Latest Current Affairs – December 24 & 25 2018
1. PM Modi inaugurates India’s longest road-cum-rail bridge Bogibeel
Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Bogibeel Bridge, which is India’s longest road-cum-rail bridge, in Assam’s Dibrugarh. The 4.94-km-long bridge will connect the north and south banks of the Brahmaputra and reduce travel time from Assam to Arunachal Pradesh to four hours. It has a serviceable period of around 120 years.
2. Centre to rename 3 islands of Andaman and Nicobar: Report
The Centre has reportedly decided to rename Ross Island, Neil Island and Havelock Island in Andaman and Nicobar as Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Island, Shaheed Dweep and Swaraj Dweep respectively. PM Narendra Modi is likely to announce it during his upcoming visit to Port Blair. The occasion is to mark the 75th anniversary of Netaji’s visit to the islands.
3. Ex-Union Minister Jai Narain Prasad Nishad passes away at 88
Former Union Minister Captain Jai Narain Prasad Nishad passed away at the age of 88, owing to prolonged illness. He was reportedly undergoing treatment at Max Hospital in Delhi’s Saket, where he took his last breath. Nishad was a four-time Lok Sabha member from Muzaffarpur constituency of Bihar, and served as a member of Rajya Sabha between 2004-2008.
4. PM Modi unveils projects worth over ₹14,000 crore in Odisha
PM Narendra Modi has inaugurated or laid foundation for projects worth over ₹14,000 crore in Odisha, including a IIT Bhubaneswar campus that cost ₹1,260 crore. He laid foundation for Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research campus which is estimated to cost ₹1,583 crore. He also laid foundation for a Paradip-Hyderabad gas pipeline, that is expected to cost ₹3,800 crore.
5. Trump names Patrick Shanahan as acting Defence Secretary
US President Donald Trump has announced that Deputy Defence Secretary Patrick Shanahan would take over as the acting Defence Secretary from January 1, replacing Jim Mattis two months earlier than had been expected. Mattis had said he was quitting, effective February 28, after falling out with Trump over his foreign policy, including the decision to withdraw all troops from Syria.
6. Nick Jonas voted GQ’s Most Stylish Man of 2018
Nick Jonas has been voted as the Most Stylish Man of 2018 in a poll conducted by international men’s magazine GQ. Sharing his childhood picture and a collage of his latest pictures, Nick wrote, “From back then to now. I’ve been focused on one thing, and one thing only… being stylish. Not just stylish… being the most stylish.”
7. F1 drivers choose Lewis Hamilton as 2018’s top driver
Formula One drivers have chosen Mercedes’ British driver Lewis Hamilton as the best driver of the 2018 season. The Mercedes driver registered 11 victories alongside 11 pole positions and 17 podium finishes from 21 races. Red Bull’s Dutch driver Max Verstappen was second in the list while departing Spanish driver Fernando Alonso was placed third.
8. Veteran CPI(M) leader Nirupam Sen passes away at 72
Veteran Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader and former West Bengal minister Nirupam Sen passed away in Kolkata aged 72. Sen was suffering from neurological and kidney related ailments and reportedly passed away following a cardiac arrest. Sen had handled the industrial reconstruction, planning and power portfolios in West Bengal under the Buddhadeb Bhattacharya cabinet in 2001.
9. PM Modi announces new award for national integration
PM Narendra Modi announced the institution of ‘Sardar Patel Award for National Integration’, which would be given for “outstanding efforts to further national integration”. PM Modi said that the award will be a “fitting tribute” to Patel who devoted his life towards “unifying India”. He added that the award will inspire people to work towards national integration.
10. Indian Railways bags 17 awards for energy conservation
Indian Railways bagged 17 awards at the ‘National Energy Conservation Awards (NECA) 2018’ held in New Delhi. Out of the five categories, Indian Railways participated in three categories- railway stations, hospitals and institutions. The awards are given by the Bureau of Energy Efficiency under the Ministry of Power to various institutions for adopting energy efficiency measures.
11. Govt bank customers paid ₹10,000 crore in fine in 3.5 years
State-run banks have collected over ₹10,000 crore from customers for not maintaining minimum account balance and exceeding daily ATM transaction limits in last 3.5 years. RBI has permitted banks to fix charges on various services, as per their board-approved policy. There is, however, no minimum balance requirement for accounts opened under Jan Dhan Yojana and Basic Savings Bank Deposit Accounts.
