Current Affairs 20-12-2019 in English

Important Day

• Goa Liberation Day - 19 December.

Economy

• Company that has issued the first Bharat Bond ETF - Edelweiss Asset Management Company.
• Fintech solution provider that has launched 'Safal Fasal', a digital platform for small and marginal farmers - BPC Banking Technologies.

International 

• The US National Science Foundation (NSF) reported that India has become the world's ______-largest publisher of science and engineering articles – Third (First – China).
• To setup its first Centre of Excellence for Next Generation Transportation Systems, the National Rail Transport Institute signed a MoU with - University of Birmingham.

National

• Confederation of Indian Industry (CII's) Theme for 2019-20 - 'Competitiveness of India Inc - India@75: Forging Ahead'.
• The NITI Aayog is considering these options in the Public Distribution System - fish, chicken and eggs.
• The '15th CII Annual Tourism Summit 2019' with the theme ‘Tourism: Creating Opportunities & Livelihoods’ organised on 19 December in - New Delhi.
• Aim of the Phase III of Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) for the period 2019-20 to 2024-25 – construct 1,25,000 Kms.

Persons in News

• Third president in U.S. history to be impeached - Donald Trump.
• First philanthropist ambassador of World Wildlife Fund (WWF) India - Upasana Kamineni.
• Forbes India’s list of Celebrity 100 for the year 2019 has been topped by - Virat Kohli.

State Current Affairs

• State government which has launched the ‘Jalsathi’ programme to ensure supply of safe drinking water - Odisha.
• Second wildlife forensic laboratory in the country – Nagpur, Maharashtra (first in Hyderabad).
• The anti-inflation 'Grih Adhar' scheme was launched in - Goa.
• The 'Indira Mahila Shakti Nidhi' fund, a Rs 1,000 crore fund for empowerment of women, launched by - Rajasthan government.

Science

• Indian name to the white-yellow star in Sextans constellation, given by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) - ‘Bhibha’ (Indian physicist Bibha Chowdhuri) (and for planet - ‘Santamasa’).
• For the first time, the World Health Organization (WHO) approved a "biosimilar" medicine, named - "Trastuzumab" (in curing breast cancer).

General Knowledge

• The Indian Armed Forces invaded Goa, following which it was freed on -19 December 1961.
• Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) – Founded: 1895; Headquarters: New Delhi.
• World Wildlife Fund (WWF) - Founded: 1961 (29 April); Headquarters: Gland, Switzerland.
• World Health Organization (WHO) - Founded: 1948 (07 April); Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland.
• International Astronomical Union (IAU) - Founded: 1919 (28 July); Headquarters: Paris.