CHENNAI IAS ACADEMY -9043 211 311/411 www.chennaiiasacademy.com TNPSC CURRENT AFFAIRS DECEMBER- 2018 [ENGLISH MEDIUM] CHENNAI IAS ACADEMY Vellore & Tiruvannamalai www.chennaiiasacademy.com chennaiiasacademy Contact : 9043 211 311 / 411 1 CHENNAI IAS ACADEMY -9043 211 311/411 www.chennaiiasacademy.com Current Affairs For TNPSC Examinations DECEMBER 2018 SI.NO CONTENTS PAGE.NO 1. TAMIL NADU 03 – 05 2. NATIONAL 06 – 19 3. INTERNATIONAL 20 – 27 4. IMPORTANT SUMMITS 28 – 33 AND MEETINGS 5. DEFENCE IN NEWS 34 – 36 6. SCIENCE AND 37 – 43 TECHNOLOGY 7. SIGNIFICANT REPORTS 44 – 48 8. BOOK IN NEWS 49 – 50 9. IMPORTANT DAYS 51 – 52 10. NOTABLE THEMES 53 11. APPOINTMENTS IN NEWS 54 – 59 12. SIGNIFICANT AWARDS 60 - 71 2 CHENNAI IAS ACADEMY -9043 211 311/411 www.chennaiiasacademy.com TAMILNADU Iravatham Mahadevan, the renowned epigraphist Iravatham Mahadevan (88), the renowned epigraphist and Padma Shri recipient, has passed away in Chennai on Nov.26. A former civil servant, he also helmed the well-known Tamil daily 'Dinamani' as its Editor in the late 1980s. He was known for his successful decipherment of Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions and for his expertise on the epigraphy of the Indus Valley Civilization. Noted agriculturalist Nel Jayaraman He is pioneered the protection and propagation of indigenous paddy varieties in Tamil Nadu, passed away in Chennai on December 6, 2018. Hailing from Thiruthuraipoondi, in the heart of Tamil Nadu’s delta rice bowl, Jayaraman has been credited with documenting and protecting more than 170 paddy varieties. His diligent work in the field of protecting the gene prototypes of indigenous paddy varieties won him the National Award in 2015 and a state award in 2011. Best Woman Parliamentarian (Rajya Sabha) for 2018. DMK MP Kanimozhi has been selected for the Best Woman Parliamentarian (Rajya Sabha) set up by Lokmat newspaper for 2018. A jury of eminent personalities headed by Murali Manohar Joshi selected her for the award and it will be presented to her by Vice-President M. Venkaiah Naidu on December 13. 3 CHENNAI IAS ACADEMY -9043 211 311/411 www.chennaiiasacademy.com Tamil writer Prapanchan passed away Tamil writer Prapanchan, born S. Vaithilingam, died at a private hospital in the Union Territory after battling cancer. Prapanchan’s first collection of short stories in Tamil was released in 1961. His first short story, ‘Enna Ulagamada’ was published in ‘Barani’, a Tamil magazine in 1961. He won the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1995 for his novel Vanam Vasappadum(Beyond the Sky). Lokayukta search panel The Retired Madras High Court Judge K. Venkataraman has been appointed to head the 3-member Lokayukta Search Committee. The search committee, which was constituted by the Lokayukta Selection Committee, was chaired by the Chief Minister. The search committee has been tasked with submitting names of candidates to the selection committee for appointment as chairperson and members of the Lokayukta. It also named former Advocate General R. Krishnamoorthy and retired IPS officer A. Pari as the other members of the search committee. Tamil Nadu Scientist Award 29 scientists were felicitated with the Tamil Nadu Scientist Award (TANSA), for making valuable contributions to the field of science and technology. The Tamil Nadu State Council for Science and Technology, hosts the event every year to mark the contributions of scientists from across the State. Meghdoot Awards 2018 The Minister of State for Communications (I/C) and Railways, Manoj Sinha presented the Meghdoot Awards for the year 2018, at a function, in New Delhi. Two persons from Tamil Nadu has been selected for this award. o Ms Srividya Iyer - Best Woman Employee K.Ganapathy - Best Post Man Rural smartphone use The Union communication ministry has recently presented the report in the Lok Sabha. As per the data, Tamil Nadu is ranked at 2nd in the entire country in smartphone connectivity in rural areas. The maximum number of smart phones with net connection in rural areas is in Himachal Pradesh. 4 CHENNAI IAS ACADEMY -9043 211 311/411 www.chennaiiasacademy.com Chapparam (Chariot) festival The unique Chapparam (Chariot) festival was celebrated with traditional rituals and festivities in the famous Madurai Meenakshi temple, in Tamil Nadu. The festival symbolizes the importance of preserving all kinds of food and fodder. Another specialty of the festival is that the chariot of Goddess Meenakshi is pulled by lady devotees alone. 