax on large internet
and technology companies from January 1, finance minister Bruno Le Maire said
Monday amid difficulties in finalizing a new EU-wide levy. France has been
pushing hard for a new so-called “GAFA tax” named after Google, Apple, Facebook
and Amazon to ensure the global giants pay a fair share of taxes on their
massive business operations in Europe.
9. Cabinet clears merger of Dena Bank and Vijaya Bank with Bank of Baroda
With the merger, Bank of Baroda (BoB) will become
the country’s third-largest bank after State Bank of India and ICICI Bank. This
marks the first-ever three way amalgamation in the country's banking sector.
The merger will come into force on April 1, 2019. As per the scheme of
amalgamation, Bank of Baroda will be the transferee bank while the other two
public sector banks will be transferor banks.
About Bank of Baroda:
♦ Headquarters: Alkapuri, Vadodara
♦ CEO: P. S. Jayakumar
♦ Founded: 20 July 1908, Vadodara
♦ Tagline: India's International Bank
About Dena Bank:
♦ Headquarters: Mumbai
♦ CEO: Shri Karnam Sekar
♦ Founded: 26 May 1938
♦ Tagline: Your Trusted Family Bank
About Vijaya Bank:
♦ Headquarters: Bengaluru
♦ CEO: R. A. Sankara Narayanan
♦ Founded: 23 October 1931
♦ Tagline: A friend you can bank on
10. Juno probe captured volcanic plumes on Io
Juno spacecraft, NASA’s solar-powered probe on
Jupiter, has beamed back new images of volcanic plumes on Jupiter’s moon Io,
captured during the mission’s 17th flyby of the gas giant. On December 21, four
of Juno’s cameras captured images of the Jovian moon Io. Jupiter’s Io moon:
♦ Io is the most volcanic body in our solar
system
♦ Io's volcanoes were discovered by NASA's
Voyager spacecraft in 1979
♦ Images could lead to new insights into
Jupiter's interactions with its five moons
11. ISRO Planning to Launch 32 Space Missions in 2019
The missions include the second lunar mission
Chandrayaan-2 (₹800-crore mission) to
land on the moon with lander and rover. India's maiden human space mission in
2021-22, Gaganyaan, will also be pursued this year. Among the ISRO's
achievements in 2018 were launch of the heaviest satellite GSAT-29 (3,423 kg)
on November 14 and building the heaviest communication satellite GSAT-11 (5,854
kg), launched on December 5 onboard the Arianespace space agency's rocket from
French Guiana on the north Atlantic coast of South America. Indian Space
Research Organisation (ISRO) chairman - K. Sivan
12. Sweden ranked first in climate action CCPI
Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI) reported
that Sweden has been named the first best performing country in the CCPI 2019
list. CCPI evaluates the climate protection performance of 60
countries, responsible for over 90% of global energy-related
CO2 emissions. Morocco has been named second. Morocco, the North African
country significantly increased the share of renewables over the past five
years and increased new renewable energy capacity. Lithuania is in the third position
in CCPI 2019. The bottom five in the list are Saudi Arabia, U.S., Iran, South
Korea, and Taiwan. With the connection of the world’s largest solar plant to
the grid, Morocco is on track for achieving its target of 42% installed
renewable energy capacities by 2020.
13. Former SEBI chief UK Sinha to head RBI panel on MSMEs
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) set up a committee
under former SEBI Chairman UK Sinha to address issues regarding the
sustainability of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs). This comes after
RBI allowed one-time restructuring of MSME loans of up to ₹25
crore.
14. Manoj Das was awarded the Kabi Samrat Upendra Bhanja National Award
Manoj Das, an eminent English and Odia writer,
received the Kabi Samrat Upendra Bhanja National Award for Lifetime Achievement
in Literature. This ceremony was instituted by the Berhampur University,
Odisha. During the 53rd foundation day ceremony, the university also honoured
noted folk dance guru Nabaghana Parida with Dakshin Odisha Loksanakruti Samman.
15. French World Cup champions awarded Legion of Honour
France‘s football team which last year defeated
Croatia to win the World Cup were awarded the Legion of Honour, France’s
highest award for “exceptional service” to the nation, in the New Year’s honors
list. The football World Cup 2018 at Russia was France’s second World Cup
title, after the 1998 World Cup. Each of the 23 players of the French football
team, including star strikers Kylian Mbappe and Antoine Griezmann, received
France’s top medal for their part in beating Croatia in the World Cup final in
Moscow.
