Daily Current Affairs and GK | 13 December 2019

1. Lok Sabha passes Central Sanskrit Universities Bill, 2019

• Lok Sabha has passed the Central Sanskrit Universities Bill, 2019, which seeks to provide three deemed Sanskrit Universities the full-fledged Central Universities status.
• These three deemed Sanskrit Universities are:
  1. Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan, New Delhi
  2. Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri Rashtriya Sanskrit Vidyapeeth, New Delhi
  3. Rashtriya Sanskrit Vidyapeeth, Tirupati
• The bill will promote the treasure of knowledge in Sanskrit.
• Sanskrit is one of the classical Indian languages and is also one of the 22 recognized official languages mentioned under the eighth schedule of the Indian Constitution.

2. 2+2 India-US Dialogue to be held in Washington DC

• Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will lead the Indian delegation in 2+2 India-US Dialogue to be held in Washington DC on 18^th December 2019.
• The ministers from two sides will comprehensively review cross-cutting foreign policy and defence and security issues in India-US relations.
• The first India-US 2+2 ministerial dialogue was held in 2018.

3. INTACH will provide consultancy services for reconstruction of sites in Nepal

• Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) has been deployed in Nepal to provide design and project management consultancy services for Post-Earthquake reconstruction of 11 Cultural Heritage sites.
• These cultural sites are located in Kathmandu, Lalitpur, Bhaktapur and Solukhumbhu districts of Nepal.
• INTACH and Nepal’s Department of Archeology will work together to conserve these cultural heritage sites.
• INTACH:
  1. It is a non-profit charitable organization that was formed in 1984.
  2. INTACH is one of the largest heritage organizations in the world.
  3. It has been awarded a special consultative status for the United Nations Economic and Social Council in 2007.

4. ISRO to set up third rocket Launchpad in Tamil Nadu

• Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has started the preparations for establishing a third rocket launchpad in the coastal region of Kulashekhrapattinam in the Thuthukudi district of Tamil Nadu.
• Currently, there are two launch pads of ISRO at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh.
• The need for the third Launchpad arises due to the increase in the number of satellite launches for domestic as well as international customers.
• As per the information given by ISRO, it has launched 17 missions in 2018 alone.
• Recently, ISRO successfully launched RISAT-2BR1 via PSLV C-48.  

5. Agreement signed for the development of Addu

• A contract was signed by the Maldives government with the joint venture of Indian companies for developing Addu.
• L&T engineering limited and Lea associates south Asia signed the contract.
• The project includes reclamation, construction of roads and storm water drainage system in Addu.
• A line of credit of 800 million US dollars extended by EXIM bank of India will be used for financing this project.
• Addu is the second biggest city in the Maldives.
• Maldives Foreign Minister has arrived in India to attend the 6th Joint Commission Meeting.

6. International Universal Health Coverage Day: 12 December

• International Universal Health Coverage Day is observed every year on 12^th December across the globe.
• United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution 72/138 to declare 12^th December as the International Universal Health Coverage Day.
• The day is celebrated to create awareness about the need for a quality healthcare system and universal health coverage.
• Theme 2019: “Keep the promise.”
• SDG 3: Good Health and Well Being

7. International Seminar on Climate Smart Farming systems being held in New Delhi

• The International Seminar on Climate Smart Farming systems is going on in New Delhi.
• The three-day seminar is organized by the Department of Agricultural Research & Education, Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare and is attended by all BIMSTEC members.
• The seminar aims at sharing experiences to enable the improvement of tropical smallholder farming systems for higher productivity and resilience to climate change through the ecological method.
• Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC):

• It is a regional organization that was established in 1997 through the Bangkok Declaration.
• Members: Bhutan, Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand
• Secretariat: Dhaka, Bangladesh

8. Bougainville gains independence from Papua New Guinea

• The south pacific region of Bougainville has voted in favour of independence from Papua New Guinea in a non-binding referendum.
• More than 98% of the valid votes favoured independence.
• Bougainville is an autonomous region of Papua New Guinea, and its interim capital is Buka.
• Papua New Guinea is a country in Oceania whose capital is Port Moresby.

9.  World’s Leading Sports Tourism Destination: Abu Dhabi

• This is for the seventh time in a row that Abu Dhabi has been selected as the world’s leading sports tourism destination.
• The prestigious award was presented at the 26^th edition of the World Travel Awards (WTA) being held in Muscat.
• Abu Dhabi has hosted events like FIFA World Cup 2017 and 2018, the AFC Asian Cup 2019, the Special Olympics World Games 2019, etc.
• Sport tourism has been labelled as one of the fastest-growing sectors of tourism across the world by UNWTO.
• Abu Dhabi is the capital of the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

10. Greta Thunberg is the Time’s Person of the Year

• A 16-year-old Swedish climate activist, Greta Thunberg, has been declared as the Time’s Person of the Year.
• She is the youngest ever person to be chosen as Time’s Person of the Year. 
• She was also nominated for this year’s Nobel Peace Prize.
• Jamal Khashoggi was declared Time’s Person of the Year for 2018.

Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs)

1. Which of the following is not of the deemed universities that will be given the status of Central university under the Central Sanskrit Universities Bill, 2019?

1. Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan, New Delhi
2. Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri Rashtriya Sanskrit Vidyapeeth, New Delhi
3. Rashtriya Sanskrit Vidyapeeth, Tirupati
4. Sampurnanand Sanskrit University, Varanasi

2. The second 2+2 India-US Dialogue is going to be held in-

1. Washington DC
2. Mumbai
3. New York
4. New Delhi

3. INTACH will provide consultancy services for the reconstruction of sites located in Kathmandu, Lalitpur, Bhaktapur and Solukhumbhu districts of which of the following countries?

1. India
2. Bhutan
3. Nepal
4. Pakistan

4. In which of the following states ISRO is planning to set up its third rocket Launchpad?

1. Karnataka
2. Andhra Pradesh
3. Odisha
4. Tamil Nadu

5. Recently a contract has been signed for the development of Addu, which is a second biggest city of ___________.

1. Saudi Arabia
2. Maldives
3. Oman
4. Sri Lanka

6. What is the theme of International Universal Health Coverage Day 2019?

1. Quality health services
2. Keep the promise
3. Promote Good Health
4. None of the above

7. Which of the following countries is not a part of BIMSTEC?

1. India
2. Nepal
3. Sri Lanka
4. Laos

8. Recently the referendum held in Bougainville favoured the independence of the region from which of the following country?

1. Papua New Guinea
2. Indonesia
3. Philippines
4. Australia

9. Which one of the following places has been accorded the status of world’s leading sports tourism destination?

1. Queensland
2. Abu Dhabi
3. Kuwait City
4. Kolkata

10. Who is the Time’s Person of the Year 2019?

1. Narendra Modi
2. Pravind Jugunath
3. Greta Thunberg
4. Abiy Ahmed

Solution:

1. d)

2. a)

3. c)

4. d)

5. b)

6. b)

7. d)

8. a)

9. b)

10.c)