5 CHENNAI IAS ACADEMY -9043 211 311/411 www.chennaiiasacademy.com NATIONAL Kimberley Process (KP) India will chair the Kimberley Process (KP), a global initiative to remove conflict diamonds from the global supply chain, from 1st January 2019. KP is a joint initiative of different countries, industry and civil societies to control flow of conflict diamonds, which are used by rebel movements to finance wars against legitimate governments in the world. India is the founding member of Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS). India’s first owl festival India’s first owl festival was held at Pingori village in Purandar taluka of Pune from November 29. The two-day festival, organised by Ela Foundation (an NGO working towards nature education and conservation), will give information on owl conservation and feature art forms like pictures, paintings, posters, origami, stitched articles, poems and stories on owls. Pact with Estonian academy on e-governance. The Nagaland government has recently signed pact with Estonian academy to enlighten the state people on the e-governance models prevailing in the world. The main objective of the 5-year agreement with the e-Governance Academy of Estonia is to work together to develop and expand scientific collaboration on setting up e-Governance Academy in Nagaland. Chief guest for 2019 Republic Day of India South African President Cyril Ramaphosa will be Chief Guest at the Republic Day of India 2019, which also marks the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. 6 CHENNAI IAS ACADEMY -9043 211 311/411 www.chennaiiasacademy.com The celebrations are held every year at Rajpath before the President of India. The Republic Day honours the date on which the Constitution of India came into effect on 26th January 1950 with a democratic government system. Russia-India-China 'RIC' Trilateral Summit In Argentina, the 2nd Russia-India-China (RIC) Trilateral Summit was held in Buenos Aires after a gap of 12 years, on the sidelines of the G-20 summit to discuss cooperation in various areas. The three leaders - Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin - agreed to have regular consultations to jointly promote international and regional peace and stability. India’s first locomotive-less train. On December 2, India's first locomotive-less train, known as Train 18, has breached the 180 kmph speed limit during a test run at Kota-Sawai Madhopur section in Rajasthan. 7 CHENNAI IAS ACADEMY -9043 211 311/411 www.chennaiiasacademy.com When this indigenously designed train is made operational, it will become the country's fastest train. The “rakhi with khaki” The Bilaspur Police in Chhattisgarh now holds the Guinness World Records for its 'Rakhi with Khakhi' as part of which girls and women tied rakhis to 50,033 police officials rakhis over a span of ten hours and then uploaded selfies with hashtags #rakhiwithkhaki and #HappyRakshaBandhan. The initiative was the brainchild of Bilaspur Superintendent of Police Sheikh Arif Husen & was held on 25th August 2018, a day before Raksha Bandhan. $85 million loan for skill development in Odisha The Asian Development Bank will provide $85 million loan to improve skill development eco-system in Odisha and establish an advanced skill training centre at Bhubaneswar. The project will help over 1.5 lakh people learn skills in priority sectors, including manufacturing, construction and services for formal employment. The World Skill Centre at Bhubaneswar will deliver 8 training courses for 13,000 full-time students, provide training for 5,000 teachers, and train 1,000 assessors. Heart Attack Rewind campaign launched by FSSAI The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has launched a new mass media campaign “Heart Attack Rewind” to eliminate industrially produced trans fat in the food supply by 2022 before WHO deadline. The campaign is the 30 second Public Service Announcement (PSA), which will warn citizens about the health hazards of consuming trans fats and offer strategies to avoid them through healthier alternatives. ‘PEETHA’ to publicize govt schemes Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has recently announced a new initiative ‘PEETHA’ to create awareness about various government schemes and improve transparency. It also aims at improving transparency in the distribution of individual and social benefits. The acronym ‘PEETHA’ stands for Peoples Empowerment Enabling Transparency and Accountability. 8 CHENNAI IAS ACADEMY -9043 211 311/411 www.chennaiiasacademy.com Pan-India single emergency number ‘112’ On December 1, Nagaland became the first state in the northeastern region and 2nd in the country after Himachal Pradesh to adopt a Pan-India single emergency number ‘112’ under ERSS (Emergency Response Support System) project. It was launched by the Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh at Kohima, which coincided with the Formation Day of Nagaland and the inaugural day of Hornbill Festival 2018. Development of Tribal Circuit under the Swadesh Darshan Scheme. Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio has recently inaugurated a new Project namely- “Development of Tribal Circuit: Peren-Kohima-Wokha Project” at Kisama Heritage Village in Nagaland under the Swadesh Darshan Scheme. This is the first project to be implemented in the state under Swadesh Darshan Scheme of Union Ministry of Tourism. The project was sanctioned by the Ministry of Tourism in November 2015 for Rs. 97.36 Crores. 9 CHENNAI IAS ACADEMY -9043 211 311/411 www.chennaiiasacademy.com Longest rail-road bridge ‘Bogibeel Bridge’ The 4.94 km long bridge connects the north and south banks of the Brahmaputra & falls in the eastern part of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh.