Current Affairs Update 16 December 2018
Current Affairs is an important part for many exams. Be prepared for this section with ByScoop which brings all the important Current Affairs in one place. 16 December 2018
PM Modi Launches Development Projects Over Rs 1,000 Cr at Rae Bareli in UP
- Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi was on a day-long visit to Uttar Pradesh on December 16, 2018.
- PM Modi dedicated to the nation, inaugurated, or laid the Foundation Stone for various development projects worth over Rs 1000 crore in Rae Bareli. They includes:
- Flagged off the 900th coach and a rake of Humsafar train at Modern Coach Factory in Rae Bareli..
- Dedicated to the nation 133 kilometre long Raebareli-Fatehpur-Banda section of National Highway built at a cost of about Rs 558 crore to reduce travel time to 2.5 hours from current 7-8 hours.
- Inaugurated a state-of-the-art Command and Control Centre for the Kumbh Mela in Prayagraj, performed Ganga Pujan and also visited the Swachh Kumbh exhibition, inaugurated the new terminal building of the Bamrauli Airport in Prayagraj, 175 Km of sewerage network that will reduce 7.8 cr litres of sewage per day falling into Ganga.
- Laid the foundation stone for two projects in the trans Ganga/Yamuna area under One City-One Operator scheme with sanctioned cost of Rs. 767.59 Cr.
India’s first Railway University Inaugurated in Vadodara
- The Union Railways Minister Piyush Goyal dedicated India’s first Railway University to the nation in Vadodara, Gujarat on December 15, 2018
- The University named “Rail and Transportation Institution (NRTI)” is the first of its kind institution in India and the third in the world after Russia and China.
- The chairman of Railways Board Ashok Lohani has been named the Vice Chancellor.
- Ministry of Railways has sanctioned Rs 421 crores for this university and its curriculum development for the next five years.
Government panel on e-governance services headed by Ajay Prakash Sawhney to submit its report
- An inter-ministerial panel set up to review e-governance services through common services centres (CSCs) is expected to submit its report in a month.
- The panel is chaired by Electronics and IT Secretary Ajay Prakash Sawhney and has deliberated on enabling registration for all central and state government jobs, voter registration, PAN generation, sale of e-stamps, digitisation of government records etc through CSCs that operate in rural areas.
- At present, there are over 3 lakh CSCs operating across the country and by August 2019, all gram panchayats are expected to have one unit.
NITI Aayog Organises Third Edition of the Women Transforming India Awards
- Government think-tank NITI Aayog organised the Third Edition of the Women Transforming India Awards 2018 on December 16, 2018 jointly with United Nations India.
- The event also marked the launch of the upgraded portal of the Women Entrepreneurship Platform (WEP)
- This year’s theme is “Women and Entrepreneurship”.
- The Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu was the Chief Guest and gave away the Women Transforming India Awards 2018 and launched the WEP upgraded portal.
- Fifteen winners were chosen through an extensive six-month long process to identify fascinating and inspiring stories of women entrepreneurs.
196 countries agree to enforce Paris Agreement 2015
- 196 nations agreed to enforce rules on implementing the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change on December 15. The Paris deal will come into force in 2020.
- The decision was taken at the COP24 in Katowice, Polland.
- COP25 to the UNFCCC will be held in Chile in 2019.
- The Polish Presidency at COP24 also initiated three declarations
- Just Transformation based on solidarity
- Katowice Partnership for Electromobility – a joint initiative of Poland and GreatBritain
- Forests for Climate Declaration
Belgium beats Netherlands to win the 2018 Men’s Hockey World Cup
- Belgium defeated the Netherlands in shootouts 3-2 to win the 2018 Men’s Hockey World Cup held in Kalinga Stadium, Odisha, India.
- The match ends 0-0 in regulation time, the first time in World Cup history.
- Gold- Belgium ; Silver- Netherlands; Bronze- Australia; India ranked 6th
- Best Player of the Tournament: Arthur Van Doren (Belgium)
- Man of The Match (Final)– Vincent Vanasch (Belgium Goalkeeper)
- Fair Play Award: Team Spain
- Maximum Team Goals: Team Australia (29 Goals)
- Best Junior Player of the Event: Thijs Van Dan (Netherlands)
- Best Goalkeeper of the Event: Primin Blaak (Netherlands)
- Top Scorer of the Event: Alexander Hendrickx (Belgium) AND Blake Govers (Australia) – Both 7 goals
- Best Team Goal Celebration: Team India
Shree Saini of USA crowned Miss India Worldwide 2018
- Punjab-born Indian-American Shree Saini has been crowned Miss India Worldwide 2018 at a pageant held in the Fords City of New Jersey.
- Sakshi Sinha from Australia and Anusha Sareen from the UK were declared first and second runner-ups in the 27th edition of the pageant.
- Indian-origin girls from 17 countries participated this year.
- Miss India Worldwide is a beauty pageant, for the Indian Diaspora community, conducted by New York based India Festival Committee (IFC). It draws contestants from India and from among members of the Indian diaspora residing in other countries.
Ranil Wickremesinghe sworn-in as Sri Lankan Prime Minister
- Mr. Ranil Wickremsinghe was sworn in as Prime minister of Sri Lanka on December 16 by President Maithripala Sirisena thus bringing an end to weeks-long political crisis in the country.
- This is the fifth time Mr. Wickremsinghe has been sworn in as Prime minister which is a record in Sri Lanka.
- Mr. Wickremsinghe was removed as Prime minister on October 26 and was replaced by Mahinda Rajapaksa who resigned on December 15, 2018 after failing to garner majority in Parliament.
Qatar unveils 2022 World Cup final stadium design of Lusail Stadium
- Qatar has revealed the design for its Lusail Stadium (80,000-seat) that will host the finals of FIFA World Cup 2022.
- The Lusail Stadium is the eighth and final venue to be revealed for the Qatar World Cup.
P.V. Sindhu Lifts BWF World Tour Finals 2018 Trophy
- Ace Indian shuttler P V Sindhu lifted the prestigious season-ending BWF World Tour Finals 2018 title at Guangzhou, China defeating Japan’s Nozomi Okuhara 21-19, 21-17 in the summit clash.
- With this win, Sindhu has become the first Indian to win the BWF World Tour Grand Finals and is also her first title of the year.
India Observes Vijay Diwas to commemorate India’s victory over Pakistan in 1971 war
- Every year India celebrates Vijay Diwas on December 16 to commemorate India’s victory over Pakistan in 1971 during the war for the independence of Bangladesh from Pakistan.
- On this day in 1971, the chief of the Pakistani forces, General Amir Abdullah Khan Niazi, along with 93 thousand troops, had surrendered unconditionally to the allied forces consisting of Indian Army and Mukti Bahini, led by Lieutenant General Jagjit Singh Aurora in Dhaka after their defeat in the Liberation War.
- The end of the war also resulted in subsequent secession of East Pakistan into Bangladesh.
International Tea Day – December 15
- International Tea Day is observed annually on December 15 since 2005 in tea producing countries like India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Vietnam, Indonesia, Kenya, Malawi, Malaysia, Tanzania and Uganda.
- Purpose: draw global attention of governments and citizens to the impact of the global tea trade on workers and growers, and has been linked to requests for price supports and fair trade.
- The Indian Tea Association (ITA) has signed an agreement with China Tea Marketing Association (CTMA) to nearly double Indian tea exports to China to 15 million kg (mkg) next year as well as learn cost effective production techniques from its largest Asian neighbour.