12 December 2019 - Daily Current Affairs

1. Climate activist ‘Greta Thunberg’ wins Time Person of the Year 2019

Swedish climate crisis activist Greta Thunberg (16-years) has been named Time Magazine's youngest ever Person of the Year.
Greta Thunberg is known for her blunt addresses to world leaders.
She is the youngest individual ever named Time Person of the Year.
Earlier this year, Thunberg had been nominated for a Nobel peace prize 2019, recognised for her mobilisation of students in her "Fridays for Future" weekly school strikes.

Note:

Times Person of the Year (called Man of the Year or Woman of the Year until 1999) is an annual issue of the United States news magazine Time.
It features and profiles a person, a group, an idea, or an object that ‘for better or for worse’ has done the most to influence the events of the year".

2. Odisha wins ‘World Habitat Award’ for OLHM- Jaga Mission

Odisha won the ‘World Habitat Award’ for Jaga Mission (Odisha Livable Habitat Mission (OLHM) a slum land titling project executed for the benefit of millions of urban-poor people living in slums.
The Jaga is a society under Housing and Urban Development Department (HUDD), Government of Odisha.
The OLHM-JAGA aims at transforming the slums into livable habitats and under which 52,682 urban poor families living in the slums have been granted land rights certificate.
The Jaga mission (started on 7th May 2018) is being executed by the State Government in association with Tata Trusts and Norman Foster Foundation.

Note:

The award was given by the World Habitat, a UK (United Kingdom) based organization which gives the award annually to recognize innovative housing projects around the world.
The award is conferred to any two projects around the world.

Important Days

3. International Universal Health Coverage Day is being celebrated globally on 12th December.

The Objective of the day is to raise awareness of the need for strong & resilient health systems and universal health coverage with multi-stakeholder partners

The theme for the 2019 UHC Day is “Keep the promise”.

Note:

In 2017 the United Nations proclaimed 12 December as International Universal Health Coverage Day by resolution 72/138.

Source: UN.Org

4. 12th December: International Day of Neutrality

International Day of Neutrality is a United Nations observance held on 12^th December every year.
In international law, a neutral country is a sovereign state that abstains from all participation in a war between other states and maintains an attitude of impartiality toward the belligerents.
It was officially declared by a UN General Assembly resolution adopted in February 2017 and first observed on December 12 of the same year.

International Affairs

5. US, Mexico, Canada sign USMCA trade deal

The representatives from the United States, Mexico and Canada inked a revamped version of their regional trade pact after months of negotiations.
Now, The United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) will go to the countries' legislatures for final approval.
The accord is meant to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), a deal in place since 1994.

6. World's 1st fully electric commercial aircraft takes an inaugural test flight in Canada

The world's first fully-electric commercial aircraft took its inaugural test flight, in Vancouver, Canada.
The technology would mean significant cost savings for airlines, not to mention zero emissions.
The range is enough to start the revolution, adding that batteries and electric motors will eventually be developed to power longer flights.
The company designed the plane's motor and worked in partnership with Harbour Air.

7. International Seminar cum Exhibition on Naval weapon Systems ‘ NAVARMS-19’

The fourth edition of International Seminar cum Exhibition on Naval Weapon Systems ‘NAVARMS-19’ started at Institute for Defence Studies and Analysis, Development Enclave, New Delhi (12-13 Dec 2019).
The two-day event will provide an opportunity for the exchange of ideas, create awareness and identify emerging prospects for Indian/International defence industry in the domain of Naval Weapon Systems.
The theme of this day is to “Make in India - Fight Category: Opportunities and Imperatives”.

Note:

NAVARMS is the only international seminar and exhibition on Naval Weapon Systems conducted in the country to invite all the stakeholders in life cycle management of Naval Weapons.

Appointment

8. Sugandh Rajaram appointed as India’s next envoy to the Republic of Ghana

C. Sugandh Rajaram (IFS officer- 2001) has been appointed as the next High Commissioner of India to the Republic of Ghana.
He will replace Birender Singh Yadav.
Presently, Sugandh Rajaram is the Consul General, Consulate General of India to Southern Germany.

