Current Affairs Update 23 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. 23 December 2018

India Observes National Farmer’s Day on December 23

• National Farmer’s Day (Kisan Diwas) is observed every year on December 23 in India to mark the birth anniversary of former Prime Minster Chaudhary Charan Singh
• Chaudhary Charan Singh was the fifth Prime Minister of India and served the country as Prime Minister from 28 July 1979 to 14 January 1980. 
• As a part of the occasion, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath unveiled a statue of Sri Chaudhary Charan Singh in Ghaziabad.
• He also announce the allocation of Rs. 325 crore for the development of the city and rural areas.

PM Modi announces Sardar Patel Award for National Integration

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced the institution of a new award named after Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, which would be given every year for “outstanding efforts” in the field of furthering national integration.
• The award would be named Sardar Patel Award for National Integration.
• The announcement was made at the annual conference of DGPs, IGPs in Gujarat.

Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman Inaugurates Information Fusion Centre – Indian Ocean Region in Gurugram

• The Honourable Defence Minister, Mrs. Nirmala Sitharaman launched the Information Fusion Centre – Indian Ocean Region (IFC-IOR) on 22 December 2018 at Information Management and Analysis Centre (IMAC) in Gurugram.
• The Indian Ocean Region is vital to world trade and economic prosperity of many nations as more than 75% of the world’s maritime trade and 50% of global oil consumption passes through the IOR. Thus, the region also aces high challenges to maritime safety and security.
• Therefore, IFC-IOR aims to engage with partner nations to share vital information on vessels of interest for peaceful, stable and prosperous region.

RBI Shortlists 6 IT Major for setting up Public Credit Registry

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has selected six major IT companies to set up a wide-based digital Public Credit Registry (PCR) for capturing details of all borrowers and wilful defaulters.
• The 6 shortlisted vendors are: TCS, Wipro and IBM India, Capgemini Technology Services India, Dun & Bradstreet Information Services India, and Mindtree Ltd.
• PCR will be a digital registry of authenticated granular credit information and will work as a financial information infrastructure providing access to various stakeholders and enrich the existing credit information ecosystem
• The proposed PCR will enable banks and financial institutions to get a 360-degree profile of the existing as well as prospective borrowers on a real-time basis
• It will also include data from entities like SEBI, the corporate affairs ministry, Goods and Service Tax Network (GSTN) and the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI).

PNB partners with Uttar Pradesh Govt for special card in for Kumbh Mela

• Punjab National Bank (PNB) has launched a special card for Kumbh Mela 2019.
• The bank has partnered with the Uttar Pradesh government to create a model for digitization at this edition of Kumbh Mela.
• Punjab National Bank has created an indigenous product, PNB Rupay card which works even in absence of internet.

India’s stock market is 7th biggest in the world with m-cap of $2.1 trn

• Indian stock market has surpassed Germany to become world’s seventh largest stock market in terms of m-cap as per a data complied by Bloomberg.
• The current m-cap of India is $2.1 trillion. USA is on top.
• In 2017, India was ranked 9th with m-cap of $2.4 trillion.

India Successfully Conducts 7th Trail of Nuclear-Capable Agni-IV missile off Odisha Coast

Indian woman becomes the fastest Asian to cycle the globe

• 20-year-old woman Vedangi Kulkarni from Pune, India has become the fastest Asian to cycle the globe.
• She completed the 29,000 km distance required to qualify as bicycling across the globe.She took 159 days to complete the feat.
• British adventurer Jenny Graham (38) is the fastest woman to have cycled the globe in 124 days in 2018.

NASA Creates Coldest Place in the Universe on International Space Station

• The NASA’s Scientists have created the coldest known spot in the universe inside NASA’s Cold Atom Laboratory (CAL) on the International Space Station.
• CAL was launched on May 21, 2018 and is the first facility in orbit to produce clouds of “ultracold” atoms, which can reach a fraction of a degree above absolute zero: -459ºF (-273ºC).
• This temperature is far more than Antarctica having temperature of  -120ºF (-85ºC), or even the dark side of the Moon, where temperatures reach -280ºF (-173ºC).
• These ultra-cold clouds of atoms are known as Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs) and will pave way to better understand the laws of physics.

B V P Rao elected president of Archery Association of India

• B V P Rao has been elected president of the Archery Association of India.
• BVP Rao is a retired IAS office of Assam cadre and has earlier served as vice president of the archery association of the northeastern state. He was also earlier associated with Sports Authority of India in various capacities. 

Real Madrid beats Al Ain 4-1 to win 2018 FIFA Club World Cup

• Spain’s Real Madrid won the 2018 FIFA Club World Cup for a third consecutive year, and record fourth in total, by beating Abu Dhabi side Al Ain, 4-1 in the final held on 22 December 2018 at Zayed Sports City Stadium, Abu Dhabi.
• The 15th edition of the tournament was hosted by the United Arab Emirates from 12 to 22 December 2018
• With this win, the Real Madrid now hold the record for most victories in the competition, which was earlier held by Barcelona.

Former Mumbai sheriff and jurist Nana Chudasama dies

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