Changing the way of learning…

Daily Current Affairs Capsule 1st December 2018

1. UNESCO adds Jamaican reggae, Georgian wrestling and Japanese rituals in coveted list of intangible heritage

UN cultural agency UNESCO has added six new elements viz. Jamaican reggae, Georgian wrestling and Japanese ritual into its coveted list of “intangible heritage”.

 They were added at UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage meeting held in Mauritius’

 This coveted list is made up of those intangible heritage elements that help demonstrate diversity of cultural heritage and raise awareness about its importance.  The list was established in 2008 when Convention for Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage came into effect. It includes important intangible cultural heritages worldwide.  It has two parts viz. Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity and List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of urgent Safeguarding.

2. Salom Zurichishvili elected as first female President of Georgia

Salom Zurichishvili was elected as the first female President of Georgia. She will take charge on December 16, 2018.

 In recently concluded presidential election, Salom Jurabishvili defeated her rival candidate Grigol Washadze. She received 59.5% of the votes, while Grigol Washadze received 40.5% of the votes.  It is a country located in Eurasia, its area is 69,700 square kilometers. Its capital is located in Tbilissi. It had announced its independence from Soviet Union on April 9, 1991.

3. South Asia Youth Peace Conference held in

The three day South Asia Regional Youth Peace Conference was held in New Delhi as part 150th birth anniversary celebrations of father of nation Mahatma Gandhi.

 It was organised by Gandhi Smriti and Darshan Samiti, UNESCO Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Education for Peace and Sustainable Development (MGIEP) and STEP (Standing Together to Enable Peace).

 It was inaugurated by Krishna G Kulkarni, great grandson of Mahatma Gandhi.  It provided platform for young people of South Asia to further peace agenda in the region.

4. Cope 2019: India, US air exercise to be held in West Bengal

Indian Air Force (IAF) and US Air Force (USAF) will participate in bilateral exercise ‘COPE INDIA 2019’ – scheduled to be held between December 3 and 14, 2019 in West Bengal.

 The bilateral flying training programme will be held at two important airbases in West Bengal – Air Force Station Arjan Singh at Panagarh.  Cope India is series of international Air Force exercises between Indian Air Force (IAF) and United States Air Force (USAF) conducted on and over Indian soil.  The exercise was repeated in 2005, 2006, 2009 and was last held in 2010.

5. eDrishti software launched to help Railways Minister keep track of punctuality of trains

Indian Railways unveiled ‘eDrishti’ software that will help Union Railway Minister to keep track of punctuality of trains as well as freight and passenger earnings and much more from anywhere in the country.

 The software has been developed by Centre for Railway Information System (CRIS) to help Minister keep track of all information related to Indian Railways, one of the world’s largest rail networks.  Using this software, Railway Minister can track any information with just a click of mouse — whether from his office or while on the move.

6. Index of Eight Core Industries (Base: 2011-12=100) October, 2018

The Eight Core Industries comprise 40.27 per cent of the weight of items included in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP).

 The combined Index of Eight Core Industries stood at 134.8 in October, 2018, which was 4.8 per cent higher as compared to the index of October, 2017.  Its cumulative growth during April to October, 2018-19 was 5.4 per cent.  Coal production : increased by 10.6 per cent in October, 2018 over October, 2017.  Crude Oil production : declined by 5.0 per cent in October, 2018 over October, 2017.  The Natural Gas production : declined by 0.9 per cent in October, 2018 over October, 2017.  Petroleum Refinery production : increased by 1.3 per cent in October, 2018 over October, 2017.  Fertilizers production : declined by 11.5 per cent in October, 2018 over October, 2017.  Steel production : increased by 2.2 per cent in October, 2018 over October, 2017.  Cement production : increased by 18.4 per cent in October, 2018 over October, 2017.  Electricity generation : increased by 11.4 per cent in October, 2018 over October, 2017.

7. Dr. Ajay Bhushan Pandey takes over as Revenue Secretary

Dr. Ajay Bhushan Pandey (IAS: MH 1984) took over as the Union Revenue Secretary upon superannuation of Dr .

 A cadre officer, Dr. Pandey will continue to head the Unique Identification authority of India (UIDAI) as its CEO and will also hold his position as the Chairman of GSTN.

 An Indian Administrative Service officer with over 34 years of experience in State and Central Governments, he had a remarkable stint of more than 8 years in UIDAI where he played a key role in establishing and steering across the country and drafting the historic Aadhaar legislation for providing statutory basis to Aadhaar.

8. Mohammad Azharuddin appointed working president of Telangana Congress

AICC has appointed former MP and Cricketer Mohd Azharuddin as working president of the Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee.

 Congress General Secretary Ashok Gehlot announced this in a release in Delhi.  He informed that Party President Rahul Gandhi also approved 14 more appointments for the Telangana PCC office bearers.  Two vice presidents, 8 General Secretaries and 4 secretaries have been included to the office bearers of the Telangana PCC.  It may be recalled that the Mohd Azharuddin is a start campaigner of the Congress party in the poll- bound Telangana state.