1) International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People: 29 November
•In 1977, the General Assembly called for the annual observance of 29 November as the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People. On that day, in 1947, the Assembly adopted the resolution on the partition of Palestine. This date, which was chosen because of its meaning and significance to the Palestinian people, is based on the call by the United Nations General Assembly for an annual observance of the resolution on the partition of Palestine.
•The International Day of Solidarity traditionally provides an opportunity for the international community to focus its attention on the fact that the question of Palestine remains unresolved and that the Palestinian people have yet to attain their inalienable rights as defined by the General Assembly, namely, the right to self-determination without external interference, the right to national independence and sovereignty, and the right to return to their homes and property, from which they have been displaced.
2) India to host 2023 Men’s Hockey World Cup
•India wins bid to host 2023 Men’s Hockey World Cup Kalinga Hockey Stadium in Bhubaneswar and Biju Patnaik Hockey Stadium in Rourkela to be the venues for the tournament. The state capital is also one of the venues for the 2020 FIFA Women’s U-17 World Cup.
•Bhubaneswar has hosted some big international sporting events, including the 2017 Asian Athletics Championships, 2017 FIH Hockey World League Final, FIH Men’s Series Finals in 2019 and the recently-concluded FIH Hockey Olympic Qualifiers.
3) Rajnath to inaugurate 3rd edition of Military Literature Festival
•Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will inaugurate the 3-day-long Military Literature Festival (MLF) on 13 December 2019 at Chandigarh. The event would present an international level forum to foster and preserve the exchange of knowledge related to military literature and associated works.
•The 10 books of noted defence and literary authors would also be released on occasion. This year, the event would commemorate Indian participation in the Burma Campaign in World War II, the 75th anniversary of which falls next year.
4) EU Parliament declares climate emergency
•The European Union’s legislature has declared a climate emergency, in a symbolic move aimed at increasing pressure on the incoming European Commission to take a stronger stance on climate change. The parliament voted 429/225 with 19 abstentions to call the increasing environmental challenges linked to climate change an emergency.
•The climate declaration was passed in Strasbourg during a European Parliament debate on the upcoming United Nations’ COP25 climate summit. The summit kicks off on 2nd December in Madrid. EU lawmakers urged the European Commission to fully ensure all relevant legislative and budgetary proposals are fully aligned with the 1.5-degrees-Celsius target limit on global warming. The resolution calls on the EU to cut emissions by 55 per cent by 2030 to become climate neutral by 2050.
5) ISRO transfer space-grade Li-Ion cell technology to BHEL
•ISRO has transferred its indigenous technology to produce space-grade Li-Ion cells to Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL). In March 2018, BHEL signed the Technology Transfer Agreement with ISRO for acquiring the Li-Ion Cell production technology. This production facility is primarily targeting to meet Li-Ion Cell requirements for ISRO and other strategic sectors.
•BHEL can also produce and sell Li-Ion cells for meeting other national/commercial applications by suitably modifying the space-grade cell which can lead to cost reduction. BHEL is in the process of establishing the Li-Ion production facility near Bangalore in Karnataka.
6) Indian Army successfully test-fired 2 Spike LR missile in MP
•The Indian Army has successfully test-fired 2 Spike long-range anti-tank missiles at Mhow in Madhya Pradesh. Spike is a 4th-generation missile which can engage any target with precision at ranges up to 4 km. India became the 33rd country to have the Spike missile as part of its inventory. The missile has the ability to fire, observe and update, providing substantial flexibility to the firer to pinpoint the impact point. It also has the ability to switch to a different target mid-flight. The firer has the option of firing from a low or high trajectory.
7) G K Reddy inaugurates 1st Intl. Conf on “Landslides Risk Reduction and Resilience”
•Minister of State for Home Affairs, inaugurated the 1st International Conference on “Landslides Risk Reduction and Resilience” in New Delhi. The Conference called for developing technology to anticipate disasters like landslides and develop infrastructure to quickly respond to minimise the damage. The landslides have attracted global attention as they may cause huge havoc on communities, livestock, environment leading to huge loss of lives. This conference will go a long way in finding long term solutions to natural disasters.
8) MHRD launches 3 books for children namely Kumbh, Garam Pahad and Dilli ki Bulbul
•Union HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ launched 3 books which are a collection of stories for Children namelyKumbh, Garam Pahad and Dilli ki Bulbul (Sindhi edition) in New Delhi. Authored by a popular writer of children’s books and travelogues Dr Anita Bhatnagar Jain. She is an officer of Indian Administrative Services (1985 batch). The three books are a collection of stories for children and have brought out environmental issues and topics like socio-cultural unity& cultural heritage in a very simple and interesting manner.
9) Tata Comm board appoints A S Lakshminarayanan as MD and CEO
•The Board of Tata Communications (Tata Comm) appointed Amur Swaminathan Lakshminarayanan as the managing director (MD) and chief executive officer (CEO) of the telecom company for a term of five years with effect from 26 November 2019. Prior to joining Tata Comm, Lakshminarayanan was the president and CEO of TCS, Japan where he was in charge of accelerating the company’s market opportunity and developing the brand in the region.
10) Moody’s expects Centre’s fiscal deficit to rise to 3.7%
•Global rating agency Moody’s expects the Centre’s fiscal deficit to touch 3.7% of the GDP. The Centre has targeted to keep the deficit at 3.3 per cent for the current fiscal (2019-20), but it has already reached 92.6 per cent of the Budget estimate in first six months of the current fiscal. For all the state governments, the fiscal deficit estimated to be around 3 %.
•A fiscal deficit is a shortfall in a government’s income compared with its spending. It is calculated as a percentage of GDP, or simply as total dollars spent in excess of income.
