Daily GK Update: 23-24th December 2018

National Affairs

1. PM Modi launches Rs 100 commemorative coin in Atal Bihari Vajpayee's honour

• Today, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has released Rs. 100 commemorative coin in honour of former Prime Minister and Bharat Ratna Atal Bihari Vajpayee in New Delhi.
• Atal Bihari Vajpayee's anniversary will be celebrated tomorrow (25^th December) as Good Governance Day.
• Mr’ Vajpayee served as the Prime Minister thrice and led the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government from 1998 to 2004.
• Atal Bihari Vajpayee passed away on 16th of August this year at the age of 93 at the All India Institute of Medical Science, AIIMS in New Delhi.

Know about 100 Rs Coin

• The 100Rs coin is made up of silver (50%), copper (40%), zinc (5%) and nickel (5%), weight is 35 grams.
• The coin will bear the Ashoka Pillar Lion Capital in the centre with ‘Satyameva Jayate’ inscribed below in Devanagari script on the other side.
• The left periphery of the coin will have ‘Bharat’ inscribed in Devanagari while the right side will have ‘India’ inscribed in the English language.

2. PM inaugurates projects worth around 15K cr rupees in Odisha

• Today, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has inaugurated the projects worth around 15,000 crore rupees in Odisha, during his day-long visit to the state.
• The projects are related to health, road and highways, higher education and culture.
• Prime Minister Modi also dedicated the new campus of IIT-Bhubaneswar at Aragul built at a cost of 1,660 crore rupees. He will also inaugurate ESIC hospital in Bhubaneshwar costing over 73 crores.
• He also inaugurated the Lalitgiri Archaeological Museum which houses huge sculptures of the Buddha and various Buddhist deities.
• He will also release a commemorative coin and a postage stamp in the memory of Paika Rebellion at a function in IIT Bhubaneswar.

3. India’s first music museum to be set up in Thiruvaiyaru

• According to State Minister for Culture and Tamil Development Shri K Pandiarajan, Country’s first music museum will be set up with assistance from the Central government in Thiruvaiyaru, Tamilnadu.
• Thiruvaiyaru is the birthplace of Saint Tyagaraja (one of the Trinities of Carnatic music).
• The Tyagaraja Aaradhana Music Festival which is held annually in January in Thiruvaiyaru attracts musical talents from all over the world.

4. Odisha govt announces Rs 10,000 crore scheme for development of farmers

• Odisha state cabinet chaired by the Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, has approved the Krushak Assistance for Livelihood and Income Augmentation (KALIA) scheme, worth over Rs 10,000 crore, for the development of farmers in the state.
• An amount of Rs 10,000 per family at the rate of Rs 5,000 each for Kharif and Rabi seasons shall be provided as financial assistance for taking up cultivation
• The KALIA will further accelerate agricultural prosperity in the state and reduce poverty.
• All the small and marginal farmers of the state (over 30 lakh) will be covered under the scheme.
• The KALIA scheme also include life insurance cover of Rs 2 lakh and additional personal accident cover of Rs 2 lakh will be provided to both cultivators and landless agriculture labourers.

Science & Defence

5. India successfully test-fires Agni-IV ICBM from Odisha coast

• India successfully test-fired its nuclear-capable long-range Inter-Continental Ballistic Missile Agni-IV, with a strike range of 4,000 km. 
• The test was part of a user trial by the Army.
• Agni-IV missile is equipped with advanced Avionics, 5th generation On Board Computer and distributed architecture.
• Ballistic missiles like Agni-I, II and III and Prithvi have already been inducted in the arsenal of the armed forces.
• It has the latest features to correct and guide itself for in-flight disturbances.

Note:

• Agni series of missiles have been developed by India's DRDO and displayed a number of new technologies and significant improvement in missile technology.
• The missile is light-weight and has two stages of solid propulsion and a payload with re-entry heat shield.

6. Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman launches IFC-IOR at IMAC in Gurugram

• The Union Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has launched the Information Fusion Centre - Indian Ocean Region (IFC-IOR) at the Information Management and Analysis Centre (IMAC) in Gurugram.
• The objective of having an IFC-IOR is more for partners equals to work towards keeping the global commons safe and democratically available for all.
• The IFC-IOR will help interface and integrate, wherein, the country will benefit from each other’s best practices and expertise.
• IFC - IOR shall be a collaborative construct that will work with partners, countries as well as international agencies to enhance maritime security and safety.
• It will also aim to work closely with the multi-national constructs and other information fusion centres.

