Notes:
The seventh Indo-Sri Lanka joint military exercise Mitra Shakti was held on December 1, 2019 at Aundh military station. The main objective of the exercise is to build and promote positive relations between the countries. The exercise was scheduled to be conducted at the Foreign Training Node in Pune between December 1 and December 14, 2019.

Notes:
India has become the first country in the world to completely digitize the Haj process. Various services have been added to the online application service like e-visa, haj mobile app, e-messiah health facility, stay and traffic information in Mecca Medina and Haj pilgrimage information. It is for the first time when digital pre-tagging has been arranged by the airlines so that Haj pilgrims will get all kinds of information in India itself. Haj pilgrims will get prior information about which room of which building in Mecca Medina and what number bus will have to be taken after landing at the airport.

Notes:
Congress MLA Nana Patole has been elected as Speaker of the Maharashtra Assembly. Mr Patole’s election came after the BJP took back the name of Kisan Kathore as the party’s nominee with minutes to go before the 10 am deadline. It is a tradition in the Maharashtra Assembly for the Speaker to be elected unopposed.

Notes:
The government on December 1,2019 appointed Soma Roy Burman, a 1986-batch Indian Civil Accounts Service Officer, as the new Controller General of Accounts (CGA). Ms. Burman is the 24th CGA and is the seventh woman to hold this position. During her 33-year long career, she has held cadre positions at different levels in ministries such as Home Affairs, Information & Broadcasting, Industry, Finance, Human Resource Development and Shipping, Road Transport & Highways.

Notes:
International Book Fair is the biggest book fair in the Spanish-speaking world. This is the 33rd edition of Guadalajara International Book Fair and will continue till 8 December, 2019. India is the ‘Guest of Honour Country’ in this book fair and it becomes the first Asian country to participate as ‘Guest of Honour’ in the Fair. The National Book Trust (NBT), an autonomous body under the Ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD) Government of India, is participating as the nodal agency of the Government in this book fair.

Notes:
13th South Asian Games have formally begun in Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal.President of Nepal Bidya Devi Bhandari declared games open in a glittering ceremony at Dasaratha Rangshala in Kathmandu on December 1. Vice President Nanda Bahadur Pun, Chairman of National Assembly Ganesh Timilsina, Deputy Prime Minister Ishwor Pokharel, Ministers from South Asian countries and a large number of other dignitaries also graced the opening ceremony. Over 2700 athletes from seven South Asian Countries participated in the march past.

Notes:
Carolina Marin won second title in 71 days but Sourabh Verma faltered at the final hurdle of the $150,000 Syed Modi International badminton tournament on December 1,2019. Marin, a three-time World champion and ranked 18th in the world, went about her job in a business-like manner. She was comfortably ahead in the opening game. In the second, she easily bridged a five-point deficit. In fact, she won 15 of the last 20 points. In January, Marin suffered a nasty fall during the Indonesia Masters final against Saina Nehwal and underwent a surgery on her right knee. Following an eight-month layoff, in six tournaments, Marin won the China Open in September, lost the French Open final and now added a second title.

Notes:
The third edition of the Khelo India Youth Games which is scheduled to be held from January 10 to 22,2019 in Guwahati. The third edition will have two additional sports — Cycling and Lawn Bowls as over 10,000 participants from across the country participate in a total of 451 medal events during the 13 action-packed days. The Khelo India Games was launched in 2018 to imbibe a culture of sports in the country.

Notes:
The International Day for the Abolition of Slavery is a yearly event on December 2, organized by the United Nations General Assembly. The Day was first celebrated in 1986. The convention for the suppression of the traffic in persons and of the exploitation of the prostitution of others was approved by the United Nations General Assembly on December 2, 1949. Besides, by resolution 57/195 of 18 December 2002, the Assembly proclaimed 2004 the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle against Slavery and its Abolition.

Notes:
The National Pollution Control Day is observed on 2 December. It is celebrated every year. The day is observed in order to honor the lives that were lost because of the Bhopal gas calamity. On this day, the Pollution Control Department will organize several programs in this regard in the education institutions.The day aims to spread awareness among the people about pollution and its control measures. The day also creates awareness about the problem caused by increasing pollution. The Bhopal gas tragedy happened on the night of 2nd and 3rd December of 1984. The tragedy occurred because of the unintentional discharge of the poisonous Methyl Isocyanate (MIC) and some other chemicals released from the Union Carbide Chemical Plant in Bhopal.