Daily Current Affairs and GK | 27 December 2019

1. Chief of Defense Staff post approved by the Cabinet

• Cabinet has approved the creation of 4 star- General equivalent Chief of Defense staff post, who will head the Department of Military Affairs to be formed within the Ministry of Defence.
• The roles and responsibilities of the CDS would be as follows:

• It will look into the issues of all the three wings of the military. However, the CDS will not have military command over any of the three wings, thus ensuring its impartiality.
• It will look over the Territorial Army.
• It will be the head of the integrated headquarters of the ministry of defense.
• It will manage all the procurement related to three services except capital acquisitions.
• The CDS is tasked with bringing about jointness in the three wings of the military along with rationalizing and rightsizing the army structure.
• It will promote the use of indigenous equipment within the three services.
• It will also act as the Permanent Chairman of the chief of staff committee. At this position the functions of the CDS would be:

• It will administer tri-service organizations, including space and cyber matters.
• It will also act as a principal military advisor to the Prime Minister led Nuclear Command Authority. The three chiefs will advise individually to the defense minister on the issues related to their respective wing only.
• He will also be a member of the Defence Acquisition Council headed by the Defence Minister and Defence Planning committee chaired by the NSA.
• He would have to put in alignment the logistics, transport, training, support services, etc. of the three services. This task has to be achieved within 3 years of the formation of the CDS.
• It will implement the 5-year defense capital acquisition plan and two-year roll on the Annual acquisition plan as a part of the Integrated capability development plan.
• It will prioritize capital acquisition proposals based on the estimated budget.

2. Vice- President dedicated the BPCL's LPG bottling plant at Balangir in Odisha to the country

• M. Venkaiah Naidu dedicated the BPCL’s LPG bottling plant at Balangir in Odisha to the country from Raipur in Chattisgarh.
• The plant was inaugurated by the Odisha Governor Prof. Ganeshi Lal.
• The plant was established with the expenditure of INR 103 crore and can manufacture 42 lakh cylinders annually.
• It will benefit the 14 districts of western Odisha.
• The state will have seven LPG bottling plants with 2 plants being proposed at Bhuvneshwar and Rayagada.
• The current bottling capacity of the existing 4 plants of Odisha is 2 crore 80 lakh cylinders per annum. With the 7 plants, the capacity will increase to 4 crores 6 lakh annually.

3. Health minister inaugurated the second edition of Eat Right Mela in New Delhi

• The second edition of Eat Right Mela was inaugurated in New Delhi by the Health Minister Dr. Harsha Vardhan
• It aims to promote a healthy diet and reduce the disease burden.
• Eat Right Movement

• The movement is based on two pillars Eat Healthy and Eat Safe.
• It is being led by FSSAI.

4. Applications for Nari Shakti Puraskar 2019 invited by Women and Child Development Ministry

• Ministry of Women and Child Development has invited the applications for the NARI Shakti Puraskar 2019.
• This is an annual award given to an individual, group, institutions to recognize the exceptional work towards the cause of women empowerment with the focus on vulnerable women.
• About 40 NARI Shakti Puraskars will be given on March 8, 2020, i.e. on International Women’s Day.
• The last date of the submission is January 7, 2020.
• Nari Shakti Puraskar

• Instituted in 1999 as Stree Shakti Puruskarit is India’s highest civilian award recognizing the achievements of women.
• The award is given annually by the President on International Women’s Day.
• The award comprises a cash prize of INR 1,00,000 along with a citation.

5. Hindi author Ganga Prasad Vimal died in a road accident in  Sri Lanka

• The renowned Hindi author Ganga Prasad Vimal died in a road accident in Sri Lanka.
• Ganga Prasad Vimal

• Ganga Prasad Vimal was born in 1939 in Uttrakhand.
• He was a story writer, novelist, poet and translator.
• His poetry collection includes Vijjap, Bodhi Vrikshh, etc.
• He has received many awards like Poetry People Prize (1978); Diploma from Art University, Rome (1979); Gold Medal, National Museum of Literature, Sofia (1979), Dinkar Award, etc.

6. Typhoon Phanphone occurred with the Philippines as the center

• Typhoon Phanphone, which occurred at a speed of 190 Km/hour, caused a huge loss in the Philippines.
• Around 20 typhoons make landfall in the Philippines each year as it lies in the Pacific Ring of fire.
• Pacific Ring of Fire

• It is a zone highly prone to earthquakes and volcanic activities.
• It covers an area of North America, South America, Russia, Japan, Philippines, Indonesia, New Zealand, Antarctica, etc.
• The cause of high earthquake and volcanoes is that the region is a subduction zone where ocean and continental plates collide.

