Current Affairs Updates - 10 & 11 December 2017

Current Affairs Updates - 10 & 11 December 2017

Important Days

Human Rights Day is observed on 10 December.

• It commemorates the day in 1948 the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
• The formal inception of Human Rights Day dates from 1950, after the Assembly passed resolution 423 (V) inviting all States and interested organizations to adopt 10 December of each year as Human Rights Day.

New Appointments: National

On the occasion of International Day of Persons with Disabilities, a renowned communication expert, Sarvesh Kumar Tiwari, was appointed as the President of Para-Sports Foundation (PSF).

• The announcement was made at the National Award for Divyangjan 2017 at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi.
• The event organized by the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (Divyangjan) under the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment. Among the dignitaries present on the occasion were Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment, Shri Thaawarchand Gehlot as well as Minister of States for Social Justice and Empowerment, Shri Krishan Pal Gurjar and Shri Ramdas Athawale.

Uma Shankar, chief general manager (CGM) in charge of the Reserve Bank of India's financial inclusion and development department has taken over as executive director (ED) in the central bank.

• Shankar has been elevated after Meena Hemchandra the executive director in charge of the central bank's supervision department retired at the end of November. 

Rankings

Technology giant Google has ranked 5th on the list of '100 best companies to work for in the US in 2018', marking its 10th consecutive appearance on the annual list, according to Glassdoor. 

•  Apple and management consulting firm Bain & Company also featured on the list for the 10th consecutive year. Google was ranked the best workplace in 2015.

India's largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki became India's sixth most valued firm, crossing India's largest lender SBI. 

• Maruti Suzuki's market capitalisation stood at 2.74 trillion, marginally ahead of SBI's market value of 2.71 trillion. Reliance Industries is the country's most valued company with a market value of 5.8 trillion, followed by TCS, HDFC Bank, ITC and Hindustan Unilever.

According to Forbes Asia’s compilation of Singapore’s 50 Richest, Facebook Co-Founder Eduardo Saverin Becomes Singapore's Richest Person.

• Billionaire Eduardo Saverin, the Facebook co-founder, who became a Singapore resident after renouncing his U.S. citizenship in 2012, is now the island-nation’s richest person. With an estimated net worth of 10.1 billion dollar, Saverin, 35, edged past property siblings Robert & Philip Ng, who have occupied the top spot as Singapore’s richest since 2010 and have an estimated fortune of 10 billion dollar.

National Affairs

Afghanistan's second vice president Mohammad Sarwar Danish will be on a five-day visit to India.

• During his visit, Danish will go to Mumbai to attend an international conference on 'Harmony and Memorial of Mother Teresa'.
• He will also meet Maharashtra Governor C Vidyasagar Rao.

India's 'first' mobile food testing laboratory, which will enable on-the-spot food safety tests to be conducted in Goa, would be launched by Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar.

• This is the first ever 'Food Safety on Wheel' mobile laboratory in the country. The chief minister will officially unveil it on Sunday," state Food and Drugs Administration minister Vishwajit Rane told reporters here yesterday. 
• The vehicle is equipped to conduct on-the-spot tests to check the food quality. It will also check the hygiene level of water, he said adding that the results can be received within 15 minutes. 

International Affairs

Dubai's ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum has launched the UAE's first astronaut programme  designed to train four Emirati astronauts for various space missions, eventually sending them to the International Space Station (ISS) within five years. 

• Dubai's ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum has launched the UAE's first astronaut programme. The programme is designed to train four Emirati astronauts for various space missions, eventually sending them to the International Space Station (ISS) within five years. Earlier this year, the UAE had announced plans to send an unmanned probe to Mars by 2021.

Science & Technologies

Scientists have proven the existence of new form of matter called excitonium - which was first theorised almost 50 years ago.

• Excitonium exhibits macroscopic quantum phenomena, like a superconductor and is made up of excitons, particles that are formed in a very strange quantum mechanical pairing.

Defence & Railway

President Ram Nath Kovind awarded Presidential Colours to the submarine arm of the Indian Navy that is celebrating its golden jubilee.

• The event, held at the headquarters of the Eastern Naval Command (ENC) here, was attended by Navy Chief Admiral Sunil Lanba, Andhra Pradesh Governor ESL Narasimhan, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, Flag Office Commanding-in-Chief of ENC Vice-Admiral Karambir Singh and other senior officers of the force.

Application / Portal 

A public procurement portal, ‘MSME Sambandh’, was launched by Medium, Small and Micro Enterprises Minister (Independent charge) Giriraj Singh

• The objective of the portal is to monitor the implementation of the public procurement from MSEs by Central public sector enterprises,” an official release said. The procurement policy mandates the Central government departments/CPSEs to procure an overall 20 per cent of their total annual purchases from MSEs.

Agreements (MoU)

A mou was inked between the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas and the state government for setting up a Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) bottling plant in Meghalaya which will help increase the clean fuel's penetration, especially in the rural areas of the state.

• I have signed an MOU to set up a bottling plant with an annual capacity of 13,000 metric tonnes. The investment of Rs 75 crore for the bottling plant will be done by the Government of India, Pradhan said.
• He said that the Centre has decided to implement the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) in the state in full swing while keeping in mind that the LPG penetration in Meghalaya is the lowest in the North East region.

Summit /Conference / Events / Host

India to host 2-day Connectivity Summit with ASEAN countries aimed at enhancing economic and trade relations between India and Southeast Asian nations. Theme: 'Powering Digital and Physical Linkages for Asia in the 21st Century'.

• Ahead of the 25th anniversary of Dialogue Partnership between India and Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Delhi will host a two-day ASEAN-India Connectivity Summit on December 11 and 12. Aimed at enhancing economic and trade relations between India and Southeast Asian nations, the summit's theme will be 'Powering Digital and Physical Linkages for Asia in the 21st Century'.

The International Council for Monuments and Sites or ICOMOS, the global pioneers and front runners in promoting and enhancing professionalism in conservation, management, planning and development of India's diverse heritage is geared to organise the first ever ICOMOS General Assembly and Scientific Symposium 2017 in Delhi. Theme: "Heritage and Democracy"

• The event is supported / backed by Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs and Ministry of Culture, Government of India, Government of Jammu and Kashmir, Bihar and Odisha Tourism and key players in this sector.

Awards & Honours

Eminent Hindi writer Mamta Kalia will be honoured with literary award Vyas Samman for year 2017 for her novel "Dukkham Sukkham", the K K Birla Foundation.

• A selection committee headed by Sahitya Akademi director and author Vishwanath Prasad Tiwari has decided to bestow the award upon Kalia for her novel "Dukkham Sukkham" published in 2009," the Foundation said in a statement.

Sports: Awards & Honours

Mehuli Ghosh and Tushar Mane became the first Indian shooters to secure the women's and men's quota places for the 2018 Youth Olympic Games (YOG) by winning a gold and bronze each at the 10th Asian Championship 10M Rifle/Pistol at Wako City, Japan.

• Ghosh struck gold to bag one out of three quota places up for grabs in women's 10m Air Rifle Youth, while Mane settled for a bronze medal to secure one out of four quota places available in the men's 10m Air Rifle Youth.
• Apart from booking two quota places at YOG, India bagged a total of three gold and three bronze to add to their five medals won on the first day of the competitions.

Obituary 

Veteran journalist Sukharanjan Sengupta died here today due to old age-related health problems. 

• Sengupta, who underwent a heart surgery recently, was re-admitted to a city hospital following urine infection and slipped into coma since yesterday, family sources said.
• He is survived by wife, a daughter and a son.