Test: December 2019 Weekly Current Affair - 2 - Current Affairs MCQ

On December 4, 2019, According to the 15th edition of  “Global Climate Risk Index (CRI) 2020: Who Suffers Most from Extreme Weather Events? Weather-Related Loss Events in 2018 and 1999 to 2018” released by Germanwatch (a non-profit, non-governmental organization based in Bonn, Germany), India ranked 5th in the global list of most climate-affected country in 2018 with the CRI score of 18.17 .India’s rank has worsened from the 14th position in 2017 due to severe rainfalls, followed by heavy flooding and landslides that killed over 1000 people.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced its 5th Bi-Monthly Monetary Policy Rates for 2019-20 in Mumbai , Maharashtra. The three-day (December 3 – 5, 2019) policy review meeting by the 6 members of Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) was headed by RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das with the members -Dr. Chetan Ghate, Dr. Pami Dua, Dr. Ravindra H. Dholakia, Dr. Michael Debabrata Patra, Shri Bibhu Prasad Kanungo.    
Current rates:

The Reserve Bank has sharply reduced the GDP growth forecast for the current financial year –FY 20 (or 2019) to 5 % from the earlier estimate of 6.1 % due to weak domestic and external demand.

11th “INDRA 2019” which is a joint tri services exercise between India and Russia is to be held from December 10-19 2019. Both the nation’s armed forces will jointly evolve drills to defeat the scourge of terror under the United Nations(UN) mandate. Esprit-de-corps and goodwill will be the key areas during the exercise which will facilitate further strengthening of bonds between the defence forces of India and Russia.

On December 5, 2019, the Rajya Sabha Chairman and Vice President of India Shri Muppavarapu Venkaiah Naidu announced a 14-member panel coordinated by Congress leader Jairam Ramesh to study the issues related to pornographic content on the internet and social media platforms. The panel will prepare a report regarding it within 1 month.

On December 5, 2019, Harsimrat Kaur Badal, the Union Minister for Food Processing has inaugurated the Central India’s 1st Avantee mega Food Park spread over 51 acres in Dewas, Madhya Pradesh (MP).It was built with a cost of about 150 crore rupees. Gram, wheat, soyabean and other grains and vegetables will be Processed in park. Warehouses will also be opened in Agar, Indore, Dhar, Ujjain and in next phases.

On December 5, 2019, India’s central Bank, the Reserve Bank of India(RBI) has released the final guidelines on the facility to apply ‘on- tap’ for licenses to Small Finance Banks (SFBs). Under the decree, the minimum paid-up voting equity capital has been doubled to Rs 200 crore from Rs 100 crore. The minimum required capital condition of Rs 200 crore will not be applicable to the entities operating from primary (urban) cooperative banks (UCBs), non-banking financial company, micro financial institution (MFIs), local regional bank/payment bank. However, UCBs transiting into SFBs will require of net worth of Rs 100 crore, which will have to be increased to Rs 200 crore within five years.

On December 5, 2019, India’s central Bank, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has taken a big step to promote the peer-2-peer (P2P) sector by increasing the total loan limit among such lenders by five times to Rs 50 lakh. Right now the aggregate limit is 10 lakh rupees for all borrowers and lenders on all P2P platforms. Apart from this, a single borrower can only take up to a maximum of Rs 50,000 from a lender on all NBFC (Non Banking Financial Company)-P2P platforms.

On 1st December 2019, Hage Gottfried Geingob (78), Namibia’s third leader since the country freed itself from South Africa in 1990 has been named as President of Namibia for the second term with 56.3% votes. Hage Geingob was preceded by Hifikepunye Pohamba in the year 2015.

King Carl XVI Gustaf Folke Hubertus and Queen Silvia Renate Sommerlath of Sweden paid a 5-day official visit to India from December 2-6,2019 at the invitation of President Ram Nath Kovind. They were received by Member of Parliament(MP) Babul Supriyo at the New Delhi airport. This is the 3rd time they both have visited India. Earlier they visited in the year 1993 and 2005.

The king and queen of Sweden inaugurated the 14 MLD (megalitres per day) Sewage Treatment Plant(STP) Sarai village in Haridwar, Uttarakhand.  Sarai treatment plant: The Sarai treatment plant is the 1st plant completed under Hybrid Annuity (HAM) Based Public Private Partnership Model and the cost was about Rs 41.40 crores. The plant is based on aerobic biological process, Sequential Batch Reactor (SBR) process.  These types of processes are capable of removing nutrients during treatment and will also be 100% ecofriendly. Under the HAM project the plant will be treated for about 15 years upto 2035 by the same developer for efficient performance.

