DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS: DECEMBER 16 &17, 2018 -

DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS: DECEMBER 16&17, 2018

NATIONAL

India’s Kaiga nuclear plant sets world record in operation :

The Kaiga Atomic Power Station in Karnataka, developed using Indian technology, has set the world record for the longest uninterrupted operation.
The 220 megawatt unit, operated by Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd, has produced power continuously for 941 days, breaking the world record of 940 days held by Heysham-Unit 2 of the United Kingdom.
The record is valid across all types of nuclear power plants across the world.The record was earlier held by Unit 2 of Heysham of the United Kingdom, which operated non-stop for 940 days.
The same unit had set a world record in October this year, by operating uninterrupted for 894 days among Pressurized Heavy Water Reactors.

INTERNATIONAL

Australia Recognizes West Jerusalem as Capital of Israel :

Australia announced that it now recognizes West Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, and will move its Tel Aviv embassy once a peace settlement is reached.USA under the leadership of Donald Trump already recognized the disputed city as the Capital of Israel.
The announcement makes Australia one of a handful of countries to recognize part of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, and represents a change in the country’s long-held policy on the negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians.

India and France agree to fight terrorism jointly :

India and France have agreed on deepening their strategic partnership through cooperation in the Indo-Pacific, civil nuclear, defence and security, space, trade and economic sectors.
The agreement was reached during talks between External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Yves Le Drian in New Delhi.
Paris and New Delhi are also working together on multiple international forums including Financial Action Task Force (FATF).

India announces $1.4 billion package for Maldives :

India announced a $1.4 billion package for the Maldives to meet its immediate budgetary as well as some medium-term requirements.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the package that includes soft loans after talks with visiting Maldives President Ibrahim Solih in New Delhi.
Both sides signed four agreements that will ensure greater cooperation between India and the Maldives with India covered a wide swath of issues such as health, education, and defence.

STATIC : Maldives

Capital: Male

Currency: Maldivian rufiyaa.

Dutch build artificial islands to bring wildlife back :

A new artificial archipelago of five islets was created in Markermeer to bring wildlife back, one of Europe’s largest freshwater lakes under an ambitious project.
The five islets were built in two and a half years and have already served as a resting place for 30,000 swallows this year.
It has already attracted greylag goose, common tern, and several species of waders.The project was initiated by Natuurmonumenten, a Dutch non-governmental organization working for the preservation of nature. The project cost around 60 million euros (USD 68 million).

Indian Navy to inaugurate IFC for Indian Ocean Region :

Indian Navy is all set to establish the information fusion centre (IFC) for the Indian Ocean Region at the Navy’s Information Management and Analysis Centre (IMAC) in Gurugram.
The IFC-IOR is established with the vision of strengthening maritime security in the region and beyond, by building a common coherent maritime situation picture and acting as a maritime information hub for the region.
The centre is aimed at collecting the data on commercial shipping or ‘white shipping’ in the Indian Ocean region. This will improve the Indian Navy’s ‘Maritime Domain Awareness’.

PM Modi to inaugurate new campus of IIT Bhubaneswar :

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to visit Odisha on December 24 during which he will inaugurate a new campus of IIT-Bhubaneswar and launch a host of other projects.
Besides dedicating the new IIT Bhubaneswar campus, Modi will lay the foundation stone for IISER, Berhampur.The prime minister will also lay the foundation stone and inaugurate several other development projects in Odisha.
On the occasion of bicentenary celebration of the historic Paika Rebellion, PM Modi will also release commemorative coin, postage stamp and inaugurate the Chair at Utkal University in memory of country’s first independence movement.

Note :The Paika Rebellion is also called as Paika Bidroha

APPOINTMENTS

Bhupesh Baghel to be sworn in as Chhattisgarh CM :

Chhattisgarh Congress president Bhupesh Baghel will be sworn-in as the chief minister of chhattisgarh to be held in the capital Raipur.
Baghel is an experienced administrator who was a minister during undivided Madhya Pradesh and later in Chhattisgarh in Congress government and is also known for his organisational skills.
Mr.Baghel will be the third Chief Minister Chhattisgarh since its inception in the year 2000.

Ramphal Pawar appointed as Director in NCRB :

The government appointed Ramphal Pawar as the new director of National Crime Record Bureau.
An IPS officer from the West Bengal cadre, Mr Pawar was Joint Secretary in NATGRID.

