Daily Current Affairs 25th and 26th December 2019

Table of Contents

Dear Aspirants,

General awareness section is the most important part of every competitive exam, it can help you score well in the exam if you are updated with all the current news. Banking Awareness, Static GK and the current news are the parts that make the GA section complete. It is important to know what is happening in and outside of India. GK updates are incorporated with the important news that made the headlines today. It is the complete bag of the important news that held all day long. One should have complete knowledge about the banking terms, current affairs news, etc. So, here is the GK update of 25th and 26th December to help you prepare the Current affairs part. After reading this section, you can successfully attempt Current Affairs Quiz.

National News

1. Petroleum Minister unveils India’s first long distance CNG bus

Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister unveiled India’s first long-distance CNG bus fitted with CNG cylinders in New Delhi. It can travel around 1000 kilometres in a single fill.
The first long-range interstate CNG bus will ply from Delhi to Dehradun.
This type of buses will soon ply between Delhi to Jaipur, Chandigarh and Agra.
The project has been executed by Indraprastha Gas Limited, the largest CNG distribution company in the country.

Important takeaways for all competitive exams:

Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister: Dharmendra Pradhan.

2. Rohtang tunnel in Himachal Pradesh named as Atal tunnel

Prime Minister Narendra Modi named Rohtang passageway in Himachal Pradesh as Atal Tunnel to mark the 95th birth anniversary of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
The tunnel has been named as a tribute to the former Prime Minister who took the historic decision of constructing this strategic tunnel.
It will provide all-weather connectivity to remote areas of Lahaul and Spiti Valley and also reduce the distance between Manali and Leh by 46 Kilometres.

Important takeaways for all competitive exams:

Himachal Pradesh CM: Jai Ram Thakur; Governor: Bandaru Dattatraya.

International

3. Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg steps down

Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg has stepped down as the company is facing tough period following two fatal crashes.
He will be replaced by Chairman David Calhoun effective January 13, 2020.
He became the CEO of the world’s largest aerospace company in July 2015.
The company’s best selling commercial jet was grounded worldwide in March 2019 after two fatal crashes killed 346 people.

Important takeaways for all competitive exams:

Headquarters of Boeing: Chicago, United States.

States News

4. PM Modi unveiled Atal Bihari Vajpayee statue in Lucknow

Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled a statue of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee at Lok Bhawan in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh.
He also laid the foundation stone for the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Medical University in the Uttar Pradesh capital.
The state government has given 50 acres of land for the varsity.

Important takeaways for all competitive exams:

CM of UP: Yogi Adityanath; Governor of UP: Anandiben Patel.

5. Hemant Soren to take oath as Jharkhand CM on Dec 29

In Jharkhand, Grand Alliance leader Hemant Soren will take oath as Chief Minister on the 29th of this month.
He was formally elected the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) legislature party leader.
He was projected as the chief ministerial candidate by the JMM, Congress and RJD Alliance that gained the majority in the recently concluded Assembly polls.

Important takeaways for all competitive exams:

Governor of Jharkhand: Droupadi Murmu.
Jharkhand was founded on 15 November 2000.

Appointments

6. Niranjan Hiranandani takes over as Assocham president

Daily Current Affairs 25th and 26th December 2019 | Daily GK Update |_9.1

Niranjan Hiranandani has taken over as the new president of The Associated Chambers of Commerce & Industry of India (Assocham), the country’s apex organisation of industry and trade.
He will succeed Balkrishan Goenka, the Welspun Group Chairman.
Niranjan Hiranandani is the Co-Founder and Managing Director of the Hiranandani Group of Companies.

Awards

7. Kamareddy wins Unicef-2019 Award for Swachh Bharat implementation

Kamareddy district of Telangana has secured the United Nations International Children’s and Education Fund (Unicef)-2019 Award.
The district has won the award for effective implementation of Swachh Bharat Mission in water sanitation and hygiene sectors.
Kamareddy district was on top in the country among other districts in construction of individual sanitary lavatories, swachh darpan wall paintings, swachh survekshan, swachh sundar shouchalay and many other activities.

Important takeaways for all competitive exams:

Chief Minister of Telangana: K Chandrasekhar Rao; Governor: Tamilisai Soundararajan.

Schemes and Committees

8. Atal Bhujal Yojana launched by Government of India

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has launched Atal Bhujal Yojana (ATAL JAL) which aims to improve groundwater management.
The scheme has been designed with the principal objective of strengthening the institutional framework for participatory groundwater management.
It aims to bring behavioral changes at the community level for sustainable groundwater resource management in seven States.
The 7 states includes Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.
The scheme will promote panchayat led ground water management and behavioural change with primary focus on demand side management.
The Government has outlaid Rs. 6000 crore for the scheme. Out of the total outlay of Rs. 6000 crore to be implemented over a period of 5 years (2020-21 to 2024-25), 50% shall be in the form of World Bank loan, and to be repaid by the Central Government.
The remaining 50% shall be through Central Assistance from regular budgetary support. The entire World Bank’s loan component and Central Assistance will be passed on to the States as Grants.