7. 5^th round of Indo- Japan Maritime Affairs Dialogue was held in Tokyo

• The 5^th round of Indo- Japan maritime affairs dialogue was held in Tokyo, Japan.
• The Indian delegation was represented by Shri Indra Mani Pandey, Additional Secretary (Disarmament and International Security Affairs), Ministry of External Affairs, while the Japanese delegation was led by Ambassador Yamanaka A Osamu, Deputy Assistant Minister, Deputy Director-General in Foreign Policy Bureau.
• The focus was placed on increasing maritime cooperation.

8. India’s first transgender university to be established in Kushinagar

• India's first transgender university will be set up in the Fazilnagar block of Kushinagar in Uttar Pradesh.
• It is being established by Akhil Bhartiya Kinnar Siksha Seva Trust (All-India transgender education service trust).
• The university will provide education to transgender and the children brought up by transgender people from class 1 to Ph.D. level.
• 2 children being brought up by transgender people will be able to have education from January 15, 2020, and other classes will start from February and March 2020.
• Recently Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019 has come into being.

9. Earliest inscription of South India found in Guntur, Andhra Pradesh

• The earliest Sanskrit inscription of South India has been discovered by the epigraphy branch of ASI or the Archeological Survey of India. It is the earliest Sanskrit inscription of South India.
• The inscription is in Guntur in Andhra Pradesh and is in Brahmi script and Sanskrit language belonging to 207AD. It was built during the period of Satavahana king Vijaya.
• It gives information about the Saptamatrika cult or the group of seven female deities worshipped in Hinduism. The inscription has a record of the construction of a temple (Prasada), mandap, the establishment of statues by Kartika in the temple of Bhagvati.
• There is one more inscription here in the Prakrit language and Brahmi script belonging to 1^st century AD, the first to have information about Mutts.
• Earlier the title of the earliest Sanskrit inscription of South India was with 4^th century AD inscription of Ikshavaku king Ehavala Chantamula, also known as Nagarjunkonda inscription.

10. Locust invasion in Gujarat

• The Gujarat districts sharing borders with Pakistan is facing attacks by the hoppers, the locust that has flown from Pakistan into India. The state is facing such an attack after 1993-94.
• It is devastating the crops of castor, cumin, jatropha, cotton, and potato, and fodder grass in three districts of Gujarat i.e Banaskantha, Patan and Kutch.
• The locust attack on the crops at night, thus making it difficult to counter the attack. Traditional methods of getting away include beating the drums. The state administration is sprinkling pesticide to counter the attack.
• Locust warning organization

• It is a warning organization under the Ministry of Agriculture (Directorate of Plant Protection, Quarantine, and Storage).
• Its headquarter is in Faridabad in Haryana with field offices at various places including Jodhpur.

11. ASI introduced sign boards in Chinese language at five sites in UP

• The sign boards in the Chinese language have been placed at five Archaeological Sites located in Uttar Pradesh.
• These five sites are Buddhist relics at Chaukhandi Stupa, Sarnath, Piparahwa, Kushinagar and the Mahaparinirvana Temple, Shravasti.
• This initiative aims to increase the number of domestic and foreign tourists at such sites.
• Already, sign boards have been installed in Sinhali language for the Sri Lankan tourists visiting Sanchi.

Multiple Choice Questions(MCQs)

1. Recently, Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu inaugurated the LPG bottling plant of BPCL in which of the following districts?

1. Hissar, Haryana
2. Amravati, Andhra Pradesh
3. Balangir, Odisha
4. Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh

2. The second edition of Eat Right Mela has been inaugurated in-

1. Himachal Pradesh
2. Delhi
3. Uttar Pradesh
4. Goa

3. International Women’s Day is observed every year on-

1. 30^th December
2. 10^th January
3. 8^th March
4. 16^th April

4. Ganga Prasad Vimal, who recently died in a road accident, belonged to which field?

1. Writer
2. Journalism
3. Politics
4. Acting

5.  Chief of Defence Staff’s rank will be equivalent to

1. 4-Star General
2. Air Chief Marshall
3. 3-Star General
4. Cabinet Secretary

6. Typhoon Phanfone has caused destruction in which of the following countries?

1. Philippines
2. Bahamas
3. Japan
4. Vietnam

7. 5^th round of India-Japan Maritime Affairs Dialogue was organized in-

1. New Delhi
2. Kyoto
3. Mumbai
4. Tokyo

8. The first transgender university of India will be established in which state?

1. Maharashtra
2. Karnataka
3. Uttar Pradesh
4. Bihar

9. The recent massive locust’s invasion in India has threatened the farmers of which state?

1. Maharashtra
2. Gujarat
3. Rajasthan
4. Punjab

10. The earliest Sanskrit Inscription of South India has been found in-

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

11. Which of the following is not an ASI site where sign boards in Chinses language have been put up?

1. Sanauli
2. Sarnath
3. Kushinagar
4. Piparahwa

Solution:

1. c)

2. b)

3. c)

4. a)

5. a)

6. a)

7. d)

8. c)

9. b)

10. d)

11. a)