Ranil Wickremesinghe sworn in as 23rd Prime Minister of Sri Lanka :

Ranil Wickremesinghe was sworn in as the 23rd Prime Minister of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka before President Maithripala Sirisena at the Presidential Secretariat.
Mr. Wickremsinghe was removed as Prime minister in October and was replaced by Mahinda Rajapaksa who resigned after failing to garner a majority in Parliament.

AWARDS & HONOURS

Shree Saini from USA crowned Miss India Worldwide 2018 :

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 United Kingdom were respectively declared first and second runner ups in the 27th annual global pageant for people of Indian origin.
Shree, 22, who was told by the doctors that she can never dance after being installed with a pacemaker at the age of 12.

NITI Aayog to Organise the Third Edition of the Women Transforming India Awards:

The NITI Aayog is organising the Third Edition of the Women Transforming India Awards 2018 and is launching the upgraded portal of the Women Entrepreneurship Platform (WEP).
Event will also mark the launch of the upgraded Women Entrepreneurship Platform.The Vice President Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu will be the Chief Guest and will give away the Women Transforming India Awards 2018 and launch the WEP upgraded portal.
The Women Transforming India Awards were instituted to recognise and celebrate stories of exemplary women from across India. This year’s theme is “Women and Entrepreneurship”and fifteen winners have been chosen through an extensive six-month-long process to identify fascinating and inspiring stories of women entrepreneurs.
The Women Entrepreneurship Platform seeks to transform the entrepreneurial ecosystem in the country and shall be a one-stop resource centre for future and budding women entrepreneurs.

STATIC : NITI Aayog

Vice-Chairman- Rajiv Kumar,

CEO- Amitabh Kant;

Ashok Amritraj honoured by the French Government :

Producer Ashok Amritraj was honoured with the French Knight of the National Order of Merit for his contribution to the world of cinema and Indo-French film industry.
The award was presented to him at the Closing ceremony of 2-day Indo-French Professional Meeting for the Film and Television Industry held in Mumbai, India.
Mr. Amritraj has been the producer of Hollywood films such as Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance with Nicholas Cage and 99 Homes starring Andrew Garfield.

Philippine’s Catriona Elisa Gray Crowned Miss Universe 2018 :

Catriona Elisa Gray from Philippines was crowned Miss Universe 2018 at a gala ceremony, where representatives from South Africa(Tamaryn Green) and Venezuela (Sthefany Gutiérrez) secured the first runner-up and second runner-up spots at the pageant which was held in Bangkok, Thailand.
She was crowned by Miss Universe 2017 Demi Leigh Nel-Peters, who comes from South Africa.Born in Australia, Catriona Gray, 24, entered her first pageant at the age of 5 and moved to the United States to pursue music at the Berklee College of Music, Boston, Massachusetts.

SPORTS

Belgium Beat Netherlands In Shootout To Win Hockey World Cup :

Belgium, Olympic silver medallists, defeated Netherlands 3-2 via a penalty shoot-out to win the FIH Hockey World Cup at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar.Belgium beat Netherlands in penalty shootout to become the sixth nation to win the title.
Both the teams, goalless at full time, were at level 2-2 after five penalties.It was a great day for Belgium hockey as the country registered its second biggest international title after the Olympics silver in Rio in 2016.

STATIC: Belgium

Capital: City of Brussels

Currency: Euro.

P.V Sindhu Becomes first Indian To Win BWF World Tour Finals :

PV Sindhu beat Nozomi Okuhara in straight games to clinch her maiden BWF World Tour Finals title.
This was critical to the Indian shuttler’s cause as Okuhara was made to toil and given no breathing space as PV Sindhu claimed a 21-19, 21-17 win in the final for her first title of the year.

Joshna Chinappa wins National Squash Women’s Singles Title :

Joshna Chinappa and Mahesh Mangaonkar bagged the women’s and men’s singles titles respectively at the National Squash Championships in New Delhi. Both of these wins were memorable for the champions for different reasons.
Joshna Chinappa won the tittle after she defeated Urwashi Joshi in the final match of the competition by 9-11, 11-1, 11-6, 11-5.
Squash star Joshna Chinappa equalled Bhuvneshwari Kumari’s record of 16 national titles by edging out Urvashi Joshi. Mahesh Mangaonkar won his maiden crown on the concluding day of the premier domestic event.