Current Affairs Quiz - December, 2018

Notes:
The 9th meeting of India-ROK Joint Commission (ROK/ South Korea) was held in New Delhi on December 18-19, 2018. South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha co-chaired the meeting with her Indian counterpart Sushma Swaraj and reviewed the progress in multifaceted cooperation under the Special Strategic Partnership between the two countries. Both sides agreed to raise the quantum of the bilateral trade to US $50 billion by the year 2030.

Notes:
Gujarat has emerged as the top performer among States and Union Territories (UT) in the first-ever ranking of the Start-up Ecosystem across the country. The ranking was released by the Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP). Gujarat, with 100 percentile, has performed better than all other states in all the 7 areas including start up policy, incubation support, seeding innovation and scaling innovation. Meanwhile, Karnataka, Kerala, Odisha and Rajasthan, with a score of more than 85 percentile, have been adjudged the top performers. Other States, namely, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Telangana were identified as “leaders”.

Notes:
On December 20, Home Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurated the 2018 All-India annual conference of the State Directors General and Inspectors General of Police, which is started near the Statue of Unity located in Narmada district of Gujarat. Heads of all the three forces, Home Ministers of all the states and heads of all government security agencies including IB, CID, CBI and ATS are attending the three day conference. The top agenda of the conference will be militancy in Jammu and Kashmir, cross-border terrorism and attempts to radicalise youth.

Notes:
The book titled “Changing India” has been author by former Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh & is recently released at an event in New Delhi. In the book, the Congress leader narrated his journey from an economist to a politician and shared anecdotes from his life.

Notes:
The SDG India Index: Baseline Report 2018 has been released by the NITI Aayog Vice-Chairman Dr Rajiv Kumar, CEO Amitabh Kant and UN Resident Coordinator Mr. Yuri Afanasiev at NITI Aayog in New Delhi on December 21. The Index is intended to provide a holistic view on the social, economic and environmental status of the country and its States and UTs. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which came into being in September 2015, are in the Third year of global implementation. The SDGs are ambitious global aspirations on development that address key aspects of universal wellbeing, across different socio-economic, cultural, geographical divisions as well as the interconnectedness among the economic, social and environmental dimensions of development. NITI Aayog has the twin mandate to oversee the implementation of SDGs in the country and promote Competitive and Cooperative Federalism among States and Union Territories. In exercise of these roles, NITI Aayog has developed the SDG India Index and the First Baseline Report for 2018 with the support of Global Green Growth Institute and UN in India.

Notes:
As per global auditors – International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) and US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Indian aviation sector has maintained the highest safety audit rating in 2018. Provisionally, India has been given 74% marks by ICAO and has maintained Category 1 (highest category) under International Aviation Safety Assessment (IASA) by FAA in 2018. FAA had conducted an audit of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) in July 2018 — the third since 2013 — to confirm India’s adherence to standards laid down by the International Civil Aviation Organisation and oversight of Indian airlines. The Category 1 means the carriers from the assessed state may initiate or continue service to the US in a normal manner and take part in reciprocal code-share arrangements with American carriers.

Notes:
The Ministry of Aviation along with the Airport Authority of India (AAI) has launched an official mobile app “GAS-2019” for the Global Aviation Summit (GAS) for 2019, which is scheduled to be held in Mumbai in January 2019. The app enables users to interact with the co-delegates and speakers besides providing a platform for networking through personal and group chats. The summit is being hosted by the civil aviation ministry along with the AAI and industry lobby FICCI.

Notes:
Ten central agencies have been authorized by the Government of India (GoI) to intercept information from any computer. This notification was issued by the ‘Cyber and Information Security’ division of the Ministry of Home Affairs(MHA) under the authority of Home Secretary Rajiv Gauba. The 10 agencies notified under the new order are the Intelligence Bureau (IB), Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), Enforcement Directorate (ED), the Central Board of Direct Taxes (for Income Tax Department), Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), National Investigation Agency (NIA), the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), Directorate of Signal Intelligence (in service areas of J-K, North East and Assam) and Delhi Police commissioner. According to the new order, the agencies have been authorised “for the purpose of interception, monitoring and decryption of any information generated, transmitted, received or stored in any computer resource under section 69 of the Information Technology (IT) Act of 2000”.

Notes:
The National Farmer’s Day (NFD) is celebrated every year in India on December 23 to acknowledge the role of farmers in India’s socio-economic development and to mark the birth anniversary of 5th Prime Minister Late Chaudhary Charan Singh. He used to be referred to as the ‘champions of India’s peasants’ for his strive for the betterment of farmer’s lives in the country. The day is popularly known as Kisan Diwas.

Notes:
The Government of India (GoI) has announced the institution of a new award named after freedom fighter Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, which would be given every year for “outstanding efforts” in the field of furthering national integration. The award was announced by Narendra Modi at the DGPs/IGPs Conference at Kevadia , Gujarat on December 22, 2018. The annual award would be given to any Indian who has contributed to national unity in any manner. Sardar Patel, who served as the first Deputy Prime Minister of India, is called the “Unifier of India”. He is also remembered as the “patron saint of India’s civil servants” for having established the modern all-India services system. He was appointed as the 49th President of Indian National Congress (INC) in Karachi session of 1931. This session became memorable for its resolution on Fundamental Rights and Economic Policy.