14 December 2019 - Daily Current Affairs

14 December 2019 - Daily Current Affairs

1. British PM Boris Jhonson wins General Elections in the UK

• In Britain, the ruling Conservative party led by Prime Minister Boris Johnson is all set to win an overall majority in the snap elections.
• Conservative Party gets 365 out of 650 seats in the lower House of Commons.
• Labour Party get 203, the Liberal Democrats 11 and the Brexit Party none.
• In the United Kingdom, 15 Indian-origin politicians have entered the House of Commons in the historic general election.
• Johnson had campaigned on a promise to get Brexit done vowing to end years of political turmoil over Britain's future that has weighed on the economy and divided the nation.
• The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom.

Party	Leader	Seats
Conservative Party	Boris Johnson	365
Labour Party	Jeremy Corbyn	203
Scottish National Party	Nicola Sturgeon	48
Liberal Democrats	Jo Swinson	11
Democratic Unionist Party	Arlene Foster	8

Note Mary Lou McDonald (7-seats), Plaid Cymru (4), Green Party (1) and Other parties (3).

Important Days

2. National Energy Conservation Day 2019 observed in India

• The National energy conservation day is celebrated every year on the 14th of December by Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE), under the Ministry of Power.
• BEE is observing National Energy Conservation Week from 9th to 14th December 2019.
• The objective of the day to aware people about the importance of energy as well as saving or conserving more energy by using less energy.
• The Energy Conservation Act in India was executed by the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) in the year 2001.

Note

• Energy Conservation is a term to use the least amount of energy while avoiding unnecessary use of energy.

Obituaries

3. Veteran Telugu actor & writer Gollapudi Maruti Rao passes away

• Renowned Telugu actor & writer Gollapudi Maruti Rao (80-years) passed away at a private hospital in Chennai.
• Mr. Maruti Rao was a multi-faceted personality as he was a journalist, playwright, writer, actor and television personality.
• Some of his memorable films as an actor include ‘Intlo Ramayya, Veedhilo Krishnayya’, ‘Challenge’, ‘Samsaram oka Chadarangam’, ‘Aditya 369’ and ‘Leader’.
• Mr. Rao was born in 1939 in Vizianagaram in Madras Presidency, in present-day Andhra Pradesh.

Source: The Hindu

Banking & Finance

4. November retail inflation reaches 5.54%, at 3-year high

• India's retail inflation in November rose to 5.54% (from 4.62% in October) and over RBI's medium-term target of 4%.
• Higher food prices contributed to the spike.
• Food price inflation (Rural and urban) climbed 10.01% in November.
• During the month, inflation in vegetables shot up to 35.99 per cent, as against 26.10 per cent in October.
• Inflation based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI) was 4.62 per cent in October (2.33% in November 2018).

Source: Economics Times

National Affairs

5. ISRO begins preparations for setting up third rocket launchpad

• Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has begun preparatory works for setting up a third rocket launchpad in the small coastal hamlet of Kulashekhrapattinam in the Thuthukudi district of Tamil Nadu.
• The District Administration has appointed a Special Tehsildar along with eight more Tahsildars to speed up the process of land acquisition for the centre.
• At present, the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has two launch pads at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh.
• The demand for additional launch pads has arisen as a result of the increase in the number of satellite launches from India, both for domestic and international customers.

6. FSSAI & Nasscom Foundation partner to develop an app to prevent food wastage

• Food regulator, Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) and Nasscom Foundation have signed an MoU to develop a technology platform to prevent food wastage and encouraging food donation by developing an app for the purpose.
• They will develop a common 24×7 helpline number and a mobile application ‘Food Donation in India’ to donate food to the needy.
• It will help in facilitating the registration of surplus food distribution organisations.

7. Maldives sign contract with a joint venture of Indian companies for the development of Addu

• Maldives government has signed a contract with a joint venture of Indian companies for preparation of project report and development of Addu (second biggest city of Maldives).
• The contract was signed by L&T engineering limited & Lea associates south Asia for the Addu Road and Reclamation Project.
• The scope of the project includes land reclamation, construction of roads and stormwater drainage system in Addu.
• This will upgrade the existing infrastructure and mitigate the flood situation in Addu.
• It will be financed through 800 million US dollars line of credit extended by EXIM bank of India for strengthening of Indo- Maldives development cooperation.

