13 December 2018 - Daily Current Affairs

1. K Chandrasekhar Rao sworn in as Chief Minister of Telangana

Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) Chief K Chandrasekhar Rao (65-years) took oath as the Chief Minister of the youngest state in the country, Telangana (second time).
Governor ESL Narasimhan administered the oath ceremony at the Raj Bhavan, in Hyderabad.
According to KCR, a full-fledged cabinet will be formed in a few days to come.
TRS won 88 seats of the 119 seats state Assembly.
KCR went ahead for early-poll before the term of the Assembly came to an end when he resigned nine months (on 6th September 2018) before the completion of his term.

Note:

The Telangana Legislative Assembly election was held in Telangana on 7 December 2018 to constitute the second Legislative Assembly.
Telangana Rashtra Samithi (88-seats), Congress (19-seats), TDP (2-seats), All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (7-seats), BJP (1-seat) and All India Forward Bloc (1-seat).

Important Dates

2. Nation pays tributes to martyrs of 2001 Parliament terror attacks

The nation pays homage to the martyrs who sacrificed their lives while defending Parliament House from the dastardly terror attack on this day in 2001.
Leaders of different political parties and MPs paid floral tributes to the martyrs at the plaque in Parliament House.
On this day, two persons from the Parliament Security Service of the Rajya Sabha, five Delhi Police Personnel and a woman constable of the Central Reserve Police Force, laid down their lives while preventing entry of terrorists inside the Parliament House Building.
A gardener of CPWD also lost his life in the attack.

International Affairs

3. President Kovind inaugurates 5th Enterprise India show in Yangon, Myanmar

President Ram Nath Kovind has inaugurated the 5th Enterprise India show in Yangon, Myanmar.
The show hosted by Confederation of Indian Industry and the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce.
The focus of the conference was Small and Medium Enterprises.
Earlier, President offered his tributes at the mazaar of the last emperor of Mughal dynasty in India and offered prayers at famous Kali temple in the city.
President Ram Nath Kovind has dedicated India assisted project ‘Advanced Centre for Agricultural Research & Education’ (ACARE) to the people of Myanmar.
The President also dedicated the Rice Bio-Park to the people of Myanmar.

4. EU Ambassador Opens India’s first CoE at MAHE

Ambassador of the European Union (EU) to India and Bhutan, 'Tomasz Kozlowski' has inaugurated India’s first Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence (established by the European Union) at the Department of European Studies (DES) at Manipal Academy of Higher Education in New Delhi.
This is the fifth time that MAHE has been awarded grants under the Erasmus+ Jean Monnet initiative.
The award comes with a grant of €1,00,000 to pursue India-EU interdisciplinary studies in culture, literature, education and society.

Obituaries

5. Former Kerala Minister CN Balakrishnan passes away

Senior Congress leader and former Kerala minister CN Balakrishnan (87-year) passed away at Amritha hospital in Kochi.
CN Balakrishnan was also the front ranking volunteer and leader of the library movement in the state.
In 2011, he became the Minister of Co-operation, Khadi and village industries in the Oommen Chandy cabinet.

Finance

6. November retail inflation slumps to a 17-month low on easing food prices

Retail inflation eased to a 17-month low in November this year at 2.33%.
According to the provisional data of Ministry of Statistics and Program Implementation released, Retail inflation based on consumer price index (CPI), for October 2018 has been revised to 3.38% (earlier 3.31%).
For November, the retail inflation was at the lowest level recorded since June last year, when it stood at 1.46 per cent.
Industrial output, IIP, of the country, grew at an 11-month high of 8.1% in October 2018 on the back of mining, power, manufacturing sectors and higher offtake of capital and consumer durable goods.
The previous high IIP growth rate was recorded in November last year at 8.5%.

National Affairs

7. Railways commissions 41 projects at cost of Rs 700 crore for Kumbh Mela

Indian Railways has commissioned 41 projects at a cost of 700 crore rupees for the Kumbh Mela in Allahabad.
‘Kumbh Mela’ will begin in Allahabad from January 2019.
About 800 special trains are proposed to be run during the Kumbh Mela from various stations of Allahabad district for the pilgrims coming to the Kumbh Mela.
Four big enclosures to house about ten thousand pilgrims have been constructed at the Allahabad Junction Railway Station.
These enclosures will have vending stalls, water booths, CCTV and ticket counters.

8. Union Govt. formulates Crisis Management Plan to counter cyber attacks

According to Information Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, The Union government has formulated a Crisis Management Plan to counter Cyber-attacks and cyber terrorism.
It will be implemented by all Ministries and Departments of the Centre and the state governments in critical sectors.
The Government has empanelled 76 security audit organisations to ensure information security.
The Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) conducts regular training programmes for network administrators to mitigate cyber-attacks.

9. Delhi Police trains 2 lakh women, enters Limca Book of Records

Delhi Police has entered the Limca Book of Records by training over two lakh women and girls under their self-defence programme in 2017.
The Delhi Police will receive the award in February 2019.
Delhi Police has set a target to train around 3.5 lakh women in 2019 and make them strong to deal with any kind of situation.
The Delhi Police's self-defence programme is carried out by the Special Police Unit For Women and Children and over nine lakh 80 thousand women have been trained till November 2018.
In 2002, the Delhi Police initiated the programme with the training of only 57 women.

Note:

Special Police Unit for Women and Children (SPUWAC), is a special body of the Delhi Police, which aims to safeguard the rights of women and children in the Capital.

10. Home Ministry launches Twitter account ‘@CyberDost’

Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has launched a Twitter account named ‘@CyberDost’ to spread awareness about cybercrimes and normal precautions to be taken.
It is aimed at enhancing people’s basic knowledge about cybercrimes and precautions to be taken for prevention.
This twitter handle will educate people about various channels through which complaints about cyber-crimes can be filed and makes people aware of their duties.

Sports

11. PM hands over tricolour to Arunima Sinha on her expedition to Mount Vinson, Antarctica

Prime Minister Narendra Modi handed over the tricolour flag to Arunima Sinha, marking the beginning of her expedition to Mount Vinson, Antarctica.
Arunima Sinha is the first female Divyang to climb Mount Everest.
Mr Modi lauded her impressive achievements and extended his best wishes for her latest venture.

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