Current Affairs December 12&13, 2017

NATIONAL

Government launches new initiatives for Universal Health Coverage

Shri J P Nadda launches new initiatives on Universal Health Coverage Day.The Union Health Minister and MoS (Finance) launched “LaQshya” – Labour Room Quality Improvement Initiative and mHealth- a Safe Delivery Mobile Application for health workers.

The Government has also announced transforming 1.5 lakh sub health centres to Health and Wellness centres. Universal Health Coverage Day is being observed on December 12.

Constituency of Shri J P Nadda: Himachal Pradesh, Rajya Sabha


Ravi Shankar Prasad launches first NIC CERT

Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad, Minister of Law & Justice and Electronics & Information Technology inaugurated the “NIC-CERT”, a setup of National Informatics Centre to prevent and predict cyber attacks on government utilities. It was launched in New Delhi.

NIC-CERT has been set up with the objective of creating a comprehensive framework that integrates world-class security components and inbuilt threat intelligence for detection, prevention and incident response.

Constituency of Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad: Bihar- Rajya Sabha


15th Meeting of RIC Foreign Ministers held in New Delhi

The 15th Russia, India, China (RIC) Foreign Ministerial meeting was held in New Delhi. The three foreign ministers will exchange views on major international and regional issues of common concern and deepen trilateral pragmatic cooperation.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China Wang Yi along with External Affairs Minister Smt. Sushma Swaraj discussed in the meeting.


Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra tops in highest number of ‘cyber-crimes’

Uttar Pradesh stands on top of recording highest number of cyber crimes in India followed by Maharashtra.

As per the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data, total 2,380 cyber crime cases were registered in Maharashtra during 2016. The corresponding data for the same period for Uttar Pradesh is 2,639. Karnataka is on the third rank with 1,101 cases of cyber crimes of the same period.

Uttar Pradesh

Capital: Lucknow

Chief Minister: Yogi Adityanath

Governor: Shri Ram Naik


INTERNATIONAL

China Starts World’s Biggest Floating Solar Project

A unit of China Three Gorges Corp. is building a 1 billion yuan ($151 million) floating solar power plant, the world’s biggest, in the nation’s eastern province of Anhui. The project features panels fixed to floats on the surface of a lake.

China Three Gorges New Energy Co. started building the 150-megawatt project in July and part of the plant was connected to the grid.

China

Capital:Beijing

Currency: Renminbi

President: Xi Jinping


USA President Signs USD 692 billion defence budget

US President Donald Trump signed a 692 billion dollar defence budget. The budget would give legislative authority to implement his South Asia strategy and authorise critical missile capabilities to confront North Korea’s threats.

The National Defence Authorisation Act NDAA authorises $626 billion of the base budget resources for the Department of Defence and the national security programmes of the Department of Energy, providing an additional $66 billion for Overseas Contingency Operations.

USA

Capital:Washington, D.C.

Currency: Dollar

President:Donald Trump


UNWTO/UNESCO World Conference on Tourism and Culture held in Muscat

The second UN World Tourism Organization/UNESCO World Conference on Tourism and Culture was held in Muscat, Capital city of Oman.The Minister of State for Culture (Independent Charge) and Environment, Forest & Climate Change, Dr Mahesh Sharma led the Indian delegation.

The conference was focused on governance models, tourism development and protection of cultural heritage, culture and tourism in urban development and creativity, and exploring cultural landscape in tourism as a vehicle for sustainable development in destinations worldwide.


Diddy Tops the List of 2017’s Highest-Paid Musicians

Musician Diddy was on the top of Forbes’ annual world’s highest-paid musician. The list is based on pretax income from June 1, 2016, through June 1, 2017.The Top 5 Musicians on the list are-

  1. Diddy     ($130 M),
  2. Beyoncé ($105 M),
  3. Drake     ($94 M),
  4. The Weeknd ($92 M),
  5. Coldplay ($88 M).

AWARDS AND HONOURS

Venkaiah Naidu conferred ‘Yeraringan’ Award to Prof. M.S. Swaminathan

The Vice President of India, Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu conferred ‘Yeraringan’ Award to Prof. M.S. Swaminathan, in Chennai. Prof. M.S. Swaminathan, transformative leader who has inspired many scientists to focus on the problem of Indian agriculture.

The Governor of Tamil Nadu, Shri Banwarilal Purohit was present on the occasion. He has shown to the entire world how research can reach the farms and transform farmers’ lives.


ICAN receives 2017 Nobel Peace Prize

The Geneva-based International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) received the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize at ceremony held in Oslo, Norway. ICAN Executive Director Beatrice Fihn and Setsuko Thurlow received the award.

ICAN won the prize for drawing attention to the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of any use of nuclear weapons and leading efforts to realize the U.N. treaty to ban nuclear weapons adopted in July.


APPOINTMENTS

Nakul Chopra Elected as BARC India Chairman

Nakul Chopra, President of AAAI and Senior Advisor, Public is Communications elected as the next Chairman of BARC, Broadcast Audience Research Council India. He is the third chairman of BARC India, succeeds Viacom18 Group CEO Sudhanshu Vats.

BARC (Broadcast Audience Research Council) India is an industry body set up to design, commission and supervise an accurate television audience measurement system for India.


SPORTS

India bags 4 Youth Olympic Games quotas, 21 Medals at Asian Championship

India bagged 21 medals at the 10th Asian Championship 10m Rifle/Pistol at Wako City Japan and also booked 4 Youth Olympic Games quotas.

Saurabh Chaudhary and Manu Bhaker booked quota places for the 2018 Youth Olympic Games (YOG) by winning a gold and a silver each. Chaudhary won both the individual as well as the Team gold in the men’s 10m Air Pistol Youth event, while Bhaker clinched a silver in the women’s 10m Air Pistol Youth. India claimed another silver in junior women’s 10m Air Pistol.


OBITUARY

Veteran Journalist Sukharanjan Sengupta Passes Away

Veteran journalist Sukharanjan Sengupta Passes away. He had worked for Bengali dailies Jugantar and Ananda Bazar Patrika in his long career spanning over six decades.


READ MORE:

Current Affairs December 10&11, 2017

Current Affairs December 9, 2017

Current Affairs December 8, 2017