Daily Current Affairs and GK | 17 December 2019

1. Lt Gen Manoj Mukund Naravane- Next Chief of Army Staff

• Lt Gen Manoj Mukund Naravane will be the next Army Chief.
• He will replace Lt Gen Bipin Rawat, whose term will end on the 31^st December 2019.
• He is currently serving as Vice Chief of the Indian Army.
• He was commissioned into the 7^th battalion, the Sikh Light Infantry Regiment, in June 1980.
• During Operation PAWAN in Sri Lanka, he was part of the Indian Peacekeeping Force.

2. Portuguese Prime Minister to visit India

• Antonio Costa, Prime Minister of Portugal, will visit India from 19-20 December 2019.
• He will be attending the second meeting of the Organizing Committee on the celebrations of the 150^th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.
• President Ram Nath Kovind will preside over the meeting of the committee.
• Portugal:
  • It is a European nation located mostly on the Iberian Peninsula.
  • Its capital is Lisbon, and its currency is Euro.

3. SC asks to set up two designated courts in districts with more than 300 pending cases under POCSO Act

• The Supreme court has asked States to set up two designated courts in the district with more than 300 pending cases of child abuse under the POCSO Act.
• Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act:

• The Act was passed in 2012 to protect children from various offences like sexual assault, pornography, etc.
• An amendment to this act was passed in 2019 to increase the punishment for the guilty.

4. First batch of 21 officers from Nepal begin training in Gujarat

• The first batch of 21 officers of Nepal’s Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) has started their training in Gujarat.
• The 6-day training on ‘Prevention of Fraud, Bribery and Corruption’ commenced at Gujarat Forensic Sciences University in Gandhinagar.
• The course is fully supported by the Ministry of External Affairs’ Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) Programme.
• The second batch of 21 officers will arrive in January 2020.

5. SC directs Centre and States to appoint Information Commissioners within 3 months

• The Supreme Court has asked the Centre and the state to appoint Information Commissioners in the Central Information Commission and State Information Commissions within three months.
• The SC also said that there is a need to set guidelines to stop misuse of the Right to Information Act.
• Central Information Commission (CIC):
  • CIC is a statutory body that was constituted under the Right to Information Act, 2005.
  • It includes the Chief Information Commissioner and not more than 10 Information Commissioners.
  • Current Chief Information Commissioner: Sudhir Bhargava

6. Global Gender Gap Report released

• The World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report 2020 has been released that predicts the need to do more to achieve worldwide gender parity.
• Politics has remained the least progressive area.
• India is overall ranked at 112^thposition, which is 4 positions lower than in 2018.
• India is ranked below the countries like Bangladesh (50), Brazil (92), Sri Lanka (102), China (106), etc.
• Iceland is ranked first, followed by Norway, Finland and Sweden.
• The report measures the gap between men and women in terms of health, education, work and politics.
• World Economic Forum:
  • It is a non-governmental international level organization that was founded in 1971.
  • Headquarters: Cologny-Geneva, Switzerland

7. Sugamya Bharat Abhiyan or Accessible India Campaign

• The government has recently extended the deadline for the Accessible India Campaign to March 2020.
• Accessible India Campaign was launched in 2015 by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.
• The campaign aims to provide seamless mobility experience for persons with disabilities by making public spaces disabled-friendly. 
• The campaign is in line with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

8. India will host International Geological Congress next year

• India will be hosting the 36^th International Geological Congress (IGC) in March 2020 in New Delhi.
• Theme 2020: “Geosciences: The Basic Science for a Sustainable Development”
• It will be the second time that India is hosting the event. India hosted the event for the first time in 1964.
• India is the only Asian country that will host the IGC for the second time.
• Geological Survey of India will organize the event that is being funded by the Ministry of Mines and Ministry of Earth Sciences with support of INSA and National Science Academy of Nepal, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Bangladesh.
• International Geological Congress (IGC):
  • It is also known as the Olympics of Geosciences.
  • The event is held once in four years and is attended by more than 5000 geoscientists across the globe.
  • The first IGC was held in Paris in 1878.

9. ITBP to launch a matrimonial site for its staff

• Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) has launched a first-ever dedicated matrimonial site for its staff.
• ITBP is the first among Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) to launch a dedicated matrimonial site.
• There are around 25,000 unmarried men and 1,000 women in ITBP, as per the data of Home Ministry.
• Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP):
  • The force was formed on 24^th October 1962; it guards region covering Karakoram Pass in Ladakh to Jachep La in Arunachal Pradesh.
  • DG of ITBP- S S Deswal
  • Motto: “Shaurya-Dridhata-Karma Nishtha”

10. Virat Kohli remains at the top position in ICC Test rankings

• Indian skipper Virat Kohli is still at the top position among the batsman in the latest ICC Test rankings with 928 points.
• He is followed by Steve Smith of Australia.
• Indian bowlers Cheteshwar Pujara (791) and Ajinkya Rahane (759) are on the fourth and sixth positions, respectively.
• Among the test all-rounders, Ravindra Jadeja retained his position at the second spot.

Multiple Choice Questions(MCQs)

1. Who will be the next Army Chief?

1. Praveen Kumar
2. Raghuveer Singh
3. Manoj Mukund Naravane
4. Ravi Mittal

2. Antonio Costa is the Prime Minister of which of the following countries?

1. France
2. Britain
3. South Africa
4. Portugal

3. POCSO Act came into existence in ________.

1. 1995
2. 2002
3. 2012
4. 2016

4. The training for the first batch of 21 CIAA officers from Nepal is underway in which of the following states?

1. Assam
2. Gujarat
3. Tamil Nadu
4. Madhya Pradesh

5. World Economic Forum was established in the year-

1. 1945
2. 1961
3. 1982
4. 1971

6. Sugamya Bharat Abhiyan is an initiative of the government of India which is related to-

1. Senior Citizens
2. Disabled persons
3. Women
4. Children

7. Recently, which of the following forces has launched the first dedicated matrimonial site for its staff?

1. Border Security Force
2. Shashtra Seema Bal
3. Indo-Tibetan Border Police
4. None of the above

8. Which of the following statements is not true about the Central Information Commission?

1. It is a multi-member body.
2. It was formed under the provisions of the Right to Information Act, 2005.
3. It is a constitutional body.
4. The present Chief Information Commissioner is Sudhir Bhargava.

9. Which of the following country will host the International Geological Congress (IGC) in 2020?

1. India
2. Paris
3. Japan
4. South Africa

10. Indian bowler Jasprit Bumrah is ranked at ____ position in the latest ICC test rankings.

1. First
2. Second
3. Third
4. Sixth

Solution:

1. c)

2. d)

3. c)

4. b)

5. d)

6. b)

7. c)

8. c)

9. a)

10. d)