12. Burundi names Gitega as new capital
Burundi confirmed the small central city of Gitega the country’s new political capital.
About Burundi
- Capital: Gitega
- Currency: Euro
- President: Frank-Walter Steinmeier
- Language: Kirundi, French, and English
13. Andhra, Himachal and Madhya Pradesh best performing states under maternity benefit programme PMMVY: MoSWCD
Minister of State for the Women and Child Development Ministry Virendra Kumar released the performance of states and UTs under the maternity benefit programme named Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana.
Andhra Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh topped the charts as the best performing states. According to the finding, 51.70 lakh beneficiaries are covered annually under the PMMVY.
14. South Indian Education Society award for Manmohan Singh
Former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh received South Indian Education Society (SIES) Sri Chandrasekharendra Saraswati National Eminence Award as part of the Kanchi Mahaswami festival.He was awarded for his contribution to the field of public leadership.
Professor Dr Manjul Bhargava, Niti Aayog member Dr V K Saraswat and Swami Chidanand Saraswati were awarded for their work in the fields of community leadership, science and technology and social thinkers, respectively.
15. Mamata Banerjee awarded the Skoch Chief Minister of the Year 2018 Award
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has been chosen as the best chief minister of the country by the Skoch Group. The chief minister of Bangla was given the award on the basis of the State’s performance as measured on five parameters – governance, culture, finance, urban development and rural development.
The state’s Kanyashree scheme for the girl child has earned Banerjee much acclaim and the highest public service honour from the United Nations. In the field of agriculture, West Bengal has won five consecutive Krishi Karman awards and bagged the IPPAI Award for rural electrification in the state.
Besides Banerjee the Skoch Group, has also awarded Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu with the ‘SKOCH Sprinter of the Year’ and Commerce and Industry and civil aviation minister Suresh Prabhu as the ‘Steady Reformer’.
16. Indians stood at 12th rank in the misperception index
Indians placed at 12th rank in the “misperception index” according to the MORI Perils of Perception Survey 2018, done by Ipsos India, an independent market research company. It behind several countries like Italy, Singapore, Hong Kong, South Korea, Chile, and Argentina, among others.
Thailand, Mexico, Turkey, Malaysia, and Brazil were ranked first in five and performed poorer than India. “misperception index” is based on questions which asked to people and it revealed the wide chasm between what people perceived and what was real.
17. NGT bans mining within 10 km of Sariska Tiger Reserve
The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has banned all mining activities within 10 km of the Sariska Tiger Reserve in Rajasthan. The order was issued following a plea challenging the environmental clearance granted to 24 mines within the 10 km radius.
The Supreme Court in 2006 had prohibited mining within 1 km of national parks and sanctuaries.
18. BVP Rao elected as president of Archery Association of India
BVP Rao was elected as the President of Archery Association of India(AAI), the election was held under the Supervision of former Chief Election Commissioner SY Quraishi. Maha Singh was elected as secretary of Archery Association of India,D K Vidyarthi was elected as the treasurer.
Sunil Sharma was elected senior vice-president and Rajendra Singh Tomar and Purnima Mahato will be the vice presidents. BVP Rao 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.
19. Nightingale of Assam singer Dipali Borthakur passed away at 77
She was a Padma Shri recipient in 1998 and was also known as “Asomiya Lata Mangeshkar.” She was honored with The Axiom Srestho by The Telegraph, Silipi Bota (2010) and Aideu Handique Silpi Award (2012) among others.
20. Indian Railways launches new EMU train with 130 kmph speed
Railway passengers will soon get another high-tech train from the stable of the Integral Coach Factory (ICF). The new train –Electrical Multiple Unit (EMU) –commonly known as an electric train, running at a speed of 130 Kmph is ready for its trial launch. The EMU train with higher passenger capacity already set off for Delhi (December 19), Sudhanshu Mani, General Manager.
21. Fifteenth Global SME Business Summit in New Delhi
The 15th edition of a two day Global SME Business Summit was organized by the Ministry of MSME and Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in association with Government e-marketplace in New Delhi. The theme of the event was ‘Building Partnerships through Global Value Chains.’
The agenda of the summit was to bring together renowned speakers with unbounded experience and expertise, a global audience, and various national and international SME stakeholders to integrate Indian MSMEs into the Global Value Chains (GVCs).
