 Manipur Government honored AIBA World Women Boxing Gold medalist MC Mary Kom with the title “Meethoileima” (par excellent queen) at a function in Imphal, Manipur. On the occasion, State Chief Minister N. Biren Singh handed over a cheque of ten lakh rupees to her. The Chief Minister also declared that the Imphal West DC Road towards Game Village will be named as MC Mary Kom Road. |
| Source- AIR World Service |
 Sascha Bajin, coach of the world number five Naomi Osaka, has become the first-ever recipient of the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) Coach of the Year Award. WTA Coach of the Year Award is given to the coach with not only success on-court, but also who serves as an ambassador of the sport and brings coaching to the forefront of the game. |
| Source- The Indian Express |
 Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the fourth Partners’ Forum in New Delhi. The objective of the conference is to improve knowledge, alignment and accountability to accelerate action on women’s, children’s and adolescents health. Ministry of Health in association with the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health, PMNCH is hosting the two-day international conference. This is the second time India is hosting the Partners’ Forum. The programme has been framed around the objectives of the Global Strategy of Survive – Thrive – Transform. |
| Source- Press Information Bureau (PIB) |
 NASA’s Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) spacecraft has found water locked inside asteroid Bennu. Bennu is too small to have ever hosted liquid water, but this finding does indicate that liquid water was present at some time on Bennu’s parent body, a much larger asteroid. |
| Key Facts Data obtained from spacecraft’s two spectrometers OSIRIS-REx Thermal Emission Spectrometer (OTES) and OSIRIS-REx Visible and Infrared Spectrometer (OVIRS) has revealed presence ofhydroxyl molecules that contain oxygen and hydrogen atoms bonded together. These hydroxyl groups exist globally across asteroid in water-bearing clay minerals, indicating that at some point Bennu’s rocky material interacted with water. |
| OSIRIS-REx It launched in September 2016 is NASA’s first asteroid sampling mission i.e. it will survey surface, collect sample and deliver it safely back to Earth. It had reached its destination Bennu asteroid in December 2018 after travelling through space for more than two years and travelling over two billion kilometres. Samples returned by the mission to Earth in 2023 will enable scientists to find new information about the history and evolution of our solar system. |
| Bennu It is near-Earth carbonaceous asteroid about the size of a small mountain in the Apollo group. It was discovered in September 1999 by the LINEAR Project. It is one of oldest known asteroids which is considered as remnant from early in formation of solar system and orbits close to Earth’s path around Sun.. It is carbon-rich asteroid and believed to be the type of asteroids that may have chemical building blocks of life, along with lots of water. So, analysis of returned sample from it could help to reveal key insights about early solar system and the origin of life on Earth. It is potentially hazardous asteroid and there is very slight chance it could strike into Earth in the late 22nd century. |
 Eminent economist and columnist Surjit Bhalla has resigned as part-time member of Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister(EAC-PM). His resignation comes day after Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor Urjit Patel, quit abruptly after months-long tussle over policy with government. |
| Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council (PMEAC) PMEAC is non-constitutional and non-statutory, non-permanent and independent body, constituted with the prime and sole aim to analyse all critical issues, economic or otherwise, referred to it by the prime minister and advising him thereon. It is mandate to give advice to prime minister on economic matters such as inflation, GDP changes, export-import changes, creating supporting environment for increased trade and commerce. |
| Functions Submit periodic reports to PM related to macroeconomic developments and issues which will have implications of the economic policy. Analyse any topics, issues assigned by the PM and provide advice to them. Analyse macroeconomic issues having high importance and present the views to PM and any other task which is assigned by Prime Minister. Current Composition of PMEAC: It is headed by Niti Aayog member Bibek Debroy. Economists Rathin Roy, Ashima Goyal and Shamika Ravi are other part-time members. |
 Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who was murdered in October 2018 at his country’s Istanbul consulate, has been named Time magazine’s “Person of the Year” alongside several other journalists. The magazine has also honoured Philippine journalist Maria Ressa, Reuters reporters Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo — currently imprisoned in Myanmar and the staff of the Capital Gazette in Annapolis, Maryland, including five members killed in a June shooting. |
| Source- The Economic Times |
 The opening ceremony for the 7th Sino-India joint exercise Hand-in-Hand 2018, was held at Chengdu, China. Company size contingents of 11 SIKHLI from Indian Army and a regiment from Tibetan Military District of People’s Liberation Army participated in the exercise. The Indian contingent was led by Col Puneet Pratap Singh Tomar, Commanding Officer, 11 SIKHLI, while the Chinese contingent was led by Col Zhou Jun. The aim of the exercise is to build and promote close relations between armies of both the countries and to enhance ability of the joint exercise commander to take military contingents of both nations under command. |
| Source: PIB |
 International Mountain Day is held every year on 11 December, which was established by the UN General Assembly in 2003 to encourage sustainable development in mountains. The theme for 2018 IMD is “Mountains Matter”. |
| Source- The United Nations |
 Professor Mushirul Hasan, a renowned historian, and former vice-chancellor Jamia Millia of Islamia, passed away at the age of 71. Hasan was also formerly the director general of the National Archives of India. Hasan won a number of awards for his work, including the Padma Shri in 2007 and the Ordre des Palmes Académiques. The books he authored include India Partition: The Other Face of Freedom, When Stone Walls Cry, Partners in Freedom: Jamia Millia Islamia (co-authored with Rakshanda Jalil) and From Pluralism to Separatism: Qasbas in Colonial India. |
| Source- Business Standard |
 The indigenously built Inter-Continental Ballistic Missile Agni-5 has been test-fired successfully from Abdul Kalam island under Chandipur Interim Test Range. It can carry both nuclear and traditional weapons. The first test was conducted in 2012 from ITR Chandipur in Balasore district. This is the fourth successful test of this missile. Previously the test of Agni 4 was unsuccessful. Having 17 meters length and 2 meters diameter the missile can hit the target from a distance of 5 thousand kilometers. |
| Source- AIR World Service |
You need to login to perform this action.
You will be redirected in
3 sec