16. Cabinet approved the amendment on Trade Unions Act
The Union Cabinet approved the amendment on Trade
Unions Act, 1926, to facilitate recognition of trade unions at the Central and
federal level. The amendment was proposed by the Centre. Most trade unions
opposed the proposed amendments saying the government was trying to interfere
in, and cripple, their functioning. Ten Central trade unions had earlier
written to the Labour Ministry objecting to the draft version of the amendment
Bill; the only major standout was the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh, affiliated to
the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. The amendment will ensure that the nomination
of workers’ representatives in tripartite bodies by the government will become
more transparent and reduce litigation and industrial unrest. Trade unions
which are recognised under the amended law would be accountable in maintaining
industrial harmony. Ten Central trade unions have issued a general strike call
on January 8 and 9.
17. ISRO launches Samwad with students to engage them on space science
The first SwS event saw interaction of 40 students
and 10 teachers from select schools with ISRO Chairman Dr K Sivan during which
the students were briefed about Indian space programme and their benefits to
the common man at the Anthariksh Bhavan, Bengaluru. The Q&A session that
followed saw Dr. Sivan engaging students on a series of topics ranging from
rockets, satellites, Chandrayaan, Gaganyaan, and various space applications.
The Chairman asked students to study science and mathematics with absolute
seriousness which would enable them to take up challenging careers.
18. Israel and US officially withdraw from UNESCO over 'anti-Israel' bias
The US had notified UNESCO of its decision to quit
the organisation in October 2017 and had called for its "fundamental
reform". Israel followed the US in quitting UNESCO. The Paris-based
organisation has previously criticised Israel's occupation of East Jerusalem
and granted full membership to Palestine in 2011. United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) was co-founded by the US after
World War II with the mission of seeking to “build peace through international
cooperation in Education, the Sciences and Culture.” UNESCO is best known for
its work to preserve heritage, including maintaining a list of World Heritage
sites, and programmes to promote education in developing countries. The US has
pulled out of UNESCO before. The Reagan administration did so in 1984 because
it viewed the agency as mismanaged, corrupt, and used to advance Soviet
interests. The US rejoined in 2003.
19. Kerala women form 620-km-long wall to uphold gender equality against Sabarimala protests
Lakhs of women from across Kerala formed a 620-km
long Women’s Wall, that stretched from Kasargod in northern Kerala to the
southernmost district of Thiruvananthapuram, to uphold gender equality and
renaissance values. This was a state-sponsored move done in the backdrop of
protests in Sabarimala due to Supreme Court’s decision to all women to pray at
the Ayyappa shrine. Health minister K K Shylaja was the leader of the human
chain at Kasargod whereas leader Brinda Karat was the last person at the end of
the chain in Thiruvananthapuram.
20. Cricket coach Achrekar passed away
Ramakant Achrekar, who has honed a battery of Test
cricketers including Sachin Tendulkar, died at his residence in Mumbai. He was
86. Achrekar served as a cricket coach on the Mumbai maidans for more than four
three decades until he was paralysed in the late 1990s. In 1990, Achrekar
was honoured with the Dronacharya Award for Outstanding coaches in Sports and
Games. He was honoured with one of the country's highest civilian award, the
Padma Shri in 2010. He was honoured the Lifetime Achievement award by the
Sports.
21. Home Ministry approved UPs proposal of renaming Allahabad as Prayagraj
Kumbh Mela 2019’, the Union Home Ministry (MHA)
approved the Uttar Pradesh government’s proposal to rename Allahabad as
Prayagraj. MHA had earlier approved the renaming of the British-era railway
station Robertsganj as Sonbhadra, Farah Town railway station near Mathura and
iconic Mughalsarai junction after Deen Dayal Upadhyay both in Uttar Pradesh.
The Centre also approved the renaming of Chhatrapati Shivaji International
Airport in Mumbai as Chhatrapati Shivaji ‘Maharaj’ International Airport,
earlier. The Tripura government also got Centre’s approval to change the name
of Agartala Airport as Maharaja Bir Bikram Manikya Kishore, the erstwhile ruler
of the state
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