1) India constructs Girls’ Hostel for Nepal Armed Police Force
•The Govt. of India has constructed Girls’ Hostel for Nepal Armed Police Force School, Kirtipur, Nepal. Deputy Chief of Mission, Embassy of India, Dr Ajay Kumar inaugurated hostel building. Nepal Armed Police Force (APF) School is an academic institution created under the APF Welfare Service Centre of Nepal Armed Police Force.
•The school was established in 2005 and it has over 21 per cent of girls students. The new infrastructure constructed with the Government of India’s grant assistance of 40.42 million Nepali Rupees is a two-storied girls’ hostel. It comprises 32 rooms including a dormitory, warden room, bathroom, sanitation facilities for girls on each floor and furniture.
2) Sikkim CM laid the foundation stone two IPUs of Sikkim IFFCO
•Chief Minister, Sikkim laid the foundation stone of two Integrated Organic Food Processing units of Sikkim IFFCO Organics Ltd. in Rangpo, East Sikkim. Sikkim IFFCO Organics Limited is a joint venture between the world’s biggest fertilizer Cooperative, IFFCO and Government of Sikkim.
•Its aim is to promote and market the organic produce of the country and especially from Sikkim and other north-eastern states of India. The major commercial crops in which Sikkim IFFCO will operate are ginger, turmeric, large cardamom and buckwheat.
3) Emergency protocols activated in the Galapagos Islands after fuel spill
•Ecuador has activated the emergency protocols in the Galapagos Islands. The emergency protocol was activated to contain the environmental impact of a fuel spill in the Galapagos Islands. The step was taken after a barge carrying 600 gallons of diesel fuel sank. The accident occurred in a port on San Cristobal Island when a crane collapsed while loading a container onto the barge. The falling container destabilized the ship, causing it to sink.
•The Galapagos archipelago is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and home to one of the most fragile ecosystems on the planet.
4) Integral Coach Factory produces 3000 Coaches in record 215 days
•Integral Coach Factory (ICF) of Indian Railways has produced its 3000 Coaches in record 215 days. The 64-year-old production unit beat its own record by reducing the number of working days to achieve the target of making 3,000 coaches in 289 days in 2018-19 to 215 days this year and retained its position as the largest coach- maker in the world.
5) Monisha Ghosh named 1st woman CTO at FCC in US
•Indian-American Dr Monisha Ghosh has been appointed as the first woman Chief Technology Officer at the US government’s powerful Federal Communications Commission (FCC). She will advise Indian-American Chairman of the FCC Ajit Pai and the agency on technology and engineering issues, and work closely with the Office of Engineering and Technology. Dr Ghosh will take charge on January 13. She replaces Dr Eric Burger.
6) India-Iran 19th Joint Commission meeting held in Iran
•External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar co-chaired the 19th Joint Commission meeting with Foreign Minister of Iran. The Joint Commission meeting was held in Tehran, Iran. The meeting reviewed the entire gamut of the cooperation and agreed to accelerate work on the strategic Chabahar project. The Chabahar port is jointly being developed by India, Iran and Afghanistan. It is located on the Indian Ocean in the Sistan and Baluchestan province of Iran.
7) EChO Network was launched in New Delhi
•Prof. Krishnasamy VijayRaghavan, Principal Scientific Adviser to the Govt of India launched a national program called “EChO Network” in New Delhi. The EChO network provides a template for cross-disciplinary leadership in India. The purpose of this programme is to bring citizens, govt etc to solve problems in the areas of research knowledge, and awareness of Indian ecology and the environment.
8) Indian Archaeologist honoured in Bangladesh
•Noted archaeologist R. Nagaswamy was honoured at the Silver Jubilee International Conference of Art in Dhaka by Bangladesh. He is an Indian historian, archaeologist and epigraphist. He served as the founder-director of Tamilnadu Archaeology Department. In 2018 he was awarded India’s third highest civilian award Padma Bhushan.
9) Malayali boy Aditya bags top bravery award
•Aditya K. of Kozhikode, Kerala has become the first child from the State to bag the Bharat Award for bravery. The most prestigious of the National Bravery Awards, given away by the Indian Council for Child Welfare. The Bharat Award has gone to Aditya for rescued 20 people from a bus carrying members of the Calicut University Pensioners’ Forum and their families when it caught fire coming down a steep mountain road.
•Two more children from the State are also recipients of the awards. Muhammed Mohsin has been given the award posthumously for saving the lives of three children. Fatah gets the award for rescuing a woman and a girl from an approaching train. Both belong to Kozhikode.
10) Vice Prez released book ‘Turbulence and Triumph: The Modi Years’
•The Vice President of India Venkaiah Naidu released a book titled ‘Turbulence and Triumph: The Modi Years’ in New Delhi. The book is jointly authored by Rahul Agarwal and Bharathi S Pradhan and is published by Om Books International. The book is about the life journey of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi from his days as a young boy rin Gujarat till becoming the Prime Minister of India.
