Skill Development Ministry to set up 500 skill hubs and labs in govt schools

NATIONAL NEWS

Skill Development Ministry to set up 500 skill hubs and labs in govt schools

• Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Ministry has finalized a plan for setting up 500 skill hubs and labs in government schools.
• It has taken several initiatives to impart skill training to the youth of the country.
• That the Ministry aims to Skill on a large scale with high Standards in order to achieve its vision of a Skilled India.

Govt proposes to invest 50 lakh crore rupees for modernisation of Railways

• Railway Minister Piyush Goyal has said that Railways is looking at a 50 lakh crore rupees investment over the next 12 years.
• It is coming out of joint ventures so that it can modernize the railways, bring down the logistics cost and improve the share of freight in railway network and make the journey world-class.
• Government is making huge efforts to give support to bankers to lend boldly and freely to the NBFC sector and the real estate sector.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Ethiopia Launches First Satellite

• Ethiopia has launched its first satellite into space, as more sub-Saharan African nations strive to develop space programmes to advance their development goals and encourage scientific innovation.
• The satellite was designed by Chinese and Ethiopian engineers and the Chinese government paid about $6m of the more than $7m manufacturing costs.

BANKING

ADB's 490 million dollars loan to upgrade Indian state's roads

• Asian Development Bank, ADB and Government of India signed a 490 million dollars loan for public-private partnership, PPP project to upgrade about one thousand six hundred kilometres of state highways and major district roads from single-lane to two-lane widths in Madhya Pradesh.
• An additional 286 million dollars investment will be mobilised through private sector participation under the PPP modality.
• Additional Secretary (Fund Bank and ADB) in Department of Economic Affairs in Finance Ministry Sameer Kumar Khare and Country Director of ADB’s India Resident Mission Kenichi Yokoyama signed the loan agreement.

APPOINTMENT

Devesh Srivastava takes charge as CMD of GIC Re

• Devesh Srivastava took charge as the Chairman and Managing director of General Insurance Corporation of India.
• Srivastava name was recommended by Banks Board Bureau in August this year, and the government issued notification for his appointment.
• Srivastava, a direct recruit officer of 1987 batch, began his career with Oriental Insurance Company Ltd. Subsequently, his services were transferred to GIC in 1999.

OBITUARY

Former Kerala Minister and MLA Thomas Chandy passes away

• Thomas Chandy, a former minister in the Pinarayi Vijayan government and MLA representing the Kuttanad constituency in Alappuzha, passed away in Kochi.
• Belonging to the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP)— an ally of the ruling Left Democratic Front in Kerala, Thomas Chandy was the state president of the party.

Former SGPC chief Avtar Singh Makkar passes away at 78

• Former president of Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) Avtar Singh Makkar died at a private hospital in Gurugram. He was one of the longest-serving presidents of the SGPC, an apex religious body of the Sikhs.
• Makkar remained the SGPC president from November 23, 2005, to 4th November 2016. He was also the Vice President of the Shiromani Akali Dal.

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

International Astronomical Union names new star 'Sharjah'

• The International Astronomical Union (IAU) announced the names of the newly discovered stars and planets, where the name "Sharjah" was chosen for a star with "Barjeel" being the name of one of its planets.
• The announcement was made during a press conference of the IAU in the French capital, Paris, celebrating the centennial of the union. During the announcement, the organisers lauded the efforts and contributions of the Emirate of Sharjah to the global scientific community.

DRDO flight-tests Pinaka Missile System

• As part of the series of flight trials of the Pinaka missile system, two test firings have been conducted by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).
• The first trial was conducted, wherein one missile was fired at 75-kilometre range.
• The second trial was successfully conducted this morning from Integrated Test Range, Chandipur, off the Odisha coast.
• The mission objective of today’s trial was to test low range, functioning of live warhead along with its proximity initiation and salvo launch. Two Pinaka missiles were launched in salvo mode with 60 seconds interval between two firings.
•  both the missiles were fired to engage a target located at the 20-kilometre range and high accuracy was achieved.
• The missile was integrated with live warhead with a proximity fuse and was tracked by multiple range systems viz. telemetry, radars, Electro-Optical Tracking System (EOTS), which confirmed the textbook flight performance.

SPORTS

Mirabai Chanu bags Gold in 6th Qatar International Cup in Doha

• Former world champion, weightlifter Saikhom Mirabai Chanu won the women's 49kg category gold medal to open India's account at the 6th Qatar International Cup in Doha.
• Chanu bagged gold with an effort of 194kg in the Olympic qualifying event, with the points which will come in handy when the final rankings for Tokyo 2020 cut are done. The 24-year-old Manipuri lifted 83kg in snatch and 111kg in clean and jerk to finish on top of the podium.
• However, it was a performance way below her personal best of 201 kg.

INTERNATIONAL DAY

International Human Solidarity Day 2019- 6 December

• The new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) agenda is centred on people & planet, underpinned by human rights and supported by a global partnership determined to lift people out of poverty, hunger and disease. It will be thus be built on a foundation of global cooperation and solidarity.

      International Human Solidarity Day is-

• a day to celebrate our unity in diversity;
• a day to remind governments to respect their commitments to international agreements;
• a day to raise public awareness of the importance of solidarity;
• a day to encourage debate on the ways to promote solidarity for the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals including poverty eradication;
• a day of action to encourage new initiatives for poverty eradication.