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India and Morocco has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for enhanced cooperation in the health sector in New Delhi on December 14, 2017. Union Minister of Health & Family Welfare J P Nadda and Dr. Abdelkader Amara, Ministry of Health, Kingdom of Morocco signed the MoU in the presence of senior officers from the Union Health Ministry and a high level delegation from Morocco. The main areas of cooperation include the following: Non-communicable diseases, including child cardiovascular diseases and cancer; Drug Regulation and Pharmaceutical quality control; Communicable Diseases; Maternal, child and neonatal health; Hospital twinning for exchange of good practices and Training in administration and management of health services and Hospitals.

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Dharmendra Pradhan, the Union Oil minister, has inaugurated Eastern India’s first compressed natural gas (CNG) stations for scooters at Chandrasekharpur and Patia area in Bhubaneswar, Odisha to supply CNG to vehicles. He also launched CNG-run scooters and auto-rickshaws. The service is an initiative under City Gas Distribution (CGD) project implemented by the GAIL (India) Limited, a government-owned natural gas transmission company.

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The United Nations (UN) International Migrants Day is observed every year on December 18 to recognize the efforts, contributions, and rights of workers and members of their families worldwide. The 2017 theme is “Safe Migration in a World on the Move”

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According to recently released UN World Migration Report (2018), published by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), India has largest diaspora in the world with more than 15.6 million people from India living overseas. Of the international migrants (people living outside the country of their birth) which was estimated at 243 million in 2015, the Indian diaspora constitutes nearly 6%.The report stated that the global migrant population rose by 10% in 2015 compared with the figure recorded in 2010, which means of the 7.3 billion global population in the given year, one of every 30 people was a migrant. The report also said that nearly half of all migrants worldwide in 2015 were born in Asia, mainly from India, China and other South Asian countries. Mexico ranked second in terms of diaspora population followed by Russia, China, Bangladesh and Pakistan.

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The Indian Institute of Pulses Research (IIPR) is a national institute established by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) to carry out basic strategic and applied research on major pulse crops. It is situated in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh. The Institute develops appropriate production and protection technologies, production and supply of breeder seeds of improved varieties, demonstration and transfer of technologies and strategic coordination of pulse research through wide network of testing centers across the country.

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The Andhra Pradesh government has signed an agreement with Alphabet InC.’s X to bring the Free Space Optical Communication (FSOC) technology in the state. The purpose of the FSOC is to provide internet through the government Fiber grid project. By using FSOC technology, the state will be able to use better bandwidth data to every house hold including houses in the tribal belt. This association with X labs to implement FSOC in AP is first of its kind in the world to provide wireless internet connection at a higher speed of up to 20Gbps and to a distance of up to 20kms. This significant partnership will offer a major boost to the state’s digital infrastructure and help overcome hindrances in terms of connecting isolated and difficult terrain, forest areas, river crossings, railway crossings, etc.

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Olympic silver medalist P V Sindhu has won silver medal at the 2017 women’s singles Dubai World Badminton Super Series tournament. She suffered a heart-wrenching defeat against World No. 2 Akane Yamaguchi of Japan to finish as runner-up at the final of Super Series on December 17, 2017. Sindhu had won two super series titles at India Open and Korea Open, besides reaching the finals at Hong Kong Open and World Championship this year.

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Sushil Kumar, the double Olympic medalist, has defeated New Zealand’s Akash Khullar via a pinfall in the final of the 74kg freestyle category to clinch a gold medal at the Commonwealth Wrestling Championships at Johannesburg in South Africa on December 17, 2017. It was Sushil’s first medal in international wrestling since his gold medal in the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. It was double celebration for India as, Parveen Rana also won a bronze medal in the same category.

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Billionaire conservative Sebastian Pinera has won the 2017 presidential election of Chile on December 17, 2017. With 98.44% of the ballots counted, Pinera had won 54.57% in the run-off vote, to 45.43% for senator Guillier, a wider than expected margin in a race that pollsters had predicted would be tight. Pinera has pledged support and stable funding for Chile’s state-run miner Codelco , and has promised to slash red tape which had bogged down projects under Bachelet.

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The Gautam Budha Wildlife Sanctuary (GBWS) is a wildlife sanctuary located in Gaya district of Bihar state and Koderma district of Jharkhand state in east-central India. The sanctuary covers an area of 259 square kilometres. It is home to tigers, leopards, wolves, sloth bears, chitals, chinkaras, and many species of birds.