7. China launched its first Satellite for Space-based Broadband Services

• China has launched its first communication satellite to offer broadband internet services to users worldwide.
• It is CASIC’s (China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation) first satellite launch under China’s Hongyun project.
• Under this project, China plans to give broadband internet connectivity to users all over the world by building a space-based communications network.
• The satellite aims to rival Google and other companies which have similar plans for providing Internet services worldwide.

International Affairs

8. Patrick Shanahan to replace James Mattis as US Defense Secretary

• United States President Donald Trump has announced that he will replace Defence Secretary Jim Mattis with his deputy Patrick Shanahan as acting Pentagon chief (from 1^st January).
• Earlier, US Defence Secretary (26th) Jim Mattis has resigned from his post due to policy differences with President Donald Trump.
• The Secretary of Defense is appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate and is by custom a member of the Cabinet and by law a member of the National Security Council.

Note:

• The Secretary of Defense is the leader and chief executive officer of the United States Department of Defense, the executive department of the Armed Forces of the U.S.

9. Gitega named as the new capital of Burundi

• Burundi government has declared Gitega as the country’s new political capital.
• Previous capital Bujumbura will serve as the economic capital of the country.
• Gitega’s population is around 30 000 as compared to Bujumbura’s 1.2 million.
• The political system of Burundi is that of a presidential representative democratic republic.
• Recently Burundi (156^th) was ranked as the world’s least happy nation in the World Happiness Report 2018.

Note:

• Burundi is a landlocked country in the African Great Lakes region of East Africa, bordered by Rwanda to the north, Tanzania to the east and south, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west.
• The southwestern border is adjacent to Lake Tanganyika.

10. Tsunami kills over 280 in Indonesia

• In Indonesia, the death toll from a volcano-triggered tsunami has risen to 222 and around 800 people injured.
• The possible cause of the tsunami was undersea landslides following the eruption of the Krakatoa volcano.
• The Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed sadness to Indonesian President Joko Widodo at the loss of lives and destruction and offered condolences to the bereaved families.

11. India-China Film Festival begins in New Delhi

• India-China Film Festival has begun at the Siri Fort auditorium in New Delhi.
• Three-day long Film Festival is being organized during the 1st India-China High-Level Mechanism on Cultural and People-to-People Exchanges.
• Seven films including four Chinese and three Indian Films will be screened during the Festival.
• The opening film of the Festival was ‘CZ12’ also known as ‘Chinese Zodiac’.
• In order to strengthen people-to-people connect and deepen cultural understanding between the two countries,
• The list of Indian films to be screened includes Dangal (in Hindi), Marcher Jhol (in Bengali) and Ventilator (in Marathi).

Obituaries 

12. Veteran CPI(M) leader Nirupam Sen passes away

• Veteran CPI(M) leader Nirupam Sen (72-years) passed away at a city hospital after a prolonged illness.
• He was the former West Bengal commerce and industry minister.

Honour & Awards

13. Mamata Banerjee is the Skoch Chief Minister of the Year

• West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has been awarded the Skoch Chief Minister of the Year Award 2017 for her contribution in the overall development of the state and emerging as the best chief minister in the country.
• West Bengal has won 31 Skoch Awards this year for its performance in different fields and for executing unique projects.
• The state's Kanyashree scheme for the girl child has earned Banerjee much acclaim and the highest public service honour from the United Nations
• The Skoch Group is a think tank dealing with socio-economic issues with a focus on inclusive growth since 1997.

14. Suresh Prabhu confers Skoch Golden Jubilee Challenger Award

• The Union Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu gave away the Skoch Golden Jubilee Challenger Award at the 55th Skoch Summit in New Delhi.
• Mr. Prabhu was awarded for his contribution to reforms, particularly in the power sector reforms.
• A book titled India 2030 was also released on the occasion.
• The Skoch Challenger Awards are the highest independently instituted civilian honours.

Sports

15. India's Vedangi Kulkarni becomes fastest Asian to cycle the globe

• Indian woman Vedangi Kulkarni (20-year) has become the fastest Asian to cycle the globe.
• Vedangi cycled into Kolkata in the wee hours, completing the 29,000 kilometres' distance required to qualify as bicycling across the globe.
• She spent 159 days peddling up to 300 kilometres a day in 14 countries.
• Now, She will be flying back to the Australian city to complete the record by cycling a 15-kilometre distance to reach the same place from where she started.

Note:  

• Vedangi is a student of the University of Bournemouth in the United Kingdom pursuing a degree in sports management.

 >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

'Thoughts of the day'

"All seasons are beautiful for the person who carries happiness within.”