8. Virtual Police Station inaugurated at Andhra University

• Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy has inaugurated the Virtual Police Station at Andhra University.
• The Virtual Police Station (as a pilot project) has been set up on the suggestion of Andhra University’s Vice-Chancellor to make it easy for students to report their grievances.
• later it will be replicated at other educational institutions.
• The initiative is expected to help bridge the gap between students and the police department.

Banking & Finance

9. Moody’s reduces India’s GDP rate for FY20 to 5.6%

• Global rating agency Moody’s Investors Service ("Moody's") has lowered its 2019 GDP growth forecast for India to 5.6 percent based on slow employment growth weighs on consumption.
• GDP is the final value of the goods and services produced within the geographic boundaries of a country during a specified period of time (normally a year).
• ‘GDP growth rate is an important indicator of the economic performance of a country.
• GDP For 2019-20 – 5.6%
• GDP For 2020-21 – 6.6%
• GDP For 2021-22 – 6.7%

Major credit rating agencies of the world:

• Moody's Investors Service was established in 1909, headquarters in New York, USA.
• Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC: was founded in 1860, headquarters in New York, USA, subsidiary of S&P Global.
• Fitch Ratings: was founded in 1914, headquarters in New York City and London.

International Affairs

10. US & China reach trade agreement calling for structural reforms & tariff concessions

• The US and China have announced phase one trade agreement to roil the global economy.
• The phase one of the deal requires structural reforms and other changes to China's economic and trade regime in the areas of intellectual property, technology transfer, agriculture, financial services, and currency and foreign exchange.
• The deal says if China breaks any part of the agreement, the Trump administration has the ability to re-implement tariffs.
• US negotiators are offering to significantly reduce existing tariffs on Chinese imports worth about 360 billion dollars.
• In return, China has promised to buy large quantities of US soybeans, poultry and other agricultural products.

Source: AIR News

11. Switzerland to be the country partner of BioAsia 2020

• Switzerland will be the country partner at the 17th edition of BioAsia2020 scheduled to be held in Hyderabad, Telangana (from 17-19 February 2020).
• The theme of the summit will be “Today For Tomorrow”.
• Switzerland is making innovations in the world of medical healthcare and that many pharmaceutical companies have emerged as the centre of Switzerland.
• The city of Hyderabad will be introduced to the Switzerland Health Tech Ecosystem through the Bio Asia Summit.

Honour & Awards

12. Nirmala Sitharaman 34th among world’s 100 most powerful women in the Forbes List

• India’s Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has been ranked 34th by Forbes in ‘The World’s 100 Most Powerful Women’.
• Roshni Nadar Malhotra (HCL Corporation CEO and Executive Director) and Kiran Mazumdar Shaw (Biocon Founder) are two other Indians who also featured in the top 100 list.
• Sitharaman is India’s first female finance minister to hold the portfolio on full-time basis.
• The Forbes 2019 list of ‘The World’s 100 Most Powerful Women’ has been topped by German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
• Bangladesh’s Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina also featured on the list on the 29th position.

S. No.	Name/ Country
1	Angela Merkel (Germany)
2	Christine Lagarde (France)
3	Nancy Pelosi (United States)
4	Ursula von der Leyen (Belgium)
5	Mary Barra (United States)

Sports

13. FIH unveils new world ranking system for 2020

• The International Hockey Federation (FIH) unveiled a new world ranking system for 2020 in Lausanne, Switzerland.
• It will come into effect from the first of next month.
• For a better reflection of current performances, the new ranking will be match-based instead of tournament-based calculation. 
• The new model removes much of the subjectivity surrounding continental weighing by creating a system which is fair to all.
• The outgoing world ranking system was in existence since 2003. It was originally devised to allocate teams into pools at tournaments.

Source: AIR News

14. Rohit Sharma becomes first non-footballer to be named La Liga brand ambassador

• Indian cricketer Rohit Sharma has been named as the Brand Ambassador of La Liga in India.
• With this, star cricketer Rohit Sharma has become the first non-footballer in the world to be named one of La Liga’s global ambassadors.
• La Liga is the top professional football division of the Spanish football league system.

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.