9. Dhanlaxmi Bank's Board appoints V Viswanathan as additional director

V Viswanathan has been appointed as an Additional Director on the Board of Dhanlaxmi Bank.
Viswanathan retired as Chief General Manager of State Bank of Hyderabad in 2017.
Dhanlaxmi Bank Ltd is an old private sector bank headquartered in Thrissur City, Kerala, India.

10. PUMA signs Sunil Chhetri as brand ambassador

German multinational brand PUMA has announced Sunil Chhetri as its new brand ambassador for three -years.
With this deal, Chhetri has joined the brand’s roster of global players like Antoine Griezmann, Romelu Lukaku, Luis Suarez and Sergio Aguero among others.
Sunil Chhetri is the captain of the Indian national football team and Bengaluru Football Club.
Currently, Chhetri is the second-highest goal-scorer in international football after Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo.
Sunil Chhetri was also conferred with the Arjuna award in 2011 and Padma Shri in 2019.

Note:

A brand ambassador is a person who is hired by an organization or company to represent a brand in a positive light and by doing so help to increase brand awareness and sales.

11. Salman Khan appointed as the brand ambassador of Pepsi

Food and beverage company PepsiCo has appointed Bollywood actor Salman Khan as brand ambassador for its flagship Pepsi brand in India.
The commercial will be launched in 2020 and will take up the “SWAG” themed campaign which was launched in the summer of 2019.
Previously Salman Khan was the brand ambassador of Pepsico’s rival company Coca-Cola’s popular ThumsUp and also as the brand ambassador of Parle Agro-backed soft drink Appy Fizz.
Previously, He also endorsed PepsiCo’s Mountain Dew drink.

12. Indian Actor, Suniel Shetty becomes the Brand ambassador of NADA

Bollywood actor Suniel Shetty has been appointed as the Brand Ambassador of National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA).
The appointment took place in the presence of Kiren Rijiju, Minister of State (MoS) for Youth Affairs and Sports.

Note:

The National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) is the national organisation responsible for promoting, coordinating, and monitoring the doping control program in sports in all its forms in India.
NADA includes scientists and representatives from the Indian Olympic Association (IOA).

National Affairs

13. The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill (CAB) passed by the Rajya Sabha

The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill (CAB) passed by the Rajya Sabha.
As many as 125 lawmakers voted in the favour of the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill and 99 against it.
Now, The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill will go to the President for his assent.
Earlier, the citizenship bill passed by the Lok Sabha with a majority of 311 votes against 80.

Know about Citizenship (Amendment) Bill

The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill proposes to grant citizenship to the non-Muslims Hindus, Sikhs, Christians, Buddhist, Jains and Parsis -- from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh who arrived in India before December 31, 2014.
Earlier, the duration of the immigrants' residency was 11 years. The amended bill has reduced it to five years.
The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill would not apply to tribal areas of Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Tripura as included in Sixth Schedule of the Constitution and the area covered under the Inner Limit notified under the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation, 1873

Sports

14. Sports Minister announces cash awards to SAG medallists

Union Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju has announced a cash reward of 1.5 lakh rupees each for the 174 gold medallists of the South Asian Games held in Nepal.
The silver winners will receive one lakh rupees and bronze winners 50,000 rupees each.
The South Asian Games concluded with India topping the table winning 312 medals (174 gold, 93 silver and 45 bronze) medals.
The Union government will have a structured cash reward policy for medallists in South Asian Games, like other multi-sporting events like the Olympics, Asian Games and Commonwealth Games.

15. G S Lakshmi becomes first woman Referee in Men’s ODI match

Former Indian Cricketer Gandikota Sarva Lakshmi (51-years) has become the first woman referee in the Men’s ODI (One Day International) match held in Sharjah Cricket Stadium, in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The match is between the UAE and the United States of America (USA).
Lakshmi was appointed as the first woman in the ICC (International Cricket Council) International Panel of Match Referees in May 2019.
Gandikota Sarva Lakshmi has overseen three women’s ODI matches, 16 men’s T20 Internationals and seven women’s T20 Internationals.

Note:

A match referee's responsibility is to ensure that the ICC Cricket Code of Conduct is upheld during the game, to assess any breaches of the Code, and to hand out penalties for any breaches.