Ranks and Reports

9. Tamil Nadu tops ‘Good Governance Index’ launched by GoI

The Central Government has released the “Good Governance Index” on the occasion of Good Governance Day.
The “Good Governance Index” was launched to assess the state of governance in Indian States and Union Territories.
The prime objective of the GGI is to provide quantifiable data to compare the state of governance in all states and Union Territories, enable them to formulate and implement suitable strategies for improving governance and shift to result oriented approaches and administration.
The Index was launched by the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances, and the Centre for Good Governance.

The GGI takes into consideration ten sectors. These ten Governance Sectors are measured on total 50 indicators. The 10 sectors are:

Agriculture and Allied Sectors
Commerce & Industries
Human Resource Development
Public Health
Public Infrastructure & Utilities
Economic Governance
Social Welfare & Development
Judicial & Public Security
Environment
Citizen-Centric Governance

The states and UTs are divided into three groups:

Big States
North-East & Hill States
Union Territories

Some key results of the day:

Among the “Big States“, Tamil Nadu topped the Good Governance Index. The poor performers are Odisha, Bihar, Goa, and Uttar Pradesh with Jharkhand finishing last in the group.
Among the “North-East and Hill States“, Himachal Pradesh topped the index, followed by Uttarakhand, Tripura, Mizoram and Sikkim.
The worst performers in this group are Jammu and Kashmir, Manipur, Meghalaya, Nagaland, with Arunachal Pradesh finishing last in the group.
Among the “Union Territories“, Puducherry topped the index followed by Chandigarh and Delhi. Lakshwadeep is the worst performing UT.

Sports

10. South African seamer Vernon Philander announces retirement

South African all-rounder Vernon Philander announced international retirement from all forms of cricket after the conclusion of the upcoming Test series against England.
He has played 97 matches across all three formats, taking a combined 261 wickets with 1784 runs in his international career.
He also took 51 wickets in his first seven Test matches which earned him the 2012 SA Cricketer of the Year award.

11. MS Dhoni named captain of CA’s ODI team of the decade

Former India skipper and wicket-keeper batsman MS Dhoni been named captain of Cricket Australia’s (CA) ODI team of the decade and the line-up features three Indian players.
Apart from Dhoni, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma have made the cut in CA’s team.
CA’s ODI team of the decade: Rohit Sharma, Hashim Amla, Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, Shakib Al Hasan, Jos Buttler, MS Dhoni (c), Mitchell Starc, Trent Boult, Lasith Malinga, Rashid Khan.

12. Leander Paes to retire from Tennis in 2020

Indian tennis ace Leander Paes has announced that 2020 will be his last year as a professional tennis player.
Leander, who made his Olympic debut in 1992, will look for one final flourish at Tokyo Olympics next year.
He has won eight doubles and ten mixed doubles Grand Slam titles.

Obituaries

13. England World Cup winner Martin Peters passes away

Former West Ham and Tottenham midfielder Martin Peters, who scored England’s second goal in the 1966 World Cup final against West Germany, passed away.
He joined West Ham in 1959 as a 15-year-old, made his debut in 1962 and was a key player in the side who won the 1965 Cup Winners Cup final at Wembley.

14. Renowned Hindi author Ganga Prasad passes away

Renowned Hindi author Ganga Prasad Vimal passed away in a road accident in Sri Lanka.
He was born in 1939 in Uttarkashi, Uttarakhand. He wrote more than a dozen poetry collections, short story collections and novels.
His last novel, Manushkhor, was published in 2013. He received several Hindi literary awards.

Important Days

15. Good Governance Day: 25 December

Good Governance Day is observed in India annually on the 25th of December.
In this day nation celebrates the birth anniversary of Bharat Ratna and former-Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
Good Governance Day was established in 2014 to honour Prime Minister Vajpayee by fostering awareness among the Indian people of accountability in government.
In keeping with this principle, the Good Governance Day has been declared to be a working day for the government.
Atal Bihari Vajpayee served as the Prime Minister of India for three times.
His first term was for only 13 days in 1996.
He served his second term for a period of thirteen months from March 1998 to April 1999 and then a full term from 1999 to 2004.
His first entry into parliament was in 1962 through the Rajya Sabha. He was elected to the Lok Sabha seven times.
In 2015, Mr Vajpayee was conferred the Bharat Ratna, India’s highest civilian award.

16. National Consumer Day: 24th December

Every Year 24th December is observed as National Consumer Day with a specific theme in India.
The theme of this year is “ alternate consumer grievance/dispute redressal”.
The objective is to highlight the importance of the consumer movement and the need to make every consumer more aware of their rights and responsibilities.
On this day the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 was enacted.
The Act aims to provide consumers with effective safeguards against different types of exploitation, such as defective goods, deficiency in services and unfair trade practices.

Important takeaways for all competitive exams: