Daily Current Affairs 30 December 2019: We have collected the latest current affairs for 30 December 2019 that are important for all competitive exams like Bank, SSC, IBPS, SBI exams. The GK current affairs will help you score more in these competitive exams. Improve your general knowledge with our daily online current affairs. You can also read the daily current affairs on our mobile app.
Current Affairs 30 December 2019
India Improves its 2019 Sustainable Development Goals Index score by three positions; Kerala Top State
- NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant launched the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) India Index 2019-20 on December 30, 2019.
- This is the second edition of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) India Index, which indicates where the country and its States and UTs currently are on SDG implementation.
- Key points of the Index
- Kerala, Himachal Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Telangana are top states on the SDGs Index-2019-20
- India has improved its composite score from 57 in 2018-19 to 60 in 2019-20 in the index
- None of the States scored below 50 out of 100 score.
- Uttar Pradesh, Odisha and Sikkim showed maximum improvement
- Improvement is credited to major success in water and sanitation, power and industry sector.
- 14 states have fallen in the overall ranking in the index compared to 2018.
- The 2019 SDG Index ranked states based on 16 goals across 54 targets spread among 100 indicators drawn from the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation’s National Indicator Framework, comprising 306 indicators.
- The 2018 report had 13 goals and 39 indicators.
- The United Nations SDG has 17 goals spread across 169 targets and 232 indicators
General Bipin Rawat named as India’s First Chief of Defence Staff
- The Chief of the Army Staff (CoAS), General Bipin Rawat has been named as the first Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) of India on December 30, 2019.
- Gen Rawat is retiring as the CoAS on December 31, 2019.
- The Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) will be a four-star General, who will be the principal military advisor to the defence minister.
- The Chief of Defence Staff is described by officials as the “first among equals” among service chiefs.
- Key Facts about CDS
- The CDS will administer all tri-services organisations, comprising personnel from the army, air force and navy, however, it will not have any operational role and military command to ensure impartial advice. The command will be held with the Chief of the service.
- The CDS will be appointed by the President of India.
- CDS will be responsible to head the following:
- Department of Military Affairs
- Chiefs of Staff Committee
- National Security Council
- Defence Acquisition Council
- Defence Planning Committee
- Nuclear Command Authority
- The defence ministry had recently amended the Army, Air Force and Navy rules by bringing in a new clause that allows the Chief of Defence Staff to serve upto a maximum age of 65 years.
- For the individual services, the maximum service age is limited to 62 years.
Assam Launches Abhinandan education loan subsidy scheme
- Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal launched the state government’s Abhinandan education loan subsidy scheme to bolster its education infrastructure and urge more students to pursue higher education.
- Under the scheme, one-time subsidy of Rs. 50,000 will be provided to students who have availed education loans of a minimum of Rs 1 lakh, provided that loan should have been sanctioned before March 31, 2019.
- There is no minimum income criterion for students to avail of the benefits of this scheme.
- Under the phase I of the scheme, 1546 students each received the one-time subsidy of Rs. 50,000.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman Launches auction Platform ‘eBkray’ for assets attached by banks
- Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman launched a common e-auction platform ‘eBkray’ (eBक्रय), on December 28, 2019, to enable online auction of attached assets by banks transparently and cleanly for the improved realization of value.
- The e-platform eBkray provides a single-window access to information on all the properties up for e-auction, as well as a facility for the comparison of similar properties.
- It is equipped with property search features and navigational links to all PSB e-auction sites, along with photographs and videos of uploaded properties.
- As on December 27, 2019, a total of 35,000 properties had been uploaded on the e-auction platform by PSBs.
- Further, to strengthen banks, the Ministry has approved additional infusion of Rs. 8,855 crore (Rs 4360 crore to Indian Overseas Bank, Rs 2153 crore to Allahabad Bank, Rs 2142 crore to UCO Bank and Rs 200 crore to Andhra Bank), in addition to the recent infusion of Rs. 60,314 crore.
NASA Astronaut Christina Koch Surpasses Peggy Whitson to Create Record for Longest Space Mission by a Woman
- On December 28, 2019, NASA Astronaut Christina Koch created the record for the longest single spaceflight by a woman, which was earlier held by NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson in 2017.
- The 40-year-old surpassed Whitson’s record of 289 days, 5 hours and 1 minute, by having spent more than 300 days in space and she still has six weeks to go before she returns to Earth.
- She will arrive back on Earth in February 2020
- Christina Koch is onboard the International Space Station since 14th March 2019.
Indian Grandmaster Koneru Humpy Beats China’s Lei Tingjie to Become Women’s World Rapid Chess Champion
- Indian Grandmaster Koneru Humpy claimed the FIDE World Women’s Rapid Chess Championship, which was held from December 26-28, 2019 in Moscow, Russia.
- The 32-year-old Indian beat China’s Lei Tingjie, in tie-breaker to win the 12-round Swiss tournament.
- Turkey’s Ekaterina Atalik won bronze.
- Humpy is only the second Indian to win the rapid gold in the current format.
- Before this, Vishwanathan Anand won this title in the open section in 2017.
- In Men’s category, Magnus Carlsen of Norway won the world rapid championship for the third time in his career.
Nagaland Assembly Speaker Vikho-o Yhoshu Passes Away
- Nagaland Legislative Assembly Speaker Vikho-o Yhoshu passed away due to lung cancer. He was 69.
- Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party leader Vikho-o Yhoshu was elected as the Speaker of the 13th Nagaland Legislative Assembly in March 2018.
World’s oldest rhino, Fausta, Passes Away in Tanzania at 57
- A female black rhino, named Fausta, has passed away of natural causes, that was held captive in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area in Tanzania.
- The rhino is believed to the world’s oldest. She was of the age of 57.