On 6th December 2019, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has released the list of best performing Police Stations across the country for the year 2019. Aberdeen police station from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Balasinor police station from Gujarat and Ajk Burhanpur from Madhya Pradesh take the 1st, 2nd and 3rd places respectively. The grading system of the police stations comes after the directions of Prime Minister Narendra Modi while addressing the DsGP (State Police Chief) during the 2015 Conference held in Kutch, Gujarat. Top 5 Police Stations from the list:

On December 5, 2019, The 15th Finance Commission headed by economist & former Indian Administrative Service officer (IAS) Shri .Nand Kishore (NK) Singh and its members S/Shri Ajay Narayan Jha, Ashok Lahiri, Ramesh Chand, Anoop Singh and Secretary Shri Arvind Mehta has submitted its report for the financial year (FY) 2020-21 to President Ram Nath Kovind. The Commission sets the formula for sharing of tax and other resources between the Center and the States.President of India constituted the 15th Finance Commission on 27 November 2017 under Article 280 of the Constitution.

On December 7, 2019, With a view to promote digital transactions, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has allowed the round-the-clock (24×7) transactions facility under the National Electronic Funds Transfer (NEFT) system to customers on all days including weekends and holidays from December 16,2019. This direction was issued by RBI under Section 10(2) read with Section 18 of the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007 (Act 51 of 2007).

On December 6, 2019 India’s leading stock exchange the National Stock Exchange(NSE) has appointed public interest Director Girish Chandra Chaturvedi as its new chairman. The appointment was done after market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India’s (SEBI) approval. Chaturvedi replaced Ashok Chawla, who resigned as a chairman in January 2019.Shri Chaturvedi who is a retired IAS Indian Administrative Service) officer has previously served as Secretary of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MoP&NG).

Syed Modi International championship is a Badminton tournament.The tournament was in news because,it held from 26^th November to 1st December, 2019 in Babu Banarasi Das Indoor Stadium, Lucknow, India. Indian shuttler Sourabh Verma bagged silver medal in Men’s singles title in this tournament.Wang Tzu-wei(Taiwan) won the men’s singles title.

Kulasekarapattinam is located in Tamil Nadu. It was in news because Government is planning to set up a new rocket launch pad in Tamil Nadu. Currently, the Indian Space Research organisation (Isro) has two launch pads at Sriharikotta, Andhra Pradesh.

Jewar International Airport is located in Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh. It was in news recently because the Zurich Airports win bid to build, operate Jewar airport for 40 years .

Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy is associated with Cricket. Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy concluded recently in which Karnataka retains title after edging TN by one run.

Motera cricket stadium, which is set to become largest in world is build in Ahmedabad, Gujarat .The Motera cricket stadium was built after the old Sardar Patel stadium, with a seating capacity of 53,000, was pulled down in 2015. It will become the game’s largest arena in the world. Built at a cost of Rs 700 crore, the new structure has a seating capacity of 1,10,000 spectators. The Motera stadium was designed by M/s Populus, the architecture firm that designed Australia’s Melbourne Cricket Ground — MCG is currently the biggest cricket stadium in the world with a seating capacity of 1,00,024.

UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik) scheme is the one launched with the objective of “letting the common citizen of the country fly”.This was in news recently because Government has launched the 4th round of Regional Connectivity Scheme – UDAN (Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik) to further enhance the connectivity to remote and regional areas of the country. Civil Aviation Ministry yesterday said, the focus in this round will be North East Region, Hilly States, Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh and Islands.

On 1st December 2019, the 20th edition of the Hornbill festival began in Heritage Kisama, an Amphitheatre in Kohima, Nagaland, it is also the 57th Statehood Day of Nagaland. The festival is organized by Nagaland Government and is celebrated for the promotion of tourism and for the exhibition of the state’s tradition and culture.

On December 1, 2019, Odisha Governor Ganeshi Lal has inaugurated the 5-day long 30th edition of Konark festival, a showcase of Odisha’s art, culture and tradition has started in Odisha. The theme of the festival is based on eco-tourism, culture, Fairs, women empowerment, and no to plastic and heritage.

France is considering a request for early delivery of Meteor air-to-air missiles that will give India the firepower to take on US supplied AMRAAMs used by the Pakistan Air Force to target its fighter jets the day after the Balakot airstrikes in February. The beyond-visual-range (BVR) missiles, which will outgun all other air forces in the region, were to come by late 2020 but an Indian request for at least 10 missiles in advance with the delivery of the first set of Rafale fighter jets is under consideration, said people aware of the matter.