GEM launches National Outreach Programme

NATIONAL NEWS

GEM launches National Outreach Programme

• Government e-commerce portal GeM has launched a national outreach programme, GeM Samvaad, to bring on-board more local sellers.
• The outreach programme will take place with stakeholders across the country and with local sellers to facilitate on-boarding of local sellers on the marketplace.
• The programme was launched by Commerce Secretary Anup Wadhawan in New Delhi.

Haryana Police adopted Trakea to make forensic reports tamper-proof

• Haryana Police has adopted Trakea, a unique barcoding software to make forensic reports tamper-proof. The technique will ensure the thousands of forensic reports that form the backbone of the criminal investigation system and subsequent trials in the courts of law, are not tampered with.

ABOUT TRAKEA

• Trakea ensures foolproof security of the samples collected from the scene of the crime, and the forensic analysis reports.
• The software streamlines the functioning of Forensic Science Laboratories.
• It helps to automate the entire procedure, right from the moment when forensic experts collect vital samples from the scene of crime to conducting analysis of the samples, followed by tracking case wise forensic reports electronically through barcodes.

Five-day music festival ‘Tansen Samaroh’ begins in Gwalior

• In Madhya Pradesh, popular classical music festival ‘Tansen Samaroh’ began with traditional style in Gwalior today with the recitations of Harikatha and Milad.
• However, the formal inauguration of the Tansen ceremony will take place at 7 in the evening.
• The five-day festival is celebrated every year in the memory of one of the most eminent singers of Indian history, ‘Mian Tansen’.

INDEX

India slips to 112th place on gender gap, in bottom-5 on health, economic fronts

• India has slipped four places to rank 112th globally in terms of gender gap amid widening disparity in terms of women's health and survival and economic participation -- the two areas where the country is now ranked in the bottom-five.

       NEIGHBOURING COUNTRY

• While Iceland remains the world's most gender-neutral country, India has moved down the ladder from its 108th position last year on the World Economic Forum's Gender Gap Report to rank below countries like China (106th), Sri Lanka (102nd), Nepal (101st), Brazil (92nd), Indonesia (85th) and Bangladesh (50th).
• Yemen is ranked the worst (153rd), while Iraq is 152nd and Pakistan 151st.

        INDIA OVERALL RANKING

• India's rank has worsened on three of four metrics used for the overall ranking. While India has improved to 18th place on political empowerment, it has slipped to 150th on health and survival, to 149th in terms of economic participation and opportunity and to 112th place for educational attainment.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

‘Racist’ Belgian carnival which mocks Jews removed from Unesco heritage list

• Unesco has removed a Belgian carnival that mocks Jews from its heritage list after persistent charges of racism.
• The UN’s intergovernmental committee for the safeguarding of intangible cultural heritage said it was withdrawing the carnival, which takes place each year in the Belgian city of Aalst, “over recurring repetition of racist and antisemitic representations” at the event.
• The carnival was initially added to Unesco’s list of the intangible cultural heritage of humanity in 2010, but the presence of a parade float featuring Orthodox Jews with hooked noses and sitting on gold bags caused outrage in the country where there is a 40,000-strong Jewish community.

DEFENCE

Nepal, India Hold Joint Military Exercise Surya Kiran

• The sixth day of joint military exercise termed as Surya Kiran between India and Nepal in Nepal’s Rupendehi district centered around the detection of an Improvised explosive device (IEDs), sports activities including volleyball matches and joint training.
• This is the 14th edition of the joint military exercise ‘Surya Kiran’ is conducted alternatively in India and Nepal.
• The purpose of this bilateral exercise is to conduct a battalion-level combined training between the Indian and Nepalese Army to improve interoperability at a military level in jungle warfare, counter-terrorism operations in mountainous terrain, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief operations.

BrahMos Missile Successfully Test-Fired from Odisha's Chandipur

• Supersonic cruise missile BrahMos was successfully test-fired from a base in Odisha's Chandipur.
• The land-attack version of the missile was test-fired from a mobile autonomous launcher at Launch Complex-3 of the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur.
• The trial of the surface-to-surface missile was successful, meeting all the parameters, a Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).
• The BrahMos missile is a medium-range ramjet supersonic cruise missile capable of being launched from submarines, warships, fighter jets or land.
• The first extended version of the missile with a strike range of 450 km was successfully tested on March 11, 2017.

OBITUARY

Veteran actor Shriram Lagoo passes away

• Leading Marathi actor Dr Shriram Lagoo passed away.
• The actor was 92 years old, known for his character roles, and also was veteran of over 100 Hindi and Marathi films.

SPORTS

Ben Stokes named BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2019

• Ben Stokes has won the prestigious BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2019 award for his heroics in the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2019 and the home Ashes series.
• Stokes is only the fifth cricketer, and the first since Andrew Flintoff in 2005, to have received the honour since it began in 1954.
• The award is part of BBC's annual sporting awards, and celebrates the best of British sport, with the public voting on shortlisted candidates.

IMPORTANT DAYS

International Migrants Day- December 8

• To mark this year’s International Migrants Day, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) is calling on the international community to come together and remember the refugees and migrants who have lost their lives or have disappeared while trying to reach safe harbour after arduous journeys across seas and deserts.